Thank you to those who attended our first parent seminar delivered by Fiona Haynes- LINKS Outreach Manager, centred round ‘Challenging Behaviours.’ You will have received the presentation in an email this week.

Our next session is “Youth Talk – supporting young people and their mental health” and will be delivered by Jim Lewis and clinicians from the charity, Youth Talk at 5.30pm on Monday 25th November.

Jim Lewis has spent a lifetime in local education with a passion for supporting young people through their formative years, into adulthood and beyond formal education. He has championed the pastoral and social wellbeing of his students which aligns perfectly with Youth Talk. This charity has been in existence since 1997, and since then thousands of young people have used them for support. Young people face unprecedented demands, disruptions and uncertainties and the demand for Youth Talk's free, confidential counselling service has reached unprecedented and worrying new heights. Youth Talk have a clear aim, to provide the best possible mental health support to young people in St Albans and surrounding areas.

Jim will talk about how the charity can support young people. Also being discussed will be signs and indicators of wellbeing needs, how to promote positive wellbeing and how to support young people with mental ill health at home

If you would like to book tickets to hear from Youth Talk, please book them here. There are 250 tickets available and they will be issued on a first come, first served basis. We are expecting high demand for this opportunity, so please only book tickets if you intend to attend. Please note we will close the access to book tickets once all have been taken. We will not be issuing physical tickets for this event and if you are able to book tickets, your request to attend has been successful.

This week’s whole school theme celebrates the school’s long standing connection with the Gambia. The Gambia, officially the Republic of The Gambia, is a country in West Africa. It is the smallest country within mainland Africa and is surrounded by Senegal, except for its western coast on the Atlantic Ocean. Sandringham has had a relationship with a school in the Gambia, Farrefeni High School, since 2008. The students received a brilliant assembly from Ms England, and some Year 12 students who will be visiting Farrafeni in the February half term. The assembly explored the positive relationships we have built with Farrafeni high school and the impact our connection has had to the students. The Year 12s also spoke about how excited they are to learn about the cultural differences between our two countries. Look out for opportunities to travel to the Gambia in the future and/or fundraise to support our partner school. 

Our Autumn Concert is on Weds 20th November at 6:30pm. For tickets, please visit the Sandpit Theatre Box Office website.

In other Music news- next half term, we are doing a number of instrumental projects in our KS3 lessons including ukulele, acoustic and electric guitar and bass guitar. If any households are looking to have a clear out in the run up to Christmas and have a dusty ukulele or other unused instrument sitting in a corner, we are always grateful for any donations.

On Friday 18th October, Year 7 performed in our annual house singing competition in the Sandpit Theatre. Each form performed a song they had been rehearsing in their music lessons and we were so impressed by the standard! Our guest judges had a very hard time picking a winner, but in the end placed 7F first, 7H second and 7E. Well done to everyone involved, we are very proud of you all!

Please join us for what is set to be another fun quiz night, raising money to help fund the Sixth Form Expedition to Sri Lanka. Taking place at 6.45pm on Friday 8th November in the main hall, you can buy tickets via ParentPay for teams of up to 8, for £10 and £7 for adults and students respectively. You can bring your own drinks and snacks are provided. We hope to see you there!

From Ms Brearley

We would be grateful if you could spare a couple of minutes to respond to our short survey in order to help us improve our digital content. Thank you! Digital Content Survey . 

Article from Ms England:

We are raising money to help our partnership school Farafenni High School in The Gambia build a new borehole to access fresh drinking water. This week we have kicked off our Gambia fundraising efforts during the whole school assemblies, with a select few being the lucky winners of chocolate bars being taped under chairs!  Look out for details on how to get your chocolate bar after half term to be in with a chance of winning a golden ticket yourself! 

This week we have also been fundraising with 2 realistic Halloween makeup masterclasses! Students from Year 7 all the way up to the Sixth Form took part with Clara Spitzer in Year 13 leading these classes expertly! (The make up was so realistic, anyone who is squeamish may not wish to zoom in too close on the photos!) 

Coming soon there will be more fundraising events such as a Christmas movie night, Cake sales and face painting to look out for! 

This week, the Visual Arts Faculty has been immersed in artistic exploration as we participated in the annual Big Draw Festival in association with The National Campaign for drawing. The theme for this year, "Drawing in Motion," has emphasised that drawing is not merely about the final outcome, but about the journey, the movement, and the creative process that shapes it.

Throughout the week, students have been encouraged to push the boundaries of traditional drawing, capturing dynamic scenes from the natural world, the vibrancy of urban life, and the rhythms of everyday moments. Daily lunchtime drawing sessions have been held, providing an opportunity for students to come together and engage with the theme in a collaborative setting. In particular, all of our KS3 students have had the chance to participate in special Art lessons, using drawing as a medium to deepen their learning and expression. I would like to thank all of our Visual Arts team for their outstanding delivery and in particular Mrs Stephen and Mrs Gidden for planning these opportunities for our students . We are especially proud of the students involved in our Trinity Arts Award programme, who have taken on leadership roles by conducting workshops for their peers. In particular, Sophia in Year 12 who has taken responsibility for leading whole school Drawing week as part of her Gold Arts Award. As part of this she has attending staff faculty briefings, planned the schedule and helped to lead all of the lunch and after school activities. The  dedication and creativity of our student leaders has played a key role in fostering a collaborative and inspiring environment throughout the week.

We would like to express our sincere gratitude to our students for their enthusiastic participation and contributions to this event. Your collective efforts have truly brought the theme of "Drawing in Motion" to life, and we are grateful for your continued support and enthusiasm for your learning in Visual Arts.

Year 9 students attended a World of Work (WoW) morning on Wednesday and were able to listen to four engaging presentations by representatives from Amber Mountain Marketing, Google, Sir Robert McAlpine and Tesco.  The speakers spoke of their own career journeys and the many opportunities open to young people, including college, apprenticeship and degree routes into these fields.  We are extremely grateful to all of the speakers and proud of every student in year 9 for listening so well throughout the morning. 

Harrison M in 9E had the following to say about his experience: "I had an interesting time listening to the guest speakers that came in and spoke to us about their different careers and what company they are currently working at such as: Google and Tesco which allowed me to hear about what it is like in different areas of the workplace. We were given information on the different journeys that people took in order for the job they are at which varied from studying in University to doing an apprenticeship. It was very interesting and helpful to learn about other ways that I can be successful and as the speakers had personal experiences that they could share it made it easier to understand the pros and cons of the different routes giving me a wider perspective of how it is like to enter a job from a variety of education."

We are currently looking for a Pastoral Support Assistant and casual School Counsellor to join our fantastic school. More information is available on our website here.

Please share with friends who may be interested.

Parents of the Year 11 Sandringham cohort of 2024 will have received an email inviting them to our KS4 Awards being held in the main hall at 6.30pm on Thursday 5th December. This will a lovely celebration of their GCSE achievements with each student coming on stage to receive their GCSE certificates, meet with peers and reflect on a successful year. Individual prizes are awarded for subjects and there are also some outstanding achievement awards reflecting the hard work of this amazing cohort. All current Year 12 students who attended Sandringham School in Year 11 are expected to attend, as well as students who have since left the school, and one parent per household is also invited to celebrate with them. Please complete the google form here to confirm your/your child's attendance. We look forward to welcoming you to in a few weeks' time.

Thank you to those who attended the information evening for the Ski Trip Information Evening last night. We are looking forward to another amazing trip! The full presentation can be found here. and the dealines for document completion is below

• Passenger information Google Form: 4 th November
• eTA: 25th November
• Medical Consent Form to Students Services: 25th November
• Passport to student services: 17th January

Monday saw a fantastic afternoon of house netball with lots of girls representing their houses and gaining points.Well done to everyone who took part and the results were as follows:

• 1st - Shakespeare
• 2nd - Austen
• 3rd - Johnson
• 4th - Turing
• 5th - Elgar
• 6th - Hepworth
• 7th - Newton
• 8th - Fawcett

One of our students, Max, went to St Albans Cathedral for his work experience. It's been great to hear how he got on and linked his placement to his passion for astronomy. An insight into how different fields can link together! Well done Max and thank you to our amazing careers team who help create opportunities for our students.

The Puzzle of the Week is a Mathematics challenge run weekly. This week's puzzle is shown above. For every entry you will receive 1 house point, if you answer correctly you will win 2 house points and if you are the fastest person to answer the puzzle correctly then you will win 5 house points!  To enter, simply scan the QR code and fill out the google form.  Good luck! Why not play at home and see who is the quickest to get the answer?

We know that it is a bit early to mention.... but we'd like to highlight again this year a fantastic company that provides excellent quality tree delivery and removal, whilst also raising money for the school. Christmas Treeasy specialise in only the very best top grade trees, the non-drop Nordmann Fir Christmas tree, and for every tree sold through Sandringham, donations of between £3.50 and £6.50 (size of tree dependant) are given to Fo$S. 

Ordering is simple- just go to www.christmastreeasy.co.uk and follow the instructions. Or for more information you can call 07710 407149 or email enquiries@christmastreeasy.co.uk. Please make sure you mention your school in all correspondence to ensure a donation to your school.

We are in the final stages of rehearsals and very much looking forward to sharing the production with you soon! There are a very limited number of tickets available to purchase, but when they're gone, they're gone! The show runs from Thursday 14th - Saturday 16th November. 

Though everything is nearly show-ready, we're still on the hunt for a select few items. If you think you can help us out by donating any of the following, please get in touch as we'd be very grateful! 

• A brown/black leather satchel 
• A white 'cellular' baby blanket 
• Single duvet and pillow
• Harry Potter scarves or hats (any house - ideally without logos) 

Finally, if you'd like to keep up to date with all things Harry Potter and The Cursed Child, please follow our Arts Team account on instagram @sand_artsteam where we'll be posting backstage photos and footage from rehearsals in the lead up to show week!

Report from Ms Webb and Ms Hill:

In the early hours of the 10th October 28 students of Year 9 and Year 10 met with Mrs Webb, Mrs Hill and Ms Malone in the dark of Sandringham Crescent, so as not to disturb our neighbours.  A quick trip to Gatwick and we were on our way.  Students were understandably a bit apprehensive meeting their French partners for the first time, but need not have worried because we were welcomed at school with a buffet lunch prepared by the students and their families, and the conversation started to flow.

We spent Friday doing activities in Annecy, Monday visiting historical Lyon and the Museum of Illusion, and Tuesday off to Geneva for the Red Cross Museum and CERN (definitely on Ms Malone’s bucket list!). The students had the weekend and evenings with their partners and have had the most amazing time.  They were able to really appreciate the region and being part of a French family who live there, all while using their French as much as possible. 

We spoke to Evie and Dexter who had a lot to say about their experience.  They were able to try many of the regional dishes such as snails (chewy and garlicky but good) and cheese dishes such as fondue, tartiflette and raclette.  Dexter really enjoyed the freshly pressed local apple juice at the ‘Alpage’ festival, where local culture is celebrated as the animals are brought down from the mountains and paraded through the streets.  They have been sailing and kayaking on the lake and swimming in it (cold, apparently!).  They enjoyed the beauty of the scenery, and Evie in particular described it as stunning and mentioned seeing the paragliders at sunset.

All of the students have made progress in French and it has really brought home to them the ‘real’ French beyond what they learn in the classroom.  Most importantly, they made good friends and appreciated the warmth of the welcome they received, and are looking forward to welcoming the French students and teachers when they make the return trip in March. We congratulate all the students on their positive attitude and willingness to have a go at all the new experiences. 

As mentioned last week, we would love students to take part in the In collaboration with the Science Waistcoat Design Competition. It might be a fun half term activity to complete. The competition, run by World Snooker Tour and Johnstone's Paint, offers young people between the ages of 11 and 14 an exciting opportunity to design a waistcoat that will be worn by a top snooker player during the Johnstone's Paint Masters at Alexandra Palace. The winning design will be showcased live on the BBC in January 2025.

You can join the STEM google classroom to find out more information and see other opportunities advertised throughout the year!

Class codes:
Years 7, 8 and 9: u5zobuf
Years 10, 11, 12 and 13: cm5iwdb

As mentioned previously in the Sandprint, Wheatfields Junior School are hosting their annual Fireworks Extravaganza on Sunday 3rd November with gates opening from 4pm and the display starting at 5.10pm. You can book tickets using the QR code above and come along to support the school. Tickets are available online until 1 November at a lower price and then on the door for a higher price. 

FRENCH: Le mot de la semaine: hypocrisie

GERMAN: Das Wort der Woche: Scheinheiligkeit

SPANISH: La palabra de la semana:  hipocresía

Thinking Question:

• While all three of our translated words mean hypocrisy, they can have subtle differences. In French, for example,  the translation implies that you may pretend for social reasons. What do you think this tells us about different societies and their cultural attitudes on being  honest or fake?

This week’s Book of the Week is one for those who have enjoyed the Whole School Read. The Boy in a White Room is by a German author called Karl Olsberg and is a science fiction thriller.

A boy wakes to find himself locked in a white room. He has no memories, no idea who he is and no idea how he got there. A computer-generated voice named Alice responds to his questions - through her, he is able to access the internet. He gradually pieces together his story - an abduction, a critical injury, snippets of his past ...But how can the boy tell what's real and what's not? Who is he really?

Allie R in 7H summed up the book beautifully in a recent review, stating that it is  “Great for people who are interested in psychology because it really stops and makes you think ‘who am I really?’ and ‘is this really real?’ It always has you questioning the plot”.

H is for ... Hypocrisy [noun]

Definition: The practice of claiming to have higher standards or more noble beliefs than is the case.

Example: The hypocrisy of the situation caused outrage.

Synonyms: Deception, Pretence, insincerity

Antonyms: Fairness, Honesty, Truth

Etymology: The word hypocrisy comes from the Greek ὑπόκρισις (hypokrisis), which means "jealous", "play-acting", "acting out", "coward" or "dissembling".

Last Saturday our teams took on Beaumont with some excellent play. Year 7 drew 2-2 with tries from Jack P and James D. Year 8 displayed great strength and effort to come away with a convincing win. MoM - Liam J. Year 9 had a close game with some strong running & 1 on 1 tackling securing the victory. And finally Year 10 put in a good performance but eventually lost 12-21. Some Fantastic rugby on display in difficult conditions. Fixtures after half term include Verulam, Roundood Park and Dame Alice Owen.

Our 1st XV put in a great performance in the National Cup with a last minute try securing a 25-21 win against Verulam. Led by CaptainEmil U, the boys showed great resilience and team spirit and should be immensely proud of their efforts

A belated congratulations to the U15 Netball team, who finished runners up in the District Tournament last week. Player of the Tournament: Ava H Thanks also to our super supporters and scorers.

Well done also to our U14 teams who put in a brilliant display against STAGS on Tuesday. Congratulations to our A team on coming away with the win Pom B. Silveria & M. Vasudevan

Thirty Year 7-11 students from Sandringham attended a hockey coaching camp on Monday, run by Oaklands Academy. The students really benefitted from playing on a hockey astro-turf with England and Welsh players leading the coaching session. The students thoroughly enjoyed learning and developing a range of skills before playing in a mini tournament. Students from Beaumont also attended the mixed event, which was such a success there are plans to run further sessions

An exciting week of football with a penalty shoot out that saw the Year 10 Sandringham boys team progress to R4 of the national cup on Tuesday. Having not taken their chances in normal time against a good Parmiters side, the game had finished 2-2 but our fab five held their nerve to put us iup 5-4 on penalties for the next round after half term.

Congratulations to the U12G football team on their win 5-0 against KWS. The girls played a great game with some strong performances. Goals scored by Isla K x3 Anna D and Jemima M. OPM: Megan D. A great start to the season for the Year 7 girls.

Our two Year 7 teams also represented Sandringham at the Harpenden Colts Tournament on Wednesday. Congratulations to our Bs who took 5th place. Our As kept a clean sheet all tournament and were crowned CHAMPIONS!

An unfortunate loss for our U15 girls however as they bow out of the national cup in the early stages to a strong Redbourne school. Some nice passages of play with lots to take to training. POM T. Flynn

Please see above for fixtures w/c 4th November

Following the fantastic success of ‘Hansel and Gretel’ & ‘Rapunzel’ our creative team are back with a Brand New pantomime adventure based on the classic tale.

 Puss In Boots and the Pea Green detective agency are ready to save Pantoland from a terrible threat!

The Hickory Dickory Dock clock has been stolen and someone is messing with the pantomime timeline. The police are struggling to sniff out a suspect and things are getting stranger by the hour! Join Puss In Boots on their epic quest to bring the time thief to justice. This sword-swinging, paw-scratching, time-stopping pantomime is an action packed treat for all ages!

Tickets are on sale here and cost from £10.00