Sandringham School is a secondary school with academy status in Marshalswick, St Albans, Hertfordshire. It was established in 1988 following a merger of two local schools, Marshalswick School and Wheathampstead School. It occupies the former Marshalswick site, adjacent to Wheatfields Infant and Junior schools. The former Wheathampstead site was used as a training centre by Hertfordshire County Council until 2007 and is now awaiting redevelopment for housing.
| Sandringham School | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Address | |
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The Ridgeway , , AL4 9NX | |
| Information | |
| Type | Academy |
| Motto | Everybody can be Somebody |
| Established | 1988 |
| Ofsted | Reports |
| Chair of Governors | Lin Keen |
| Headteacher | Mr Alan Gray |
| Deputy Headteachers | Mr Richard Found and Mr Scott Baker |
| Gender | Coeducational |
| Age | 11 to 18 |
| Enrollment | 1200 |
| Houses | Six |
| Colour(s) | Turquoise, pink, green |
| Publication | SandPrint (weekly) |
| Precursors | Marshalswick School Wheathampstead School |
| Website | http://www.sandringham.herts.sch.uk/ |
The school works in partnership with two neighbouring schools to enhance post-16 educational provision. This partnership is known as "BeauSandVer" and consists of Sandringham School, Verulam School and Beaumont School.
Sandringham school primarily serves neighbourhoods in the north east of St Albans (Marshalswick and Jersey Farm) and the villages of Sandridge and Wheathampstead.
Achievements and recognition
The school has specialisms in Arts, Science and Leading Edge.
The school has also been awarded High Performing Specialist School status by the SSAT on three successive occasions. It has received the School Achievement Award.
The school is an Accredited Initial Teacher Training Provider (AITTP) which offers QTS through the GTP programme.[1]
The most recent Ofsted inspection described the school as "outstanding".[2] The school has hosted a world record attempt for outdoor aerobatics .[citation needed]
On 8 January 2016, pupils from the school made the first amateur radio call to a British astronaut at the International Space Station, contacting Tim Peake as part of his Principia mission during Expedition 46.[3]
House system
The school introduced a house system in 2005 with 6 houses named after famous people. These were called Brunel, Descartes, Einstein, King, Shakespeare and da Vinci. The names were revamped in 2012. The houses are now called Boudica, Darwin, Erikson, Knight, Seacole and Van Gogh. Each house is led by two Co-Heads of House (staff) assisted by House Captains and a House Committee (students).
The Houses compete against each other to win annual events such as sports day, house drama, house music, house dance and house Christmas decorations. Students are also awarded House Points for endeavour, community service and effective learning. The total number of points for each House is used to determine which house is the winner of the House competition.
The winners of the house competition thus far:
- 2005-2006 Descartes
- 2006-2007 Brunel
- 2007-2008 Einstein + King
- 2009-2010 Einstein
- 2010-2011 Brunel
- 2011-2012 Brunel
- 2012-2013 Brunel
- 2013-2014 Darwin
- 2014-2015 Darwin
SandPit Theatre
The School has used its specialism in the Arts to build and maintain a professional quality theatre on site. Opened in 2001 (at a cost of £1,000,000) the SandPit is used by the school and community alike and regularly hosts high quality productions and charity events, such as the Senpai 2007 pantomime featuring students and staff and the yearly whole school show (2013- Grease 2014- Les Miserables, for example). The SandPit is also used as a teaching space and as a venue for school assemblies.[4]
References
- ^ "Alban Federation – Home". www.sandringham.herts.sch.uk. Retrieved 19 February 2008.
- ^ "Sandringham School". www.ofsted.gov.uk. Retrieved 2 February 2009.
- ^ "Pupils make radio call to Tim Peake". BBC News. 8 January 2016. Retrieved 8 January 2016.
- ^ http://www.sandpittheatre.co.uk/