Newsletter No 737 – 20 December 2019

Prize Giving is always a great opportunity to celebrate the achievements of SJL students, past and present, and this year we were delighted to welcome Professor Dame Carol Black to speak to us and award the prizes. She spoke inspiringly about the importance of having the courage to take risks and I know from speaking to parents and students afterwards that her words made a real impact. Congratulations to all our worthy prizewinners!

On Wednesday, we returned to All Saints Church for our annual Christmas Concert where the range of talent on display was breath taking. There can’t be many state schools who have an ensemble made up of 11 bassoonists – and our UAC band is as good as many senior bands I’ve heard! I’m very pleased that, as always, we were able to provide some of our senior neighbours with highlights from the main concert on Thursday afternoon.

So after Prize-giving on Monday and a wonderful Christmas Concert on Wednesday, I am now feeling completely festive – a feeling enhanced by the preparations for the House Christmas Decorations competition going on around me. I don’t envy the judges as this looks like a particularly difficult year to have to make decisions! With our Celebration assembly tomorrow, for which we will be wearing our Christmas jumpers to support charity, the term is coming to a lovely end, which is appropriate given all SJL has achieved over the last 4 months.

Just some of those achievements have been outlined in these newsletters over the term, and the fact that in the last week there is still plenty to cover, shows just what a busy place Sir John Lawes has been since September. I’d like to thank all the staff and students for their incredible commitment to all aspects of the ACE, which has resulted in so many things to celebrate. I hope everyone has a Happy Christmas, a relaxing break and returns full of energy in January ready to makes just as much of a success of 2020!

As always, if you have any comments or suggestions I would be pleased to hear from you, please contact me at [email protected].

Claire Robins

LETTERS HOME THIS WEEK

A reminder that copies of all generic letters sent home can be found on our website at: www.sjl.herts.sch.uk/402/letters-home

SCHOOL CLOSURES

In exceptional circumstances it may be necessary to close the school during normal hours. In these instances i.e. due to severe weather conditions, we shall inform parents by the following means:

BBC Three Counties Radio 92.1 FM or 630 AM Mercury FM 97.5 – 102.7FM Sir John Lawes Website www.sjl.herts.sch.uk SJL on Twitter https://twitter.com/#!/sirjohnlawes School telephone message 01582 760043 Herts County Council’s website www.hertsdirect.org

CONGRATULATIONS

Congratulations to the following students who received Headteacher’s Commendations this half term:

Lulu Abubakar 13A Nick Evans 8B James McCarthy 11L Daniel Aljassas 13K Noor Fatima 12B Indira Mehta 8A x 3 Ria Anderson 8A Khaled Fayyad 7K Yash Mehta 9N Ewan Anderson 10H Freya Finan 7N Elliot Michel 7A Jake Angus 8B Lucy Fisher 12N David Mintoft 13K Florence Arbury 8R Sara Fisher 12A Billy Montgomery 7R Abby Arnerich 13A Coemy Fourie 8A Nathan Myers 9R Eleanor Bailey 12L Ellie Geeson 12K Thomas Neylon 8B Faye Baines 13N Annabel Georges 8B Aadam Norris 11H Oliver Bardsley 8B Freya Godfrey 13H Jessica Nottingham 13L Kiran Barker 7R x 2 Willow Goodhand 7B Chiara Parrella 13H Grace Barlow 10N Kyran Gosling 12A Zachary Pearce 12H Henry Beale 7R James Gravestock 13K Ella Purvis 12L Heather Bentley 10R Katie Grimes 9A Charlotte Richardson 11A Emma Bird 8H Samuel Grover 8N Finlay Rider 10A Freya Brading-Miles 7L Bethan Hancox 10N Abigail Riley 9N x 2 Elizabeth Bratton 12A Millie Harrison 7B Ewan Robson 7B Charlie Brooke 7R Isabel Heneghan 13K Ben Rodger 8B x 2 Adam Brooks 8A George Holland 8H Daisy Ronald 9N Ella Brown 10N Olivia Horton 9A Anoushka Sharma 9A Leo Brown 13N Amelie Inman 8H Nina Shepperd 7N Lexi Butter 7L Sophie Jacques 10L Freya Solomon 12B Fay Chester 11K Harry Kilcoyne 11L Harry Stevenson 8R Charulata Chowdhury 13B Zachary Knight 12R Jacob Sunderland 9N Ruth Clarke 9K Anarghya Kodam 11L Jemima Tate 7H Joe Clothier 13L Alys Kramer 8R Samuel Walker 8A Mia Collins 8H Rhys Lawton 9R Nell Way 10N Ella Condon 8B Cat Leadbetter 12N Matthew Webb 12L x 2 Poppy Coomber 12B x 2 Emily Liu 7A Jamaal Williams 11A Jack Cox 13K Jessica Lucas 7A Charlotte Wimbleton 8R Katie Cross 12N Jess Marsden-Rainsford 9L Beth Wood 12R Maisie D'Angiola 7A Max Martin 9B x 2 Jasmin Zimmerli 10N Gus Dunham 7H Matilda Masters 8K

Congratulations to Maddie Tilden Curtis who passed her Grade 3 singing exam with Distinction, Imogen Sutton passed Grade 7 Violin with Merit, Imogen McPhun Grade 7 Piano with Merit Isabel Spittal Grade 1 Bassoon with Distinction Mia Collins Grade 1 Bassoon with Distinction Charlotte Wimbleton Grade 1 Bassoon with Distinction Lucas McPhunn Grade 5 Trombone Distinction Jess Swapp Grade 8 Saxophone with Distinction and Erin Lobo Clarinet Distinction.

Finally, congratulations to Harvey (right) who has had a brilliant year playing golf. Harvey won a number of competitions and received the player of the year award at Common Golf Club Awards event last week.

REMINDERS

Diphtheria and meningitis vaccinations will be administered to Year 9 students on 9 January. Students are reminded to wear a vest or t-shirt for modesty purposes.

Dates for Your Diary Spring Term 2020 Start: Monday 6 January INSET day – school closed to students Tuesday 7 January – students return Half Term: Monday 17 February to Friday 21 February Friday 13 March INSET day – school closed to students Finish: Friday 3 April – school closes at 3.30pm. Summer Term 2020

Start: Monday 20 April- INSET day – school closed to students Tuesday 21 April – students return Half Term: Monday 25 May to Friday 29 May Tuesday 16 June Twilight INSET – school closes at 12.30pm Finish: Friday 17 July – school closes a 12.30pm.

Uniform A reminder that skirts should be worn on the knee, they should not be rolled over at the waist. Students should wear white socks or navy or neutral tights with their skirts; black tights are not permitted. Students wearing school trousers must wear black socks. Once again, we are asking parents for support from home. Please discuss this with your child(ren) and ensure that they come to school properly equipped, which includes their reusable water bottle. As always, we thank you for your support in this matter.

Please also note the following – particularly the rules on hair: Jewellery - The only jewellery permitted in school is a single plain gold/silver stud in the lower lobes, plus a watch. Facial piercings are not allowed (even if covered with a plaster). Bags - Bags that feature inappropriate nudity or sexually explicit imagery are strictly forbidden. Makeup - Makeup should not be worn. Nail varnish, false nails, nail extensions, or false eyelashes should not be worn. Badges - The only badges permitted are official school badges, such as House Representative badges and one charity badge. Hair - Should be kept clean and tidy and should not be brightly coloured, worn in any extreme style or have an appearance inconsistent, in the Headteacher’s opinion, with traditional good standards of uniform. Hair extensions are not permitted and colouring is only allowed if it is a natural colour. No patterns or tramlines should be shaved into the hair or the eyebrows. Hair should not be shaved below a grade 2. Long hair should be tied back with neutral or school colours for practical activities. Hair ornaments should not be worn. Hair bands must be plain and either black, white or navy. Hoodies/tracksuit tops - Must not be brought or worn to school and will be confiscated for parental collection. Charity wristbands - Only one wristband is permitted to be worn at any one time. It must be for an appropriate good cause (at the Headteacher's discretion) and must not be as a fashion item or, for instance, to support a pop group or football team. Mobile Phones - Mobile phones are permitted in school but should be kept in the bottom of school bags or in lockers at all times - not in uniform pockets. They should remain switched off throughout the school day, including break and lunchtimes, unless teachers have given students permission to use them. In the case of emergency, parents should call through to reception in the normal way. Students caught using mobile phones will have them confiscated and the phones will be kept at reception until the end of the school day. Repeat offenders can expect to receive a detention.

RECRUITMENT

HISTORY TEACHER Priory Academy / MPS/UPS / Full-time Closing date: 10 January 2020 12.00pm Interview date: TBC

KS2/KS3 TEACHER Priory Academy / MPS Closing date: 13th December 2019 12.00pm

FINANCE ASSISTANT Scholars’ Education Trust - based at Grade: H3 (5) / Hours: 32.5 hrs per week / Contract: Permanent, term-time + 5 days INSET + 1 week / Actual salary: £14,900 per annum including Fringe Closing date: Friday 10th January 2020 12.00 noon Interview date: w/c Monday 13th January 2020

ADMINISTRATION / DATA ASSISTANT Sir John Lawes School / Grade H3.5 / Contract / Full Time 37 Hours / Week - term-time plus 5 days INSET / Actual Salary £16,500 per annum including Fringe Closing date: Midday Monday 13th January 2020 Interview date: To be week beginning 20th January 2020

MIDDAY SUPERVISORY ASSISTANT Priory Academy Hours: 6.25 hours per week Closing date: 6th January 2020 at 12.00pm Interview date: TBC

We reserve the right to make an appointment before the closing date, so early applications are encouraged.

Further details and an application form for the above positions are available from Central HR at [email protected], the Trust website www.scholarseducationtrust.co.uk or on 01727 859382.

YEAR 7 FRENCH ADVENT CALENDAR COMPETITION

Our Year 7 students worked very hard on creating Advent calendars using numbers and seasonal vocabulary in French. We received outstanding entries and we were flabbergasted by the creativity of our students. Well done to everyone who entered.

The results were: 1st Place: Kiran Barker 7R 2nd Place: Emma Bracey 7K 3rd Place: Elizabeth Aylward-Hill 7N 4th Place: Stassie Scott 7H 5th Place: Sophia Hamed 7K 6th Place: Ellie Chadwick 7N 7th Place: Charlie Brooke 7R

COMPUTING DEPARTMENT NEWS

CyberFirst Girls Competition Calling all year 8 girls! We have an exciting opportunity to put together teams to participate in the CyberFirst Girls Competition 2020. Teams should be made up of four girls, all in Year 8. You will complete online problem-solving and code-cracking challenges in your teams and learn something new about cybersecurity – it doesn’t matter if you don’t know anything at all about it at the moment!

Here’s a video showing some of the participants from last year’s competition: If you’d like to take part, please get yourself into a team and come to register at the Computing office. If you can’t find a team, come and see us anyway and we’ll see if we can match you up!

Miss Scott

SCHOOL ELECTION

To mirror the general election that took place last week, SJL ran a mock election with a group of sixth formers taking on four of the main parties. We had volunteers to represent the Greens, The Conservatives, the Liberal Democrats and Labour. The campaign involved going round forms, making a manifesto for forms to look at, putting some posters up around the school and getting students to register to vote. When Election Day came round the Drama theatre was set up as a mock polling station where students could come to cast their ballot paper. With a turnout of 77.6% of those who registered the sixth formers had a very busy lunchtime. Results (quite different to the results of both our constituency and the country as a whole) (Spoilt papers 4.6%)

Conservatives (Abby Harris, Connor Naughton and Kiera Head) - 15.3% Greens (Jess Swapp, Ella Purvis and Abi Probyn) - 15.8% Labour (Jack Clayton, Ellie Bailey and Freya Solomon) - 16.3% Liberal Democrats (Katie Gummer, Ciaran Robertson, Alex Barlow and Lucy Hawkins) - 48%

Thank you to everyone who came and voted. Katie Gummer Yr 13

FOOD TECHNOLOGY

I would like to draw the following to the attention of our Food Technology students. If you would like to apply or if you have any questions do come to see me.

Mrs James-Fisher

CHESS CLUB

On Wednesday 15th December Beaumont School came to us for a chess match. I played three games, lost two and won one. My first game was against their second best player, in Year 8. I lost in about five moves! My next game was against a Year 7 student who I won against, checkmating by at least ten points. Finally, I played another Year 8. I was winning - then the last move of the game we had time for, I lost – right after taking his queen! Overall, it was fun and I definitely think it helped me improve. Nick 8B

I enjoyed the games against Beaumont because they definitely presented a challenge. Consequently, I lost more than I won but It was a fun experience and I learnt a lot from it. Against Beaumont, I won one game and lost two, but their players were very good. Earlier this term, I played with the Chess Club against St George’s and played four games but sadly lost all of them, but I also enjoyed that and have improved since then! Overall, I liked both experiences and hope that we’ll be able to participate in more fixtures. Oliver 8B

PUBLIC SPEAKING

The first external event for the SJL Public Speaking Club, which meets once a week at lunchtime, took place in the evening on Monday the 9th of December. Two teams from SJL attended the Youth Speaks public speaking competition, organised by the Rotary Club in Harpenden. I was on a team with Charlotte and Florence, debating the motion, ‘School uniform should be banned’ and the Year 9 team of Daisy, Abigail and Jess were debating the motion ‘This House would reintroduce the Death Penalty to the UK.’ The competition was held at Aldwickbury golf club, and there were 5 schools including Katherine Warrington, , Aldwickbury, Roundwood and us, Sir John Lawes. We all prepared and practised our speeches lots beforehand and although we felt nervous, enjoyed the experience.

Alys, 8R

ZERO POVERTY GROUP

It has been a busy few weeks for the 0 Poverty group. The students have been teaching Year 7 about how poverty affects people locally and globally. They created a workshop which took students out of their comfort zone and allowed them to experience

some of the restrictions imposed on those living on the poverty line. It has had a huge impact on the way Year 7 view the term 'poverty' and what we can do to help. We would also like to say a huge thank you to everyone who supported the homelessness campaign and made a donation so that those living on the streets can experience Christmas this year. We were able to wrap approximately 100 presents including toiletries, clothes, and food. These will be donated to various local homeless charities and will make an incredible difference to the lives of others.

DRAMA ALUMNI AND INDUSTRY LUNCH.

On Tuesday 17th December, the SJL Drama department hosted a wonderfully attended alumni and industry lunch. We welcomed back students studying courses in Musical Theatre, Acting, Dance, and Stage Management and were lucky to have three actors with various experiences of working within the acting industry available for questions. Students from Year 10, 12 and 13 were offered the opportunity to discuss university courses, Drama School, and working in the competitive arts industry. Thank you to everyone who helped make this event such a huge success!

ECONOMICS AT SJL

On the 9th December, 5 year 12 SJL students attended an A level economics student conference in central . Tim Harford, The Undercover Economist, spoke about the importance of economic forecasts and brought to our attention that economisst from the past had got it wrong. His message to the audience was that economists who were open to change and accepted that their forecasts and predictions were wrong, were able to achieve success even through tough times such as the financial crisis of 1929.

Steve Davies presented options that could be implemented post Brexit regardless of who got into government. These options ranged from Singapore on the Thames to more of a hard drive approach. The message was clear that getting Brexit done was not easy as was being suggested.

Hugh Pym, Health editor with the BBC, spoke about public pressures and political direction and the impact it is having on the NHS. He spoke about the importance of funding the NHS and additional spending on mental health not just the physical health of individuals. He spoke about his role at the BBC and asking the right questions and challenging the NHS procedures and politicians on how their decisions impact on the NHS. It was an interesting conference providing an information packed day for SJL economic students. It was a pleasure to take the students on the trip and hopefully it will enthuse them further for the subject.

Miss A Dunne

ECO SCHOOLS

Our team have been busy this term! The eco- schools group began the year by re-vitalising the effort to cut plastic, encouraging students to buy a water bottle from the school shop to save disposable bottles. Also they prepared for Vegan and Vegetarian Awareness Week! This involved a Vegan Bake-Off, a competition between forms to see which form can make the most vegan and vegetarian meals, and sixth form students delivering life skills lessons to year 9 students on the health and climate benefits of a vegan or vegetarian diet.

In the eco-garden we have been busy planting our winter veg. Including kale which we harvested and cooked kale pesto pasta which was delicious! At Halloween we took part in the Big Soup Challenge making Pumpkin Soup for the staff from our pumpkin patch. Most recently, we potted 75 pots of daffodils (the pots and bulbs were donated by Aylett’s Nursery). These were given out to the staff as an early Christmas present. To see all our hard work and plans for 2020, visit @sjlecoschools.

Louise Ashman

The Friends of Sir John Lawes would like to thank you all for the support we have received over the last year which has helped us raise money for those extras that enrich the school for our children. We would also like to thank our fantastic helpers who have given up their time to help the committee run these events. We could not have managed without them. Wishing all the staff, students and parents a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. We look forward to seeing you at next year’s events.

The Friends of Sir John Lawes Committee

TICKETS NOW ON SALE - QUIZ NIGHT - 28th February 2020 Our hugely popular Quiz Night is always a sell-out event and tickets are now on sale via our Facebook Page. The quiz will include a hot supper and we will be running a bar. You can come as a ready-made team or join a mixed table and meet new friends with tables usually made up of 6-10 people.

LOOKING AHEAD - dates for your diary Spring Term - Quiz Night - 28th February 2020 Summer Term - Festival on the Field - 4th July 2020

Stay in touch….. Email: [email protected] Facebook: Friends of Sir John Lawes School Twitter: @friendsofSJL

SPORTS NEWS

Twitter The PE department would like to remind you we have a Twitter account for keeping students and parents up to date with fixture details, results and general sport and physical education news. Please follow us @SJLPhysEd.

Fixtures for next week: Beginning 6th January Week Year 7 Year 8 Year 9 Year 10 Senior Saturday

Monday

Tuesday

Wednesday

Thursday

Friday Girls Football Vs John Warner (Away 2.30) Saturday

Netball On Wednesday 05th December the Yr7 Netball A team went to St Georges. It was our first indoor match and it took a while to get used to the varied lines on the court. Luckily it didn't affect our performance too much as we finally won 0-9, scoring in each quarter, with everyone getting time in the game. The players’ player chosen by St George's was Elizabeth, the Captain.

County Badminton Championships Both our U14 and U16 girls’ badminton teams took part in the county finals at Herts University last week having qualified as winners of the district round. Although we had considerable success last year in reaching the national finals with our U14 side we knew that it would be a different situation this time as most of this team have moved up an age group, leaving only Katie Savage to play in the U14’s this time.

The U14 group was very closely contended with points difference being used to finalise both 3rd and 4th places and 1st and 2nd. Having won 16 out of our 25 games we were not sure how the placings would finally end up. Some of the games we lost were very close which was important in the final placings. The top three school in this age group were 3rd Parmiters, 2nd Sir John Lawes and 1st Watford Girls. Our county runners up were Katie S, Katie S, Jessie Pr and Sienna B.

The U16 competition was a very high standard but SJL girls held their own throughout. Of their 25 games they lost one to Royal Masonic and 2 to Queenswood (one of these was a nail biting 11-10 result) and won all others. Having won 22 games SJL were confident of their win going into the presentation. The top 3 places were 3rd Presdales, 2nd Queenswood and 1st Sir John Lawes. This puts Lucy S, Sagrika A, Kaaviya Suresh V and Kate W-S through to the regional round in the New Year.

Well done to our county champions and our county runners up!

Year 7 Football The year 7s fantastic season continued with National Cup success vs Bishops Stortford High School. In this last 64 game, the biggest competition for both teams were the conditions. Cold and extremely wet conditions definitely proved to be a leveller and it meant the quality football we are capable of struggled to come out. With the downhill, downwind 1st half we dominated proceedings with Z White opening the scoring with other good chances not converted, including J Clarke hitting the bar. With a slender 1-0 lead at half time the boys knew that they would experience the same pressure that we applied to them coming back our way as we did our best to fight up the hill into the wind. Sure enough Bishops Stortford began the half well, pinning us back in our own half for large parts of the game. Their biggest threat looked to be from set pieces with many good quality deliveries troubling us. Eventually, after 10 corners in the second half, they finally bundled one in and the game was set up for a big finish. Credit must go to the SJL team here as they remained resilient and stood firm to see the game out to a 1-1 draw in normal time. Extra time saw few clear cut chances and so penalties would decide the game! A very tense shootout saw no missed penalties until the score was 5-5. R. Pitcher, Z. White, Z. Platt, R. Shaw and Y. Coelho-Fraaije all scoring successfully. Under the pressure it was Bishops Stortford who buckled first putting a penalty wide which left J. Shadbolt to step up and confidently stroke the winning penalty into the back of the net - meaning SJL won 6-5 on penalties. A fantastic achievement that sees the team progress to the last 32 in the Nationals, who knows where they will go next?!

After the drama of the National Cup why would we think it would be any different in the County Cup?! The 7s played again on Monday afternoon in the Quarter Finals against St Michaels Catholic School and were part of another thrilling game. After taking the lead through R. Shaw in a dominant first half display, we once again had to survive a second half onslaught which saw us concede 2 goals in quick succession to turn the game on its head. Credit to the SJL team who continued to battle hard up the hill until they were rewarded with a penalty with 5 minutes to go. R. Pitcher took the captain’s responsibility and stepped up to level the game in emphatic fashion. They saw out the remaining nervy 5 minutes to take the game to extra time. On this occasion, penalties were not needed as J. Shadbolt got his head on the end of Z. Platt’s last minute corner to secure a 3-2 win putting us into the SEMI FINAL of the County Cup! Another amazing achievement from a team who do not know when they are beaten! The winning run continues and they can now enjoy the Christmas break with the anticipation of some huge cup games in the New Year. A superb start to their time representing SJL, long may it continue…

Indoor Rowing We were invited to the invitational event and were confident that we could perform very well. Credit again must go to Mr Morton who gave up numerous Mondays after school to help coach and organize the enthusiastic Year 7s who came out in good numbers. Eventually 2 teams (Boys and Girls) needed to be selected for this competition. They worked very well together and it was great to see both teams encouraging each other whilst they were not rowing. You can see footage of their efforts on our Twitter page… The boys came runners up and the girls managed to go one better winning the event! Congratulations to all those involved and another huge thank you to Mr Morton.