Issue No: 656

GOVERNORS' REPORT TO PARENTS 2016-17

Dear Parents

As we reach the end of another successful school year, I am writing on behalf of the governors to let you know about some of the work we have been carrying out to support the SJL community over the last 12 months.

Standards
The Governors' key focus at all times is on ensuring that the students at SJL receive the highest possible standards of teaching in the classroom to enable them to achieve the very best results that they can. This year, governors have scrutinised exam results, met with Heads of Faculty and taken part in 9 faculty reviews and 3 pastoral reviews. Governors have also been represented on interview panels for new members of staff and took a leading role in the appointment of our new deputy and assistant head teachers. During governors' meetings, we have received updates from the Senior Leadership team on the school's work with Pupil Premium students and staff professional development programmes - some of us also attended the school's annual staff conference to get an even better idea of issues affecting SJL and how the staff are preparing to deal with them. There have been two governor visit days where governors come in and spend the whole day visiting lessons, meeting with key stakeholders and really getting a sense of day to day life at SJL.

Training
An important aspect of the governors' role is to ensure that we keep our own training up to date. This year, governors have been accessing online training on issues such as child protection and Prevent through the school's Educare contract as well as attending face to face training led by Herts County Council. Most recently, SJL governors organised joint training across the Trust on how to handle complaints.

Finances
With school finances very much in the news this year, the SJL governors have been playing a key role in monitoring the school's expenditure and supporting the senior leadership team as they plan for the future. Governors have scrutinised all spending plans, contracts and tenders for value for money and liaised closely with Hazel Wale and her team to ensure that SJL can set a balanced budget for next year. I hope that the extreme pressures on school budgets will be eased by the Government later this year but, in any event, I can assure parents that financial management at SJL is of a very high standard.

The Scholars' Education Trust
A great deal of work has gone on behind the scenes this year by all governors of schools in the Sir John Lawes Academies Trust to create a new governance system more appropriate to a Trust that is growing in size. Governors have taken part in a formal governance review, attended focus days, met with members of the Trust executive and taken advice from independent accountants and lawyers. As a result, from September a new governance structure and schedule of delegation will come into place. The name of the Trust will change to the Scholars' Education Trust, a name which we feel reflects our aspirations for our students and also our belief that the Trust is now less reliant on SJL as its central support and is able to draw on support and expertise from all schools in the Trust.

General
In addition to all the activities set out above, governors were present at Open Evening (and completed questionnaires with visitors), attended concerts and plays, joined in with Have You Met activities, ran workshops and stalls at our Careers Fair and supported the Friends of SJL in their first year in their new form. Governors are unpaid volunteers from the local community and we take great pleasure in showing our support for the whole SJL family. As Chair of Governors, I am always happy to be contacted by members of the SJL community via the school with any queries or questions you may have about the work of the governing body.

In the meantime, I would like to congratulate all the staff and students of SJL on their hard work this year and wish them - and all the SJL family - a restful and relaxing summer holiday.

Yours

Simon Mundy
Chair of Governors

LETTERS HOME THIS WEEK

• Year 9 full reports and year 10 summer grade sheets will be emailed out to parents during the last week of term.

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

UNIFORM - IMPORTANT REMINDERS FOR SEPTEMBER

Students have grown considerably since the introduction of the new school skirt, across the school last September. A number of them are now wearing their skirts far too short or rolling them over at the waist - this is unacceptable. 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 and with a correctly fitting uniform for the start of the new academic year.

A reminder that the school skirt must be worn ON the knee and staff at Stevenson's uniform shop are very clear on the school's policy regarding this matter. There are also signs in the shop reminding parents of this and staff have been instructed not to sell SJL skirts any shorter than on the knee. Please also bear this in mind if purchasing your child's skirt from Stevenson's online shop. Any students wearing skirts above the knee at the start of the new academic year can expect to receive a sanction and parents will be expected to exchange or replace the skirt immediately.

Please also remember that the SJL skirt and girls' trousers (the trousers must bear the school badge) can only be purchased from Stevenson's. Lookalike garments should not be purchased elsewhere. We are keen to avoid having to challenge students about their uniform and having parents incur any additional expense or inconvenience.

Please also note that tights must be navy - black tights are not uniform and therefore not permitted.

As always, we thank you for your support in this matter.

UNIFORM

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 or nail extensions 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 wrist bands - Only one wrist band 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 for parents to collect at the end of the school day.
NB: If students do not conform to these guidelines they should expect to be withdrawn from general classes until they do.

CONGRATULATIONS

Awards 2016/2017
We are delighted to announce the winners of this year's Subject and Year prizes. The following students will be invited to attend the Scholars' Trust Awards Ceremony in December, where they will be presented with their prizes. Congratulations to:

Congratulations to James Langley (right) who recently secured an Aeronautical Engineering Apprenticeship with Monarch Airlines.

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

Music successes
Congratulations to the following students who took music examinations this term:

Jess Swapp (10K) Grade 6 Saxophone - Distinction
Julia Swapp (8R) Grade 5 Violin - Distinction

Student of the month June / July 2017 - Year 10
To be nominated, students will have met at least one of the following criteria:

Made a positive impact / change,
Kind / caring,
Follow the school ACE,
Gone above and beyond, putting themselves out - helping or assisting others and
Giving up their time to help out.

The students nominated for year 10 were:

Congratulations to Finley Reed (right) who was elected.

21ST CENTURY LEARNERS

Each half term we place one 21st Century Learning quality in the spotlight. Students set targets for themselves in the relevant area and review them at the end of the half term. The quality in the spotlight for the second half of the Summer Term was co-operation. Those students in Years 7-9 who achieved the greatest success in meeting their target were awarded the co-operative sticker by their tutors to put in their planners. Their names are listed below. Year 10 names are not included for co-operation because they were taking exams and out of school on work experience at the time. Students who get a complete set of stickers are given the 21st Century Learning Award.

Co-operative Learners

Independent Learners
Some students have succeeded in winning every sticker available. This means they have shown themselves to be resourceful, open minded, committed, flexible, motivated and co-operative. We believe that these are the independent learning qualities needed for the 21st century world. They will receive certificates and badges in the end of year assembly and their names are listed below.

KEY DATES 2017/2018

YEAR 12 WORK EXPERIENCE

From 2017 - 2018, we will be introducing work experience for all Year 12 students.

Whilst the emphasis on work experience in Year 10 is to gain an insight into the workplace in general, in Year 12 the focus will shift to students trying to get a taste of employment in a field they may wish to pursue in the long term.

Work Experience placements help young people learn, and offer a number of benefits including: providing an insight into the particular skills and attitudes required by particular sectors and employers, a better understanding of changes in the world of work and an opportunity to develop the young person's personal and social skills.

We know that a work based placement can prepare students for their next steps and believe that the skills gained will benefit students when writing personal statements and letters of job application.

The date for Year 12 work experience for the next academic year is: 14th May - 18th May 2018. Unfortunately, we are not able to authorise work experience at any other time of the year, except in very special circumstances.

We want to give students who have finished Year 11 and are planning on coming back into Year 12, advance notice of these dates, so that they can begin to source a placement over the summer break.

YEAR 10 WORK EXPERIENCE

Advance warning that the dates for Year 10 Work Experience for the next academic year are Monday 2nd - Friday 6th July, 2018.

Any questions, please contact Mrs Power, on ext. 261 or email: jpower@sjl.herts.sch.uk

INTERVIEW WITH BETTY KING AND BARBARA LUCK

Seventy years ago, sisters Betty King and Barbara Luck (previously Wheatfill) attended Sir John Lawes. Recently, they returned to the school to observe the similarities and difference between SJL nowadays and the school in the years of 1948 up to 1953. Betty was in education at this school between 1948 and 1952, whilst her younger sister (Barbara) attended between 1949 and 1953; both leaving school at 15. At 15, the (then) teenagers found that it was much easier to 'walk into a job' than it is now, in 2017; no qualifications were required for many jobs, as A-levels and GCSEs were non-existent! During the sisters' education at Sir John Lawes, Mr Bloxham was the headmaster, and when asked about how he ran the school, they concluded that SJL had been a school with many more rules and was 'a lot stricter' than it is now.

After looking around the school, our visitors came to the conclusion that the size of the building(s) were the most drastic change, as so many new blocks had been added. For example, Mrs King and Mrs Luck both agreed that our current office is completely different to the one they had whilst students here. It came as a surprise to discover that, while SJL is a school to over 1000 pupils now, only around 500 used to attend - this is approximately half the amount we are used to! Despite these very noticeable changes, Betty and Barbara discovered that the food tech department, corridors and playing field had remained practically unchanged. Mrs King had been prefect as a student, and stated that her favourite subject had in fact been Food Tech, so clearly remembered this faculty. However, on the other hand, Mrs Luck was more mathematical and loved sports, so remembered the field and was easily able to notice how little it had changed.

To conclude, it was very interesting to learn about the similarities and differences between our school now, and in the past, so we are incredibly grateful to have been so fortunate to have the opportunity to hear about 1940/50s SJL from Mrs Luck and Mrs King. It appears that the greatest change was most definitely the size of the buildings, and the school grounds themselves, as well as the vast increase in pupils.

By Elizabeth Bratton - 9A

It was such a delight to show round two former students of the school who attended back in the 1950's; I found it so interesting listening to their past experiences and how their school lives contrasted to mine in many ways. One thing that particularly surprised me was that the boys and girls used to enter in different sections within the school and did little intermingling at break and lunches. As well as this, subjects such as food tech used to include other activities such as making beds and setting tables- something which I cannot imagine having lessons on now. When talking to them, I found that they shared a love of sport; we compared the sports that used to be on offer at the school to today. I was surprised to learn from the ladies that the boys used to go off during the school day to go digging and helping the community with gathering vegetables, seeing as it was only just after the war had finished. Barbara had commented that she was always jealous of this as she wanted to get out and away from the school during the day but the girls weren't allowed to go and instead had to do activities such as sewing.

It was really lovely to have the opportunity to talk to former students of the school; it was heart-warming to see all the memories flooding back to them as they walked around the school. It was a great experience and I hope that they enjoyed the tour as much as I did showing them around!

Abbie Howe 12H

OXFAM - REFUGEE FORUM AT BRENTFORD GIRLS SCHOOL

By Simeon James - 9H

On Friday the 23rd of June, I and three other students- Lucy Hawkins, Ella Chambers and Ben Parrish- travelled to Brentford School for Girls to participate in an Oxfam sponsored forum on refugees, and issues surrounding them. A guest speaker was invited: a refugee himself named Ammar. He spoke on his journey to the UK, his heart wrenching tale punctuated by death, betrayal and loss. This transitioned smoothly into a series of eye opening group exercises to further our knowledge and understanding of the plight of refugees, and the discrimination they can face across the globe. After working in these groups, we reconvened to discuss as a whole what we had learned. With members of other schools, we had in-depth discussions relating to what we would like to see improved by our government. Following this, we fed back all our ideas to the members of Oxfam present, and agreed upon plans to put in place to campaign for the rights of refugees in the UK. Overall, it was a phenomenal day, which provided fascinating insight into the life of a refugee, the struggles they may face and what we can do as ordinary people to lessen the burden on what is, ultimately, another human in need of our love and support.

MAST AND GIFTED & TALENTED SUMMER SCHOOL

GIFT, providers of internationally-renowned enrichment courses, are running a residential week for students in Years 7-13. The venue for the courses is the 17th century Manor House, Grendon Hall, 67 Main Road, Grendon, Northamptonshire, NN7 1JW. The house has extensive grounds in which to relax during breaks. Summer schools are the 'jewel in the crown' of GIFT and the events most fondly remembered by GIFTers. Because students are here for almost a whole week, there is plenty of time for friendships to form and to settle in as part of a very relaxed but enthusiastic community. Students share a room with others of their gender and roughly the same age. Friends can be put in the same room.

GIFT plans to run just one summer school this year, and have squeezed into it many of the most popular projects, so there are over 600 different ways to combine them. The course runs from 7.30pm Sunday evening August 6th to 4.30 p.m. Friday 11th August. Each day there's a wide choice of projects on offer, of which students choose one, plus the usual amazing mix of early and late evening activities to enthral them. On the Wednesday, they take a day trip out to a surprise location.
For more information, click here:

Mrs E Brining

YEAR 10 & YEAR 12 GSK VISIT

Last week a group of Yr 10 & 12 students were lucky enough to visit GSK in Stevenage to learn about their employment opportunities, especially the Apprenticeship programmes GSK offer.

We listened to presentations from a diverse selection of current GSK apprentices, including an IT Apprentice and a Lab Technician Apprentice, the latter being a career path that I am particularly interested in pursuing. The higher, advanced and degree apprenticeships scheme was explained to us as a real alternative to the traditional university route into employment, allowing students to get a degree in a subject that they are passionate about, funded by the company and whilst earning a salary for their work. I was really interested to hear how the apprentices enjoyed their practical experience of learning which was then supplemented by their academic studies.

Following the presentations, we had a speed dating session where we could interact with apprentices and their managers to ask questions. During this session we learnt more about the realities of working whilst studying and we were reassured that whilst this route may mean you miss out on the 'university experience', there were plenty of organised opportunities to meet other apprentices and have a social life to enable you to make friends. Our visit concluded with a short tour of some of the laboratories and offices, which was really impressive. The site was much bigger than we had all anticipated and of course many areas have restricted access, but it was enough to confirm that I would like to work here!

By Issy Young 12A

ESSAY WRITING PRIZE FOR GCSE OR 6TH FORM STUDENT TO BECOME A PUBLISHED AUTHOR

This November, publishers Weidenfeld & Nicolson are publishing 'GOODBYE, EUROPE': a collection of personal essays, anecdotes, short stories, and illustrations which explores our relationship with Europe.

The book will feature pieces from some of our most treasured writers and artists - and SJL students could be included in this wonderful project. And there's a prize!
If you win, you will not only become a published author, with your name being printed alongside the household names of award-winning writers, artists and journalists, BUT you could also win £2,000!

View the full terms and conditions here.

Last week Mrs Honour-Jones, our KS5 Student Services Manager, was invited to represent secondary schools on one of the panel discussions at the Business & Education Summit, hosted by the Chamber of Commerce in London. Following the keynote address from Jeremy Corbyn, Mrs Honour-Jones took part in the first panel discussion of the day which centred around the role schools have in creating business leaders of the future. The audience were particularly interested to hear about our Careers Day and how the work we undertake with employers helps develop entrepreneurial skills in our students.

The morning concluded with an address from the Secretary of State for Education, Justine Greening, on the morning when she announced more information concerning the introduction of T levels as a more vocational qualification for young people and enlisted the help of employers to support these qualifications with practical work placements.

ENTERPRISE EDUCATION IN 2017

Dragons Apprentice
We had three teams that entered the Dragons Apprentice competition this year. This is an annual competition run by the Centre for Voluntary services in St. Albans (CVS). It offers Year 12 students the opportunity to experience setting up and running a business, gaining organisational and job related skills and learning about the work and beneficiaries of their designated charity. The teams are matched with a local business mentor (their dragon) and a local charity or community group. Their challenge is to "turn £100 into £1,000 or more" for their designated charity/community organisation. Team Momentum made it to the awards ceremony and won 'most innovative product' for their online shop. They raised over £1400 for their charity - Crohns and Colitis UK. Team Vision were also very successful and raised over £1500 for the Youth Talks charity. Team Stoic raised over £1000 for the Harpenden Money Advice Centre. Many congratulations to all involved!

Enterprise Week
This week years 7, 8 and 9 will have all been involved in Enterprise week. On Monday our year 9 students undertook an enterprise challenge. On Tuesday Year 7 students created presentations based around the Rio Olympics and on Wednesday Year 8 students worked on fundraising ideas.

Mr Thompson

JOINT ECOSCHOOLS AND JLT WORKSHOP ON ANTI-IDLING

On Tuesday the 11th July the Eco-schools group, along with JLT members, took part in an anti-idling workshop. Idling means leaving car engines on whist your car is not moving. We have learnt many facts about why we need to turn engines off and how it affects us and our planet.

We researched the impacts on our health. To put our information into numbers; 5.3% of all deaths in over 25s are due to air pollution in Hertfordshire and it is estimated that 514 people die prematurely each year in Hertfordshire as a result of ultra-fine particulates (PM2.5) alone.

We have tried to come up with a range of ways to try to get people to reduce idling and help parents and teachers realise what they and their cars are doing to the planet. During the afternoon we designed a banner for outside school, wrote to Harpenden Town Council, shared our ideas on social media and did a stunt outside school combined with handing out leaflets on anti-idling.

We hope you think about our message and turn off your engine when stationary.
Eco-Schools Group

GEOGRAPHY FACULTY NEWS AND SUMMER HOMEWORK:

This year has been an incredibly busy one for the Geography team with the new GCSE and A-level courses starting, increasing numbers at KS4 and, as ever, a large number of fieldwork trips and enrichment activities that included visits to Swanage, Southend, Iceland, London, Harpenden town centre and St. Georges! Below are pictures from some of these and more can be found @SJLGeography.

Clockwise from top-left: Iceland2017 (Year 10); Swanage 2017 (Year 12); Harpenden fieldwork (Year 9); attending a lecture at the Royal Geographical Society (VI form); attending an inter-school quiz at St Georges (MASt geographers)

Geography Faculty Award Winners:
Each year, we award 100s of merits and ACE cards to students for their efforts. We also award a few Head's Commendations (to less than 5% of the cohort) and the Geography badge to the student in each class who we feel has put in the most effort over the year. Here are this year's recipients of the latter two awards. Congratulations to them all:

Students awarded a Head's Commendation:

2016-17 - Geography Badge winners:

Summer Homework
This summer, we require all Year 10s and 12s to complete the homework tasks outlined below. These are vital for ensuring the best grades at the end of their courses. Students in Years 7-9 have the option to enter a Royal Geographical Society competition. All of these tasks have been uploaded to Show My Homework.
Years 7-9 - If students are able to, we would encourage them to have a go at this year's 'Young Geographer of the Year' completion run by the Royal Geographical Society. For this, students need to produce an A3 poster that describes the physical and human geography of their favourite place and considers how it is changing. Entries should be handed in the student's geography teacher by the end of the first week back in September. Further details can be found here.

Year 10 - Students need to complete the London case study booklet that they were given in the penultimate week of the year.
Year 11 - Students opting to study Geography at A-level next year have all been e-mailed a reading task to complete. This requires them to access banks of online articles that the faculty has access to, select two that interest them and rate and review each of these.
Year 12 - Students have been given two booklets of tasks that will force them review and develop their knowledge of important parts of the A-level course. One booklet is on the issue of fracking and the other requires them to define key words, read relevant articles and produce case study flash cards. Students must also ensure that the 'Introduction', 'Methodology', 'Presentation' and 'Critical analysis and interpretation' sections of their personal investigations are complete. This investigation is worth 20% of their final grade so these sections must be done as well as possible.

As this is the last time I will be writing in the newsletter, can I take the opportunity to thank parents for their support of the Geography Faculty over the past few years, particularly with the trips we run. I know for many, there must be a slight sense of dread when the Iceland or Swanage letters come home and you see the cost! I would also like to thank Miss Brown for all that she has done over the last 5 years to push the Faculty forward. She has worked tirelessly and been a key reason for why the subject has remained so popular. From writing engaging schemes of learning to raising our online profile to giving up countless weeks to accompany and lead numerous school trips, she has very much been at the heart of our success and I am sure she will do extremely well in her new position at St. Columba's. She will certainly be very missed by staff and students alike.

On behalf of the whole Geography team (Mrs Ashman, Miss Brown, Mrs Cox, Mr Snaylam and myself), I wish you all a safe and happy summer.

Mr Robins

HOUSE EVENTS

By the time you read this students will have taken part in over thirty different House Competitions running through the year. We have inter-form sports competitions, events from Austen's House Quiz, Britten's Sewing Bee to Newton's Photography Time Capsule competition run by the Houses themselves. There have been faculty and subject competitions like the annual Christmas Card Competition and our Illustration Competition to produce images for Harpenden Academy. There is the week long festive madness that is Form Room Decoration. Forms and Houses have competed to see who can give the most to the wider community, fundraising and collecting items for food parcels.

Students have also competed against themselves, pushing themselves hard to gain Merits, Ace Cards and Heads Commendations. Over 40,000 Merits have been awarded this year already and there is still a week to go with the final totals being calculated just before final assembly. By the time you read this Mr Higgins will have announced the Summer winners of the Merit Mark Cup (will Lawes have held on to it?!) and all of the competitions already mentioned and of course Sports Day will have fed into the final House Point Totals and the House Cup will have been awarded.

We are saying goodbye to Mr Jarvest, Head of King, as he leaves SJL and we are welcoming Miss Caldicott and Mr Hatchell as new Heads of House. We would like to take the opportunity to thank Mr Jarvest and to thank all those members of staff, House Captains, Form Reps and students who have helped run and support House Events. Well done and thank you to all of you. Remember it all starts again in September with the first House Events of the autumn term and the election of Form Reps and House Captains

Mr Higgins, Mr Evans, Mrs Ponte, Mr Bloxham, Mr Jarvest, Mrs Gibson and Mr Morton

ART NEWS

This Term has seen our annual GCSE Art and Textiles Exhibition which took place in May. You can see examples of Student work posted on our Instagram Account (www.instagram.com/sjlartdept) and you can watch a video beautifully filmed by Mr Fletcher on YouTube, alongside previous exhibitions. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCpYtalQxQvQ7IyN4HTqixFw.

We also held our first ever Whole School Exhibition alongside our annual A Level Show at the end of June. Students who are taking GCSE Art in September and students who are studying one of our A Level subjects, either Art, Graphics. Photography or Textiles have all received their summer briefs either by homework or via Show my homework. Year 9 Art students, remember that you need to keep your Intaglio Prints, Lino Prints and Sculptures safe as they will be included in your GCSE coursework to demonstrate your skills with a range of media.

To all Art Faculty students we are all looking forward to seeing what you produce over the summer. Please check our Instagram Account and our Twitter Account for regular updates and examples of the excellent work that all you have produced!

Mr Higgins - Head of Art

DRAMA NEWS

A Summary of a Dramatic year
This year has been a really vibrant and diverse year for the Drama department where we have concentrated on organising more enrichment and links with other schools and organisations. The upper school production of Arthur Miller's The Crucible was one of the best I have had the pleasure of working on and received rave reviews from the audience. The cast were fantastic and led by several year 13s giving it their all in their last show: Vinny Moli was peerless as the doomed tragic hero John Proctor and his wife Elizabeth was played with great dignity and pathos by Sophie Caplan. Patrick Brine brought integrity and heart to Reverend Hale and Adam Wilmshurst was a coruscating Governor Danforth. Raphaela Obeng was a tremendous Tituba, Evie Wright gave a lovely cameo as Rebecca Nurse and Alice Clothier was a powerful Ann Putnam along with Thomas her husband played by Harees Ibilola. Hannah Ongers was bitter and twisted Abigail who broke the will of a fantastic Mary Warren played by Melissa Demetri and lit a fire under a hysterical ensemble who scorched everyone they came into contact with. It was quite simply a brilliant play, cast and production that Miss Woolrych and I were very proud of and grateful to everyone who helped!

The lower school production of Jim Cartwright's Mobile Phone Show in July was very innovative and different from previous plays and productions in that it was completely ensemble with a chorus of all stars. They communicated a collage of ideas about the effect of mobile phone technology on teenager's lives in a humorous and poignant manner. From the opening Daft Punk Technologic sequence to the closing London Grammar 'Wasting my young years' sequence this short but powerful production shone bright with potential and talent for the future of SJL Drama.

There have been five theatre trips this year for all year groups and these have ranged from dark humour and satire of The Threepenny Opera at The National for year 12 and 13 to the madcap fun of Aladdin for year 7 and 8 students. In between we visited a lovely production of Twelfth Night at The National featuring Tamsin Grieg, and a predictable but enjoyable School of Rock for year 9 students. We also managed to catch the amazing John (Star Wars) Boyega in Woyzeck at The Old Vic which was a disturbing experience. This programme inspires and supports our work by providing opportunities for live theatre reviews which are required at Year 9, GCSE and A Level coursework as well being very entertaining and enjoyable of course!

We have awarded special end of year Drama Awards for students at KS3 and year 10 and 12 who have been most impressive in classes and productions during the year. The following students who will receive the much coveted star trophies this year are as follows;

At GCSE level the year 11's created some dynamic and enjoyable work on the topic of 'Looking back and forward' from the adaptation of scripts such as Teechers, 100 Things I know to be true and Morning their work was very mature and polished and we have everything crossed for them for their results in the summer.

Our year 12 A Level Drama group have produced some powerful monologues and duologues and an entertaining version of Pinter's The Birthday Party and Cartwright's Bed. As for Year 13, they produced two superb devised pieces based on the ideas of Artaud and Frantic Assembly entitled The Mind Game and Title Removed. Both pieces were awarded high marks which will help boost their overall grades enabling some students to move onto even greater dramatic things. Vinny Moli will be studying acting at East 15, Adam Wilmshurst has got a place at The Drama Centre and Evie Wright will be studying Drama at Queen Mary's. Our Year 13s have been a wonderful group since their brilliantly mature production of Adrian Mole in 2012 and since then have gone from strength to strength, bolstered by new arrivals in the sixth form, and we wish them all well in their futures and know that Drama will always be part of all their lives in some way.

Next year sees the first assessment of the new specs with their compulsory written exams and we are keen to keep the creative side thriving whilst working on exam technique and coursework. It's going to be a challenge but with hard work and strategic decisions we aim to ensure that everyone does their best and enjoys the course. 'Hard Work' of course is a number from Fame which is our next Upper School musical in December so over the summer you could learn some moves and songs from the show and try and dig out your parents' old leg warmers and leotards from the loft!

Our twitter account is thriving with 125 followers but we would like more, so follow us on @SJLDrama to be kept informed about what we're up to. A big and sincere thank you to all the many staff, students and parents who have helped support Drama and theatrical activities during this memorable year!

Tim Armitage / Head of Drama

SEND MY FRIEND TO SCHOOL CAMPAIGN

This term, Lucy Holloway and Lulu Abubakar in Year 10 were chosen as national Campaign Champions for the Send my Friend to School Campaign. After attending a training event in April, they joined with other students including members of our Oxfam Group to raise awareness of the campaign and the right of all children to an education.

Some of the statistics they learnt were that 263 million children around the world are currently missing out on an education and that for every child to receive an education an extra $39 billion per year is needed. In order to raise awareness of the situation, the students planned and delivered lessons about the campaign for year 7 students. During the lesson the Year 7s filled in a jigsaw piece which contained their ideas of what a school needs for the students to have a good quality education. They also wrote a message to our MP on how Bim Afolami could make a difference. Some of the classes also created photo stunts to help raise awareness of the cause.

To spread the message further, SJL students visited several Harpenden primary schools: Harpenden Academy, The Lea and Manland. We explained how important education is, what is needed for it and how funding is the issue stopping education for all. The assembly was presented using interactive activities which really got the children thinking, such as a thumbs up/thumbs down quiz which they all got involved with. The assemblies were a successful way of spreading the campaign message to other ages and now the primary students will be adding to the campaign by completing their own jigsaw pieces to highlight what is needed for all children to receive a good education.

After raising awareness in the school and wider community the students then met with our MP - Bim Afolami - at Sir John Lawes to talk about the Send My Friend to School campaign. When we met with him we briefly explained what Send My Friend to School's aim is, and the theme of this year's campaign - which is that money is the missing puzzle piece for global education. Lulu talked about why the campaign was so important to her, and how she got involved with being an ambassador, a really interesting and inspiring story.

We also talked about Britain's role in achieving education for all, and what the fundamental building blocks are for a good education. Our MP said that teachers, parents and time were the key things you needed, all very good points. How can you learn without being taught? What do you do if you have no motivation to go to school? Students from The Lea Primary School also made some very good points, and told us what they thought were the most important things you find in schools - things like equality, resources and - again - teachers.

The meeting was really helpful, as we got some idea of how our ideas and concerns can be heard, and how that translates on a larger and more political scale. Mr. Afolami (who is lovely by the way!) listened to our questions and answered them honestly, giving us tips on how we can help those in need and give them the opportunities they deserve.

The meeting at Sir John Lawes was then followed up with Lucy and Lulu spending a day in Parliament where they met with Bim Afolami again and also had the opportunity to meet with several other politicians and decision makers such as Stephen Twigg who chairs the International Development Select Committee.

Lucy said, 'I have thoroughly enjoyed today, I feel as a campaign we have made a huge impact as young people in Parliament. We spoke to several important people, questioning and speaking to those who can make a change, so now I feel confident our goal can and will be achieved through so much of the campaigning being done by everyone all over the country. It has been an experience I will never forget because we have made a huge difference to help those children around the world who are unfortunately not in school.'

Lulu said 'Today was an amazing opportunity. We went to Parliament and were given a tour of the houses. It widened my knowledge on Parliament and it was very interesting and exciting. We spoke to important people to emphasise the importance of education worldwide. I have thoroughly enjoyed this experience and I wouldn't change it for anything. To get an opportunity like this I feel is rare and I am truly grateful for it.'

Written by - Katie Sutton, Amelia Bird, Alice Parkinson

ECO-SCHOOLS UPDATE

This has been a busy term for eco-schools. We have been continuing to work on our eco-garden and now have a wild flower area, strawberries growing, raised beds constructed, a compost heap and the beginnings of a bug hotel. We also have some great signage (thanks to our Tech and Art departments) made out of reclaimed wood. All this work has resulted in us achieving level 1 of the RHS School Gardening Awards. Next year we hope to add a greenhouse, shed, and seating area which will ultimately help us to grown more in the garden and use the space for outdoor learning activities.

We would like to thank all those that have supported us so far with materials, advice or financial support - a big thank you must go to the Friends of Sir John Lawes for their donation which has enabled us to fence off the area so that it is in a defined and protected space. We also need to say a big thank you to Mrs Brading-Miles in Science and the SJL Site Team for all their support and time - we couldn't have done it without you!

If you are interested in helping out in any way with our eco-garden please get in touch - we'd appreciate any help we can get! On that note we are going to be holding our next 'garden force' day on Sunday 1st October. Last time we did this we had a really productive and enjoyable time -those that could help stayed anything between an hour and the whole day and we did various jobs from construction to digging to planting. If you think you can help on 1st October please pop the date in your diary and email hcox@sjl.herts.sch.uk so that she knows who to expect. We welcome anyone - students, parents, teachers and friends (you don't have to have an eco-schools connection or be a gardening expert).

Another focus of our efforts this half term was the 30 Days Wild challenge which is an initiative of Wildlife Trusts. The aim of 30 Days Wild was to encourage people to get outside and do something in the wild every day in June. As a school we managed to share something on twitter at least once a day during the month featuring all sorts of people from the school sharing their 'wild' activities. Check out @sjlecoschools on twitter to see what we got up to!

A final focus for this term was 'Green Week' which was held w/c 10th July. During the week we organised a range of different activities. We prepared a form session on the Pacific Garbage Patch and created a piece of art work out of rubbish found around the school to represent the fact that the Garbage Patch in the ocean is 4 times the size of the UK. The week prior to Green Week we hosted a film showing of 'A Plastic Ocean' for Transition St Albans during the St Albans Film Festival. These activities really helped raise awareness of the issue of plastic waste and encouraged us to do more to try and do our bit to reduce plastic waste. If you are interested in learning more about what you could do a good starting point would be www.plasticfreejuly.org where there are lots of tips about how to cut down on plastic waste.

During the week we also ran our form 'Cluedo' competition which involved students trying to discover which members of staff were committing which eco-crimes in which area of the school. Each of the crimes was a breach of our school's eco-code which is displayed in all rooms of SJL and serves as a reminder of what we should and shouldn't be doing to look after our school environment. The other competition we held was between faculties - it was an energy saving competition in which eco-schools members were the judges. They went round the school every day after lessons to check which faculties were best at turning off electrical appliances when they weren't being used at the end of the day. Joint winners for this year were History and Humanities.

During Green Week we also encouraged teachers to try to incorporate 'green' themes into their lessons and we tweeted examples of these throughout the week. There were all sorts of different things going on across a range of different subjects - if you want to find out more have a look at @sjlecoschools on twitter and look for the #greenweek. Finally, we ran a school wide questionnaire to get people's feedback on environmental issues around the school. Nearly 100 people responded and this will be really helpful for us in planning next year's activities. We need to say a particularly mention to Mr Robins and Kate Scarborough were our survey prize draw winners!

Eco-Schools Group

LIBRARY

This term has been busy in the library, celebrating 80 years of the Carnegie Children's book prize and the 20th anniversary of the publication of the first Harry Potter book, Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone. For the Carnegie anniversary, we encouraged students to read one of the previous winners, and produce a review. For the Harry Potter anniversary, we ran two competitions, the first being a word search, for which the winner was Shaun Graham 7B and the second being a quotes quiz. For the quotes quiz, only one person got this completely right, and she was our winner: Hannah Burroughs 9B.

There was also a Guess the Reader competition, which proved very popular, although it proved harder than many anticipated, with only 6 completely correct entries who were: Alice George 9N, Ella Burgan 7H, Grace Barlow 7N, Tegan Hancox 7L, Caroline Payne 7N and Mrs Russell. Well done!

Can you recognise this SJL teacher?

We also had an author visit from Camilla Chester, who came one lunchtime to chat to students about her latest book, Eats, and to sign copies for students.

Summer Six
This is a reading challenge open to all students, staff and families. Pick any six books of your choice, and send your list in to school in September. There will be a certificate for all completers, plus prizes for the best reviews.

What will you choose? Here is one person's choice from 2015, when we last ran the challenge.

Year 10 Reading Challenge
This is the first year that SJL has run a Year 10 reading challenge, which requires all students to read one book which provides background reading for one of their GCSE courses and one book for pleasure. There are further details and the form to complete on Show my Homework. For any year 10s who want to do the Summer Six, these books may count towards your six books.

Have a great reading summer!

Mrs Johnson - Librarian

FRIENDS OF SJL

Thank you to everyone who has supported the Friends of SJL this year. We have raised significant funds for the school while having fun - win - win!

Have a happy, sunny (fingers crossed!) summer but before you go note these dates for your diaries and see our call out to golfers

Diary dates for September

Welcome Evening, Tuesday 12th September

Join us for drinks and nibbles, a catch up after the summer holidays and to find out what events are coming up in the 2017/2018 school year
FREE!
Venue: SJL

Ramble to The Amble, Sunday 24th September

Join us for a 4-5-mile family walk from SJL to The Amble for a BBQ lunch
Dogs, bikes and scooters welcome
If you don't fancy the walk, just come along for lunch
Meet at 11 am, lunch at 1pm
£10 per person

More details for both events to follow in September

Golf vs local schools

Is anyone interested in helping to arrange a golf match in October vs St George's?
Ladies needed too!
If you are, contact Adrian Dixon on adrian.dixon@me.com

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.

Outside Achievements
The National Age Group diving competition was held at Ponds Forge diving centre in Sheffield last weekend. James Pollard (9L) won the Silver medal in the synchro event with partner Nat Connelly from Luton. The boys performed against a strong field and were only just beaten by competitors in a higher age group. James also performed some solid dives to be placed in the top ten in both the 1 meter and 3 meter boards. James is pictured here with his synchro partner and coach, former Olympian, Hayley Sage.

Sports Day
What another fantastic afternoon of sport! You could argue that having slightly overcast conditions for Sports Day this year was a bonus compared to the sweltering conditions the athletes had experienced over recent weeks during PE lessons and extracurricular athletic events. Everyone was out in full force supporting again as the bank lit up with colour -especially from some of the House Captains in year 12 and the year 7s making their mark in the lower school!

By the half way stage with all field events in, Hepworth held a convincing lead putting to bed the disappointment of their close loss last year. Ryder and Austen had it all to do on the afternoon of sports day to claw this lead back. The question was, had Hepworth already done enough?

As you can see Hepworth didn't just do enough to hold off the competition but also managed to extend their lead! The overall margin of victory was a massive 63.5 points. The bar has been set and Hepworth will now have a target on their back for next year. Congratulations must also go to King who gained the most number of Appearance Points with 75 different pupils from their House competing at some stage.

RENNIE GROVE HOSPICE

Concerts are being held at St Albans Cathedral in two weeks' time, in aid of the Rennie Grove Hospice. The money raised is for a very good cause, and tickets can be booked on the St Albans Abbey website. Please follow this link for further information:

HARPENDEN TOWN F.C.

PERFORMANCE COACHING