30th March 2012 - Sir John Lawes School

Luton Hoo Walled Garden ExhibitionLower school students from Art and Textiles have been working all term on two large scale collaborative pieces, amixed media textiles landscape and a sculptural beanstalk, inspired by children’s literature.Students produced individual drawn and textile based images which then became parts of larger group pieces.These were then displayed as part of an exhibition at the Luton Hoo Walled Garden. The (above) textile pieceis now on display in school and the beanstalk is sited at the Walled Garden.Mr HigginsHUMANITIESIceland Trip 2012 – 12 – 16 AprilLess than two weeks to go until Iceland! Students should ensure that they arrive at 08:15 for a 08:30 departure.The back car park (behind the Humanities Block) will be open to use, as it will be on Monday 16th for our return.Those students who have not handed in their passports and EHICs need to remember them and have themsomewhere easy to get to as they will be collected before we get on the buses. Students also need to rememberto have their swimming costumes in their hand luggage ready to go to the Blue Lagoon on arrival in Iceland. I lookforward to seeing all 65 students early on Thursday 12 th !MUSICAll instruments MUST be taken home over the Easter holidays.Please could you remind your child to take home any musical instruments over the holidays (not least to do somepractice!) An increasing number of instruments, especially guitars, are being left for several days in someinstances. The school cannot take responsibility for instruments which are left overnight. If pupils need to leave aninstrument overnight, now and again, they must ask a member of the music staff to lock it away.Thank you for your support in this matterMrs Hastings-ClarkeMODERN FOREIGN LANGUAGESOur week in Harpenden –by our German Exchange Partners

que no dejó un país mejor que el que recibió. Chávez merece que se le recuerde como una oportunidadperdida [..] El pueblo venezolano dio a Chávez un cheque político en blanco y, gracias al boom prolongadode los precios del petróleo, contó también con un cheque económico en blanco. Pocos jefes de Estadohan podido aunar el enorme apoyo popular y los inmensos recursos económicos de los que disfrutóChávez durante 14 años. Su control absoluto de todas las palancas del poder le permitió hacer lo quequería. Lo que no hizo fue dejar el país en mejor situación que cuando llegó a la presidencia. Hugo Chávezmerece que se le recuerde como una oportunidad perdida".Oportunidad perdida que está fuera del alcance de los segundones del comandante fallecido queno tienen legitimidad ni calzan su astucia y talla, que siendo minoría pretenden perpetuarse en el poder(con disfrute de la riqueza petrolera) y forzar a todo el país a seguir el camino de un "socialismo siglo XXI"ya claramente fracasado en el mundo e inviable para Venezuela. El silencio impuesto arbitrariamente alos medios en Venezuela y ahora a un organismo de libre discusión democrática internacional comodebería ser la OEA es clara señal pública para el mundo de que el régimen solo es capaz de dar "patadasde ahogado" y emite ya estertores de muerte.Conclusión“Vemos con preocupación lo que pasa en la OEA y llamamos a que se cumplan losprincipios democráticos de su fundación. Se está cercenando su integridad por la chequeravenezolana”. "Esta lucha no es de los gobiernos sino de los pueblos"[Carlos Vargas, valiente ylúcido líder de 21 años de edad del movimiento estudiantil que detonó las protestas en el país yque formaba parte de la comitiva, formada por la madre de Geraldine Morales, una de lasprimeras víctimas de las marchas, y el veterano sindicalista, Iván Freites, que acompañó aMachado en su frustrada visita a Washington].“El señor Cabello está demostrando la desesperación de un régimen que se sabe débil, queestá desesperado y que piensa que con esto va a intimidar a los venezolanos o a doblegar a susrepresentantes: se equivoca. Esta acción nos da más fuerza y más razones para continuar en lalucha y yo sigo siendo diputada de la Asamblea Nacional hasta que el pueblo de Venezuela así lodecida. Seguiré luchando dentro y fuera de la Asamblea, dentro y fuera de Venezuela”, aseguróMaría Corina Machado" [25 marzo].25‐03‐14

TRODDEN LisaWYPER CaraWILLIS MaxWILMSHURST AdamWOOD EmilyYANKOVA ToniYELLAND CiaraYOUNGER DaisyRATTAB WedadRICHARDSON JackROBERTS DanielROE EllieROGERS EmilyRUSSELL AmySAMBROOK JoshuaSAUNDERS RhysSHACKLOCKAlexanderSILVER JasmineSMITH IsabelleSONOLA KasopeSULE TaraTRUSCOTT JoshWAIN NatalieWILLIAMS HeatherWILLIS LukeWILTSHER AnaYUN MatthewSOUNDS JUST LIKEA Sounds Just Like… radioprogramme at SJL has caughtthe ear of staff and students atFrancis Bacon. On Wednesdaymorning our students presenteda LIVE version in FrancisBacon's whole school assemblywith their Head teacher, MattGauthier as guest.The radio programme that Year10 students, Amelia Gabaldoniand Zach Cole, present is calledSandy Landmass Songs andbears more than a passingsimilarity to Radio 4's DesertIsland Discs.Members of staff are pushed out of a 'virtual' plane with just a parachute, an iPod with 3 songs of their choice anda block of their favourite cheese. Their head teacher chose camembert and was quizzed as to how he anticipatedadapting to this alien environment. His musical choices reflected his childhood and he singled out: Delilah by TomJones; Handbags and Gladrags by The Stereophonics and Another Brick in the Wall by Pink Floyd as songs hecould listen to repeatedly.Wedad Rattab and Kasope Sonola (also Year 10) acted as roving reporters asking the audience for theircomments and questions whilst Cameron Bretnall operated the controls. The audience was keen to hear MrGauthier’s tales of his sporting interests and also asked how a radio station works in a school environment.Next episode: Mrs Potts!

ECO SCHOOLSMasterchefOn Thursday 22 nd March the Eco Schools Group organised a Masterchef competition,which involved many budding chefs cooking their best food for a panel of judges,including a chef and a nutritionist, in a bid to be crowned Masterchef champion.The first stage of the competition, which took place earlier this half term, consisted ofstudents from all year groups designing a meal that they felt was both tasty andenvironmentally friendly. The Eco Schools Group led a series of assemblies in which we introduced the issue ofsustainable food, by looking at the ideas of food miles and seasonal produce. After this it was down to thestudents to put what they’d learnt into practice and design their meal.The next stage was to decide which of the applicants deserved a place in the Masterchef final. The standard ofentries was very high, but we eventually managed to whittle it down to around 20 contestants who we felt stoodout from the crowd.On the day, contestants had 45 minutes to prepare top quality food, and they rose to the challenge very well,delivering some wonderful meals. The judges then had the pleasurable job of tasting all the food, a task that wasmuch enjoyed by all involved! Contestants were rated on taste, presentation, skill and consideration of food miles,and once all the scores were added together, the competition proved to be very tight.Joshua Smith, 8N, emerged as a worthy winner with his goat’s cheese pie. The judges were very impressed withthe sophistication of his dish, and with the amount of effort he had put into sourcing his produce locally.Congratulations to everyone involved, with a particular congratulations to Joshua, who walked away with his ownMasterchef trophy and apron.Also, a massive thank you to our guest judges on the day, to Mrs Bonnington for helping make sure everythingwent smoothly and to everyone who played a part in making the event such a success.Miriam QuinnOn behalf of the Eco Schools GroupSCHOOL ASSOCIATIONI think it’s fair to say that all of you will know me as the previous Chair of the School Association. As I have takenover as SJL coordinator for the Festival on the Field (FOTF) – the SA’s major fund raising event this year - I haveoffered to take over the writing of the newsletter until another Chair of the SA is found.New Chair & New TreasurerFirst I want to say a huge thank you to Tony Ward. Whilst his tenure as Chair has been sadly brief he hasachieved an incredible amount – particularly his steering of the Festival on the Field committees. All of us whohave worked with him would like to tender a huge thank you and wish him well.We need two positions to be filled: Chair of the School Association and Treasurer of the Festival on the Field.The latter is a position jointly held with the Manland Treasurer and will only require input until the end of term. Ifyou would like further information about these posts please contact me on the email below. The School

Association has a really dynamic role to play in the school and we want to ensure that its good work continues.The Chair position could also be shared.Comedy Night – 19 MayJust a reminder to start making up a table for our Comedy night. It was so successful last year that we anticipateselling out fast. We have three fabulous acts and a marvellous compère lined up for the evening. Tring Breweryis again providing us with some of their sensational Ale so the night will go with a swing. There will be a fullylicensed bar so you don’t need to bring drink but do bring food. Download a flyer and ticket order form from thislink.We are looking for sponsors for this very popular event to either provide raffle prizes or cash to purchase prizes. Inreturn, we will publicise your donation in the newsletter and on the evening of the event. Please contact me at thee-mail address below if you are interested in being a sponsor for this sell out night.Festival on the Field – 23 JuneOver Easter why not take a minute to look at our website www.festivalonthefield.com. This event is going to beabsolutely fabulous: From 1.30 til 3.30 the SJL bands and choirs will take the stage, along with their primarycounterparts from Manland Primary School. At the same time there will be masses of entertainment put on for theyoung – a climbing wall, bouncy castles, magicians, messy arts and crafts and lots more – there’ll be a FestivalMarket with stalls selling all sorts of wares, plenty of food and drink and £3,000 worth of ice creams donated byWalls. Then we move into the Tribute Acts. All are incredibly well known in their field. Michael Jackson “ is solike the legendary singer it’s hard to believe he’s not miming” and Killer Queen are almost as famed as the originalQueen themselves; indeed they are the No 1 Queen Tribute band, recently playing to audiences of over 30,000 inEurope.Tickets, gazebo pitches and parking may be purchased via the school using the application form available fordownload here; tickets may also be purchased online via www.festivalonthefield.comYou need to be there and you need to bring your children and friends!!!Have a very happy Easter - best wishes - Julia Verney, Festival on the Field Coordinator sa@sjl.herts.sch.ukSPORTS ROUND UP – EASTERAs always it has been a long, busy and successful term in the world of Sport and PE for the students of SJL. Ourteams and individual sporting stars have been committed and passionate in all sports including football, rugby,netball, hockey and basketball playing in competitions and a range of friendly matches against local schools.Sports Results:Saturday 24 March: Football vs. VerulamYear 7: SJL 2 - 4 VERYear 8: SJL 2 – 7 VERYear 10: SJL 1 – 1 VERYear 9 District Cup Semi-Final: SJL 0 – 0 VER (0-2 AET)The year 9 Football team had their first sight of a final this past Saturday, but they did have a very good Verulamteam standing in their way. SJL started fantastically with Pat Brown and Lewis Head, Zac Barwell, Ben Douglas,Lewis Burton and Harry Bradbury playing well at the back cutting out any chances. This then left Christian Everitt,Josh Ferguson, Tom Porter and Jamie Sear to go and work their magic up front. SJL created some good chancesin the first half however the best chance fell to Chris Everitt on the half volley which scraped past the post. SJL didnot play in the same way in the second half, allowing Verulam to come and attack and it was only due to a fewbrilliant individual saves from Tom Hewitt that we were able to take Verulam to extra time.In extra time the team decided to go full out attack with their minds on winning the game without having to go topenalties. Unfortunately Verulam caught us on the counter attack scoring two very good goals in the space of tenminutes. Well done to all the boys involved it has been a fantastic season with some brilliant results, thank you forall your commitment to training and enthusiasm on Saturday mornings.FootballA Season of Missed Penalties!

For the first time in 6 years SJL has not won a Football Cup. Although the headline is disappointing it has been aseason of 'so near but yet so far'. Three of our sides lost penalty shoot outs this year after very tight games thatall presented opportunities for victory. But that’s sport and fine margins divide success and disappointment at alllevels.However, it is not all doom and gloom! There have been some great performances over the course of the year -the Seniors had some brilliant wins not least from 2 - 0 down against a very strong East Barnet side in the NationalCup and an excellent turn round against Marlborough who they beat 3-1 in the District Cup having lost 5-1 twoweeks earlier in the County League. The year 8 side lost heavily to Roundwood Park last season but this yeartook them to sudden death penalties before finally missing out on a semi final place. The best achievement interms of the County Cup this year was the Year 10s who reached the quarter final only to lose narrowly to a strongRichard Hale side.So our attention now turns to Athletics, Cricket and Tennis but already we are excited about renewing the Footballchallenge next season.Well done to all those involved.BasketballSpring term saw the Year 7 and 8 basketball teams play in their District leagues. The Year 7 team made a goodstart to their lives in the district basketball playing excellently against St. Georges, Nicholas Breakspear and manyother schools. The team consisted of Luca Denton, Jack Brand, Dan Toy, Ollie Todd, Danny Dytham, Max Hills,Christian Roberts, Matt Corocan and Nick Bailey. Throughout the season the boys have played really well andhave learnt new skills and have all contributed towards the good results.The Year 8 team have had another good season progressing on from last year and winning a lot of their games.The team consisted of Jon Lacey, Henry Parkinson, Louis Gabaldoni, Ben Purvis, Dan Campfield, Dan Sambrook,Adam Wilmshurst, Oscar Layzell, Patrick Rutherford and Findlay Eldridge. Against Roundwood Park the boysworked hard and secured victory with fine passes and movement, and the baskets they scored proved what agood team they are. They are starting to show more consistency with their lay ups, particularly under pressure in agame situation.Well done to all the boys over the year and hopefully they will all come back for next year's campaign.NetballThe netball teams have had a full term of league and cup matches, and have culminated the season with theirDistrict Tournaments last week. The Year 7s were in a very tough draw, and played some strong schools, but itwas great to see their level of play improve as the tournament progressed. The Year 8, 9 and 10 teams all wentthrough to the semi finals, after some excellent wins in their group matches. Unfortunately, each of these teamscame across the eventual tournament winners in these matches, but did extremely well to get so far in a verystrong field.The Year 9 and 10 players now look forward to the Sports Tour in Holland, where I am sure they will have afantastic time, and learn lots. The coaches out there are excellent, and they always make a real impact on theplayers.For those players who may be interested, there are two local netball clubs which take junior players, and wouldwelcome new members:Harpenden Netball Club at St Georges School on Wednesday Evenings from 6-7pm. If interested, ringSam on 07525 703153 for more information.Hatfield Netball Club – for more information go to www.hatfield-netballclub.co.uk . This website containsinformation on their training dates and venues.HockeyAfter an exciting season of hockey, I would like to congratulate all the girls for their continued hard work and effortboth at training and fixtures. The year 8, 9 and 10 squads all fought hard in their County Cup battles, butunfortunately we did not make it through to the semi finals of these tournaments. However there were somepromising performances particularly in the year 9 and 10 games against some tough opposition. We did fare muchbetter in the District Tournaments however, with both the year 8 and year 9 teams winning games against local

schools such as Loreto, Sandringham and Roundwood. The Year 7 teams have also had success this year in theirdistrict matches and further afield. Well done to all the ladies who have turned up to training or have representedthe school- hopefully next year we can see more success!School Sports PartnershipSir John Lawes has participated in several of the Level 2 competitions that have been run by the District over thepast couple of terms, and some of the teams have won at this level, so progress onto the Level 3 stage, against allthe best teams from each District. The Under 14 Girls Badminton got to this stage, and played very well in theirmatches. The Under 16 Girls and Boys Rowing teams also progressed to Level 3, and had a really tough day ofgruelling races on the rowing machines. Well done to Ben Eldridge, Anton Denton, Josh Sambrook and AdamRoche, who achieved bronze medal position. The girls team of Sasha Cutten, Kelly Wright, Megan Campfield andHeather Williams did even better, and achieved Gold Medals! These achievements are especially good when youconsider that they were both Year 10 teams up against Year 11 competitors – well done.Next term, we have the Level 3 Girls and Boys Under 15 volleyball competitions to look forward to, and I know thestudents have been practising really hard for this, so good luck to all those involved.Gold ChallengeI write this having just received the tickets for the Gold Challenge stadium event for Sunday 1 st April. Our 6 luckystudents, James McMurray, Abby West, James Stebbings, Daniel Todd, Cameron Hutson and Daniel Toy have allbeen very busy making our SJL Flag for the parade, and are very excited about the day. After parading, we will beseated in the stadium, and treated to an afternoon of entertainment, in the form of races on the track, singing fromPaul Potts, and performances from Spellbound, amongst much more. When we get back after the EasterHolidays, we will give you a full report, including photos, so that you get your first glimpse of London 2012 magic!We would like to take this opportunity to wish everyone a very restful Easter looking forward to all your furthersuccess in 2012.The PE Faculty

DISCOVERING HARPENDEN COMMONHARPENDEN TOWN COUNCILTown HallLeyton RoadHarpendenHerts AL5 2LXTel: 01582 768278 Fax: 01582 760026Harpenden.town.council@harpenden.gov.ukwww.harpenden.gov.ukDiscovering Harpenden CommonIn the short time the Harpenden Common Discovery Day has been running it has become an annual familyfavourite in Harpenden. This year the event will take place on Saturday 16 June from 10am until 5pm and willagain be free to attend. Confirmed attractions include sheep shearing, falconry displays, a dancing dog display, adog show and ferret racing.The aim of the event is to promote Harpenden Common and encourage people to find out about this wonderfulasset in the heart of their community. It includes 3 nature trails, a horse ride, ponds, hay meadow, woodland andis home to a variety of sporting clubs. Over the decades Harpenden Common has had varied uses includinggrazing for sheep, horseracing, hunting, ice skating, athletics, football, cricket, golf, circuses and fairs.There are a number of opportunities for local charities and community groups associated with nature andenvironment to promote their issues for free by holding activities, having a stall or fundraising. If you would like toget involved, contact Dan Taylor on 01582 463665, dan.taylor@harpenden.gov.uk or visit www.harpenden.gov.uk.For further details, please contact Dan Taylor at Harpenden Town Council, tel. 01582 463665.Photo – Bird of Prey from last years event.

PARENTING COURSESTwo courses being run by the St Albans Partnership. Download flyers from the following links or see below forcontact details.Feeling Good Feeling SafeBoundary SettingFamily Support WorkersHobie Walker (Tue, Wed and Thur) and Claire Belfield (Mon, Tue, Thur and Fri)Tel: 01582 623676Emails: familysupport@saunceywood.herts.sch.ukcbelfield@saunceywood.herts.sch.ukhwalker@saunceywood.herts.sch.ukHERTFORDSHIRE COUNTY COUNCIL SERVICES FOR YOUNG PEOPLEEaster Courses: Please download flyers from the following links or see below for contact details.Easter Activities 1Easter Activities 2Tel: 01442 454086Fax: 01442 453006