Autumn Term Lower School Newsletter

THE
LOWER
SCHOOL
Autumn Term 2022
Welcome
As the Autumn Term bounces along to a seasonappropriate
effervescent finish with our Lower
School Christmas performance on Friday 9
December, I thought it timely to share the learning
that the Lower School have been focusing on,
realising their potential with their diligent focus
and our expectations with their collaborative
approach to learning and the excellent creativity
and problem solving that they display, inside and
outside of the classroom.
The First Form have quickly become confident
and integral members of our Lower School
family and the Second Form are relishing the
responsibility of being older, wiser role models.
As well as the academic progress that you can read
about in this edition of the Lower School, there
has been a host of Co-Curricular activities and
achievements, such as the First Form’s exuberant
rendition of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor
Dreamcoat, a wealth of Rugby matches enjoyed
and won, debates held, PSHEE days enjoyed and
assemblies delivered with gusto, School tours
conducted, and friendships forged.
Mr Baker and I have been impressed with the
boys’ eagerness to demonstrate the School motto,
non nobis nati, with their charitable initiatives: the
First Form’s bake sale to raise money for Crisis and
the Second Form’s sponsored bowl, the brainwave
of Mr Ilott, and the proceeds of which will provide
much needed help for Ukraine.
There has been a choice of trips with Second Form
boys enjoying the Roman delights of Chester at
half-term and a large number of Lower School
boys excited to experience the gastronomic spirit
of Cologne with the German Christmas Markets
trip.
I could happily write ad infinitum about the boys’
achievements and experiences thus far, but for me,
the best illustration of the strong and supportive
Lower School family that we are, was observing
the boys at the Remembrance Day service as they
listened intently to the names of Old Albanians
who lost their lives and assembled at the Cenotaph
as wreaths were laid and the Last Post was played,
a mixture of awe and solemnity on their faces, as
they start their St Albans School journey.
Mrs Victoria Ginsburg
Deputy Head of Lower
School

THE LOWER SCHOOL
AUTUMN TERM 2022
ART
Art is fun but also educational, it helps teach you many skills
such as creativity which can be used in other skills and subjects.
In my art lessons at the moment we are learning about the work
of a Japanese artist called Yayoi Kusama who uses poker dots
to give her paintings and art three dimensions. This is very
interesting as it helps us to make our art better and expands our
skillset very easily. I find Art so fun because it allows me to use
my imagination and creativity, as there are so many options in
art and there are no set rules to what you have to do. But, the
teachers are also always there to guide you even when doing
independent work.
“In Art the First Form are learning about colour
and perspective, and the Second form students are
creating sculptures inspired by Yayoi Kusama.”
- Mrs Forbes-Whitehead, Head of Art
Liam, Second Form
COMPUTING
In this article, I will be explaining what we have been learning during
Computer Science in the first half term of my second year.
So far, we have been learning about the internet of things. The internet
of things is a control system with three sets of instructions; the input,
algorithm and the output.
We then went into more detail on how algorithms are formulated. We
used Flowol 4 to make different algorithms which gives the mimic the
instructions to follow. If the correct algorithm was used, the mimic would
work properly. This was very rewarding!
Ethan, Second Form
“
First Form have been practising Touch Typing, and learning useful
functionality in presentation and word processing software.
Second Form have been learning about Flowcharts and Control
Systems, and are about to start Cybersecurity.”
- Mrs D’Cruz, Head of Computer Science

AUTUMN TERM 2022
THE LOWER SCHOOL
DESIGN AND TECHNOLOGY
Design and Technology is one of my favorite subjects. The fact that every topic
that we work on is interesting and fun is amazing. All the teachers are more than
happy to help and provide suggestions for you and are enlightening when you ask
questions. The resources and equipment are extremely helpful, and we use them
regularly. Now I am making a Dark Activated Night Light. We get to use our own
design and colour; I enjoy how much freedom we have towards our light and the
best part is that we get to take it home.
“
DRAMA
Ishaan, Second Form
First Form have been learning about the Empire Windrush of 1948
and creating characters and scenes based on these events.
Second Form have been studying Stage Combat and writing scenes
to go with their choreographed fight sequences.”
- Mrs Macmull Teacher of Drama
Currently, I’m really enjoying Drama at St Albans School. I’m
particularly enjoying Drama because the teachers are so encouraging;
there is never a topic that you cannot enjoy. As well, the amount
of knowledge that the teachers have is incredible, they always have
helpful advice to help you improve. Recently I’ve been learning
about silent movies and what they contain. For an end-of-topic
test, the silent movies that we created in groups were filmed
and edited to such an extent I couldn’t tell the difference
between ours and an actual silent movie.
Tristan, Second
Form
ENGLISH
In English, we have been studying Greek mythology. We have analysed and
attempted to recreate the typical structure of a Greek myth i.e. the hero
being set a quest, succeeding and possibly making a fatal mistake. This was
interesting because despite some exceptions, there were plenty of elements
that were very similar in the different stories and tales.
“
We have also had the exciting opportunity to write our own Greek myth and
place it into a modern world context. Personally, I love creative writing, so
these have been perfect English lessons for me.
The First Form are looking at poetry, with a particular focus on
characters from Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales. The Second Form are
studying a selection of war poetry, including Wilfred Owen and
Jessie Pope.”
- Mr Hughes, Head of English
Theo, First Form

THE LOWER SCHOOL
AUTUMN TERM 2022
FRENCH
French is one of the wondrous languages we learn here in St Albans
School. My French teacher is Mr Russ. This term we had been
focusing on numbers up to 31, how to start a conversation, the
French alphabet, how to say your age, your birthday and finally
how to say what is in your bag. At the end of term, we had a test
on these subjects. The topic I enjoyed most was how to say when
your birthday is because we listened to songs and went around the
classroom asking each other’s birthday in French.
Srivats, First Form
GEOGRAPHY
The focus of the first half term in Geography has been
settlements. We’ve learnt how cities are laid out and about
the Burgess and Hoyt models. The Hoyt model has wedges of
industrial and residential areas, whereas the Burgess model
is based on concentric circles. We also discovered how places
were named historically. Some were named after people of
importance and others after their surroundings. Oxford, for
example, meant a ford, a shallow river crossing, where Oxen
could cross safely. I’ve particularly enjoyed the flag quizzes
and the letter we wrote to Bob, the Viking King, about where
to build his new settlement.
George, First Form

AUTUMN TERM 2022
THE LOWER SCHOOL
GERMAN
Hallo! Wie geht’s? (How’s it going?) At the moment in German, I
am studying school subjects and the school day. This includes: when
school begins and ends, the weekdays, what you eat or drink during
break times and the different clothes that you wear. Along with this
we are studying how to formulate longer sentences with connectives,
adjectives and how to express opinions.
In almost every topic that I have covered in German so far, I have
found it fun, interesting but always a bit challenging. For me, German
is sometimes challenging but with the help of my teacher, Frau Renz, I
always find a solution and when I do, I feel a sense of pride.
The German Department has organized a trip to Cologne in
December which quite a few of the boys are going to. This is a good
opportunity to practise their German and see the famous Christmas
markets. I recommend they try Kaiserschmarrn, which is my favourite
German pudding and is like soft fluffy pancakes cut up into chunky
pieces. Usually, you eat it with a berry sauce. Lecher! (tasty)
Finn, Second Form
“
In German, First Form are learning how to introduce themselves to a friend
while Second Form have completed a unit talking about their life at school and
we are just starting to talk about family and friendship.”
- Mr Squibb, Head of German
HISTORY
At the moment, the First Form are learning about the incredible history of bloodthirsty battles that happened
in 1066. We have been looking at different people’s claims for the throne after King Edward the Confessor
died and how William became victorious after the Battle of Hastings. This is particularly enjoyable since all
different areas of the topic are covered and we look deeper into why things played out how they did. We have
also been using our evidence to compare what was right and what was wrong.
Joe, First Form
“
In History, the First Form have explored how William consolidated his rule over Norman
England, while the Second Form examined the successes and failures of Tudor
and Stuart monarchs.”
- Mr Middleton, Head of History

THE LOWER SCHOOL
AUTUMN TERM 2022
“
LATIN
Latin is one of my favourite subjects and here is why.
In Latin we are looking at a man named Caecillius
who has many jobs e.g. (a banker) we have learnt
many words and every week we have a test.
Did you know that the first vaccine was made for a
dangerous disease named cowpox and in Latin Vacca
is a cow so if you can find the derivative in the word
vaccine you can see that most Latin words are found
in English words we use today.
Ewan, First Form
First Formers are learning about Caecilius, a resident of Pompeii in the First Century and
how he spent his time, the foods he ate, the type of house he lived in and the type of Drama he
enjoyed.
The Second Form are enjoying a new Latin course, de Romanis, and have explored the history of
the Roman Empire, its political and social structure and have considered the Olympian gods and
their power and mythological and historical heroes as role models.”
- Mrs Ginsburg, Head of Classics
MANDARIN
Mandarin is an interesting subject; it is very hard if you have not
previously learnt it, but it is worth it. We are currently learning how
to answer and ask questions and form basic conversations. There are
many different things to learn as the basics can take quite a few lessons
due to the differences from English. It is very useful should one wish to
visit China, as it is the most widely spoken language in the country and
can be spoken in most places. If anyone wishes to go to China, they
should learn Mandarin.
Kevin, Second Form
“
My Second Form students have been
busy exploring the hidden stories behind
the Chinese characters which contains
the wisdom to the language.”
- Ms Shen, Teacher of Mandarin

AUTUMN TERM 2022
THE LOWER SCHOOL
MATHEMATICS
Since starting the First Form we have covered many different
topics in Maths. These include negative numbers, order of
operations, some algebra, sequences and the Nth term, prime
factorisation, highest common factors, lowest common
multiples, divisibility rules and we have just started learning
about indices. Our first lesson relating to this was on index
laws. As you can tell it has been fast paced. My favourite topic
so far has been learning about the Nth term as this was not
something that I had previously learnt at my primary school.
Saul, First Form
MUSIC
Music in our first half term has been very exciting. In addition to learning
about the elements of music, we prepared for our choral performance of
Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat. The songs are based on a
variety of music genres.
The performance to our parents and staff was amazing. Mr Craig wore his
own coat of many colours which added to the performance. Mr Young and
Mr Cwizewicz played the accompaniments fantastically which added to the
excellent atmosphere. Our parents seemed to enjoy our performance with
some joining in with the encore! The whole year worked hard in practises
which brought us altogether.
Outside formal lessons there is so much available to do in the Music
Department with Orchestra, Ensembles, Choir and a variety of workshops.
Thomas, First Form

THE LOWER SCHOOL
AUTUMN TERM 2022
RELIGION PHILOSOPHY AND ETHICS
We have been exploring the philosophy of Religion and discussing ideas
such as the existence of a higher power. One of the main arguments we
have been studying is the ‘Design Argument’, which proposes that God
necessarily exists. This takes many forms, such as the ‘Paley’s Watch’
analogy. William Paley argues that if you found a watch, you would assume
it was designed by someone since it is so complex, and we may conclude
the universe was also consciously created. I have enjoyed considering both
sides of the debate, which has expanded upon our First Form learning about
Religion.
Thomas, Second Form
“
In First Form, pupils have been learning about Jewish beliefs and practices; in Second
Form, they have been exploring Philosophy of Religion, in the hope of being
able to understand and answer the question ‘does God exist?”
- Ms Walker, Head of Religion, Philosophy and Ethics
Zac, First Form
“
In Science this term we have modelled particle theory to help
us think about how matter behaves and explain why matter
has different properties and built circuits to understand how
electrical energy in the current can be transferred to various
devices.”
- Ms Griffiths, Teacher of Science
Science
In Science we have been learning about different types of cells, such
as animal and plant cells, and their parts. We have studied the parts
of cells and their functions. For example: animal cells have a nucleus,
mitochondria, a cytoplasm and a cell membrane. Plants cells also
have a nucleus, cytoplasm and cell membrane but also have parts
such as chloroplasts and a cell wall.
Leading on from cells, we have also been learning about systems in
the body and how they help us in everyday life! Systems such as the
digestive system, help us digest and take in nutrients from our food.
While the circulatory system transfers oxygenated and deoxygenated
blood around the body.

AUTUMN TERM 2022
THE LOWER SCHOOL
Jacob, First Form
FIRST FORM
PSHEE DAY
In September, all First Form pupils took a
day away from our normal timetable to focus
on the important topic of PSHEE, otherwise
known as Personal, Social, Health and
Economic education. The point of learning
PSHEE is to learn how to stay healthy, safe
and prepared for life. In the morning, police
officers talked to us about street awareness
and how to be safe on your own. After that, we
learnt how to perform CPR on dummies which
I really enjoyed and found very helpful. Later
in the afternoon we were part of a cooking
competition and had to follow a recipe and
create a meal. As this was going on, we learnt
about the five main food groups and which
ones were healthy and which weren’t. At the
end, some of us were chosen to taste the meals
and vote for their favourite. This was my
favourite part of the day as I love food!
SECOND FORM
PSHEE DAY
During the Second Form PSHEE Day we
learned about managing our time efficiently
so that we could study, play and still have time
to do other things we enjoy. At the start of the
day, we learned how to study more effectively.
We saw how mind maps are useful. We saw a
mind map of Leonardo Da Vinci’s life and the
fact that we could remember it an hour later
surprised me how easy it is to remember things
even after a long period of time. In a booklet
we drew a picture of ourselves and wrote our
goals for the year like acing your maths exam,
doing well in a certain sport etc.
Sidhanth, Second Form

St Albans School
Abbey Gateway, St Albans, AL3 4HB
www.st-albans.herts.sch.uk