Spring Term 2024 Lower School Newsletter

THE
LOWER
SCHOOL
Spring Term 2024
Welcome
Hello!
This has been such a jam-packed term, that it only
seems a few weeks ago that I wrote, introducing the
Lower School newsletter and extolling the talents
of our enthusiastic Lower School boys! Not only are
we lucky with the energy and interests of our Lower
School boys, but we are also privileged with our
committed staff, who give up their time and share
their passions on a daily basis. The boys have been
fortunate enough to compete in a French bake off
with lots of va va voom, enjoy international travel
with Geo Guesser in Junior GeoMinds, make fruit
baskets in J-Soc to celebrate the New Year of the
Trees, create masks in Art Club, and learn about
sunspots in Astro Club. This edition of The Lower
School serves as a whistle-stop tour of some of the
Co-curricular activities that keep your boys busy
during the lunch hour or after School.
In addition to these myriad co-curricular clubs,
our School motto, ‘non nobis nati’, was bought
to life in the Dodgeball Tournament organised
by Second Former Alban who raised money for
WaterAid and the blindfold lunch that was planned
by First Former Rex to raise money for Orbis. Both
year groups have enjoyed PSHEE days, the First
Form learning about resilience and the difference
between bullying and banter and the Second
Form about self-esteem and the changes that
adolescence may bring.
A special thanks goes to our innovative Lower
School Leaders who were integral in helping the
11+ candidates relax on their Assessment Day and
Callback Days and are currently helping us update
the Lower School Leader application for the current
First Form...watch this space!
As the term races to a close we await the results of
House Music, House Chess, and still have the First
form Creative Writing Day and the Lower School
French play to look forward to.
Wishing you all a lovely Easter holiday and safe
travels either further afield or at home.
Mrs Victoria Ginsburg
Deputy Head of Lower
School

THE LOWER SCHOOL
AUTUMN TERM 2023
ART CLUB
Hector - First Form
At Junior Art Club-every Monday evening we
have been working on several projects, such as
painting fruits, and creating three-dimensional
paper masks. Miss Lerche-Lerchenborg and
Mrs Forbes-Whitehead alternate running the
club each week, meaning we can work on a
variety of artworks.
Art Club’s creations last term include drawings
on the theme of ‘Winter Festivals’, still life
paintings, and clay models of pumpkins
and cakes. Yet Art Club is not (completely)
about art. Our relatively small group - four
or five people - always ends up more of a
social occasion, everyone discussing topics of
interest and catching up on recent holidays.
Art Scholarship Club is also in the same room
as Art Club, with one current participant
who is building up their portfolio and getting
feedback and advice from the teachers. Art
Club also ends half an hour early, allowing
students to catch up on some homework in
the library, or just go home early!
ASTRO CLUB
Michael - Second Form
Astro Club is a great club as we have a lot
of freedom to do what we wish in it. Our
teacher usually gives us a task to complete
and guidance on how to complete the task.
Other than that, we are usually left to our
own devices to problem solve a solution for
each task. The tasks themselves are fun; they
broadly revolve around space however they
can range from calculating the circumference
of the sun by using calculators, pictures of
sunspots and the different dates each picture
was taken to planning for an observation
evening by trying to find out where certain
constellations are whilst also trying to find a
decent day with clear weather. Overall, Astro
Club is a fun, relaxing club where we learn
about different parts of space.

AUTUMN TERM 2023
THE LOWER SCHOOL
BOOK CLUB
George - Second Form
Lower School Book Club takes place every
Tuesday lunchtime in the Junior Library.
During the year we participate in multiple
book awards – every week we each pick one of
the books from the awards to take and read
at home and we spend the time in Book Club
discussing our opinions on the books we have
read. After we have finished reading one of the
books, we write down our individual review;
this is then sent to the awards. After everyone
has read the books, we collectively decide
which was our favourite: this vote is submitted
and counts towards the winner of the book
award.
CHESS CLUB
Naren - First Form
I learnt chess basics from my grandfather,
and occasionally played chess online with
friends and family. Upon joining the Chess
Club at the School, I can just play for fun, or
engage in competitive matches with others.
In competitive chess, each player begins
the year with a 1000 rating and the rating
can increase or decrease depending on
how many rated games you have won
or lost. I enjoy Chess Club because it is a
place where I can interact and compete
with like-minded pupils. I am observing
other’s strategies and continually improving
my own skills. Additionally, there are
interschool tournaments for those who
excel in chess.

THE LOWER SCHOOL
AUTUMN TERM 2023
CHRISTIAN GROUP
Viron - Second Form
At Christian Group, we celebrate the diverse religion
of Christianity. We discuss our views across the
multiple parts of this religion. All year groups of any
faith are invited to join our discussions and we are
very hospitable for all new members. We have just
finished watching the Alpha Youth series which are
multiple videos with topic-related discussions
in which we confabulate our views.
In addition, we have the opportunity to
feast on a snack and something sweet while
we listen. After, we tend to play a game of
Pictionary, drawing out lots of things related to
Christianity and its symbolism, and guessing
what the drawing is.
Currently, we have been looking at an
upcoming event, Easter and we are talking
about our views on the importance of Easter
and what it means to us. We will be having an
Easter egg hunt soon, so everyone is looking
forward to finding and eating chocolate eggs.
Before finishing, we end on a prayer in which
we pray for multiple events like world peace,
equality, and good health for all.
DODGEBALL
TOURNAMENT
Alban - Second Form
I decided to arrange a Dodgeball Tournament because
I really wanted to have the responsibility of running an
organised event which not only would help people in
need but improve my organising skills for the future.
I decided to support the charity WaterAid. 37 people
signed up for the tournament and with the £2 entry fee
plus additional donations we were able to raise £76!
On the first day, my team of helpers and I set up the
tournament for the teams and with the help of the
teachers on duty refereeing, we were able to fit in a
bundle of matches on the first day leaving the three
finals for the second day. Crowds waited and watched
from upstairs cheering for their favourite team and year
group. Many players were supported and some had
their own chants created for them.
From the experience I have learnt that you should take
your ideas into action. The Dodgeball Tournament
was once just a dream which then with a bit of effort
became reality. I also learnt that if you help organise
something, even if it is something small, it can make a
lot of people happy.
Overall, the tournament was a huge success and
something that I would do again.

AUTUMN TERM 2023
THE LOWER SCHOOL
DRAMA CLUB
Rex - First Form
The House Drama Club is a great club full of
opportunities to socialise in our houses. We aim to
create an original 10-minute-long drama piece and
show it to the other houses.
In the first week, we were all provided with the
same stimuli as the sources of our ideas – in this
year, we were given pictures of the bustling streets
of London. After that, we would rehearse and start
working on our pieces step by step, working our
way towards our goal. It is peculiar how we were
all given the same starting point but will result in
DRAMAtically different pieces at the end!
This is my first year joining this fantastic activity,
and as a part of Hawking House, I am enjoying the
casual but fruitful rehearsals, the way the play is
gradually piecing together, and how we all are nicely
cooperating and anticipating for the performance. I
am looking forward to the show too!
ENGLISH ALLSORTS
Jack - Second Form
English Allsorts is an educative, fun, and chilled out
club where every Thursday at lunch break, I come in
and have a load of choice for which games I want to
play. Such as Bananagrams, Scrabble and Articulate,
which all help to enhance your vocabulary. If you are
not sure if a word exists or not then we are always
encouraged to use a dictionary from the shelves in
the Junior Library, which is where we are situated.
Plus, it is a great space to meet up with friends and
from experience I know that it is a place that my
friends like to hang out with our heated games of
Bananagrams on most occasions.
FRENCH SPELLING BEE
Max - First Form
On Monday 4 December many classes competed
in the French Spelling Bee competition. In the First
Form we learnt 50 terms, and then after our teacher
read a word, we had one minute. We had to spell and
pronounce the words and letters correctly to get a
mark. I found this a fun experience where our entire
class got to compete for the podium, the entrance to
the next round and more importantly the chocolate
for the top three students who spelt the most words
in one minute. In conclusion I thought it was a fun way
to compete against other students and test the vocab
that we had learnt during the past year

THE LOWER SCHOOL
AUTUMN TERM 2023
FRENCH BAKE OFF
Alban - Second Form
On Tuesday 25 January students from the Second
Form participated in a French Bake Off Competition.
We made a chocolate pie while reading dual language
instructions to help us bake. Many pies came out of
the ovens, some neatly patterned while others not.
In the waiting time between cooking the students read
a PowerPoint about the tradition of French Epiphany,
its celebrations and how they originated.
French people place a miniature figurine in the middle
of the pie and whoever finds it is crowned king for the
day. As we all waited eagerly to find the figurine some
were left with disappointment while others declared
victory and honour and wore the crown!
Our pies were judged on decoration and the balance
of chocolate inside the pie. If you left one small
gap when sealing the pie, your masterpiece would
be ruined as in the oven the chocolate would seep
through and burn. It was down to a final three
candidates to decide the winner and we all waited in
suspense hoping that it was our lucky day.
The runners-up received their own KitKat bar! And
the winners received a very special cookbook helping
them improve their cooking and baking skills.
The judges and chefs spoke to us only in French, so
we had to overcome the challenge of translation but
despite these tough conditions we excelled.
With the remaining slices of pie on the table it was up
to the teachers to battle the temptation of eating their
students’ art, but alas the temptation was too strong,
and the teachers finished it all off!
Overall, it was a lovely experience of suspense,
excitement and fun. The whole year enjoyed the
special occasion and would love to do it again.

AUTUMN TERM 2023
THE LOWER SCHOOL
GEOMINDS
Jonathan - First Form
Welcome to Junior GeoMinds, the place where
learning meets fun! We’ve been hard at work
crafting a fantastic experience for all our members,
and here’s a glimpse of our recent adventures.
Over the past few sessions, we’ve journeyed
through the world with Geo Guesser, a thrilling
game where we test our global location knowledge.
The excitement and challenge of guessing locations
and landmarks are always a hit among our
members.
We’re also proud to say we’ve been flexing our
HISTORY MINECRAFT
James - First Form
History Minecraft is a great club for learning
History in a fun way. By playing Minecraft, we are
learning History without even knowing. We are
researching medieval buildings and then building
them which gives us a visual representation of
what life was like in those times. History Minecraft
is also great for team working skills as we work
together on each project. Our last topic was
building a medieval castle based on any real
castle of our choice. We recreated it in Minecraft
whilst adding signs throughout the build to label
what the building was used for. Our topic this
term is to create a full medieval village with all
the necessary buildings that a village of that time
would have. Overall, I think that History Minecraft
is a great way to learn History.
engineering muscles! In one of our meetings, we
took on a shake test challenge. Using only edible
materials, we built structures to withstand tremors.
It was a challenging task that highlighted the
importance of resilience in construction.
But that’s not all! We delved into the complex world
of urban planning and created a mini-squatter
settlement. Crafting a small-scale community was
not only educational but also a fantastic exercise in
teamwork and creativity.
Junior GeoMinds is all about exploring geography,
engineering, and creativity. Our club offers a space
where students can learn, experiment, and have a
blast while doing it.

THE LOWER SCHOOL
AUTUMN TERM 2023
J-SOC
Saul - Second Form
J-Soc is a club based around Judaism. Open to
everyone, J-Soc meets every Tuesday lunchtime.
Discussion is different each week based on
different topics surrounding the religion. For
example, we have had guest speakers from Tribe,
FZY and Jewish Blind & Disabled. There is always
an interesting debate to be had. Lots can be learnt
from the speakers and each meeting is filled with
information. On top of all of this, weekly delicious
snacks are always available!
JUNIOR DEBATING
Aran - Second Form
This year it has been a pleasure to be part of the
Junior Debating club. Every Monday lunch time we
come together to witness or take part in a debate, it
is always fun and engaging, with pupils from the 1st
to 3rd year competing or watching one another. The
topics are always interesting, and I have left knowing
something new multiple times. I have been lucky
enough to participate in a debate a couple times and it
is a great experience; it was brilliant to have a friendly
yet professional environment and encouragement
from my peers when delivering my speech. Junior
debating is also a very valuable experience due to
its ability to help us improve our arguing skills and
formulate our points in a speech as well as preparing
us for later life if we ever come into a situation where
debating is needed. All in all, debating has been a very
enjoyable club during my time in the Lower School and
I would recommend others to go too.

AUTUMN TERM 2023
THE LOWER SCHOOL
MATHS CLUB
Roy - First Form
Maths Club is a very enriching society to join. You not only gain
so much knowledge about Maths, but the teachers will also
always assist you when you are stuck on a problem, and they
are very patient when you are struggling with a concept. It is
also a good place to interact as you are often paired together
across different years groups. It is a place you can go whether
you are talented at Maths, or if you are just looking for a way
to spend your Monday after School. It is a place where you
do not need a certain skill level to be able to enjoy yourself as
there are always different tasks requiring different skill levels.
St Albans School
Abbey Gateway, St Albans, AL3 4HB
www.st-albans.herts.sch.uk