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Newsletter No 557 – 10 October 2014
You would think that on a week
where we had Open Evening,
that would be our highlight but it
was thrown into the shade by a
visit on Thursday from Mark
Lawson, ex-SJL student and
now Red Arrows pilot!
th
He kept Yr 11 and 6 form
students fascinated when he
spoke to them about his career
and the route he had taken since
SJL and the message he gave
about not being put off at the
first hurdle was one that will
surely prove very useful to them
whatever future they choose. Even though Mark left SJL several years ago now, there were
still a few familiar faces around the school to greet him and it was wonderful to see his
success and to hear his memories of his time at school.
On Thursday afternoon we had the pleasure of having a speech from a highly esteemed
member of the SJL alumni: Flight Lieutenant Mark Lawson, otherwise known as Red 6 from
the Red Arrows. We were first shown an exhilarating video, featuring Mark and the eight other
Reds at work in perfect aerobatic formation. It was amazing to hear from someone with such
enormous talent, being one of only very few people to meet the rigorous requirements for the
RAF's flagship squadron, including having the minimum of 1500 hours flight time in military
fast-jets. He made a compelling case for the Red Arrows' existence and has no doubt made
many people dream of following his pursuits!
Jack Richardson 13H
We love to hear from our ex-students and the number of them we keep in contact with was
one of the points I made in my Open Evening speech. Later in this newsletter you can read
about Carly Watson, another ex-student who has gone on to great things using her SJL
media studies and if any other alumni would like us to share their success stories with the rest
of the SJL community then please do get in touch!
Having mentioned Open Evening it seems only fair to say that I could not have been more
proud of the students and staff on Tuesday evening. Luckily the weather held fair for a record
number of visitors to the site and the range of activities and the enthusiasm of the participants
cannot have failed to impress all our guests – well I know it did because of the number of
compliments I received on behalf of the school! We will hopefully share some photos of the
evening with you in a later newsletter and in our half-termly podcast but in the meantime
thanks to everyone for their hard work.
As always, if you have any comments or suggestions I would be pleased to hear from you,
please contact me at [email protected].
Claire Robins
LETTERS HOME THIS WEEK



Re the joint History and German trip to Berlin
Re the year 12 Geography trip to Swanage
Re the year 10 GCSE information evening
A reminder that copies of all generic letters sent home can be found on our website at:
http://www.sjl.herts.sch.uk/practical-information/letters-home.php
CALENDAR REMINDER FOR YEAR 7:
Year 7 Parents’ Evening Tuesday 25 November 2014.
The evening runs from 5-8pm
Schedules will be coming home via students the week before Parents Evening.
If you require specific disability access arrangements to be made, please contact the school
at [email protected] or 01582 760 043 and we will do our best to meet your needs.
A reminder that the full academic calendar for parents from our website at:
http://www.sjl.herts.sch.uk/practical-information/the-school-calendar.php
FESTIVAL ON THE FIELD
Festival on the Field has been nominated for the UK Festival Awards in the Small Festival
and Family Festival categories. The winner is decided by a public vote. If you wish to take
part and support this great event, please click on this link to submit your votes:
https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/Z85F2BB
Voting is open until 27 October.
Thank you for your support!
RE DEPARTMENT
SJL’s RE Department is now on Twitter! Please sign up to ‘@SJL_RE’ and have weekly Big
Brain Questions, links to RE in the news and information about upcoming trips!
MORE NEWS OF EX-SJL STUDENTS!
Carly Watson, Deputy News Editor – ITN
I was a student at Sir John Lawes from 1998 and left Sixth Form in 2005 after successfully
achieving 11 GCSEs and 4 A levels. Two of my qualifications were in Media Studies which I
went on to further study at Staffordshire University.
I had a passion for journalism from a young age as my father was in the profession and SJL
acknowledged this and helped me gain as much experience as I could while I was at school. I
spent my Year 10 work experience placement at work with my dad and was then put forward
for an additional work experience opportunity at The BBC by the Careers Department. I spent
a day working at BBC Grandstand and spent the day in the shoes of Sue Barker which
inspired me to become a journalist even more.
I then went on to study Broadcast Journalism at university. I did work experience every
summer I was away from university, which landed me with freelance contracts and ultimately
the title I currently hold, as Deputy News Editor at ITV National News.
My message to anybody who wants to succeed in the media, is not to give up. I work every
hour under the sun, I've had doors slammed in my face, I've been told I'll never make it and
I've sent my CV to more media executives than I knew existed... but … I can now say it was
all worth it and I wouldn't want to do any other job in the world. I currently work for the biggest
independent television news organisation in the UK... what more could an aspiring journalist
want?
I owe massive thanks to SJL for their support and guidance during my time there, particularly
the Media Studies team who gave me a helping hand onto an increasingly competitive media
ladder.
Congratulations Carly and thanks for staying in touch!
MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS
Just a polite reminder that musical instruments should not be left in school overnight and the
school cannot be held responsible for any instruments left in the building out of school hours.
Many thanks - The Music Department
DRAMA NEWS
Tuesday 14 October 3.45-6.00pm - Acting Master Class with George Dillon after school in the
drama theatre.
George has worked with Steven Berkoff and is a leading physical theatre practitioner touring
his unique one man shows all over the country. The workshop is open to any drama student
in years11, 12 or 13 who will be taking practical performance exams this year and the
subsidised cost is £5.00. Letters available from the website and Drama office!
Next Production News
‘They Shall Not Grow Old’ is a unique community theatre project that will feature voices from
the Great War from poetry, plays and song. If anyone would like to contribute any costume,
ideas and extracts then please contact me ASAP! The performance will be over two nights in
Remembrance week on Thursday 13th and Friday 14th November; price £6.00 adults and
£4.00 pupils/ concessions. Profits will go to the Royal British Legion and The Red Cross.
DUKE OF EDINBURGH EXPEDITION
Congratulations to
all the year 11
students on their
Bronze DofE
expedition last
weekend. It was a
very wet start and a
cold night but it
brightened up on
Sunday and a good
time was had by all.
I am delighted to
say that all of the
qualifying students
passed their
expedition and they
proved to be
fantastic role
models for the
practising students
who have learnt a
lot about campcraft,
route planning and
waterproofing kit! I
would also like to
say a big thank you to all the staff that volunteered their weekend so that the students can
participate, so thank you to: Phil Evans, Emily Brown, Ollie Draine, Andrea O’Connor, Sarah
Johnstone-Putt, Louise and Pete Ashman, Aaron Spink and Katie Gosling.
Melody Britton, DofE Coordinator
ZAMBIA FUNDRAISING CAKE SALE
Over the summer, 9 of our current Year 11 students went on a ‘once-in-a-lifetime’ trip to our
link school, Ndeke High in Zambia. The students had a fantastic two weeks both in Kitwe
(where the school is located) and travelling around Zambia, experiencing the different
education and rich culture.
This year the students are raising money to bring some of the students over to the UK and
experience a little bit of life at SJL and beyond. Students have set themselves the target of
raising £4,500 before Christmas in order to get as many students over as possible!
During Open Evening the students had set up a Cake Sale in the HUMS hallway and
managed to raise an outstanding £170! A huge congratulations to the students who have
worked tirelessly over the previous two years raising money and thank you to all prospective
parents and students who bought cake on the night.
Please keep your eye out during the rest of the term as the students will be carrying out
various fundraising activities for you all to get involved in.
Miss O’Connor & Miss Brown
SPORTS NEWS
Twitter
The PE department would like to remind you we have a Twitter account for keeping students
and parents up to date with fixture details, results and general sport and physical education
news. Please follow us @SJLPhysEd.
Fixtures for next week:
Week 1
from
11/10/14
Saturday
Monday
Year 7
Year 8
Year 9
Year 10
Senior
NO
FIXTURES
NO
FIXTURES
NO
FIXTURES
NO
FIXTURES
NO FIXTURES
Netball
Vs
Sandringham
(A and B
Teams Away)
Hockey
Vs
Beaumont
(Clarence
Park)
Basketball
Vs
Nicholas
Breakspear
(Away)
Tuesday
Yr 11 Netball
Tournament
Vs
St George’s
(Away)
Senior Netball
Tournament
Vs Roundwood
(Away)
Wednesday
Rugby
Vs
St George’s
(Away)
Rugby
Vs
St George’s
(Away)
Rugby
Vs
St George’s
(Away)
Rugby
Vs
St George’s
(Away)
Thursday
District XC
Champs
(Westminster
Lodge)
Netball
Vs
STAGS
(Home)
District XC
Champs
(Westminster
Lodge)
Netball
Vs
STAGS
(Home)
District XC
Champs
(Westminster
Lodge)
District XC
Champs
(Westminster
Lodge)
District XC
Champs
(Westminster
Lodge)
Trampette
and Tumble
Competition
(STAHS 13.30)
Trampette
and Tumble
Competition
(STAHS 13.30)
Trampette
and Tumble
Competition
(STAHS 13.30)
Trampette
and Tumble
Competition
(STAHS 13.30)
Trampette and
Tumble
Competition
(STAHS 1-3.30)
Rugby
Vs
Beaumont
Rugby
Vs
Beaumont
Rugby
Vs
Beaumont
Rugby
Vs
Beaumont
Friday
Saturday
Cross Country at Verulam
We are very pleased that our runners are so committed to competing in the league fixtures.
This is particularly the case for the junior section where SJL entered 3 teams in both the boys’
and girls’ races. This is significantly more than any other school competing. Our senior boys
continue to dominate their race with the top four runners all finishing in the first 6.
Well done to all runners. Full results from the Verulam fixture below:
Junior Girls
Sophie Gorman 8
Rosie Hall 10
Chloe Morrison 12
Meg Brookes 18
Emily Sutton 19
Maizy Bruce 26
Elizabeth Bratton 29
Charlotte Wilde 32
Izzy West 34
Charlotte Sweeny 43
Sophie Southwell 46
Junior Boys
Adam Bahouss 4
Jake Watt 11
Angus Harrow 15
Jacob Jones 17
Toby Sutton 18
Will Chisholm 28
Billy Towns 31
Julian Smith 32
Ewan Totty 38
Henry O’Connor 39
Simeon James 40
Dan Kremer 47
Inter Girls
Caitlin Eckley 6
Ella Hutson 10
Becky NT 16
Sarah Mc 18
Ellen Brookes 20
Amy Hartnup 21
Inter Boys
Eddie Riddell 11
Alfie Reed 12
Matt Swan 16
Keegan Brown 18
Senior Boys
Sam Jones 1
Adam Wilmshurst 3
Rory Glass 4
Jamie Jones 6
Sam Hartnup 20
Senior Girls
Lauren Eckley 6
Year 8 Netball Vs Roundwood
The Year 8 girls played Roundwood Park in very closely contested match. Scores were 3-3 at
the end of the first quarter with Roundwood pulling ahead to 7-9 lead at half time. SJL fought
back and played an excellent final quarter, scoring 5 goals to Roundwood's 3 in the final
quarter. With the scores at 14-14 in the last minute of the game tensions were running high.
Roundwood were awarded a penalty shot in the closing seconds which they scored from to
win 15-14. Well done to all players.
Year 7 Football (County Cup) vs Sherrardswood
Score: 6 – 0 (Win)
st
The Year 7 team played and won in the County Cup 1 round to follow up their National Cup
win a couple of weeks ago. Playing Sherrardswood from Welwyn Garden City, the team
started very strongly and had put the game beyond doubt by halftime taking a 5-0 lead. They
played some excellent attacking football and deserved to win the game comprehensively, the
final score being 6-0. In the next round they play either Mount Grace or Simon Balle School.
Development of Lacrosse
Since the introduction of Lacrosse into the SJL curriculum three years ago we have seen a
number of our students fall in love with the sport and seek avenues to play outside school and
to continue after they leave. One such example is Steph Grimes who, having been introduced
to the sport at SJL, has since continued to play, culminating in being selected to play for the
University of Portsmouth in the English University Lacrosse League. This is a tremendous
achievement especially considering that Portsmouth is one of the top rated Lacrosse
Universities in the UK. Everyone at SJL congratulates Steph and wishes her the best for her
future!

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------All sales made by the school will mean that 50% of the ticket price will be given as
CASH BACK to the school!
I would like to purchase the following tickets for the HRFC Fireworks:
Quantity
Contact Name:
Adult @ £8 each
Childs’s Name:
Child @ £5 each (up to
Child’s Class:
16 years)
Family * @ £25 per
Contact
ticket
Telephone:
*(2 Adults & up to 4 children up to 16
Email:
years )
Please make cheques payable to Sir John Lawes School and return in an envelope
marked ‘FIREWORK EVENT’.
I enclose a cheque to the value of £………………………….
Thank You for supporting Harpenden Rugby Football Club.
Note: Please be a responsible parent and take advantage of the FREE BUSES from and
to CHURCH GREEN (St Nicholas Church / Chef Peking) from 3pm onwards as
Redbourn Lane is a dark and dangerous road!
KEYSTONE WORKSHOPS
Developing your child’s thinking skills: why it matters and how to ‘do’ it
We all want our children to be able to think for themselves, innovate, argue effectively, and
ultimately be able to develop their own points of view as a result. Being able to think ‘critically’
about what they see, hear or experience in the world around them is a highly valued skill.
Just ask anyone working in a school, university or involved in employing young people today!
Imaginative, innovate thinkers are sought after in every realm of modern life. How can
parents help develop their child’s thinking skills? The answer lies in the art of questioning: one
that has been practiced by philosophers and great teachers throughout history.
Theory is one thing but parents need practical, everyday tips and techniques that they can
use at home, or ‘out and about’ that can help facilitate and enrich their child’s thinking.
Come and meet philosopher and educator, Peter Worley, who has a ‘hands on’ approach and
believes philosophy is an activity rather than a spectator sport. Peter believes that questioning
is at the heart of good philosophy, but also at the heart of good parenting! For a sneak peek
at the amazing work Peter has done with primary school-aged children take a look here:
http://vimeo.com/48603685
Wed 15th Oct. 2014 | 19.00-21.00
Main Hall, Verulam School, Brampton Road, St Albans
To book go to this link: http://www.keystoneworkshops.co.uk/events/questioning-parents-aphilosophers-guide-to-developing-your-child-or-teenagers-thinking/