EAL

It has been a busy year for our EAL pupils at Sandroyd. A new role of EAL Ambassador was created by the children and they were given the opportunity to decide what this role would entail; what they would like to do to enhance the EAL pupils experience within the school community. Their suggestion was an ‘EAL Club’, to be held every week to include games, hot chocolate and biscuits. It was a fantastic success and a wonderful way to welcome new EAL pupils and get together as a group of mixed ages sharing experiences and supporting each other. A new tradition that we will continue.

Some wonderful work was produced, books read, speeches practised and the majority of our pupils prepared for their external Cambridge English Exams which they did in the summer term. All pupils received excellent results demonstrating the progress they had made with their English during their time at Sandroyd.

They rounded up their time by producing an excellent video introducing the school to the new EAL pupils arriving the following year. As well as passing on important advice for life at a boarding school, they also include a guide to some essential survival vocabulary that they would not have necessarily encountered in an English lesson back in their own countries for example: ‘Prep’, ‘Trolley’ and ‘Tuck’! Kat McLean - Head of EAL

Geography

It has been another busy year in the geography department, with the introduction of a new CE syllabus and the best ever geography CE results achieved by the Year 8s.

In October, the Year 8s again ventured to the New Forest to collect their data for the CE fieldwork project. As with last year, the heavens opened and emptied a deluge of rain on everyone! It was a minor miracle that any data was kept dry to be used on our return, but the different working groups did a fabulous job. The end results continue to improve year on year.

I am delighted that Mrs. Browning-Stamp has taken on the role of running humanities for the junior wing of the prep school. She has devised an exciting and enriching syllabus that will give the younger pupils a great start to learning about all things geography.

Geography has never been more relevant in today’s world than now. With the recent summer weather, floods in Pakistan and extreme weather events globally, the importance of learning about the physical world and our own fragility in it, is what we aim to do here at Sandroyd.

Ed Lyddon Head of Geography

History

The History department has enjoyed a good year full of highlights and achievement. In the Christmas term the focus as ever was on getting the necessary essay writing and source analysis skills in place for CE. Outstanding performers in the Christmas exams were: Sam Shiel, Otto Gibbs and Virginia Manners. The spring term always includes the oldest prep school competition in existence, and in this edition of the Townsend Warner History Prize our scholars represented us well with Freddie Smith coming in the top 60 out of over 1000 competitors. The summer term saw various trips from various year groups, but the highlight as always was the Chalke Valley History Festival. Some outstanding results were achieved at CE (especially Molly Fletcher’s A* to Bryanston).

Freddie Cartwright Head of History

Maths

This has been another successful year in the maths department, not just in terms of academic recognition but also in how the children throughout the preprep and prep school are clearly benefiting from the introduction of the White Rose maths scheme that we began using two years ago. Whenever I walk into a maths lesson it has been wonderful to see how enthusiastic and engaged the children are and I am extremely grateful to my wonderful team from Nursery through to Year 8 for their devotion to ensuring that each child has a positive experience. On the national maths challenges news front, we have had another exceptional year with nine year 7 and 8 pupils being awarded certificates in the Intermdieate UKMC (aimed at Year 9 and over) and twenty-six Year 6, 7 and 8 children beng awarded certificates in the Junior UKMC (aimed at years 7 to 9).

In the Intermediate challenge, Will Fuller, Otto Gibbs, Hector McGregor, Toby Simpson and Josh Spolton all made it through to the second round. Toby and Hector performed incredibly well to be awarded a certificate of merit, as they are both in Year 7. In the Junior challenge, Will Fuller performed at such a high level that he went through to the Olympiad round. Marlborough College have gained an outstanting mathematician. Toby Simpson, Hector McGregor, Xander Sharrocks and Francis Carian all reached the second round known as the Grey Kangaroo. I have recently received the results and am very happy to announce that Toby and Will were awarded a Merit certificate.This is a very rare and exceptional achievement. Many congratulations to Toby and Will, but also to all the children who reached the second round.

In Years 3 and 4 some of the children have recently competed in the First Maths Challenge online. Very well done to all of the participants and especially to those who achieved a Bronze or Silver certificate. This term we have added a parent guide to the maths section of the school website. I hope that this proves useful if you would ever like to support your child with their maths at home but worry that you may confuse them with a different approach.

Nicky Brady Head of Maths

Modern Foreign Languages

Learning a foreign language is an exciting and challenging experience for all pupils. It allows each child to discover another culture through its language and therefore enables him/her to become aware of the differences and similarities between their own culture and that of France, Spain or Germany. It develops communication skills in speaking, listening, reading and writing which will be very useful as pupils progress to senior school, university and beyond and contributes to each pupil’s personal and social development. It promotes social interaction, opens the mind to other traditions and encourages sympathetic and understanding attitudes towards others.

I come from a family of linguists and was passionate about language learning from a very early age. At Sandroyd my primary aim, as head of department, has been to instil a genuine love of the language they are learning and so develop confident and independent foreign language learners. As a department we strive not only to produce excellent results in Common Entrance and Scholarship, but to create a happy learning environment in which all pupils are inquisitive, intellectually stimulated and self-motivated. We want them to discover as much as they can about the language, its culture and its people.

This academic year has been our first full year without any interruption from Covid lockdowns and much has been achieved in Nursery, Reception, Year 1 and Year 2 with Mrs Campbell-Hill sowing the seeds, then Mrs Bell in Year 3 and Mrs Williams in Year 4. Madame Cournil and I have worked as a vibrant team with the older pupils to steer and encourage Years 5-8 to prepare for and experience the rigours of Scholarship and Common Entrance. Pupils in Year 8 leave us with a solid foundation of vocabulary and grammar, having covering a wide variety of topics including ordering food in a restaurant, explaining symptoms to a doctor and their favourite type of holiday. They are also able to talk and write confidently about their school, family, friends, hobbies, their house and town just to name a few.

I know that Madame Cournil is looking forward to organising the Year 7 French trip for Skills Week in 2023 after a three year break due to travel restrictions. Travelling abroad is such a boost to every pupil’s language skills and broadens their minds, allowing them to experience first-hand how a country and its people tick.

Jane Bradbury Head of Languages (2006-2022)