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03/10/23

A reminder that due to our Open Evening we will close to students at 11.40am tomorrow, with a late start on Thursday at 10.30am - thank you for your understanding. pic.twitter.com/FJPjcjabxn

03/10/23

In Computer Science class, students were working on this terms topic of ‘Producing a Robust Programme’. The Year 11 students were undertaking a programming task to decipher techniques to ensure a strong and robust programme framework. pic.twitter.com/ibifMxl9GH

03/10/23

The 2023-4 Dragons' Apprentice teams preparing for the challenge ahead. They will be fundraising for and pic.twitter.com/hIcp7EzLIu

02/10/23

Diary reminder - OPEN EVENING 2023 - Thursday 5 October, school will begin later to allow for clear-up, with registration at 10.30am. Buses will run at the usual times, any students who arrive in school earlier will be supervised in the dining room.2/2

02/10/23

Diary reminder - OPEN EVENING 2023 Due to our Open Evening taking place on Wednesday 4 October, school will finish for students at 11.40am. The Kimpton bus will arrive at 11.45am to pick up the students who normally use this service. Other buses will run at the usual time.1/2

02/10/23

Diary reminder - OPEN EVENING 2023Due to our Open Evening taking place on Wednesday 4 October, school will finish for students at 11.40am. The Kimpton bus will arrive at 11.45am to pick up the students who normally use this service. Other buses will run at the usual time.

02/10/23

There was thoughtful discussion happening in Year 8 RE lesson, debating whether Moses was a good man and a good leader - helping to strengthen their learning about different religions. pic.twitter.com/RmGNVuPJBJ

02/10/23

Diary reminder - OPEN EVENING 2023Thursday 5 October, school will begin later to allow for clear-up, with registration at 10.30am, then onto period 3. Buses will run at the usual times and any students who arrive in school earlier will be supervised in the dining room.

29/09/23

We've issued 974 books so far in September! Will we reach 1,000 today? pic.twitter.com/GFd7d2qyvi

29/09/23

Year 11 were busy carrying out tests in science lesson today, trying to determine the presence of lipids, protein and starch. The students were observing and recording whether a colour change occurred which would indicate their presence. pic.twitter.com/uzMWeHWT4F

29/09/23

Year 11 were busy carrying out tests in science lesson today, trying to determine the presence of lipids, protein and starch. The students were observing and recording whether a colour change occurred which would which would indicate their presence. pic.twitter.com/icYmdJkOO0

28/09/23

Netball 🏐 Yr 11 and Senior teams played in their district tournament. The Yr 11s made it to the semi finals where they faced a strong STAHS A team and sadly lost. While the Seniors came 3rd in their group, missing out on the semis. After 3 wins and 2 defeats. Well done girls!👏🏼 pic.twitter.com/qvzxT425ZM

28/09/23

Just another normal lunchtime with 100’s of students involved in our co-curricular offer. It’s great to see so many students making the most of this opportunity. pic.twitter.com/7XzKcEF61d

28/09/23

Year 8 Netball🏐Well done to both the year 8 netball teams in their games against Samuel Ryder Academy. Both teams displayed lovely movement around the court.A’s won 17-9 B’s won 10-2Players of the match: Savanna and Melissa 👏🏼 pic.twitter.com/sikfZ4gjwU

27/09/23

We had a fun lunchtime planting winter pansies in pots donated to us. Our seedlings have doubled in size in a week and we pricked out more parsley too. pic.twitter.com/L7xNmWDfij

27/09/23

Wonderful new display board celebrating our peachy lower school summer show#theatrematters pic.twitter.com/WTzoPSCCcT

27/09/23

Diary reminder - Year 11 students will have their class and individual photos taken on Thursday 28 September. Please ensure a full and neat uniform.

27/09/23

Year 7 drama class was a hive of activity today as students were creating different shapes as part of their physical theatre learning - each group used their imagination to form objects and scenery such as a cup and saucer, a throne and a volcano. pic.twitter.com/EiKb5cwvUV

26/09/23

Day 2 year 13 geography fieldwork investigating regeneration in Boscombe. Giving students ideas for their own NEA fieldwork! pic.twitter.com/0YOkWxv0cp

26/09/23

With over 36 languages spoken within the SJL community, staff and students gathered in the library at lunchtime to share their knowledge of different greetings to help celebrate the European Day of Languages. pic.twitter.com/jxECsfwBS6

26/09/23

Year 13 geographers have arrived in Swanage and are straight into investigating sand dune succession at Studland. pic.twitter.com/dLoAGVmuG6

26/09/23

KS3 rocking out at the School of Rock auditions this afternoon 🎸 pic.twitter.com/DDE4fdQ9TD

24/09/23

A huge thank you to our prefect team and our yr7 parents as we raised £1700 for our school charities, The Ollie Foundation and MacMillan Cancer Support at our yr7 picnic. pic.twitter.com/TT7a0QeoW8

24/09/23

It’s a pleasure to welcome our new yr7 students and parents to our annual Yr7 Picnic. The picnic is entirely organised by our wonderful 6th form prefects. pic.twitter.com/5kufNps8aD

23/09/23

A great privilege to attend the opening of The Orchard Barn today. This forms part of a community project for gardening, creativity and health, set up by Tom and Sue Stuart-Smith. We can’t wait to visit again with our students pic.twitter.com/tWizY8Z8z1

SJL in the Community

At SJL we pride ourselves on being an outstanding school with people at the heart and where the sense of community is strong.  From the first month at school with our Prefects Picnic for the new year 7 students and their families, to the charity work across the years, students are encouraged to become involved in a variety of events that benefit both the school and our wider community.  For us our community is not limited to local areas; our vision is local, national, global and this is reflected in the various work that we do.

In the local community a number of our Sixth Form students regularly visit homes for Senior Citizens and the disabled on a voluntary basis. At Christmas this year our Sixth Formers went carol singing at local homes and raised money for Keech Cottage Hospice singing carols in the snow outside Sainsbury's. The Christmas Carol concert at All Saints Church is an annual event and there is always a special performance on the Thursday afternoon for Senior Citizens.

The Music faculty contributes greatly to the local community and may often be found supporting at local events, holding a concert in town or playing at one of our local primary school’s Summer Fayres.

The Harpenden Village Rotary Club has supported the school for a number of years.  Their annual School Leavers Award dinner is a great occasion when students from each of the three local schools are recognised for their ‘Service Before Self’. Over the years Rotary members have also supported Sixth Formers by offering interview practice before they go on university visits.

All year 12 students are also entered for the Perrins essay writing prize sponsored by Perrins Solicitors, Harpenden.

Our excellent facilities also mean we are able to host a number of sports fixtures and this enables us to continue to support our students during and beyond the school day. Our Young Enterprise team have run primary school Sports Days and events for students in the lower years.

As a training school we have many  opportunities to share our teaching expertise with other teachers from around the country.  This year teachers will be travelling far and wide to discover good practice from other schools so we can incorporate new ideas into our already innovative practice. We recognise that within SJL we are all learners and there are always ways to improve.

We are very lucky to have built a great partnership in the last two years with Danish  schools.  We have been visited by a number of Danish educationalists and some of our staff have visited Denmark to see the work in their schools.

Within the curriculum the Modern Foreign Languages’ Pen Friend scheme encourages our younger students to make friends that extend beyond our geographical boarders. Combined with opportunities for educational visits these often are the beginning of long-term friendships that enrich the lives of our students.

International travel opportunities continue to be part of the enrichment programme for out students. Our close links with Ndeke High School in Zambia have allowed students from both countries to visit each other and learn about school life.

The USA exchange for year 12 students is another part of our school experience that encourages students to learn from our global neighbours.

On all levels we encourage our students to develop a community spirit as encapsulated in our Sir John Lawes ACE: Achievement Care and Excellence.

Charity Work

Each year the students undertake a number of fundraising activities from fashion shows to car washing. We encourage the students to bring forward ideas for charity work that they feel strongly about so we can focus our efforts on causes that have real meaning for them.

It is heart warming to know we have so many mature and thoughtful young people who have the drive and selflessness to do something for others.

National global learning programme

Expert Centre for Global Learning Programme

We are delighted that Sir John Lawes has been chosen to become an Expert Centre for the new Global Learning Programme (GLP) for England. The GLP is a programme of support for schools that can help enhance teaching and learning about global issues at Key Stages 2 and 3.  It has six core aims:

  • To help young people understand their role in a globally-interdependent world and explore strategies by which they can make it more just and sustainable;
  • To familiarise them with concepts of interdependence, development, globalisation and sustainability;
  • To move them from a charity mentality to a social justice mentality;
  • To stimulate critical thinking about global issues both at a whole school and at pupil level;
  • To promote greater awareness of poverty and sustainability;
  • To enable schools to explore alternative models of development and sustainability in the classroom.

The GLP focuses on developing pupil’s knowledge and understanding of global challenges through subject-based learning in key curriculum areas. It helps pupils to think critically about the issues, and develop skills and values as they consider actions that they and others can take to overcome them.  

As an Expert Centre, Sir John Lawes is acting as a hub to provide local, peer-led training and support for teachers in our partner schools. This will involve hosting half-termly support meetings to help them to identify each school’s particular training priorities and access the most appropriate professional development through the GLP website to meet their needs. 

The Global Learning Programme is funded by the Department for International Development and is managed by a consortium of leading global learning and educational organisations: Pearson (lead), Geographical Association, Institute of Education, Oxfam UK, Royal Geographical Society, SSAT and Think Global. The programme runs from 2013 to 2017.

Sustainability

Sir John Lawes has been hugely involved in implementing sustainable practices within the local community and was a driving force behind Harpenden town achieving Fairtrade status. We also lead a programme of sustainability themed outreach assemblies to local primary schools on issues such as waste and climate change.

We initiated and lead the St Albans District Sustainable Schools Ambassadors Programme and host the training programme for student ambassadors from across the district. These students then lead in developing the sustainability programmes and initiatives in their own schools – thus the work done by our students and staff directly impacts in a positive way on thousands of students across the district.

Other links between SJL, sustainability and the local community include:

  • The Science department work with Glaxo and Rothamstead research station to develop the use of our school garden for primary school children to study ecology.
  • The Design and Technology department recycle aluminium, timber and man-made boards to use in practical work and has links with local industry to collect off-cuts of materials for classwork.
  • We participate in the annual tree planting events run for local schools at Heartwood Forest.

We have used our website to inform and promote ideas of sustainability and responsibility to the wider community and parents are encouraged to be actively involved. Parents with related expertise have been involved by coming in to talk to students, hosting oversees guests, fundraising and coming up with ideas for ESD activities.

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