Close

Twitter Wall

12/02/25

Some Year 12 students taking part in have been selling charms as part of their business Charm Parlour. The scheme helps students to create their own business; managing company finances, promotion and sales. A great way to build practical business skills! pic.twitter.com/VM4mQy1iH2

12/02/25

Oracy Week; Some Year 8 students enjoyed a reading café in English class, chatting with each other about the books they are currently reading using thought-provoking questions prepared by Mrs Hamilton. A great way to build discussion skills and articulate ideas.#OracyWeek pic.twitter.com/3yZPuqMfHP

12/02/25

Oracy Week; yesterday three students from our Climate Action Group attended the Hertfordshire Youth COP - taking part in a climate debate where they put forward arguments on how to tackle climate change, showing excellent oracy skills as they justified the decisions made. pic.twitter.com/Idc64fwzu6

11/02/25

Oracy Week; Mrs Hamilton gave an assembly to Year 8 students about the power of language, encouraging students to use their voice in lessons by answering questions, getting involved in debates and taking part in class discussions. pic.twitter.com/cRnCKeSbJm

11/02/25

Our Year 9 Animal Studies students had an unforgettable experience with meeting an incredible range of animals up close, getting hands-on and learning lots of fascinating facts. A wonderful way to learn beyond the classroom!#animalstudies pic.twitter.com/CXGhQ1xxhQ

10/02/25

Oracy Week; the power of storytelling. Mrs Chowdry is currently reading one of Richard Osman’s murder mystery novels to her Year 8 form group - the students say they can imagine the story better having it read aloud to them, helping to bring the book to life. pic.twitter.com/NJMu0BTY9q

10/02/25

Last week our Year 7 students had an assembly on cybercrime in order to help them create a safe digital environment to navigate the online world. pic.twitter.com/cfAt8EQGqt

10/02/25

Our students are hard at work rehearsing for the Gym and Dance Display - the routines look incredible! Grab your tickets and come and see for yourself - performances taking place on Tuesday and Wednesday this week at 6pm. Tickets available via ParentPay. pic.twitter.com/ZvHAiNCSCz

10/02/25

Oracy Week - this week we’re celebrating the power of spoken language to help students build confidence, learn to express ideas clearly and develop their communication skills. From debates to presentations and discussions, lots of opportunities to find their voice.#oracyweek pic.twitter.com/ZAO6AwS4jF

08/02/25

Saturday Morning Football vs Marlborough 7s won 3-0 8s won 5-2 9s won 3-2 10s drew 3-3 Well done to all of the boys involved in a fantastic morning of school sport ⚽️ pic.twitter.com/nUBg0mLvTE

07/02/25

This week's Friday roundup with Headteacher Mr Newbery - plus the latest SJL Newsletter is out now- https://t.co/Qh6Dn31xJk pic.twitter.com/CLpx45chVP

07/02/25

We are incredibly grateful to our SJL community who have donated to our January charity drive - we have collected plastic tubs to help raise money for and food for the St Albans District foodbank. Thank you so much for your support!#SJLproud pic.twitter.com/cBqYNjvFIN

07/02/25

Lights, camera, interrogations! – our Year 12 BTEC media students have been busy producing a criminal interrogation scene in the tv studio using intense dialogue and gripping power plays to showcase their filmmaking skills.#tvstudio pic.twitter.com/jkbbVHL2Z9

06/02/25

Have you got your tickets yet!? Our talented students are busy preparing for the SJL showstopper Gym and Dance display taking place next week on Tuesday 11 and Wednesday 12 February. Tickets are available on ParentPay - This is an event not to be missed! pic.twitter.com/ZZwoaMhznD

06/02/25

In phyisics lesson Year 12 students were investigating the effects of length, tension and mass per unit length on the frequency of a vibrating string. pic.twitter.com/I6TzsH6xTN

04/02/25

Reminder to Year 9 parents that online Parents’ Evening is taking place from 4.30pm today. pic.twitter.com/DyUvaTtGqU

04/02/25

Year 8 students have been busy mocking up designs for their candle stick holders in Design & Technology class - which they will later make using wood and metal. pic.twitter.com/Hud1Xv91HL

03/02/25

Term date reminder: INSET day Wednesday 5 February, school will be closed to students. pic.twitter.com/3whFjg0N7v

31/01/25

Stay up to date with all the latest SJL news this week in a roundup from Headteacher Mr. Newbery. Plus the latest SJL Newsletter is out now- https://t.co/Qh6Dn31xJk pic.twitter.com/zzpt10Ylhh

31/01/25

A group of Year 9 Architectural Design & Engineering students took part in an online workshop run by ‘Engineering Tomorrow’, centred around the rise of Electric Vehicles and their environmental impact - a really engaging day! pic.twitter.com/ILdwxOjHMh

31/01/25

On Wednesday, 150 students from Year 9, Year 10, and Year 11 took part in the Intermediate Maths Challenge, organized by the UK Mathematics Trust. These students demonstrated impressive logic and problem-solving skills, tackling a range of challenging questions. pic.twitter.com/pappzXXGhb

30/01/25

The annual Chess Tournament is currently underway at SJL - good luck to all the players! pic.twitter.com/TdZe5yACSh

30/01/25

Year 8 students are creating graffiti names out of fabric in textiles class - here they were learning the technique of tie dye to use as part of their finished design. pic.twitter.com/DCoW3mTlfm

29/01/25

Debating Victory! Our team of five Year 12 students took part in the second heat of the English Speaking Union Schools' Mace debating competition this week, gaining a place in the Regional Finals of the competition. We are immensely proud of the students! pic.twitter.com/FJWuIGcRJp

29/01/25

Wishing a happy and prosperous Year of the Snake to all in our community celebrating Lunar New Year. We hope you have wonderful celebrations.#LunarNewYear pic.twitter.com/BrFOnVHjKq

Helping You To Help Your Child

Here are some practical ideas for helping your child to learn.

The strategies and techniques are all tried and tested and based on research.

It is an advantage for students to develop good learning techniques as soon as possible. In year 7 they are useful: by year 11 they are essential.

We have included tips and techniques for parents and children to share and try out together. We hope you'll enjoy doing some of the things in this guide.

And remember…

We learn best when:

  • We are relaxed but a bit puzzled or challenged
  • We are well hydrated
  • We use techniques which maximise the brain's natural preferences for pattern, colour and novelty
  • We do things ourselves
  • We talk about and explain what we do
  • We are well rested
  • We exercise regularly
  • We are encouraged and praised

 

Planning family time

Hot tip: Plan the family diary together.

Help your children to manage their time. They need to allow time during the evenings and weekends for homework. How does this fit in with their other activities and family events? Your children have a homework timetable. For year 7 students about one hour a night is scheduled.

A simple but effective system is for students to have a short break when they get home from school, but then to get straight on with homework before doing anything else.

Hot Tip: Use mealtimes to find out about your child’s day

Research shows that the children of families who eat together do better in exams. Even time in front of the television can provide a stimulus for debate and discussion. Chatting about the day's events helps all of us. We all learn better when we explain things to other people, so by chatting about something the children have done at school you can reinforce learning.

 

V. A. K learning

There are three main ways to learn and some students have strong preferences towards one style:

  • Visual (seeing things)
  • Auditory (hearing things)
  • Kinaesthetic (doing things).

Example: you have to learn a list of French vocabulary

Visual learner: likes to make a colour-coded list with some little pictures

Auditory learner: prefers to make a tape and chant out the words

Kinaesthetic learner: associates the words with actions and acts them out

In practice, most of us seem to be a bit of a mixture and to learn best when we combine the three styles.

 

Reading

Reading is a fun and enriching experience for many of us. In addition there are strong links between love of reading and academic success. The English faculty and the Library staff work constantly to encourage enjoyment of reading. Students have one reading-related homework per week. Parents can support this by:

  • Encouraging your children to enjoy reading for fun
  • Have a light touch - don't be judgemental
  • Everything counts: sports reports, magazines, websites
  • Help them choose books and magazines
  • Encourage them to get books from the school library/local libraries
  • Encourage them to join the school Reading Group
  • Let them see you enjoying reading
  • Audio books are a good way of entertaining children in the car
  • Talk about books
  • Books make great presents.

Hot Tip: Reading the same book as your child enables you to engage in discussion with them.

Your browser is out-of-date!

Update your browser to view this website correctly. Update my browser now

×