Over eighty boys who will be joining St Albans School in September attended the 11+ Matriculation Evening. They came, along with their parents, in order to find out more about life at the school, meet other newcomers, and get to know some of the staff.

Boys were given a welcome pack, which included a brochure giving them all sorts of useful advice about making the most of their time at St Albans, as well as a key ring, bookmark and pen – all implements vital for success in secondary school. They were also given valuable advice by Alec McQuarrie (2nd Form) and Freddy Sawyer (U6) about how to make the most of their time at the school. The boys were then invited to sign the Matriculation Book and have their photographs taken, giving them an official record of the start of their St Albans School career. Afterwards, while parents mingled, there was the chance for the boys to sign up for a number of further taster sessions taking place during the summer term, including ‘Survival Skills’ offered by the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award, Art, Drama, Creative Writing, Rugby and Cricket.

The evening was a great success and was enjoyed by all who attended. We now look forward to the new boys joining us fully in September.

The St Albans School Intermediate Cross Country Team was at last able to confirm its status as favourites by winning the English Schools Cup on Saturday 26 March. The runners had been tipped for success as far back as November and the final was due to be run at Alnwick in Northumberland on 4 December. However, deep snow at the beginning of December meant that the race had to be postponed and the boys had to wait until the end of March to claim their crown.

The course in the grounds of Alnwick Castle covered 4.3km and was designed to challenge the skill and stamina of the very best runners. Mark Pearce, Joe Redwood, Jordan Bayer Goldman, Robin O’Connor, Adam Thorpe and Robbie Lightowler represented the School in this important race. Even though Joe Redwood pulled a muscle during the race, he still managed to finish in 17th place, while Robin O’Connor and Robbie Lightowler actually moved up the field on the final gruelling hill to finish 2nd and 5th respectively. With Jordan Bayer Goldman and Mark Pearce in 13th and 14th places and the field completed by Adam Thorpe’s 37th, the team won by a handsome margin.

St Albans scored 35 points, with the nearest competitor, Millfield, scoring 130, and Farnborough Salesian College in third with 135. The winning margin of 95 points was the largest in the competition’s history.

The result means that this group of young runners will now represent England in the World Schools Championships in 2012, currently scheduled to be held in Malta.

Thursday 24 March was an exciting day as Third formers joined pupils from other schools across the country to make the news as part of the BBC School Report project. Having already featured on live TV, asking questions at the England football team’s press conference, the boys set themselves high standards this year.

Over the course of the day, they covered events in Libya and considered the safety of nuclear power in the wake of the disaster in Japan. Following developments nationally, young reporters explored the implications of the Chancellor of the Exchequer’s Budget, while on a local level, the plans for a local primary school and the challenge to Tesco’s plans in Welwyn Garden City were examined. The School featured too, with an in-depth feature on the Sports Centre.

As well as the England football team, sport was covered with articles on Dalglish’s Liverpool team, the new Formula 1 season, the Cricket World Cup and the 2012 Olympics.

The 21 boys were busy throughout the day, writing, editing and shooting video, carefully assisted by six Sixth form mentors.

All their work can be seen on the special School Report website.

The U13 Hockey team was a semi-finalist in the Regional Minis Hockey Tournament at Redbridge. In a bright campaign on the day, the team won its first three games easily, only conceding one goal while scoring five. A tougher game against Bedford School was still won 1-0 thanks to a goal by Omeiza Haruna, before stuttering to a 0-3 loss against Ipswich School. Second place in the group led to a semi-final against St John’s from Cambridgeshire, where Ben Morrall’s reflexes in goal repelled all but one of the early attacks. St Albans equalised early in the second half, but a lucky hit out of defence gave St John’s their chance to win with only two minutes on the clock. Though the match ended 1-2, the team showed strong character and resolve throughout the day, with the potential to become a strong team further up the school.

Two of the School’s teams triumphed at the annual Rotary Design and Technology tournament held at Marlborough School. Three teams in all, two from the Third form and one from the Fourth form, competed against teams from other local schools.

The basic task set was to build a crane that could lift a cylinder of ‘Toxic Waste’ from a container and place it back behind a line, one metre away from the container. For the Basic challenge, this was all that had to be achieved. For the intermediates, the crane had to go under a small bridge about 25cm high, while the expert challenge included having to unhook the cylinder at the end as well. The whole had to be completed within 40 seconds.

This task was highly complex, and towards the end the judges came to the conclusion that next years task would be made slightly simpler. Even so, the boys made excellent progress throughout the day, and even worked through the lunch break to get their products finished in time. The judges continuously checked the teamwork and planning. When the time came to demonstrate the cranes, however, not many groups managed to succeed. However, one of the groups from the Third form managed to romp home to victory with a spectacular design and design folder. However, the real victory came for the Fourth formers, who managed to secure a victory though competing against boys from the year above.

Report by Harry Turner

Four Fourth formers have shown that they are top of the class in Maths, by winning the Team Maths Challenge at Stanborough School. Towards the end of the competition, four of the teams were vying for the top spot and the final result depended on the last round. Entitled the relay round, the ‘baton’ was the answer provided by one pair, which had to be passed to the other pair in order for further progress to be made. Bonus points were also available here if all four questions were answered correctly within three minutes. This was quite a tall order, since the topics covered included some which are considerably outside the IGCSE syllabus.

However, the team of Will Barnes, Will Beynon, Jem Bosatta and Harry Lampert came through strongly and ran out winners for the day. They will now be invited to take part in the final of the competition in Cambridge in May.