On Friday 5th June the whole school had an amazing time at our Picnic in the Park in memory of Maisha who  sadly passed away from Leukaemia last year. We  ordered the sun to shine (though not as brightly as we hoped) when all the children from Reception to Year 6 walked to the park on Holyrood Crescent.  Whilst at the park we all ate our picnics, played games and released hundreds of environmentally friendly balloons to remember our friend.

The school childrens choir and the community choir both sang as we rememberd how important Maisha was to us all, a collection was taken and everyone had a fantastic time.

Inspired by Maisha, Miss Ellingham then took on the challenge of riding her bike from London to Paris in July, in order to raise more money for MacMillan Cancer Support. Well done Miss Ellingham!!!

Commonwealth Observance Ceremony March 9th

Last Monday, eight Mandeville children were lucky enough to attend the Commonwealth Ceremony at the awesome Westminster Abbey in London. The ceremony included flag bearers from all 53 countries in the Commonwealth and a range of speeches, songs, dance and messages from people all over the world.

This was the most breathtaking experience we have ever had. It was very inspiring, especially when the people made speeches which were done at their own risk, because if the speech-makers had told this to their own country, they would be put in prison. They all were amazing, including Kailash who talked about children having a better childhood and having the right to read and go to school. There was also a speech from Dr Shirin Chaudhury. She talked about women having rights, and being treated equally.

Most importantly, the Queen was there and Kate Middleton smiled at us!

 By Abi & Olivia 

Congratulations to our Chair of Governors Sam Othen who has been designated a National Leader of Governance.

National leaders of governance are highly effective chairs of governors who use their skills and experience to support another chair of governors to improve school and academy performance. They have contributed to raising standards in their own school or academy by providing appropriate support and challenge to their headteacher or principal and by developing their governing body.

Mandeville's first Reading Festival was brilliant with highlights including author Pete Johnson visiting on Wednesday and the poetry slam finals on Friday.

During the week years 1 to 6 all visited St Albans library to learn more about the facilities and to read many of the books available to borrow. Well done to years 1 & 2 for bravely tackling the walk to the library and back!!

Pete Johnson held workshops all day on Wednesday to discuss his books and being an author. Lots of children also purchased one of his books which he was happy to sign.

All year 2 to 6 children were encouraged to learn a poem to enter in the poetry slam competition. One pupil from each class was chosen to represent their class in the final on Friday morning. The judges all agreed that all the final candidates were amazing and it was a difficult task choosing the winners. Well done to all the children who represented their classes and those who worked hard over the weekend learning their poems.

The story tent was a huge success on the school field and many children were spotted in there at break and at lunchtime reading.

The Drama Llamas workshop was a fun interactive morning for the new Nursery and Reception classes.

The week ended with the dress up as a book character day with donations to the Roald Dahl Foundation. The school came alive with characters such as Gangsta Granny, Pippi Longstocking and Miss Elizabeth Bennet. The staff also joined in with a mass of Wally's around the school. It was more a case of where isn't Wally?!

Ospreys and Kingfishers put on a lively interpretation of The Wizard of Oz with two performances staged in the last week of term. The singing was fabulous and the children in the lead roles sang some amazing solos, some of them singing on their own in public for the first time. Dorothy and her band of followers showed courage and determination to reach the Emerald City & meet Oz himself so that Dorothy could return home to St Albans.

They were well supported by a brilliant cast who danced fantastically well and whose singing raised the roof. Well done Ospreys and Kingfishers!!

Collections were taken on behalf of Great Ormand Street Hospital. 

Thank you to all the staff who gave up so much of their time to ensure that this was a production to remember.

Herons, Hawks and Kites demonstrated their acting and singing talents when they staged the Roald Dahl version of Snow White. Not a dwarf was in sight as the wicked Queen enticed Snow White into the forest - though there was an excellent horse race to settle the score!!

Snow White survived the experience to live (at Mandeville of course) happily ever after.

Well done to all the pupils and staff involved in this colorful and hilarious production.

View some photos in the gallery below.

The whole school enjoyed their summer school trips to a variety of destinations from the world of Harry Potter to a cruise along the Thames.

Butterflies and Ladybirds visited Paradise Wildlife park where they encountered big cats galore. The children were able to get up close (but behind glass! ) with white tigers, snow leopards, African lions, cheetahs & ocelots. Everyone had a fabulous day & returned to school full of stories to tell.

120 pupils from years 1 & 2 had an action packed day out cruising along the Thames followed by a picnic in Greenwich Park. The sun shone and lots of excitable children spotted the famous London landmarks along the way. Big Ben and the London eye sparked much excitement.

Year 3 rounded off their Rainforest topic with a trip to Kew gardens visiting th Princess Diana glass house and braving the tree top walk. The enormous Water Lilys and huge array of exotic plants and flowers were highlights of the day.

Year 4 & 5's recent Dinosaurs topic was behind their trip to Knebworth where they came fact to face with lifesize models of these enormous beasts. The day was rounded off with some fun time in the playground and on the slides.

The World of Harry Potter was the destination for year 6 who had a spectacular time revisiting the magic of Harry and his friends. The Great Hall at Hogwarts and the detail of the costumes and sets left the year 6 pupils (& teachers) spellbound!

View some photos of all these trips in the gallery below.

Read our parent and pupils Fantastic comments!

Fab-was amazing  - Faiths Mum

Really enjoyable for the parents and children – Alex's Mum

Such a good idea they had so much fun – Alexandra's Mum

Very good idea, different from what they normally do,  - Alexander's Mum

Brilliant! Such enthusiasm. Fantastic to see! -  Lucy's Mum

Wow! Brilliant performances! The children have clearly enjoyed learning their new skills!!!  - Daniels Mum

Brilliant performance! Thanks a lot to the amazing staff. HOORAY!!!

How great to see so much enjoyment and priority in all the performance - Alice's Mum

Fantastic show!! Everyone was brilliant.  Megan's Mum

A vibrant and energetic performance- amazing to see all the children so enthusiastic. Loved it!  Maya's Mum

It was lovely to see all the kids with full of energy and performing with full confidence!  Avni's Mum

Fantastic to see children at Mandeville trying so many different things: dance is great for so many different skills-balances, co-ordination, teamwork. They were all so enthusiastic and it was a great performance.

Amazing- Brodeys mum

The dancing was amazing. You could see all the hard work and effort they had put into it. Such smiling faces! Well done.  James’s mum

The street dance exhibition was great really good co-ordination showing teamwork as well as individual flair.  Charlotte’s dad.

Brilliant  - Kamerons mum

Really impressive! High standard of choreography. Kids timing was fantastic and they executedthe moves brilliantly with real excitement and expression!

Felt like I was back in the 80’s ! Zeek’s mum(I imagine this has given a lot of confidence to many who were in the show)

Loved every bit of the dance. the amount of work that would have gone in to teachings the kids to do the dance !! Well done.

I had a big smile on my face throughout. Torin’s Mum

I enjoyed the performance a lot the children were excellent moves together, doing the steps together and following the rhythm and the music. They all smiled and enjoyed themselves. It was really good opportunity to be able to see what the children do at school. 

It was great to see the kids doing their street dance show. Smiles all round! They have a lot of fun don’t they? Tarran's Mum.

Wonderful to watch & the children were very energetic and focused. Good work!  Miss Ali

So great to see the concentration on George’s face whilst having a great time too!  George's Mum

 Children’s comments

I think the dance was great because it was really funny. (Mariam)

I think the dance was fantastic! (Russell)

I think it was fabulous. (Zeek)

It was the best show I have ever performed in. (Anya)

I felt impressive of the street dance because it was rocktastic. (Norman)

The dance show was brilliant. (Beth)

The other dancers were brilliant but I really enjoyed dancing. (Charlotte)

We had lots of fun learning the dance and then it was even more fun to perform it! (Olivia)

I think the dance was really good and I loved. (Tahmena)

I think I liked the dose doe (Richard)

I liked all of it  (Jason)

I think the dance was amazing it couldn’t be improved (Tarran)

I liked everyone’s energetic movements in their dance. (Torrin)

I loved everything (Katelyn)

It was stupendous (Emily)

I liked let’s get ready to rumble. (Shaniya)

Well done Swans, Swallows, Hawks & Herons!!

View photos of this dance spectacular below.

Everyone had a fabulous time celebrating the Queens 90th Birthday at Mandeville.  The playground was turned into street party for the occasion with tables, chairs and bunting lining the playground.  Everyone from reception to year 6 enjoyed eating outside whilst the sun shone. Many of the children wore the crowns they had made at home during the half term break.  Alla and Silas were then crowned the winners in our crown decorating competition.

After everyone had eaten the sandwiches, crisps, cakes and jellies the community choir entertained the children with a medley by the rock group Queen. The party was rounded off with lots of very energetic dancing by both staff and children.

Thank you to Michelle and all her team in the kitchen who worked so hard to prepare all the lunches and cakes and Kevin and John who spent most of the day moving tables and chairs.

See lots of fantatic photos of the celebrations here.

Cross Country and Sprints were the order of the day as every class from Butterflies and Ladybirds to Ospreys took part in our annual sports day. Whether they were super sprinters or classy cross-country racers all the children threw their heart and soul into the mornings races.

After the children had finished their races it was the turn of Mums, Dads, pre-schoolers and finally teachers!! Mrs Longhurst gave herself a tiny head start in the teachers race!!

All parents and freinds were then invited to join their children for a picnic lunch on the school field.

 After all the days races were completed the scores and result were totalled up and the wining house was ............................................. Phasels.

Well done to everyone who took part and to all the parents who came along and supported the children so vocally.

 Have a look at our fantastic Gallery of Sports Day photos (A big thank you to Lucy and William's Mum who provided us with all these fabulous photos).