+

Y13 Business Success

June 19, 2013 in About Us, Economics & Business Education, Front Page News by Andrew Grantham

green tickMonday saw the final moderation for our Year 13 students following the OCR National (Level 3) Certificate in Business course.  After two years of hard work producing portfolios of evidence to show their abilities in different aspects of Business Studies, their grades have been moderated and approved.  Excellent results have again been achieved by Simon Balle School students on this course which is assessed by evidence of what they do as they progress rather than all exams at the end.  Many will go on to further study in higher education, with some possibly moving straight into work.  Some work from the current Year 12 students was also moderated, so they are also off to a good start.

A big congratulations also to Mrs Lucas and Mrs McCarthy for the excellent guidance and teaching they have given these students.

+

Speaker’s Corner – Mountain Walking

June 19, 2013 in About Us, Front Page News by Janet Syme

SC Mountain WalkingCongratulations to Charlie from Year 7 who gave an excellent presentation on Friday of his serious hobby of Mountain Walking. Josh, also from Year 7, helped with the technical part of the talk. Charlie often goes walking with his Dad in Wales and the Peak District and has actually climbed Snowdon 3 times! In time he hopes to also ascend Everest.  He brought with him some of the useful equipment they take with them on their trips.

The talk was particularly good as it initiated many questions and some discussion. Many thanks to the audience who supported this event so well.

+

Haunted Lift 7HD

June 13, 2013 in About Us, Front Page News, Performing Arts by Sarah Cornell

Part of the drama skills students learn in year 7 is to appreciate how sound (both music and effects) can add to the atmosphere and effectiveness of performance. Please listen to the recording to see how 7HD coped with this concept recently.

Haunted Lift

 

 

+

Y5 Transition Classroom

June 12, 2013 in About Us, Front Page News, Geography by Joanna Baynham

Carnival music lesson!On Wednesday 5th June 17 Year 5 students from Hertingfordbury Cowper came to Simon Balle to experience life in a secondary school.  They had a fantastic day and loved the lessons they had.  They started with food tech, then tried out science and maths.  Following lunch in the canteen they went to a geography lesson which was followed by music.  They were rather tired by the end of the day but most of them still stayed for a PE club after school.
Thank you to Mrs Jones, Mrs Kelleway, Mrs Pope, Miss Ahmet, Mr Taylor and  Mr Finch.  The students were looked after by three Year 7 students who used to go to Hertingfordbury.  Rebecca Tether, Beth Emsley and Jake Preston did a fantastic job and ensured that nobody got lost!
+

Girls Calypso cricket

June 12, 2013 in About Us, Front Page News, PE by Janice Noblett

calypso cricketMore sporting success for SBS!

We entered 2 teams for the annual Calypso Cricket competition on Tuesday 11th June. The combined year7/8 team were amazing, winning all 4 of their group matches comfortably. They breezed past Sele in the semi final and were so unlucky to lose by 2 runs to Broxbourne in the final. This was an outstanding achievement for this group of girls, most of whom have just started playing cricket. Congratulations to Leah, Jenny, Molly, Krystina, Eve, Maddy, Lucie, Gemma, Megan, Lily and Ruby.
The combined year 9/10 team also competed and for many of these girls it is the final time they will play cricket for the school team. They stormed through their group matches, beat Freeman College in the semi final and Marlborough school in the final. This team have consistently performed at high level since forming as a team in year 7.. Over the last 4 years they have been indoor district, county and South of England champions, so to finish as champions outdoors was a fitting end to their cricket career at Simon Balle!
Well done to the following girls, you are brilliant: Phoebe, Abbie, Sophie, Yasmin, Chloe, Maddy, Megan, Jessie, Emily and Abbey.
+

Speaker’s Corner – Scottish Myths and Legends

June 10, 2013 in About Us, Front Page News by Janet Syme

SC Scottish MythsOn Friday Stacia, Imi and Megan from Year 9 presented a very interesting talk about Scotland. Stacia has Scottish connections and she brought along her book collection on myths and legends north of the border. All the girls had put in a lot of work preparing the Powerpoint and, indeed, the slides were particularly attractive.

The audience enjoyed learning more about the Loch Ness Monster amongst other tales and the session ended with questions from students and staff. Well done girls for such a first class event!

It made a nice change for there to be girls presenting  - please speak to any member of the library staff if you would like to be a future star of Speaker’s Corner!

+

County Athletics Championships

June 10, 2013 in About Us, Front Page News, PE by Daire Brennan

On Saturday a team of 6 Simon Balle athletes competed at the County Athletics Championships in Hemel.
All performed to a very high standard with the performers of the day being Josh and Sophie. Josh jumped a personal best (pb) of 11.32m in the Triple Jump to win a bronze medal. Sophie ran a tactically astute race to win bronze in the 1500m with a pb of 5m 14s  beating her personal best by nearly 10 secs. Ben competed in the U17 boys and made the 100m final and finished a fantastic 5th in the Long Jump. Maddy made the final of the 300m where she finished a credible 6th. Lily and Louise also competed in the long jump and high jump respectively.
Well done to all who competed.
Long Jump action shot

Long jump action shot

300m race

300m race

1500m race

1500m race

Triple Jump runway

Triple jump runway

+

Rounders update

June 7, 2013 in About Us, Front Page News, PE by Nicola Traynor

Years 9 and 10 rounders V St Marys Cheshunt

Year 9 won 12 and a half to 5 and a half – PoM:  Abbey C
Year 10 still remain unbeaten, winning 20 and a half to 7 and a half – PoM: Sophie R
+

Academy conversion responses

June 7, 2013 in About Us, Front Page News by Alison Saunders

Following specific queries from parents we have updated the Academy Conversion page of the website.  Please take a moment to review the answers.

+

Dance World Cup 2013

June 5, 2013 in About Us, Front Page News by Nicola Traynor

Hannah, one of our Year 8 students,  has been selected to represent England again this year at the Dance World Cup 2013.  Following on from her success last year she has been selected to represent England in 16 dance sections, including solos, duets, trios and groups.
As well as this fantastic opportunity, Hannah recently competed at the South West heat for one of the most prestigious modern dance competitions in the UK and she was awarded, unanimously, Senior Class Prize and overall South West region winner of the Senior Section.  She will attend the finals of the Janet Gram Dance competition at the show theatre in London on the 9th June.
We wish Hannah every success with both competitions and look forward to hearing about her experience when she returns.