Friday 27th September

Co-headteachers’ welcome

It is hard to believe that October is just around the corner, yet I am delighted to be writing to you to share just a few of the highlights from this first month of the new academic year. 

Firstly, we want to extend an enormous thank you to you as parents/carers for your partnership with us. This month has seen a number of important parent evenings in person, all the way from Reception – Year 12. As a result of these, we have so much clarity for the year ahead, related to the importance of phonics and early reading; relevant and exciting changes to assessment reporting in Years 7 – 9; and support, as ever, for careers guidance and inspiration through the years and into sixth form. We value the face-to-face contact, and we know you do too, much as the virtual platforms remain so important to us as the year proceeds. If you have any questions at all related to slides sent out, please do not hesitate to contact the primary phase leaders or secondary heads of year in the first instance. 

It is a great privilege for us as co-headteachers to host our all-through open morning each year, and this year surpassed our expectations once again. With over 1000 people attending throughout the morning, our all-through school was a-buzz with the vibrancy of learning. Our tour guides – at all ages – were such ambassadors for our school, demonstrating pride and commitment. Those in music or sport and indeed every department were an inspiration to those visiting. We know this from the feedback we received! As the sun shone, we were delighted once again to see the belonging of students of every age to our special community. 

… “ Just to say what a great atmosphere there was at your open day. Relaxed and welcoming. I was impressed….”

… “  Special mention to our tour guides …  They were both very, very lovely students and did your school proud…”

… “ I looked around the school with my daughter this morning, and I just wanted to feedback on how fantastic our pupil tour guide was …  He was obviously so proud of the school, gave us excellent information and I was just generally impressed with how he carried himself. We were very impressed generally with the school- from what was going on in the classrooms, to the band playing, and the excellent presentation by the headteachers.”

… “ I wanted to share my sincere thanks for an excellent Open Day you held on Saturday. It was incredibly well organised and an insightful event. I really appreciate the time and effort your kind students put into giving our family an informative tour of your primary phase. I was very impressed with their knowledge of the primary setting and their confidence. They answered all our questions and both students kept saying what they ‘loved’ about the school. As I also heard from other parents whilst walking around, “it’s been the best school we have visited.”

In our co-headteacher speeches on Saturday, during which our Year 7 and Year 13 speakers demonstrated their incredible oracy skills, we spoke of ‘flourishing’ and how supporting and championing every student to flourish requires an incredible team of students, parents/carers, staff, governors/trustees and every member of our school community. We would like in this newsletter to take a moment to shine a light on our governors and trustees. Their roles can be often hidden from view, and it is very important for all parents/carers to understand that, as leaders, we receive their expertise, their diverse knowledge and skills, their unwavering support, and equally as important, their direct challenge, throughout the academic year. As volunteers, they give tirelessly to the school, and over my 20+ years in education, I have never worked with a more experienced and expert board than that in place at Simon Balle. In this newsletter, we would like to extend our thanks in particular to Mr Paul Connolly, Mrs Ann Orpin and Mr Roy Hardcastle who have given such an incredible service to our school and community. The hours they have given cannot be counted, their generosity of spirit cannot be measured, and the impact of their wisdom, which has been so far-reaching, cannot be written in words. As they pass the baton on, we are delighted to let you know that Mr Connolly and Mrs Orpin will remain as ‘members’ to the Trust board. 

As the half term continues, we trust that your children will continue to enjoy their academic studies and the plentiful enrichment opportunities available to them. From the Year 5 residential last week to the Year 13 business/economics trip in New York now, and to the vast array of extra-curricular opportunities that Mr Prendergast has emailed this week, our message to all is to please, ‘get involved’ – ‘give a new club a go’ – ‘try something different’ and simply experience that sense of ‘belonging’ to Simon Balle. 

We look forward to Sixth Form Open Evening on Wednesday 2nd October. We are ‘more than just great A levels’ and, once again, we look forward to welcoming both internal and external prospective students and families to gain a sense of who we are – where we believe, quite genuinely, that there is no tension between the highest of academic expectations and outcomes, and the richest of experiences with character education and enrichment.

Sixth Form Open Evening

We look forward to welcoming you to our Sixth Form Open Evening on Wednesday 2nd October 2024 from 17:30 – 19:30. Our Sixth Form Open Evening offers you the perfect opportunity to begin considering life after GCSEs.

On the evening you will have the opportunity to explore the school site and visit each of our departments. Our outstanding and experienced subject teachers will be on hand to showcase their subject and talk you through the finer details of the course. Talks from our Sixth Form Leadership team will take place in the main school hall at 17.45 and again 18.45. Sixth Form student guides are also available to offer you a tour of the school and talk about our wonderful enrichment programme.

Many of our students also enjoy studying a range of new subjects, available to them for the first time. Psychology, Sociology, Economics, Politics, Film Studies and English Literature are often popular choices. We offer a creative pathway for students keen to follow their passions. Students have the opportunity to study A Level Music, Art & Design, Drama and Media Studies, in addition to History, Geography, Philosophy, Religion and Ethics.

However, we also believe that Sixth Form should be about MORE THAN JUST GREAT A LEVELS. We are proud of our students’ individual talents and enjoy supporting them to grow as young people. 

Once again, we look forward to welcoming you on to our Sixth Form Open Evening.

SEND

Our all-through SEND team has continued to grow over the past few years. There are some familiar faces, alongside a few new ones.

All teachers are teachers of SEND so please do discuss any concerns with your child’s class teacher or form tutor. Staff in school regularly speak to the SEND team for advice as well as to share successes and challenges. 

If you would like to speak to a member of the SEND team, you can book a virtual appointment of up to 15 minutes with a member of the SEND team, please use the following booking link: Booking link.

Some student require access arrangements for GCSE and A Level exams. The latest guidance for students, parents and carers can be found here parent handout AA

Hertfordshire County Council have put together a Neurodiversity Handbook to support with neurodiversity. They have asked that this comprehensive resource is shared with parents regardless of whether pupils have a diagnosis. 

DSPL3 are hosting a coffee morning for parents on13th November and have asked us to share the details.

Nut allergy warning

We have been informed by the Food Standards Agency that some mustard products being imported into the UK may contain nuts. We have spoken with our caterer, Accent, and they have advised that any student who suffers from a nut allergy should avoid consuming any products from the canteen that carry a “may contain mustard” warning. This is the safest option for those with nut allergies until we can determine which products, if any, may be affected.

For more information, you can follow this link https://www.food.gov.uk/news-alerts/alert/fsa-aa-42-2024-update-4 to the Food Standards Agency, as there are some popular high street products that are also affected.”

Year 11 Theatre Trip

On Monday 23rd September the drama department took 36 year 11 students back to 1955…well the Adelphi Theatre to see Back to the Future The Musical! 

Adapted from the 1985 classic movie we were thoroughly entertained by the songs, fantastic characterisations and superb special effects. A great evening was had by all and the students commented they would highly recommend the show.

Please click here for our latest careers opportunity blog

PE News

It’s been a fantastic start to the season with sports clubs over subscribed and fixtures up and running. Please see a full update of all sports fixtures and the final results of our Key Stage 3 Inter-house sports competition by going to the following link – https://www.simonballe.herts.sch.uk/september-sports-blog/

Library News

ROALD DAHL QUIZ RESULTS

Well done to everyone who participated in the Roald Dahl quiz in the secondary library on Friday 13th September and earned points for their houses. 

Especially well done to the runners up and winners!

• In third place: Frankie (7M)
• In second place: David and Yuko (7R)
• In first place: Jake and Toby (7R)

The Great European Bake Off

Well done to everyone who baked cakes for the MFL bake off yesterday. We were very impressed with all of the entries! There were 26 entries altogether. We will be awarding house points to all of the bakers. Well done especially to those who wrote their recipes in foreign languages! Thank you to everyone who came to vote! We had over 220 votes!

Congratulations to the winners!

The cake that best linked to the European Day of Languages theme: Number 25 – Robert and Arthur, 8R

The tastiest looking cake: Number 18 – Isaac, 7A

The best decorated cake: Number 3 – Summer, 9N

You can take a look at all the other entries in this gallery:

Author visit

On Wednesday 18th September we were delighted to welcome the author Nazima Pathan to the Larch. Nazima spoke to years 4, 5 and 6 about her new book Dream Hunters and showed students how to create their own fantasy adventures with the essential ingredients of characters, maps and magical tools in an interactive session, followed by a book signing. You can purchase copies of Nazima’s book from The Book Nook bookshop in Ware, or online at booknookshop.co.uk. You will get 10% off the RRP of the book when you use the code DREAM at the checkout.

Friday 13th September

Co-headteachers’ welcome

Welcome back to a new and exciting school year at Simon Balle All-through School! We hope you all had a refreshing and enjoyable summer break. As we embark on this academic journey together, we are filled with enthusiasm for the opportunities and achievements that lie ahead. This year again we are committed to fostering a supportive and engaging learning environment where every student can thrive.

The title of our staff inset focussed around developing ‘flourishing’ students. We have always said there is no tension between fantastic enrichment and high academic expectations. We are passionate about providing the best possible experience for our students. Our culture, values and ethos are very important to us and this permeates into everything we do. A large part of our inset training was discussing an ethic of excellence for our students, showing what can be achieved through drafting, redrafting, reflection and modelling. As Thompson said, ‘Our core work is to build school cultures that promote excellence all day long…this is what our school culture is built upon: the dogged determination to help our students achieve beyond what they think is possible. We want our students taking a risk, being creative, learning from their mistakes and building a positive learning environment. 

We are well aware that ‘the greatest textbook a student can have is a good teacher’. We have spent a lot of time and resources to recruit the very best in a difficult recruitment climate. We are again fully staffed and are pleased to welcome the following new staff members to our school:

NAME	POSITION
Miss Ansell	Primary Teacher
Mrs Everett	Modern Foreign Languages Teacher
Mr Rosen	Computer Science Teacher
Mrs Claire Ingle	English Teacher
Mrs Newland	KS3 Teacher
Mr Baxter	Business Teacher
Mr Morgan	PE Teacher & Pupil Premium Lead

We are thrilled to share that our students have once again achieved remarkable results across all key stages, reflecting the hard work and dedication of our students and staff. Our Key Stage 2 results are well above the national average, showcasing the strong foundation we provide for our younger learners. At GCSE, our students surpassed expectations by over half a grade compared to national averages; a testament to their perseverance and the exceptional support they receive. Finally, our Year 13 students achieved an outstanding 67% A* to B grades at A-Level, with an average points score significantly exceeding the national average. These achievements highlight the excellence of our educational environment and the incredible commitment of everyone in our school community. Congratulations to all for these stellar results!

As we embark on a new school year, we are thrilled to introduce our enrichment programme, designed to provide our students with a range of exciting learning opportunities beyond the standard curriculum in our all-through school. This year, our programme is brimming with activities and clubs that cater to a wide variety of interests, from arts and sports to science and technology. We believe that these enrichment opportunities will not only enhance our students’ educational experience but also help them discover new passions and talents

Over the summer, we’ve made significant progress on the construction of our new sports hall, and while the building work has been a bit disruptive, it’s thrilling to see our vision for an enhanced sporting facility taking shape. Please be mindful that parking is currently limited due to the construction, so we kindly ask that you avoid driving your child to school unless you have specific permission. Please don’t block driveways or turn round in unsuitable locations – secondary age students should be perfectly capable of walking from the Old London Road car park next to the fire station. On another positive note, our Modern Foreign Languages building is now fully operational, providing a wonderful environment for language learning, and we’ve also converted our lecture theatre into two fantastic classrooms. It’s an exhilarating time to be a student here, with these new resources enriching our educational experience. 

Finally we want to mention fantastic parental involvement in our school community. Your involvement, whether through supporting excellent student attendance, supporting your child’s learning at home, attending school events or actively encouraging our enrichment programmes, plays an essential role in their development. Together, we can create a cohesive support system that not only addresses academic needs but also fosters emotional and social growth. We want to extend our heartfelt gratitude for your continued commitment and support. Your engagement is crucial in helping us provide the best possible educational experience for our students. Let’s work together to make this year one of growth, achievement, and memorable experiences for all.

Communication and information platforms

A large all-through school like ours is a busy place. This brings both opportunities and challenges, particularly when it comes to communicating with people and staying organised. Inevitably this will involve the use of a variety of systems and platforms. We are committed to streamlining these, but there is never one perfect tool for every job. Here is an overview of the online platforms that we use.

It has been fantastic to see over 3000 positive points awarded in the first week to students demonstrating our CARE values. As part of the streamlining process we have moved the recording of the rewards and consequences over to Arbor. Thank you for your patience and understanding whilst we do this. We are aware of some confusion as to what parents and students can see and are working with Arbor to improve this. A parent guide will be sent out shortly when we have rectified.

Sixth Form Open Evening

We look forward to welcoming you to our Sixth Form Open Evening on Wednesday 2nd October 2024 from 17:30 – 19:30. Our Sixth Form Open Evening offers you the perfect opportunity to begin considering life after GCSEs.

On the evening you will have the opportunity to explore the school site and visit each of our departments. Our outstanding and experienced subject teachers will be on hand to showcase their subject and talk you through the finer details of the course. Talks from our Sixth Form Leadership team will take place in the main school hall at 17.45 and again 18.45. Sixth Form student guides are also available to offer you a tour of the school and talk about our wonderful enrichment programme.

Many of our students also enjoy studying a range of new subjects, available to them for the first time. Psychology, Sociology, Economics, Politics, Film Studies and English Literature are often popular choices. We offer a creative pathway for students keen to follow their passions. Students have the opportunity to study A Level Music, Art & Design, Drama and Media Studies, in addition to History, Geography, Philosophy, Religion and Ethics.

However, we also believe that Sixth Form should be about MORE THAN JUST GREAT A LEVELS. We are proud of our students’ individual talents and enjoy supporting them to grow as young people. 

Once again, we look forward to welcoming you on to our Sixth Form Open Evening.

Author visit for years 4, 5 and 6 in the Larch

On the afternoon of Wednesday the 18th of September, The Book Nook bookshop in Ware have arranged a visit to Simon Balle School, with Children’s author Nazima Pathan, during her school book tour for her debut children’s book, Dream Hunters, a brand-new epic adventure middle grade set in a reimagined India where dreams can be captured and bottled.

Students from Years 4, 5 and 6, will take part in a fun session with Nazima, who will be talking about the world of Dream Hunters and showing them how to create their own fantasy adventures with the essential ingredients of characters, maps and magical tools in an interactive session, followed by a book signing.

The team from The Book Nook bookshop in Ware, will be selling books on the day of the event, and children can bring in either cash or their pre-loaded debit card, or you can order a copy from our website at booknookshop.co.uk for your child(ren) to bring in on the day for Nazima to sign!   When you order you will get 10% off the RRP of the book if you use the code DREAM at the checkout.

Music Hall of Fame

We have launched our 2024-25 Hall of Fame, so don’t forget to vote for your favourite pieces!

Click on the link below to vote for your top 3 pieces of Classical Music from our Simon Balle Hall of Fame. This will be the music we listen to in assemblies each week as we count down the Top 15 as voted for by you.

Last year’s winner was Ride Of The Valkyries by Wagner, but will it retain its place at the top? The decision is up to you!

Vote here!

VOTING CLOSES ON FRIDAY 20th SEPTEMBER

Do have a listen to the pieces in our Hall of Fame on our spotify playlist:https://open.spotify.com/playlist/39aeNJ0J2bkGeVJYuF4Wrp?si=5aa523b0dfe7423e

Simon Balle’s reading culture

Students should read for at least 20 minutes each day: The more students read, the more successful they will be in their school work and in the future.

We want to reward you for reading. Take part in Get Rewarded for Reading! 

Last year New house won the Get Rewarded for Reading trophy – will they be able to retain it in 2024-25?

Why we should all read:

Academic and career success

• Reading ability is a greater indicator of academic success than someone’s social background or their parents’ level of education.
• Literacy skills (reading and writing) are essential for our future jobs and careers.
• Reading helps us to gain empathy for other people and a better understanding of ourselves and different points of view, identities and cultures.

Mental health and wellbeing

• Reading reduces feelings of loneliness.
• Reading for enjoyment is really good for our wellbeing and mental health particularly for people who suffer with anxiety, stress or depression.
• Reading for pleasure helps you to have better sleep patterns.

Hertford Library event

Hertford Library are hosting a Creative Writing Poetry Workshop for Young Adults 14-18 on Monday 28th October. You can read more about the event here.

SEND

The start of the year is an opportunity to review policies in place and as such the SEND Information Report 2024-2025 has been updated for this academic year. This can also be found on the website. 

If you have concerns or questions the first port of call is the class teacher or tutor but if you would like to speak to a member of the SEND team online appointments are available using this Booking link on Mondays and Thursdays.

SEND Local Offer

Every county in England has a SEND Local Offer as per the SEND Code of Practice 2015. This provides information about health, education and social care for children and young people (birth to 25 years old) with SEND. 

Hertfordshire’s Local Offer has information, advice and signposting on support available in education, clubs and activities, parent workshops, services for young people and parents, preparing for adulthood, EHCPs and more. The website is easy to navigate and has contact details for all their services including links to associated organisations and charities. 

The Local offer is running a webinar on Wednesday 25 September 8pm – 9pm. Use the link to Join the meeting.

Mental Health training

The Emotional Mental Wellbeing in Education Team are offering funded training programmes to support school-based professionals and parents/carers to improve the mental health and wellbeing of pupils aged 8-18.

 All MHFA Training is facilitated by an approved MHFA Trainer. 

The training which is currently on offer is: MHFA 1 day Champion Course for parents/carers of Hertfordshire school children

Please see the flyer attached (Parent Carer 1 Day MHFA Training (1)) for more information and use link below for ease of booking:

https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/mental-health-first-aid-mhfa-1-day-course-for-parents-carers-tickets-679261578667?aff=oddtdtcreator

 

 

 

Simon Balle All-through School is proud to announce that we have successfully achieved the Quality in Careers Standard through Investor in Careers, effective July 2024. This prestigious recognition reaffirms our commitment to delivering exceptional careers education, information, advice, and guidance (CEIAG) to our students. As holders of this award for the next three years, we continue to strive for excellence in preparing our students for their future careers.

Our comprehensive CEIAG program has been highly commended for its strong structure, effective delivery, and positive impact on students.  Achieving the Quality in Careers Standard is a testament to the hard work and dedication of our careers team, students, parents, and the wider school community.

We look forward to building on this success and continuing to support our students in achieving their career aspirations.

Please click here for our latest careers opportunity blog

PE News

The term has got off to a great start in PE lessons with students settling in well. This month students in Year 7, 8 & 9 have started with a house competition, focussed on the Long Jump, 100m, Throw and a Cross Country run. Results will follow in our monthly Sports Blog at the end of September.

The Year 7 District Mob Cross Country race, our first sports competition of the year, took place on Wednesday at Chauncy School. The Year 7 girls were led home by Grace P who finished in third place, earning the team second place overall, behind a strong Presdales team. James P finished 7th in the Year 7 boys race, with the team finishing third overall. Well done to all who participated.

To view our Sports Extra-curricular programme, please visit the PE web pages via the following link – Secondary Sport Enrichment Programme.

Parents evenings

Parents evenings are now going to be known as ‘student consultation evenings’ going forward. These will continue to be a mixture of face to face and virtual events, and will run alongside other opportunities to visit the school. 

Top tips for supporting your child

Read the latest in this excellent series: supporting-children-to-manage-conflict-effectively

Privacy notice

Please take the time to read our privacy notices for parents/carers and students https://www.simonballe.herts.sch.uk/policies-accounts/gdpr/

Open morning reminder

Please don’t forget that Saturday 21st september is our all-through open morning. Secondary students are expected to be on site by 0810 and Y5 should arrive between 0800-0815. Form tutors will be sharing more specific details with students during the week, and a email was sent home last week outlining times for Friday (early finish for secondary students) and Saturday. In return for coming to school on Saturday, the students get an extra day off in the autumn term.

Open Morning info letter

PSA

Asda Rewards

Between 2nd September and 30th November 2024, every time customers shop with Asda using their Rewards app, they can choose Simon Balle School to receive a percentage of their spend. And that’s not all — every time a customer chooses our school, Asda will donate £1 to the Simon Balle Cashpot, plus a further £50 when your first customer shops.

Download or update the Asda Rewards App today and follow the guide below. It is super easy to do…Asda Rewards, how to activate.

 

 

 

Joules

The Joules Outlet team are returning to Simon Balle on Friday 8th November. Tickets for this event are now on sale, via the PSA website.

Be the first to snap up Preview Tickets, allowing early entry into the sale room but hurry, there aren’t many tickets available! Book before 10th October to secure an Early Bird Discount! 

Treasurer needed

As we kick off the new academic year, we are urgently seeking a replacement Treasurer to start immediately.

At a time when fundraising is more important than ever, this role is crucial to both the success of the PSA’s fundraising efforts and smooth running of key events, as well as delivering on initiatives, such as the following examples achieved in recent years:

• shade and shelter projects for both phases of the school
• mini-bus hire
• funding to help subsidise school trips
• refurbishments for areas such as the swimming pool
• building decoration and school signage
• funding towards end of year celebrations

Your help with this key role will support the work of the PSA to ensure these important contributions continue. 

You will receive a handover as you act as interim Treasurer, ahead of being elected on to the Committee during the Autumn term Annual General Meeting (AGM).  If you would like to express your interest in this role or to find out more, please email our Co-chair, Jo Duggan, on duggan_jo@yahoo.co.uk  

Thank you letter

Finally please see the attached letter from the Parent Staff Association.

Dates for your diary

A full calendar of events can be viewed on the school website.

• Mon 16th Sep: Y8 Expectations evening
• Tues 17th Sep: Y9 Expectations and Battlefields trip info evening
• Thurs 19th Sep: Y13 Expectations evening
• Fri 20th Sep: Secondary early finish (1310 for those helping on Saturday, 1510 for everyone else) (Larch finish at 1515 as usual)
• Sat 21st Sep: Open Day
• Wed 25th Sep: Y11 performance clinic
• Thurs 26th Sep: Y7 information evening

Yours sincerely,

Mrs Rachel Kirk and Mr Michael Moss (Co-headteachers)

Friday 12th July

Co-headteachers’ welcome

As we approach the final week of this busy and exciting summer term, and indeed the end of the first year of our co-headship, we would like to reach out to thank everybody within our special Simon Balle All-through School community. 

This week alone has seen highlights including Saffron Sounds on Saturday, our formal Awards ceremony on Monday, Sports Presentation Evening on Wednesday, Transition day and EPQ presentations on Thursday, Larch sports day today and we look forward to a Slice of Summer tomorrow! The all-through art exhibition is being busily prepared as I write and trips out next week include the Year 6 cohort off to Sheringham for geography fieldwork, our D of E bronze students out on expedition, and the annual music tour off to Ghent. There is no doubt at all that our community is thriving at this time! 

We were delighted to be able to publish our Outstanding Ofsted report yesterday, and, in this final newsletter of the year, it is fitting to be able to quote from our report in order to thank your wonderful young people for all they bring to Simon Balle. 

‘Pupils thrive within the impressive positive ethos of this school. They are well equipped to become, ‘tomorrow’s citizens today.’ 

‘Pupils take great pride in demonstrating school values, such as compassion, kindness, respect and patience.’

‘[Pupils] sustain their concentration and focus on learning exceptionally well … Pupils work hard to learn and achieve. This helps them to reach the school’s high expectations.’

‘Pupils benefit from the school’s excellent enrichment provision.’

‘Pupils behave exceptionally well. They are pleasant, polite and caring young people.’

With so much news to share and celebrate in this newsletter (guest edited by Y4), all that remains is for us to thank you for your ongoing support within our school community, and for us to put our young people at the centre: they are exceptional and it is them that continue to allow Simon Balle to be a place where all can flourish. 

When we get there, we wish you all a wonderful summer. We look forward to welcoming our Year 11 and Year 13 students in for results days, and our new Year 7s back for summer school. After a very well-deserved rest for all, we look forward to a new academic year as we know that 2024-2025 will bring enriching experiences a-plenty and abundant opportunities  to sustain all that is offered at our Outstanding All-through School.

Art exhibition and Slice of Summer

Don’t forget that the Art Exhibition and the PSA’s Slice of Summer event are both taking place tomorrow (Saturday 13th July). We hope to see as many of you there as possible.  

Please visit the London road subway to see examples of our students’ GCSE and A-level art and design work. This work had been selected by Hertfordshire County Council to be displayed within our community. Yesterday, along with other local schools  we were invited to see the work being unveiled. The art is of such a high standard and we are very proud of all that our students have achieved.

We’d also like to draw your attention to the fundraising page for our Art Development Fund. Donations will go directly towards inspiring current and future students through celebrating their creative work and contributing to the inspiring learning environment.

Saffron Hall

Last weekend’s Saffron Sounds event was another resounding success. You can read more here.

Mock election

After two weeks of campaigns and a hustings in both the Larch and secondary school, we held our own mock election on Thursday 4th July. All students from year 3 to year 12 were invited to a polling station to vote for the political party whose ideas they liked the best. The results were announced at break time the next day for the Simon Balle All-through School mock election constituency:

• Conservative Party 43  (4.4%)
• Green Party 151 (15.5%)
• Labour Party 484 (49.4%)
• Liberal Democrat Party 123 (12.6%)
• Reform UK 170 (17.4%)

Well done to all the sixth formers who worked so hard to represent the views of the different political parties and to create so many conversations between students about who they may vote for.  We have been really impressed by the willingness of everyone to get involved in the whole electoral process from the campaigning to the hustings to voting on election day. We hope the habit of voting will stay with our students for a lifetime.  

Year 12 Politics and History students visit Parliament

We had a fantastic trip to the Houses of Parliament and the Supreme Court this week. We were lucky enough to see the Speaker’s Procession in the House of Commons as well as visit the viewing gallery to see new MPs taking their oath of allegiance. We also crossed Parliament Square to visit an exhibition in the Supreme Court. An empty Courtroom meant that students were able to sit in the Justices chairs and hold an impromptu debate on whether 16 and 17 year olds should be given the vote!

Larch student leadership

It’s a new and exciting time for the Larch Student Leadership Team for 2024/25 with a brand new structure to allow more students to be a part of the team.

Huge congratulations go to our newly elected Larch Student Leadership Team. Lead by our fantastic new Larch presidents Oscar G, Romilly P-S, Valentina M:

We look forward to celebrating their achievements further next week with an invitation to the Co-Headteacher’s to mark the start of their leadership journey! Watch this space for more to come in the new academic year!

Year 8 Science Trip: Colchester Zoo:

On Monday the 1st July 170 Year 8 Science students visited Colchester zoo to listen to talks on the importance of Conservation. Students were able to continue their Science work beyond the classroom by observing their chosen animal up close, learning key facts and enriching their understanding. An excellent day and fantastic opportunity for our students.

Y4 Newspaper articles

Year 4 have been writing newspaper reports about their play. Year 3 and 4 will be acting and singing in their performance of Who’s Your Mummy? on Monday night. The purpose of the article is to inform the reader about the play. Keep your eyes on social media for photos from the performance!

Drama Enrichment

Students from years 6, 7 and 8 got creative to complement their exploration of myths and legends in drama enrichment.

After performing scenes based on Pandora’s Box and Beowulf, the students made props and costumes based on the myths and legends they had explored in their drama enrichment sessions. Creations included: Grendel’s arm, a storm of evil, Pandora’s Box and a series of masks.

Exciting new theatrical opportunity for September

The Company of Players is an amateur theatre company that’s been performing in Hertford since 1962, with their own intimate little theatre in Bengeo that seats just 63. 

From September CoPS will be re-launching their Youth Group, working in partnership with Hertfordshire based Mimic Theatre Company, to offer weekly drama-focused workshops for young people aged 13-18. Students will develop their acting skills and technique through script work, improvisation, devising and much more. They’ll build confidence, meet new people with a shared interest and learn to work together, all in a fun and supportive space led by experienced theatre practitioners. Unlike many other youth theatre provisions, CoPs Youth Group won’t include any song or dance skills, so it’s perfect for those students who prefer drama to musical theatre, and can be a great route into joining us on stage in adult productions too.  Thanks to funding from the Arts in East Herts Showcase, CoPS are thrilled to be able to offer the first half term without any fees, so students can try for free!

CoPs Youth Group in partnership with Mimic Theatre Company, weekly from 13 September. Fridays 6.30-8.30pm at 3rd Hertford Scout Hut, Port Vale, Hertford SG14 3AF

The usual cost (after the first half term) will be £60 per six-week half term (during term time only) and includes refreshments, and student membership of the Company of Players is also included. More info about CoPs can be found at www.cops.org.uk and any interested students, parents or carers can email us at info@cops.org.uk to get a reminder of the first session nearer the time, or for further information or questions

Y12 Film students visit to Warner Brothers Studio, the making of Harry Potter

Magical secrets were revealed, and we won’t look at quidditch the same way again! With a focus on the career opportunities within the British film industry, Y12 enjoyed the tour of the Harry Potter sets as they saw how the magic of the books was brought to life through the various departments which are responsible for creating what we see on screen. There was “no foolish wand waving or silly incantations” (to quote Professor Snape), however there was butterbeer and much admiration of the merchandise in the gift shop!

Larch academic data

Further, more detailed, analysis will be shared on our website in due course but we are delighted to share with you the headline outcomes from our KS2 SATs this academic year demonstrating we are significantly above national average in all areas!

A fantastic set of results that are testament to the outstanding commitment from students, staff and parents across the Larch! Well done, Year 6 – we are all so proud of you!

Y10 exams

A big congratulations to the Year 10’s who have successfully completed their “End of year” exams. The year group conducted themselves well and coped admirable with the exam procedures. All of them now have a much better understanding of how the real GCSE’s will run, what equipment is required and how and when to use their study leave or revision room option.  Results and feedback are being given out to students during lessons as and when appropriate, so please do encourage them to discuss this with you at home.

Well done Year 10 – from a very proud Ms Green

Please click here for our latest careers blog

SEND

If you would like to speak to a member of the SEND team you can book a virtual appointment of up to 15 minutes with a member of the SEND team using the following booking link: Booking link

Sports Hall

Please remember that construction of the new sports hall will start on Monday 15th July. Access to the car park will be significantly restricted, with students needing to be dropped off and collected elsewhere (the Old London Road car park is the most suitable place for this). We will be posting updates to the sports hall page of the website.

Sports News

It’s been another busy few weeks in Sport at Simon Balle which culminated in our Sports Presentation Evening on Wednesday night. Parents, carers and students all showed up to provide a fantastic atmosphere on the night. There were many award winners as well as nominees for a wide range of sports and main awards. The evening began with a review of the year and a celebration of our District Athletics winners, it was then onto our awards. Our 4 key main award winners were as follows;

• Sportswoman of the Year – Naomi P
• Sportsman of the Year – Ellis D 
• Larch Sportswoman of the Year – Grace P 
• Larch Sportsman of the Year – Louis B

We will add a more detailed report in our end of year monthly sports round up next week. 

In other Sports news, our Year 8 Rounders team became District Champions this week beating Chauncy in the final. In Cricket the Year 10 Boys are due to play Parmiters in a County final on Tuesday 16th July. Both Year 7 & 8 Boys are still to play District semi-finals, with more updates to follow on their progress next week. 

In Athletics over the past few weeks we have competed at the Nicky Morris and Bruce Longden Girls and Boys Invitational events. Winners from the Nicky Morris Girls event were as follows;

• Georgina B – Y7 Shot Putt
• Emily P – Y8/9 Discus
• Cora N – Y8/9 800m
• Naomi P – Y10/11 400m

At the Bruce Longden Boys event, Rex T-W was the star performer winning the Year 7 Hurdles, standing Triple Jump and was also part of the victorious 4 x 100m relay team. Rex was also awarded the Sally Gunnell award for up and coming hurdlers. Mason K won the Year 7 100m and alongside Marley H and Max F was part of the winning relay team too. Barney W-B won the senior 800m. 

More information will follow in next week’s monthly Sports Round-up. 

School Nursing Team

Please take a minute to read the Summer Term newsletter from the school nursing team.

PHN Newsletter teen Summer2024 11

Safeguarding

Please spend a moment reading the most recent issue of ‘what parents need to know’.

what-parents-need-to-know-about-sharing-intimate-images

Library news

Sports Diary Entry Writing Competition

Well done to everyone who entered the Sports Diary Entry Writing Competition! All entries were judged anonymously by the author Alice Hemming and Miss Iles. Congratulations to the winners and runners-up:

Runners-up

• Renae (year 6, Eagles)
• Emily (7R)
• Cherry (7R)

Winners (you can read their entries by clicking on the names below)

• Isshi (7L)
• Isla (year 6, Owls)
• Holly (8R)

Foreign Language Friday Food Fiesta

For our last Foreign Language Friday of the year we celebrated in style with the Food Fiesta in the library on Friday 28th June.

Students had the opportunity to practise speaking in a variety of languages whilst trying foods from different countries.

School for Nature

We were delighted to receive a certificate from David Attenborough in recognition of the work we have done for the environment. Well done to all those involved. 

Reminder

Y10 and Y11 students wear a maroon jumper. These can be purchased through Stevensons.  The PSA will also have some available for purchase at the Slice of Summer on Saturday 13th July, subject to availability.  

Please could we ask for any donations of clean, good condition uniform, especially green jumpers.  These can be dropped off at the Secondary Reception.  Thank you. 

Dates for your diary

A full calendar of events can be viewed on the school website.

• Sat 13th July: Slice of Summer and Art and Design All-through Exhibition 12-4pm
• Monday 15th July: Year 3 and 4 School Production 5.30pm – 7pm
• Monday 15th – Wednesday 17th: Year 6 School Journey to Sheringham
• Wednesday 17th: Phase 1 and 2 Open Afternoon 3.15pm – 4.15pm
• Wednesday 17th: Year 2 Celebration Event (parents invited)
• Friday 19th: Year 6 Leavers Assembly 8.50am (parents invited). Will be held in the secondary hall.
• Fri 19th: early finish – 1200 Larch, 1210 Secondary

New term

• Mon 2nd Sep: INSET (no students in school)
• Tues 3rd Sep: Reception in school (morning), Y7 and Y12 in school all day
• Wed 4th Sep: all students in (normal school day)
• Wed 4th Sep: group photos Y7, 11 and 13
• Thurs 5th Sep: individual photos Y7, 9, 11 and new Y12s

We hope you have a wonderful summer holiday

Yours sincerely,

Mrs Rachel Kirk and Mr Michael Moss (Co-headteachers)