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Newsletter 5

17th November 2023David Ayres

Friday 17th November

Co-headteachers’ welcome

As I write this newsletter I can only reflect on how proud and humbled we were as co-headteachers when the whole school community came together for our Remembrance Service which was again a poignant experience. The whole school stood silent listening to students reading, the choir and the superb recital of the Last Post. It was a real time for reflection and to pay respect. We feel proud to organise this event which is always so moving.

What an incredible couple of weeks we have had to the new half term. The sports, music and enrichment compliments our learning in the classroom. I was suitably challenged in the primary chess club as I received multiple requests for matches from a very talented set of students, all eager to become the next Magnus Carlsen. Before my next visit I think I need to do some secret practice! We have so much to look forward to across this half term with planned enrichment opportunities a plenty. Please do keep an eye on our social media pages.

Our all-through leadership allows us to continually stay in touch with and support our students’ development pastorally as well as academically. A highlight in the Larch this week has been Year 1 looking for clues into Beegu’s spaceship landing at Simon Balle. If you see some yellow or sparkly footprints around the site you know who they are from! At the other end of our age range there is a real buzz with our Year 11 and 13 students as they start to prepare for their mock exams. It is lovely to walk around the classrooms, from Reception to Year 13, listening to the positive learning relationships between students and teachers as they hone their knowledge and skills.

In the last couple of weeks there have again been lots of events taking place. We were invited to hear our Year 12 present their Extended Project Qualification (EPQ). The enormous amount of work which has gone into these projects was reflected by the polished presentations. Topics were fascinating as much as they were diverse from space mining, terraforming, outsourcing to world war poetry. One parent commented ‘The projects were very interesting and varied and I’d like to thank and congratulate all the students for being so articulate, confident and engaging in their presentations. They were a real credit to the school and really conveyed the value of EPQs. Well done to everyone! A thoroughly enjoyable experience’. It was wonderful to see so many students engaging in this enrichment opportunity which will have not only boosted their knowledge of their chosen topic, but also taught them so much about planning, research and communication skills.

Finally, we held our Larch Open Evening where we welcomed prospective reception students on Thursday 16th. This was a chance to showcase our students’ work, our strong ethos and values and the amazing learning culture that exists. It has certainly been a busy period in our school community!

Sixth form open evening

Our Sixth Form Open Evening will take place on Wednesday 22nd November from 5.30 – 7.30pm. Talks will take place in the hall at 5.45pm and 6.45pm.

To help them prepare for their next steps, all Year 11 students will have a lesson this week focusing on the new A Level subjects (Economics, Film Studies, Media Studies, Politics, Psychology, BTEC Sport and Sociology) – providing them with information about the topics covered, assessment and future career pathways for each subject.

Some useful documents to read in advance of the open evening can be found below:

Subject guide – click here

Mini-prospectus – click here

For further information and support, we would strongly recommend looking at the Sixth Form section of our website.

Extra- curricular enrichment clubs at Simon Balle

We are proud of the high quality and varied opportunities we offer across the primary and secondary phase for students to engage in extra-curricular clubs. Recently Year 3+ took part in a student voice survey to give us their thoughts and opinions on what we offer. Below are just a handful of things they told us!

‘I think there is a lot of options for people to choose from and that is good’

‘I personally enjoy the clubs I attend as they allow me to connect with people easier whilst having fun’

‘I find the clubs that I attend very fun and active’

‘I love all the clubs I’ve been to!’

‘I really like the large range of clubs at Simon Balle’

‘I enjoy art enrichment because I get to spend time with my friends and be creative. It also helps me look forward to Wednesdays’

‘I particularly like the sports clubs because they are fun and they help me stay fit’

‘I really enjoy the clubs, there is such a wide range of them!’

Some students said they weren’t aware of the clubs on offer, so an action we will work on is promoting the clubs so both students and families are aware of what we are offering so no student misses out. There is now an updated enrichment notice board in the secondary dining room by the new drinks machines, clubs will be promoted in form times and the website will be updated regularly.

This year we introduced a new enrichment programme for all Year 12 students to enhance their skills set and develop a range of employability skills. Please find below some statements from current Year 12 students regarding their enrichment experiences:

Teachers of Tomorrow: Every Friday morning for enrichment I do ‘Teachers of Tomorrow’, where I have the privilege of working with both Year 11 and Year 7 students for two hours dedicated to helping out in PE lessons, this includes, getting equipment ready, leading warm ups and helping individual students who may need help. During my time, I have enjoyed it and found it useful as it has enhanced both my leadership and communication skills. Additionally, in the future, this works hand in hand with my subjects, PE A level, specifically in the sports leadership module. (Harrie).

Larch Outreach: Every Friday morning, for the first two periods of the day, I help out a year 5 class in the Larch. This involves me helping the students with their maths worksheets, conducting dictation and supporting them whilst they polish their literary pieces. I enjoy assisting in the primary school as it allows me to give back to the school community and help the younger students to improve their understanding on different topics, such as multiplication. Volunteering encourages me to develop my communication and leadership skills whilst also improving my confidence when working with other members of staff. This is important for my next steps as it provides me with a strong foundation of team working skills as well as my employability. (Sienna).

Young Enterprise: Young Enterprise is an activity where you and the people who have also taken part in it are able to create a product to sell to the general public. You also can choose whether you want to keep the profits and split them between you all or give it to charity. Over the course of it you will be able to attend conventions national and internationally if you do well and local markets and with cash rewards at the end of it all. I have found the experience very enjoyable so far as you get to work as a team and debate on your ideas and how you want to make your product the best it can be. The whole project shall help me progress with my Business Studies as I will get to understand how a small business operates and how to manage and understand profit. (Thomas).

Music academy: This option focuses more on the performance aspect of music. Over the past few months I have been preparing many pieces of music to perform with my group at various events. I have found the music academy very useful as well as highly enjoyable. It has boosted my confidence when performing and also taught me key performance skills.I have always been very interested in music and want to pursue it as a career. (Eva)

School Magazine: The Simon Balle magazine group is aiming to create a sixth form magazine by the end of 2023, with articles, photography and art summarising the events of this year. The magazine group is a good way to express many differing levels of creativity, whilst also allowing you to develop your writing skills. I joined the magazine group as my enrichment option, in order to allow myself to explore the aspects of journalism (a career I am interested in) and what it’s really like, as well as to give myself an outlet for creativity in between my not so creative studies. I hope that my involvement in this enrichment option will help me eliminate or choose where or what I want to do after sixth form, as well as giving me some experience in journalism if I choose to go down that route. (Rosie).

For the extra-curricular enrichment opportunities for Y1-13, please follow the link: https://www.simonballe.herts.sch.uk/whats-on/extra-curricular-provision/

If your child is interested in joining a club, please look at the wide range of options available at lunch and after school on the above link to see which adult to speak to regarding joining, or contact Mrs Boyce if you have any questions: boycek@simonballe.herts.sch.uk

EPQ Evening

Last Thursday, Year 13 hosted their EPQ exhibition. The Extended Project Qualification allows each student to embark on a largely self-directed and self-motivated project. Students choose a topic, plan, research and develop their idea and decide on their finished product.

As students carry out their project they are required to record aspects of the process and then complete a write up exploring their main findings. This year, over 20 students completed the qualification. The exhibition celebrated the effort, hard-work and in-depth research that students have carried out over the past six months or so.

Exhibition guests commented on the amazing achievement “I just wanted to congratulate all students who were present at the EPQ showcase. They were all so passionate and had so much to say about their projects. The students certainly knew their subject very well.”

“I just wanted to drop you an email to say how fantastic the sixth form EPQ event yesterday was. The projects were very interesting and varied and I’d like to thank and congratulate all the students for being so articulate, confident and engaging in their presentations. They were a real credit to the school and really conveyed the value of EPQs. Well done to everyone! A thoroughly enjoyable experience.”

Please see below the diverse range of project titles:

Cross country

On Friday 3rd November twenty-four children in the Larch took part in a cross country competition against many other schools in the Hertford and Ware partnership. The children were a credit to the school demonstrating many of our school values and showing excellent sportsmanship. We were delighted with the following results from the competition as well as some excellent individual performances:

Year 5/6 boys -1st

Year 5/6 girls -1st

Year 3/4 boys -1st

Year 3/4 girls -2nd

With an overall 1st place as a school. Well done to all that were involved with this event.

Library news

Book fair in the Larch

The Travelling Books book fair will be returning to the Larch library between Monday 4th December and Thursday 7th December.

During the fair, the books will be available in the Larch library for students to browse. Here is a wish list document that students may bring into school and use during the school day if they wish to write down the books they would like to buy. Parents/carers can then view students’ book choices when they take their wish lists back home with them. Alternatively, you can browse the books online.

The book fair will be open to parents from 3:15-3:45 pm each day from Monday 4th December to Thursday 7th December. The book fair will be cash free.

If you would like to purchase any of the books you can either 1) pay for the books using a bank card and this QR code in the Larch library during the fair or 2) pay for the books online at home and then collect them from the Larch library during the fair.

To make payments please use the following link: www.travellingbooks.co.uk/pay. Then in the ‘Find your school’ search box, please type in the following number: 16903841. Please bring evidence of the book order and payment.

(You will not be able to purchase books until Monday 4th December.)

Poetry Competition

Well done to everyone who entered the Poetry Competition.The poems entered were really inspiring! It made it very difficult to judge them. All poems were judged anonymously by the author Alice Hemming.

Congratulations to the winners:

Harrison (Year 6)

Robin (year 10)

Bors (year 10)

Willow (year 11)

Head on over to the Library News blog to read the winning entries and see a full list of the runners-up.

Dark Wolf by Harrison (year 6)

Dark wolf, how loneliness corrupts you.

Your ominous, tornado fur

Doesn’t stop the wicked rain from lashing you.

Your piecing, amber eyes petrify your pitiful victims;

Still, you have nobody to share the thrill of your kill with, in these

Dark, dark times.

Knife like teeth, ready to slice and devour prey. BITE!

Prey do not come willingly…

Your ears prick to attention! A snap, a moan, a soft whine.

Stuck in this permanent purgatory, you prowl.

The ability to sniff out an ant lies in your charcoal nose;

Sadly, there’s no ant in your barren prison,

No home in these dark, dark times.

Dark wolf, how your tears fill the mountains.

How the blizzards nearly kill you!

Stranded, alone in a desolate, deserted place.

No inhabitants on these deserted peaks, no refuge for you, my Lonely beast.

Hope drains from your tired heart;

Ice freezes in strangling fingers, your hope, your happiness.

The world abuses you with its judgements;

The world fails to see your beauty.

Safety is not a home to you. You whine and howl.

Weakened, you almost give up and die from your sorrow.

You limp slow steps till fall calls you.

Suddenly the endless hell fades and scowls as

The sun rises from the darkness,

Banishing the cold clouds from the sky.

In the distance, a cave beckons,

Hope crawls through your black veins.

Magnificent beast, you dart to freedom,

The thought of safety smells like hope.

The smell gives you life.

Your body starts its journey back from the dead.

Legs powered and ready again.

Miles you run for freedom at last,

Dark wolf, how you survived your isolation is a mystery,

You have your refuge now. In the cave,

Your heart melts it’s ice prison,

You’re safe!

You’re here!

Away from fear,

Away from danger!

Back in the small, dark cave, you breathe again,

Igniting a spark of safety;

Igniting a flicker of belonging;

Igniting a fragment of joy.

One beautiful morning a she wolf comes to the cave,

Howling the same suffering as you once cried.

You feel safe with her,

Happy with her. You offer her your refuge.

One day there is a baby.

You fight the same torture as before but it is easier this time:

You’re together. A family.

The Damp of the Rain by Robin (year 10)

The rain beats down like fists against a punching bag,

Each blow is harder than the last.

The storm is getting closer now,

The clouds approaching fast.

The thunder echos like a lion’s roar,

The world around me shakes.

Lighting bolts paint the sky,

Each blinding stroke making my head ache.

I run and run,

Lungs burning like a stove.

But ahead of me I see a house,

Lights sparkling like a treasure trove.

As I approach I see people,

Arms open in a welcoming embrace.

I collapse at their feet,

The storm seemingly gone without a trace.

The clouds have cleared,

The rain has made its retreat.

The thunder and lightning are no more,

Only puddles are left lining the street.

I’m safe at last,

Of what just passed no indications remain.

I’m no longer afraid

of the damp of the rain.

A Red Tricycle by Bors (year 10)

In a world touched by sorrow’s embrace,

There was a girl with a red tricycle, full of grace.

Her laughter echoed through the streets,

A beacon of joy, where grief retreats.

Though grief may linger, heavy and deep,

She embraced it with courage, refusing to weep.

For on her tricycle, she’d ride through the pain,

Finding solace in memories, like drops of rain.

With each turn of the wheel, she’d find a way

To honor the loved ones who couldn’t stay.

Their spirits intertwined in her every ride,

Their presence felt, as she glided with pride.

And as the wind whispered secrets untold,

She’d let grief unfold, her heart to behold.

For in the depths of sorrow, she’d discover,

A strength within her, like no other.

In her journey, we find solace and relief,

As we ride alongside her, embracing our grief.

With a girl and her red tricycle, we find,

That even in darkness, a glimmer of light can bind.

Your Music by Willow (year 11)

Your music

Not only just my refuge,

Your art keeps me alive,

Afloat upon the roughest of waters,

The reason I survive.

Through my disconsolate veins, you blast,

That one line hits me hard.

Your words are warm and familiar,

For the injured, the beaten, the scarred.

An irreplaceable feeling of comfort,

When simple things feel tough,

Your words are soft against my skin,

All others feel too rough.

Content, your melodies appeal,

Bitter, the lyrics sink deep,

Sink deeper than the shipwreck,

The shipwreck of secrets we keep.

I am never alone anymore,

With music at my ear.

For what is music, if not to be heard?

To be heard, be felt, be near.

GCSE Drama

Y10 and 11 GCSE Drama students visited the local theatre on wednesday to see “The Laramie Project”. The Laramie Project is a thought-provoking piece of theatre. It is a true story about a young man called Matthew Shephard who was brutally murdered in Laramie, Wyoming in 1998. In the aftermath of this awful crime Moises Kaufman and members of the Tectonic Theatre project went to Laramie and conducted more than 200 interviews with its citizens. From the transcripts, the playwrights constructed a chronicle of the life in the town after the event. This will form part of their written exam ‘Live Theatre evaluation’ work, as well as being another fantastic theatre experience.

Health, wellbeing and safeguarding

What parents need to know about…

Please click on the links to find out what parents need to know about smart TVs and what parents need to know about Tik Tok and what parents need to know about microtransactions

SEND team at Simon Balle All-through School

As an all-through school, our support for students with SEND is provided through a team approach. We work closely together, to ensure a consistency of support for children and their families. We support one another, so that we can all develop an understanding of the wide range of needs, and the presentation of these from Reception to Year 13.

As you will know, Mrs Raven (SENDCo) begins her maternity leave later this month. We wish Mrs Raven all the very best, and we look forward to welcoming her back as SENDCo in due course.

During this period, Miss Wood will be our all-through SENDCo. To support Miss Wood, we are pleased to share with you the SEND team:

Mrs Kirk – headteacher – leading the team
Miss Craik – all-through SEND manager
Mr Robins – HOY12 and leading support for students with SEND in the sixth form

We are delighted to welcome two new permanent members of the team:

Ms Howard – Family lead for inclusive education and wellbeing (Mon – Wed)
Mr Brown (E.) – Student lead for inclusive education and wellbeing (Wed – Fri)

Miss Wood, Ms Howard, Mr Brown and Mrs Kirk will all be proactively working in the Larch and the secondary phase of the school throughout the week.

A reminder for all that the first point of contact (both for learning and pastoral wellbeing) should be your child’s class teacher/form tutor. Beyond this, please reach out to the heads of year and/or primary phase leaders. If your query is specifically in relation to SEND, please book a Calendly meeting in the first instance using this Booking link.

We look forward to welcoming our new team members and keeping all parents abreast of support within the SEND team across the all-through.

In related news, the Ofsted report from the SEND Inspection in Hertfordshire has recently been published. A link to this can be found here: https://www.hertfordshire.gov.uk/microsites/local-offer/feedback/improving-send/area-send-inspection.aspx

Frost Fair Reminder

Just a reminder that the Frost fair is fast approaching. There are lots of ways you can get involved – see the dedicated Frost Fair newsletter for more details.

Amongst other things there will be an opportunity to get your hands on a pre-loved Christmas Jumper – just the thing to help you get involved in supporting Christmas Jumper day on Thursday 7th December (more details to follow).

Lost property (primary and secondary)

We are finding an increase in unnamed lost property in corridors and classrooms. Please ensure your child’s clothing is named (either full name, or first name and class).

We highly encourage the children to be showing the value of responsibility in keeping their belongings on their peg or in their locker, and we are thankful for your continued support at home in helping build this responsibility with us.

Careers

Please click here to view a range of different career opportunities including – Solicitor, Finance and Trading Apprenticeships. As well as opportunities for students interested in Engineering and Art.

Please remember to look at opportunities from our last blog post as many of these will have closing dates later in the year.

Learning in the Larch

The children in Reception are delighted to have finished learning their Level 2 sounds in Phonics and are rightly very proud of themselves! We are now working on reviewing the sounds learnt, and practising our segmenting and blending skills to read words accurately. The children have also begun rehearsals for their Christmas Nativity show and we are really impressed with their enthusiasm for all the songs they are learning.

Year 1 have continued their incredible learning of the character Beegu, and this week have been using their story maps to write their own story about Beegu’s adventures. They are taking great care to use time connectives and to use their cursive handwriting.

It has been wonderful to see lots of the Year 2s so proud of their determination and resilience when learning the ‘rebalancing’ method when adding the numbers 9 or 11.

Children in Year 3 have been very enthusiastic about their new History unit; The Stone Age. They listened to information about Skara Brae and found it fascinating how artefacts have been kept in such good condition.

Year 4’s new Science unit is all linked to electricity and they have been looking at how to make a complete circuit. In D&T, to link to this, they have begun to design ‘light up’ Christmas cards where they will apply their electricity knowledge to the making of these!

Year 5 have been hard at work writing autobiographies in English this week. They have also been learning how to turn remainders into decimals and fractions when completing short division problems.

Year 6 have been developing their confidence applying a wide range of punctuation, including colons and semi-colons, to their newspaper articles in English. In Science, they have been enjoying learning the scientific symbols for components of a circuit.

Future Living

Future Living Hertford is collecting gifts for families in need this Christmas. They need new gifts for children of all ages. They are also looking for donations of new lego sets to support Lego Therapy. Please click the image to see the flyer for more information.

Pedagogy Portal

In today’s T&L blog, we look at a continued priority for us around how we develop oracy in the classroom. Mrs Boyce and Miss Chuchla have been instrumental in working alongside the Voice21 programme. We aim to embed oracy to improve educational outcomes as well as supporting wellbeing, confidence and mental health. The link below will highlight an aspect of the work with Voice21 about how watching videos of classrooms, can enable staff to professionally develop in this area.

https://www.simonballe.herts.sch.uk/category/teaching-learning-news/

Spring Bulb Planting Project

Myself and Mr Tweed have organised a planting programme to encourage wildlife and increase colour around the school. It aims to target specific areas within the school and make them look a little less neglected and more colourful, als to represent the schools aims of becoming more eco friendly.

It also provided an excellent opportunity to involve the larch eco group, with secondary school students in a project that positively benefits the environment and wildlife,

As a team we prepared the soil area ready for the bulbs. The larch students then took the lead on digging the holes and planting the bulbs. It was all done with excitement and considering the rainy conditions we were working in – it didn’t dampen the smiles. The bulbs have been planted at the front of the school for everybody to see on their way in each day, there were also various other locations around the secondary school site that have had a splash of colour added come spring time.

This project is the beginning of a planting programme that we hope to grow over the next few years. It will hopefully become a yearly part of the beginning of the school year and more.

Elizabeth (Y11)

Colourful ceramic tiles (broken or whole) leftover tile adhesive needed!

Art and Design are planning an exciting project and will be needing a lot of tiles. If anyone has any spare coloured tiles/knows anyone who works in the tile industry that may be able to help please can you contact ledsterh@simonballe.herts.sch.uk

Wishing everyone in our community a positive and fulfilling fortnight ahead.

Yours sincerely,

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

Newsletter 4

3rd November 2023David Ayres

Friday 3rd November

Co-headteachers’ welcome

We cannot believe that November has already begun! As with every year, an adjustment is needed with the change to the clocks, lighter mornings but darker evenings, and the need for warm fires, enjoying autumn and even looking forward to winter too. We do hope that everybody within our community has had an enjoyable and restful half term break.

At this half-way point it is a great moment to reflect on all that was achieved by our wonderful young people last half term and look forward as well to the plentitude of opportunities during autumn 2. Please do keep an eye on our social media channels for the October highlights! To begin here, we would like to reflect upon the importance of our partnership between home and school. All the way from Reception to Year 13, we know that when there is a strong engagement between parents and school staff, we jointly provide the very best possible opportunity for our young people to thrive. This is evident in how well our Reception children have settled, already demonstrating an understanding of our Simon Balle values and establishing good routines with reading daily at home, sustaining child-initiated opportunities indoors and outdoors in school, and developing independence and confidence. Some highlights of partnership events across the all-through have included: Year 11 information evening, Larch parents’ evenings with 1:1 meetings, Year 8 parents’ workshop, Year 10 parents’ evening and invitations too for meetings with a particular theme from trips to our SEND team. There is much more to follow – we strive for 100% at each event, and ensure our materials are always tailored to be informative and helpful to all. Our aim is to communicate with parents/carers in as many ways as we can to provide support – this includes safeguarding and e-safety, and attached to this newsletter is helpful information about our young people staying safe when using X (formerly known as Twitter). We strategically plan to capture parent voice throughout the school year so that we can learn from your feedback and act upon it. Please do take the time to respond to our google forms (always designed to be quick!) – we will report back to you to celebrate strengths and highlight what is next.

And so to Autumn 2! To give you a flavour, we are looking forward to the poignancy of Remembrance all-through ceremonies; the celebration of no less than eight concerts with musicians performing from Year 2 – Year 13; ongoing trips including GCSE drama, OCR outdoor sports, geography field work and Year 6 Macbeth performances in London; and a high profile to PSHCE and personal development, including the profile of anti-bullying week and enrichment after-school clubs continuing at a pace (https://www.simonballe.herts.sch.uk/whats-on/extra-curricular-provision/).

Please never forget that whilst we want to highlight here all the exciting opportunities and notable and memorable moments, the core of who we are and what we do is in each and every classroom every day. A highly positive climate for learning created, and an excellent quality of teaching and learning to inspire and engage our wonderful young people. We thank them here for making our school such a special place to be.

Primary and Sixth Form open evenings

We are pleased to invite prospective reception parents for September 2024 to visit the Larch to have a tour of our facilities, hear from some of our students and listen to speeches from our co-heads. For the Thursday 16th November open evening please arrive for 6pm; if you would prefer to come to the open morning on Wednesday 29th November, please email larch@Simonballe.herts.sch.uk to book a place.

Our Sixth Form Open Evening will take place on Wednesday 22nd November from 5.30 – 7.30pm. Talks will take place in the hall at 5.45pm and 6.45pm. For further information and support please visit the Sixth Form section of our website. All of our current sixth form students are expected to attend to either act as guides for prospective students or to represent the different subject areas in classrooms. We hope to see as many of our current Y11 students there as possible to explore the different possibilities that sixth form has to offer.

Please share this information with anyone that you know that will be looking for primary or sixth form places in September 2024.

Pedagogy Portal

In this week’s portal, it’s a great opportunity to share the vehicle staff are using on our journey to reach our school improvement priority. Our aim is to achieve the highest quality of teaching and learning for all, through research-informed practice. Take a look as we begin the pathway to achieve this through the work of ‘Walkthrus’. https://www.simonballe.herts.sch.uk/pedagogy-portal-walkthrus/ ‎

Internal Assessments

There have been quite a few internal assessments going on recently. For the first time our year 9 students sat their assessments in the hall to give them the experience of a real exam environment, year 12s completed in-class assessments this week and year 11 have their mock exams coming up in December. Dates for all these internal assessments (and the dates for reports and parents for each year group) can be found on the Assessment page of the website.

House competitions update

Over 60 students across the Larch centre and the secondary phase entered the Pumpkin decorating competition. There were so many spooky, creative and imaginative entries. Thank you to all of the students who entered.

The winners of the pumpkin competition are:

Larch centre:

3rd – Elijah – Hedgehogs
2nd – Darcey-Rose – Squirrels
1st – Jacob – Owls

Secondary phase:

3rd – Edie – 7N
2nd – Martha – 10N
1st – Vladyslava – 11L

Congratulations to our winners. They received Halloween treats and House points. All entries were awarded a House point.

Our first Inter House sports competition of the year took place towards the end of October and what a great festival of sport it was. Year 7 students played touch rugby alongside the Year 8, 9, 10 and 11 Boys. The level of skill and technique was excellent with free flowing plays and students able to express themselves as well as representing their houses. The Year 8, 9, 10 and 11 Girls played Netball and thoroughly enjoyed the experience. A big well done to all students who participated so well displaying the school values throughout. The overall Year group winners were as follows;

Year 7 – New
Year 8 – Lea
Year 9 – Rib
Year 10 – Mimram & Lea
Year 11 – Ashbourne

You can see a full roundup and house league table here. Stay tuned for the next House competition!

Sport News

In other sports news we continue the Year 7 Boys football team beat Totteridge Academy 3-0 to progress to the next round of the National cup where they play Kingsmead School from Enfield. The Year 8 Boys football team progressed to the last 16 of the County cup beating The Grange Academy 3-2 after extra time in difficult conditions. They will now play Parmiters in the next round. The Year 11 Boys beat Chiltern Hills Academy and progress to the next round of the National cup where they play Stoke Newington school. The Boys also play Kings Langley in the round of the Herts cup. Our Year 7 girls won their first game against Leventhorpe in the County cup and now play Knights Templar in the next round. The U14 Girls football team beat Adyfield 6-0 to progress to the next round of the County Cup too.

In Netball news, our U16 girls play Stanborough in the County league this week and have been going strong so far in a very competitive league.

In Golf news, on Wednesday 18th October, the Schools Scratch Championships Rose Bowl took place at Chesfield Downs Golf Club. Well done to our Year 12 representatives Alfie and Kieran who performed very well. For more information on our Sport extra-curricular activities please visit our Sports web pages on the school website – https://www.simonballe.herts.sch.uk/sport/secondary-sport/

Y9 Battlefields Trip

The second Year 9 trip to Belgium was a great success. Students gained a valuable insight into the context of the First World War by exploring key sites linked to the conflict in and around the town of Ypres, including various cemeteries, museums and former battlefields. Their impeccable conduct, engagement and enthusiasm was a credit to the school; one highlight was when Holly and Alexander laid a wreath on behalf of the Simon Balle community during the Last Post ceremony at the Menin Gate. Students commented that “I understand more about the scene and atmosphere the soldiers were dealing with which will expand my knowledge in lessons” and “It added perspective to the information we learnt in class”. There are still places available for next year’s trip for students currently in 8 Mimram, New and Rib.

Remembrance Service Friday 10th November

School presidents will be visiting students in their form times from Monday 6th to Thursday 9th November, taking cash donations for a Poppy. These are to be worn on Friday 10th for our Remembrance Service. Break will be slightly later for the secondary students and the service involves standing for a while, so please make sure you have had breakfast in the morning and have a coat to wear.

Y13 Geography Field Trip

The Y13 geographers have just completed the second of their two compulsory field visits. Their four days in Dorset gave them the opportunity to carry out some different fieldwork techniques and revise the coasts and rebranding content from Y12. Lulworth Cove and Durdle Door provided some physical geography awe and wonder on the first day, before heading to the Youth Hostel for dinner and the usual evening lesson. On Tuesday they set out to explore the Jurassic Coast between Lyme Regis and Swanage, looking at the different ways in which the World Heritage Site has been used to rebrand and regenerate the area. Dangerous conditions resulting from Storm Babet forced a change of plans, and after a short walk into Swanage to look at the power of the sea, the students spent much of the day working on their coursework. On the final day the students carried out a transect of Boscombe to assess the impact of regeneration on the seafront. Well done to the Y13 students for their hard work and resilience.

Learning in the Larch

During October, the children have been developing their understanding of the purpose of Black History Month and how we at Simon Balle celebrate it throughout our curriculum all year round. The Larch students have been looking at significant figures who are Black and British, researching, discussing and developing their understanding of their actions and the huge impact they have on society. We are very fortunate to have a rich and diverse curriculum for children to explore these individuals and others all year round. The children had wonderful, insightful questions and statements to share of their experiences and knowledge. It has been fantastic to see the efforts made by the children and their understanding of the diverse world we live in.

The children in Year 2 have been learning how to use expanded noun phrases in their writing. Focusing on ‘On the way home’ by Jill Murphy, they applied this grammar into their own pages of the book, being very creative with their ideas. It was wonderful to see the beginning of their new Science unit, where the children were given different items and sorting them into groups, using the clues to work out they will be learning about materials!

Before half term, Year 3 were lucky enough to have a play on Year 5’s Scratch games. They were asked for their feedback and what needed debugging. The atmosphere in the room was amazing! In English, they have begun to analyse different fables and what a moral is. Over the next couple of weeks, they will be writing their own fable stories.

In Maths, Year 4 have been busy learning and applying the bus stop method for division. This is a tricky method and they showed great determination with it. The excitement has started in English with them beginning their unit linked to The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe. These next few weeks will be filled with mystery, magic and wonder!

In Maths, Year 5 have been working hard on long multiplication. They have shown great perseverance, especially remembering the place holder in the second row! In Science, they have enjoyed starting their new topic of ‘The Earth, Sun and Moon’.

This week in English, Year 6 have been writing their own newspaper articles based on the death of King Duncan in Macbeth. They have blown us away with their language choices and ambitious vocabulary. When we started our new Science topic of electricity this week, both classes were full of excitement when we created different types of circuits.

Larch Maths equipment request for donations

If you have any spare measuring containers such as plastic measuring jugs or weighing scales (not electronic), we’d be grateful for any donations for us to keep in our maths cupboard for teaching measures across the Larch throughout the year. Please drop to the Larch office.

Library news

It’s been a busy half term in the library. Head over to the new Library News pages to find out more about what’s been happening and the events coming up this month such as Non-Fiction November.

LAMDA

Well done to the below students who passed their exams last term:

Seren Duo Acting Grade 2 – Merit, Sophie Duo Acting Grade 2 – Merit

Laurel Solo Acting Grade 4 – Distinction, Ben Solo Acting Grade 4 – Distinction, Emma Solo Acting Grade 5 – Distinction, Robin Solo Acting Grade 4 – Distinction, Charlotte Solo Acting Grade 4 – Distinction

Oxford University Opportunities – Y12 students

Please find below a range of opportunities on offer at Oxford University for Year 12 students who are interested in applying to Oxford or Cambridge University next year:

Online recording of a recent information evening regarding Oxford University access programmes: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I6zuws1OiUI

The application forms for each of the programmes can be found below:

Careers and work experience

We’ve compiled a lot of links to upcoming careers events on our new Careers blog. Whilst many of these opportunities are aimed at older students, it’s never too late to start having a look at what’s out there.

On the 22nd – 26th April 2024 our Year 12 students will be taking part in Work Experience placements. Unfortunately, some students do find it very difficult to find placements that are linked to areas they are interested in pursuing in the future and this is where we hope that you can help.

If you are able to offer a placement during this week please contact us at workexperience@simonballe.herts.sch.uk and let us know the area of business/industry that you work in and we will be in touch as soon as we can. We would be very grateful for any support!

Health, wellbeing and safeguarding

What parents need to know about…

Please click on the image below (or download the pdf) to find out What parents need to know about X (formerly Twitter).

Nut Aware School

Due to having a number of students and staff with allergies, a reminder to please not send your child in with any food that has nuts in or hidden nuts in, this includes bakewell tarts (almonds), and some cereal bars. We encourage a healthy substantial snack for breaktime such as fruit, crackers, breadsticks or a small sandwich which will give the children energy and focus until lunch (fruit is provided to reception and KS1). We thank you for your continued support.

NHS Public Health Newsletter

Please take a moment to look at the latest newsletter from the Public Health Nursing Team. This month’s letter includes lots of information about sleep and mental health, as well as useful contact details for a range of healthcare professionals and support services.

SEND Coffee Morning

This week the SEND and Attendance teams hosted a coffee morning for parents to discuss Emotionally Based School Absence (EBSA). Some useful discussions were held with the parents that came and showed the importance of home and school working together.

Future coffee mornings are planned for both later this term and into next year.

If you would like to speak to a member of the SEND team, and your child currently attends Simon Balle all through School, 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

Attendance Reward Scheme

We would like to thank parents and carers for ensuring that their children are in school as much as possible. Our current attendance statistics are:

Whole school attendance 94.99%

Primary phase 97.88%

Secondary phase 93.87%

Our attendance sits slightly above the national average for school across the country but we are some way short of our aspirational target of 97% across the All-through.

Students will be introduced to a new attendance reward scheme in the coming weeks with the chance to win a range of prizes. The competition will work on the basis of students earning a ‘ticket’ to go into the prize raffle for every week in school where they manage 100% attendance. The more weeks they have 100%, the more chances they have of winning a prize at the end of term.

We are currently working with the PSA to gather a range of prizes which will appeal to our students and this will initially be run in the secondary phase. More information will follow in the next newsletter.

Giving back

Lego Donations

If there are any spare lego sets you no longer need and would be willing to donate to school please hand them in at the primary or secondary office. If there are complete sets with booklets and instructions this is great but we also welcome donations of bricks for more creative uses.

Frost Fair

Please click here to see the PSA’s Frost Fair newsletter (this will open in a new window that will allow you to click through the pages of the letter). There’s lots of information about what to expect, and most importantly what needs doing to make it as successful as it has been in previous years.

We still need people to to volunteer to help out at the Frost Fair. Students, staff and adults alike, can you spare just an hour of your time on Saturday 2nd December to help make this year’s fair a success? Sign up here!

With a craft market, games, entertainment, craft activities, a super sized inflatable snow dome, mulled wine and giant pigs-in-blankets with all the trimmings, we know you’ll find something that you’ll love.

All student sign ups that complete their volunteer slots will be awarded a House Point and will also be entered into a draw to win a £20 Amazon voucher.

Christmas Gift Drive

Future Living Hertford is collecting for families in need this Christmas. Please click the image to see the flyer.

Hertford and District Foodbank

If you would like more information about the Hertford and District Foodbank, please see the flyer or contact contact Tania Noxon on noxont@simonballe.herts.sch.uk or 01992 410400 ext 236.

Raffle tickets

Tickets for the Winter Raffle are available to the all-through community. Larch to Year 8 will receive tickets while Year 9 and above may collect from the school office.

This year, we are offering the option to pay for tickets online. You will need to register and wait for admin approval before you complete your purchase. For more information, including prize list, visit the link above.

Gin

After numerous requests, our Festive Gin is back! Crafted by our friends at Spirit of Hertfordshire, save on postage by ordering before 30th November and select ‘local pick up’. Orders will be available to collect at the Frost Fair on 2nd December.

Wishing everyone in our community a positive and fulfilling fortnight ahead.

Yours sincerely,

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

Newsletter 3

13th October 2023David Ayres

Friday 13th October

Co-headteachers’ welcome

I do hope everyone has enjoyed the remnants of the summer at the weekend as we move further into the autumn term. I am sure our ‘welly walkers’ in reception will see the changing colours of autumn as they walk though our lovely school grounds. At school we have spent a lot of time walking the corridors and popping into lessons to see the learning taking place.We have witnessed high levels of engagement, discussion, challenge and collaborative group work which has been a delight to see. It is also inspiring to see students across all phases of our school displaying and modelling the values we feel so proud of.

On a personal note it was lovely to attend the residential battlefield trip on the 5th and 6th of October. As part of the itinerary we visited Passchendaele, Langemark Cemetary, Essex Farm, Tyne Cott Cemetary, Sanctuary Wood and Flanders Field museum. Students were a real credit to our school, absorbing information, asking lots of questions and seeing their classroom learning translate into real life. A poignant moment was watching two of our Year 9 students laying a wreath as part of the ceremony at Menin Gate. Although many were excited by the last visit to a chocolate shop it reiterated to me how important educational trips are and how our students are creating such wonderful memories with their year group. The second group (due back this evening) will have had a great time too!

Finally it is always a pleasure to take prospective students around the school showing off our fantastic school. This week and next we are welcoming prospective Year 7 students and parents and giving them an opportunity to visit lessons. The best way we can show off our school is by seeing our staff and students in action!

Sixth Form open evening

Our Sixth Form Open Evening will take place on Wednesday 22nd November from 5.30 – 7.30pm.

To ensure that students are given the best possible support to make appropriate option choices, over the coming week, during form time, year 11 students will watch videos covering subjects which are not available at GCSE, but are on the Sixth Form curriculum. At the open evening you will then have the chance to further explore option choices at Key Stage 5. For further information and support, we would strongly recommend looking at the Sixth Form section of our website.

Pedagogy Portal

In this week’s newsletter, it is important to share the reading and research that staff are using to develop their teaching to meet our improvement priorities. Whilst we look forward to sharing with you our main professional development programme, our thinking this year is how we can go from great to greater in the classroom. In the Pedagogy Portal this week, I recommend ‘Atomic Habits’ by James Clear. This is a comprehensive, practical guide on how to change your habits and get 1% better every day.

Please click the link to read further:

https://www.simonballe.herts.sch.uk/category/teaching-learning-news/

Year 13 BBC STEM trip

Wednesday 27th September, myself, Miss Chuchla and three other year 13 geography students went on a day trip to the BBC Broadcasting House in London. Two other schools took part in London and the same activities were taking part in Cardiff, where we were a zoom call with the other students. We were based in the BBC STEM area of the building.

Firstly, we had a talk from a BBC weather presenter about her day to day working life. A typical work day lasts 12 hours (shifts) and consists of lots of things from creating graphics to putting on green screens to being on live television.

Then we had a talk from a forecaster- someone who isn’t normally on live TV but actually goes and analyses the data used to put together a forecast. We learnt about Stevenson screens that are used to collect data such as air temperature and how they interpret the data. They then spoke about how this is then transformed into what we see on TV. I found this really interesting as I have always wondered how they made them!

After lunch, we were shown the code behind the BBC weather app and discussed how a climate change element could be added. For example, adding a section on ‘the weather a year ago…’. We were also discussing climate change and the key differences we can expect.

Finally, we were asked to plan a weather forecast for the year 2100. The background graphics were made for us, showing the predicted temperatures for that time of year. We either presented for a winter’s day or a summer’s day. I was given a summer’s day. We weren’t allowed a script so it was all on the spot. We were given about 15 minutes to look over our graphics and plan out a few things we wanted to say.

Then we got to present it! As a school group, we went into a studio- there was a green screen and several cameras. We each got to present on our own and it was quite nerve racking! This experience helped me realise that I would be interested in a career in this sector.

Francesca Year 13

Giving back

Harvest festival

On Monday 2nd October, Y1-6 walked to All Saints Church for their Harvest festival celebrations. The generosity of our Larch community meant we were able to donate 16 crates worth of food and essentials to The Hertford Pantry- thank you!

Our governors expressed their thanks to the students:

“It was a service for all with so many excellent contributions – spoken, sung and visual – the students were very engaged and superbly behaved. The support from our sixth form, with gorgeous music but also practical help, really added to the event.” Anna Orpin, vice chair of the full governing body.

“I echo Ann’s comments, a wonderful and touching service.” Paul Connolly, chair of the full governing body.

Christmas Gift Drive

Future Living Hertford is collecting for families in need this Christmas. Please click the image to see the flyer.

Hertford and District Foodbank

If you would like more information about the Hertford and District Foodbank, please see the flyer or contact contact Tania Noxon on noxont@simonballe.herts.sch.uk or 01992410400 ext 236.

A reminder about online payments

At Simon Balle, we use an online payments portal called Parent Portal to manage all of our financial transactions with parents with the exception of secondary school dinners. The links to Parent Portal and ParentPay can be found here:

Parent Portal

ParentPay

You can read more about these systems on our website.

SEND

The SEND team has weekly virtual appointments that can be booked online via the website or by following this Booking link. Appointments for after half term are available for up to fifteen minutes. It has been a good way to catch up with parents in our school community and offer advice or share what is in place at school.

Learning in the Larch

The children in reception have thoroughly enjoyed their recent additions to the classroom. They have been patiently watching and waiting as eggs hatch and chicks are born. They are learning how to care for them and have loved having other year groups visit them to witness too. Phonics is now in full swing and the children are learning sounds, identifying them at the beginning of words and writing them using cursive handwriting.

Beebots have joined PE lessons in Year 1! The children have created obstacle courses for beebots and worked really hard to program them to move through safely. The children have been using appropriate language for directions and loved seeing if their algorithms work.

Year 2 have been focusing on one of their literary canon texts ‘On the Way Home’ by Jill Murphy. They have looked at how the main character changes her story about her ‘bad knee’ on each page! The children have had a go at writing their own page, coming up with all sorts of peculiar ways the character hurt themself! Also, they have been looking at inference skills in Reading, exploring how ‘Iggy Inference’ can help them to find clues in the text to be able to find out what is happening.

In Year 3, they have been studying Amelia Earhart and writing their own stories based on her life. They have been able to recall significant events and explain why she is such an important and inspirational figure! During Geography lessons, Year 3 have been looking at the different climates around the world and studying each one in more detail. It has been wonderful to see their home learning based on this too.

During English lesson, Year 4 have been looking at a poem called ‘The Highwayman’. It is a very tricky poem with lots of difficult language which the children have loved unpicking. They have been busy turning this poem into a narrative using their fantastic writing skills and writing letters in the voice of The Highwayman himself! In Maths, the next layer of times table learning has begun with them working with multiples and learning keywords such as factors and product.

This week, Year 5 have enjoyed writing newspaper articles based on the book ‘Tuesday’. They have worked on embedding relative clauses into their writing to add extra information and used punctuation to correctly mark this. Year 5’s science knowledge has continued to go from strength to strength and they have been able to apply their knowledge of air resistance to make predictions about how water resistance would impact different objects falling through water.

Year 6 have been enjoying their rehearsals for Macbeth, they were lucky enough to take part in a Shakespeare Schools Festival workshop where they could work with a professional director and develop scenes in their plays. In English they have been immersed in our lessons where we have been writing a letter as Macbeth to his wife. They have been including ambitious vocabulary and a range of punctuation to really add to the meaning of their writing.

Sports News

It’s been a busy month for the SBAS sports teams. You can read about their performances in the new Sports News blog, along with information about next week’s Inter House Sports fixtures.

Sixth Form Enrichment – More than just great A Levels

We have over 250 students in our Sixth Form, who study a range of A level and vocational subjects. We are proud of the young adults that promote our values and are role models for the rest of the school. Sixth Form students are fully integrated into the life of the all-through school.

However, as well as their academic studies, year 12 students have the opportunity to participate in their chosen enrichment activity each week. This could include working in a classroom with primary or secondary phase students. This term over 30 Sixth Form students have chosen to sign up to the Larch Outreach programme and spend two hours each Friday morning supporting reception to year 6 classes. Lila, currently working with year 4 said “I honestly look forward to enrichment each week. Everyone is really enthusiastic and it’s such a positive experience. So far I have been working with a small group of students helping them with their 3 and 5 times tables.”

As part of the Music Academy, Mr Taylor offers guidance each week and support for those students wishing to progress on a musical pathway. The students are currently working towards delivering a number of performances in the local community and project managing the music for the upcoming Frost Fair.

Working with Mr Ford, a team of creatives including; writers, budding-journalists and designers are looking to establish a new Sixth Form magazine that will be published termly. Our recently appointed Editor-in-Chief, Caitlin is keen to hear of any local news stories or events the team could attend and review. We hope to share our publication with staff, students and parents plus enter national competitions for art, design and literature.

For the first time, Simon Balle All-through School is participating in the Young Enterprise scheme where students are provided with the opportunity to set up their own business. Young Enterprise is designed to give young people an insight into how a successful business operates. So far students have selected Otto as their Managing Director and are enjoying the development phase.

We understand the pressures and stresses of being an A level student. To support fitness and health our enrichment offers students the opportunity to get active during the week. Working in partnership with Hartham Leisure Centre, Sixth Form students have continued to access the brand new multi-gym. They are currently preparing to attend their first spin-class. Good luck! For those students looking for quieter, more reflective physical activity, the Sixth Form offers yoga sessions delivered by fabulous local charity The Secret Space.

Our enrichment offer also supports students with their preparation for next steps and personal development. Already this term we have welcomed Talent Manager, Lauren Christie from Sky Studios, Hertfordshire Constabulary and the OLLIE foundation.

This has been a truly exciting start to the academic year for our students.

The Great European Bake Off

As reported briefly last time, we celebrated European Day of Languages at SBAS. All students attended an assembly on the essential values that language learning can instil in us all, such as resilience, respect, tolerance and wisdom. To continue the celebrations, we also hosted ‘The Great European Bake Off’. The students were asked to design and bake cakes related to the theme of ‘Europe’. We were completely blown away by the entries from students spanning all year groups in the secondary phase, with creations ranging from croissants to Eiffel tower cakes! In the library we showcased all of the designs and we had over 206 votes cast for the winners! Thank you to all those who took part. Please also take a look below at some of the creations! Here are the final results:

The winners for the three categories are:

Josh (Year 7) – Cake best linked to the European Theme
Charlie, Lily and Willow (Year 9) – Tastiest looking cake
Summer (Year 8) – Best decorated cake

Issues relating to ‘no-caller ID’

There appears to be an issue for some mobile phone users when receiving telephone calls from the school. Instead of displaying our phone number it appears as ‘no caller ID’. Unfortunately this is to do with the mobile network and is not something that we can change.

Young Herts talent

It has been a wonderful start to the new school year for the YHT programme with 32 young people over years 7 & 8 taking part in group work and 35 young people in years 9-13 meeting with their mentors on a weekly basis. This number is set to rise to 50 over the coming weeks. We look forward to these relationships growing from strength to strength and it is great to hear how the mentors are supporting our young people with career guidance, general support and encouragement.

Young Herts Talent is a mentoring programme from MCR Pathways designed to help young people unlock their potential.

By providing weekly group work sessions for selected students in Year 7 and Year 8 and taking the time to carefully match students in Years 9-13 with their very own mentor based on interests and career aspirations, we help young people to realise their skills and progress onto a positive destination after leaving school.

Mentors visit students in school once a week and commit to at least one full academic year of mentoring. As long as both the student and the mentor are happy to do so, the mentoring relationship is able to continue until the student leaves school in Year 11, or Year 13 if staying on in the Sixth Form. This ensures that students receive encouragement and support to succeed for the entirety of their Simon Balle journey.

Safeguarding

What parents and carers need to know about Whatsapp and supporting children with upsetting content (click images to open the attachments).

Picking up and dropping off

For the safety of all pedestrians using the pavements around the site, please can we once again remind parents not to drop students off outside the school gates. The road is not wide enough to safely turn around, and the extra traffic generated is causing problems for local residents and people needing to access our site. The London Road car park is a much safer place to drop and pick up students: there is plenty of space to park and there is a safe walking route between there and the school site.

Hertfordshire Fire and Rescue Service

Please have a look at this important Schools Stay Safe Newsletter from the Hertfordshire Fire and Rescue Service. Click on the image to open the attached document.

Careers

Please take a look at some of these exciting careers opportunities coming up over the next few months:

IBM Early Careers Webinar – 17th Oct 6:30pm to 7:15pm – click here
Parent and Carers Virtual Open Evening for Creative Careers (18th October) – click here
Tomorrow’s Engineers Week 6th to 10 November – webinar – click here
Meet Dentons: Life as a Solicitor Apprentice at the World’s Largest Law Firm – 21st Nov 6:30pm to 7:15pm – click here
Careers in Business – Virtual Expo, 6th Dec 8:30am to 5:30pm – click here
PWC Work Experience 2024 (Year 12) – click here
Virtual work experience opportunities – click here
Year 12 Sutton Trust applications are now open – click here

PSA Events

7th November – PSA AGM and Meeting

Join us in the Secondary Library for a cheese and wine reception from 6.30pm, ahead of our AGM. You’ll learn about some of the upcoming events, meet the team and will have the opportunity to share your fundraising ideas. We urge as many supporters to attend as possible. You will not be committing to anything, but good attendance will allow us to elect a larger number of committee members. If you are unable to attend but are interested in supporting us or sharing ideas, please take a moment to register your interest here.

10th November – Manic Ceramics Festive Paint

We would love to be able to offer a Manic Ceramics festive paint session after school on Friday 10th November. Before we can open bookings, a good number of volunteers is needed to help oversee this event. This event is for all Larch children, as well as students in Year 7 and Year 8 who can work independently.. Can you help? Sign up here!

2nd December – Frost Fair, Volunteer and Sponsor Search

Will your business be our next sponsor? Our popular all-through Frost Fair is less than two months away and we are searching for sponsors for this year’s event. With a bar, raffle, inflatables and games, we hope to be able to gain your support with one of these areas. Please email psa@simonballepsa.org.uk if your company may be able to support us.

Calling all volunteers! Students, staff and adults alike, can you spare just an hour of your time on Saturday 2nd December to help make this year’s fair a success? Sign up here! There’s a craft market, games, entertainment, craft activities, a super sized inflatable snow dome, mulled wine and giant pigs-in-blankets with all the trimmings – we know you’ll find something that you’ll love.

All student sign ups that complete their volunteer slots will be awarded a House Point and will also be entered into a draw to win a £20 Amazon voucher.

Wishing everyone in our community a positive and fulfilling fortnight ahead.

Yours sincerely,

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

Newsletter 2

29th September 2023David Ayres

Friday 29th September 2023

Co-headteachers’ welcome

It has been an exciting fortnight at Simon Balle All-through School and our reflections must first begin with Open Day. It is hard to put into words just how proud we were of our students in every year group from Year 5 – Year 13.

Those who supported on the Friday ensured that the site was impeccably clean and tidy, allowing displays and resources and newly renovated and painted classrooms and interiors to really shine. On the Saturday itself, we cannot speak more highly of students’ conduct – polite and welcoming, confident and so proud of their school. Whether they were touring visitors around the site, showcasing a particular department, engaging in music or sport, speaking at one or more of the four speeches, or just generally being on hand to give back to our community, we were so grateful for the multitude of ways that our Simon Balle values were exemplified. You will see house points, postcards and more on the way to you as parents/carers so that we can recognise the contribution of so many individuals. We had well over 1000 visitors on site across the all-through, a fantastic ethos was felt by all, and the feedback we received from both visitors and our committed governing body all added to the celebratory atmosphere. It is indeed a privilege to lead and to belong to this special community. Thank you to all students, parents/carers, staff and governors.

Mrs Saunders receives her MBE

Mr Moss and Mrs Kirk were honoured to attend Windsor Castle to see Mrs Saunders receive her MBE yesterday. Mrs Saunders asked us to thank again everyone who sent cards, gifts and best wishes at the end of last term. She will come into school later this term to show the children and young people the medal she received. Whilst she is missing the Simon Balle Community, she is already planning some travels and continues to support other Headteachers in their role. Please click on the images below to enlarge them.

The Pedagogy Portal

At Simon Balle, our vision and values drive our curriculum. Our ambitious all-through subject curricula are a powerful educational journey that empowers students to develop comprehensive knowledge and skills within a specific area. This ensures a seamless and continuous learning experience from the early years through to advanced levels of education. By immersing students in a subject from the very beginning, they gain a deep understanding and mastery of the subject matter, fostering critical thinking, problem-solving, and creativity. This approach not only builds a solid foundation but also cultivates a lifelong passion for the subject, enabling students to explore its full potential. It encourages interdisciplinary connections and a more profound engagement with the subject matter, ultimately preparing students for success in their academic and professional journeys. An all-through subject curriculum is a powerful catalyst for intellectual growth and the development towards creating tomorrow’s citizens today.

We want to ensure that there is:

An inclusive and challenging curriculum designed to inspire curiosity and build subject mastery, including the skills of literacy, numeracy and oracy.
A progressive and sequential curriculum designed to develop a depth of knowledge. The integrity of each subject is respected with key vocabulary being explicitly taught.
An interwoven, rich curriculum that is designed to support students’ retention and retrieval of knowledge

Please take a further look at our subject overviews on the webpage: https://www.simonballe.herts.sch.uk/curriculum-overview/

Many subjects that are taught all-through will show the sequential progress we are proud of.

Recently, Mathematics had an external Deep Dive that monitors and reviews our curriculum and the quality of education students experience. A summary of the review can be found here: https://www.simonballe.herts.sch.uk/category/teaching-learning-news/

Uniform

Uniforms are not mere clothing; they are quite literally the threads knitting our students into a tapestry of belonging and community so it is important that we give due care and consideration to it. In light of this, we wanted to inform you that we are carrying out a review of our uniform at Simon Balle All-through School to consider our policy and provision in terms of accessibility, affordability, and sustainability. This is a unique opportunity to consider multiple aspects of uniform in terms of branding, the number of items, gender-neutral designs, as well as shaping uniforms as tools to cultivate positive behaviour. Our commitment to review also extends to evaluating suppliers, benchmarking against peers, and promoting pre-loved uniforms, fostering a circular economy benefiting all backgrounds. We aim to simplify complexities and empower parents with more choices. We will keep you abreast of any updates as part of this process.

Safeguarding

At our school, safeguarding is not just a policy; it’s the very essence of our community. We have cultivated a safeguarding culture that is at the core of our school’s values and ethos, underpinning our environments and practice, where we place our young people at the centre of all our decisions.

The strength of this culture rests on each and every one of us, as it is only as robust as we collectively make it. This is what drives our desire to be proactive and at the forefront of trends and practice, rather just compliant. Parents play their role in this too. If you need support, guidance or wish to raise a concern then please contact one of our team named on the classroom safeguarding poster (click on the image to expand it). We would appreciate it if you could take the time to review the separate attendance update.

Careers

We believe that an education related to careers has its foundations in the Early Years and must be progressive and sequential through each year of the primary phase and beyond, all the way up to Sixth Form. Please take a moment to read the September careers update to see what’s on offer in the coming months. There are also links to some useful careers websites to get the conversation started at home.

Library news

Click on the images below to find out about what has been happening in the Library.

Well done to everyone who participated at the Roald Dahl quiz in the library at lunchtime on Wednesday 13th September and especially well done to the runners-up and winners who have all earnt a point for their house!

Runners-up: Christos (8A) Benjamin (8A) Jackson (11L)
In joint third place: Ethan (9M), Shay (9N) & Jake (9M)
In joint second place: Issachar (7L) & Lucas (7A)
In first place: Yahya (7A)

Well done also to everyone who participated in the Great European Bake Off to celebrate the European Day of Languages. And thank you to everyone who voted – there were over 200 votes!

The winners for the three categories are:

Josh (Year 7) – Cake best linked to the European Theme
Charlie, Lily and Willow (Year 9) – Tastiest looking cake
Summer (Year 8) – Best decorated cake

You can read more about the procedures around borrowing books (and what to do about overdue books) on the library pages of the school website.

Spotlight on the Larch

Reception: In Reception, the children have read the book ‘The Mega Magic Hair Swap’ and spent time celebrating the differences amongst our new cohort. The children have really enjoyed lots of activities linked to ‘All About Me’ making some fantastic self portraits! The children have thoroughly enjoyed starting the Level Two phonics and beginning to apply their sounds to initial sounds, blending, segmenting and learning new songs. Please have a look at the Reception notice board for more information.

Year 1: The children in Year 1 have had a busy start to the year! They have begun reading books from their literary canon and writing repetitive stories based on the book ‘Brown Bear, Brown Bear’. The children have thoroughly enjoyed being creative with the different things they may see inspired by their weekly welly walks. They have also been practising directional language in maths which has supported their learning of algorithms in Computing, directing each other in preparation to create routes for bee bots.

Year 2: The children have been focusing on poetry in English lessons. In preparation for our Harvest Festival celebrations, they have written some beautiful acrostic poems using fantastic descriptive language to really capture what Harvest is all about.

Year 3: Year 3 have become experts at debugging during Computing lessons! Over the last few weeks, they’ve been learning what a ‘bug’ is and how it can cause the Computer to malfunction in some way. This week, they were given an algorithm of two penguins telling a ‘knock knock’ joke but it didn’t work as intended so they got to work in finding how they could improve the algorithm to allow the joke to be told correctly.

Year 4: Science lessons have been jammed packed full of practical activities linked to the digestive system in Year 4. They have made a set of teeth and analysed all of the different jobs and this week really got to grips with how our food is digested and made their own ‘faeces’. Make sure they tell you all about it!

Year 5: The children have been immersed in building on their prior knowledge of coding to create their own maze game in Scratch. They have impressed us with their ‘debugging’ skills when their coding hasn’t quite worked to resolve the issue, and successfully started creating an interactive game where their ‘sprite’ can make its way around a maze and if it hits an obstacle it is sent back to the beginning.

Year 6: There has been awe and wonder in Year 6! They have been learning all about the circulatory system in Science, and had hands-on experience dissecting a lamb heart in pairs in class! The children showed real courage and resilience, whilst also showing such wisdom as they explored and asked excellent questions about their observations.

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Lunchtimes in the Larch

It has been wonderful to see the children playing games with friends at lunchtime whether that be on the playground or astro. With various new playground equipment children can play games such as tennis, bowling, bowls, hoopla and practice walking on stilts.

The astro now has set times for year groups to enjoy organised sports with Mr Leonard and Mr Rouse. Key stage one has a focus on playing team games and promoting good sportsmanship in games such as football, rugby, basketball and many other sports.

A child in Key stage 1 said, ‘‘Mr Leonard always does fun games with us on the astro, I love lunchtimes!’

With the buzz of the rugby world cup currently taking place in France, the Simon Balle Lunch Time Premier Leagues are underway with a focus on tag rugby for a year 3 & 4 combined league, as well as a year 5 & 6 combined league where skills such as drop kicks, penalties and conversions have been added in for the year 5 & 6 competition.

The leagues were set up to promote physical activity and healthy competition amongst children, with a focus of developing good sportsmanship skills whereby teams can earn extra points by displaying skills such as: encouragement for teammates, positive comments to the opposition, respect and shaking hands after every game.

The winners of the league will have the most points combined with sportsmanship points to earn house points, a team photo in the trophy cabinet alongside the Lunch Time Premier League trophy.

Two children in Key stage 2 said, ‘I love lunchtime sports. I really like that they are competitive and fair and there is always lots to do and always lots of fun! I am always excited to do the lunchtime leagues. I look forward to playing against my friends in different teams’

Year 12 Scholar Programme

Tuesday 26th September saw the launch of the Year 12 Scholar’s Programme to support students who are applying to Oxbridge, Russell Group and other aspirational Universities. The programme supports students in a variety of ways:

Application workshops
Interview preparation
Support with admission tests
Workshops led by our link colleges at Oxford and Cambridge University
Support with super-curricular activities

Students will also have the opportunity to apply for the Cambridge Higher Aspirations Scheme (CHAS) which includes the opportunity to experience Cambridge-style supervisions: teaching led by subject experts in small groups. A series of six supervisions in 27 different subjects will run between January and the end of March, with the first being in person in Cambridge.

Year 12 and Year 13 Expectation Evenings

Over the past few weeks we have held expectation evenings for both year 12 and year 13. We would like to say a massive thank you to all the students, parents and carers who were able to attend these evenings.

Year 12 were informed about the expectations of sixth form students with additional strategies they could use during their study lessons, they were also given an in-depth introduction to the new year 12 enrichment programme.

The year 13 evening focused on their next steps and the different pathways available including university and the different types of apprenticeships available, Effective study techniques and UCAS deadlines were also discussed alongside the recent changes to student loans.

We hope you found these evenings informative and if you have any further questions please do not hesitate to contact us.

All-through enrichment clubs

We offer a vast and exciting range of enrichment opportunities at lunch and after school across our all-through school, thanks to the fantastic commitment from staff. These provide for a broad range of interests and to provide the students with new and exciting experiences beyond the curriculum. There are also regular opportunities for the students to engage in competitions and events which are promoted in assemblies and on the enrichment board, such as the recent all-through design a new house logo competition, The Great European Bake Off in the secondary library and Speakers Corner, plus much more!

If your child is interested in any of the below, please contact:

Y1/2 clubs- A Google form has recently been shared.
Explorers Y3-6: A Google form for Autumn 2 will be sent by the end of next week.
Music: please email Mr Taylor at music@simonballe.herts.sch.uk
Secondary sports: please email Mr Brennan or Mrs Scarrott or sport@simonballe.herts.sch.uk
Lunch clubs: your child should speak to the adult running the club to confirm the location.
Y6-8 Wednesday enrichment: please fill in the form which outlines the information.

Please also contact Mrs Boyce if you have any questions at all about enrichment: boycek@simonballe.herts.sch.uk

A full calendar of enrichment opportunities can be found on the enrichment page of the website.

House competition: Form boards

For this academic year, Ms Cannon is re-launching the Simon Ball House system with the help of her Year 12 House Leaders team. All of our students from reception to year 13 are members of a House – Ashbourne, Beane, Lea, Mimram, New and Rib. The first competition launched at the start of September was for each form in secondary to decorate a form board to reflect the colours and themes of their House. The winning entries are below:

Year 7 Mimram
Year 8 Lea
Year 9 Ashbourne
Year 10 Ashbourne
Year 11 Ashbourne
Year 12 Lea
Year 13 Beane

Dates for the diary

Please check the calendar page and the term dates page of our website for upcoming events

Vacancies

We are currently looking for a teacher for the Larch and a 1:1 SEN Teaching assistant. For more information, please see Teach in Herts. If you, or someone you know may be interested please contact creaseyj@simonballe.herts.sch.uk

PSA news

30th September – Quiz Night

Quiz, games, raffle, auction, cheese, wine, music and dancing. Final tickets remaining, for tomorrow’s ‘Quiz with a Twist’. At £12.50 per head, it will make for a fun filled evening out. Teams can book in groups of either 4 or 8.

7th November – PSA AGM and Meeting (Rescheduled)

Join us in the Secondary Library for a cheese and wine reception from 6.30pm, ahead of our AGM. You’ll learn about some of the upcoming events, meet the team and will have the opportunity to share your fundraising ideas. We urge as many supporters to attend as possible. You will not be committing to anything but good attendance will allow us to elect a larger number of committee members. We will be looking to fill some key positions, new joiners are welcome! If you are unable to attend but are interested in supporting us or sharing ideas, please take a moment to register your interest here.

Click on the images below to expand them.

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Wishing everyone in our community a positive and fulfilling fortnight ahead.

Yours sincerely,

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

All-through news letter 15.09.23

15th September 2023Alexandra Green

All-through newsletter 15.09.23

Musical News – September 2023

14th September 2023Heather Morgan

The start of a school year is always one of reflection. Those who have left our immediate musical family, those who are moving up, perhaps realising a long held ambition to have 'their turn'.

It is always amazing how our musicians 'step up'. Take on new challenges, fill gaps in ensembles and adapt to still be part of Team Music. More news on this below, but how our musicians are adapting is brilliant.

I'm also over the moon with how everyone is embracing Practice Pal Music. Over time, this will make life so much easier for all, bringing together information and learning for our instrumental and vocal lessons. It is early days, but the feedback has been brilliant. Thank you. We will be using more features in the coming weeks.

I am also working on new projects and musical opportunities across our work. Details to come as I work them out with the team!

Please have a read of the rest of this newsletter and put the relevant calendar concert dates in your diaries. There is so much going on, so don't miss out!

Mark Taylor,
Director of Music

In June and July, Team Music enjoyed 6 days of musical exams for students throughout the All-through community, from Year 2 - Year 13 with Trinity Classical, Trinity Rock & Pop and Musical Theatre exams. Well over 200 exams in 6 days.

Further to this, 8 Year 12 & Year 13 students achieved diplomas:

DipLCM - Gabriel and Ciara (piano), Sam Portas (drums), Ada (popular vocals), Patrick and Jacob (classical saxophone), - Daniil, (Jazz saxophone).

ALCM - Luke. Saxophone - the music of Charlie Parker. The hardest diploma we have ever had at Simon Balle. We’ve had a few! Luke’s level of musicianship was off the scale.

It is such an achievement taking a Music Exam, and every student rose to the challenge. We are so proud of them, for some it is the beginning of the musical journey, and for others it is a fantastic way to complete their Simon Balle All-Through Journey. Well done to all.

Click the image below to see the results!

Secondary phase newsletter 20.07.23

20th July 2023Alexandra Green

Secondary newsletter 20.07.23

Primary phase newsletter 20.07.23

20th July 2023Alexandra Green

Primary newsletter 20.07.23

Musical News – July 2023

19th July 2023Heather Morgan

A unique, special moment in the history of our school that concluded with a standing ovation for Alison. Pictures will be added shortly and one is attached here.

250 musicians. 500 in the audience. A concert hall literally bouncing with the amazing music that our musicians - students at Simon Balle from Years 2 - 13, plus our adult choir - created.

At Saffron Hall, I sang three songs with Chamber Choir, which I really enjoyed. Tides was my favourite song to sing; I loved how upbeat and positive it was, and the buzzing atmosphere at Saffron under the stage lights elevated the piece even more. As a whole, I thought the Chamber Choir pieces went really well. Ave Maria was particularly tricky, but singing at Saffron made me feel more confident and excited to sing such fantastic pieces. The highlight of the evening for me has to be singing a solo in When I Grow Up with all the choirs and the Larch orchestra. Especially as I was so nervous, looking behind me to see such a wonderful group of performers made me feel confident and proud to be there. It was an incredibly special moment to sing in front of so many people as part of such an amazing musical community.

Sophie, Year 12

I enjoyed performing in both the Senior Choir and Strings Ensemble for the Simon Balle musical Summer Showcase at Saffron Hall.

The atmosphere was incredible and seeing the audience enjoy the performances really made the months of practice worth it.

Performing When I Grow Up was very special because I first sang this piece when I was in Year 2. It was one of the first times the choirs sang as an all-through. This time at Saffron Hall, I was able to perform as a secondary student alongside Larch.

I especially liked the end of the showcase when Mrs Saunders danced bare foot on the stage!

Everyone was up on their feet joining in.

I can’t wait to do it all again!

Summer, Year 7

I am delighted and proud to announce that eight Year 12/13 musicians have achieved a diploma in music.

DipLCM - Gabriel and Ciara (piano), Sam Portas (drums), Ada (popular vocals), Patrick and Jacob (classical saxophone), - Daniil, (Jazz saxophone).

ALCM - Luke. Saxophone - the music of Charlie Parker. The hardest diploma we have ever had at Simon Balle. We’ve had a few! Luke’s level of musicianship was off the scale.

As part of these diplomas, our musicians have performed at the most challenging standard for their age. Charlie Parker, Bebop, Dave Weckl, Beethoven, Bach, Debussy, Philip Glass, french saxophone repertoire and much more. Eight Simon Balle musicians performing at an incredible professional standard. I can't state enough the level of achievement for these musicians. What I do know is that they could only have achieved this at Simon Balle - the distinct ethos, the time provided for us to get it right and the inspiration created throughout our work. This is something to shout from the rooftops.

Secondary phase newsletter 30.06.23

30th June 2023Alexandra Green

Secondary newsletter 30.06.23