Friday 14th February

Co-headteachers’ welcome

Perhaps Mr Moss and I are repetitive when we say this, but it has been an unprecedentedly busy, yet very positive, fortnight. Despite the winter weather, we are incredibly grateful for ongoing parental partnership which has related to trips away and in planning/preparation, many of which are written about below; the Year 9 preferences process; Year 11 parents’ evening and performance clinic meetings; music concerts from Year 3 woodwind starters to Big Band; and a series of very muddy sports matches with students of all ages representing Simon Balle. Thank you for all! 

The main purpose of our welcome this week relates to the power of role models within our all-through school. There are simply countless examples where younger students look up to older and the influence of peers provides something very special indeed. What is particularly magical is that activities where students of differing ages come together is so clearly of mutual benefit to both leader and learner. Here are a few examples to illustrate and celebrate and to thank all:

• Year 9 boys refereeing for our Years 5/6 Hope Cup football where we are through to the next round! Both boys on Friday clearly remember taking part in this competition themselves (as do we!) and are pleased to give back. Thank you Jack and Dylan. 
• Headteacher awards monthly where students of all ages come together and listen with patience to the varied reasons for nominations, across academic and community endeavours. Older students delight in younger achievements; younger children look up in awe to their future opportunities. It is a very special ethos for us as co-headteachers. 
• Music rehearsals almost daily where sixth form ambassadors kneel at the feet of beginner musicians, pointing out note by note and providing reassuring smiles. Our Larch strings and wind/brass are so well supported by playing alongside those with experience, and student voice tells us that hearing performances from the secondary ensembles provides great inspiration for the need to keep up that all-important practice!
• All-through parliament meetings, chaired by our sixth form presidents, are an excellent model of democracy in action. All ages from Year 5 up have a voice, and respect and listening skills are shown with consistency by all. Learning from the younger students is tangible as they practise oracy skills, note taking and more. Decisions made reflect our community from age 4 all the way to 18.
• The impact of tutoring and mentoring is highly evident at Simon Balle. At multiple times across the week, seeing 1:1 relationships blossom is inspiring indeed. Peers explaining tricky content to one another can often achieve that ‘lightbulb moment’, and confidence being developed through those that have recently known how it feels to revise and prepare for exams is so powerful too. Friday morning is a special time in the week when the Larch is flooded by sixth formers wanting to give back, demonstrating advanced skills in supporting across the curriculum and pastorally too. With consistency, our younger learners love reading to sixth formers, and are delighted when they support out at break time or within sports. 

This list is in no way exhaustive! Indeed, the curriculum itself is designed to build in leadership responsibilities, including, for example, KS3 and KS4 PE. Year 12 students have been advising Year 11 on the best ways to think about subject choices for their sixth form studies, and just a few years below, Year 9 have benefitted from the views of those already in KS4. Our student leaders at all ages are valued. And, coming up soon with World Book Day we know that within the Larch Years 4, 5 and 6 will be looked up to by Reception and Year 1 – the love of reading shared and enjoyed. 

It seemed a good opportunity to shine a spotlight on the wonderful way that our students help one another. Collaboration such as this is undoubtedly a valued part of developing as tomorrow’s citizens and one in which we as staff are grateful and proud of all. 

As we head into half term, we would also like to take this opportunity to thank everyone for all they continue to give. Whatever half term brings, from our ski trip off this afternoon to continued academic studies for many, we hope that all will find time to rest and to enjoy time with loved ones. Please do come back ready for an exciting Spring 2!

Celebrating academic success

There is always a delay in the official reports of academic success from the previous academic year as the national picture builds and checking exercises take place. So, whilst the summer of 2024 feels a long time ago, it is apt indeed that with the publication this month of all attainment and progress data, across five phases of our all-through school, that we do not miss the opportunity to celebrate. Our academic results are outstanding indeed. 

• 95% of children achieving the expected standard in the national phonics screening check in Year 1 – significantly above national (93rd percentile)
• 75% of children achieving the expected standard in reading, writing and mathematics in KS2 SATs – significantly above national (80th percentile)
• Progress 8 – GCSE – + 0.45 – significantly above the national (83rd percentile) (this is mirrored for a wide range of categories across P8 and across individual subject areas)
• A level Average Points Score (APS) – significantly above national (92nd percentile)

Of course such results only happen with the consistency of exceptional learning in every year group and as contributed to by every student, family, staff member and leader. A huge thank you to all, and let us continue with exciting steps towards our 2025 results. We are proud of all that has been achieved, with the highest of aspirations for every member of our community. 

Music aptitude consultation outcome

Year 11 Sixth Form Experience Day

On Wednesday 5th February, our Year 11 students took part in our Sixth Form Experience Day, designed to give them a real insight into life as a Sixth Form student. Instead of their usual GCSE lessons, students immersed themselves in the Sixth Form environment, helping them make informed decisions about their next steps.

Throughout the day, students attended three Sixth Form lessons, experiencing a variety of engaging and challenging sessions. Highlights included a chemistry escape room, creating a sports brand in BTEC Sport, and exploring general election manifestos in Politics, among many other exciting activities.

They also learned about our enrichment programme, with current Sixth Formers sharing their experiences and the wide range of opportunities available beyond the classroom. Additionally, students received guidance on finalising their subject choices, ensuring they feel confident in their next steps.

This was a fantastic opportunity for Year 11s to experience the Sixth Form community firsthand, and we hope it has inspired them as they plan for the future.

Year 11 Next Steps Day – Preparing for the Future

On the same day, a group of our Year 11 students recently took part in Next Steps Day, an invaluable opportunity to explore their post-16 options and gain the skills needed for their future pathways. Whether they are considering further education, apprenticeships, or employment, the day was designed to provide them with the knowledge and confidence to make informed decisions.

Students attended CV writing workshops, where they learned how to create a strong and professional CV to stand out to future employers. They also took part in apprenticeship sessions, gaining insight into the exciting opportunities available outside of traditional A Levels.

A highlight of the day was the college visits to Oaklands College in St Albans and Welwyn Garden City, where students explored the fantastic courses and facilities on offer. Additionally, we welcomed VLUK, who delivered an engaging talk on their specialist sports, business, and creative courses.

Click here for our latest Careers opportunity blog, including:

• Webinars for students interested in Law, Marketing, Media
• PwC Virtual Experience Day
• Warner Bros Apprenticeship virtual event
• Opportunities from employers and universities
• Apprenticeships and Work Experience in Science, Technology, Engineering & Maths

In partnership with our local Careers Hub our school is participating in the annual Hertfordshire Parent/Carer Apprenticeships and Technical Education Pathways Survey. It doesn’t matter whether you have strong views or have little knowledge of apprenticeships to be able to complete this survey. Some of you may have completed previous years surveys – some questions have been added or slightly amended since last year. All completed surveys are completely anonymous, and responses will be collated directly by Amazing Apprenticeships who have been commissioned to complete the survey across Hertfordshire. If we receive more than 50 responses our school will receive its own individual report which will be incredibly helpful for us in planning future careers activity for both students and parent/carers. Please click here to complete the survey (it should take approx 5 minutes to complete): Parent/Carer Apprenticeships and Technical Education Pathways Survey.

National Apprenticeship Week 2025

From 10th to 14th February, we will be celebrating National Apprenticeship Week, with this year’s theme, ‘Skills for Life’, highlighting how apprenticeships help individuals develop valuable skills for their careers and enable employers to build a future-ready workforce.

Throughout the week, students will take part in a variety of activities during form time, using resources from Amazing Apprenticeships, and will explore different apprenticeship opportunities within their subject lessons.

We are also delighted to welcome back two former Simon Balle students who are currently in their first year of degree apprenticeships at Barclays and BCAL Consulting. They will be speaking to Year 12 and Year 13 students about their experiences and the degree apprenticeship process.

For parents and carers who would like to explore apprenticeships further, here are some useful resources:

Simon Balle Apprenticeships Hub: Visit here
Amazing Apprenticeships Parent and Carer Hub: Click here
Choice Magazine (January 2025 Edition): Read here

Apprenticeships offer a fantastic pathway into a wide range of careers—be sure to get involved and find out more!

Business Convention 2025 – Disneyland Paris

165 of our Y10 & Y11 GCSE Business students had a trip of a lifetime to Disneyland Paris. The students attended and were so engaged in the Business convention, which gave an insight into how Disney operates and markets its brand. We were also treated to an inspirational talk on how to make a Business a success. 

Students got to make the most of the magic that comes with Disney, demonstrating resilience on the rides and taking in some amazing shows. We also got to visit Paris and take in the sights on a boat cruise, ending at the lit up Eifel tower. The students were an absolute credit to the school and made some great memories with their friends.

Sustainability Studies

As one of their rotation subjects, years 7 and 8 study ‘Sustainability studies’ for 10 weeks with Mr Dear or Miss Gibson. Year 8 look at the wider world, and how as a global community we can work together towards a more sustainable and green planet. Project work includes creating a sustainable clothing brand with research into different materials and production practices, and creating a menu for a ‘sustainable restaurant’, avoiding ingredients and food items that have a negative impact on the environment. 

Year 7 look closer to home, collecting data on how we as a school community can become more sustainable. This work has proven to be massively successful and beneficial to the school, as the litter pick data has highlighted patterns and trends and informed decisions on bin placement around the site. As part of this research, year 7 student David had the opportunity to interview our CFO Mr Walsh on how we are working towards being as sustainable as possible. Some questions included:

“How do you make sure that the school uses energy efficiently?”

“All of our new buildings are being equipped with technology and architectural features that work towards being more sustainable. Our new MFL building and incoming Sports Hall have both been designed with sustainability in mind, with air-flow technology in place to regulate air circulation and temperature control. We also have a large number of solar panels which generate electricity, although we are constantly looking for ways to improve our efficiency and environmental impact”

“How does the school manage recycling?”

“We have recently added several more bin stores around the school which house both general waste and recycling wheelie bins. These additions have decreased the amount of waste we send for incineration, as we have made it as easy as possible for everyone on site to find recycling points. We are now able to recycle far more of our waste, whilst we also manage our food waste in a responsible manner, sending our waste food to be turned into natural bio-fuel. We also try where possible to reuse rather than recycle – as part of a ‘circular economy’, we look to move on items such as furniture and clothing to new homes as well as accepting second-hand equipment and furniture to give them a new lease of life, rather than sending perfectly usable items to landfill.”

It’s fantastic to see our students so engaged in attempting to make our school environment a  cleaner and greener place, and it’s exciting to think about all the future developments on our school site as we move towards a sustainable future.

Pedal for purpose 

As part of Children’s Mental health week we decided to cycle for the charity, Mind Hertfordshire network. Our students and staff showed fantastic resilience and kept the static bikes moving from 10am to 4.30pm, covering a total of 185 miles across the 3 bikes. 

Thank you to Everyone Active and the Mind Hertfordshire network team for your support on the day. We not only have started to raise vital funds that will be doubled but also raised awareness of this wonderful charity. If you would like to support and donate then please follow this link https://12milesfor12charities2025.heroes.help/campaigns/Simon-Balle-School

Library news

Another busy few weeks in the library with:

• Newsday Tuesday on Tuesday 4th February.
• Book Battles on Wednesday 5th February.
• Foreign Language Friday on Friday 7th February.
• Our annual Harry Potter Quiz on Thursday 13th February. 
• The library rewards trip to the Bishop’s Stortford College Festival of Literature on Friday 14th February.

Newsday Tuesday

Newsday Tuesday takes place in the secondary school library on the first Tuesday of the month. This month we looked at what’s coming in the year ahead, and we discussed issues such as fake news and the aftermath of natural disasters such as flooding and wildfires.

Book Battles

Book Battles takes place in the secondary school library on the first Wednesday of the month. So far this year we have used our general knowledge to play Scattergories and our speaking and performance skills to sell our favourite books to the audience.

The Harry Potter Quiz

Simon Balle’s Got Talent 2025 – date for the diary!

Following on from the success of the secondary talent show last year, our Y12 House Leaders are organising another talent show! The date for this year’s secondary show is Monday 24th March, 6-8pm. Tickets will be available to purchase before the show soon!

Community and Kindness at Simon Balle

We are excited to launch a new school community and kindness project as Simon Balle All-through School. The initiative will be organised by a team of  student ambassadors from years 5-9 and overseen by a team of Year 12s. The team will be organising various events to promote kindness and strengthen community both within the school and in the wider community.   

Our first project called Simon Balle in Bloom is aimed at creating a beautiful and green space for our students to enjoy. To bring this vision to life, we kindly ask for your support in donating plants and pots and other gardening equipment, please see the attached poster for more details. Your contributions will help us foster a love for nature, teach students about plant care, and create a welcoming environment for everyone. Whether it’s a small potted plant or a larger decorative pot, every donation will make a difference. If you’re able to contribute we will be running the donation for the weeks commencing 24th February and 3rd of March; students will be informed on where to drop donations . Thank you for your generosity and support!

Kind regards,

The community and Kindness Team

School Nursing Newsletter

Please find attached the Winter Term newsletter from the school nursing team

Newsletter 2025 Teen final 05 02 25 (003)

Supporting Links – Parenting workshops

We are pleased to announce that we are working closely with supporting links to provide parents and carers with a variety of workshops. In the Summer term we have organised some face to face sessions but in the meantime, I have attached the following flyers:

• 1 hour Bitesize workshops
• Workshops for parents of children with suspected or diagnosed ASD and/or ADHD.

 Please see the attached flyer with courses for you to sign up to if appropriate.

Supporting Links ASD & ADHD Workshops Spring2025 (1)

Supporting Links UNIVERSAL workshops BITESIZE programme 2025

Carpark

During half term the contractors will be working on another section of the car park. This will mean that the section between the entrance and exit gates will be closed and fenced off. This means that the number of spaces will be reduced again, and we will be restricted to using the exit gate as our only means of entering and exiting the car park. Extra vigilance will be required by all users of the site. 

We remind you that only those granted access to the car park should be driving onto our site: all other drop-offs and pick-ups should be conducted from an alternative location, such as the London Road car park near the fire station. Adding unnecessary extra vehicles to the car park and failure to follow signage (like the no entry signs by the White Lodge) increases the risk of accidents. We are also concerned that at times staff are being prevented from accessing the car park when they arrive for work: access routes (including gates to the staff car park) should not be blocked at any time.

Lost property

If any primary or secondary student has misplaced an item of clothing or equipment, please encourage them to pop into the school office to have a look through our extensive collection of lost property. This is also a good time to remind you to make sure that everything is labeled with the student’s name.

PSA News 

The PSA held its AGM and committee meeting last week that was really well attended. We celebrated the amazing events, initiatives and phenomenal monies raised by the PSA last year. We are so fortunate to have such hard working, passionate and dedicated volunteers that make such a positive impact on our community. 

We want to say thank you to Jo Duggan and Ruth Wing who have stepped down as co-chairs. Your service and commitment has been inspirational and you leave the PSA in a position of strength. Both were awarded Spirit of Simon Balle Awards for consistently demonstrating our school values. We would also like to thank Laura Pearson and James Curtis for their incredible commitment and service to the PSA. 

We are pleased to announce that Chloe Merrick and Leah Wood are the new Co-chairs and Mike Cohen is the new Treasurer.  Hayley Fairbrother has also volunteered for the role of  Secretary. Thank you to all who have filled the positions and for the PSA for your continued support and effort. As you are all members of the PSA please do look out for opportunities to volunteer or support.

Dates for your diary

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

• Monday 24th Feb: start of Spring 2 term
• Thursday 27th Feb: staff and sixth form quiz afternoon
• Saturday 1st Mar: Secondary Big Band evening
• Monday 3rd Mar: Sports Tour departs (Y8/9)
• Tues 4th Mar: Y13 student consultation evening
• Mon 10th Mar: Y11 core mocks start
• Mon 10th Mar: Y9 assessments start
• Mon 10th Mar: Y8 MFL trip to spain departs
• Mon 10th Mar: Y12 work experience week starts

Wishing you all the best for the week ahead

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

Friday 31st January

Co-headteachers’ welcome

As the cold and wet weather continues to remind us that winter is well and truly here, it’s heartening to see the energy and enthusiasm shining through in our all-through school. Despite the grey skies outside, our students and staff have been busy with a wealth of exciting activities and exceptional learning taking place in every corner of the school. From creative projects and inspiring lessons to extracurricular opportunities and community events, the atmosphere across our school remains vibrant and full of promise. It’s a reminder that even during the chilliest months, there’s so much warmth and positivity to celebrate in our school community.

Our new sports hall is taking shape beautifully and remains on schedule for completion. Last week, we had the privilege of visiting the site, donning our hard hats and high-vis jackets. Stepping inside, we were struck by just how spacious it felt. The framework for the reception, office space, and storage areas is already in place, and the sports hall itself is even more expansive than we imagined. Standing there, it was easy to picture the wide variety of sports that will take place, including netball, basketball, badminton, cricket, circuit training, and more.

This facility promises to be a top-quality venue for exercise, competition, and, most importantly, enjoyment for our students and the wider community. As headteachers, we feel incredibly fortunate to be leading our school during such an exciting period of growth and progress. This new sports hall will be a hub of activity, promoting physical well-being and community spirit for years to come.

Following our recent mock exams, students across our all-through school are now receiving their papers back. This is an important opportunity for reflection, as it allows them to identify their strengths and pinpoint areas where they can focus their efforts. As the philosopher Plutarch wisely said, “To make no mistakes is not in the power of man; but from their errors and mistakes the wise and good learn wisdom for the future.” Just as in sport, music, art, and drama, there is no shortcut to improvement—progress requires a combination of expert guidance from our dedicated teachers and the commitment of hard work from our students. 

With summer exams on the horizon, every student is aiming for significant improvement, whether that’s moving from a Key Stage 2 score of 100 to 105, achieving a jump from a Grade 5 to 7 at GCSE, or progressing from a B to an A* at A-Level. To support this journey, we strongly encourage students to take full advantage of the incredible resources available, including our lunch and after-school revision sessions, as well as the focused booster programmes in Year 6. These opportunities provide invaluable support to ensure all students are fully prepared and confident for the challenges ahead. We also recognise the important role parents play in creating a positive and focused home environment for revision and home learning. Encouraging consistent routines, providing a quiet space, and offering gentle guidance can make a significant difference in how students engage with their studies. Your involvement, whether through discussing topics, helping with time management, or simply offering words of encouragement, fosters confidence and a love of learning. Thank you for your ongoing partnership in your child’s education!

Continuing with the theme of resilience and positivity during these colder weeks, our assemblies last week focused on the idea of ‘Setting the Standard.’ This theme challenged students to push beyond their perceived limits in learning, to uphold our core values in all areas of school life, and to demonstrate exemplary conduct within the wider community. Time and again, our students amaze us with their commitment, kindness, and the way they carry themselves every day. They truly embody the high standards we set as a school, making us proud of the incredible young people they are becoming.

Click here for our latest Careers opportunity blog, including:

• Dunelm Apprenticeships – Now open
• Generation Welwyn Careers Fair

Musical News – January 2025

A fantastic month of music to kick off 2025 with so many exciting events coming up this term! Please read all about the Woodwind Starters’ Celebration, Piano Recital, Music Medal success and all of the upcoming events here: https://www.simonballe.herts.sch.uk/musical-news-january-2025/

Enrichment timetable

Click here for the latest enrichment clubs on offer at Simon Balle All-through School

Sport and PE

Sport in the Larch

With the evenings gradually becoming lighter the Hope Cup football and Evans Trophy for netball competitions have begun. Last Thursday the footballers played Priors Wood Primary School in the Hope Cup competition winning 5-1 and as a result getting through to the next round. The children showed all of our school’s values and showed so much sportsmanship working as a team. We were also delighted to have two children from Year 9 who started playing football themselves in the Larch referee the match showing how they have continued their sporting and leadership journeys. Well done to all that were involved! The netball competition will start next week with the first match against St John the Baptist and the football will continue with the next match against Ponsbourne.

Wodson Park Badminton Offer

Badminton coaching offer: Wodson Park £10 x 4 Weeks

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, please use the following Booking link

DSPL3 (Delivering Specialist Provision Locally):

The DSPL newsletter for parents can be found here DSPL3 Newsletter for Parents – January.pdf

A note from DSPL3:

We held our first ever DSPL3 Parent Coffee Morning on 13th November at Priors Wood School in Ware. It was open to all parents/carers of children with SEND (with or without diagnosis). We had a great turnout with over 25 people in attendance which was a mix of parents and professionals

It was a relaxed and friendly space where people could come for advice, support and a listening ear over a drink and a cake.

Our next dates are as follows (Venues yet to be confirmed)

• Wednesday 19th March 2025 (10-11:30am)
• Wednesday 11th June 2025 (10-11:30am)

Thank you to all those who attended, we can’t wait to chat again soon.

Science

One of our Sixth form Biology students took part in the Cambridge Biology Challenge, and her essay was recognised as highly commended. She focused on “The Winter Microbiome” and examined how seasonal changes impact gut health. Through her research, she discovered the remarkable adaptability of the gut microbiome – a complex community of billions of microorganisms that play a crucial role in digestion, immunity, and overall health. She found that reintroducing traditional winter diets, which are rich in prebiotics and probiotics, could enhance resilience and tackle modern health challenges such as autoimmune diseases. This investigation not only deepened her appreciation for the microbial world but also sparked an interest in developing innovative solutions for health and sustainability in the future. We, in the Science department, are very proud of her. 

You can read the essay by clicking here

Young Science Writer Award 2025

Students in Year 10 and 11 are invited to enter the Young Science Writer Award 2025, an exciting opportunity for all budding writers and science enthusiasts! Information has been emailed to all students in these year groups.

For more information please visit: https://www.absw.org.uk/pages/yswa-2024-apply

Larch Pastoral Provision roundup – What’s on offer in the Larch?

With Children’s Mental Health week being celebrated across the All-through next week, this is a great opportunity to share the many interventions, clubs, therapies and activities the children take part in across the Larch all week to ensure they are looking after themselves and their mental health. From nurture clubs, wellbeing clubs, to Lego therapies and drawing therapies, PSHE learning and regulation support in classes. We are creating a safe and understanding environment for our pupils to continue to thrive and develop. These are one to one, whole class, small group and are changing and adapting to suit the individual needs of our pupils. 

We are very fortunate to have the support of the Mental Health Service Team visiting the Larch each Tuesday to work with a large group of pupils completing different activities that support them in developing self esteem, self confidence and self belief. The children have responded so positively to this that staff are offering nurture clubs at lunchtimes for children. This is a place for children to come and further develop an understanding of themselves and their emotions in a safe and secure environment, through activities that are focused and inviting.

The East Herts Mental Health Support Team (MHST) will be delivering a ‘Parent Online Safety Workshop’ at Hollybush Primary School. You can read more about it here: Holly Bush Online Safety parents info.docx

Library News

The Big Schools’ Birdwatch

On Tuesday 21st January, a team of secondary school students took part in the Big Schools’ Birdwatch which is a nationwide research project that helps the RSPB to monitor how British wildlife is doing throughout the country. 

We observed the wildlife on the school playground, school field and woodland. We saw a great variety of species including some more unusual birds such as a great spotted woodpecker, a kestrel, and some redwing. 

Our results have been submitted to the RSPB to add to their national data. Well done to the birdwatching team!

Hertfordshire’s Families First

Please find attached information from both Family Lives and Families First regarding workshops, groups and helpful advice and support.

www.hertfordshire.gov.uk/familiesfirst

Families First A4 Website Poster (003) Spring Term 2025 Groups (2) Spring 2025 Workshops

PSA

Rescheduled AGM

Our Annual General Meeting will take place on Tuesday 4th February, 7pm for a 7.15pm start.If you are able to spare half an hour, please do call in.  You are not committing to anything by attending, we simply need a good turn out in order to go ahead with the AGM. Our scheduled AGM was previously cancelled as we did not have enough attendees to meet quorum.

After the AGM, we will continue with a committee meeting.  At this point, you are welcome to stay or leave.

Please use this link to indicate if you can attend the AGM.

You can also use the same link to sign up to other events, such as bar support for music events in March.

Your PSA needs you:  We are looking for a new Chair – or two people to be Co-chairs!

The Chair holds a unique position overseeing the PSA. It does not mean that you have to organise or attend events (although you can!). The Chair role involves activities such as liaising with school, working with the PSA Treasurer and Secretary, managing the constitution and Charity Commission obligations, and so on.  

If this role interests you, please contact us on psa@simonballepsa.org.uk expressing your interest and sharing your contact details. We will arrange for you to meet the current co-Chairs and learn more about the role. And if you decide to get involved, the current co-Chairs will be on hand to support you as much or as little as you want them to.

The PSA raises thousands of pounds each year for our school. Everyone parent/guardian is automatically a member of the PSA and is welcome to attend meetings and get involved as much or as little as they wish. We cannot function long-term without a Chair so please, please consider getting involved.

Thank you

The PSA Committee

Slice of Summer – Save the date!

The Slice of Summer will take place on Saturday 12th July, 12-4pm. 

We are looking for someone to help us organise the bar this year. Are you able to apply for the bar license and be present throughout the event? Can you set up the bar area on the day? Please get in touch before half term if this is something that you can help with.

psa@simonballepsa.org.uk

Please save the date and watch out for more information and volunteering opportunities.

Dates for your diary

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

• Mon 3rd Feb: Y8 assessments start
• Wed 5th Feb: Sixth form experience day for Y11
• Wed 5th Feb: Y9 Preferences Evening
• Thurs 6th Feb: Y11 Performance Clinic
• Friday 7th: Y10 ELSA careers day
• Tues 11th and Thurs 13th Feb: Y11 Sixth Form pathways meetings
• Thurs 13th Feb: Y13 Performance Clinic
• Friday 14th Feb: Library trip to Bishop’s Stortford College
• Friday 14th Feb: Ski trip departs
• Monday 24th Feb: start of Spring 2 term

Wishing you all the best for the week ahead

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

Friday 17th January

Co-headteachers’ welcome

Wishing a very Happy New Year to all of our families at Simon Balle. For those who we have not yet had a chance to see in person over this first fortnight of 2025, we wish students and families a fulfilling and successful term and year ahead. 

We have spent as much time as possible in classrooms across our all-through in this important and productive first two weeks of term. And so, it is apt to be writing to you all about the joy of learning. For many, January is a time of making resolutions, so for us at Simon Balle it is the perfect time to be supporting our wonderful young people to be prepared to embrace new challenges, intellectually and holistically. As you all know, we make no apologies at all for being a school that will always have high academic expectations of every student – for this is how we reach goals we thought may not be possible, and how we move with confidence into uncharted waters. Through our newsletters and social media, we always work hard to celebrate exciting enrichment opportunities – trips and clubs and sport and music and student leadership and more… However, it is worth remembering that sometimes – in fact often – magic happens in ordinary classrooms where extraordinary staff support extraordinary students to learn. The joy of learning might not always give us a ‘wow’ photograph, and yet we know that education has the power to transform lives. The moment where a child suddenly realises that they understand; a time where they relate this new learning to that which has gone before; the connection between teacher and student where they both show a deep appreciation for the subject studied; the dialogue between students as they grapple with fascinating concepts… All of this we have had the privilege of witnessing already in 2025, from age 4 to 18 and within all parts of the broad and ambitious curriculum we are proud to lead. 

Whilst we cannot possibly give examples from everywhere, a ‘window’ into what takes place daily at Simon Balle may be helpful. At just one point this week, Mr Moss and I delved into Year 9 students categorising the reasons for Germany’s loss in WW1, followed by Year 11 business students understanding the advantages and disadvantages of batch production. A number of our Year 13 students are busy preparing for Oxbridge interviews, to whom we wish the very best of luck, and, not far away, Reception are learning all about ‘People who help us’ – they are looking forward to a parent doctor and firefighter coming to visit them (thank you!) and their writing is showing such promise as they work to apply their phonic sounds to words and now across a whole sentence. We experienced engagement in wonderful literature as we moved around the all-through site, including Year 6 who are simultaneously developing their understanding of history together with reading comprehension and application of skills to writing through their study of Now or Never by Bali Rai. Years 10 and 13 are showing such a commitment to their exams, with great collaboration in motivated pairs as they prepare for speaking and listening; and walks through the maths and science corridors demonstrated such persistence of KS3 and 4 students with retrieval of key vocabulary and its application to questions to start every lesson based on securing knowledge and then moving forward. As we start this new calendar year, it is important to once again emphasise the significance of partnership between home and school, for we know that nurturing this partnership is how our young people can, and do, thrive. From a teaching and learning perspective, please do use the curriculum page on our website – it is always kept up to date so that we all have a shared sense of purpose, and granular information of what is taught and how this is progressive so that students build their knowledge on prior content. Assessment information has and is being shared with almost all year groups now, from Larch end of term data to Year 11 and Year 13 mocks. We value the insight gleaned from these ‘check-in’ points, and we hope that parents/carers with children in Years 7 – 9 will particularly benefit from a clearer and transparent KS3 assessment system launched this year. If you have not already had the chance to do so, please visit the assessment page on our website where a video should help with any questions you have in interpreting your child’s current data. Assessment is used as a launch point into ‘what next’ so we look forward to connecting with you all and together sharing the very highest of aspirations of all that our students can achieve and will become in 2025 and beyond!

Phase 1 – People Who Help Us

In Reception this half term, we have begun our new Topic focused on ‘People Who Help Us’. Starting off with inspiration from the book ‘Real Life Superheroes’ by Julia Seal, the children have enjoyed learning more about different jobs and roles within the community and how they help us, from doctors to vets, from cleaners to postal workers, from hairdressers to dentists! We are privileged to be welcoming a number of volunteers to come in and speak to the children about their roles over the next few weeks. Thank you so much to Melvin who visited earlier this week to share all about his role as a firefighter! The children absolutely loved learning all about the work of a firefighter and even got to see real equipment and uniform – which Miss Ponder even tried on!

If you are interested in volunteering, and could give around 30 minutes to an hour of your time to meet and share with the children about your work, please get in touch with Mrs Philip, Phase 1 Leader philipc@simonballe.herts.sch.uk. 

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, please use the following Booking link

Families Feeling Safe has funding from HCC to run workshops which are free to attend and open to all parents in Hertfordshire. The first workshop ‘All Feelings Matter’ can help parents and carers learn more about:

• Why all feelings matter for everyone.
• How feelings, thoughts, and behaviour link together.
• Recognising physical and emotional feelings, including anxiety and anger.
• Ways to support healthy emotional development.
• The stress response system and ‘3-Part Brain’ concept.
• The importance of feelings and the Protective Behaviours process.

Details of how to join the session are on the attached link All feelings matter workshop.pdf

PE and Sport at Simon Balle

Please find the updated extracurricular timetable for this term on the Sport Simon Balle website: https://www.simonballe.herts.sch.uk/sport/secondary-sport/

The opportunity for Excellence Scheme

The Opportunity for Excellence Scheme is now open to any of your students who compete at a minimum county standard in a sport, they would be eligible to apply for this scheme to receive a free gym membership at either John Warner or Laura Trott Leisure Centre for the year.

See link to apply: Apply for the Opportunities for Excellence scheme | Location – Borough of Broxbourne Council

If you would like any further information please email Miss E Newman newmane@simonballe.herts.sch.uk 

Badminton festival

We hope you enjoyed the schools badminton festival at Chauncy Secondary School – It would be amazing if you feel inspired to take up badminton and we have a selection of sessions across Hertfordshire all offering the first 4 weeks for just £10. You can register here:- https://nationalbadminton.org.uk/locations/hertfordshire/

Click here for our latest Careers opportunity blog, including:

• The Hertfordshire Virtual Careers Fair for parents and carers
• Generation Welwyn Hatfield 2025
• Unifrog – Virtual Apprenticeship Fair
• EDF Apprenticeships – NOW OPEN
• Opportunities from employers and universities 
• Links for Y13 students looking to apply for Apprenticeships at GSK, Amazon, Mercedes and many more

Sociology Conference

Last Thursday our Y12 Sociologists attended the annual A Level Sociology Conference at UCL. It was exciting for the students to hear about contemporary sociological research and to engage with Q&A sessions with the research leads. This introduction to research methods has set them up nicely for the next unit they will be studying.

BEAM Theatre

My name is Amy and I am the Participation Coordinator at Herts Inclusive Theatre. 

I am writing to let you know that HIT are bringing Power Up East to BEAM in Hertford at the end of January and we would love to welcome you!

Power Up delivers free drama workshops for young adults, weekly from Jan-March, culminating in a celebratory event at the end. Using theatre, games and creativity, the workshops will explore empowerment, independence, advocacy, representation and communication. 

Working with experienced inclusive drama practitioners, the workshops will offer opportunity to build confidence, make friends and most importantly, have fun.

• Fee: Free!
• Ages: 16+
• Time: 2-3:30pm
• Date: Wednesdays, 29th Jan 2025-26th March 2025 (Dates Inclusive) 
• Locations: Social One, BEAM, Hertford

For more information and to book, please visit our Pebble bookings here. If you need support in booking your place, contact me at the office on 01727 22 1414 or by email at amy@hit-theatre.org.uk

Building works and car park

The work on the sports hall has resumed following the Christmas break, and everything continues to be on schedule. The cladding should be appearing over the next month, but most of the activity is now taking place inside.

Students may have noticed that some damage was done to the entrance barrier by one of the delivery lorries. Whilst we are waiting for the repairs to be carried out, we ask you to respect the system that was put in place to restrict access to the carpark: cars driving quickly through the site, or parking and maneuvering carelessly, puts our students and staff in danger. Only those with an access pass should be driving onto the site. Students should be encouraged to walk to the Old London Road car park to be picked up: this is a much safer and far less congested place to wait.

Children’s Mental health week 3-9 Feb

We have a number of assemblies and activities taking place during this week that fit in with the campaign’s focus of Know yourself, Grow yourself. 

There will be a live performance by the up-and-coming boyband “Absnt Mind,” complemented by a thought-provoking discussion on Mental Health, Body Image, Cyber Bullying, and an engaging Q&A session for your students. 

On Wednesday 5th Feb students in PE lessons, staff and any student that would like to be involved will be taking part in ‘Pedal for purpose’. Everyone active has kindly sent us three static bikes for us to take part in this challenge and keep the bikes going from 9.00 – 4.00pm to cover as many miles as possible. In doing this we hope to raise money for Herts Mind Network. If  you are able to donate please follow the link 

https://12milesfor12charities2025.heroes.help/campaigns/Simon-Balle-School

Hertfordshire’s Children and Young People’s Mental Health Services

Hertfordshire’s Children and Young People’s Mental Health Services (CYPMHS) system wants to understand what parents and carers need when they are faced with supporting their child or young person’s poor emotional wellbeing.

It can be difficult to understand why they might be experiencing low moods, anxiety or self-harming behaviours, how to cope as a family, or knowing the strategies that could help at home. In preparation for commissioning a new service, we want to make sure parents and carers feel supported, have professionals and peers to speak to and share experiences with, all while knowing they are far from alone.

Complete the survey here

The survey will be open until Sunday 26 January 2025

Parent Staff Association

Larch UV Discos

Based on previous feedback, we are offering two UV Discos for Larch children this year.  Please refer to email for detailed information.

Friday 17th January, 4.30-5.30pm for Years 1, 2 and 3.

Friday 24th January, 4.30-5.30pm for Years 4, 5 and 6.

To book tickets for the Year 1, 2 and 3 UV Disco on Friday 17th January, please click here.  Ticket sales will close on 12th January, or when tickets sell out – whichever comes first.  Book early to avoid disappointment.

To book tickets for the Year 4, 5 and 6 UV Disco on Friday 24th January, please click here. Ticket sales will close on 19th January, or when tickets sell out – whichever comes first.  Book early to avoid disappointment.

Rescheduled AGM – 4/2/25

Our Annual General Meeting was previously cancelled as we did not have enough attendees to meet quorum.

We have rescheduled the AGM for Tuesday 4th February, 7pm for a 7.15pm start.  Please do attend if you can, we really need as much support as we can get.  You are not committing to anything by attending, we simply need a good turn out in order to go ahead with the AGM.

After the AGM, we will continue with a committee meeting.  At this point, you are welcome to stay or leave.

Please use this link to indicate if you can attend the AGM.

You can also use the same link to sign up to other events, such as Big Band bar support in March.

My Name Tags

There is a large volume of unnamed lost property in both phases of the school.  Named items are easier to locate and return to their owner.

When you order name labels via My Name Tags with our school ID 37273, commission will be paid to the PSA and lost property will decrease!

Dates for your diary

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

• Fri 17th Jan: Larch UV party (Y1-3)
• Tues 21st Jan: Art trip (Tate and V&A)
• Wed 22nd Jan: Y11 student consultation evening
• Fri 24th Jan: Larch UV party (Y4-6)
• Tues 28th-Fri 31st Jan: GCSE Business studies trip (Y10 and Y11)
• Mon 3rd Feb: Y8 assessments start
• Wed 5th Feb: Sixth form experience day for Y11
• Wed 5th Feb: Y9 Preferences Evening

Wishing you a Happy New Year

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

Friday 13th December

Co-headteachers’ welcome

December is a time of giving, and this spirit has been a shining feature of our school throughout the month. From supporting the local food bank to engaging in meaningful work within the community, our students and staff have exemplified generosity and care for others. A special highlight has been our Year 12 and Year 4 students taking part in a Santa Dash to raise funds for Herts Young Homeless, showing incredible dedication to supporting a vital cause. Equally inspiring was our Christmas Jumper Competition in aid of Save the Children, which combined fun and purpose in the best possible way. The fantastic array of colourful, creative, and quirky jumpers brought festive cheer to the school while reminding us of the importance of helping those in need. It has been heartening to see the Simon Balle community come together with such energy and kindness during this season of giving.

The Christmas Frost Fair on the 7th December was a true triumph, bringing our school community together in festive celebration despite the challenging weather. The event was alive with the buzz of activity, featuring an array of stalls, delicious food and drink, and outstanding singing and dance performances. It was wonderful  to see our Sixth Formers and Year 7 students showcasing their entrepreneurial flair by running their own stalls, demonstrating creativity and teamwork. A heartfelt thank you goes out to our incredible PSA, school staff and the many volunteers who made this event possible. Your dedication and hard work ensured the success of this whole-school celebration, which truly embodied the Christmas spirit. We are so proud of everyone who contributed to this joyous occasion!

As we approach the final week of term, excitement is building for two cherished traditions: our Christmas lunch and the school Christmas Carol Concert. These events are the perfect way to celebrate the season and reflect on an incredible term. From academic achievements to social milestones, our students and staff have worked tirelessly and accomplished so much. It has been a term full of growth, success, and community spirit, and we look forward to ending it on a high note with these festive celebrations. 

We wish everyone a fantastic Christmas and New Year and we look forward to welcoming you all back in January!

Christmas events

Christmas is in full swing now…

Reception Nativity

We are immensely proud of our Reception children as they have performed their Nativity show this week! Not only did they perform to their families at the main performance on Thursday, but they have also had audiences from the Larch and Busy Lizzies earlier in the week to watch our dress rehearsals. They have all worked so hard on learning the songs and their lines and we hope all our attendees enjoyed the show. Well done! 

Christmas dinner – Tuesday 17th and Wednesday 18th Dec

Christmas dinner will be taking place next week (Secondary on Tuesday, Primary on Wednesday). Secondary students please take not: there will be no other food on sale on Tuesday, either at break or lunch. Students are advised to bring a snack for break and anyone that hasn’t bought a ticket for Christmas dinner will need to bring a packed lunch. You can read the full text of the Christmas Dinner letter here: 2024 Christmas Dinner letter

Christmas Jumper Day and Santa Dash 

Thank you to everyone that supported yesterday’s fundraising activities. The donation pages are still open if you still want to contribute.

Christmas Jumper – Save the Children – £1278.00

Simon Balle All-through School  – Christmas Jumper Day – https://christmas.savethechildren.org.uk/fundraising/cjd240013979?utm_medium=fundraising&utm_source=email&utm_campaign=dssb-email

Santa Dash – Herts Young Homeless – £546.00

https://www.justgiving.com/page/simon-balle-1701254185708?utm_medium=FR&utm_source=CL

Carol Service

The annual Simon Balle Carol Services are taking place during the last week of term: 

• Monday 16th December, 7pm – Secondary Carol Service
• Tuesday 17th December, 6pm – Larch Carol Service

The PSA will serve refreshments before each service. If you are able to volunteer with the serving of refreshments, please sign up here: https://volunteersignup.org/WT7KY 

We ask all our music families to donate a box of mince pies or a packet of shortbread, these should be brought to the music office any day this week.

In addition to the two evening carol services, there will be two daytime services for the students to attend. On Tuesday Y7, 8 and 12 will be walking down to the Church in the morning, and on Wednesday the Larch students will be doing the same. Please ensure that students bring a coat so that they are suitably dressed for the weather.

Jólabókaflóð (Book Flood) – On 18th December the secondary library will be hosting the annual Book Flood festival. See the poster below for more details.

Herts and District food bank collection

Thank you so much for all of your generous donations for the Herts and District food bank. Our House Leaders have really embraced our Simon Balle values and have been diligently collecting the items from the Larch and the Secondary phases. Thank you again!

Food Bank support

Should you find yourself in difficulty over the festive season please do not hesitate to contact noxont@simonballe.herts.sch.uk where we can support you through our local food banks. Please ensure you get in touch before the end of term.

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 using the following Booking link.

On the links below are details of workshops available to all parents and carers living in Herts. 

Supporting Links BITESIZE programme 2025

Supporting Links ASD & ADHD Workshops Spring2025

Supporting Links Course Brochure Spring 25

Places can be booked directly by parents and carers by following this link and are free. Bitesize Parenting for parents in Herts | Eventbrite

The Hertfordshire SEND Local Offer

The Local Offer is a guide for families, providing information on special educational needs and disabilities services available throughout Hertfordshire for eligible individuals. 

Please use the link for further information The Hertfordshire SEND Local Offer 

For the latest Hertfordshire SEND news, highlights and information, please use the following link: The Latest SEND News from Hertfordshire.gov.uk where you can also register to receive regular SEND updates. 

DSPL3 Newsletter for Parents – Autumn 2

Library News

Please click here for our latest Careers Opportunity blog

PE News

With over a week to go, there are still lots going on in PE, including Inter-house Sport taking place this week and many more fixtures over the next 4-5 days. We will be publishing our sports blog on Wednesday which will include the final Inter House Football results as well as detailed reports on all fixtures and results so far in December. The December Sports Blog will be available on the front page on Wednesday as well as by going to the following link –  Sports Blog

Keeping safe this Christmas

Please take a moment to read the two latest online safety guides for parents, and the Fire Service Winter Safety newsletter.

what-parents-and-carers-need-to-know-about-ipads

What parents and carers need to know about whatsapp

EAST HERTS & BROXBOURNE Winter Safety

Statutory Admissions Consultation 2026/2027

In accordance with the requirements of the Department of Education’s School Admissions Code 2021, Simon Balle All-through School is consulting on the proposed admissions arrangements for the school year 2026/2027 and is seeking responses from parents/carers, schools and community groups.

The proposed changes are:

1.       Adding Rule 6 Musical Aptitude Test.

The reasons for the consultation are:

1. Music, both academically and in extensive enrichment provision, is a unique strength at Simon Balle All-through School
2. Not every school can offer the same breadth and depth of musical opportunities
3. Young people showing musical aptitude, living in Hertford, Hertford Heath and the priority areas, are being offered the chance to commit and belong to our musical community, growing as advanced musicians.

The proposed admission arrangements can be found on the school website (https://www.simonballe.herts.sch.uk/admissions/secondary-admissions/).

The consultation period will run for 6 weeks commencing 9th December 2024 and closing on 20th January 2025. 

Responses to these arrangements are invited and should be submitted to Mrs M Salter, Admissions Officer by email: admin@simonballe.herts.sch.uk or by post to the school address: Simon Balle All-through School, Mangrove Road, Hertford, SG13 8AJ by 20th January 2025.

The Governing Body will then consider all the responses before determining the final admission arrangements by Friday 28th February 2025.

Parent Staff Association

Frost Fair

The weather didn’t dampen spirits on Saturday’s Frost Fair. Hundreds of visitors came to enjoy the atmosphere and make this all-through event memorable.

We would like to extend our thanks to all that made this a success, from performers to student helpers, to our bank of volunteers. 

Kings Group and Edwins generously sponsored us. Thirteen Artisan Bakery cooked our giant pigs in blankets. Accent supplied helping hands and trays of cookies which the children enjoyed decorating.

This incredible community event simply could not happen without you.

All raffle winners have now been contacted and have until we break up for Christmas to collect prizes. Uncollected items after this time will be assumed unwanted and will get redistributed.

During the Frost Fair, sadly a visitor lost an opal pendant.  This highly sentimental item is dearly missed.  Please check bags and belongings, just in case it may have got caught up.  Please contact the PSA or school should you find it, we would love to be able to reunite this with its owner.

Larch UV Party

We are excited to bring back the much loved after school UV Parties to Larch in January 2025. Save the date!

• Friday 17th for years 1, 2 and 3.
• Friday 24th for years 4, 5 and 6.

More information to follow.

In order for this to go ahead, we need a good number of helpers to serve drinks, apply UV paint and tattoos (no tattoos on faces please).

If you are interested in registering to become a volunteer for our events, please complete this short form: https://forms.gle/7BjT4wbLhHrWuh2d8

Providing we have enough volunteers, tickets will go live on 6th January, via our website.  Spaces will be limited so please book early to avoid disappointment.

Lumos Live – Coldplay by Candlelight

Calling all Coldplay fans!

Lumos Live presents: A Coldplay Candlelight Experience at All Saints Church, Hertford, on Saturday 11th January 2025 at 7pm. Lasting around an hour, you will enjoy many Coldplay favourites performed by a string trio. Book via our link for a portion of your ticket sale to be donated to Simon Balle PSA: https://fatso.ma/0Zzm

Coldplay by Candlelight

Dates for your diary

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

• Mon 16th Dec: Secondary Carol Service, All Saints Church, 7pm
• Tues 17th Dec: Secondary Christmas dinner
• Tues 17th Dec: Larch Carol Service, All Saints Church, 6pm
• Wed 18th Dec: Larch Christmas dinner
• Friday 20th Dec: Last day of term, early finish
• Monday 6th Jan: Term starts for everyone
• Mon 6th Jan: Y13 mock exams start
• Tues 7th Jan: Y10 mid year assessments start
• Thurs 16th Jan: Y11 mock results day

Wishing you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year

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

Thursday 28th November

Co-headteachers’ welcome

As November draws to a close, we have taken time to reflect on how fortunate we are to lead and work within this special community at Simon Balle. In particular, we would like to thank you – our wonderful parents/carers – for all you do to connect and engage with us. As your children’s first and most important educators, we are always indebted to you for the educational support you provide, whatever the age of your children from 4 to 18. The support may look different as young people grow, but we know that the partnership between home and school remains just as important through every key stage and at every point, so that we can collectively provide that all-important pastoral, academic and holistic support. In this newsletter, we would like to extend our heartfelt thanks to you all. 

So, some stats from the term! Together, you have attended more than 33 after school or evening events since September! These have included information evenings for your child’s year group; curriculum workshops from phonics to meta-cognition; preparation for exciting and upcoming trips; performance clinics in targeted year groups, and both online and in-person parents’ evenings for so many; concerts, musical celebrations and a theatre performance; sporting matches and events; and open events for transition to Reception, Year 7 and Year 12. We are continuing to work hard to communicate as effectively as we can if your child has special educational needs, and we are delighted to have held 39 Calendly meets since September (thank you for your highly positive feedback related to these); we have held, or booked in the remaining weeks for this term, 24 EHCP reviews; and, by the end of this term, we will have reviewed and sent out 215 SEND profiles, designed to ensure a consistency of support for every child, and a shared understanding between home and school. 

Put simply, when we ask for support, we are delighted by the ways you give back. We now have 15 volunteer parent readers in Reception. We have 86 parents signed up to support our PSA with the upcoming Frost Fair, with preparations busily taking place – we know that many, many more will sign up still, and be there to support and enjoy on the day. Last week, there was a different sporting event every single night, with ‘busy Wednesday’ showcasing Year 8, 9, 10 and 11 boys and girls football and netball, at home and away. Across the all-through we are so grateful for parents/carers giving up their time to watch and cheer us on, whatever the weather, and, despite the genuine challenges of our car park, it really won’t be long before we can launch the opening of our sports hall – we cannot wait! Last week, there was a musical concert every single night of the week too, and 25% of our young people – yes, that’s 400 children – took part, some on many evenings. We know that your involvement includes supporting (perhaps sometimes nagging!) practice, carrying heavy instruments up the hill to school, celebrating achievements, investing financially, and attending concerts providing that all-important audience. We couldn’t do it without you. 

As you all know, we have had to establish a school fund this year for the first time, asking for your support financially in really difficult times for education where there is a significant shortfall in all we want to continue to offer and the funding we receive. Once again in this newsletter, we want to thank you, not just for your financial contributions, but for the kind and understanding words shared, where so many of you have reached out to value what we do, and to thank us. 

Often it is the small things that make a difference to both your child/ren and us at Simon Balle. Reading with your child every day in the Larch, to providing a routine and structure to home learning as they grow. Listening to your wonderful young people share tales of excitement and, at times, supporting those difficult parts of the journey to navigate through. And, of course, all of the above continue! It is not too late! Please sign up to the Frost Fair; please continue to give to the school fund if you can; please connect with us across our all-through staff whether with class teachers / form tutors, the SEND team, the music or PE department, sixth form team and much more. 

We very much look forward to the remaining weeks of term, where we know our connection will continue at this special time of year, from the Reception Nativity to Year 12/Year 4 Secret Santa Dash, from collecting for food banks, to Carol services for all ages – thank you for helping us to create the very special ethos that exists here at Simon Balle, and thank you for engaging with us. In the meantime, please do enjoy a restful and happy long weekend.

It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas

There’s a lot planned for December. Please take a few minutes to look at the information below and remember to take a note of the key dates.

Christmas dinner

This is your last chance to buy tickets for this year’s Christmas Dinner. Tickets for Christmas Dinner will be available to purchase via ‘Parent Portal’ until Sunday 1st December. After this date it will not be possible to purchase a ticket.

This year the cost of tickets will be £4.50 for secondary students and £4.25 for primary students. Primary students who have school dinners on a Wednesday will not need to pay for Christmas Dinner as already included in invoice.

A letter outlining the details has been sent home today. You can read the full text of that letter here: 2024 Christmas Dinner letter

Save the Children – Christmas Jumper Day

We’ll be raising funds for Save the Children on their annual Christmas Jumper Day (Thursday Dec 12th). In exchange for a donation via the fundraising link here, students can wear a Christmas jumper instead of their normal school jumper.

PSA Frost Fair

Please come along to our very popular Frost fair on Saturday 7th December. As usual there will be festive games, entertainment and refreshments on offer.

Carol Service

The annual Simon Balle Carol Services are taking place during the last week of term: 

• Monday 16th December, 7pm – Secondary Carol Service
• Tuesday 17th December, 6pm – Larch Carol Service

The PSA will serve refreshments before each service. If you are able to volunteer with the serving of refreshments, please sign up here: https://volunteersignup.org/WT7KY 

We ask all our music families to donate a box of mince pies or a packet of shortbread, these should be brought to the music office any day this week.

3rd December – Larch Festive Accessory day.  Wear something seasonal with your uniform in exchange for a bottle, to support the Frost Fair Bottle Tombola.  Please ensure the bottle is unopened and in date!

Now until 6th December – Soft toy donations being accepted to support the Year 1 Teddy Tombola. Please drop off to Larch office. Can you volunteer to run this game?

Now until 6th December – Year 7 House Hamper donations being accepted by form tutors.  Bring in a house coloured item, to go into your form hamper. These will form part of the Winter Raffle. There is a prize for the form with the best hamper!

Now until 6th December – Winter Raffle. Don’t forget to enter our amazing draw! Buy online today.

Now until 6th December – Larch Best Bauble competition.  Free to enter, your beautifully designed bauble could win a £15 voucher for The Entertainer.  All named entries will receive a house point.  See flyer for more information.

6th December – All-through Festive Bake-off.  Will your bake win a £20 Amazon voucher? Please drop nut free named bakes to either school office by 6th December, for house points to be added. Bakes will be voted for and sold at the Frost Fair.

18th December – Jólabókaflóð (Book Flood) in the secondary library. See the poster below for more details.

Art and Design Christmas card House Competition.

Congratulations to the 6 winners on their fabulous designs. These  are in the process of being printed to be sent out on the front of the co- headteachers Christmas cards. Thank You to all the other contributions which will all be sent to our local care homes

Artificial intelligence

This month, staff and Year 12 students have been exploring the exciting and rapidly evolving world of artificial intelligence (AI) and its potential in education. In a recent training session, teachers engaged in professional development focused on the latest advances in AI technology and how it can be integrated to enhance teaching and learning. From using AI to personalise learning experiences to supporting students with targeted resources, staff explored ways to harness AI tools responsibly and effectively within the classroom.

Year 12 students also took part in a session on using AI ethically and responsibly to support their studies. The session provided valuable guidance on how to make the most of AI for revision and learning, such as summarising complex information or generating practice questions. Students were encouraged to see AI as a support tool rather than a substitute for their efforts, learning the importance of critically assessing AI-generated content and ensuring their work genuinely reflects their knowledge and understanding.

Both sessions underscore our commitment to preparing staff and students to navigate AI responsibly, ensuring it becomes a positive addition to our learning community.

Please click here for our latest Careers Opportunities blog

Online safety

Please take a look at this guide to Snapchat: what parents need to know about snapchat

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

Developing Special Provision Locally (DSPL) 3 have developed an updated website. This aims to provide parents and school with information on Special Educational Needs and Disabilities within the DSPL3 area (Bishop’s Stortford, Hertford, Ware, Buntingford) including details regarding courses that are running. 

There is also a new Facebook page which can be found by searching for ‘DSPL3’.

GCSE Drama Theatre Visit and Workshop

On the 7th November GCSE Drama students visited Beam Theatre to watch a production of Shock Horror by Thunder Road theatre company. Thunder Road’s Shock Horror brings audiences a fresh, edgy take on horror with a wild mix of psychological twists and supernatural scares. Packed with dark humour and nail-biting suspense, this show is aimed at young people to excite them about theatre and explore how we don’t always need to rely on blockbuster movie budgets to create immersive and gripping performances.

Following the performance actor and producer Alex Moran delivered a 2 hour workshop at Simon Balle, culminating in the students creating their own mini horror stories.  Alex previously starred in the acclaimed National Theatre production War Horse and he shared some of his puppetry experience with the students. A fantastic opportunity for our GCSE drama cohort. 

PE News 

November has been a busy month for our students, competing in the District, County and National competitions across a variety of sports. For all our sports updates, please see our November Sports Blog

Sporting achievement

Congratulations to Rex who last weeked signed for Brentford FC Academy. Here is his write-up of the evening:

On Thursday the 14th of November I had my picture day for Brentford FC Academy. It has been a long journey to get to where I am today but I have finally done it and have been able to sign for this fabulous club. On arrival we were welcomed and watched an inspirational presentation given by the academy director. I had my photo taken with the director and some Brentford players, before being taken on a stadium tour by cub legend Marcus Gayle.

Music News

Simon Balle Musicians have been working really hard this month. Six performances in 5 days for 25% of the school! For all of our Musical updates, including our new podcast, Sixth Form enrichment, Year 4 curriculum and much more, please read all about it here: Musical News 2 – November 2024

Simon Balle’s Adult Community Choir – ‘Take Note’ – have their Winter Celebration Concert on Saturday 7th December, 7.30pm at St Andrews’ Church.

PSHE/RSE

We are currently reviewing our updated PSHE and RSE Policy, and your input is invaluable to us. These policies aim to ensure we provide a comprehensive, inclusive, and age-appropriate education for all our students. Please click here to view the draft RSE/PSHE Policy.

We would love to hear your thoughts or any suggestions you might have. Please take a moment to share your comments by emailing prendergastc@simonball.herts.sch.uk by 13.12.24.

Thank you for helping us shape an education that reflects the needs of our school community!

Library News

Hertfordshire Libraries Winter Reading Challenge 

The Winter Reads runs until Friday 31st January and is open to Hertfordshire library members of all ages. 

There are two challenges – one for adults and one for children (but you are welcome to do whichever challenge you prefer! They come with 12 suggested reading prompts, ranging from discovering a new author, attending a library event, reading a book from a Winter Reads display…! For children, there are 3 pre-set challenges, and there are 2 for adults. However, you are welcome to swap them out to a different challenge if you prefer.

It doesn’t even need to be one book per challenge – if you read 1 book that covers 2 or more prompts… excellent! That counts too!

After every 2 or 3 prompts, pop into the library to get your challenge stamped.

If you complete all 6 challenges and have them stamped in your local library, you are eligible to enter the prize draw to win an iPad! All you have to do is fill in a Winter Reads Prize Draw Card to confirm your entry.

There are lots of adults Winter Reads events coming up, which can be found on the website: Winter Reads | Hertfordshire County Council. As for Winter Reads children’s events: Einstein The Penguin with Iona Rangeley on 25th January at Welwyn Garden City Library at 11am. Details here: Winter Reads for children: Einstein the Penguin with Iona Rangeley | Hertfordshire County Council

Parent Staff Association

Frost Fair 7th December – volunteers

Please support our Frost Fair on Saturday, 7th December by volunteering just an hour of time.  What we can offer depends on how many sign ups we receive.

Student sign ups will receive house points and entered into a draw to win a £20 Amazon voucher.

Each year group of the all-through will be responsible for running a specific area, coordinated by the PSA. However, you’re welcome to sign up to help in any area that suits you best.

• Reception – Hook-a-bauble
• Year 1 – Teddy Tombola
• Year 2 – Snowball Scavenge
• Year 3 – Splat-the-sprout
• Year 4 – Money Tree
• Year 5 – Nerf Splat & win a Stanley Cup/AirUp
• Year 6 – Human Bauble Machine
• Year 7 – Gingerbread/biscuit/cupcake decorating/creative room
• Year 8 – Festive bake off
• Year 9 – Boba bar
• Year 10/11/12/13 – Prize Table

To help with your volunteer planning, we can share that Mrs Cox’s dance group and the choirs will be performing as follows:

• 1pm Mrs Cox’s dance group.
• 1.30pm Secondary Choir.
• 2pm Larch Choir, years 4, 5 and 6.
• 2.30pm Larch Choir, years 2 and 2.
• 3pm Mrs Cox’s dance group.

Dates for your diary

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

• Fri 29th Nov and Mon 2nd Dec: Occasional days – school closed
• Tues 3rd Dec: Y11 mock exams start
• Tues 3rd Dec: Y3 trip to Hertford Museum
• Tues 3rd Dec: Y9 student consultation evening (face to face)
• Wed 4th-Fri 6th Dec: Y12 Geography field trip to Manchester
• Thurs 5th Dec: Y12 performance clinic
• Sat 7th Dec: PSA Frost Fair, 1-4pm
• Thurs 12th Dec: Christmas Jumper Day, Y4/Y12 Santa Dash
• Thurs 12th Dec: Y12 student consultation evening (virtual)
• Mon 16th Dec: Secondary Carol Service, All Saints Church, 7pm
• Tues 17th Dec: Secondary Christmas dinner
• Tues 17th Dec: Larch Carol Service, All Saints Church, 6pm
• Wed 18th Dec: Larch Christmas dinner
• Friday 20th Dec: Last day of term, early finish; early finish 12pm Secondary; 12.15pm Lar

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

Friday 15th November

Co-headteachers’ welcome

We started the new half term with another amazing week full of learning, engagement and exciting activities. It is a long term but I am always amazed by how well resilient, thoughtful and energised our students are. Here are a couple of highlights…

Each year, it is always a poignant and powerful moment when our entire all-through school community gathers on the playground to pay our collective respects. This week, we came together to mark Remembrance with a heartfelt and moving ceremony. The atmosphere was filled with solemnity as we listened to beautiful music, the chamber choir’s stirring performance, and students reading poetry and delivering speeches that truly resonated with us all. The occasion was made even more special with Poppy and Millie performing the Last Post, which led us into the two-minute silence, observed with deep respect by everyone present. It was a profound reminder of the importance of reflection, unity, and gratitude as we honoured those who have given so much.

This week, our Year 6 students had the incredible opportunity to perform their play in the brand-new Beam Theatre in Hertford. It was truly inspiring to see our students bring to life such an important text, like Macbeth, with such enthusiasm and understanding. This performance is part of our ongoing mission to foster a deep love of literacy and to introduce our students to the timeless works of Shakespeare. Building a strong foundation in these classics not only enriches their learning experience but also prepares them for future studies, as Macbeth is a key text at GCSE level. A huge well done to our talented Year 6 performers and all the staff who supported them! It’s moments like these that showcase the power of literature in our students’ educational journey. The importance of literacy was also evident as The Senior Leadership team recently read with our Larch students and showed the importance and joy at reading books and discussing story lines, characters and what may happen next. Such imagination and enjoyment for all to see!

We are also delighted to share the fantastic news about our students’ recent participation in the Quadcopter Challenge — a nationwide competition designed to inspire young minds to take up Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) subjects. This competition helps students develop skills that will be invaluable throughout their lives and in future careers. Our four Year 9 students showcased incredible creativity, dedication, and teamwork by pitching their ideas, preparing models, and finally test-flying their quadcopters over the past few months. This was our first year entering the competition, and we are thrilled to announce that Simon Balle placed 3rd overall! This amazing achievement is a testament to the hard work and enthusiasm of our students, and we would like to extend a huge thank you to Mr. Hopwood and Mr Hughes  for their dedication to promoting STEM within our school. Congratulations to everyone involved!

Staying with Stem we are absolutely thrilled to share some outstanding news regarding our recent A-Level Chemistry practical moderation. An AQA exam moderator recently visited to observe a lesson, speak with students, and review folders. Their feedback was nothing short of phenomenal! Out of the 450 schools assessed by this moderator, Simon Balle was recognized as being within the top 5 — and, in their view, quite probably number one. This exceptional feedback highlights the tireless dedication of our staff, the robust systems we have in place, and the high-quality teaching that takes place every day. I would like to extend a public thank you to our incredible science department for their commitment and passion. This is truly a proud moment for our school community!

There is still so much to look forward to in the run up to Christmas and we cannot thank you enough for your tireless support, engagement and positivity for our fantastic all-through school.

Year 6 Macbeth performance at the BEAM

The Beam Theatre was an amazing experience for our year 6 production. We were all so bewildered by the scene we saw before us; it was very astonishing and many of us didn’t get over it. We were very impressed with all the lighting, sound effects and the stage itself. We all really enjoyed rehearsing on the stage where some great actors performed before us. It was very fun acting with all the lights, staging and sound, it felt like we were professionals. The wings were very dark with cool lighting. When it came to the big moment, we were all quite nervous. When Owl’s half came to a successful conclusion, we all watched the audience file out of the auditorium for the interval, it was our turn. We all stepped onto the stage feeling quite nervous. But in the end it was all quite fun being on the stage with our friends with our parents there in the audience. After the show we all felt very proud and our parents were too. We hope the year 5’s enjoyed it and we look forward to performing it again someday.

Written by Amelie and Florrie in Eagles Class

Year 9 Volcano Day

On Thursday 24th October, Year 9 Geography students participated in Volcano Day, showcasing their creativity and knowledge of Topic 9.1 Tectonic Hazards. Each student created a unique volcano to enter into a competition, and all the entries were displayed in the hall throughout the day as a celebration of their hard work. The volcanoes came in a variety of materials, from cakes and Lego to tissue paper and intricate artwork. Some even featured eruptions, while others included impressive wooden carvings and crocheted designs. The time, effort, and creativity put into the projects was truly remarkable, and the Geography Department were delighted with the fantastic results.

The event also saw Year 9 students leading guided tours of the volcano models for students from the Larch. Pairing up, Year 9 students enthusiastically shared their favourite volcanoes and explained the geography behind how volcanoes form and erupt. The maturity and enthusiasm shown by the Year 9 students was commendable, and the Larch students actively engaged, asking insightful questions throughout the day.

House Leader food bank collection

From the week commencing the 25th November, the House Leaders will be leading the KS2, 3, 4 and 5 assemblies and advertising the collection for Herts and district food bank. We would be so grateful if our Simon Balle families could donate to this collection if they are able to. We will be collecting:

• Tinned meat, fish, fruit, baked beans
• Tea, coffee, UHT milk, long life juice
• Packets of soup, rice and pasta
• Baby products such as wipes and nappies
• Toiletries
• Feminine hygiene products
• Biscuits 
• Christmas selection boxes

In the secondary phase, please leave your items in a safe place in your form room.

In the primary phase, please drop your donations off at reception.

The deadline for all items is Tuesday 10th December.

Many thanks in advance!

Ms Cannon and the House Leaders

Click here for our latest Careers Opportunity blog which includes:

• Apprenticeship vacancies
• Law opportunities

Anti-Bullying Ambassadors

This week 11 of our secondary students received training as part of the Princess Diana Award to become our Anti Bullying ambassadors. They engaged in a variety of workshops and started to plan their project to bring back to school. We look forward to hearing more about the training and thank all the students for being great role models and representatives of the school.

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

Teacher training

Come and train to teach at Simon Balle All-through School – applications are now open!

We are proud to be a placement school for Initial Teacher Training at Alban TSH who offer flexible, highly-personalised, school-based routes into teacher training. This includes: tuition fee paying, salaried positions, assessment only and Postgraduate Teacher Apprenticeship for a wide range of secondary courses as well as primary (5-11 and 3-7). There is also the opportunity to gain PGCE status in addition to QTS. Alban TSH is an experienced provider of teacher training and has established partnerships with many outstanding schools in the region. Get in touch with our team teaching@albantsh.co.uk to find out more or our Assistant Head, Mr I Finch.

Reporting absence via the Arbor app

You can use the Arbor parent portal app to report absence. Go to the homepage of the Arbor app, click on the orange Quick Actions tab, click attendance, and on the right-hand side you will see a green box where you can click ‘Log Absence‘. 

Don’t forget that the app is also where student reports will be published: Y8 and Y13 parents and carers should check the app at the end of the day today.

Instructions for how to get the app and use it can be found here on Arbor’s support page.

Musical News

November has started with lots of piano success across the All-through, some brilliant music medal results and details of our upcoming concerts – read all about it here: https://www.simonballe.herts.sch.uk/musical-news-november-2024/

Library News

Behaviour and safety

Please take a moment to read the two attached guides to Online Bullying and Respect.

choose-respect

combat-online-bullying

Sports Hall Update

Work continues at pace and the roof and side walls are starting to appear. We have had several large deliveries that have resulted in minor disruption to the entrance gate, but thanks to your continued support in avoiding picking up and dropping off at the school site things have run smoothly.

In the case of on site evening events such as the upcoming Y9 student consultation evening, we would ask you to avoid driving to the site, as you would during the day. There will be limited parking and the construction work means that the car park is much darker than it would normally be.

If you do need to drive, we would ask you to make use of one of the town centre car parks. The Old London Road car park next to the fire station is an 11 minute walk. Please respect our neighbours and the parking restrictions that exist in the roads surrounding the school.

Parent Staff Association

Doughies – 22nd November

This is a reminder to order your artisan pizza or cookie kits before Monday, for delivery on Friday 22nd November. Larch orders will be sent home with the children.  Secondary orders can be collected from the Larch office.

Pizza kits cost £7 and £2 of every sale will be donated to the PSA.

https://doughies.co.uk/products/simon-balle

See flyer for more information

Winter Raffle

Tickets for our fabulous Winter Raffle are now available to purchase from the PSA website where you can also view a list of prizes. Be one step ahead and pay for yours online today.

Next week, families in Reception to Year 9 will receive a set of 20 tickets.  Families in Year 10 and above can collect tickets from the Larch office.

Payment can be made any time online which is our preferred method.  Alternatively, you can pay by cash or cheque via the pre-printed ticket envelope. All counterfoils need to be completed and returned by 6th December.

If you are able to donate a prize for the Winter Raffle, please let us know by emailing psa@simonballepsa.org.uk

Frost Fair 7th December – volunteers

We are excited to invite you to volunteer at our annual Frost Fair on Saturday, 7th December! Each year group of the all-through will be responsible for running a specific area, coordinated by the PSA. However, you’re welcome to sign up to help in any area that suits you best. 

• Reception – Hook-a-bauble
• Year 1 – Teddy Tombola
• Year 2 – Snowball Scavenge
• Year 3 – Splat-the-sprout
• Year 4 – Money Tree
• Year 5 – Nerf Splat & win a Stanley Cup/AirUp
• Year 6 – Human Bauble Machine
• Year 7 – Gingerbread decorating/creative room
• Year 8 – Festive bake off (serving)
• Year 9 – Boba bar (serving)
• Year 10/11/12/13 – Prize Table

Volunteering is a great opportunity for families to join in together, or for adults or children (upper KS2 and secondary) to help on their own.  House points will be awarded for student signups. 

To help with your volunteer planning, we can share that Mrs Cox’s dance group and the choirs will be performing as follows:

• 1pm Mrs Cox’s dance group.
• 1.30pm Secondary Choir.
• 2pm Larch Choir, years 4, 5 and 6.
• 2.30pm Larch Choir, years 2 and 2.
• 3pm Mrs Cox’s dance group.

Parenting support sessions

Please find attached details of free parenting support sessions for parents and carers living in Hertfordshire.

Supporting Links Course Brochure Spring 25

Supporting Links ASD & ADHD Workshops Spring2025

Looking ahead to Christmas

Christmas dinner

This year’s Christmas Dinner will be on Tuesday 17th December for secondary students, and Wednesday 18th December for primary students. Tickets for Christmas Dinner will be available to purchase via ‘Parent Portal’ between 15th November and 1st December. After this date it will not be possible to purchase a ticket.

This year the cost of tickets will be £4.50 for secondary students and £4.25 for primary students. Primary students who have school dinners on a Wednesday will not need to pay for Christmas Dinner as already included in invoice.

A letter outlining the details has been sent home today. You can read the full text of that letter here: 2024 Christmas Dinner letter

Save the date – Carol Service

The annual Simon Balle Carol Services are taking place during the last week of term: 

• Monday 16th December, 7pm – Secondary Carol Service
• Tuesday 17th December, 6pm – Larch Carol Service

The PSA will serve refreshments before each service. If you are able to volunteer with the serving of refreshments, please sign up here: https://volunteersignup.org/WT7KY 

We ask all our music families to donate a box of mince pies or a packet of shortbread, these should be brought to the music office any day this week.

Save the Children – Christmas Jumper Day

We’ll be raising funds for Save the Children on their annual Christmas Jumper Day (Thursday Dec 12th). In exchange for a donation via the fundraising link here, students can wear a Christmas jumper instead of their normal school jumper.

PSA Frost Fair

Please come along to our very popular Frost fair on Saturday 7th December. As usual there will be festive games, entertainment and refreshments on offer.

Art & Design Christmas Card House Competition

Students from the Larch and secondary school are invited to design a festive or winter themed card to be featured on the front of the co-headteachers official Christmas card. All details are on the attached poster (click to enlarge).

Dates for your diary

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

• w/b 18th Nov: Y7 assessment week, Larch end of term assessments
• Wed 20th Nov: Larch celebration of music
• Fri 22nd and Mon 25th Nov: secondary flu immunisations
• Wed 27th Nov: Y11 PRE trip
• Thurs 28th Nov: A level Business revision trip
• Fri 29th Nov and Mon 2nd Dec: Occasional days – school closed
• Sat 7th Dec: PSA Frost Fair, 1-4pm
• Thurs 12th Dec: Christmas Jumper Day
• Mon 16th Dec: Secondary Carol Service, All Saints Church, 7pm
• Tues 17th Dec: Secondary Christmas dinner
• Tues 17th Dec: Larch Carol Service, All Saints Church, 6pm
• Wed 18th Dec: Larch Christmas dinner
• Friday 20th Dec: Last day of term, early finish 12pm Secondary; 12.15pm Larch

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

Friday 25th October

Co-headteachers’ welcome

Dear all,

At this incredibly busy but wonderfully positive half term draws to a close, Mr Moss and I would like to thank you all – students, parents/carers, staff, governors and trustees – for all that you have contributed to Simon Balle during Autumn 1. We wish you a restful and happy half term, and we look forward with eagerness to the second half of the Autumn term where we know that academic and enrichment opportunities await every student ages 4 – 18!

The main introduction to this fortnight’s newsletter (below) comes from three valued members of our community who are now embarking upon important leadership roles within our local governing body and wider Trust. The purpose of this short piece is to introduce themselves to you all. On behalf of all of the senior leadership team, we would like to emphasise what a crucial role all governors and trustees play in our school – their expertise across so many areas, their transferable and considerable knowledge and skills, and their tireless energy and enthusiasm as volunteers. We are hugely appreciative and privileged to work with them all, together always placing our young people at the centre of what we do, to ‘create tomorrow’s citizens today.’

Welcome from the governing body

Greetings to all, whether you are a parent/carer, staff member, or member of the wider community,

We have just completed a planned change to be the Laurel Education Trust and the Simon Balle Governing Body. As the incoming Chairs and Vice Chair of the boards we wanted to give you some information about what it is we do.

Jo Brown is Chair and Will Davies is Vice Chair of the Laurel Education Trust. The purpose of this body is to hold schools within the Trust to high academic and pastoral standards and provide infrastructure and administrative services to allow the schools working within the Trust to do what they do best: catering for the academic and pastoral needs for the children and students who attend each setting.

Adam Cooper is the Chair and Will Davies is the Vice Chair of the Simon Balle Governing Body. The day to day governance and oversight of  school business sits here. They focus on how the school engages with its children and young people as they grow through the school, overseeing safeguarding, academic results, student and parent voice and school improvement initiatives amongst other things.

This is obviously a change to the way the way governance has historically operated. We are looking forward to Mill Mead joining the Trust and these changes will also allow for future expansion. We are in no rush to do this and wish to ensure everything is running as it should before this is considered.

We all have children in various phases at the school (see the governors/trustees bios here) and truly believe that this is a school that should work for the whole community. If you see us (at sports events, parents information events, music events etc) please do talk to us, in fact any governor or trustee, we will be happy to talk to you, get your views and answer questions you might have.

Jo, Adam and Will

Year 9 Battlefields visit

Year 9 students visited the battlefields of the Western Front of the First World War, exploring a variety of sites linked to the conflict in and around Ypres, Belgium. One highlight was our students laying a wreath on behalf of the school community at the Last Post ceremony at the Menin Gate; seeing the thousands of names of men whose graves are unknown, including relatives of some of the students, was a poignant moment and helped them to reflect on the brutality of war in the past and around the world currently. Members of the public commented to staff how respectfully our students observed the minute’s silence and how well they conducted themselves in general. Overall, the trips were a huge success, offering an invaluable opportunity for cultural enrichment and complementing the students’ learning of history and war poetry. Planning has already begun for next year.

Poppy Appeal

After half term we will have our poppies throughout the school for staff and students to purchase. Donations can be cash or via a QR code. We will be holding our annual remembrance day service on Monday 11th November. Break time will be slightly later than normal for our secondary students, so please make sure they have eaten breakfast in the morning, and that they have a coat in case of bad weather.

Generation Hertford Careers Fair

On Monday 21st October we had the pleasure of taking all our Year 10 and some Year 13 students to the careers fair at Beam, organised by the Careers Enterprise Company, to help students explore potential career paths and gather information about various industries. The event featured a wide range of exhibitors, including local businesses, colleges, and vocational training organisations.

This was an opportunity for our students to talk to employers and it was great to see so many of our students actively participating by asking questions and engaging with exhibitors. Many representatives reported positive interactions with our students and appreciated their enthusiasm.

Most students found the fair informative and hopefully provided them with insights into various options and the skills needed in their plans for the future.

Please click here for our latest Careers Opportunity blog

Year 8 New Scientist Live Trip

The Science Department took Year 8 students to the New Scientist Live exhibition at the ExCeL Centre in London on Monday 14th October 2024. The trip featured handpicked speakers who showcased everything that science offers, from mind-bending maths puzzles to the wonders of nature. Students met dozens of exhibitors and saw the huge range of careers STEM can offer. There was a programme of talks by leading scientists on recent advancements in STEM and the students had access to a range of interactive exhibits on the show floor, providing a hands-on experience with technology of the future.

Year 6 Globe Theatre Trip

The trip of a lifetime

The Globe was built by the company William Shakespeare was in (the Lord Chamberlain’s Men) over 500 years ago. Then it caught fire due to a misfire of a cannon (which was meant to be for a battle scene). When Shakespeare died, the globe was pulled down and rebuilt over 400 years after it was originally built! The Globe was home of drama and it still is today!

Activities

We arrived at The Globe after a train journey from Hertford East station to Liverpool Street Station and then walking across Southwark Bridge. When we got there, we had a tour which was extremely interesting. We found out that some people didn’t even get to sit down – it only cost one penny to stand and these people were referred to as ‘groundlings’. You could pay one penny for an additional cushion if you had a seat or you could use the money to buy a snack such as a pie. Then, we were split into three groups and did a drama activity linked to Macbeth. It was very fun and we learnt a lot about characterisation, my favourite activity was the ‘Yes, No, Maybe’ game where we took it in turns to say each word but we had to use a completely new gesture every time – which was over the top for an audience to understand (Dorothea). My favourite activity was ranking the characters within a scene 1 to 5 – when King Duncan was found dead – to show the level of importance for each character (Harry F).  

Written by Harry and Dorothea in Year 6 Owls.

Year 11 revision workshop

The whole of year 11 have been participating in a “How to  revise”  workshop in the hall. Lots of useful tips and hands-on activities, so that the half term can be put to good use, creating resources and timetables to help with revision in the run up to the Mock exams in December: They should be doing revision every day, little and often and repeating, little and often and repeating.

SEND

Understanding Neurodiversity Session

We were delighted to welcome Alison Lindsell, of Amwell View, to the Simon Balle Larch.

Alison ran an informative, interactive session for our Year 5 & Year 6 students exploring neurodiversity, in particular Autism and ADHD. The students were fascinated to discover how many famous people have neurodiverse disagnoses; and were enthusiastic to answer questions and share their understanding.

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 this Booking link.

Parent meetings

This half term the SEND team have met with parents of Year 7 and Year 10 SEND students to reflect on the start of term. These conversations have been really useful to speak about adjustments in place for students and celebrate their successes.  

Courses for parents

Several informative courses for parents and carers can be found at SEND Station. Some of these courses are free and others have a small cost to attend.

PE and Sport Update

In the last week of this half-term, our students have been actively participating in our Inter-house Sports competitions. All students have shown fantastic engagement and displays of sportsmanship all around. The boys have taken on touch rugby, while the girls have been involved in hockey, applying the skills they’ve been honing during their lessons. 

The enthusiasm and effort shown by all students have been truly inspiring, as they put their teamwork, strategy, and skills to the test. Each house has given their best, and it’s been wonderful to see such strong camaraderie and sportsmanship both on and off the field. Results from the competitions will be emailed to students after the half-term break. 

Well done to everyone involved, and we look forward to seeing more of this energy in the upcoming lessons and events.

It has been a busy half term with extracurricular fixtures starting across all sports in friendly, district, county and national competitions. 

For more information on our fixtures as well as recent Inter House sports results, please go to the following link; https://www.simonballe.herts.sch.uk/wp-admin/post.php?post=46389&action=edit

You can view all upcoming events/fixtures on the Simon Balle Sport page here: https://www.simonballe.herts.sch.uk/sport/

Music news

It’s been a busy couple of weeks in music, from a RNCM workshop for our A Level students, to piano recitals and a Larch Brass Performance!

Read all about our musical news here: https://www.simonballe.herts.sch.uk/musical-news-october-2024/

Library News

The Great European Larch Bake Off

Well done to everyone who baked cakes for the Larch MFL bake off on Thursday 3rd October. We were very impressed with all of the entries! There were 38 entries altogether.

Congratulations to the winners:

• Juliette, Wrens
• Ella, Doves
• Iris, Kingfishers

Here are the other entries:

Speakers’ Corner

Well done to Rowan, Natish, Alex, Samuel, Isla, Isaac and Milly for your Speakers’ Corners this half term. We have had a large variety of topics from puppets and pantomime to countries and different cultures around the world. Lots more Speakers’ Corners to come after the half term holiday!

To sign up to do a Speakers’ Corner you just need to speak to Miss Iles and Mr Belsey and we will arrange a date with you.

You can do your Speakers’ Corner individually, in pairs, or in small groups.

Here are a few suggestions for what you could talk about for your Speakers’ Corner:

• A recent sporting/musical achievement.
• An art project you are working on.
• A science experiment or other school competition or project you have taken part in.
• An exciting holiday you have been on abroad.
• An interesting trip you went on in the UK or an exciting event you attended. 
• A topic you are interested in that you have researched. 
• A hobby you enjoy doing.
• Books you enjoy reading.
• A culture/language/faith/traditions that are important to you.

Dropping off and picking up

Thank you for your continued support with regard to the use of the car park. Can we once again urge you to pay careful attention to signage and parking restrictions both on our site and in the surrounding streets. The ‘White Lodge’ turning is a no entry road and must not be accessed from Mangrove Road. Several of the roads in the immediate vicinity of the school have their own parking restrictions in the form of yellow lines, no waiting areas and resident-only zones. In addition to this we would ask you to respect other peoples’ driveways, the footpaths and the verges. As previously communicated, the best place to drop and collect students from is the Old London Road car park next to the fire station. The 11 minute walk should be manageable for the majority of our students, and the collecting from there means that you can avoid the traffic on Mangrove Road.

Online Safety

Please take a moment to read the two attached guides to Age-Inappropriate Content and Cyber Resilience.

age-inappropriate-content

12-top-tips-for-building-cyber-resilience-at-home

Arbor App for Parents

While we are in the process of moving certain systems and functions to Arbor, it is a good time to remind parents about the Arbor Parent App. Our records show that 95% of parents have already engaged with the app at least once this year. There is a degree of experimentation going behind the scenes whilst we tweak how various pieces of information are displayed, so please be patient with it. The Y9 and Y11 reports are due to be sent out via the app later today, which will be the first major test for it.

Instructions for how to get the app and use it can be found here on Arbor’s support page.

Uniform reminder

As we head further into autumn and winter can we remind you to make sure that students come to school wearing appropriate clothing. A coat is an essential item once the colder, wetter weather sets in. Please remember to clearly label items so that they can be reunited with their owners when they are inevitably misplaced around the site. It might also be worth taking the time to check that students are still in possession of all the equipment they started the year with, and that shoes and uniform are in good condition.

Hertfordshire Fire and Rescue Service newsletter

Please take the time to read through the autumn edition of the quarterly schools newsletter from Hertfordshire Fire and Rescue Service. There is advice on keeping your home warm and safe, fireworks, fire safety and vaping.

EAST HERTS & BROXBOURNE Autumn 2024 Accessible – V2

PSA

PSA AGM – Wednesday 6th November

Please do join us for our Annual General meeting on Wednesday 6th November, at 7pm.

Head towards Larch and make your way to the Sycamore Room which is located behind the PE changing block.

It would help us if you could register your interest here, so that we have an idea on numbers attending and who is on site.

Frost Fair 7th December – volunteers and raffle

Families, students and staff – please support your year group where you can, to ensure this event is a success! Volunteers can sign up to a time slot here: volunteersignup.org/L3Y3Y

If you are able to donate a prize our eagerly anticipated Winter Raffle, please let us know by emailing psa@simonballepsa.org.uk

Joules Outlet Sale – 8th ~ November

We’re reaching out today to ask for your help with promoting our upcoming Joules Outlet sale on Friday 8th November.  This event is open to the wider community so please do share with friends, family and colleagues! The Joules Outlet team have advised us that the sale is subject to a minimum number of tickets being sold so please do help us by sharing our booking link.  At the moment, we have not sold enough tickets and are at risk of having to cancel the event:

https://www.pta-events.co.uk/simonballepsa/?event=event&eventId=75551

Doughies – 22nd November

Sadly, Doughies will close their business at the end of the year.  The good news is, we have a final delivery date booked!  To place your final order for a cookie or artisan pizza kit, please click here before

Pizza kits cost £7 and £2 of every sale will be donated to the PSA.

https://doughies.co.uk/products/simon-balle

Community events

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.

Drama Day at BEAM theatre

Dates for your diary

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

• Mon 4th Nov: Y12 Assessment week starts
• Mon 4th – Thurs 7th Nov: Y13 Geography field trip to Dorset
• w/b 4th Nov: Y12 assessment week
• Tues 5th Nov: Y6 Macbeth at Beam
• Wed 6th Nov: Y11 expectations evening
• Thurs 7th Nov: GCSE drama visit
• Thurs 7th Nov: Y4 Phasels wood information evening
• Fri 8th Nov: Joules seconds sale
• w/b 11th Nov: Y9 assessment week
• w/b 18th Nov: Y7 assessment week
• Fri 29th Nov and Mon 2nd Dec: Occasional days – school closed

Wishing you all the best for the half term holiday,

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