December Newsletter 

Boys Football 

The year 8 football team fought well in the 5th Round of the national cup against Fulham boy’s school holding them to 1-0 at half time after scoring a free kick from the edge of the box. The second half was tough allowing their Arsenal academy midfielder too much time on the ball allowing him to dribble into space and spread the ball to their wingers.

The team held their heads high with Alfie W being man of the match after some incredible saves. Score finished 5-1 to Fulham boys. We look forward to the start of our district cup campaign after christmas.

The Year 9 boys recently played in the local Broxbourne tournament. This was a great opportunity to give squad members a game who don’t usually play for the first team. The boys performed very well, beating Broxbourne School in the first game 2-1 and just losing out to a strong Goffs team 2-0 in the second game. Thomas H was player of the tournament performing very well in midfield. The boys now look forward to January and both the District Cup and Saturday football. 

Girls Football 

I am incredibly proud of the dedication and hard work shown by all of our girls’ football teams this year. Every single player has demonstrated exceptional commitment to training and matches. Their enthusiasm and teamwork have truly been inspiring, and it’s clear that each team has grown not only in skill but also in spirit. Whether on the field or during practice, the players have shown a true passion for the game and a strong desire to improve.

Looking ahead to the new year, we are excited about the upcoming fixtures and the opportunity for the year 7s to get the chance to showcase their commitment and passion for football in the fixtures in the new. We’re confident that the girls will continue to impress, and we can’t wait to see all their hard work pay off on the pitch. Here’s to another great year of football!

Rugby 

The Year 7 Rugby team played against a strong well structured Haileybury school team. After conceding the first try within a few minutes we put in some strong tackles and linked up some fantastic passing creating gaps in the Haileybury defence leading to some excellent break away tries. The final score finished with SBS losing 4-7 tries.

Our Year 8 team came back to face a much strengthened Haileybury side compared to last year. However, the year 8’s commitment to training has shown off with some incredible linking up and excellent work within the defensive line. The result came Simon Balles way again with more tries than could be counted. We look forward to our other games after the christmas break.

Netball 

During this term the girls have been showing off their skills during training. With not many matches this term, training has been filled with fun drills and games to keep the girls fitness levels high and enthusiasm for playing netball strong. Each week they are showcasing their teamwork and commitment to playing netball for our school by coming to training consistently. After Christmas there are lots of potential matches for everyone to participate in and as a department, we can’t wait to see what Year 7 netball has in store for the students. 

This term, our Year 8 and Year 10 netball teams have been showcasing their skills and teamwork in the Herts County School Netball Cup. After an intense first half of the competition, the Year 8 team proudly secured 2nd place in their pool, while the Year 10 team achieved an impressive 3rd place. Both teams have made significant progress, demonstrating excellent development and cohesion on the court. As we move into the new year, we eagerly await the announcement of our opponents for the second round. Well done to all players for their hard work and dedication so far—keep it up!

In the new year, each year group will have the exciting opportunity to participate in the district netball tournament. At Simon Balle, we take great pride in always entering a minimum of two teams for these events, reflecting the enthusiasm and commitment of our players. These tournaments provide an excellent platform for the teams to put into practice everything they have worked on throughout the term, showcasing their development and teamwork in a competitive environment. We can’t wait to see how they perform!

Basketball

Year 8 have started training well over this half term and we look forward to the start of our games in January.

Attendance at after-school Basketball training for Year 9 has been excellent and students are preparing for their first match of the season away to Chauncy on Tuesday 17th December. 

Y10 played Chauncy and Freeman College in the district league. In year 10 the competition was very strong and despite very spirited performances on both occasions the team lost both games. Training will continue up until xmas

The senior basketball team has been in action this month, with new players coming into the team, it has been fantastic to see how positively they are growing as a team and working hard for each other. 

The senior team has enjoyed a really positive start by beating a very strong Freman College by 33-31. The boys were then narrowly beaten 34-31 in the District competition at the semi-final stage by an impressive Chauncy school team featuring many high level players. The team showed amazing levels of determination and the game swung back and forth several times before the end. A special mention must go to Lucas N who led by example for the team, scoring, assisting and working hard on defence. I have been very impressed by the team’s attitude and I look forward to more games in the future.

Year 11 fixtures should start in the District competition after Christmas and we have high hopes for them progressing into the latter stages.

Interhouse 

The inter house sports competition this term was an exciting showcase of talent and teamwork. The teamspirit and sportsmanship displayed by each form, across each year group, was commendable and showed a great sense of community across the school. 

Girls Football Tournament

Boys Football Tournament

The overall scores of inter house across all years are: 

In 1st place is … Lea 

In 2nd place is … Beane 

In 3rd place .. New 

In 4th place … Rib 

In 5th place … Ashbourne 

In 6th place … Mimram 

Congratulations to Lea who are the overall winner! 

Sporting Success

A huge congratulations to Nathalie W,  year 7, for her incredible achievement in the Badminton England Under 13 Girls Doubles event. Competing against top talent from across the country, she secured a silver medal—a testament to her hard work, skill, and dedication to the sport.

Nathalie commented the following about the event: ‘There were many amazing doubles pairings and it was amazing to watch some of the girls play while I watched from the sidelines of some of the matches. Many children came so there were lots of great matches to watch while I waited to play again. And it was inspiring to see how amazingly some girls played. The atmosphere of the tournament was tense yet also full of excitement.’

We are immensely proud of Nathalie’s success and can’t wait to see her continue to thrive in her badminton journey.

Upcoming Sports Events

• District Indoor Athletics Championships – Monday 20th January 2025
• Sportshall Athletics – Takes place in Jan & Feb 2025
• Herts Schools Cross Country Championships 
  • Primary – Saturday 1st February 2025, St. Margaret’s School, Bushey
  • Secondary – Saturday 1st February 2025 (Westminster Lodge) 

Hockey News

Congratulations to Thomas N (8B) who finished with a silver medal at the National Indoor Hockey Schools Championships last week. They were narrowly beaten in the final by Whitgift Independent school for boys.

Football

The senior football team picked up their first win of the season in the county plate with a 3-2 win against Longdean. Goals scored by Gerogio, Olly S and James W. Great resilience shown by the team coming from 1 down. The next round in this competition is the 16th December at home against Kings Langley School.

The year 8 football team have continued to build on their success in the national cup beating Verulam 5-0 in the 4th round with goals from Tom S, Isshi D, James M and Mason K. With the full squad demonstrating excellent linking up play and fantastic defensive work keeping a clean sheet. The year 8’s were also entered into a friendly 9-a-side tournament where we ended up winning 3 games and drawing another 2, an excellent effort all round. 

Year 9 Boys play Ashlyns on Thursday of this week in the last 16 of the County cup. Good luck to them all. On Tuesday next week, we are sending a team to the Broxbourne football tournament, good luck to all attending. 

Year 7 has seen a huge level of interest in football this term. We have regularly had in excess of 45 boys at the club on Fridays and we have extended opportunities to represent the school to almost everyone who has trained thus far. In competitions, we were narrowly beaten by an excellent Haberdasher’s in the ESFA National cup second round 3-2 but progressed through in the County cup by beating Nicholas Breakspear 5-2 and then overcoming Sir John Henry Newman school 3-2. We have the next round match against Aldenham School in early December. 

Finally, two of our Year 7 football squads competed in a tournament and match held at Broxbourne school this week. The tournament squad achieved 2 – 0 wins against Robert Barclay and Broxbourne C respectively, drew 0 – 0 with John Warner and lost 1 – 0 in a very close match against Broxbourne B. The match team won a great game 1 – 0 against Broxbourne. Super performances from the boys who were all representing the school for the first time. It was fantastic to see all 23 of our students enjoying positive football experiences and representing the school so impressively.

Rugby Union

The Year 7’s have been training hard and faced their first game against Chauncy. The team showed fantastic resilience battling hard in every tackle. The team were able to create some fantastic opportunities on both wings and through building up their rucking play. Only losing the game by 1 try in the final minutes of the game. 

The Year 9 Boys Rugby team played Freeman College this week, performing really well against a strong Freeman College team. The First half started slow for Simon Balle, going 21-0 down, however Simon Balle came out strong in the second half and matched Freeman in this half 14-14, with tries from Jack T and Maxwell R. Jack T captained the side very well, scoring 2 conversions also. The boys now look forward to playing Mount Grace on Thursday 12th December. 

Basketball

The senior basketball team has been in action this month, with new players coming into the team, it has been fantastic to see how positively they are growing as a team and working hard for each other. The senior team has enjoyed a really positive start by beating a very strong Freman College by 33-31. The boys were then narrowly beaten 34-31 in the District competition at the semi-final stage by an impressive Chauncy school team featuring many high level players. The team showed amazing levels of determination and the game swung back and forth several times before the end. A special mention must go to Lucas N who led by example for the team, scoring, assisting and working hard on defence. I have been very impressed by the team’s attitude and I look forward to more games in the future.

Year 11 fixtures should start in the District competition after Christmas and we have high hopes for them progressing into the latter stages.

We will begin to develop our Year 7 team after Christmas and look forward to their involvement in the District competition to come.

Our Primary students recently competed in a District competition this month, performing very well, winning 4 out of their 6 games. Well done to all who participated.

Netball

We had over 40 students turn up to the first Year 7 netball training of the year which was an amazing turnout. Their enthusiasm, team work, motivation and netball skills are just a few of the things that have really stood out to the PE department. The girls first tournament at Heath Mount School was tough as they played against Year 8’s. However, they all went on to the court with a positive mindset and were able to keep hold of that positivity even when the games were challenging. Their next match against Broxbourne was gripping as the score was extremely close. Unfortunately, the girls didn’t come away with a win this time but there are plenty more chances for them to become winners. We can’t wait to see the Year 7’s representing the school in many more competitions and opportunities that are coming! 

Our Year 8 and Year 10 netball teams have made an impressive start in the first round of the County Cup, showcasing remarkable growth and teamwork throughout their matches against St Margaret’s, Broxbourne, and HABs.

The Year 8 team have demonstrated excellent progress in both attack and defense, building strong connections across the court. Their hard work has paid off with one match drawn and another secured as a victory. With only Herts and Essex School left to play, the team is in a strong position to continue their success.

Meanwhile, the Year 10 competition has been fiercely competitive, pushing our players to perform at their best. They’ve displayed resilience and skill, with upcoming matches against Broxbourne and Herts and Essex sure to provide exciting challenges.

Well done to both teams for their dedication and determination – we can’t wait to see how the rest of the competition unfolds!

Our Year 9 netball team showed excellent resilience and teamwork in the friendly fixtures against Chauncy and Broxbourne. These matches have been a brilliant opportunity for players to showcase their skills, develop teamwork, and enjoy competitive play. A key highlight this term has been the inclusivity of our Year 9 netball program. Every student who has attended netball club has had the chance to represent Simon Balle School in these fixtures, reflecting the team’s enthusiasm and commitment.

Upcoming Sports Events

• Inter-House Sports 2 – December 
• District Indoor Athletics Championships – Monday 20th January 2025
• Sportshall Athletics – Takes place in Jan & Feb 2025
• Herts Schools Cross Country Championships 
  • Primary – Saturday 1st February 2025, St. Margaret’s School, Bushey
  • Secondary – Saturday 1st February 2025 (Westminster Lodge)

It’s been another busy month of sport at Simon Balle, with teams still involved in District, County and National competition across many sports. We have also this month had our Inter-house sports competition where girls have completed Hockey and boys on touch rugby. We also have the District swim gala on Friday with more information to follow in our next blog.

Football Update

Netball

District Cross Country League

The final league meeting took place at St Edmunds College on an excellent cross country course in touch conditions. Going into the race, our Year 7 boys had an outside chance of winning a team medal. In the girls Junior age-group Cora N & Evie T were 1st and 2nd respectively in the league after 2 rounds.

In the Junior Girls both girls went to the front and were one and two for the whole race, finishing for the third race in the row in 1st and 2nd. Therefore Cora N became the District Cross Country league champion for the second year in a row, with Evie T finishing as league runner up. Well done to both girls. In the Year 7 girls race, Grace P ran another strong race to finish second and in second place overall in the league, a mark of phenomenal consistency from Grace. The Minor boys led home by James P (Y7) finished 3rd on the night and 3rd overall in the league.

Well done to all who competed over the league series and now athletes look forward to the Herts Cross Country Champs in February.

Primary Cross Country success

On Wednesday this week, our Larch students competed in the District Primary Cross Country Championships at Haileybury College in glorious conditions. After winning last year, the pressure was on again, however our students didn’t disappoint, once again winning the overall title. Congratulations to the team. Key results are as follows;

• Matilda M in Year 4 – 1st
• Orson B in year 6 – 2nd
• Daisy W in Year 6 – 3rd
• Year 3/4 boys – Team winners
• Year 3/4 girls – Team winners
• Year 5/6 – Overall Team winners

Simon Balle Year 3-6 Overall winners

Inter-House Sports

This week we have held Interhouse Sports for Year 7-11 where all students experience both competitive sport as well as participating with their houses, provinding a carnival atmosphere throughout the week. We have been very fortunate with weather conditions. The boys have all participate in touch rugby and the girls in hockey and Netball (Y10-11). The results are as follows;

Interhouse Results – Round 1

Year 7 

Year 8

Year 9

Year 10 results to follow

Year 11

Sports Extra-curricular Programme

For changes to the extra-curricular programme please go to our Sports web page – https://www.simonballe.herts.sch.uk/sport/secondary-sport/

Cross Country Update

The Cross Country season has got off to a great start with 2 races already completed, the Year 7 mob race and the first round of the District Cross Country League. In the mob race Grace P finished 3rd overall with the Year 7 team finishing 2nd team. James P finished 4th in the Year 7 boys race leading his team to a third place finish overall. 

On Monday this week, the first round of the cross country league took place at Leventhorpe School. Simon Balle took athletes from Year 7, 8 & 9 to compete. The star performers of the meet were Cora N (Y9) and Evie T (Y8) who finished 1st and 2nd respectively in the Junior Girls race, with Lilia T running very well to finish 8th. Cora ran from the front from the gun and opened up a big gap early on to win comfortably. She is already the reigning champion and on this form she is a big favourite for this year’s league. In the Year 7 Boys James P ran strongly to finish 4th in a highly competitive field, with the team holding 5th place so far and not too far off the top 3. The Year 7 Girls performed well and are currently in 3rd place overall with a strong team performance, led home by Grace P (3rd) and followed in by Alice D (5th), Mariella T (11th) and Sofia B (26th).

Football News

Last week the Senior Football team played The Grange academy. Despite taking the lead, with a great finish from James W, in the county cup first round game vs The Grange Academy the team lost 4-1. We were much the better team for large parts of the game but struggled to turn our possession into chances in the final third. We now welcome Goffs to Simon Balle next Wednesday for our National Cup first round fixture.

The Y11 boys have made a great start to the school football season. Alex S, Georgio G and Ephraim D scored as the team beat Etonbury Academy 3-0 in the first round of the National Cup. They welcome Sandrigham to Simon Balle for the second round in this competition. A bye in the first round of the county cup means the Y11 team play Birchwood in the next round of the competition. 

Our Year 10’s start their football season off this Friday with a first round county cup fixture away to Nicholas Breakspear.

The Year 9 Boys played their first fixture of the year on Tuesday against a strong Leventhorpe side. Despite a bright attacking display from the team, the boys went in 2-0 down. After half time, the boys played very well and Dylan W scored a goal from the corner flag to make it 2-1. It stayed like this until the last 10mins, when Leventhorpe moved away scoring 2 late goals to win 4-2 and progress to the next round of the National cup. The boys now look ahead the Herts cup. 

The Year 8’s have had a fantastic start to the season with 40 students attending training. The teams first fixture demonstrated that they have started the season how they finished in year 7 with a dominant 6-0 win in the second round. The teams next game will be taking place on Thursday 3rd October (County Cup game).

There has been a great amount of girls for both year 7 and 8 turning up to training each week. The Year 8 girls have their first fixture of the year against Marlborough in the first round of the National cup on Tuesday 1st October. 

Netball News

The attendance at extracurricular netball club has been fantastic across all age groups. Over the last 3 weeks students have been developing their connections across their teams. In preparation for upcoming games, training has had an attacking focus developing our through court attacking principles. We look forward to seeing these strategies in action in future fixtures. Next week the year 7 and 8s have their first fixture against Presdales to kick off the season.

Hockey news 

Monday hockey club continues to be a fantastic opportunity for all age groups and experience levels to develop their skills and enjoyment for the sport. We have seen some exceptional talent across the year groups, partially from our year 7 players who have shown great promise. Thank you to all the hockey players who represented the school in our hockey masterclass on Open Morning. We will keep you posted on upcoming hockey fixtures for both boys and girls.

Key Stage 3 Inter-house

We have started our Key stage 3 lessons with an inter-house competition where students have participated in the Long Jump, 100m, Vortex throw and a Cross Country run. The results are as follows;

Year 7 

1st place: Mimram 

2nd place: Beane

3rd place: Lea and Ashbourne 

Year 8 

1st place: Ashbourne and New 

2nd place: Lea 

3rd place: Rib 

Year 9 

1st place: Ashbourne 

2nd place: Beane

3rd place: Lea and Rib

What a fantastic month it’s been, when normally many schools would be winding down after a busy year, Simon Balle were still competing for honours across Athletics, Rounders and Cricket. We also had our Larch Sports Day last week too which was a very successful day, in glorious conditions with many sprint, obstancle races and relays. A first edition of the Larch Interhouse sports took place through Rounders over the past few weeks which ran very smoothly. We also had our sports presentation evening as well. Please see below a round up from a very successful month. 

Sports Presentation Evening

On Wednesday 10th July, we hosted our Sports presentation evening where parents, carers and students all showed up to provide a fantastic atmosphere on the night. There were many award winners as well as nominees for a wide range of sports and main awards. The evening began with a review of the year and a celebration of our District Athletics winners, it was then onto our awards. Our 4 key main award winners were as follows;

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

Sportsman of the Year

Sportswoman of the Year

Year 8 Rounders District Champions

The Year 8 Rounders team competed at the annual District Rounders tournament last week. Emily P was outstanding in batting against Chauncy in the group stages. In the semi final we beat Presdales to reach the final again against Chauncy. In the final the girls performed very well in quite a competitive game where Simon Balle won by 5½ to 2 rounders to become District Rounders Champions. 

Athletics Round up

In Athletics this month, we have had our end of season Girls and Boys Invitational events. Winners from the Nicky Morris Girls event were as follows;

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

Overall our girls finished 4th overall out of ten teams behind winners Presdales.

At the Bruce Longden Boys event, Rex T-W was the star performer winning the Year 7 Hurdles, standing Triple Jump and was also part of the victorious 4 x 100m relay team. Rex was also awarded the Sally Gunnell award for up and coming hurdlers. Mason K won the Year 7 100m and alongside Marley H and Max F was part of the winning relay team too. Barney W-B won the senior 800m. Overall our boys team finished 4th in Division one retaining their position in the league, amongst some strong schools of the calibre of Saffron Walden & Richard Hale. 

Cricket Round up

This has been one of our most successful seasons in recent times. Year 7, 8 and 10 Boys teams were still involved in both County and District competitions right up until this week. 

The year 7 Cricket team played well in the semi final against Broxbourne with a convincing win with only 3 batters chasing down Broxbourne score within 12 overs. We then went into the final against Richard Hale, opening with our best bowling performance of the year keeping Richard Hale down to 82 runs off 20 overs with 10 wickets made up of some excellent bowling as well 4 very good catches within the field. However, Richard Hale were also able to put up a good fielding performance keeping our batting down finishing with 69 runs. Well done to our Year 7’s and we’re looking forward to next season for more of the same. 

Year 7 District Runners up

The Year 8 team captained by Jack T had a phenomenal game against Richard Hale in the semi final at Hertingfordbury. By the 5th over, Simon Balle had scored 9 wickets with Jack T scoring 5 and Teddy G scoring 3 to set Simon Balle up to chase down a score of 48 runs which we did to earn a final against Broxbourne. 

In the final Simon Balle bowled first and star performer was Jaiveer A, with 3 wickets and an excellent catch in the field. This meant that Simon Balle had to chase only 59 runs which they did by the 10th over becoming District Champions. Congratulations to all the boys on a tremendous year. 

Year 8 District Champions

The Year 10 Boys reached the County Plate final against Parmiters school beating Hemel School in the semi final at Hertford CC. 

The final was played this week at Parmiters Sports grounds, a fantastic setting with Simon Balle winning the toss and chose to bowl first. With Parmiters on 120 runs in the 18th over, the rain arrived and after 30 mins of rain we decided to postpone the game until yesterday. 

In glorious conditions again at Parmiters Sports ground on Thursday we were back for the rearranged final. This time Parmiters won the toss and bowled well restricting Simon Balle to 54 runs. Parmiters went on to chase this score and by the 10th over they had won. Well done to the Year 10 boys in their final game for the school and congratulations to George C on captaining the team to the final. 

Year 10 County Runners up

We will be publishing our sports enrichment programme during the first week in September.  From the PE department we would like to wish you all a fantastic summer and look forward to another busy year of sport.