Simon Balle All-through School

Friday 6th March

Co-headteachers’ welcome

As many of you will have seen through multiple media sources, the government launched their White Paper on Monday 23rd 2026, last week. We wanted to begin this newsletter welcome with assurance that at Simon Balle All-through School, and indeed across our Laurel Education Trust, we remain outward-facing as leaders; research-informed in relation to our thinking, policy and practice; innovative in the short, medium and longer term planning; and, most importantly, child-centred in all that we do.

As we read, think, reflect and discuss all that is topical (within and beyond Simon Balle), it is always important to consider who we are in our special all-through community and what resonates with the national picture. Reassuringly, there is much indeed that strikes us from the white paper:

‘Our ambition for high-quality education therefore starts in the early years, where the foundations of future success are laid.’
As an all-through school, we could not agree more. We continue to invest in strong foundations for every child.
‘Schools’ curricula must be rich and broad, building every child’s knowledge and their skills so our young people step into a world of change confident in their ability to shape it.’
Our academic and pastoral pathways at Simon Balle are reflective of our 14 year journey of education, progressive and sequential, planned with depth, breadth and care. We are, as always, committed to ‘creating tomorrow’s citizens today.’
‘Children attending school every day and participating actively once there.’
Our commitment is to support every young person to belong, achieve and thrive. Our staff team continue to work tirelessly to ensure that opportunities are in abundance. We know that when young people attend daily, and let us know if and when there are barriers we can support with, we are in the best possible position to offer irresistible learning and wonderful enrichment.
‘Parents taking an active role in supporting their children’s learning at home, believing again that their children’s success in school is their work and achievement too’.
As we begin to consider transition once again, with secondary school allocations announced on Monday of this week, we would like to take this opportunity to remind you all just how much we value your partnership. Thank you.
‘The children in our classrooms today are the inventors, artists, creators, engineers, scientists, partners and parents of tomorrow. They will shape our country’s future – not just our economy, but our society. As they emerge from our schools, we need not just young people fit for the world of work, but engaged, responsible citizens ready to shape our country as we head towards the 22nd century.’
We could not agree more. Many of you (if not all) will recognise this wording from our vision and values at Simon Balle, shared in our open days, our curriculum aims, our strategic careers programme (ages 4 – 18), and indeed embedded into the holistic education we are proud to offer.

As a forward thinking school, it is not by chance that so much resonates between what we firmly believe and daily live out, and the white paper’s stated aims.There is, of course, much to learn from the white paper in its totality and it is a privilege to lead and learn at this exciting time, whether related to the breadth of the curriculum, our continued passion for an inclusive education for all, or our willingness to understand more about changes to finance nationally – where we are keen to benefit from changes, being always on the front foot of what is to come!

Yet, as co-headteachers, we were privileged (once again!) to walk our all-through school this week, always focussed on the highest quality of teaching and learning at its core. To give you just a window into one period, we saw:

Yet, as co-headteachers, we were privileged (once again) to walk our all-through school this week, always focussed on the highest quality of teaching and learning at its core. This, we can be sure, will not change! To give you just a window into one period, we saw:

Our sixth formers as role models, across Simon Balle. Whether learning independently in the sixth form centre, or across art or science, preparing for A level music recitals (at the time of writing!), or with their discipline in lessons, from film (cinematography techniques) to physics, we are delighted that our sixth formers set such a high bar – our Larch students, weekly, aspire to their standards!
A love of reading. In Year 7 Accelerated Reader, to Year 9 study of ‘Salt to the Sea (Ruta Sepetys), it is evident how quality texts underpin our curricula. From reading aloud with fluency and passion to the importance of precise questioning to support sophisticated student comprehension and inference, it was clear across our English department and library that every young person is engaged in deep thinking, inspired by literature to compose creative outputs and motivated to self- assess and to improve.
Active learners were seen in abundance, with teachers avoiding the temptation to over-talk, and instead engaging young people in meaningful tasks where they can apply their thinking. For example, geographers in Year 8 were grappling with country comparisons, using live data from the human development index, GNI per capita, life expectancy and more. Simultaneously, Year 7 scientists were engaged in scientific evidence discussions: how can they prove that the ‘disappearance’ of sugar in water is not a magic trick?!
We know that the precision of vocabulary shared by teachers is crucial to student understanding, and this too was evident across a range of subjects, from psychology (Year 10)- where students were challenged to apply key terms to case studies and theories, explaining their learning in each – to Art rotation in Year 7 where the language of ‘isometric crafting’ in DT and to a knowledge and skill-rich base in food technology were also causing great pondering and discussion.
As we reached the Larch, our KS2 students were benefitting from the improved Spring weather this week, with a great array of active lunchtime options available – from a new tag rugby lunchtime league to creative gymnastics to farm leaders and much more.

Finally, of course, we are always in awe of our students showing such dedication to their academic learning. In both Year 6 mock SATs and Year 11 core mock GCSEs, the same determination to succeed and reflection on next steps has been a privilege to see.

Over the past few weeks, students across the school have taken part in a range of engaging and purposeful careers activities designed to broaden their horizons, build employability skills and raise aspirations.

Year 9 students participated in Tesco’s “Store of the Future” project, spending a full day exploring the wide range of roles within Tesco Property, including location planning, planning and development, assets and estate, retail partners, and maintenance, energy and engineering. The day focused on developing key employability skills such as teamwork, communication, problem-solving and confidence. Students worked collaboratively to design their own store of the future and delivered presentations at the end of the day, applying what they had learned. Engagement throughout the day was excellent, with students demonstrating creativity, professionalism and confidence.

During National Apprenticeship Week, students across all year groups explored apprenticeship pathways in age-appropriate ways. Form time sessions focused on understanding what apprenticeships are, the different levels available and how students can explore opportunities further. At Key Stages 4 and 5, lessons included subject-specific discussions to help students see how apprenticeships link directly to their curriculum subjects and future careers. Sixth Form students also attended talks from current apprentices and alumni, including representatives from Roche and GSK, as well as a Civil Engineering apprentice, gaining valuable first-hand insight into apprenticeship routes and workplace experiences.

As part of National Careers Week, students took part in structured activities using the Unifrog careers platform. Students in Years 7 to 9 completed careers interest quizzes, explored suggested career pathways and began linking their school subjects to future employment opportunities. Students in Years 10 and 11 researched specific careers of interest, explored both university and apprenticeship routes and considered the skills and qualifications required. Sixth Form students researched realistic post-18 options, compared higher education and apprenticeship pathways and identified clear next steps such as applications, open days and work experience. Throughout the week, students also engaged with a Virtual Careers Fair.

In addition, Sixth Form students were able to sign up for a series of careers awareness workshops with employers and alumni, including Deloitte, Business and Trade careers in government, industrial design professionals, Rosenblatt Law and Heyne Tillett Steel. These sessions provided further insight into a wide range of professional sectors and career pathways.

These activities reflect our continued commitment to providing high-quality, meaningful careers education that equips students with the knowledge, skills and confidence to make informed decisions about their futures.

We would also like to extend a sincere thank you to all parents/carers who have generously offered Year 12 work experience placements. Your support is hugely appreciated and makes a significant difference to the opportunities we are able to provide. Work experience plays a vital role in helping students develop workplace skills, build confidence, gain real insight into professional environments and make more informed decisions about their future pathways. We are extremely grateful for your continued support in enriching our students’ career development.

Larch- Year 1 and 3 Home Learning showcase

Before half term, Year 1 and Year 3 held their half termly home learning showcase. The children went between the classrooms to look at and celebrate each other’s work. It was a pleasure to see the children sharing their work and excited to talk about how they completed their tasks.

Year 1 thoroughly enjoyed the opportunity to talk about and share their brilliant home learning projects last term. Our young artists explored the work of Henry Moore, creating their own impressive sculptures inspired by his bold shapes and forms. Others designed eye-catching mini world travel posters, showing wonderful creativity and imagination. Well done to everyone for their hard work and brilliant effort at home. It has been wonderful to see their excitement as they shared their projects, inspiring one another with imaginative ideas and celebrating each other’s achievements with big smiles.

Year 3 demonstrated fantastic efforts in their projects and maturity during the showcase, giving each other feedback and positive comments. Children wowed us with wonderful volcano models which we erupted (see social media), striking pieces of art linked to volcanoes and Georgia O’Keefe’s flowers, posters about the Seder plate and videos of light and shadow experiments. It was clear to see how proud they were of their hard work and dedication. We cannot wait for the next showcase!

Year 6 Mock SATs week

A huge well done to all our students for the fantastic effort and determination shown during this week’s mock SATs. We are incredibly proud of the focus, resilience and positive attitudes demonstrated in every classroom. These assessments are an important step in preparing for the real thing and the hard work you’ve put in has not gone unnoticed. Keep up the great work—you are all making wonderful progress!

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):

DSPL3 has coffee mornings coming up.

Wednesday 18th March 2025 (10-11:30am) at St. Catherine’s in Ware
Wednesday 10th June 2025 (10-11:30am) venue TBC

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

Library news

World Book Day Week

In the Larch, we celebrated the true meaning of World Book Day – reading for pleasure! On Tuesday, children across the Larch spent the day exploring our exciting book swap, where every child had the opportunity to browse a wide range of stories and non-fiction texts and choose a book to take home and keep. It was wonderful to see such enthusiasm as pupils carefully selected texts that sparked their interest! Before half term, all children received World Book Day tokens, which they can use to choose a free book from their local bookshop, further encouraging a love of reading beyond school (more information here). Throughout the week, children also enjoyed reading together across year groups; for example, our Year 6 pupils shared stories with children in EYFS, modelling fluent reading and helping to inspire our youngest learners with their confidence and expression. We were also proud to host assemblies led by our Year 12 House Captains for KS2 and by our Larch librarians for KS1, who spoke passionately about recommended books, a book quiz and the joy that reading can bring. Each class in the Larch already benefits from a weekly visit to our well-stocked Larch library and many of our Year 5/6 children have joined our virtual Phase 3 Book club where they can recommend books to each other! Daily reading is vital in developing vocabulary, imagination and confidence, and we greatly appreciate your support in encouraging your child to read regularly at home and showing interest in the books they choose!

In the secondary school library we celebrated World Book Day with World Book Day Bingo. Well done to the winners!

Take a look at these recommended reads, as chosen by our students through the Get Rewarded for Reading scheme.

National Reading Champions Quiz

On Wednesday 4th March, 8 students in years 7 to 9 represented the school in the cross regional heat of the Senior National Reading Champions Quiz. They were competing against teams from schools across the country. They did a brilliant job! Well done to the whole team.

Reward trip to the annual Festival of Literature at Bishop’s Stortford College

On Friday 13th February, students in years 7 and 8 went to Bishop’s Stortford College for the annual Festival of Literature as a reward for their excellent effort with their reading and participation in library events. We met the award winning author Nathanael Lessore and heard from him about the writing process, his experiences of being an author, and the life stories that have inspired him to write. He also gave us a sneak preview of his new book. Well done to all of our students who attended the trip. They were a great representation for our school. Congratulations in particular to Clara who won the prize for asking the best question!

Here is the current leaderboard for Get Rewarded for Reading:

Informed – our student-led magazine

Please take a moment to read the latest edition of the student-led magazine, Informed. Lots of professional hard work has gone into this and the editorial team are really proud of how it’s turned out.

https://www.simonballe.herts.sch.uk/community/student-leadership/informed-magazine/

Dance festival

On the evening of Monday 2nd March, a talented group of 20 Year 6 students took to the stage for this year’s Dance Festival, themed At the Movies. The event brought together schools from across our sports partnership for a fantastic celebration of performance, creativity and teamwork.

After endless hours of rehearsal led by the incredibly talented Mrs Cox, our pupils delivered a show-stopping routine to Beat It by Michael Jackson from Thriller. Their incredible choreography captured the energy and drama of the iconic track, showcasing not only their dancing ability but also their dedication and commitment.

Moreover, the performance was packed with precision, confidence and outstanding team spirit. Every dancer played their part, supporting one another on stage and performing with enthusiasm from start to finish whilst their amazing costumes added to the impact, helping to bring the theme to life and creating a real sense of occasion under the stage lights.

For those lucky enough to be there in the audience, we know they would agree that the cheers and applause at the end were a testament to the hard work and passion shown by every single performer on the night. We are already excited for what next year will bring!

Strive & Thrive and Aspire & Achieve home learning support sessions

As part of our commitment to providing the best support for our students, we are continuing to offer our home learning support sessions in the form of Strive & Thrive for our students in Years 7-9 and our Aspire & Achieve for students in years 10 and 11.

These sessions offer fantastic opportunities for our students to complete revision or home learning in a calm environment in order to build confidence, develop positive study habits and encourage independent organisation skills.

Strive & Thrive (years 7-9) takes place Monday to Thursday 3:15pm – 4:15pm in G1.

Aspire & Achieve (years 10 and 11) takes place Wednesdays 3:15pm – 4:15pm in the 6th form learning centre.

All students who attend will be recognised with house points and we hope to see many more attending as this term continues.

FREE Courses for Parents

Bookings is now open for these Summer Term Courses.

All of the information and flyers can be found on the supporting links website: https://www.supportinglinks.co.uk/whatson.html

These are all funded by Herts County Council so are free for parents to attend.

Year 4 Crowned Rapid Fire Cricket Champions

Our Year 4 cricketers enjoyed a fantastic afternoon of sport as they took part in the Year 3/4 Rapid Fire Cricket competition and we are thrilled to share that they finished the event as overall winners!

Throughout the competition, the team demonstrated excellent teamwork, determination and resilience. Every player contributed, showing growing confidence with both bat and ball and supporting one another brilliantly in the field. Their positive attitude and sportsmanship were a credit to the school.

We would like to extend our sincere thanks to Mr Moses for preparing and supporting the team of Secondary Sports Leaders who hosted such a well-organised and enjoyable event. The pupils represented our school superbly and should be extremely proud of their achievement.

Congratulations to all involved on a wonderful all-through sporting success!

Trip to see Hamilton

History and politics students from Year 12 and 13 had the opportunity to watch a production of the acclaimed musical Hamilton in London’s West End, as part of their study of the United States’ constitution, federalism and the historical context of the 18th century. The show was phenomenal, and students were excited to spot references to events and concepts that they had studied, as well as getting the chance to experience one of the world’s most celebrated theatre productions. Maisie in Year 12 said “it was a masterpiece!”, and “awesome, wow” was the verdict from Lily.

Mobile Phone Expectations

We are writing to share a summary of our updated expectations regarding mobile phones. These rules are designed to ensure our school remains a safe, focused, and respectful environment for everyone.

Our core expectation is simple: from 8:40 am until the end of the school day, students’ mobile phones must be Not Seen, Not Heard, Turned Off, and In Bags.

Phones must be kept off and at the bottom of bags (or in a zipped pocket) to remove distractions, reduce incidents of bullying, and keep everyone focused on learning.
Sixth Form: Sixth Form students are allowed to use their phones only during Break and Lunch, and strictly within the Sixth Form Common Room. Phones must not be visible in corridors, the canteen, or anywhere else on the school site.
Consequences: If a phone is seen or heard, it will be confiscated immediately. Students or parents/carers will need to collect it at the end of the day. Persistent infringements or refusal to hand over the phone will result in further interventions.

Thank you for your continued support in helping us uphold these expectations so that our students are ready to learn.

Parent Staff Association

18th March – Annual General Meeting

An AGM (Annual General Meeting) is a meeting held once a year where we come together to review what has happened over the past year, including finances, reports, and key

decisions. It is also a chance to elect committee members and discuss plans for the year ahead. We plan to hold our AGM on Wednesday 18th March in the secondary library, meeting at 7pm for a 7.30pm start.

Good attendance at the AGM is important because it ensures decisions represent the wider membership and that the organisation can meet its legal requirements. The more people who attend, the stronger and more democratic the organisation becomes. Please consider attending our AGM, even if you do not wish to be elected as a committee member. We need a minimum number of attendees in order for the AGM to proceed.

Larch Frozen Friday Organiser – Summer term

Each year, after the May half term, Larch families look forward to an ice cream sale after school, every Friday. We are looking for one or two people that are willing to take on the role of Frozen Friday Organiser. You will be responsible for ordering and organising stock each week. We also need a number of volunteers to manage the weekly sales both after school and at 4.45pm for after Explorers. If you are able to help, please complete the sign up sheet as soon as you can so that we can see if the sales can go ahead again this year.

Organisers and helpers will be shown what to do, if you are new to helping with this. Thank you in advance – without your help, we are unable to offer Frozen Friday.

https://volunteersignup.org/WT7KY

Talks at All Saints

There are a series of upcoming talks at All Saints which students and their families may enjoy. They would certainly hit A level science, politics, PE and sociology type courses but will be interesting to all.

8 March Prof Russell Cowburn – Faith in Science
15 March Josh Dean MP – Faith in Politics
22 March Mark Russell OBE (CEO of The Children’s Society) – Faith in a Good Childhood

Hertford and Ware District Foodbank

During the next few weeks as we approach Easter, Hertford and Ware District Foodbank are putting out a special plea for donations of Easter Eggs, as well as the usual groceries, so that they can make Easter a little more special for their clients. If you are planning to make any donations for Easter, they ask that any Easter eggs be delivered to either Foodbank
outlet by 13th March. They are still providing emergency food parcels for very large numbers of local people who are in crisis, including many children. None of this would be possible without the continuing generosity of local people and the support of local
schools, churches and businesses.

Donations can also be left at both of our front offices (Larch and Elm Sports Centre).

Dates for your diary

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

Mon 9th – Wed 11th Mar: Y11 core mocks continue
Mon 9th – Fri 20th Mar: Larch assessments
Fri 13th Mar: Music Prom (Concert Orchestra & Chorus)
Sat 14th Mar: Big Band evening
w/b Mon 16th Mar: Y12 Work Experience
Mon 16th and Tues 17th Mar: Y10 Geography field trips
Wed 18th Mar: PSA AGM
Thurs 19th Mar: Primary girls’ district football
Fri 20th Mar: Model United Nations Conference
w/b Mon 23rd Mar: Music exams (Y4-13)
Fri 27th Mar: end of term (early finish – 12.15pm)

Wishing you all the best for the week ahead

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