11th February 2016 Dear families We have been reminding students that we are now half-way through this academic year. How time flies! It is not only the weather patterns that have perhaps surprised us this year but can I also remind all parents that our Easter break is somewhat unusual. We at Simon Balle are following the Hertfordshire County Council model which means that:
Good Friday (March 25th) is a school holiday Bank Holiday Easter Monday (March 28th) is a school holiday BUT every student is at school on Tuesday 29th March - Friday 1st April (inclusive). Our 2 week Easter holiday is from Monday 4th - Friday 15th April.
The reason for this decision being taken is that Easter falls very early this year and the decision helps schools to ensure better learning time. We published this and alerted you to this many months ago. We therefore expect all students to be in school. I, along with many other local headteachers, have been getting increasingly frustrated by some parents’ attitude to school attendance. Having spoken to local primary heads, we want parents to realise that missing any school must be an exception. We expect children to be in school all of the time. Our Governing Body recently discussed attendance, following a presentation from Hertfordshire Local Authority. The county council is recommending that they fine parents for children not attending school. This is for all absence but cases would be dealt with on an individual basis after ‘trigger points’ have been reached. Governors have yet to debate and agree our stance. The government expects attendance to be in the region of 97% for all students, authorised as well as unauthorised. Mike Moss explained this to parents in a previous newsletter. Our school is penalised if the figures drop. Persistent absence is now deemed to be 90% and this is the point at which LEA intervention will trigger. I am grateful that most parents do actually request leave rather than simply take it. We are always sympathetic to special family events, sporting or cultural opportunities, funerals etc. However, I am worried by a few parents who are asking for ‘pure holidays’ or odd days to facilitate cheaper travel. Again, we do take the wider picture into context, look at previous attendance and how much the student has missed school including sickness. Apologies to the many for this small rant/reminder! The difficulties of recruitment of teaching staff continues to hit headlines. We too at Simon Balle, despite the fact that is is a great place to work, find it so difficult. We are attaching various flyers and information for you to pass on to others. We always advertise our latest vacancies on the school website.
Thank you to all parents (including some from our reception class) who attended the recent e-safety evening. This newsletter contains information about our next evening on ‘Drugs Awareness’. The Governing Body will be hosting a parents’ forum on Thursday 5th May to discuss Careers Education and Guidance. More about this in a future newsletter. Thank you again for all your support and encouragement. There have been many events recently where parents, and indeed students, have feedback their appreciation and praise for all that the staff here are doing. We continue to be a very popular school. With over 850 applications for secondary enrolment (for 172 spaces) and more than 250 primary (60 places) we can, despite the recruitment and financial crisis, make a great difference to the lives of so many young people. Have a good and restful half term break Alison Saunders - Headteacher
Dates for your diary 15th to 19th February Thursday 25th February Friday 26th February Tuesday 1st March Wednesday 2nd March Thursday 3rd March Thursday 10th March
HALF TERM Y13 parents evening Big Band Evening PHSEE parents meeting Y12 parents evening Y13 geography field trip (back 5th) Y9 Battlefields trip Brass recital evening
Thursday 17th March Friday 18th March Tuesday 22nd March Wednesday 23rd March Friday 25th March Monday 28th March Thursday 31st March Friday 1st April
Strings and singing concert Non uniform – Sports Relief Y10 geography field trip Gym and dance evening GOOD FRIDAY – SCHOOL CLOSED EASTER MONDAY – SCHOOL CLOSED Stevenson’s uniform sale (3pm to 5.30pm) END OF TERM – NORMAL FINISH
Saturday 23rd April Tuesday 26th April Thursday 28th April Monday 2nd May Tuesday 3rd May Thursday 12th May Monday 16th May Friday 27th May
Wind and Brass concert 7pm in hall Y7 parents evening String Recital 7pm in hall BANK HOLIDAY INSET DAY Singing Evening 7pm in Larch Centre Start of public exams 6th form ball
Dear Parents, Spring is on its way with signs of blossom and bulbs poking through everywhere… What better way to celebrate spring, than by helping the Larch Centre ‘Win a Garden’! Tokens will be printed inside the Hertfordshire Mercury, Hertfordshire and Essex Observer between 17/02/16 and 11/03/16. All you need to do is buy the paper and send the completed tokens into school and we will do the rest! Please ask your friends, family and neighbours to help you, so we can collect as many tokens as possible, increasing the number of entries and therefore raising our chances of winning!! Thank you for your support. From all of the team in the Larch Centre During the half term, if you decide to have a spring clean then please think of us. We are now thinking about the Year One classrooms so are on the lookout for good quality toys, puzzles, books, posters and other educational resources. Resources for role play are always welcome- costumes, props, small furniture! Your unwanted items might be treasure to us. Thank you. Ruth Oakenfull – Primary Phase Leader
Parental Drug Awareness Workshop Concerned that your knowledge about drugs and alcohol is limited or out of date? Then we would like to invite you to our Drug Awareness Workshop specially designed for parents / carers at Simon Balle on Tuesday 1st March from 18:00 – 19:30. The workshop aims to:
Provide relevant, up-to-date information about alcohol, cannabis and legal highs in a safe and familiar environment Offer strategies for parents to have open conversations with their children about drug and alcohol misuse Promote ways parents can help children make positive, healthy choices.
As well as an interactive presentation and informal learning tasks, there will be an opportunity to ask questions and find out where to go for more information and support. Please let us know if you are coming by emailing smithj@simonballe.herts.sch.uk or returning the slip at the bottom of the letter which is going to be emailed out to parents tomorrow.
We look forward to welcoming you.
In the latest of our ‘House Spotlight’ sections the attention falls on New House New house have been making steady progress in the house league table this academic year. Due to the hard work of the students in gaining house points, we are delighted to have moved up a place. New house has high ambition and we aim to move even further up the league table as the year goes by. As many students from New house are regularly awarded the prestigious Student of the week, it is obvious that there are many young people out there who are working hard to make sure that house points are accrued, not only through participation and awards in house events, but also through excellence, hard work and dedication. It is wonderful to realise that many students from New house are exceeding expectations in the variety of subjects offered at Simon Balle School. Year 7 have shown their value to the house with two New house members being recognised as overall category winners in the castle day competition. Year 7 students had been challenged to draw or construct castles which had been inspired by the learning in their history lessons about William the Conqueror. A massive well done to our very own Courtney Power who won best picture, and also to Laila Davies who won most historically accurate castle. It is great to see so much creativity and house spirit amongst our newer members.
Students in New house are to be congratulated on their achievement in the recent Inter House sports results. New house were placed third in this competition. The year 10 boys and girls did particularly well in this as they both came second in their sports. The girls in basketball and the boys in football. Well done to all participants.
New House Achievements: The “Ready, Steady, Book!” writing competition which took place last year continued the tradition of having students submit short stories based on upon a certain theme, this year being that of ‘Transformation’. The winners of the competition (pictured below) included two members of New house: Sophie Noxon and Callum Morris-Horne.
This literary achievement earned the two New ouse winners multiple house points and a £20 book voucher delivered by the honourable Mayor of Hertford at an intimate event held at the Leaf Cafe where the winning short stories were read out to teachers and parents alike. The winning stories submitted by the New house students were selected by writer Melanie Taylor and the Mrs Syme who has ensured that the pages of ‘Ready, Steady, Book!” were filled with literary opportunities which stimulated our imaginations and kept pages turning long after the event ended. These stories which explore several themes linked to transformation, including Sophie’s story of what it feels like to be transgender and Callum’s fable about the transformation of thought, along with the ones submitted by students, will be available to read soon in a leaflet published in the library.
Over the past few months, Year 13 students have been busy writing their personal statements, researching, visiting and applying to universities, apprenticeship programmes and other further education schemes through UCAS. The UCAS deadline was on the 15th of January, and before and since then, the vast majority of students who have applied to study various subjects have been successful in receiving both conditional and unconditional offers from their chosen academic institutions. The New House captains would like to offer congratulations and kudos to those who have been fortunate in achieving their offers, and would like to wish them all the best in their future academic pursuits.
In terms of notable achievements within New house, Year 13 student Callum Morris-Horne was fortunate enough to be one of the two successful applicants, along with Charlotte Benham from another house, who applied and received an offer from University of Cambridge
Dear Parent/Carer Are you a qualified teacher and interested in bringing your skills back to the classroom? Do you know a qualified teacher that has left the profession and may be interested in returning? As part of a recruitment campaign to ensure our schools in Hertfordshire have the best quality teachers, we’d like to make you aware of a free, new support programme to help qualified teachers return to the profession. If you, or someone you know, would like to return to a career teaching secondary age English, mathematics, biology, physics, chemistry, computer science, languages, history or geography, this programme will offer tailored support and identify individual needs to enable a successful return to teaching. This will include:
an overview of the curriculum and changes to GCSE and A level updated classroom practice training (including behaviour management, assessment and new technologies) subject knowledge training access to supported classroom experience support from a mentor support with applications and interview preparations
We would be very interested to hear from anyone who is thinking of returning to teaching -but are seeking in particular people who have Qualified Teacher Status (QTS), who can teach EBacc subjects and want to bring their skills back to the classroom, where they can make a real difference to young people every day. There are opportunities to access this programme in Bishop’s Stortford, Stevenage, Hitchin, St Albans and Harpenden, starting in the summer term 2016, with flexible delivery options to fit around current family and work commitments. If you think you may be interested in accessing this programme or would like more information, please contact us, using the details below: For training based in the Bishop’s Stortford, Stevenage or Hitchin areas please contact: The Teach in Herts Team through Julie Grimwade (01438 844755) julie.grimwade@hertsforlearning.co.uk www.teachinherts.com Or for training based in the St Albans and Harpenden area please contact: The Alban Teaching School Alliance through Vicki Kateley (01727 799560, ext. 281) enquiries@albantsa.co.uk www.albantsa.co.uk For further general information on returning to teaching you can also visit www.education.gov.uk/returners
We look forward to hearing from you. Yours faithfully
Liz Shapland Senior Adviser (Secondary) Herts for Learning
Claire Oakes Assistant Headteacher & Alban TSA Strategic Leader Sandringham School, St Albans
Half Term First Aid Class Tuesday 16th Febraury 2016 Hertford Heath Mission Room
1pm-2pm 7-12 years £8 2pm-4pm 13-18 years £15 To book contact julie@daisyfirstaid.com 07831155609