14th Feb 2014 It is incredible to think that we are now half way through the academic year and that shortly the new year 6’s will hear whether they have their choice of secondary school.
DATES FOR YOUR DIARY: 17th—21st Feb
Half Term
Education seems to be continuously headline news. We continue to try and plan ahead at a time of great turbulence and uncertainty. Curriculum changes are imminent; although it is our current Year 8’s who will have the new GCSE’s. There is even greater uncertainty around the way A levels will change.
27th Feb
Y13 Parents Evening
5th March
Y9 Options Evening
7th March
Big Band Evening
10th March
PSA meeting
12th March
Y7 Parents Evening
17th March
Public Consultation on Expansion
20th March
House Plays
25th March
Y10 Parents Evening
29th Marchs
String Concert
4th April
End of term
However our discussion and forward planning always takes us back to our core values and ethos of an ‘all round education’. We believe that the ‘arts’ have an important place in any curriculum, although obviously literate, numerate young people are our prime concern. We will be discussing shortly our proposals on how to move forward with our Governors and then obviously to parents later in this academic year. We are also transforming and re-vamping our reward system to ensure consistency and value. Mike Moss, Deputy Head will be writing more in a future newsletter. We now are acting upon feedback and data from our recent mock examination sittings for years 11, 12 & 13. Many parents have been most complimentary of the level of analysis and feedback as students know exactly what they need to do to improve upon their performance. Half term is a natural opportunity to do this.
22nd April (Tues) Start of Summer term.
May I therefore wish everyone as a restful, enjoyable half term. Alison Saunders
VACANCIES We are currently advertising for a Finance Premises Manager and a Science technician. Please see the website for all our vacancy details.
SHROVE TUESDAY TUESDAY 4th MARCH The canteen will be serving Pancakes!
We would like to remind students that they should NOT be in school before 8.00am, when the library is open. They are welcome to come in there and work or read.
‘GOLDEN LUNCH’ On the first Thursday of every month, some local senior citizens pay a small fee to have a two course meal at the Baptist Church in Hertford. The ‘Golden Lunch’ event is run by a volunteer group who cook, wash and clean in order to provide a lovely service to their guests. Over the past two months, some Simon Balle students have also attended to help the volunteers. Most have even had the delicious food as well! It gave the senior citizens an opportunity to speak to the students about their interests and hobbies. It also provided an insight for the students to the enjoyment and the barriers that some old people face on a daily basis. Yr 13 student Ruby Porter does a lot of organisation work at school, to promote this to our students. February’s event was a huge success. The following students: Rehana Rahman, Caitlin McSherry, Tom Childs, Owen Stern, Georgina Goddard & Sarah Kenway made superb waiters/waitresses, great communicators and enjoyed the experience also. Well done to all and thanks to the volunteers for allowing us to help. Below are some of the accounts written by the students:
On Thursday 6th February, six of us went to the Baptist Church in Hertford to help out at their Golden Lunches event. This happens once a month and gives Senior Citizens a chance to meet up over a meal. We helped serve their food and got to know some of them at the same time. They were all really lovely but some get quite lonely living on their own or in homes and it was nice to be able to entertain them and hear their stories. It felt like we were giving something back to the community and I'd love to do it again.
We went to a Golden lunch to help out on Thursday 6th February. Golden lunches are where a group of old people get together over lunch to make friends and have a chat. We helped by giving out the dinners and clearing away afterwards. I enjoyed this experience because I got to see what it was like for the old people and it was nice to be able to help and be appreciated.
I found the Golden Lunch very inspiring and exciting. It felt amazing helping the elderly and talking to them about what they do. They also asked us about what we do in school and what we want to be when we are older. The overall experience was amazing.
As we got to church we were greeted by Roger. We served all of the old people and then we had our dinner. It was really good because there was a lot of food. It was good to serve the people because they had brilliant stories. Ian Finch
JOURNALISM SOCIETY AND ALUMNI The Simon Balle Alumni group is celebrating its first birthday and to help celebrate the Journalism Society has produced the first issue of Simon Balle Connect-ed, the e-zine for alumni. As it stands there are 394 people connected with ‘alumni’ and 249 members of the Simon Balle Connect group on LinkedIn. If you would like to boost these numbers please follow the link on the right hand side of the website. This first edition of Connected-Ed is a fantastic achievement for the six students who contributed. The articles which were produced focused on the changes which have been made to the school over the first term of the year – the three-storeyblock rebuild – and some of the many successful and engaging events which the school has held. As you read, not only will you notice that there is a range of extremely interesting and well-written content, it has also been professionally compiled by Y13 student, Nathan Liu. I must say a tremendous “thank you” to Nathan and the five students that produced articles for the e-zine’s first edition: Y10 students, Maisie Doherty and Georgia McIntyre; Y9 students Alex W and Oliver M; and Sam W, a Y7 student. We are looking forward to the approaching prospect of publishing Connect-Ed issue number 2 and would warmly welcome any other students who are interested in involving themselves in the society, whether as a writer, editor or computer whizz! If you would like to help or join Journalism Society, please get in contact with or speak to Mr. Brinicombe.
MATHS CROSS PHASE DEVELOPMENT MEETING Inspired to develop more effective links between our primary schools and maths department following our recent cross phase Inset day, Wednesday night saw Simon Balle hosting the first meeting in, what we all hope will be. A productive working partnership between our maths department and representatives from Wheatcroft, Hertford Heath, Bengeo, Morgans and Millmead primary schools. The meeting addressed a range of issues including the changes to the Maths National Curriculum, improving the transition in maths from KS2 to 3, boosting self esteem, and challenging students. A wide range of plans have been hatched involving students at SBS and those in our feeder primary schools, including joint planning and peer teaching; starting during our March Maths Madness month. In both the short and long term and we look forward to working together to support all of the students in our learning community. If parents or members of our wider community have any feedback or ideas they would like to be considered in our planning process then please do let us know. Suzy Matuszak
PSA QUIZ NIGHT Saturday 15th March 7.00 for 7.30 start. Tickets (£6 Adults, £4 Students) available from school office or buy online at http://www.simonballepsa.org.uk Got any unwanted or old currency lurking in your version of a 'man drawer'?! Donate it to the school and turn the coins into a minibus! Many thanks to all the shoppers who chose Simon Balle PSA for their Community Matters green disk in Waitrose, Hertford during January. We have been allocated £319 towards the funding of a new minibus.
PARENT GOVERNORS Following the recent elections we have two new parents joining the Full Governing Body. Mrs Ann Orpin, whose son is in Year 9, has a financial background and currently runs a local catering business. Mr Neil Tether, whose daughter is in Year 8, has taught GCSE and A Levels and is currently Deputy Principal of West London College. We look forward to welcoming them both to our first meeting in March and utilising their expertise.
NEWS FROM THE DEPARTMENT OF ART AND DESIGN Now we are half way through the Spring term it is rewarding to reflect on what has, for the Art and Design department, been an action packed beginning to 2014.
In the lower part of the school, at key stage 3, a variety of activities and media have been explored: Year 7 have worked on their drawing skills and have now started a printing project; Year 8 have enjoyed working with clay; Year 9 have relished drawing real fish!
Further up the school GCSE students have worked on a still life piece. Having just received the titles for their GCSE exam (to be held at the end of April) they are now busy researching and responding to artists, making their way towards their final piece. On 24th February Year 10 art students have the wonderful opportunity of going to visit the National Gallery. Letters have been handed out: please could you return your slips as soon as possible.
Sixth form students have had a very busy couple of weeks finishing off their art and photography units, and had the opportunity to stay late one Wednesday to do so. It was lovely to see so many students assisting and supporting their peers as well as pushing themselves individually, aspiring for their best possible grades. No sooner was the deadline met than they were all given the titles for their final unit. With the exams at the end of April/beginning of May, the pressure is back on! I do hope you all have a good break at half term … however if you have time, this term’s top tip for gallery visits is the David Bailey exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery. At the same gallery is an exhibition by Michael Peto, “Mandela to McCartney”, which would be worth a visit. Alternatively the Tate Modern has a Paul Klee exhibition currently showing whilst Tate Modern has an exhibition by British sculptor Richard Deacon. GCSE, AS and A2 students: remember that visiting some galleries is a good way to kick start your research and meet one of your key assessment objectives!! Art Department
LIBRARY AND ENGLISH DEPARTMENT NEWS National Literacy Trust Annual Survey 2013 Many thanks to all Year 7 students who completed this detailed survey at the end of last year. It covered reading, writing and communication skills and here are a few of our findings: 77% of students considered themselves readers with 40% reading for between 20 and 30 minutes a day. It was good news to hear that 36% of Y7s have over 250 books at home. Library staff were pleased to hear that 46% thought ‘reading is cool’ with 84% realising that ‘the more I read, the better I become at it’. As emphasised by Accelerated Reader (the online reading programme that we follow) we advise students to read at least 20 minutes every day in order to improve their reading skills. 48% of students considered themselves to be good or very good writers with 88% not writing in ‘txt’ speak in class. Writing emails, instant messages, text messages and writing on social networking sites were the most popular types of writing (excluding writing at school). 90% rated being successful as ‘getting a good education’ and ‘being happy’. 78% realised that reading helps you to be successful and 31% own an eReader. Jamie In Print Congratulations to Jamie from Y9 whose photograph appeared in an article in the latest issue of ‘Air Gunner’. Jamie has been involved in airgun shooting sport for a few years now. PIG HEART BOY Pig heart boy is a dramatic and touching story based on the hard life of a young boy named Cameron who, at a young age, suffered from a disease that permanently gave him a weak heart. Time is running out and he’s desperate for a heart, any heart, even a pig’s. Within a private hospital he goes under a life threatening operation to save his life, or destroy it! Every sentence will make you want to read on. Each word is the beginning of an adventure. It’s an emotional and unpredictable book. I really enjoyed this book. It may be sad but it’s a real page turner. I would recommend this book to people who are in to science and adventure. A book is an adventure, waiting to happen, enjoy every moment-Isabella Christie Hobbs Y7
YEAR 7 READ FOR LIFE Year 7 will be participating in 'Readathon', the biggest sponsored reading campaign in the U.K., from 24th to 28th February. All Year 7 students will be reading in form periods, English lessons and for English homework and recording these sessions in their reading log. I have asked them to approach friends and family to sponsor them for each reading session completed and bring in the money which they have raised by 10th March. All money raised is divided between the 'Readathon' charities, The Roald Dahl Foundation and CLIC Sargent. Both organisations help children and young people with serious, life-threatening illnesses. In addition, 'Readathon' gives students a chance to immerse themselves in books of their choice and helps develop the habit of regular reading. 'Readathon' has been explained to Year 7 in assembly and the students have received their reading logs and sponsor cards. For more information about 'Readathon', please visit their website at www.readathon.org. I would ask all students to do their best to raise money for a very good cause and to enjoy their reading. Mr Davies Head of Year 7
MUSIC NEWS Phaser Whale, one of our Rock School bands, recently took part in the Battle of the Bands at Hertford Theatre, a competition organised by Cazfest, a charity based in Bishop's Stortford which raises awareness of heart risk in young people and funds screening for sixth form students in Herts and Essex. An audience of over 200 including local mayors and councillors watched seven schools competing for a place at the main Cazfest festival in July. Bands performed a ten minute set and then received comments from a panel of judges which included Janice Brock, UK Director of A&R for Sony/ATV. Phaser Whale gave a tight and well-rehearsed performance and were highly commended for their original compositions. The judges also gave some helpful tips on stagecraft. Overall winners were Redwood from Freman College. Well done to Brad, Olly, Pete and Garin for representing Simon Balle in their first competition - you can hear demos from their upcoming EP via this link: https://soundcloud.com/phaser-whale Many of our bands will be in action at the termly Rock School gig at Hertford Corn Exchange on Tuesday 1st April and we are also holding our very first drum recital evening for Mr Hedley’s students on Tuesday 4th March. Our next major event this term will be the Big Band Evening on Friday 7th March (see poster below). The school hall will be transformed into a cabaret setting with a dance floor and a licensed bar courtesy of the PSA. We also have a strings and singing concert on Saturday 29th March followed by a wind and brass concert on Saturday 26th April, see below for further details. Good luck to all those taking Associated Board exams this week – we have 30 candidates ranging from Grade 1 to Grade 8 and wish them all well.
SBS BACK ON THE MAP WITH BASKETBALL Over the past few months all year groups have been playing Basketball at different levels. Individual year groups have been competing well at District Level with a weekly match against local schools. The U13 and U16 team have competed in the National League for the first time in a number of years. The highlight for the U16 team was a 54-51 win over Lea Manor School Luton in a very close encounter. The U13 team have gone from strength to strength competing against Queens, Sandringham and St Columbas. In all games we were competitive and learnt a lot from playing at a higher standard. What has been pleasing to see is 16 Y7&8 students attending Thursday morning coaching sessions at 7.30am with Ben Russell and Andrew Klippel. The hard work and commitment is most certainly there and I am looking forward to more progress being made next year. Year 9 basketball, in very much a mixed season the U14 team won 2 and lost 4 however the team performed better against the stronger schools and despite losing were outst RHS, Chau and St. Mary’s where the biggest defeat was by no more than 4 points. FOOTBALL UPDATE U18 County Cup Quarter Final Ashlyns School 2 Simon Balle 6 AET For the first time in 17 years the 1st XI have reached the County Cup semi finals. Playing against Ashlyns School from Berkhamsted proved to be a hard game on their 3G pitch until it went to extra time. The first half was mainly Simon Balle’s, although their only goal of the half came after a number of missed opportunities from the forwards. Andrew Clark scored the goal but Ashlyns equalised before half time.
The second half belonged to Ashlyns and they played some controlled football. However, Kallum Titchmarsh scored to regain the lead against the run of play. Pressure from Ashlyns resulted in an equaliser with only 3 minutes of normal time remaining. Extra time started and Marcus Rossi scored to take the lead for the third time. (He will have to curtail his celebrations if he is to score in the next game though.) At this point Simon Balle started to dominate and and there were further goals from Kallum Titchmarsh, Joe Carter and Sameer Abdelhamid. Joe Marques and Jordan Kimsey both had outstanding games. U16 County Cup John Warner 0 Simon Balle 2 Having never beaten John Warner in 4 previous attempts, The U16 team produced a magnificent performance to win against a team who have previously won the County Cup. In difficult conditions Kallum Titchmarsh opened the scoring, beating the goalkeeper from the half way line. The team kept there discipline and stuck to the game plan, despite being under a lot of pressure. The back three of Patrick Tarry, Andrew Klippel, Harvey Pearse and Daniel Morton in goal did not put a foot wrong. With 5 minutes to go Jono Carter scored his first goal for Simon Balle School to secure victory and book a place in the quarter finals versus Hemel Hempsted School. U14 District Cup On a very windy afternoon Simon Balle coped with the conditions better than a Sheredes team who were physically much stronger. Two goals from Sean Ross-Gardner gave Simon Balle a 2-0 lead at half time. Sheredes scored two goals early in the second half before Owen Willoughby-Richards scored the winner. YEAR 9 HOCKEY TOURNAMENT This tournament was hosted by Simon Balle where the A Team finished a credible 3rd and the ‘B’ Team finished equal 5th after a draw with Presdales ‘B’. UPCOMING EVENTS/ EXAMS AND FIXTURES A Level Practical Exams – 4/5th March Y7 Broxbourne Rugby Tournament – Fri 7th March District Cross Country Championships – Fri 7th March Y8 County Cup Quarter Final v Queens (TBC) Y11 County Cup Quarter final v Hemel Hempstead (TBC) Sports Relief Mile – Friday 21st March GCSE PE Practical Exam – Weds 19th March Netball fixtures begin again after ½ term