16th November 2016
Dear parents and carers Returning after half term you cannot fail to notice the change in the seasons with colder mornings and the nights drawing in. Already Christmas plans are in place and having our Reception and Year 1 children adds a special ‘sparkle’ to our celebrations. Last half term ended on a high with lots to celebrate with our GCSE results being praised by the local authority because not only of their local significance but national achievement. Our Open Morning received so much praise from our hundreds of visitors and the tours continued right up until half term. Already we are celebrating again. One of our Year 9 students has become a national winner. Elsa Barnfather has won the prestigious ‘Chance To Shine Participant of the Year’ award. This is a cricket award which was presented at Lords Cricket Ground. This national award was in recognition for Elsa’s participation in cricket over the past 12 months. We congratulate Elsa on her outstanding achievement.
We have also been told of another stunning success. Year 12 student Alysha Hutchings recently won gold for the GBR Youth Women’s Rafting Team at the World Rafting Championships!
Simon Balle sporting stars of the future – we have so many ‘names’ to watch out for – huge congratulations!
Dates For Your Diary Wednesday 16th November Thursday 17th November Friday 18th November Monday 21st November Tuesday 22nd November Thursday 24th November Friday 25th November Saturday 3rd December Wednesday 14th December Saturday 17th December Monday 19th December Tuesday 20th December Wednesday 21st December Monday 9th January 2017 Monday 16th January
Autumn Concert Hertford Theatre Sixth Form Open Evening Non uniform day – Children In Need PSA Pamper Evening Larch Centre Open Session 1 Y8 Parents Evening Occasional Day 1 Occasional Day 2 Big Band @ Hertford Christmas Lights Larch Centre Frost Fair Y9 Parents Evening Take Note Choir—All Saints Church 7.30pm Carol Service—All Saints Church 7pm Carol Service and whole school Christmas lunch End of Term (early finish) Y11 Mock Results Day Y13 Mocks week
We have a full diary of events and information evenings this week:
Wednesday 16th November: Autumn Concert. This time we are returning to Hertford Theatre, after many years of not using this venue. Even if your own child is not performing, you might like to come along to support the school and see what incredible musicians we have here at Simon Balle All-through School. For full details please see the poster at the end of this newsletter.
Thursday 17th November: Sixth Form Open Evening We are delighted to welcome parents and students to our Sixth Form Open Evening. Many parents will not know perhaps of the changes that are occurring nationally post-16 or how we have responded to them here at Simon Balle. Students in the majority of subjects no longer take AS levels at the end of Year12 but follow a two year linear course. This means that most students who move on to A level studies take three subjects. Those students who do not achieve the new Grade 4 in summer 2017 exams in English and/or maths will need to carry on with their English and maths studies. Here at Simon Balle we offer support and tuition for this. Our provision and the combination of programmes has now extended and we also offer more vocational and technical courses. Indeed our ‘Health and Social Care’ course had 23 students enrolled on it this year. School sixth forms offer a different experience to college which better suits some students. Not only is there a 5 day expectation of attendance, we also offer many other ‘character’ building experiences including a range of volunteering opportunities. Our academic A level programme is still extensive and we are flexible in working with local schools to extend provision. Please tell your neighbours, family and friends to come along to our Sixth Form Open Evening on Thursday 17th November. It is going to be held in the Sixth Form Learning Centre from 6pm. There will be a 15-minute talk in the school hall about ‘Life In The Sixth Form’ at 6:30, repeated at 7:30.
Friday 18th November: PSA Pamper Evening. Areas of our school will be transformed on Friday into an oasis of calm, relaxation and wellbeing with numerous therapists working 15 minute wonders at the PSA Ladies Pamper evening. Although booking has already closed tickets will be available on the night. It means that you will only be able to choose from what slots are left but if you forgot to buy your ticket them please come along to support this wonderful evening. I ‘popped’ in to the last event and was truly stuck by what a lovely evening it is – thoroughly recommended!
Important Reminder Can we remind students that when they are in uniform out of school they are SBS ambassadors. We expect all students to behave appropriately and in a safe and sensible manner. Our students have an excellent local reputation and long may this continue.
ParentPay We would really like to encourage all parents to use our online payment system, www.parentpay.com Dinner money, music lessons, school trips and other items can all be paid for online quickly and securely. It also allows for prompt refunds. If you have not yet activated your account or require a login, please email finance@simonballe.herts.sch.uk or phone 01992 410400 and ask for the Finance Office.
Dinner Card Balances
The balance of your child’s dinner card can be viewed online through our online payment system www.parentpay.com. You will need to click on your child’s icon on the left to access your child’s page. The dinner card balance is shown as the ‘message from till’ as seen below. This is updated when your child card is scanned. The amount shown is the amount left on the card the last time it was used. For top-ups to show, the card must be scanned. Our till system does not currently allow for parents to see online what items have been bought in the canteen. If you require a report of what your child has been eating then please contact the Finance Office or the Canteen Manager.
Music Lesson Invoices You should now have received your Autumn term music lesson invoice by email. Invoices are sent to the student’s primary contact. If you have not received your invoice, please check your spam/junk folder. If you require it to be sent again or to a different recipient, please contact Mary in the Finance Office as soon as possible. finance@simonballe.herts.sch.uk or 01992 410400 ext 255
Book Fiesta! This week students and staff are enjoying Book Fiesta! Our 5th book festival for readers and writers. We held our annual Writing Challenge Awards Evening at Leaf Café on Monday evening with special guest, author-illustrator James Mayhew. James was talking and drawing with our primary students beforehand and this is the first time primary have had their own visiting author! Year 7 students heard from popular writer Gill Lewis on Tuesday and then on Thursday all Year 8 and 9 students will learn about the art of storytelling from up and coming author Steven Camden. Thanks to our local Leaf Café for providing a pop-up bookshop at the author events as well as supporting SBAS with Leaf Café tokens for Award Winners. Please encourage your child/ren to visit the bookshop today in the Larch Hall - prices for books start at £2.99 and titles are suitable for Year 8s and below. Our Library gets free books as commission so this is an ideal way to buy Christmas presents! Stationery items will also be available. Social Media At Simon Balle we strive to be approachable and to ensure that, as parent/carers, you are an important part of our student’s education. If you have a concern about any aspect of your child’s education we would ask that you raise it with either your child’s form tutor or the main school office. Please be assured that we will take your concerns seriously and I would ask that you do not use Facebook or other social media to air a grievance. This is often unhelpful, where inaccurate facts are placed in the public domain without our being afforded with an opportunity to respond.
GCSE Grades Are Changing
GCSEs in England are being reformed and will be graded with a new scale from 9 to 1, with 9 being the highest grade. English literature, English language and maths will be the first subjects to be graded in this way from August 2017. The subjects with the highest numbers of candidates (e.g. arts, humanities, languages) will follow in 2018 and most others in 2019. This is happening as GCSEs are being reformed to make them more challenging to keep pace with employers’ and universities demands. In the first year each new GCSE subject is introduced, students who would have got a grade C or better will get a grade 4 or better. Students who would have got a Grade A or better will get a 7 or better in the first year. Grade 9 will be more difficult to achieve than a grade A*. The extra top grade will also make it easier for employers and universities to distinguish between the most able students To see how the numbered grades compare to the current A* to G system, click here or Google "ofqual 9 to 1 postcard". More information about when subjects will switch to the new grades is available on the Ofqual website here.
Parents Forum – Mental Health Professionals Thank you to those health professionals who are very happy, as parents, to help us improve and develop our understanding of physical and mental wellbeing. We still would like more people to respond even if you cannot come along on December 5th to the parent forum. If you are qualified to help please email your details to me on saundersa@simonballe.herts.sch.uk
Friday 18th November: Non-uniform Day
CHILDREN IN NEED Children in Need is the BBC’s UK charity. Since 1980 it has raised over £700m to change the lives of disabled children and young people in the UK. The charity funds over 2,600 projects 365 days of the year. We have been sent an email to say ‘a great big thank you for fundraising for BBC Children in Need last year. Your efforts have put your school in the top 500 schools to have fundraised in 2015, with every penny you raised changing the lives of children across the UK. Spotacular news!’ This is a wonderful achievement and we would like to raise even more this year therefore we would encourage students to bring a minimum of £2.00 to support this very worthwhile charity. Students should dress sensibly and not wear anything which may be deemed inappropriate (please note that girls must not wear shorts). Those who come to school dressed inappropriately may be sent home to change. Mike Moss Deputy Head
Cold Weather Coats Please remember that we expect students to be wearing coats now the weather has changed. These should be sensible and warm and not be hoodies or have large logos on them. Shoes need to be black, sensible, suitable for outdoors, walking around the site and properly covering the feet.
Is Your Family Cyber Secure? Follow the link to find out the top cyber security issues that both children and adults should be aware of – and useful tips to follow and stay safe online. http://vodafonedigitalparenting.co.uk/expert-advice/family-cyber-secure/
CHRISTMAS LUNCH th TUESDAY 20 DECEMBER TICKET ÂŁ3.75 The lunch will be a traditional two course Christmas lunch. A vegetarian option is also available. Tickets must be bought in advance from the dining room (cash or smart card). They will be available from: Mon 28TH November to Wednesday 14th Dec. We look forward to seeing all our students (Reception to Year 13) there. Please note that there will be no other food served and no food at break.
Return of Art Work Dear former students and parents Over the past years the art department has built up a collection of artwork from GSCE to A-level, and as we are now approaching the New Year, this work needs to be collected to make room for the new work produced by our current students. Please come in and pick up your work on Wednesday 23rd of November. For ease of access, we would appreciate if you could kindly collect any art work between 3:30 – 4:30 on Wednesday 23rd of November - all work will be laid out in Art room 1, to be taken home. If work is not collected by this time it will be disposed of If you are unable to come on the 23rd, please do not hesitate to contact francisk@simonballe.herts.sch.uk to arrange a suitable date for the work to be collected. Thank you Simon Balle Art Department.
Statutory Admissions Consultation 2018/2019
We are holding a consultation on our Admission Arrangements for 2018/2019. The consultation period takes place between 14th November and 23rd December 2016. If you wish to make any comments regarding this consultation please email admin@simonballe.herts.sch.uk. The admission arrangements can be found on the school website – and can be accessed via http://www.simonballe.herts.sch.uk/admissions/ Childcare sufficiency survey for parents Hertfordshire County Council has a statutory duty to ensure there are sufficient childcare places for children of all ages. We would like parents feedback on the childcare options available for their family. Your support in completing the survey will assist Hertfordshire County Council in the planning of childcare places throughout the county. To access the survey please use the link below: surveys.hertfordshire.gov.uk/s/Sufficiencyparentsurvey/
The survey will close on 23rd December 2016.