Wednesday 1st November 2017 Welcome back to what proves to be a very busy half term in the lead up to Christmas. We hope everyone had a chance to re-charge their batteries. Our first whole school event will be held on Friday 10th November when we will be holding our Remembrance Service. This takes place during the school day and students should bring sensible outerwear as we will be holding the service whatever the weather. This is always a very moving event and we will post images shortly afterwards. This year we will be inviting a few of our youngest students to be part of this special reflective time. We have also started to sell poppies this week and will do so up to the 10th November. We would encourage all students to buy one to wear at the service. Poppies can be bought from Mr Carter in the dining room at break and lunch and also from the Larch and main school receptions. Thinking ahead, we will be promoting the ticket sale for the whole school Christmas meal, in our next newsletter, which this year will be held on Tuesday 19th December. Tickets must be bought in advance. Please see the flyer at end of this newsletter. I am sure that you continue to be aware of the national problems surrounding teacher recruitment and indeed this continues to be reported in the media. Last year this was a school priority. Indeed, you may recall how I took the exceptional decision to email parents directly to see if they could help us, and I was thrilled with your response. We did manage to recruit but, interestingly, most people who now work at Simon Balle either come here as a student, know the school, live locally or trained here. We are proud of the training we give and our work in partnership with the Alban Federation. Whilst starting fully staffed in September, things change quickly. We are now trying to cover long-term sick as well as needing to replace staff. From 1st January 2018 we are looking for – A full time/part time cover supervisor- this would be suitable for someone who is looking longer term to go into teaching or wondering if this is the route they would like to take. Equally this post may be right for someone who is looking to work in a classroom in a supervisory role to help children to learn A part time/full time teacher of Spanish (immediately until Christmas) A primary trained teacher – 2 days a week until the end of the summer term A part time teacher of Business Studies/ Computer Science A part time teacher of maths
All are initially for 2 terms and we can try to be as flexible as possible to fit in with other commitments. Please pass this information on to others. As parents please do be patient as there are not the teachers out there! We would look at qualified and unqualified in this extra-ordinary situation. In addition we will shortly be advertising for more permanent roles from September 2018. These will include: A lead teacher to teach Business, Computer Science and possibly Economics Full time primary teachers As an All –through school, we are particularly interested in also hearing from teachers who have experience of, or who would like to work within what would traditionally be called a “middle school phase” setting. All vacancies will be placed on our website. However do please contact either myself or Madeleine Harman, School Manager. I look forward to hearing from you and thank you in advance.
Dates for your Diary: 14th November - Autumn Concert 16th November - Y8 Parents Evening 17th November – Non Uniform Day (in aid of Children in Need) 18th November - PSA Quiz Night (tickets available on PSA website and school office) 21st November - 6th Form Open Evening 24th November – Occasional day : school closed (24th November - Hertford Christmas Lights: performance from Big Band) 27th November – Occasional day : school closed 29th November – House Plays (please note change of date) 2nd December - Larch Centre Frost Fair (1pm to 4pm) 13th December - Y9 Parents Evening 16th December – Take Note choir at St Andrews Church (7.30pm) 18th December - Carol Service (All Saints) 19th December - Christmas Lunch 20th December - End of Term (Early finish, details to follow)
Bad weather:
‘Closing the school may be the right decision where the judgement is that students or staff face significant risk of serious injury in school or travelling to school. But remember that every lesson counts and consider whether it is reasonably practical to keep open.’ (DCSF) The Headteacher, School Manager and Premises staff assess the situation in terms of health and safety. We also consult with other local schools. If conditions pose a significant risk, the school will close. There is a robust system for notifying families which includes – News of any school closure or part school closure will be made available to parents via the school website, www.simonballe.herts.sch.uk We will also send email notification to parents and students via the regular ‘InTouch’ communication system as well as updating our Twitter and Facebook pages. HCC has the School Closure Notification System in place that lets parents know when school will be closed in severe weather conditions. To receive these messages by SMS or email, parents need to register at the following link: https://member.everbridge.net/ index/892807736725489. This link will direct you to the “Sign Up” page where you should click on the “sign up” button located at the top right hand side of the page on the grey strip and from there follow the instructions. It should take no more than 5 minutes to register and you can edit your information at any time should you change your mobile number or email address. Each contact within the system can have 2 devices added for each communication type if they wish to – this means that in addition to adding your own mobile number and email address, you could include the mobile number and email address of a partner or a grandparent in your registration process. They too would then receive any messages in relation to the school’s closure. Alternatively, interested parties could register themselves separately. If you have children at more than one school you can register for those schools too in a single registration process by selecting all schools at which you have children. Once signed up you will receive messages relating to the status of your child’s school.
If a substantial amount of snow falls during the day senior staff may decide that the school day should be shortened so that staff and students can leave the site in order to get home in the daylight. School day times may alter – open later, have a shortened lunch and leave earlier. When we remain open risk assessments will be undertaken to ensure the health and safety of staff, students and all site users. Our premises staff have formulated an action plan which includes clearing and gritting paths and walkways. There are a number of options which may be adopted, in the case of severe weather, to ensure continuity in teaching and learning for example – Certain classes may be asked to stay at home in a specific Key Stage The school is closed and all students will be given work using ICT, the work will be sent to staff for marking. School is open but there is a reduced number of staff. Classes may be reorganised with priority being given to exam classes For students not on site e-learning may be used. In advance departments will prepare work which can be delivered virtually. The decision to close the school is complicated and not taken lightly. Hopefully the above will show some of the strategies which will be used in the event of snow.
CHRISTMAS LUNCH TUESDAY 19th 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: Tuesday 28th November to Wednesday 13th December. 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.