Thursday 24th May
Ofsted letter to all parents
One of the many things that Ofsted scrutinise is our attendance data. They want to see that the majority of students attend school all the time. Parents are often surprised to hear that as a school we are judged on our overall attendance - even if children are sick, this is still seen as negative attendance. I am therefore disappointed that parents still continue to ask for or indeed take children out of school for holidays. Whilst I know that holidays are cheaper, I do not see this as a sufficient reason - you could choose a more affordable destination. The law is clear on this too and we do not endorse holidays taken during term time. I must also add that the vast majority of our parents do work with us on this and we do understand that from time to time, exceptional circumstances do occur, however, not on an annual basis. Often it is these very children who are the ones which find catching up difficult. Ofsted were pleased to note our attendance figures; however we all agree that we continue to ensure that all children attend school every day. Ofsted also noted that our values and ethos are incredibly strong here at Simon Balle All-through school. Parents, staff and students spoke highly of a deep sense of community, a promotion of self identity and worth, and also of respect and kindness. Students told inspectors how the school was like a “big family” and that “teachers move mountains for you”. Like a family, we cannot always agree but I do hope that most feel that everyone is treated with respect and dignity. It is therefore with sadness that I need to report how extremely rude some, albeit a few, parents have been to my staff, whilst in the school car park. Following letters to all parents we have noticed that again many of you are parking and/or dropping off on site. Indeed most schools in Hertfordshire, and I visit many, do not allow parents or often visitors to park. I have had to use public car parks or walk from residential roads when visiting colleagues. We must keep our children safe.
The Governing Body has therefore had to make a difficult decision – please refer to the letter below: USE OF THE SCHOOL CAR PARK To everyone who uses the car park We have written to you previously informing you that dropping off or picking up is no longer allowed on site due to safety concerns. Unfortunately our request has not led to a sustainable change in the use of the car park and improvements have only been short-lived. The Governing Body has therefore made the decision to close the school gates at defined periods of the day. Those who require disabled parking or special consideration (e.g. student is in plaster) can ring the school office to make suitable arrangements. From Monday 21st May, both school gates will now be closed from 8.35 to 9.00am in the morning and 3.10 to 3.35pm (2.45 to 3.10 Tuesday) in the afternoons. These measures will reduce the increasing congestion in the car park and ensure that when our staff, students and parents are walking on site, they can do so safely. Please note that 6th Form students are not allowed to park on site. As a school we have always actively promoted sustainable travel to school and as the majority of our students live locally they are able to walk to school. There is also the park and stride option from the car park next to the fire station for those who have to be driven (free 30 minute parking twice a day). This is a decision that we have not taken lightly but we must implement these measures now before an accident happens on site. We hope that you will all support us in this matter. Yours sincerely, Mr P Connolly (Chair) On behalf of the Governing Body
Dates for your Diary Friday 25th May - Non Uniform Day, Sixth Form Ball Monday 28th May - Friday 1st June - Half Term Friday 8th June (7-10pm) - PSA Pamper and shopping night Tuesday 26th June - Y13 Theatre Trip Thursday 28th June - Y13 English Trip Sunday 1st July - Summer Concert - Saffron Hall Tuesday 3rd July - Art Exhibition (Larch Centre) Thursday 5th July - Sports Presentation Evening Saturday 7th July - Slice of Summer Monday 9th July - Sports Afternoon Wednesday 11th July - Y7 Transition Evening Thursday 12th July - Transition Day, Awards Ceremony Friday 13th July - Music Tour leaves Monday 16th July - Y8 Maths Challenge Larch Centre ‘Show of Work’ Tuesday 17th July - Stevensons uniform sale (3pm-8pm) Friday 20th July - End of Term (early finish) Music Lesson Fees from September 2018 From September 2018 the fees for termly lessons are as follows: 30 minutes per week / 11 lessons - £225.50 20 minutes per week / 11 lessons - £156.00 The fees for 10 Rock School sessions per term will be £65.00. Please contact the music department with any queries: music@simonballe.herts.sch.uk
May 2018 Dear Parent/Carer On the 25th May 2018 the General Data protection Regulations (GDPR) comes into force in the UK. These new data protection regulations build upon the Data Protection Act of 1998. The GDPR requires public authorities and businesses to identify the lawful basis for storing personal data, audit information that we already hold and take a ‘data protection by design’ approach to personal data. We take data protection very seriously at Simon Balle All-through School. In line with GDPR requirements, we have appointed a Data Protection Officer and a permanent working group to oversee our approach to data management and protection. In order to ensure that we comply with the new regulations, we have reviewed our current policies and practices. We have already updated our privacy notices and data protection policy in line with the new requirements. These can be found along with our other policies: http://www.simonballe.herts.sch.uk/policies/ For the majority of data that we hold on students and parents, the lawful basis for processing is a‘public task’. As a public body, we have various statutory reporting duties regarding safeguarding, attendance, examinations etc and are required to share information with the Department of Education, the Local Authority and other agencies. For certain other data, we rely on consent that was gathered as your child joined the school. To learn more about the General Data Protection Regulations please visit the Information Commissioner’s Office website on http://ico.org.uk Yours sincerely Madeleine Harman School Manager
Help needed please If any parent has experience in the book publishing/journalism/writing sector and would be willing to talk to some of our students please would you email me at library@simonballe.herts.sch.uk Many thanks, Mrs J. Syme (Librarian)
Relief cover/PPA time – Larch centre We may have a need for someone to cover for staff absence (planned and unplanned) in the Larch centre. If you are interested in finding out more about this please email Julia Creasey at creaseyj@simonballe.herts.sch.uk We would be happy to discuss this with both qualified and unqualified teachers.
Report Survey Research clearly shows that the greater the engagement and communication between school and home, the better the results for students both pastorally and academically. In light of this, we are reviewing our reporting system to ensure that it is as purposeful and effective as possible. To help us gain a 360 degree perspective we will be asking parents, staff and students to answer a questionnaire on the current system and to make suggestions on what we can possibly change. Your opinions and insight are vital to us so please take the time to complete the questionnaire when you receive it to help guide us on what changes we need to make. Thank you for your support. Mrs Owen
Term Dates for 2018-19 Autumn Term 2018 INSET 1: Monday 3rd September INSET 2: Tuesday 4th September Whole school in on Wednesday 5th September Open Morning: Saturday 22nd September Monday 24th September – school starts at 9:45 HALF TERM: Monday 29th – Friday 2nd November Occasional Day 1: Friday 23rd November Occasional Day 2: Monday 26th November End of Autumn Term: Friday 21st December (early finish – time TBC) Spring Term 2019 Term starts: Monday 7th January INSET 3: Friday 15th February HALF TERM: Monday 18th – Friday 22nd February End of Spring Term: Friday 5th April (early finish – time TBC) (Easter Weekend: Friday 19th – Monday 22nd April) Summer Term 2019 Term starts: Tuesday 23rd April May Bank Holiday: Monday 6th May INSET 4: Tuesday 7th May HALF TERM – Monday 27th – Friday 31st May Secondary Transfer Day: Thursday 11th July End of school year: Tuesday 23rd July (early finish – time TBC) INSET 5: (Non-attending for staff) Wednesday 24th July
July d n 2 ay Mond homas T Emily bout her ” a Talks ovel “MUD n debut 4pm in the Library
Tickets £1 ( Redeemable off £7 price of book)
symej@simonballe.herts.sch.uk
PE News County League Athletics
After 4 rounds Simon Balle athletes are having a great season. On Tuesday we competed at Ridlins stadium, Stevenage. All teams performed well with the U14 Boys continuing their remarkable season achieving a high score of 58 points overall. This leaves them top of the league with 2 rounds remaining and they are in with a big chance of winning the overall title. The top 4 teams will qualify for the Cup final and teams that finish between 5th & 8th qualify for the Plate final. At the moment our U14 Boys teams are favourites to qualify for the cup final with the U16 Boys and U16 Girls in a good position to qualify for the plate final. Upcoming fixtures County League Round 5 at Luton – Thursday 7th June County League Round 6 at St Albans – Wednesday 13th June District Athletics Championships – Friday 29th June
Football Year 7 Boys finished 3rd out 8 teams at the recent District 6-a-side football competition. The boys won 2, drew 4 and lost only 1 game. Cricket The Year 7 boys lost out to Richard Hale in the County. In the District Cup, The Year 7 boys beat Goff’s school by 9 wickets, but lost to a very strong Levanthorpe team. However, this should be enough for the boys to progress to the semi-final stage. In a strong Year 7 team, top performers have been Arthur Stanbrook (Bowling), Cameron Turner (batting) and in the field Charlie Ciuffa. The Year 10’s beat Sele in the District cup last week and on Thursday play Hitchin Boys in the County Cup. The annual District Calypso tournament takes place at Sele on the following dates; Tues 12th June - Girls Y7-10 Weds 13th June - Boys Y8 & Y10 Thurs 14th June – Boys Y7 & Y9 Rounders The Y9 & Y10 girls have had a great start to the year beating Presdales last week by a rounder and a half and a rounder respectively.
Careers News Volunteering opportunities: On Saturday 7th July 1-4pm, we are running a Summer Fair here at SBAS in the Larch Centre, giving families the opportunity to come together as a community. If a group of you would like to plan and run a stall e.g. bobbing apples, pin the tail on the donkey, splat the rat etc. All prizes etc are provided. This is a great leadership opportunity and a chance for you to get involved in some of the Primary School work. If you are interested, please pop in and see your Head of year at some point this week. Guest Speaker – Andy Chew On July 13th, we are very fortunate to have the MD of Cisco, Andy Chew speaking to our Y10 & Y12 Business students. The talk will take place in the hall during Period 4 (12.05 – 1.05).
Upcoming events 4th June – Good luck to the Y10 Employability group who will be undertaking work experience during this week. 20th June - UCAS Essex Higher Education Exhibition 28th - 29th June - Sixth Form Induction 2nd July – Y12 Work Experience week 16th July – Y8 Maths Challenge Day – All Day event and from 2pm careers talk with employability skills focus.
Ladies Pamper and Shopping Night @ Simon Balle All through School Hertford, SG13 8AJ On Friday 8th June 7-10 pm The PSA would like to invite you, your family members and friends to our fundraising Ladies Pamper and Shopping Night. It will be held on Friday 8th June in The Larch Centre Primary School, from 7pm to 10pm. Please note that all guests must be 18+. We have the following amazing pampering, beauty and holistic treatments to offer you. đ&#x;’…Manicures and Pedicures: full or mini manicure or pedicure, French manicure, reshape and varnish, gel manicure or pedicure, shellac manicure or pedicure (ÂŁ18 for 30-minute treatment) đ&#x;’†Facials: mini facial, Japanese facial, Clarins facial, Elemis facial, facial reflexology, facial acupressure, facial reflexology, facial rejuvenation, vegan facial (ÂŁ29 for 30 minutes), Proteolytic Enzyme facial (ÂŁ10), Proteolytic Enzyme eye treatment (ÂŁ10), Proteolytic Enzyme back treatment (ÂŁ10) ďż˝ Massages: hand and arm, lower leg, Thai foot, Indian head massage, neck, back and shoulder, foot reflexology, Hot Stone Back massage, Reiki healing, Deep tissue massage, Shiatsu treatment Others treatments include: Hopi Ear Candling treatment (some ÂŁ15 for 30-minute treatment), De stressing Hypnotherapy techniques, Lip and chin wax, Foot callus peel treatment (ÂŁ15 for 20-minute session) eyebrow and eye lash tinting, Check out the free Pilates demo and talk. We will also have lots of lovely stallholders offering a great range of items including: Fudge, Cakes, Books, Hair bows, Crystals, Bags, shoes, purses, Candles, Skincare, Healthcare, Jewellery, Stationery, Nail wraps, Shabby chic gifts, Homeware, Kitchenware. A bar and snacks will be available Wonderful raffle prizes to be won Entry tickets ÂŁ6 in advance and pre-bookable treatments are available on the PSA website: www. simonballepsa.org.uk until 3rd June. The first 40 tickets sold will receive a complimentary gift bag full of goodies. Most treatments are tailored to cost ÂŁ7 for a 15-minute taster session or
ÂŁ14 for a 30-minute session. There are a few prices which differ from this. These prices are correct at time of print. Many thanks in advance for your support. We look forward to seeing you. Simon Balle Parent and Staff Association