5th October 2016
Dear parents and carers There are so many things to thank you for and therefore be proud of during the past three weeks. Sports Presentation Evening This was a fabulous evening in which the PE department celebrated the success from last year. There were just under 70 awards presented and the hall was packed with 300 students and their parents. Special mention should go to Alex Washbourne, Leah Wilkerson, Jack Smith, Kathryn Rollins, Elsa Barnfather, Max Lawrence, Matthew Day, Jean Nwahba, Emma Butcher and the District Athletics Team for receiving the top awards but the evening really showed the strength and depth of sport at Simon Balle. We are certain that we will have many successes to celebrate for the next few years! Open Morning The sun shone, the band played, our visitors came in their hoards and so many proud students helped to create the vibrant, celebratory mood. Thank you for getting them to school so early on a Saturday morning. Last year, yet again, we were in the top 10 of the most popular schools even though most of our students live in Hertford. We have received so many positive comments from Y5 and 6 parents yet again about our school. Do read the speeches on the website to remind you why you chose us! This year we focused upon the 60th anniversary of the school and looking ahead to the next 60 years. In 1956, the new Hertford County Secondary School was built, merging from several existing schools. It was not until 1967 that the name of ‘Simon Balle’ was chosen – after Simon de Balle, who was the first MP for Hertford in 1298. Our students leave us fully prepared for the next stage of their life journey. The future continues to be very exciting as we look for new ways to ensure that our students thrive in whatever situations and experiences they are given. Fun Run On Friday (30th September) we all enjoyed another whole school community event with beautiful autumnal weather. Dressed in maroon, green or house colours for Years R and 1, over 1200 students and staff gathered on the field to walk or run the course. Congratulations to Freddie Welch, Trixie Wraith, Jack Skelton, Millie Guy, Mr Kay and Miss Ahmet for winning their respective groups in the elite race. However, the event is mainly about the school community having fun and the fancy dress winners were: 7 Joe Moring, Josh Chandler, Alec Neate, Alex Miller, Natasha Walsh, Rehana Rahman and Mr Klippel. All of the Reception (Squirrels and Hedgehogs) and Year 1 (Rabbits and Badgers) received medals. To date we have raised more than £4,000 and we are expecting more money this week. This is the only time in the year when we ask for school funds and we ask that you give generously. This year, all monies will enable us to run a minibus and also develop our outdoor spaces. A big thank you to James Pooley and the PSA for another marvellous day! We will shortly be sharing the photos of the day with you and will update again once we have a final total. Mobile phones and lost property Thank you again to parents who have supported us on this slight change of policy. If students do need to bring in phones (& cheaper, basic ones may be adequate for this type of use) students are reminded to take care of phones and all personal belongings. Also, can you please check that all items of clothing are clearly named. We have an ever growing heap of mislaid items and it is very difficult to return these if not labelled.
Alison Saunders—Headteacher
Book Fiesta! All parents, staff and students are invited to the after school talk by Julie Palmer, Editor of The Mercury, our local newspaper. This will be held on Thursday, 10 Nov 3.45-4.45pm with refreshments being served from 3.25pm in the Library. Julie will be talking about journalism and writing. It is the first event of Book Fiesta! Our Fifth Annual Festival for Readers and Writers and a copy of the programme is near the end of this newsletter. Further information on the Festival will be emailed home.
Walk To School Month October is International Walk to School Month when thousands of children across the world will be celebrating walking to school. The initiative is meant to increase awareness about the many benefits of walking to school. An increased number of parents are choosing to drive their children to school, even when it’s easily within walkable distance. One UK source reports, “Over the past 20 years, the percentage of children travelling to school by car has doubled, almost 40% of primary and 20% of secondary age children are now driven to school each day. Most of these journeys are less than two miles.” Parents may be nervous about letting children walk but while their concerns are understandable, it’s also sad because many children are missing out on the benefits of walking to school. Walking is known to improve academic performance. Children arrive brighter and more alert for their first morning class. In a UK Department for Transport survey, nine out of ten teachers said their students are much more ready to learn if they’ve walked to school. Walking reduces stress and increases creativity, both of which will help a child’s performance at school. Walking gives children good life experience. It’s an opportunity for them to be independent, think responsibly, and make decisions for themselves. Some children feel less anxiety about being at school when they know how to get home; it’s much harder to learn that route from the perspective of a car. Walking gets children outdoors – Those few minutes of walking can provide inspiration Children pay attention to and revel in their surroundings. Walking provides daily exercise for children. - Incorporating physical activity into a child’s daily routine is important - as physical fitness improves, so can academic performance. More importantly the International Walk to School Month should significantly reduce the number of cars coming on the school site before and after school making the site much safer for everyone. We sincerely hope that as many of you as possible will join in and make walking to school part of your daily routine!
Non uniform day – Friday 21st October 2016 Many of our year groups chose a cancer charity this year and therefore our first non-uniform day will be to support Cancer Research by taking part in the Stand Up To Cancer campaign which culminates in the live TV show on Channel 4 on Friday 21st October. 100% of all the money raised will help to turn the latest scientific breakthroughs into effective new treatments and tests for cancer patients. Our charity committee students will also be providing some extra fund raising activities for students and staff to enjoy. We would encourage students to bring a minimum of £2.00 to support this admirable 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
Dates For Your Diary
Wednesday 5th to Friday 7th Oct Monday 10th to Wednesday 12th Oct Friday 21st October Monday 24th to Friday 28th Oct Sunday 30th October Thursday 3rd November Wednesday 9th November Thursday 10th November Friday 11th November Monday 14th November Wednesday 16th November Thursday 17th November Friday 18th November Monday 21st November Tuesday 22nd November Thursday 24th November Friday 25th November
Y7 (half year group) Phasels Wood Y7 (half year group) Phasels Wood Non uniform day – Cancer Research UK HALF TERM Clocks go BACK 1 hour Y10 Parents Evening Larch Centre Parent Consultations Larch Centre Parent Consultations Armistice Day Ceremony Book Fiesta! Award Evening 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 Xmas Lights
PSA News, Reviews and Updates The planning for the Ladies Pamper Evening Friday 18th November is well underway – please watch your emails for notice of when the bookings open! We had a wonderful turn out at the PSA AGM and meeting last night – thank you to all who attended. We still have a vacancy for a parent to organise and supervise the ‘Pre-Loved Uniform’ sales. Those of you who have bought some of these items will know how useful a service it is. If we cannot find a parent to help out (usually at parents evenings) we will have to stop selling uniform. If you are interested in recycling and helping others please make contact! We are once again on the look-out for raffle prize donations. If you have anything you think is suitable please bring it to the school office and they will pass it on. We would like to draw your attention to our parent evening raffles – you simply pay £1 when you sign in on the evening and you may be lucky enough to win the prize for that year group. It is a quick and easy way to support the school so please come with your £1 coins ready! As always we welcome parents to join us – we particularly need helpers with students in Year 8, Year 9 and the Sixth Form. If you would like to become part of this fun and vibrant group please email psa@simonballepsa.org.uk – even just for an informal chat. SBAS PSA Committee
Teacher Recruitment Fair – Saturday 15th October 2016
Simon Balle School is currently working alongside the Alban Federation in the area of teacher training. Training is entirely school-based and offers trainees the opportunity to work alongside expert teachers in developing teaching skills over an academic year. Programmes will be offered from September 2017 in both Primary and Secondary education across a range of subjects. Places are available for September 2017 programmes and are open to all graduates in the following subjects; Art, Biology, Chemistry, Computer Science, Design Technology, Drama, English, Geography, History, Mathematics, Media Studies, Modern Foreign Languages, Music, Physical Education, Physics and Religious Studies. Funding is available to support trainees, including tax free bursaries in some subjects. At Simon Balle School we will be offering training opportunities in primary education and in secondary education in the following subjects: Biology, Chemistry, Computer Science, Design Technology, English, Geography, History, Modern Foreign Languages, Physics and Religious Education. We are also exploring opportunities for Business Studies and Health and Social Care. If you believe that you have the skills required to join the profession and are interested in finding out more about the training, there is an opportunity to meet local headteachers and senior staff at a recruitment fair at the Alban Arena on Saturday 15th October from 9:30am -12pm. Please email afgtpenquiries@sandringham.herts.sch.uk or admin@simonballe.herts.sch.uk for further details. If you are unable to make the recrutiment fair but would be interested in exploring training opportunities at Simon Bale, please contact us via email admin@simonballe.herts.sch.uk
Yvonne Adshead – Assistant Headteacher
School Attendance Here at Simon Balle we are committed to providing your child with the best educational experiences and opportunities possible. We value your support as we strive to achieve your child's full potential; an essential part of this is ensuring that your child attends school every day. As a school we are monitored by Ofsted and the Local Authority on our attendance levels, in particular in relation to those students who have less than 90% attendance and are considered 'Persistently Absent'. This may seem a high figure but 10% absence means that students have missed approximately 19 days in a year. If you intend to keep your child at home please phone to explain the absence to enable us to maintain accurate records. Please be aware that for safeguarding reasons should any absence not be explained we will follow this up with a telephone call on the first day of the absence. If you would like to discuss any attendance issues please contact your child's Form Tutor or Head of Year in the first instance. I would like to thank you for your continued support and request that you ensure your child attends everyday enabling them to maximise their educational experience.
If your attendance (during
This is equal to
Which is being absent
one school year) is
being absent for
for about
95%
10 days
2 weeks
50 lessons
90%
19 days
4 weeks
100 lessons
85%
28 days
6 weeks
150 lessons
80%
38 days
8 weeks
200 lessons
75%
48 days
10 weeks
250 lessons
70%
57 days
11½ weeks
290 lessons
65%
67 days
13½ weeks
340 lessons
So you will miss
eSafety newsletter Parent edition
Autumn 2016
Pokémon Go Pokémon Go is a new gaming app that has quickly been adopted by millions of adults and children alike. There were 15.3 million tweets worldwide about Pokémon Go in its first week. The new game is different from others before it because it uses the real world as a background through the camera on a user’s device. The best way to understand it if you haven’t played before is to watch the trailer on the official Pokémon website: www.pokemongo.com/en-uk/
The Risks:
• Meeting people they don’t know face-to-face The game is designed to bring people together. Usually strangers. So you never know who they might meet. • There’s a physical risk It’s easy to forget to look where you’re going with this game, but they need to be careful of where they end up. There are already stories of people being lured to places that aren’t safe for children. • It can cost a lot of money There are in-app purchases and other incentives which can cost up to £79.99 (14,500 Pokécoins). Make sure the app’s set up without payment options. • Access to personal data Pokémon Go asks for personal information like your child’s birth date and email address, which they’re asked to enter or receive through social media accounts. Parents have the right to contact the creators to stop them from using their personal information.
Currently on Apple’s App store, the age is 9+, yet on Android, there is no age restriction at the moment. Despite this, parental caution is advised, even for teenagers. Whilst the game is undoubtedly clever, keeps people fit and is apparently very good fun, there are two main physical dangers to children using it. The first is related to awareness. People walk around staring at their screen (you might ask, what’s new?) and risk physically harming themselves by not watching where they are walking. The second is related to those who wish to harm children. It is widely believed that the game is susceptible to personal information hijacking and identifying a user’s location, although the developer will most likely provide clarification soon, and hopefully provide a solution. More about this can be found from online searches, such as the following from gaming site Nintendo Life. http://bit.ly/NSPCC-on-Pokemon
(the above risks have been taken from the NSPCC website)
Continued on the next page
New terminology such as ‘pokestop’ or ‘pokegym’ won’t help the current confusion for non-users but fortunately The Telegraph did a good job of explaining things recently http://bit.ly/The-Telegraph-on-PokemonGo It seems that either of these being in an inconvenient location can be remedied by visiting the following website and requesting their removal http://bit.ly/PokemonGo-Request If there is an actual Pokémon, the characters which players need to collect, in an inconvenient location, then this seems to be more of a problem. You will know soon enough if this is the case because you might have people knocking at your door who ask to walk over to that spot with their phones. As each Pokémon captured by one person does not disappear and can be captured by others, it means that you could have lots of visitors spotting them on their maps and asking for/demanding entry. The good part
about this is that if your property is not too large, the characters can be caught from a neighbouring property or road. If you have a particularly large garden or premises, this is less likely and people will want to walk up to it. Obviously you can deny access, and for child protection reasons, it is definitely best not to admit random children into your house or garden. So where does that leave you? How do you get this digital character removed from the map which leads players to your house? At the moment, it seems that there is no solution to this. The NSPCC is on the case and hopefully the developers will do the right thing very soon. http://bit.ly/PokemonGo-open-letter For now though, be vigilant and keep your eye out online for a remedy to this situation. Please read the NSPCC parent guide for more information: http://bit.ly/PokemonGo-Parent-guide
IT’S NOT OKAY The ‘It’s not okay’ website and campaign has been put together by Project Phoenix, a collaboration of public and third sector partners.
Their aims are to: • raise awareness of child sexual exploitation • help people recognise the signs • encourage people to report it • provide support to victims and those most at risk
THINKUKNOW THINKUKNOW sexting sextingcampaign campaign Thinkuknow are currently running Thinkuknow are a ‘The world changes. currently runningChildren a don’t’ campaign to ‘The world changes. increasedon’t’ understanding Children about how. www. campaign to Visit increase thinkuknow.co.uk/ understanding about parents/ to see their sexting. Visit www. ‘Modern Day Romeo & thinkuknow.co.uk/ Juliet’ video. Check parents/ to see theirout the other resources on ‘Modern Day Romeo & offer video. while you areout there. Juliet’ Check the other resources on offer while you are there.
To find out more about this, particularly with reference to online safety and sexting, please follow this link http://bit.ly/eSafety-itsnotokay
Child safety online: age verification for pornography
The Department for Culture, Media and Sport Sets out the government’s response to the consultation on Child Safety Online: Age Verification for Pornography. The consultation sought views on protecting children from seeing pornographic material online. Following its analysis of responses to the consultation, the government intends to bring forward legislation, in the Digital Economy Bill, to establish a new law requiring age verification for commercial pornographic websites and applications containing still and moving images, and a new regulatory framework to underpin it. Access to online pornography by children is often a concern held by many parents. Following a consultation on Child Safety Online: Age Verification for Pornography, the government intends to introduce the Digital Economy Bill, which will establish a new law to help prevent this access. A new age verification system will soon become a legal requirement for commercial pornographic websites which contain images and videos: http://bit.ly/Age-verification
Useful websites
“I want to make it less likely that my children will get into trouble at home when online”
“I don’t want people to see that when they search on the internet”
Find out how to make internet access safer at home on the Internet Matters website: http://bit.ly/ParentCont
Find out how to ask Google to remove information from their search results here http://bit.ly/RemInfo
“I have found a website that holds illegal content. How do I report it?”
Report illegal website content here: https://www.iwf.org.uk
For further eSafety advice visit: http://bit.ly/eSafetyAdviceforParents
BOOK FIESTA! Our 5th Festival for Readers and Writers 10th to 18th November 2016
James Mayhew is the award-winning creator of the Katie books, introducing children to famous works of art for almost 30 years. He has also written and illustrated the Ella Bella Ballerina books, BOY, Miranda the Castaway and many other titles. Alongside his work in publishing, James also presents classical concerts for children, during which he paints illustrations live on stage in time to the music. From Saffron Hall to the Royal Albert Hall, he has worked with many great musicians and orchestras on this project.
A passionate advocate of art, music and culture for children, James is in demand internationally as a speaker and educator, and is a regular visitor to both literary and music festivals. James will be talking to Reception and Year 1 students on Monday 14 November. Before she could walk, Gill Lewis was discovered force-feeding bread to a sick hedgehog under the rose bushes. Now her stories reflect her passion for wild animals in wild places. She draws inspiration from many of the people she has had the fortune to meet during her work as a vet, both at home and abroad. Her books have been translated into many languages and have won awards including the US Green Earth Book Award and the German Environmental Prize of Children’s Literature. She lives in Somerset with her family and menagerie of animals, and writes from a tree-house, in the company of squirrels. Gill will be speaking to Year 7 students on Tuesday 15 November.
Calling all Year 7-13 students – don’t miss Speaker’s Corner on 7th October for the launch of the Writing Challenge. Prizes and a special Awards Evening with James Mayhew at the Leaf Café on 14 November for the winning writers.
Steven Camden has been making up stories since he was eight. Growing up believing that writers didn’t come from places like where he grew up, he started rapping and speaking his stories, calling himself Polarbear. This led to trips all over the world performing on stages from Glastonbury to California and many places in between. Along his travels, Steven met many writers who shared similar backgrounds and realised that writing a book was something he was allowed to do. He has published two so far, TAPE and IT’S ABOUT LOVE, a third due out in 2017 and no plans to stop any time soon. Steven will be talking to Year 8 and 9 students on Thursday 17 November.
Julie Palmer is senior editor for Herts and Essex News, which includes the Hertfordshire Mercury, Midweek Mercury, Herts and Essex Observer, Harlow Star and associated websites. The mum of two has been a journalist for 36 years, since leaving school.
After starting as a trainee in Nottinghamshire, she specialised in sports reporting for a number of years in the North-east where she covered Hartlepool United and Middlesbrough. She moved to Hertfordshire six years ago to become deputy editor of the Mercury. One day she plans to write a novel. In the meantime she enjoys reading chicklit and is a particular fan of local writer, Freya North. Julie will be speaking to students, staff and parents in the Larch after school on Thursday 10 November. All authors will be signing their books at the end of each session. Books can be purchased on the day from the Leaf Café ‘pop- up’ bookshop. On Wednesday 16 November we welcome Travelling Books who will be displaying and selling a wide range of current titles to all our students (our Library benefits through commission). Simon Balle School gratefully acknowledges support from the Leaf Café and Oxfam Bookshop, Hertford. Thanks also to the Student Librarians and Staff at SBAS who have helped in the organisation of Book Fiesta! Please join in the conversation #SBSFiesta and follow us on Twitter: @Simon_Balle
@SBS_Library
www.simonballe.herts.sch.uk
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