7th December 2016 Although we are in the seasons of ‘Advent’ - the Christian festival of expectant waiting and preparation of Jesus’ arrival, we must in this newsletter also look backwards to several community events. Book Week Our annual book week was even better than ever, with some stellar guest speakers including, James Mayhew, Steven Camden and Gill Lewis. I particularly enjoyed James’ talk to the children in the Larch Centre as he made up stories and drew wonderful pictures for us to remember his visit. James also was our guest of honour at the Leaf Café when the winners competition read out their short stories. Our thanks to Rebecca at the Leaf café. All in all, a most memorable week for all our students with a real encouragement to keep reading and writing. Autumn Concert The concert at Hertford Theatre was another amazing evening with many talented performers. Speaking to many of our new Yr 7 parents they were truly amazed by the standard and energy of the students. They spoke of their surprise and delight at the talent on show. The confidence that the young people so obviously have and the hours of practice honestly shows. It was a first for our ‘mens choir’ and great to see again the real diversity from classical, popular, jazz and big band. Sixth Form Open Evening The sixth form open evening (yes all on the same week) was another real ‘hit’ with so many of our own, as well as other students new in September, spoke from their heart and with enthusiasm as to why they think that Simon Balle Sixth Form offers the best educational experience. Ladies Pamper Night A big thank you to our parents who through the PSA have recently put in such hard work and given up their time to fund raise for the school. The ‘Ladies Pamper Night’ was as ever a wonderful success with a number of beauty treatments on offer, baked goods for sale and time to ‘chill out.’ Over £1200 was raised! House Plays And then we come to the House Plays. Again the hall was packed out with parents and students. The standard was particularly high with 6 plays of around 30 minutes each in length. Congratulations to New, who were the overall winners. Golden Lunch We continue to help out with at the Golden Lunch, held for the more senior people in our community at the Baptist Church. The faithful five: Lucy, Jessica, Martin, Tom and Katherine helped serve Christmas lunch.
Christmas is now only a few weeks away and we have a number of special events. The primary phase children have their celebrations and plays and are very excited about their trip to Hertford Theatre to see Little Red Riding Hood On Monday 19th we hold our annual Christmas carol concert at All Saints starting at 7pm and lasting about an hour. Reception, Yr1, Yr7, Yr8 and Yr12 will return to hear the concert on Tuesday the 20th, followed by the whole school lunch. Important Reminder The whole school Christmas lunch will be held on Tuesday 20th December. Tickets cost £3.75 and must be brought from the canteen by Wednesday 14th December. The lunch will be a traditional two course Christmas lunch. A vegetarian option is also available. Please make sure they don't miss out!
Last Day of Term/ Christmas Jumper Day The end of term is Wednesday the 21st. Students MUST wear school uniform but may wear a Christmas jumper. This will help to raise money for a local homeless charity. A minimum donation of £2.00 would be appreciated.
Dates For Your Diary Wednesday 14th December Saturday 17th December Monday 19th December Tuesday 20th December Wednesday 21st December Monday 9th January 2017 Monday 16th January Thursday 19th January Friday 27th January
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/Christmas Jumper Day Y11 Mock Results Day Y13 Mocks week Y11 Parents Evening Holocaust Memorial Day
Book Festival A huge thank you for all your support during our recent Book Festival, and especially with the Book Fair where we took £1205! This means we have earned commission in free books to the value of £663. On a more worrying note, we are finding that many of our popular titles are disappearing from the library shelves. Please talk to your child/ren about respecting school books and making sure they know how to loan out a book, especially when the library desk is unstaffed and a written record on the clipboard should be filled in by the student. Many thanks for your help in this. Janet Syme (Librarian)
Exam Certificates Summer 2016 Exam Certificates are now ready to be collected. Unfortunately it is not possible for us to send certificates to you by post as they have to be signed for. However, if you would like to arrange for a family member to collect your certificates on your behalf please ask them to call into the exams office between the hours of 9am and 2pm. Please note that we are only obliged to hold certificates for one year after the issue date and after that time they can be destroyed. Miss L Wain
Job Vacancies Finance Assistant (closing date 14th December) - Please see the school website http:// www.simonballe.herts.sch.uk/vacancies/ for full details including, job specification/hours, etc. Coming Soon! Maternity Cover RE Assistant Head teacher 2 primary teachers Primary TA