31st January 2017

I think most of us are eager for this “gloomy, very cold” spell to end but I am

pleased to say that there have been many events recently, which have

lightened up this feeling.

The “Poetry Evening” was one such event. A new venture, it was a joy to see so

many young people reciting poems they had written on a variety of subjects

ranging from old age, politics, seasons and identity. Some members of staff

read favourites, including a powerful rendition from Dr Nwahba on a childhood

favourite about Africa. Various musical interludes performed by other students

helped the evening along. The special guest appearance fro the poet Keith

Jarret was a great treat.

A thank you, to Mrs Gibberd and her team.

Year 9 spent a whole day reflecting upon and learning about aspects of the

Holocaust and this resulted in powerful studies evolving. Please see the webpost

http://www.simonballe.herts.sch.uk/holocaust-memorial-day-2017

for more information about their day.

Meanwhile I continue to visit lessons and talk to students about their learning.

This is a real privilege as I am able to see passionate teachers enthuse students.

This week I have been welcomed in maths, psychology and English lessons. I

even went with the year 1 children to All saints Church as part of their religious

education lessons.

On Tuesday Mike Moss (deputy), Paul Connolly (Chair of Governors) and myself

will be attending a celebratory event organized by the Department for

Education for those schools who achieved the highest progress 8 scores at

GCSE in 2016. It will be a great honour to attend and represent the hard work of

those students, staff and the great support from parents which made this

happen. We are very proud of this success nationally at Simon Balle.

31st January 2017

Dates this Term

Monday 6th February Drugs Education workshop for parents

Tuesday 7th February Year 9 Options evening

Battlefields trip parents information evening

Strings recital

Wednesday 8th February Drums recital Monday 13th to Friday 17th February- half term

Tuesday 21st February Iceland trip parents information evening

Sports tour parents information evening

Thursday 23rd February First Battlefield trip leaves

Wednesday 1st March Year 13 Parents consultation

Thursday 2nd March Second Battlefield trip leaves

Friday 3rd March Big Band Evening

Saturday 11th March An evening of singing & strings – All Saints Church

Tuesday 14th March Year 12 Parents consultation

Wednesday 15th March Larch centre parents evening

Rock gig – Corn Exchange

Thursday 16th March Larch centre parents evening

Thursday 23rd March Brass recital

Friday 24th March Non uniform day – Red Nose

Monday 27th March Stevenson’s uniform sale 3pm to 5.30pm

Mon, 27 March – Thu, 30 March Y10 Sheringham Geography Field Trip

Monday 30th & 31st March School Play

Easter Holidays- Monday 3rd to Tuesday 18h April (all students expected in 8:40 Wednesday

19th April)

Monday 10th - Friday 14th April - Sports Tour

Thursday 20th April –Y7 Parents Evening

Friday 21st—Sunday 23rd April –Haworth –A-Level English Trip

31st January 2017

Fantastic Final Products from Key Stage 3 Textiles Key Stage 3 students have been working really hard in Textiles demonstrating

their creativity and improving their technical skills to create some fantastic final

products. Our new projects aim to provide students with the skills and

experience necessary to prepare them for our new GCSE course in Art and

Design: Textiles Design. This exciting new course will allow our students to explore

a variety of different techniques including; fashion design, digital textiles, dyed

fabrics, printed fabrics, soft furnishings and embellishment.

This qualification is now available for our current year 9 students to start studying

in September 2017, any year 9 students who would like to see more examples of

the work they could be creating for this course please see Miss Fish for more

information.

31st January 2017

New House Newsletter.

New have had a very successful start to the academic year and have already

had a number of significant noteworthy achievements.

Year 7 have made a great start and have been involved in music through the

junior wind band as well as sports. A number of 7N students achieving “student

of the week” for house points, and a special mention goes to Willow

Hamilton-Hill for achieving “student of the month” in October for KS3. 7N are

also third so far in the Accelerated Reader competition.

Mr Brennan’s Year 8 form have made a great contribution to some of New’s

successes. Katy Szymanska won “best model” in the Volcano Day competition.

On top of this, many of the Year 8’s have been regularly attending art club, run

by one of our Year 13 students, earning house points for their commitment and

efforts.

Year 10 have seen success in English, with Oliver Scorey winning the year’s Haiku

competition. Outside of school, Jacob Broadwood has impressively performed

in a theatre production at Gordon Craig Theatre.

Year 12 have begun their first year of A-Levels and have worked very hard in

making the house play competition a huge success for New - congratulations to

Rose Shepherd and Kitty Voss for directing the house’s entry of “Jack and the

Beanstalk” and winning the overall competition! It was a great effort from all of

the performers and it was great to see so many new Year 7s contributing to the

school already. A special mention should be given to Dawa Karko in 7N for

receiving the best newcomer award. A big thank you also to the students

supporting the performers on the evening.

Year 13 are very busy with their final year of A Levels and applying to university,

and 13N have had a number of very positive offers from top universities

including Leeds, Southampton and Nottingham. Aside from this, Gwilym Turner

has been very active as Music Ambassador and worked very hard to organise

and promote the recent Rock School concert.

We wish them the best of luck in their future endeavours.

We have all gone into the “New” Year ready for another great term and ready

to climb back up the house points table.

New House Captains

Mental Health and Emotional Wellbeing Parent Support Group

Dear Parents/Carers,

The mental health and emotional wellbeing is an ever increasing aspect of

children's lives that are impacting on them in so many ways. I am working with a

range of agencies, who are at their maximum capacity in terms of referrals.

Much of my work with students is focused primarily on a wide range of mental

health related problems and I have seen a considerable rise in concerns from

parents and carers. This can be anything from having an understanding of some

of the underlying problems or being able communicate with professionals. It is

with this in mind that I am planning to set up a parental help group, which will

meet on a fortnightly basis throughout the school year.

I am still in the early stages of planning but would be keen to share my thoughts

with parents and shape the support group around their needs. I plan to have an

initial meeting after half term, when I would like to meet with interested parties

to plan how we go forward.

I feel this is a great opportunity for us to work collaboratively on a key area of

impacting on the development of our children.

Please could email deardsl@simonballe.herts.sch.uk by Friday 10th February if

you feel you would like to be part of the group and attend the first initial

planning meeting on Wednesday 1st March.

The group will meet on a Wednesday evening, between 6pm and 7.30pm.

I look forward to hearing from interested parents and carers.

Leon Brown

Director of Care and Wellbeing

Designated Senior Person For Child Protection

Parental Drug Awareness Workshop

Concerned that your knowledge about drugs and alcohol is limited or out of

date?

Then we would like to invite you to our Drug Awareness Workshop specially

designed for parents / carers at Simon Balle on Monday 6th February from

18:00 – 19:30 in the Larch Centre (primary phase building)

The workshop aims to:

Provide relevant, up-to-date information about alcohol, cannabis and legal

highs in a safe and familiar environment

Offer strategies for parents to have open conversations with their children

about drug and alcohol misuse

Promote ways parents can help children make positive, healthy choices.

As well as an interactive presentation and informal learning tasks, there will be

an opportunity to ask questions and find out where to go for more information

and support.

Please let us know if you are coming by emailing smithj@simonballe.herts.sch.uk

stating your child’s name and year group as well as the name of anyone

attending.

We look forward to welcoming you.

Please note this workshop is for parents/Carers only no

student should be in attendance.

Leon Brown

Director of Care and Wellbeing

Designated Senior Person For Child Protection

Spare time to help older people?

Registered charity number 1116662

Assist with shopping, cleaning, laundry and other domestic tasks.

Help older people remain independent and living in their own homes.

• casual hours • £7.85 per hour

• work locally • holiday pay

www.ageuk.org.uk/hertfordshire

01707 386068

HERTFORD

Quaker Meeting House

Mondays 10.20

WARE

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Wednesdays 10.30