17th November 2015 Dear Parents/ Families I think we have all been lulled into a sense of a pro-longed autumn because of the seasonally unusual weather but maybe now winter is fast approaching with those dark evenings, rain, winds and colder temperatures. For indeed, our next newsletter will be sent home on December 1 st and by then Christmas will seem but a blink away! A reminder then about uniform: All students at senior level (Y7-11) must be wearing a jumper and for our boys, a long sleeved shirt with a tie. We insist upon proper coats/ jackets with no logos, no denim, leather or hoodies. Thank you too for a positive response to an insistence that girls remove nail varnish when they come to. I think we are making some headway on that one! Last week saw the publically remembering the armistice, with everyone standing outside in the large quad. Our Larch Centre students held their own moment of reflection at the same time. It was a moving, solemn moment, with readings by the Head Boy and Head Girl and a trumpeter. I would like to thank all students for their immaculate behavior and staff for the on the day organization- no mean feat! In particular, special thanks needs to go to Andy Grantham and Madeleine Harman (both members of my senior team) for the planning and implementation. Thanks also to Mark Taylor for the sound! A website post for Armistice Day is available to view online. Please remember that this newsletter aims to not replicate posts on the website front page posts can be updated as many as 3 times a day so please check frequently for the latest news from. I recommend you find the Children In Need post, which clearly illustrates the charitable nature of Simon Balle. As we look ahead, may I remind all parents of the peculiarities of the Easter holidays this coming year (2016). Easter is incredibly early and Hertfordshire took the decision to have the Easter weekend, return to (for 4 days) and then take a full two-week holiday. Some parents have already taken advantage of this and booked a holiday for the second week, which is in some cases cheaper as many s will have returned. Both Richard Hale and Presdales have made the holiday 3 weeks BUT we have not. This is a one off but in the light of the recent press coverage on term time holidays please do plan ahead and understand when the students are in. I must admit that it never ceases to amaze me the number of calls the office receives each term about the date we start back! Alison Saunders, Headteacher
Dates for your diary Thursday 26 November- closed - day in lieu for Open Day Friday 27 November- closed - occasional day Tuesday 1 December- Autumn Music Concert Wednesday 2 December- Year 8 parental consultation Thursday 3 December- Y11 Mocks exams begin Friday 4 December- Primary Open Morning Wednesday 9 December- Primary Open Evening Thursday 10 December- Year 9 parental consultation Tuesday 15 December Carol Concert (pm) Wednesday 16 December- Carols and School Christmas Lunch Friday 18 December- End of term, lunchtime finish. Spring Term Monday 4 January- School starts for years 7-13 Tuesday 5 January- School starts for reception students End of Spring Term - Friday 1 April Summer term Monday 18 April- Friday 22 July Governing Body A big thank you to the 6 people who, following a previous newsletter article, put their names forward as prospective governors. The Governing Body is delighted as this will strengthen their skills match. Indeed, several of the long-serving governors have signaled their departure at the end of the summer term. This will cause both skills and experience gaps and so we have decided to invite all 6 to join us so that they can learn from those more experienced and eventually fill the gaps. A big thank you and welcome to the following who have volunteered their skills and time: Andrew Porrer, Jo Ennis, Alison Mackie, Mark Chapman, Tunde Balogun and Sally Mason. Attendance Last year our attendance average across the was 96.3%. Attendance is one of the key gateways to student achievement and although pleased with the above figure we know it could be higher. The cumulative impact of missing time is clearly shown in the table below. The aim of our is to have an average attendance across the of 97%. The government at the end of last year classified persistent absence to be at 90%. This is the figure which our attendance officer will be using to identify students who are of concern. You can view your child s attendance on Go4Schools. Please encourage your son or daughter to attend whenever possible as this can significantly impact on their progress. If you have any concerns over your child s attendance please do not hesitate to contact your son s / daughter s Form Tutor in the first instance.
As an approximate guide: there are 5 a week, 20 a month Attendance Percentage 1 year 2 years 3 years 4 years 5 years 100% 0 0 0 0 0 Number of days absent Months absent from 95% 10 20 30 40 50 20 1 month 90% 20 40 60 80 100 40 2 85% 30 60 90 120 150 60 3 80% 40 80 120 160 200 80 4 75% 50 100 150 200 250 100 5 70% 60 120 180 240 300 120 6 65% 70 140 210 280 350 140 7 60% 80 160 240 320 400 160 8 55% 90 180 270 360 450 180 9 Mr Moss House News We have decided to include House News in each copy of the newsletter. This time Ashbourne steps into the spotlight you can see their information below. We remind you that all house-related posts can be found in the House Showcase which available via the SBS Community tab on the website. The October Students of the Month were as follows: KS3 - Lucy Martin 8B - 26 house points KS4 - Lily Jones 11N - 22 house points KS5 - Abigail Cousins 12A - 14 house points James Kay
Ashbourne House Newsletter Update Ashbourne has had a very successful history in house competitions and it is our great levels of participation and involvement which led to our victory last year. We have learnt that Mrs Adshead does not take defeat lightly and so we are hoping to regain our title this year and stay at the top! Luckily, we have a very talented and hardworking set of students to help us - we have already got off to a flying start this term with lots of things to be proud of! For our first newsletter round-up we have decided to focus on the sporting achievements of Ashbourne House. 7A have already shown what a positive acquisition they are to the, as well as the house, by getting off to an excellent start at Simon Balle. Their form has contributed to house plays, both the boys and girls football team, the boys rugby team and drama club which shows true dedication and a great team spirit from Mr Walsh s form, something we particularly pride ourselves on in Ashbourne. Jasmine Bidwell has the most house points in the form so far, so a big well done to her for starting off the year so positively. Miss Corbett s Year 8 form has maintained their sporting achievements both in and out of. Owen, Charlie and Archie have all taken part in District Cricket and Hannah, Grace and Emma have been part of their swimming club championship. The success continues in Mr Trueman s Year 9 form as they are a particularly sporty group. Albert Nwahba and Jack Smith are both members of the District football team, as well as Jean and Albert Nwahba being chosen to play County rugby. Noah Osborne and Arthur Twining play County hockey, and Arthur plays basketball for the County as well. It is a fantastic achievement for the members of one form to reach such high levels in such a range of sports. Year 10 have also got off to a brilliant start - they currently have the best attendance in their year group as well as having 27 pupils with no negative house points. This is a really impressive effort from Mrs Motte s form, showing a lot of promise for the rest of the year. Matteo Tontodonati in particular has done very well in competing in regional swimming competitions, good luck to him and hopefully the form s success will continue! Despite their busy year ahead, Year 11 have still managed to be high achievers in the activities in which they partake. Mitchell Gould (football) and Reece Clark (badminton) have done very well to reach County level in their sports. Elspeth-Grace came second in a District cross-country competition so a great performance from her. Hannah Shoard competes nationally in dancing competitions as well as winning the Barbara Sharpter Award, well done! Miss. Ansell is very proud her of her form for starting their GCSE year so positively. Year 12 have just begun their first A Level year and have been working hard on house plays. The leaders for the play were Yasmin James, Ursie Blyth-Morter, Kate Gresty and Eddie Martin and the theme for Ashbourne was an 80 s mashup entitled Back to the Breakfast club. It was great to see so many people taking part from all the year groups and fantastic to see so many members of Ashbourne supporting on the night. We may not have won but we had lots of people performing and the highest number of supporters in the audience which means lots of house points for Ashbourne and reflects our great team spirit. Ursie Blyth-Morter was also one of the Students of the Month for the amount of house points she has achieved, so a big well done to her and keep it up!
Year 13 have sadly embarked on their final year at Simon Balle and so are very busy with their studies, however they have still managed to be active where they can. Luke Wilde in 13A was a runner up in the Sixth Form bake-off with a delicious rugby themed cake. Florence Fyfe, one of our House Captains, has maintained her place at Arsenal Ladies and has won every game so far this season, so a big well done to her! In Ashbourne we also have the pleasure of Head Girl, Alex Delameilleure, who plays a big part in motivating the form and keeping them updated. FLO FYFE- Interview How many years have you been at Arsenal? I have been at arsenal for 9 years since the age of 8. What s been the highlight of your time there? The highlight of my Arsenal career was winning the FA Youth Cup last year. It was a fantastic achievement for the club and felt great to be in the starting 11. Internationally, my first cap for England u15s when I was 13 was an amazing experience too. What do you hope to do after 6th form? After 6th form I hope to either go to university to study sport, while carrying on my career in football at either a wsl1 or wsl2 team, or get a sport scholarship to America where I can play football while studying in a fantastic new environment. What advice would you give to aspiring footballers? The advice I would give to any young athlete or footballer is to never give up. In all sports there are knockbacks which can throw your confidence, but getting through the harder moments makes you more determined and a stronger athlete overall. The motivation disappointments give you, allow you to push on as an athlete and make you more grateful when things go your way.
Simon Balle Carol Service Tuesday 15th December All Saints Church, Hertford 7pm Free Entry, Retiring collection for the church music@simonballe.herts.sch.uk 01992 410408 Simon Balle School