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1st March 2017

Dear Families

I trust everyone has managed to get some break at this mid point of the term.

Just before half term, Simon Balle All through School was invited to attend a

highly prestigious celebratory event held by our Regional Schools Commissioner,

Martin Post at the Army and Navy Club in Pall Mall. Martin (ex Head teacher of

Watford Boys Grammar School and now the Regional Commissioner for

Academies, in the South Central and North West London area) invited those

schools who had ensured that students last year made the greatest progress,

judging from their starting points (Progress 8). Out of 874 academies, around 12

schools from 27 counties/ boroughs, were invited. We were one of only eight

secondary schools.

The evening, attended by myself, Mike Moss (deputy) and Paul Connolly (Chair

of Governors) proved to be very interesting, with a talk by Sir David Carter, the

National School’s Commissioner and a discussion on what is effective school

improvement. It was a great privilege to attend this on behalf of the school,

demonstrating what outstanding results were achieved last year. Our partner

school, The Wren Academy, (which also converted to all through at the same

time as us) was also present, as was Herts and Essex Girls School.

We are now focused on our current cohorts!

We would like to make you aware of the new barrier we have had installed

blocking entry for cars to the playground. This is for the children's safety.

We would like to remind parents and carers that if you need to collect your

child during the school day to park in the car park and walk to the main

reception.

Dates This Term

Wednesday 1st March Year 13 Parents consultation

Mental Health and Emotional Wellbeing Parent Support Group

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 Day

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

Monday 30th & 31st March School Play Easter Holidays- Monday 3rd to Tuesday 18th April (All students expected in

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

We are collecting Sainsbury “active kids vouchers”

and hope to buy cookery equipment. Please ask

your friends, family and neighbours to send them in!

Y9 Get Work Ready Day

We were fortunate to have a number of local and national employers work with

our Y9 Students in February, organised by Education Learning Skills (E.L.S.A.) All

Y9 students participated in a day where they took part in interview and job

application challenges that local employers use within their current

recruitment processes. This allowed students to begin to discover and gain an

appreciation of the qualities and skills required by today’s employers. Students

also participated in individual and team assessments, thinking ‘out of the box’

tasks, customer service activities, practical and written exercises. These activities

provided students with real and honest feedback. Y9 students gained valuable

experience the day especially in relation to the skills and processes of gaining

employment. Thank you to everyone who supported the day, making it a very

successful event.

On another note congratulations to 10 students from Y11 and sixth form who

were accepted onto an NHS work experience programme which will run over

the Easter Holidays.

PSA I would very much like to use this opportunity to both thank and promote the

incredible work carried out by our parents committee. There are so many

events they support each month in a variety of ways which benefit directly

YOUR children. Probably you are not even aware of this; but their work is saving

you money and creating opportunities for our students. So far this academic

year they have helped organise the Fun Run, supported parents and poetry

evenings, school plays, musical events, the Frost Fair, organised a Ladies

Pamper evening and provided refreshments at the carol concert. Not to

mention the forthcoming not to be missed Quiz Night (May 13th), school play,

and concerts. Financially they have supported the Poetry evening, a

contribution for the science team to attend the Big Bang Event (at Birmingham),

will organise and contribute to the Y11 leavers event and the new outdoor

classroom. Each year, £5000 of their fundraising is spent on maintaining one

minibus, benefitting so many of our sports teams and musicians.

In a time of grave school budgets (more of that at another time) their work is

invaluable. Unlike most local schools, we at Simon Balle do not ask for a regular

school fund. More and more schools are now doing so. Whilst Governors may

need to look at this again, the PSA is a vital part of our successful strategy. They

need your support- time, ideas and if you can not give this, make a donation

(GiftAid). Please make this a priority!

Maths Week Before half term, the Maths department ran a fun filled week of Mathematical

activities during break/lunch times and lessons. It was a great success, the

events were full of enthusiastic students and staff, keen to get involved, working

together to solve problems, and a clear passion for maths was shown across the

whole school.

Monday’s Sherlock Holmes coding event included the Caesar shift and pigpen

codes, leading students to different parts of the room to collect their clues,

ending in the location of the prize. Students who worked particularly well in this

task were Aimee Nimmo, Sara Elibineer and Callum Stern.

There were two competitions on Tuesday: a pi competition and a guess how

many sweets are in the jar. Louis Broad recited 63 digits of pi, closely followed by

Adam Wheeler who recited 60. We had over 100 entries into the guess how

many sweets are in the jar, and the winner was Jonny Andelin with 232 sweets.

The big maths quiz on Wednesday was a huge success, with students from all

year groups trying to beat the staff from the science and PE departments. We

had groups of students from all different year groups including the sixth form

enter the quiz, which really bought out the Simon Balle community feel with

questions inclusive to all. Science took the win this year, helping them to get

over their previous loss to the PE department. The following students from year 9

were very close behind: Danny Orpin, James Threlfall, Ernie Dial, Lewis Head and

Scott Watson. There was great teamwork and fierce competition from all.

Thursday’s origami lunch had the students creating baskets, columbus cubes

and various other models of choice. Students were helping each other to bring

out their creative skills and discuss different methods and strategies to improve

their designs.

Another creative activity that required a lot of thought and mathematical skills

(ratio, time, symmetry, number skills) was the Mathematical Bake Off! On Friday

break time, students and staff bought in their mathematical bakes, to be

judged, and I could not believe the effort and quality of all the entries. The

calculator cakes were exceptional. The winning bake was created by Louis

Cripps, closely followed by Tilly Day and Julianne Gager. Mr McGovern took the

win for the staff, with his calculator cake.

Then we finished the week off with mathematical charades, where students

acted out mathematical words to the rest of the competitors. This was both very

amusing and very creative, with some clever drama being linked to maths.

We had some amazing mathematical videos created throughout the week

during maths lessons, ranging from songs, and raps to stop motion. Saskia

Sheridan, Tilly Day and Lauren Webb, won this prize for their creation of a

mathematical song, which they scripted and sang.

On Wednesday afternoon, some of the Maths staff, along with 12 Maths sixth

form students, and 16 year 8 volunteers, ran a Maths afternoon in the Primary

phase which was a fantastic opportunity for our 6th form and year 8 students to

work with the younger children, helping them to complete different fun maths

tasks.

This included activities such as making shapes with bodies, chatter boxes, colour

by numbers, symmetry, guess how many sweets are in the jar, and numeracy

competition. It was great to see the Simon Balle community coming together,

the primary students loved meeting some of the secondary staff and students,

and these are skills and memories that students take away with them. Our sixth

form lead the events exceptionally well, explaining the tasks and helping the

students, while the year 8 students went around the groups, helping where

necessary and getting to know the primary students.

Overall, the students saw a different side to maths during the week, were keen

to get involved in the different events, and the atmosphere was buzzing. All

departments were involved, everyone was talking about great maths ideas and

about the enjoyment students were having. The skills we learn through this vital

subject are essential for everyday life and problem solving, and the week

bought everyone together to enjoy Maths.