Simon Balle All-through School Larch Newslettersmartfile.s3.amazonaws.com/simonballe.herts.sch.uk/... · Saturday 9 March Big Band evening ... product concept Hit Snap is a game which

27.2.19

Simon Balle All-through School

Larch Newsletter

Message from the Headteacher

Inside this issue:

Dates for the

Diary

2

From the Library 3

PSA News 3 & 4

Other Information 5 & 6

I do hope that everyone has managed to get a break over the past week

and enjoy the unseasonably warm weather. With just six weeks now until

we break up for Easter (Friday 5th April) the seasons are rushing by.

The main purpose of this newsletter is one of reminders to parents.

Uniform

Can I please remind parents of the uniform rules as we are starting to see

some variations. We are also slightly adding to some of the previous rules

to be inline with our secondary students.

Girls should be wearing white socks or bottle green tights with black

leather or patent shoes. Boys should be wearing black trousers and black

leather shoes.

No child should have transfers/ tattoos on them. Nail varnish is not allowed

and no jewellery other than a pair of small studded earrings and a watch.

Girls should wear only green coloured accessories.

Coats should not have large logos on them and should not be leather or

denim. Hoodies are not allowed.

We need to explain again the haircut policy. Boys must not have shaved

hairstyles, nor lines or patterns cut into their hair. Hair should be one

natural colour and the minimum length acceptable is a 'number 3'. Long

hair should be tied back.

ALL CLOTHES SHOULD BE CLEARLY NAMED. We have a significant amount

of school uniform, hats and gloves that we cannot return to children as

the items are not named. Please go to reception and ask Mrs Harding if

you have lost anything. All named clothing is automatically returned to

children once it is found.

Homework

Starting this Friday, we are now setting homework for most children in

Years 1-3 on Go4Schools. When a child requires a personalised task which

better meets their learning needs, this will be stuck in to the homework

book as normal.

Teachers will upload the homework task(s) by Friday of each week for

every class and the date it is due to be handed in will also be indicated

on Go4Schools. Parents will be able to log in and access the homework.

All work should still be completed in the homework book unless indicated.

SPRING TERM

Dates for your diary

Continued.

Wednesday 27 February Primary Dance festival

Monday 4 March Manic Ceramics please see PSA news for details

Thursday 7 March World Book Day

Saturday 9 March Big Band evening

Monday 11 March Reception parents meeting 3:30-6:60pm

Wednesday 13 March Reception parents meeting 3:30-6:30pm

Friday 15 March Red Nose Day

Tuesday 19 March Y2 SATS presentation 3:30pm - details to follow

Saturday 23 March Strings and sing evening

Friday 29 March Reception & KS1 Disco

Saturday 30 March Green Fingers tidy up of the Larch Garden 9-11am

Quiz Night 7pm

Thursday 4 April Y2 Windsor Castle Trip

Thursday 4 April Y1 parents assembly, parents welcome 2:30pm

Friday 5 April End of term (early finish)

Tuesday 23 April Term starts

Reception homework will continue to be stuck in to the book at the moment but the

homework will also be posted on Go4Schools in colour, plus any additional supporting

documents when appropriate.

Please contact the class teacher in the first instance if you have difficulties accessing

the homework, but for parents who have forgotten their log in, please use the forgot-

ten your password feature on the website as teachers will not be able to help.

Absence Procedure

If a child is absent parents/carers must:

Telephone the school as soon as possible, preferably before 09.00am, on each day of

the absence leaving your name, your child’s name and form and reason for absence.

The main school number is 01992 410400

Save evidence in the form of appointment cards, prescriptions or referral letters should

they be required at a later date.

From time to time, parents may need to ask for special leave of absence, which is

known in advance (not funerals). Please do not email teachers, or phone in to request

this. Could all parents, including those in the Larch Centre, please complete the on line

request form. Holidays are usually not agreed to, in accordance to the UK educational

law.

PAGE 2 SIMON BALLE ALL-THROUGH SCHOOL

PAGE 3 SIMON BALLE ALL-THROUGH SCHOOL

PSA News

We are delighted to announce that we have booked a Mothers Day visit from Manic

Ceramics on Monday 4th of March at 3.15pm.

This pottery painting session will provide children from all year groups with the opportuni-

ty to create a lovely bespoke jug or bowl with a design pre planned by Manic

Ceramics.

The session will be run by staff from Manic Ceramics with additional support from school.

(We really do need parents to volunteer so please if you can help out get in touch via

“volunteer" on the website or email [email protected])

The cost of the session is £13.00 per item with a significant percentage of this going into

the school funds. Bookings for this event can be made via the PSA website and will

promptly close on 28th February. This is to allow Manic Ceramics to prepare the correct

number of items. Please note, orders can not be processed after 28th and spaces are

limited.

We hope that this is something your child will enjoy. The more children that have a

go – the more funds can be raised for the Simon Balle.

If your child would like to participate, please purchase your ticket online by 28th Feb

2019 via: www.simonballepsa.org.uk

If your child would normally attend Play Aloud, please let them know if you book the ce-

ramics session. Any children who would usually be collected from Play Aloud after

4/4.15pm will be returned to Play Aloud when the ceramics session has ended for pick

up as normal. We expect the session to end around 4pm if one item is painted or

4.15pm if two items are painted - you can indicate choice on the order form.

Choir will run as usual on Monday 4th, children can choose to attend either as normal or

can be booked on to the ceramics session.

To mark World Book Day on Thursday 7th March students in Reception to Year 9 are be-

ing sent home with a £1 book token. If any older student would like a token please call

into the main Library. The tokens are valid from 28thFebruary – 31st March (inclusive).

There are some specially produced books priced £1, available at participating

bookshops, and we will have some copies of these available for loan in our two libraries

shortly. The tokens can also be used against other books or audio books worth £2.99 or

more. Further details are available at www.worldbookday.com

Please note that this year students will not be dressing up on World Book Day.

Many thanks for all the amazing entries that are coming into Primary Reception (Mrs

Harding) for their WBD Photographic Competition - please remember the closing date is

this Friday 1st March at 9am. Winners will be announced on World Book Day. Thank you

for your support.

From the Library...

PAGE 4 SIMON BALLE ALL-THROUGH SCHOOL

PSA News

PAGE 5 SIMON BALLE ALL-THROUGH SCHOOL

Mangrove Drive

We have received complaints from residents in Mangrove Drive. This is a private road (the

sign is due to be replaces shortly) and parents should not park there. Please be considerate

to our neighbours and use the park and stride.

Thanks you for your co-operation.

Design Museum announces Simon Balle school as 2018-19 Design Ventura Winners

Six students from Simon Balle All-through School are the overall winners of this year’s Design

Ventura, the annual national design and enterprise challenge, run by the Design Museum in

partnership with Deutsche Bank’s youth engagement programme, Born to Be. The winning

product concept Hit Snap is a game which aims to encourage everyone to do more exer-

cise. The Simon Balle team will work with the Design Museum and creative professionals to

develop their product and launch it for sale in the Design Museum shop in June with profits

going to the school’s chosen charity. Since 2010 Design Ventura has helped over 75,000

students to develop design, enterprise and employability skills, as well as raising over £10,000

for charities chosen by Design Ventura winning teams.

The winning team from Simon Balle All-Through School, Billy, Loui, Ross, Bailey, Fynn, and Dan,

with their teacher Jack Andrews, joined the judging panel, led by Sebastian Conran, at the

Design Museum in Kensington on 13 February for an exhibition and VIP reception to

celebrate the achievements of all ten shortlisted teams.

Design Ventura’s real-life design brief calls for teams to research and consider the needs of

one of three target audiences; adult design enthusiasts, young people and students, or

families. Students must consider how their product will complement others on sale in the

Museum shop, sustainability, the ease of the manufacturing process and budget. Addressing

the brief, the Simon Balle team considered rising obesity rates among young people and the

need for everyone to take more exercise. This led to their concept for a game that can be

played by a range of ages and would complement other products in the Museum shop.

Jack Andrews, Lead Teacher of Design & Technology, at Simon Balle All-Through School,

recognises the skills that students have gained through Design Ventura. ‘Being able to design

is an excellent skill but being able to see value in ideas and create viable business models

and account for stakeholder needs will allow young people to have an impact in the

economy and potentially start their own companies and businesses.’ He added, ‘Design

Ventura gives me the means to enthuse them [students] at the beginning of their GCSE and

an amazing sense of pride when they succeed. But teaching isn’t just about GCSE results, it’s

providing the most meaningful learning experiences possible and Design Ventura helps to

facilitate this.’

PAGE 6 SIMON BALLE ALL-THROUGH SCHOOL

Design Museum announces Simon Balle school as 2018-19 Design Ventura Winners

Nicole Lovett, Deutsche Bank’s UK Head of Corporate Social Responsibility, commented, ‘The

creative industries are likely to be creating 1,000 jobs a week in the UK that are highly skilled

and resilient to automation*. Design Ventura offers students the opportunity to engage with

the industry and an early insight into business. The skills they gain open career pathways and

contribute to longer-term community sustainability as well as economic growth.’

2018-19 winning teams are:

Simon Balle All-Through School, Hertfordshire, overall winner, for Hit Snap, a version of

the game Snap in which the opponent must perform the exercise on the card when

there is a matched card

East Barnet, London - second place

Horsforth School, West Yorkshire - third place

Weydon School, Surrey - commended

Gilliots School, Oxfordshire - commended

HERTFORDSHIRE TEACHER RECRUITMENT FAIRS 2019

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Visit our website: teachinherts.com to register as a candidate and set up your job alerts for the areas you want. You can then manage your own profile for both your first and any future job applications in Hertfordshire. Please apply directly to schools with vacancies using the Teach in Herts portal as soon as possible during your training year. Schools do not incur agency fees.

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