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 11 th March An evening of singing & strings All Saints Church Tuesday 14 th March Year 12 Parents consultation Wednesday 15 th March Larch centre parents evening Rock gig Corn Exchange Thursday 16 th March Larch centre parents evening Thursday 23 rd March Brass recital Friday 24 th March Non uniform day Red Nose Day Monday 27 th March Stevenson s uniform sale 3pm to 5.30pm Monday 30 th & 31 st March School Play Easter Holidays- Monday 3 rd to Tuesday 18 th 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 13 th ), 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 6 th 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.