Dear Parents, Firstly a warm welcome back to Simon Balle and the Autumn Term, 2014- 2015. Whilst most of us have enjoyed a good five and a half weeks away, there have been so many activities to report on from the wider Simon Balle Community. Summer school The Department for Education asks schools to run a summer school for targeted year 7 students. Five attended along with two of last year’s students who came as helpers. The week was a huge success with a variety of activities, including a study trip to Hertford museum, a visit to the library, maths and languages activities and working with our writer in residence. The highlight of the week was the cookery day- not quite “the Great British bake off” but a triumph of cakes, a roast dinner, pancakes and smoothies! Well done to all those students who showed that they will certainly become excellent ambassadors for Simon Balle. Exam results There has been again so much publicity about examination results with warnings issued about how the results would “dip” due to the tightening up of the criteria. There was also the added complication that the Government announced on the Andrew Marr show (September 2013) that they had changed the regulations about how examination results would be published. Unusually we at Simon Balle had planned for a large group of our year 11 to sit their maths exam in November 2013, as this was the termination of their course. Quite rightly, we wanted them to be able to complete the course. However, this meant that for those students who wanted to sit and perhaps were not quite able to achieve a C, when they re-sat the linear exam this summer, it does not count in the school’s results.

DATES FOR YOUR DIARY: Tues 9th Sep Y7 Meeting 6.30pm Thurs 11th Sep Y12 Expectations 7.00pm Evening Thurs 18th Sep Y13 Trip— Amaravti Monastry Sat 20th Sep Big Band at Wodson Park Tues 23rd Sep Y9 Expectation 6.30pm Evening

Sat 27th Sep Open Morning Mon 29th Sep Inset Day 1st/2nd and Y9 History Trip to 8th/9th Oct Belgium Battlefields Mon 6th Oct PSA AGM 7.00pm Tues 7th Oct Y7 Core learning 7.00pm Evening Tues 14th Oct Y11 Expectations Evening Thurs 16th Oct Y10 & 13 Theatre Trip Thurs 23rd Oct House Music and 7.00pm Classical Guitar Platform

10th September 2014

THIS ISSUE: Summer School Exam Results Welcome to new staff Roofing Works The Ardeche Trip Music Tour PE Programme

Despite all of this turmoil (we like many schools saw the greatest turbulence with AS levels), students at Simon Balle made very good progress. Often the headlines (see press and our own website) focus upon the higher grades. However, for those students who perhaps found aspects difficult, but worked hard and diligently taking up the numerous offers from staff for additional support, they achieved their all time best. This is of course what counts and how we pride ourselves that our students are well prepared for their next steps. Welcome to new staff We welcome our new staff. We wish them every happiness and success as they join the Simon Balle community. Emily Robinson Maths David Walsh Maths Amy Wotton Modern Languages Nicola Kleanthous Modern Languages Nicola Gjoka Gibbard Head of English Lucy Owen English Janice Mayo English Natalie Searle Science (Chemistry) Emma Ranade Science Ayla Scullard History Tom Joyce Physical Education Jon Whitehouse Finance and Business Manager Michael Tweed Site Manager Sarah Chandler Administrator

Alison Saunders

Roofing works The contractors worked all through the summer finishing off the roof over science, staffroom, library, office, art and D&T – a big project. This weekend the scaffolding was removed and we can get back to normal…for a while. We have funding which will allow us to replace the roofs in English, music, the gym and dining room. This work is scheduled to start towards the end of this term and should be completed by mid-February. This will mean that over the last 2 years every roof in the school has been replaced. This will have a direct impact on our heating bills and leaks will be a thing of the past. We would like to thank M&J, our contractors for providing an excellent service.

Madeleine Harman

The Ardeche

This year’s trip was, again, fantastic and huge credit goes to the 85

pupils and 11 staff I had the privilege of taking. This year’s theme

was Sporting Legends and our equipment was arm bands and

rubber rings. Everyone embraced this, including the PGL staff, and

much fun was had throughout the week; meal times were certainly

entertaining……have you ever tried eating breakfast in a rubber ring

and arm bands??

The first half of the trip took place in the Med’ where pupils took part in Sail-

ing, Kayaking, Archery, Windsurfing and the ever so popular Banana

Boat. Half a day was then spent at a water park before moving on to the

mighty, mighty, Ardeche where we all undertook a 3 day descent of the

Ardeche river in canoes.

Simon Balle has a huge reputation on this trip and this years’ pupils and

staff did not let me down! It was heart warming to hear from the PGL staff

that many had been given our school as a reward for their hard work

throughout the season because being given Simon Balle School is seen as

a privilege.

I have since had communication from staff in the Med which confirms this:

‘We all had an incredible few days with the legends of Simon Balle and no other

group can quite meet your reputation!’

‘I hope you’ve had time to recover from an action-packed trip! Looking forward

to next year already! Without a doubt, you have been the most fun and entertain-

ing group I’ve been lucky enough to work with in 4 seasons with PGL, so huuuge

thanks to you, the kids and all your colleagues.‘

Many many thanks, again, to all the pupils and staff for making this trip

another success; next year sees the end of my Ardeche adventures as I am

hanging up my watershoes after 16 years of running the trip

………….. watch out Year 10, it’s going to be emotional! - Nicky Traynor

Music Tour 2014 Fifty-six musicians from years 8 to 13 took part in a truly amazing music tour to Valkenburg and Ghent in July. The rain followed us for two of our concerts which led to shortened performances but undampened spirits – they may not have been “Walking on Sunshine” but a torrential downpour didn’t stop our musicians. Saxi-dentals took the opportunity for an impromptu walka-bout which became a hallmark of the tour. Our other two concerts were also brilliant. The teamwork, enthu-siasm and professionalism of our musicians was in-spiring. For all, the highlight was the final concert in a prime evening slot at the Ghent Music Festival. Having per-formed at this festival twice before, we were invited back this year to perform in a 7.45pm concert. The square in Ghent was packed with over 4000 people watching the Big Band, Concert Band and Coro. Over a hundred people joined in the conga and more than half the audience swung their arms to YMCA! It is no exaggeration to say that the venue, audience size and quality of music and sound was on the same scale as a stage at Glastonbury. Parents and friends came out to watch, former students as well. Wow! The memories that the musicians

have of performing at this utterly amazing place will last them forever. The memories that I have, of the massive audience, joy, laughter, dancing and more will live with me. Most importantly, the outstanding music performed by our musicians should make everyone at Simon Balle proud. No other school is repeatedly asked back because of the high quality of its music and the professional attitude of its performers.

Mark Taylor Director of Music

…..finally “Have your children moved up to Y10? If you have any green jumpers that you no longer need please donate them to the PSA 2nd hand uniform sale! Any donated items can be handed in to the school office—the PSA run 2nd hand stalls at all parents evenings throughout the year—items £1 each The PSA will be holding an informal evening for any parents that wish to join on Monday 22nd September in the library. If you wish to attend please email psa@simonballepsa.org.uk

THE SIMON BALLE Sept - Oct ½ Term PE EXTRA-

CURRICULAR PROGRAMME 2014

Lunch-time clubs

1:25pm - 2:05pm

Tues 1:25pm – 1:50pm

After school clubs

3:30pm-4:30pm

MONDAY Y9-10 Girls Rugby (KA) Y7 & Y10 Netball (MR/HA)

Y9 Rugby (JP) Y7 Football (TJ)

Y8 Rugby (DB)

TUESDAY Basketball (Y8 & 9) - Gym

WEDNESDAY Senior Football (JP) Y8 & 9 Netball (KA & LEJ)

Y7 & 8 Girls Rugby (KA) Y9 Football (JP)

Y7 Rugby (TJ)

Girls Cricket - Gym

THURSDAY Y9 Football (JP) Swimming (KA)

Y10 Football (TJ) Senior Netball (NJT & LEJ)

Y11 Football (DB) Kick-Boxing – Gym (LB)

FRIDAY Y8 Football (DB) Girls Football (PC) – All Years

Y7 Basketball - Gym Rugby Y11 & Senior (DB & TO)

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Privacy Notice - Data Protection Act 1998 We, Simon Balle School, are a data controller for the purposes of the Data Protection Act. We collect personal information from you and may receive information about you from your previous school and the Learning Records Service. We hold this personal data to:

Support your learning;

Monitor and report on your progress;

Provide appropriate pastoral care, and

Assess how well we are doing. Information about you that we hold includes your contact details, national curriculum assessment results, attendance information1 and personal characteristics such as your ethnic group, any special educational needs you may have and relevant medical information. If you are enrolling for post 14 qualifications the Learning Records Service will give us your unique learner number (ULN) and may also give us details about your learning or qualifications. In addition for Secondary and Middle deemed Secondary Schools Once you are aged 13 or over, we are required by law to pass on certain information to providers of youth support services in your area. This is the local authority support service for young people aged 13 to 19 in England. We must provide the names and addresses of you and your parent(s), and any further information relevant to the support services’ role. However, if you are over 16, you (or your parent(s)) can ask that no information beyond names, addresses and your date of birth be passed to the support service. This right transfers to you on your 16th birthday. Please tell Mrs Salter, Database Manager, if you wish to opt out of this arrangement. For more information about young people’s services, please go to the National Careers Service page at https://nationalcareersservice.direct.gov.uk/aboutus/Pages/default.aspx Some of the information you supply will be used by the Skills Funding Agency to fulfil its statutory functions, issue/verify your Unique Learner Number (ULN) and update/check your Personal Learning Record. The Skills Funding Agency may share your ULN and Personal Learning Record with other education related organisations, such as your careers service, school, college, university, Government Departments and public bodies responsible for funding your education. Further details of how your information is processed and shared can be found https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/lrs-privacy-notices Other Institutions involved in collaborative delivery. Where secondary schools are involved in collaborative delivery with other schools / colleges and learning providers, pupil information may also be shared to aid the preparation of learning plans and use of data to achieve the objectives identified above. We will not give information about you to anyone without your consent unless the law and our policies allow us to. We are required by law to pass some information about you to our Local Authority (LA) and the Department for Education. We are required by law to pass some information about you to the Department for Education (DfE)

1 Attendance information is NOT collected as part of the Censuses for the Department for Education for the

following pupils / children - a) in Nursery schools; b) aged under 4 years in Maintained schools; c) in Alternative Provision; and d) in Early Years Settings. This footnote can be removed where Local Authorities collect such attendance information for their own specific purposes.

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and, in turn, this will be available for the use of the LA. If you want to receive a copy of the information about you that we hold or share, please contact Mrs Salter. If you need more information about how the LA and DfE store and use your information, then please go to the following websites: http://www.hertsdirect.org/services/edlearn/privsch/ 2 or https://www.gov.uk/data-protection-how-we-collect-and-share-research-data If you cannot access these websites, please contact the LA or DfE as follows:

Data Protection Team Information Governance Unit Room C1 County Hall Pegs Lane Hertford SG13 8DQ

email: data.protection@hertfordshire.gov.uk

Public Communications Unit Department for Education Sanctuary Buildings Great Smith Street London SW1P 3BT

Website: https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/department-for-education Email: info@education.gsi.gov.uk

Telephone: 0370 000 2288

2 Local Authority to provide a link to their website with information on uses they make of data and any other

organisations they share data with. Ideally they should also provide an address where parents without internet access can write for information.

SIMON BALLE MUSIC DEPARTMENT AT A GLANCE

PERFORMANCES

SAT  20TH  SEPTEMBER   BIG  BAND  AT  WODSON  PARK  SAT  27TH  SEPTEMBER   OPEN  MORNING    WEDS  15TH  OCTOBER   DRUM  RECITAL    THURS  16TH,  FRI  17TH  OCTOBER   CLASSICAL  GUITAR       WORKSHOPS    THURS  23RD  OCTOBER   CLASSICAL  GUITAR  PLATFORM     HOUSE  MUSIC  7PM  MON  10TH  NOVEMBER   SAX  QUARTET  AT  ROTARY  MTG  TUES  11TH  NOVEMBER   PIANO/KEYBOARD  RECITAL    MON  24TH  NOVEMBER   FUNKY  STRINGS  MORNING      TUES  25TH  NOVEMBER   AUTUMN  CONCERT  –       BROXBOURNE  CIVIC  HALL  7PM    FRI  28TH  NOVEMBER   OCCASIONAL  DAY       BIG  BAND  –  HERTFORD             CHRISTMAS  LIGHTS        TUES  2ND  DECEMBER   ROCK  GIG  -­‐  CORN  EXCHANGE  FRI  5TH  DECEMBER   TRINITY  EXAMS  SAT  13TH  DECEMBER   TAKE  NOTE  CONCERT  TUES  16TH  DECEMBER   CAROL  SERVICE  7PM  WEDS  17TH  DECEMBER   CAROL  SERVICE  AM    FRI  19TH  DECEMBER   LAST  DAY  OF  TERM   Exam dates: Trinity – Friday 5TH December

AUTUMN TERM 2014

MON  1ST  SEPTEMBER   INSET  1    SAT  27TH  SEPTEMBER   OPEN  MORNING    MON  29TH  SEPTEMBER   INSET  2    MON  27TH-­‐FRI  31ST  OCTOBER   HALF  TERM    THURS  27TH  NOVEMBER   OCCASIONAL  DAY  1  FRI  28TH  NOVEMBER   OCCASIONAL  DAY  2    THURS  4TH  –  FRI  19TH  DECEMBER   Y11  MOCKS       FUTURE DATES

Thursday  12th  February  –  Strings  recital    Friday  3rd  March  –  An  evening  with  the  Simon  Balle  Big  Band    Saturday  28th  March  –  A  Spring  Concert  of  Strings  and  Singing      Tuesday  7th  July  –  A  Grand  Summer  Concert      

CONTACTS music@simonballe.herts.sch.uk 01992 410408 (updated 05.09.1414)  

OTHER EVENTS

 

SIMON BALLE MUSIC DEPARTMENT AT A GLANCE

PERFORMANCES

THURS  29TH  JANUARY                                  TRINITY  ROCK  &  POP  EXAMS      TUES  10TH  FEBRUARY                                  AB  EXAMS    THURS  12TH  FEBRUARY                            STRINGS  RECITAL          FRI  6TH  MARCH                                                              AN  EVENING  WITH                                                                                                                          THE  SIMON  BALLE  BIG  BAND      MON  9TH  MARCH                                                        CLASSICAL  GUITAR  WORKSHOPS    THURS  19TH  MARCH                                            CLASSICAL  GUITAR  PLATFORM  2    THURS  26TH  MARCH                                          TRINITY  EXAMS                                                                                                                            ROCK  GIG  –  CORN  EXCHANGE    SAT  28TH  MARCH                                                      A  SPRING  CONCERT  OF                                                                                                                            STRINGS  AND  SINGING      

Exam dates: Trinity Rock and Pop – Thursday 29th January Associated Board - Tuesday 10th February Trinity – Thursday 26th March

SPRING TERM 2015

 THURS  15TH  JANUARY   Y11  PARENTS’    EVENING    MON  16TH  –  FRI  20TH  FEBRUARY   HALF  TERM      FRI  3RD  APRIL   BANK  HOLIDAY      MON  6TH    -­‐  FRI  17TH  APRIL   EASTER  HOLIDAY    

FUTURE DATES

 Tuesday  7th  July  –  A  Grand  Summer  Concert      

CONTACTS music@simonballe.herts.sch.uk 01992 410408 (updated 05.09.14)

 

OTHER EVENTS

       

SIMON BALLE MUSIC DEPARTMENT AT A GLANCE

PERFORMANCES

SAT  25TH  APRIL   A  CONCERT  OF  WIND,  BRASS       AND  PERCUSSION      TUES  23RD  JUNE   PIANO  &  KEYBOARD  RECITAL      THURS  25TH  JUNE   ART  EXHIBITION    TUES  30TH  JUNE   SINGING  EVENING      THURS  2ND  JULY   WIND  AND  BRASS  WORKSHOP    THURS  2ND  JULY   CLASSICAL  GUITAR       PLATFORM  3    TUES  7TH  JULY   A  GRAND  SUMMER  CONCERT    THURS  9TH  JULY   ROCK  SCHOOL  GIG      WEDS  22ND  JULY   MUSIC  TOUR        TO  MONDAY  27TH  JULY  

Exam dates: Trinity Drums and Percussion – Weds 29th April Trinity Rock and Pop – Friday 26th June Trinity – Thurs 9th Fri 10th July Associated Board - Monday 13th July

SUMMER TERM 2015

 MON  4TH  MAY   BANK  HOLIDAY  –  MAY  DAY    TUES  5TH  MAY   INSET  4    TUES  5TH  –  FRI    8TH  MAY   Y7  TRIP  TO  OSMINGTON  BAY    TUES  5TH  –  TUES  12TH  MAY   Y10  EXAMS    MON  25TH-­‐  FRI  29TH  MAY   HALF  TERM      FRI  3RD  JULY   INSET  5      

FUTURE DATES

     

CONTACTS music@simonballe.herts.sch.uk 01992 410408 (updated 05.09.14)

 

OTHER EVENTS