And so we now only have a few days left of this academic year 2011 – 2012. Unlike many others we have been fortunate not to have to cancel events due to the weather – well until last week. It was with regret that we took the decision to postpone the Modern Foreign Languages Festival whereby 160 primary pupils were joining us for an Olympic sporting and cultural experience. However primary headteachers are eager to join us in September. An outdoor production of ‘Twelfth Night’ at the Ware Festival was rehoused in the lecture theatre where our Year 7 enjoyed what can only be described as a ‘stunning production’ of mainly Year 12 drama students plus some younger talent. This week continues to be another busy week, following on from the Rock School Gig at the Corn Exchange (great to see parents there), the Year 6 into 7 activities, the Year 7 parents table tennis evening and the Year 9 presentation afternoon. House Plays tonight will be slightly different this year, although I am sure equally enjoyable and of a high quality. The Music Tour to Ghent leaves on Thursday. We also will be thanking and celebrating the efforts and amazing achievements of those staff who are leaving us. I would like to take this opportunity to thank them publicly – Nic Balrltrop is known to many generations of students. He joined the school to teach biology in 1978. Nic has shared his passion for travel and nature through both his teaching and within the science department. Nic took a particular interest in the maintenance and upkeep of the school pond and we have to ensure that we carry on his good work. Barry Cheal has rightly been described as a ‘Simon Balle legend’ as a maths teacher. Barry joined the school in 1989 and will be fondly remembered for inspiring many students to study maths at university. He was also responsible to promoting and running chess competitions and organising the annual maths challenges. Barry and his wife, Berni, are off to Kazakhstan to teach. We wish them every success in the exciting new adventure. Lorraine Fenton is perhaps Simon Balle through and through as she went to school here herself and trained as a teacher at Balls Park and returned to the school as a teacher of pottery. When I arrived in 1997 Lorraine was Assistant Senco but appointed full time to the post in 1998. She is known to so many parents, teachers in local schools and indeed people in Hertford. Her extensive knowledge as a Senco is shown daily in her work with students by bringing care and passion to her role; nothing is too much effort. Lorraine has contributed so much more – as an enthusiast for outdoor education she has led and been involved in numerous residential trips. She has also been an active member of the PSA and a school Governor. We shall miss her and we wish her every success with her retirement and plans for the future. Claire McHaffie was appointed to Simon Balle to teach ceramics but over the years this has grew into a more general art teacher’s role. However she successfully introduced the ever popular A level photography to the school. Claire’s passion, knowledge and interest in art has enthused many students as well as helping many to develop their skills to become in themselves competent artists. We wish Claire an enjoyable retirement. Tony Roe, although only having been with us as a science teacher for two years has made his mark! Tony has been accepted on the ‘Future Leaders’ programme and will be joining the Lea Valley High School as a senior staff member before moving on to head up his own school. We wish him every success in this new chapter of his career. Matthew McLeish, who joined us in January on a two term contract has has been successful in securing a permanent position as a Design and Technology teacher at the Nobel School. We wish him every success in his new school.

And finally may I thank everyone for their commitment and support throughout this year. So many people give so much to Simon Balle and this is what makes it such a special place. We, Governors and senior staff are fully aware of the schools’ strengths and weaknesses. We have a challenging agenda for improvement, based on feedback, monitoring and professional knowledge. Our priorities include our review of homework (see Liz Ellis’s article in the last newsletter), literacy, long term and lesson planning. All that is left is for us to wish you a restful, enjoyable break and to hope for some better weather! Until September 4th…….. Alison Saunders Uniform Reminder Just to remind all current Year 9s they should return in September in maroon jumpers available from Stevensons. End of Term Arrangements Dismissal times for the last day of term 20th July are as follows: Year 7 12.35pm Year 8 12.30pm Year 9 12.20pm Year 10 12.20pm Please note there will be no canteen available at break.

Dates for your Diary 17 July House Plays 19 July Music Tour leaves for Ghent 20 July End of term - details below 3 Sept INSET Day 4 Sept All students back

School Photos for Y7, 11 & 12 11 Sept Induction Evening for Y7 Parents 17 Sept Y10 Expectations Evening

Student Timetables 2012/2013 This year we are planning to send the students’ timetables via our InTouch communication system to all the students’ school email accounts as well as to any parent email addresses we hold. The first email will be sent to Years 8-11 and 13 during the school holidays with a second email sent to all year groups during Monday 3rd September. Students are asked to print a copy ready for the first day of term on Tuesday 4th September. If you would like to update your email address, please email admin@simonballe.herts.sch.uk by Thursday lunchtime. GCSE Module Results Year 9 and 10 The module results will be given to students when they return to school in September during their first lesson of the exam subject. This will allow staff to discuss the implications of the result as students will receive a UMS score (a number) and staff can explain how this contributes to the overall grade.

Year 7 Osmington Bay & Table Tennis Evening We had a fantastic turn out of parents and pupils at our Year 7 Osmington Bay and Table Tennis evening on Thursday 12th July. Mr Stobbart had kindly spent a great deal of time putting together a dvd of pictures and videos from our recent Year 7 trip and this was shown on the big screen in the hall. Following this, 36 families competed in a table tennis tournament. After group rounds, quarter, sfinals and a grand final the top 3 prizes went to:

emi

3rd place - Paddy Hobson and Dad 2nd place - Rees Clarke and Dad 1st place - Daniel Heald and Dad Many thanks to the Year 7 parents for a fantastic evening and for their ongoing support of both their students and the school throughout the year.

Year 12 Buddhism trip On Monday 9th July, a group of A level Religious Education students, were given the opportunity to visit Theravadan Buddhist Monastery called The Amaravati Monastery in Hemel Hempstead. When we arrived we were greeted by a cheery senior monk from the monastery, who made us immediately feel very welcome. He started by giving us a tour of the monastery, which began in the centre point of their community, the temple. We were surprised by the size and the elegance of

the temple. He informed us about the monks and the nuns’ daily routine and way of life. We were able to experience lunch their main meal of the day. They have their lunch at 11:30am due to the early morning start 4:30am to meditate and start their daily chores. Before the meal began both the monks and nuns chanted, giving thanks for everything that the Buddha taught them which was very interesting to see because it was a new experience for us. The monks and nuns rely solely on the lay people who provide them with essentials because when they are ordained they give up all personal belongings and money. We were given the chance to give alms to the monks and nuns after their meal. Finally, we were taken to the nuns retreat room where we were involved in a meditation session led by the monk. We realised how difficult it is to concentrate our mind and stay focussed. Overall, it helped us to understand further the concepts we had learnt in class through seeing it in practice by the monks and nuns. It was a valuable and enjoyable experience. We would all like to thank our teacher for organising such an interesting trip. by Emily Lewis, Sophie Bird and Lucy Ingamells Library News

Speaker’s Corner on Beekeeping Friday 13th July was our final Speaker’s Corner for the term and Lilli Canham’s presentation on Beekeeping was a fantastic event. We met in the Sixth Form as the Library was being used for training purposes and Lilli managed this change in venue superbly. She spoke of how her hobby developed and brought along some fascinating objects. A member of the audience tried on a beekeeper’s suit and

following the talk there was a honey tasting which went down well. There were seven types of honey to taste and there was general agreement that the clearer honeys tasted best. Thank you to Mrs Harman for arranging this part of Speaker’s Corner and many thanks to Lilli from 8JK for such an interesting session.

My Library button Please remember that if you are looking for suitable websites to help with homework or research there are 10,000 weblinks in our Library catalogue. Just choose the My Library button on the home page of the school’s website when you are logged in. These websites have all been checked for students’ use by the reputable Carel Press. Any queries please come to the Library desk. Mrs Syme

Music News 4th July saw our Summer Concert where over 200 students and adults performed music from

classical to jazz, popular to shows. Izzy Mclean, Emily Judd, Tom Hutchison and Ben Gould all performed movements from various concertos to a very high standard. It was a

truly wonderful evening and one that was so inclusive of all our musical community. The Mayor of Hertford has written:

This evening I have been to Simon Balle School’s very enjoyable Summer Concert….There was a huge variety of music performed, and a very

large number of pupils taking part. Groups performing included a Cello Ensemble, Wind Band, Guitar Ensemble and a saxophone group, to name just four of the twelve. In addition, there was a performance of ‘We Will Rock You’ by a trombone group who had received a single lesson on some brightly coloured plastic versions of the instrument recently bought by the school to encourage greater take-up of it!... As well as the groups for pupils, the school has established a community choir, Take Note, enabling people of every age to sing and perform together…Whilst at school, pupils even in the year immediately above or below you can seem a world apart, but music is a great leveller in terms of bringing together people of different ages who just enjoy it, and that community feel was very evident this evening.' Last week was also busy with many of our team working for at least two evenings. We had two singing evenings and must say a big thank you to Ms Kemp and Mrs Simpson for organising these evenings. Superb quality, inspiring performances. Previous recitals this term for our piano, keyboard and guitar students were also well-attended and much enjoyed - thanks to all involved. Last Thursday was the Rock School gig at the Corn Exchange, where nine bands were performing. They ranged from Year 8 musicians to the Year 13 band. More than 150 students and parents were there – a fantastic evening. Well done to Miss Glover and Mr Lee for this. The recent Trinity and Rock School results have been outstanding and are set out below. Many thanks to all who have helped prepare students. AB results are awaited. We round off another year with our much-anticipated tour to Belgium departing on Thursday, and hope that there will be some sunshine for our outdoor concerts! Trinity Exam Results Summer 2012 NAME FORM INSTRUMENT GRADE RESULT ALEX DELAMEILLEURE 9BM BASSOON 4 MERIT CAITLIN MASON 7HL CLARINET 3 PASS KITTY VOSS 7JS CLARINET 3 PASS AMY TRIDGELL 9EN CLARINET 3 PASS ROSE SHEPHERD 7GS CLARINET 4 MERIT BEN GOULD 11SM CLARINET 8 DISTINCTION CHLOE PITCH 8DB FLUTE 3 PASS JAKE ALLEN 8DB FLUTE 4 PASS HOLLY DEAR 8DB FLUTE 4 MERIT EMILY O’BRIEN 8DB FLUTE 4 PASS SARAH BENHAM 11AC FLUTE 5 PASS LAUREL AYTON THURM 13KE FLUTE 8 MERIT

HARRY JONES 8LMC GUITAR 1 MERIT CAITLIN STEWART 7KH GUITAR 2 MERIT JAMES OSBORNE 7MD GUITAR 3 PASS LANE BORONTE 8DB GUITAR 4 DISTINCTION OLIVIA FAWBERT 8ARG GUITAR 4 MERIT REBECCA HILL 8TR GUITAR 4 MERIT MATTHEW PARRIS 8TR GUITAR 4 DISTINCTION GEVION PETERS 10HC GUITAR 4 PASS CHLOE DURANT 10SC GUITAR 5 PASS JAMES MURPHY 8LEJ GUITAR 5 MERIT DANNY FROST 11PH GUITAR 6 PASS OLIVER FYFE 11PH GUITAR 6 PASS DAVINA KOTECHA 7JS PIANO INITIAL MERIT DOMINIC RUGG-GUNN 8ARG PIANO 3 MERIT SARAH KENWAY 7JS PIANO 4 MERIT JOSEPH VINTON 8LMC SAXOPHONE 2 PASS FENNER BROKS-SKEET 7MA SAXOPHONE 3 MERIT EMILY MORTON 7KH SAXOPHONE 4 MERIT ANDREW AUSTIN 8TR JAZZ SAX 5 MERIT JAMES MURPHY 8LEJ SAXOPHONE 5 PASS IMOGEN TURNER 10LH SAXOPHONE 5 PASS JOSEPH VECK 13JT SAXOPHONE 8 DISTINCTION OLIVER SALTER 10LH TROMBONE 3 PASS JOSH DEAR 10SDP TROMBONE 6 PASS NATHAN BOULTON 7MA TRUMPET 1 MERIT NIALL TURNER 12MT TRUMPET 7 PASS

Rock School Exam Results Summer 2012 NAME FORM INSTRUMENT GRADE RESULT ADAM CLARK 7KH DRUMS 1 MERIT LUKE GODWIN 7MA DRUMS 1 PASS LUKE HADLEY 10GJ DRUMS 1 PASS ADAM TARRIER 11AC DRUMS 4 PASS IZZY MORRIS 10RW DRUMS 5 PASS NATHAN KIRTON GORDON 11JB DRUMS 5 PASS BETHANY WARMAN 9JM GUITAR 1 MERIT RICHARD BOWEN 8ARG GUITAR 2 PASS ELDORON LUCHIES 10RW GUITAR 2 MERIT EVE PITCH 8LEJ VOCALS 3 MERIT CHLOE COOK 8LEJ VOCALS 4 DISTINCTION HARRIET GRIFFITHS 10HC VOCALS 5 MERIT SOPHIE HIND 11JB VOCALS 5 MERIT RACHAEL JANES 9BW VOCALS 5 MERIT JESSE MCMAHON 10RW VOCALS 5 PASS JASMINE NESBITT-LARKING 10SC VOCALS 6 MERIT

Student Success Chris Eldred who left Simon Balle in 2007 is playing piano at the Proms this year. He spent several years as the school Big Band's pianist and studied jazz piano at Trinity College of Music, and has also been the pianist for the National Youth Jazz Orchestra (NYJO) for several years. The concert is to be given by NYJO at the Albert Hall on 10th August, a late night one at 10.15. There are stll some tickets left and they are cheap, or you can prom for a fiver! It will be broadcast live on Radio 3 and is also going to be televised on 17th August on BBC4. Nine members of the band including Chris did a live broadcast previewing the concert on Radio 3's In Tune last Friday. Here is a link to the BBC iPlayer: http://www.bbc.co.uk/i/b01kkmyz/ The band are on right at the beginning and at 1:09. It can be heard up to this Friday at 18.30.

Josh Burton-Brown one of our current Year 10s is travelling to Canada this summer with the Sea Cadets. His rank is Able Cadet and he is a member of Hertford and Ware unit based in Spencer Street, Hertford. He is one of only 17 cadets from the UK chosen to attend a six week summer training camp at HMCS Acadia in Cornwallis near Halifax, Nova Scotia. He will be trained as a drill and ceremonial instructor. There are 800 sea cadets at this camp from countries all over the Commonwealth.

Nicky Morris Division 1 Simon Balle was well represented last week at the Nicky Morris Athletics Challenge. All the girls performed very well to finish in 3rd place overall in the schools first year in Division 1. The U13 and U15 Girls were both 2nd behind Presdales with the Senior Girls finishing 4th overall. The following athletes were winners on the day, Leah Wilkerson (Shot Putt), Emily Veryard (Triple Jump), Louise Reilly (Hurdles), Maddy Twyning (Triple Jump & 300m) and Sophie Rawlinson won the 1500m in a school record of 5mins 22secs. Stephen Moore Athletics Challenge The Boys will compete this week in the Stephen Moore Athletics Challenge after being promoted to Division One last year. Good luck to all involved. Next Year and Beyond We have finally reached the end of a very successful year once again for the Simon Balle PE Department. We look forward to the Olympics and Paralympics in the coming months. We would like to thank everyone for all your help and support this year and we wish you all a nice and restful summer. Below is a list of our team achievements for the year;

Team Achievements Year 7 Girl’s 11-aside Lea Valley Football Champions Year 7 Girl’s 6-aside Lea Valley Football Champions

Year 7 Girls Winners of Lea Valley Basketball Tournament Year 7 Girls Lea Valley Cross Country League Champions

Y 7 Boys Lea Valley Basketball Champions Year 7/8 Girls – Quarter Finalists in National Football Cup

Year 8 Girl’s 11-aside Lea Valley Football Champions Year 8 Girl’s 6-aside Lea Valley Football Champions

Year 8/9 Boys and Girls Lea Valley Athletics Champions Year 9 Girls 11 a-side Lea Valley Football Champions Year 9 Girls 6 a-side Lea Valley Football Champions

Year 9 Girls Lea Valley Hockey Champions (County Cup S/F) Year 9 Girls – County Athletics League Plate Winners

Year 9 Girls Lea Valley Rounders Champions Year 9/10 Girls Lea Valley Trampolining Champions Year 9/10 Girls East Herts Indoor Cricket Champions

Year 9/10 Girls Step2 East Herts Trampolining Champions Year 10 Boys East Herts Volleyball Champions

Year 10 Girls 6-a-side Lea Valley Football Champions Year 10 Girls District Hockey Champions

Year 11 Boys Lea Valley Cross Country Champions Year 12 Girls East Herts Table Tennis Champions

Simon Balle School Athletics Team

Winners of the Overall Lea Valley Athletics Championships