newSBytes Dates for your diary:

3rd/4th Oct 2012 - Open Evenings 4th Oct 2012 - INSET DAY 13th Oct 2012 - PSA Quiz night 16th Oct 2012 - Year 11 Expectations 18th Oct 2012 - Year 7 Core learning 22nd Oct 2012 - PSA AGM

20th September 2012

OPEN EVENINGS We will be holding our annual open evenings on: Wed Oct 3rd 6.00pm – 9.00pm (Headteacher’s talk at 8.30) Thurs Oct 4th 4.00pm – 7.00pm (Headteacher’s talk at 6.30) We do hope that most of our students are able to come along and represent their school on at least one of the nights. The timetable for the evening is as follows: Wed 3rd School ends at 2.30pm lunch will be shortened (12.20-1.00pm) with lessons 4 & 5 reduced to 45 minutes. This allows plenty of time for students go home, prepare and return.

Thurs 4th Staff training day: no normal lessons. School closed to students. Students to return for Open Evening at 4.00pm.

Fri 5th School starts at 10.00am. Students to go to register with lesson 2 commencing at 10.10pm. If students catch buses and need to arrive at school earlier, they can go to the library, whilst staff undergo Health and Safety training. Letters detailing the actual arrangements for Open Evenings to follow shortly.

UNIFORM Whilst many students are keeping to the uniform rules, there are a substantial minority who are not. Some of these students are ‘trying to get away with it’ during the school day, others are obviously leaving from home incorrectly dressed. This is our uniform rule:

Boys will wear shirts, ties (to be worn up to the shirt collar with the school logo showing). Shirts tucked in, jumpers should be worn but of course if it is warm in classrooms, can be removed.

Shoes – should be black leather for boys. Girls – shoes must be fitted. Girls – NO visible makeup at all, NO nail varnish Skirts just above knee/knee length – NOT rolled up (I am considering changing the skirt so this cannot

happen) (Note 18, 20, 22 inch skirts – skirt with growing room). Black Tights or under the knee black socks – NO over the knee socks and no embellishments eg. ribbons. Jewellery – 1 pair of stud earrings

- NO bracelets at all, NO rings NO hoodies NO large logos on coats NO boots Sensible Haircuts NO Shaved or patterned heads/hair colour must be a natural colour From Monday we will be ENFORCING this with sanctions.

Alison Saunders

OLYMPIC LANGUAGE FESTIVAL

In the spirit of this Olympic Year the MFL and PE departments jointly held a Foreign Languages Olympic Festival on Friday 14th September attended by 170 KS2 pupils from Mill Mead, Bengeo and Morgans schools. The event involved the primary pupils interacting with each other in various sporting activities using French, German or Spanish. The event also included a Paralympic activity, Goalball. The groups were led by our 31 Young MFL Leaders who are now in Year 11 studying for their GCSEs in French, German or Spanish. The day culminated with all involved gathering in the hall for the awards and prizes for sportsmanship and also for proactive involvement using the foreign language throughout the activities. All the primary staff and the children were delighted with the afternoon even though Morgans won all the sporting aspects, all said how much fun it was. The Language Leaders grew in confidence as the afternoon progressed. The Hockey and Basketball groups were particularly proactive and used language skills with the team. The Young MFL leaders will be receiving their certificates shortly and the 2012-13 Young leaders Programme will be launched after half-term.

R Taylor, HOD MFL

CHANGES TO THE SCHOOL WEBSITE Some of you may have noticed that the front page of the school website has changed over the summer holidays and there are a number of pages that are under construc-tion. We are currently in the process of re-structuring the website to make it far more user friendly for the all of the school's stakeholder groups. Before the holiday we did research that highlighted areas were we could improve our site. We held a number of focus groups and what emerged was that the headings were confusing and unclear which meant people found it hard to get to the information they wanted quickly. There was also a great deal of information that was unnecessary and other areas where appropriate information was lacking. The new 'stakeholder-based' structure means that different people can find the information that is useful to them quickly and efficiently. There will also be more stories about what is happening in school on a daily basis, giving you a window into life and learning at SBS. Another exciting development is the head teacher’s blog. Each week she will be writing a short piece about something that has caught her attention. The first is an excellent piece about the importance of food in our lives, and at SBS in particular. I encourage you all to have a read!

Making these changes is quite a major undertaking and you will see different sections being updated over the coming weeks. You will also be able to sign up to social media feeds to get information from the school very soon. I hope that you find the changes improve the usefulness of the website and would obviously be very pleased to hear from you regarding your views.

Mr A Grantham, Assistant Head

HOMEWORK AT SIMON BALLE We spent some time last term looking at homework; how it is set, marked and followed up. There was a parental survey, student consultation and a group of staff formed a Homework Review Group. The outcomes were some changes to the way we do things. All parents have received an update and a copy of their child’s homework timetable, but here is a useful summary of the changes: • All students now have a homework timetable. It has been sent to parents and is available

on the website • Guidance is also available on the website for parents on key expectations for homework; how long students should

spend on it, how parents can help and so on • We offer a ‘wrap-around’ learning experience here at Simon Balle. The library is open from 8am to 4.30pm (or later) • every day and students can get access to ICT and a host of other resources. Many subjects also run homework support

sessions if students are struggling. • No homework will be set with a 24 hour turn around. We want students to be able to organise themselves and we understand that other commitments can make it difficult to stay on top of things • Any student who does not complete homework, despite extra help and an extended deadline, will be referred for a Study

Support Session. This is a supervised study session on a Wednesday after school from 3.30 to 4.30. There will be a teacher present and students have access to ICT and other materials they may need. We expect parents’ support with this as we want to keep the number of homework detentions down and keep our focus on learning.

• Any student who fails to attend Study Support will be referred for a two hour Senior Leadership Team detention the following Thursday, until 5.30pm. All of these changes are designed to make students’ learning experience even better. Thank you for your support with them. Please get in touch with any feedback you may have; we are always looking for improvements!

Liz Ellis Deputy Head

JEWISH MUSEUM TRIP On Wednesday 3rd of July I went to The Jewish Muse-um in Camden and the Finchley Reform Synagogue in London with a group of fellow Philosophy and Ethics students. At the Museum we were split into three groups as there were three exhibits; worshiping in modern times, History and The Holocaust. I most enjoyed the first one as there were lots of shiny objects like rimonims which are used to decorated the torah scrolls; I also learned that the word ‘Rimonim’ means ‘Pomegranate’. There was also a beautiful arc, which is like a cupboard for torah scrolls, every synagogue has an arc which faces the holy city of Jerusalem and is inscribed with the words ‘know before whom you stand’ in Hebrew. In the Holocaust exhibit we learned about a family called the Greenmans, who were sent to work camps, and there was a book where we could write a message to the Jews who died. It was an emotional experience. When we arrived at the synagogue, a lot of the group was surprised by the appearance of the building as it did not look like many of the holy buildings we are used to. But inside the same welcoming atmosphere was present. We were told about the basics of Judaism like how the religion began - we were all very interested. We then played

a game where a statement was read out to us and we had to stand on one side of the room or the other depending on whether we thought it was true or false; I got all of them right! Then we were split into two groups and we discussed the different synagogues around the world and we were told about the Shema, which is said every morning and evening; like a Jewish “Lord’s Prayer”. We then moved on and dis-cussed the Torah and were allowed to ask any questions that we had about it. Overall, it was a very enjoyable day and I was very interested by everything that I learned.

Amber Pask, Year 10

On Friday the 6th July, a group of 21 A/S English Literature students descended upon the ‘Bronte Town’ of Haworth in Yorkshire. The trip was designed for students to gain an understanding of the context for ‘Wuthering Heights’ their A2 set text. The Yorkshire moors and the village of Haworth, in which the Bronte Sisters grew up, was the setting and inspiration for many of the characters and events in the novel. We left Stevenage station on Friday morning, completing the last leg of the journey on one of Haworth’s famous steam trains, used in the film ‘The Railway Children’. This helped to raise the students’ spirits after the weather. We arrived at the hostel, walked to the picturesque village of Haworth and ended the evening with a literacy quiz. Saturday started with a much brighter outlook, with the sun shining, as the students took to the Bronte Parsonage Museum. We were given a guided tour of the house, the Brontes’ home, and the village, learning new and insightful information which helped us see what may have inspired the Brontes’ novels. This was followed up by a lecture which saw presented the historical context of the novel and the ways which the book has been interpreted in different eras. This will help us in the future with our exams. The sun was still bright when the students took to the famous moors after witnessing the amazing Mr Davies’s Olympic torch procession; we went in search of the locations which inspired the author Emily Bronte. We embarked on an exhilarating six and a half mile walk leading us to the crumbled ruins of Top Withens, the place which Emily’s friend Ellen Nassay believed was the real ‘Wuthering Heights’. Back in the hostel, we convened, in teams, to take part in the Bronte quiz, before a night of numerous Kate Bush renditions. The weekend came to an end and the group made their way back home, arriving late Sunday afternoon. Many were sad to see it end; everyone who was present was thankful for the teachers for making the trip so enjoyable. Joey Tamburello, Year 13

YEAR 12 BRONTE COUNTRY TRIP

SMART CARDS To replace a lost or stolen card is £3.50 £6 limit per day Top ups £5 or more Please ensure you top up before the pur-chase of food.

YEAR 7 - OSMINGTON BAY TRIP Letters were sent out this week via InTouch. These need to be returned asap.

S Bonfield HOY7

PSA QUIZ NIGHT Saturday 13th October - 7:30 for a 7:45 start. Teams of up to 8 people - Adult ticket £6, Student ticket £4. (tickets are available from school office) Licensed bar available, please do not bring your own alcohol. Nibbles provided on tables - bring your own brain food! Simon Balle PSA AGM Monday 22nd October 7:30pm School Library A chance to hear about the work of the PSA and the major project we are currently fundraising for. We look forward to seeing you there.

SECONDHAND PRINTERS FOR SALE WITH REMANUFACTURED TONERS A new printing system has been installed throughout the school which will save us money both in equipment costs and ton-ers as well as reducing our paper consumption. As a result we have the following used printers available for sale to the highest bidder. We will accept bids of £10 and above. They are sold as seen. 2x HP Laserjet 2420N 1x HP Laserjet 2055DN 2x HP Laserjet CP3505dn 1x HP Laserjet 2055DN with extra paper tray 4x HP Laserjet CP2025 1x HP Laserjet 2600N 1x HP Laserjet 3800n 1x HP Laserjet P1102 1x HP Laserjet 3800dn 1x HP Deskjet F2280 1x HP Laserjet 4200 3x HP Laserjet P4014DN 1x HP Laserjet 3500 1x HP Laserjet 4250N We also have left over remanufactured laser toners as follows:- Black – to fit HP 1200/1220 1600/2600/2605, 2100, P2015, 4200 Magenta – to fit CP2025, 1600/2600/2605, 3800 Yellow – to fit CP2025, 1600/2600/2605, 3800 Cyan – to fit CP2025, 2600, 3800 Inkjet Compatibles to suit a Canon BCI-6Y – Black, Magenta, Yellow, Cyan We will accept any bids for the cartridges. Please get your bids to the Finance Office by Friday 28th September either in writing or by email to finance@simonballe.herts.sch.uk

LIBRARY NEWS Speaker’s Corner has started again this term and both sessions we have held so far have been very well attended. Teacher of Film Studies, Mr. D. Harrold led our first meeting on Friday 7th September on the subject of the ‘Palestine Trauma Centre UK’ (www.ptcuk.org). He brought along some beautiful art work by children affected by war who had experienced art therapy. Staff and students were able to spend some time viewing the outstanding pictures arranged around the Library. Year 12 student, Declan McClean spoke on Friday 14th September on ‘Is Harry Potter Serious (Sirius)?’ This included some interesting facts about J.K. Rowling’s bestselling series and some light-hearted

moments. If there is any student or member of staff who would like to book a slot at Speaker’s Corner (held 13.45-14.00 in the Library every Friday) please get in touch with the Library team in person or via library@simonballe.herts.sch.uk Lower School Book Club meets this term every Monday lunchtime 13.45-14.10 in the Fiction zone of our Library. It is led by English teacher, Mrs Howells and welcomes new members from Years 7-9. As well as testing the newly published books for the Red House Children’s Book Award the Club reviews novels for the magazine ‘Booktime’, meets authors and goes on literary trips. Please come along if you love reading and talking about books. Recycling Magazines If any student, member of staff, parent or governor has a regular magazine/journal subscription that may be of interest to the school community please consider donating it to our Library after use. Current titles that we receive in this way include ‘Hertfordshire Life’ and ‘The Economist’. Please leave any donations at Reception or contact the Library via library@simonballe.herts.sch.uk if you are unsure about suitability of a title. Many thanks to those of you who support our learning in this way.

Mrs. Syme, Librarian

MUSIC NEWS Last term ended in style with our wonderful music tour to Belgium. The students performed in four fantastic con-certs, finishing on an enormous stage in front of over a thousand people at the Ghent Festival. We were delight-ed that a number of families were able to join us to celebrate the superb quality of playing and singing. The stu-dents performed professionally and behaved brilliantly throughout the trip and, as always, we received so many compliments from members of the audience. Grateful thanks to those who staffed the tour. Lessons and ensembles are all now well underway, and we are pleased to welcome so many new musicians and singers to our department. Ensemble rehearsals take place as follows: Monday 3.30-4.30pm Concert Band Tuesday 3-3.45pm Saxidentals 3-3.30pm Junior Strings 3.30-4.15pm Orchestra 4.15-5pm Chamber Strings 5pm-8pm Rock School Wednesday 8.20am Junior Wind 3.30-4.30pm Y11-13 Choir 7.45-9.30pm Adult Choir Thursday 3.30-4.15pm Y7-10 Choir 4.30-6pm Big Band Friday: 8.20am Guitar Ensemble Regular attendance is really vital as all ensembles are preparing for our Autumn Concert at Broxbourne Civic Hall on 20th November. Curriculum Overview – This term Year 7 begin by studying Musical Elements while Year 8 are studying New Or-leans Jazz. Year 9 are working on stage 1 of Musical Futures and are using instruments to create performances. Our community choir Take Note meets on Wednesday evenings. New members are welcome this term as we begin preparations for a concert on 15th December. Please email music@simonballe.herts.sch.uk if you would like further information or would like to come along to one of our rehearsals. Congratulations to all those who took Associated Board exams at the end of last term. The results were certainly worth the long wait! (Please see next page for results)

NAME FORM INSTRUMENT GRADE RESULT

ELSPETH GRACE 7HK ‘CELLO 2 MERIT

SETH FORSTER 9SW HORN 6 PASS

MAX MERRETT 7MA PIANO 2 MERIT

ERIN CURSON 7KH SINGING 1 PASS

ROSE SHEPHERD 7GS SINGING 1 MERIT

PHOEBE DAVIES 8JK SINGING 2 PASS

HOLLY DEAR 8DB SINGING 2 MERIT

YASMIN JAMES 8LMC SINGING 2 DISTINCTION

ALEX DELAMEILLEURE 9BM SINGING 4 DISTINCTION

AMY BARKER 12CT SINGING 6 MERIT

BETH WISCHHUSEN 13DA SINGING 8 DISTINCTION

WILLIAM BUTCHER 9SW TRUMPET 5 PASS

GORDON WOOD 13KE TUBA 7 PASS

JACOB FENWICK 7MA VIOLIN 3 PASS

TOM THORNTON 8LEJ VIOLIN 3 PASS

PARALYMPIC VISIT Amwell View School recently gave 38 of our students and 3 members of staff the opportunity to attend the Paralympics. This wonderful gesture was designed to enable able-bodied and disabled students to attend Paralympic sport together and share the experience.

We decided to choose students that have either been sports leaders or particularly committed to school sport for this trip and they enjoyed a jam-packed day of totally inspiring sporting performances. We travelled to the Olympic Park to see Goalball, 7-aside Football and Wheelchair Rugby. Supporting team GB in Goalball was a unique experience for the students, as you may know there has to be silence during play and cheering after the whistle. Unfortunately, despite our best efforts, Great Britain lost to Sweden 2-1 in extra time.

It was a beautiful day in the sun and a great experience for our students. We would like to thank Amwell View for this excellent initiative.

Following on from this wonderful experience on Wednesday 19th September we are sent 16 year 9 students to Wodson park to take part in a Paralympic Taster day. The focus of day was to:

1) Promote Paralympic Sports within Key Stage 3 Curriculum 2) Continue to build on Inclusive practice and participation for all. 3) Inspire a Generation to Volunteer

A report will follow in the next edition of Newsbytes.

NATIONAL CUP - FOOTBALL NEWS The Senior Boys played Whitmore High School on Wednesday last week in the first round of the national cup. The boys played very well and came away with a 3-0 win. Hugh Wright, Chris Crosby and Andrew Clarke were the scorers.

The year 9 team played on Thursday but were unfortunately beaten by London City Academy. However, Simon Balle’s star man was Conor Laurella.

NETBALL NEWS YEAR 10 NETBALL V PRESDALES (A)

After leading in the first 3 quarters of this match, the year 10s narrowly missed out on winning over Presdales, narrowly los-ing 20-18. A good all-round performance and a promising start to the netball season. Well done to Amy Brown, Yasmine Scott-Gray, Chloe Ring, Phoebe McMurray, Kristen Dyton, Maddy Twyning, Sophie Rawlinson Player of the Match: Kristen Dyton YEAR 8 NETBALL V JOHN WARNER SCHOOL (H) Simon Balle won this match comfortably by 17-0. CROSS COUNTRY UPDATE The Cross Country season starts on the 2nd of October with the first league fixture of three taking place at Barclay Park. Training takes place every Friday at lunch.

THE SIMON BALLE Sept - Oct ½ Term PE EXTRA-CURRICULAR PROGRAMME 2012

Lunch-time clubs 1:25pm - 2:05pm

Tues 1:25pm – 1:50pm

– After school clubs

3:30pm-4:30pm

MONDAY Year 8 Basketball (GS) - Gym Year 8/9 Girls Basketball (NT) - Gym

Yr 7 Rugby – Field (DB )

Year 10 Rugby (JP) Yr 9 Rugby - Field (DB)

Girls Fitness Year 9, 10, 11, 12 & 13 (JN)

Year 10, 11, 12 Netball (LEJ/ JN)

TUESDAY School Games Club (Table-tennis) - Gym (SE)

Year 9/10 Basketball ( Anthony) Year 8 Netball (Linda)

WEDNESDAY 7.30am – Strength & Conditioning (DB) Year 7 Girls Trampolining (LEJ + JN)

Girls Football 9/10 (Mr Carter) Astro

Year 10+ fitness (GS) Year 10 Football (JP) - astro

Year 9 Football (DB) Year 7 Netball (LEJ, NT & JN)

THURSDAY Year 9/10 boys basketball (DB ) Senior Rugby –Field (DB)

Year 10+ Fitness (GS) Yr 8 Rugby – Field (GS)

Yr 7 football – Astro (JP)

Kick Boxing (LB)

FRIDAY X-Country Club (DB & LEJ) Girls Football 7 & 8 (Mr Carter)

Astro

Girls Netball Year 9 (Rachel)

Year 7 Girls basketball (NT)

Year 10 Football (Astro)

A Protective Behaviours Programme for Mums, Dads and Carers of children 11 - 19 years

Thursdays 7pm – 9pm 4th Oct to 6th Dec (not including half term) At Ash Valley Children’s Centre, Tower Road, Ware, Herts, SG12 7QR

A FREE practical and empowering course for families about

Keeping ourselves and our children feeling safe

Raising self esteem and personal confidence Recognising and trusting feelings

Staying in control and making safe choices

Building networks of support

Improving relationships and communication

Developing strategies to help cope with difficulties

To book your place please contact Jacqueline on 07506 261380 or 01920 412211 or e-mail

Action for Children have been funded through Herts County Council and CAMHS to provide Families Feeling Safe programmes across Hertford-shire and provide Protective Behaviours services to children age 0-19 years and their families working with schools and children’s centres.

Family Support Ware and Villages Local Partnership Team