It was a great privilege to be invited to the annual meeting of Hertford Town Council and The Civic Reception, to see councilor Chantal Geall take office. The evening was full of traditional ceremony and very formal. There was reflection on the impact of the ‘on going’ mayor. Councilor Patricia Moore was hailed as the mayor “who broke all the rules”. Her time as Mayor of Hertford brought innovation and change as well as maintaining many loved events. Chantal Geall took the oath of office and we heard of her chosen charities—Isabel Hospice and the Hertford and Ware Street Pastors. As a community school it is so important that we recognise our local community and take an active role. This year the music for the event was provided by the Simon Balle String Quartet. Following the town council meeting, the reception was held, where local citizens meet to give their best wishes. I was reminded yet again of how ‘community focused’ Hertford is as a town and just how much is happening. On behalf of the school I would like to offer our very best wishes to the new Mayor Chantal for a very successful year ahead. During the next half term we shall be welcoming our new Year 7. we were delighted that once again so many families put Simon Balle as their first choice . Over the next few weeks we shall visit every pupil in their primary school to speak to them and their teachers. This year we have organised four activity evenings where parents and new students can come along and take part in cookery sessions, drama, geography, music and sport, to name a few. This has proved to be highly popular with over three quarters of families responding. We also will run specific activities for those students coming alone or are deemed to be the most vulnerable. They can attend clubs and our summer school to develop their social skills. We are delighted to welcome Hannah Ahmet, one of our geography teachers, as the Head of Year 7. Hannah has been working closely with James Pooley over the past few months with Year 10 and also with Mike Moss on attendance

Alison Saunders

DATES FOR YOUR DIARY: 2nd June School Resumes 3rd –4th June Public Exhibition (HCC) 18th June American Visitor Information evening 18th June Annual Fun Run 23rd June Sports Day 26th June GCSE and A-level Art & Photography Exhibition 27th June Y11 End of Year Celebration 4th July School Training Day 8th July Summer Concert 9th July Y6 Transition Evening 10th July Y6 Transition Day 17th-18th July Shakespeare Festival 23rd July School Finishes

20th March 2014

THIS ISSUE: Y7 Osmington Bay Art and design news Public Exhibition Music News Library and English

News

MUSIC NEWS Our fantastic string quartet (Matt Waters, Tom Dyke, Harriet Dyke and Emily Judd) performed at Hertford's Mayor Making ceremony at County Hall last week. They received many compliments from the guests, some of whom have attended our events before and others who were new to Simon Balle music - all agreed on the high quality and professionalism of our performers who did themselves and the school proud. Our key dates for the remainder of this term and beyond are listed here.

PROVIDING SCHOOL PLACES FOR PRIMARY AGE CHILDREN IN HERTFORD As you are aware we have been exploring the possibility of becoming an all-through school which would mean building a purpose built primary facility on our site. The Full Governing Body met on 1 April 2014, to consider the responses received from the initial public consultation. Two main themes emerged: the increase in traffic and whether the proposed pupil numbers were accurate. However, whilst appreciating these concerns, it was felt that the fundamental principles of Simon Balle becoming an all through school had not been doubted and therefore the expansion should continue. The second stage of the process is the public exhibition of current town planning application proposals in order to create all through education at our school. The public exhibition will be held on Tuesday 3

rd June and Wednesday 4

th June from 4:00pm to 8:30pm in the school dining room

Please come along and give us your views.

PSA NEWS A big thank you all who donated their currency to our collection last term - once weighed and sorted it raised £62 Upcoming events, supported by the PSA, are the annual Fun Run and the American visitors

Year 7 Rise to the Challenge in Osmington Bay

It is 8 o’clock on Tuesday 6th May and Year 7, parents in tow, and staff are gathering on the astro in their coach groups

ready for the trip to the PGL Centre in Osmington Bay. Suddenly the heavens open and I am forced to give the order to

retreat to the form rooms.

An omen for the week ahead? For the weather, perhaps, as we have four seasons in one day on the Thursday, but not for

the trip itself as Year 7 prove their character by responding to all challenges (whether they be heights, the cruel sea, rain or

mass rugby games) with pluck, resilience and good humour.

Activities include trapeze, dragon boating, abseiling, giant swing, aeroball and archery and what gladdens the heart is the

teamwork on display and the encouragement and support which students offer to each other, urging on and cheering as

someone overcomes high anxiety to take a leap of faith on the high ropes.

The disco and fancy dress on Thursday night allows the students the chance to reveal their more creative, if not downright

wacky side, as the hall is peopled by walking M&Ms, Mr T, the forces of good from Harry Potter, Marilyn Monroe and

Sweeney Todd, to name but a few.

Well done to Year 7 on making the trip so memorable and for their commitment and excellent behaviour.

Year 7 Osmington Bay Awards Superstar: Chloe Shaw Josh Trapp Joker Louis Aladetoyinbo-Williams Team Worker Jacob Broadwood Trinity Rogers Amelia Wijesuriya

Supporters Oliver Scorey Melissa Mendez Ben Thompson Shanna Hayes Best Fancy Dress Jean Nwahba Anna Beaven Most Improved Theo Purssell Megan Waller

Cheerful Chap/ Chapess Lulu Sutton Tilly Cooper Alfie Wrangle Graham Davies

NEWS FROM ART AND DESIGN

The art rooms were recently silent for five whole days! Exams ran throughout the week with GCSE Art, AS and A2 Art and Photography students fully absorbed in trying to achieve their full potential and gain their best possible grades. All worked hard and some enjoyed the opportunity of spending so much time in one stretch to complete their final units.

Many thanks for all the support and for everyone’s patience with being re-roomed for the entire week.

SAVE THE DATE!!! 6pm–8pm Thursday 26th June 2014

Our annual art exhibition is back by popular

demand! Invitations will soon be coming your way but in the meantime please save this

date as I do hope you will all be able to pop along. A visual feast will be on offer for your consumption and background music will be

provided by Simon Balle’s own students. I’m sure it will be a very enjoyable evening and

look forward to seeing you there.

LIBRARY AND ENGLISH DEPARTMENT NEWS Online Resource Subscriptions In recent years we have spent a lot of time and money developing our range of online resources so that all our students have at their fingertips 24/7 access to trusted sources of information. We want to prepare our students for the wealth of online material they will be using in universities. To encourage independent study we give guidance on using the resources below to all Y12s whilst younger students are given more targeted support. All SBS students and staff can access the resources below through the Library Online Resources button under Library Apps when they have logged into the school intranet. Britannica Online (Encyclopaedia online with 3 different levels. Very current information and statistics) ImageQuest (educational images that are copyright free including Bridgemann collection) Credo Reference (600+ dictionaries, encyclopaedias and reference works) Literary Reference Center (over 8,000 classic texts, author interviews, poetry) Science Reference Center (periodicals, reference books etc. covering science research needs) emagazine (online version of print copy for English A Level students) Issues (social sciences online resource to accompany booklets in Library. Covers journals, statistics, lobby group literature, newspapers) Philip Allan Reviews (Archive of Chemistry Review, Physics Review, Biological Sciences Review, Politics Review, Economics Review, Business Review, PE Review, RS Review, English Review and 20th Century History Review) eChalk (This resource covers most subjects and comprises puzzles and games which are appropriate for the curriculum) Digimap for Schools (For very high quality maps) Please ask any member of the Library Team if you need assistance with getting the most out of these resources.

BOOK REVIEWS FROM OUR STAFF EASTER READING CHALLENGE Roof Toppers – katherine Rundell Sophie (the main character) is “Simon Balle; curious, quirky, innovative, resilient, a risk taker and charming. And above all else, musical- actually and metaphorically as music follows her even across the rooftops of Paris, as she is driven to find her long lost mum! By Mrs Saunders

Ketchup Clouds – Annabel Pitcher Gripping start that made you want to read on. Written in a different format of letters to a prisoner on death row, telling the story of a girl wracked with guilt over the death of someone she knew. Difficult to write much of a review without giving the plot away. Would recommend for a quick, gripping read. By Miss Traynor

SBS 5K FUN RUN The Simon Balle annual Fun Run will be held on the afternoon of Wednesday 18

th June 2014. This is a wonderful community event which everyone takes part,

either by running, walking or if injured supporting the organising of the event. It is also the main fundraising event for the school. Last year we raised over £5,000 through donations, entry fees and sponsorship. Students have been given a letter to bring home this week, with more detail regarding the event and a copy will also be emailed out to you. If any parents would like to take part in the elite race, then please contact Mr Pooley on pooleyj@simonballe.herts.sch.uk.

James Pooley

CRICKET LEADERS

On Monday 19th May, seven Year 9 girls received training on how to officiate Kwick cricket. Their session was an hour

long and took place at Sele School. They were joined by other students from Chauncy and Sele and were coached by

Hertford cricket club coaches and members of the Hertford and Ware sports partnership. They learnt how to score and um-

pire Kwick cricket as well as having the opportunity to play a game. The session was both fun and informative.

COUNTY ATHLETIC LEAGUE After 3 successful matches, both girls and boys teams have shown great determination on the track against some of our toughest competitors. Our current standings after two matches show all teams in the top half of the league with particular success in the U16 boys placing 7

th overall. We are confident to make the finals in most of our teams so good luck to all

athletes in our matches after half term. Outstanding performances and school records smashed by: Lily Jones in the triple jump (9.75m), Josh Moses triple jump 11.80m and 100m 11.2s, Abbey Conroy Discus 21.50m, Jacob Fenwick 1500m 4.54mins, Ben Thompson 100m 12.7s, Jean Nwahba 300m and shot and finally Albert Nwahba in the Discus 25.14m. Many of these records have been standing untouched for over 5 years so the athletes should be very proud of themselves. Well done to all from the PE department. Laura Jones

HALLAM EDWARS WINS SILVER AT NATIONAL JUDO

EVENT Congratulations to Hallam Edwards who gained a silver medal in the British Judo Council National Event Championship. Hallam won four contests in the U-16 male U-66kg category in the event at Kettering in Northamptonshire. Three were by an Ippon throw or a hold-down, and the other was through a referee’s decision after the contest went the distance. Hallam then lost in the final to come second in the category.

CRICKET UPDATE

Year 8 games as follows;

SBS v Broxbourne Broxbourne 155 for 2 off 20 overs SBS 100 for 8 off 20 overs SBS v Turnford Turnford 40 all out off 11 overs SBS 41 for 6 off 9 overs

The Year 7’s begin their season this week against Sheredes respectively

at home.

UPCOMING EVENTS

National School Sports Week – Mon 23rd

June – Fri 27th June

SBS Fun Run – Weds 18th June

Sports Day – Mon 23rd

June

Sports Presentation Evening – Thurs 3rd

July