Thank you for the emails calls and comments that you give us as we meet so many of you at parents evenings and events. Your support is one of the key hallmarks of our school. The quality of relationships is one of the drivers for our school improvement. I look forward to meeting many of you again soon. Please see Dates for Your Diary for important forthcoming events.

PSA News Please support the events this term as we are hoping to raise funds to support the refurbishment of the lecture theatre.

The grand draw each year we ask parents, friends and relatives to but raffle tickets. You may even win a prize! The auction of promise you can help us by:

• Making a promise – cook something, do some gardening, teach a skill, give a beauty product, provide vouchers from your company, act as a taxi/driver, loan your caravan, wash a car etc. etc.

• Or you can come along and make a bid for one of the many things on offer for yourself or as a gift.

Similar schools to ours usually raise over £2000 on such a night and I am sure that parental commitment can once again be relied upon. Contact Deb Bonfield psa@simonballepsa.org.uk for more information.

Old uniform The psa still need more old uniform please bring it into the school office.

Governors Grapevine My name is Caroline Brown and I have been an LEA Governor at Simon Balle for a year. I have two children attending the school, one in year 9 and one in year 7. I have been a school Governor in two primary schools and am now enjoying working alongside the other Governors and staff at Simon Balle and getting to know the school better. I am a member of the Finance Committee and am also the link Governor for music. Music is a particular strength of the school and it is important to build upon this including raising the profile within the local community and by the continued outreach work with the local primary schools. Should you wish to contact me please e-mail governors@simonballe.herts.sch.uk

Dates for your diary 3 Feb Yr 10 Dip, tet and polio injections 15 Feb Yr 9 Parents Evening 18 Feb INSET Day, no school for students 21-25 Feb Half Term 2 March Gym & Dance Evening 3 March Yr 10 Parents Evening 15 March Concert Broxbourne 17 March Yr 13 Parents Evening 24 March Yr 12 Parents Evening 31 March & 1 April

House Performing Arts Competition

8 April End of Term 11-25 April Easter Holidays 26 April School resumes 29 April – 2 May

Bank Holiday Weekend

3 May School continues

LOCAL LITERARY EVENTS Books@Hoddesdon has organised a Meet the Author evening with ANDY McNAB on Monday 31st January at 19.30. This event is being held at Haileybury, Hertford Heath as a charity fundraiser for Help for Heroes. McNab writes the 'Boy Soldier' thrillers for teenagers as well as popular novels for adults. Price for adults is £10 and under 18s, over 65s & military personnel £6. Call Books@Hoddesdon 01992 442290 for further details. Bishop's Stortford College is hosting a Festival of Literature 4th -11th February. More information at www.bishops-stortford-college.herts.sch.uk or there is a brochure in the Library. Mrs Syme, Librarian

Wardtimes There is a new online publication aiming to promote local news and events. We are very lucky to have already had two articles published in the Hertford section. Why not take a look? www.wardtimes.info

Girls Football – National Cup Since we’ve last published a report our Junior Girls football team has reached the last 8 in the National Cup and is now in with a real chance of going all the way. For the last 32 match the girls travelled to Reading with Mr Carter and Mrs Noblett and won 7-0. They then travelled to Sussex and won 9-0. A truly fantastic achievement to reach the last 8 in the country and lets cross our fingers and toes for continued success. Well done to the girls and Mr. Carter. County Girls Football U13 Girls progressed into the quarter finals of the county cup beating last year’s winners 3-2. It was a fantastic team performance. The girls showed great character as it was one of the first times that have been behind in a game. The girls have been drawn at home in the last 8 of the national cup and could face Queens again. Swimming Report There were some fantastic performances and great competitive spirit shown by the team at the second district league gala before Christmas. Unfortunately points were lost due to gaps in the team but a huge thank you to those who filled in. Great swims particularly from Sophie Rawlinson, Bethany Baxter and Jordan Kimsey all coming second in their races. Many 3rd places achieved across the board which was fantastic but overall league positions have not yet been published. Indoor Athletics – Wednesday 19th January On Wednesday 45 students from Years 7-10 represented the school at the indoor athletics championships. It was a fantastic experience for the athletes to compete at the indoor track at Pickets Lock and again some significant success against the top 6 schools in our district. Starting with the junior girls (8/9) finishing runners up to Presdales by 2 points. They just missed out on a trophy although this was a major achievement and shows we can compete with the likes of Presdales and threaten the top positions in the summer athletics. The girls finished on a high, winning the relay. There was a lot of screaming in the SBS camp. Team results: Minor Girls and Boys 4th place, Junior Girls runners up. It was a fantastic performance from all our athletes, and things bode well for the summer. Other results: Intermediate Girls (10/11) 3rd Intermediate Boys 3rd Gold medals Tor Hill Year 7 60m Ellie Yeardye Year 8 300m Helena Page 300m Junior Girls relay squad Sportshall Athletics The first match of the Sportshall athletics season took place last Thursday at Wodson Park in Ware. The results are as follows; Year 7 girls – 2nd Year 8 Girls – 2nd, just 1 point behind Presdales Year 7 boys – 4th Year 8 boys – 4th The next match takes place on March 10th. Year 8 District Rugby Result SBS beat John Warner 55-12 This week our Year 7 & 8 boys play Turnford in the district league. We are coming to the end of a fantastic rugby season and in the next edition of newsbytes I will summarise the rugby year.

Boys Football Results On the first Saturday morning of the Spring term the boys played JFK (Hemel Hempstead) Year 7 lost 7-0 Year 8 lost 3-2 Last Saturday the Year 7 & 10 boys hosted Onslow from Hatfield and produced some fantastic performances. The Year 10 boys won 6-0 and the Year 7’s at last won their first game of the year 8-0 with a great performance from captain Josh Tilley. This was third time lucky for the boys and hopefully this will inspire continued success. The Year 8’s travelled to Onslow with Mr. Klippel and came away victorious 3-1. Well done lads. Our senior boys team has also been progressing very well in the County league and notched up another win against Marlborough 5-0. District Cup The Year 9's beat Freeman College in the District Cup 3-0. Under the new management of Nick Goodwin (Network manager), Evan Cowler scored 2 headed goals. Ben Neate put in a fantastic performance at the heart of the defence which earned him Man of the Match. The boys now play Turnford on Monday 24th Jan in the district cup and our Year 8’s also play Turnford on Monday. On Saturday our Year 7 boys begin the district cup campaign against John Warner.

Year 7 Basketball Results SBS beat Sele 8-6 SBS lost to Cheshunt The week before, the boys beat Turnford 18-2 and narrowly lost out to Richard Hale. This Tuesday the boys travel to Sheredes for the third round of the district league.

New Date - Gym and Dance Display –WEDNESDAY 2nd March Please note the revised date for the performance. This had to be changed once the date for the GCSE Maths retakes was confirmed as the 1st. (I hope this doesn’t cause any problems for performers, but please contact Mrs Palmer/Mr Pooley if there are concerns) Rehearsals are now in full swing for our first ever Gym and Dance Display with over 40 students involved in dance and gymnastic performances. This promises to be an evening of high energy entertainment. All students taking part should have brought home a letter detailing rehearsal times. Please ensure the

permission slip is returned as soon as possible. Tickets are open to all students, family and friends of Simon Balle School and will be on sale from Monday February 7th. You can get your tickets from Mrs Dopson at the school office and they are priced at £2 (students and concessions) and £3 (adult).

Please support us in making this a night to remember. Mrs Palmer and Mr Pooley

A German student from our partner school seeks a penfriend in Yr8 /Yr 9. Via our links with the Friends of Wildeshausen, I have received a request for a partner family who would be interested in an exchange with a student from our school. Lena (12) is bright, interested, curious and enthusiastic about life. Delighted to try out her English language and keen to have pen friend (boy or girl) of her own age. Her mother is a teacher of English and her father is a judge. They live in Wildeshausen. If you are interested, please contact Mrs Jill Coggins, committee-member of the Friends of Wildeshausen directly (jill.coggins@btinternet.com) before 1st February. R Taylor, HoD MFL