simon balle all-through school larch...

4.2.19

Simon Balle All-through School

Larch Newsletter

Message from the Headteacher

Inside this issue:

Reception News 2

Year 1 News 2

Year 2 News 3

Year 3 News 3

Attendance 4

Values Awards 4

Notices from

Primary Phase

5

Dates for the Dia- 5

PSA News 6

Other Notices 7,8,9,

10, 11

Dear Families

With less than two weeks to go to half term, thank you again for all your support

with so many aspects of school life. Already we have welcomed so many parents

to parents’ evenings, concerts, sporting events and information evenings.

Despite the challenges of the weather last week, school ran incredibly smoothly,

thanks to everyone’s patience. Two reminders before we do break up: Non

uniform day (£2) on Thursday 14 February to support The Shaw Trust (details to

follow) and Friday 15th February is a staff training day, so students are not

required to attend school. We return to normal routines on Monday 25th

February.

For the past few weeks we have been spending considerable time recruiting

teachers and support staff, the majority of whom will join us in September. I am

delighted to be able to inform you that in most cases this has been incredibly

successful and we have been able to appoint some high calibre colleagues. We

shall shortly be advertising again for other posts including primary teachers, and

additional support staff, so do keep an eye on either “Teach in Herts” or our own

website.

I am delighted to be able to inform you that we have appointed an exceptional

colleague to lead our Primary Phase. Rachel Kirk was Head teacher at Alban

Wood Primary School (North Watford) and led the school from good to

outstanding. Her reputation and ability was noticed and Rachel then went on to

support another Hertfordshire school as Executive Head. For the past two years,

Rachel has been working with Herts for Learning as one of the area school

improvement partners, again supporting and challenging schools to ensure that

all children receive the very best education.

Living in Hertford, and knowing the school so well, Rachel is totally committed to

the vision and ethos of Simon Balle All-through School and I have no doubt at all

that she will make an incredible difference both to primary and secondary

students. Although not taking up the permanent post until September, Rachel,

Mike Moss and myself will be working closely together during the summer term to

ensure a planned induction and transition.

We will of course say far more about this as the summer term develops and I am

sure that Mrs. Kirk will want to meet you and your children at various planned

events.

Important reminder

If you have to drive onto the school site you must turn right and park in a suitably

marked parking bay. Please do not turn left or go straight on to park – this area is

for visitors only. We would also ask you not to stop on the crossings to pick up your

child and if you are parked turn your engine off. Thank you for your co-operation.

SPRING TERM

SIMON BALLE ALL-THROUGH SCHOOL

Reception News

Year 1 News

Last week Reception had a super time visiting Hertford Fire Station. They learnt

about potential fire hazards, what to do if there is a fire, how to stay safe near

fire and what the role of a fire fighter is. They were also very lucky and got to go

in the fire engine and use the fire hose. Hedgehogs and Squirrels had a super

time and learnt lots. Please ask your child about the trip and about what they

discovered.

This week in Reception we have been continuing our learning about our

current value of Hope. We started the week by reading the book ‘How to

Catch a Star’ by Oliver Jeffers and acting out the story. We then created a

class story map and tried using our imagination to change the story into some-

thing we hope we could catch. We had lots of super ideas for different stories

for example; How to catch a unicorn, How to catch a snowflake and How to

catch a dinosaur!

In maths we have been learning all about money. The children have been

recognising different coins and trying to make different amounts using the

coins. Please continue this learning at home by showing children real coins and

see if they can help you pay for something in a shop.

Year 1 have enjoyed learning all about houses. Last week we thought about

different homes around the world and this week we learnt about how houses

have changed in the UK throughout history. This sparked some really interesting

conversations and the children were all intrigued to know when their houses

were built.

In English we have been exploring the ‘Rainbow Bird’ book - which is a

traditional Australian tale. The children have enjoyed thinking about the

characters and the story structure.

In maths we have been measuring and comparing length and height, using

both non-standard units (cubes, paperclips) and rulers to measure.


Year 2 News

Year 3 News

We are really enjoying our topic of castles, particularly finding out about the

different types, how they have changed over time and the different jobs that

people might have in the castle. Next week the children will have the

opportunity to start art work linked to this topic.

In English, we have enjoyed our traditional tale from another culture, ‘Mufaro’s

beautiful daughters’ and have written our own stories which were inspired by

this.

In maths we have continued learning about money with a focus on exchange

and this culminated in the children setting up shops. Please continue to find

opportunities to support your child’s learning in this area by allowing them to

pay for items and to check the change!

This week we will begin looking at ‘Cinderboy’ which is a new version of

‘Cinderella’ and will begin looking at division into groups of 2,3,5 and 10.

We have enjoyed learning about the history of cars, trains and planes. In our

topic work we have been making large timelines to show events in

chronological order.

In English we have been writing explanations. We have linked these to our topic

work and written about how a car engine works. We will continue writing

explanations this week, also linked to topic.

In maths we have learnt about money. We converted pounds to pence and

then used column subtraction to work out the change. This week we are

learning about statistics. We have used tallies and have converted these into

bar graphs and pictograms.

In science we have continued to learn about forces and magnets. This week

we conducted an investigation to see which type of magnet is the strongest.

We plotted a graph to show our findings.

BBC Radio 2 are launching a 500 words competition where children under 9

can submit a story. If your child would like to enter this competition please log

on to the BBC 500 Words website at https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p00rfvk1

SPRING TERM

Values Awards

Attendance

Over the last two weeks we have had excellent attendance:

Please ensure your child attends school and is punctual every day.

Reception

Hedgehogs

Beau & Harry D

Squirrels

Freddie & Joe W

Year One

Rabbits

Sam & Ava C

Badgers

Kira & Ava A

Year Two

Foxes

Lola & Seren

Deer

Wally & Sophie

Year Three

Wrens

Csongi & Edith

Robins

Harry T & Sophia

Hedgehogs: 96% Foxes: 96%

Squirrels: 95% Deer: 98%

Rabbits: 98% Wrens: 97%

Badgers: 97% Robins: 97%


Year 3 continued…. On Wednesday 13th February we are offering an exciting opportunity to Y3 students where they

will be participating in a Health & Well-being Day with a selected group of Year 7 students.

Students will participate in the following themed activities;

Connect: Connecting with friends, family and community.

Be Active: A physical activity session will be created and delivered

Take Notice: Me and My Life workshop.. strengths and weaknesses, mindfulness

Keep Learning: Diet and Nutrition and keeping yourself knowledgeable about what you eat

and how you move

Give: introduce a local charity/charities and provide info on how to start a fundraiser

perhaps

For students who currently have a school dinner on a Wednesday they will have an extra healthy

dinner on this day. If your child has packed lunch on this day and they would like to also have a

healthy themed dinner on this day please let us know.

Parents will be invited to attend from 2.10pm onwards to look at your child's presentation

and work from their day.

Dates for your diary

Notices from the Primary Phase

5th February: Safer internet day—’Together for a better internet’

6th February - Years 1,2 & 3 Outdoor activity. Please bring in wellies.

13th February: Year 3 Health & Wellbeing Day

14th February: Non Uniform Day Shaw Trust

15th February: Inset Day

w/b 18th February Half Term

11th and 13th March: Parent Conversations, Reception

4th April: Year 1 assembly, parents welcome 2:30pm

5th April End of term early finish

As you know we regularly reflect on our practice to ensure that we are providing the

best learning for your children. We have been finding that on occasions some

teachers are talking to parents for some time at drop off in the playground and this

has resulted in a late start to learning in the morning. Therefore, starting on Monday 4th

February we would like to trial a new system of parents communicating with the class

teacher to pass on essential information that the teachers need to support your child,

whilst not stifling this important channel of communication.

From Monday, you will find a book with the class name on located in the Larch Centre

reception area. Please write any non-urgent but important communication that the

teacher should be made aware of on that day in the book, for example, a change in

collection arrangements. Mrs Harding will ensure the teacher is aware on any messag-

es once the registers have been taken. If your message is urgent or of a confidential

nature, please email it directly to Mrs Harding ([email protected]) who will

ensure that the class teacher is made aware straight away.

This system is for information that a teacher needs to receive on that particular day. If

you have other communication that is not essential for that day, please email the class

teacher in the usual way and they will be able to respond in the usual timely manner.

Kind regards

Yvonne Adshead

PAGE 5 SIMON BALLE ALL-THROUGH SCHOOL

mailto:[email protected]


PSA News

FABULOUS FILM NIGHT FOR ROBINS AND WRENS!

The PSA are pleased to announce 2019 Year 3 Film Night!

This is an opportunity for the children to join their friends for a picnic style tea and

then a trip to Simon Balle's very own cinema (A.K.A the Lecture Theatre) for a pri-

vate viewing of the super-entertaining film SING!

Plan for the event:

The children will change in their classrooms before being welcomed for a picnic-

style tea (for which we charge £3.50) with their friends. After tea we will all head

over to the "cinema" for the one-off viewing of the film. Running time 1hr 54min.

We ask you to collect your children at 6pm from the Lecture Theatre / 6th Form

foyer area.

Film Night Tickets are available via the PSA website only: simonballepsa.org.uk

If any of you parents / carers are able to help out during the event please

email [email protected] to let us know. Thank you!

PSA Meeting - Monday 25th February, 7pm

We are always looking for new ideas and suggestions, please come alone to our

next meeting if you have anything you’d like to share and to hear about what

we have planned for the year ahead.

PRE-LOVED UNIFORM

We are looking to build our stock of older age preloved uniform items. If you

have any outgrown items in fairly good condition aged 5+, please consider do-

nating them to us. You can hand in to Larch Reception. We have plenty of

younger aged items and hope to offer a pre loved uniform sale soon.

http://simonballepsa.org.uk/



Dear Parent/Carer

As part of our on-going commitment to educate our students on Personal, Social and Emotional Health,

we have connected with a local community interest company, ELSA, who will be delivering workshops

to your son/daughter.

On Wednesday 13th February, your son/daughter will participate in a whole-day programme focussing

on the ‘5 Ways to Wellbeing’.

The students will pass through a carousel of activities, covering topics such ‘Connect, Be Active, Take

Notice, Keep Learning and Give’.

Students will work together, discussing and considering their current life style, peer to peer relationships,

thoughts towards certain food groups, how active they are and how engaging with giving or charity

initiatives can release endorphins and make someone feel good.

All students will self-assess, peer-assess and support others during the workshops and healthy versus

unhealthy relationships, strengths and weaknesses and mindfulness will be spoken about and the young

people will begin to consider ways to improve their own and others’ wellbeing.

Please rest assured that the contents of each workshop is tailored according to the age group of

students, and all workshops end on an extremely positive and uplifting note.

Year 7 Simon Balle students will assist and partner with year 3 students from the Larch Centre.

We would like to invite the parents of those students taking part to watch student presentations from

2.10pm until the end of the school day.

Please could you reply to [email protected] to inform us if you are able to attend the parent

presentations.

You are welcome to contact me to discuss the programme further.

Yours sincerely

Daire Brennan

Head of Department – Physical Education


The lost property box needs an upgrade to accommodate all the lost items that are

building up (do go and check it)!! This time of year is especially bad for lost items with

all those un-named gloves and hats.

My Nametags offer customisable sticky name labels. For those who haven't used them

before, they stay where they are stuck and can be used on snack boxes, clothing,

shoes.... you name it. You can choose the background colour/pattern, the font style,

what you want the text to say and add a cute picture.

When you place your order, if you enter our school ID 37273 on the page where you

Input your personal details, My Nametags will give us a small amount of commission. It

all helps - just wanted to make you aware of the company as these stickers have been

a life saver plus now the bonus of commission!!

One sheet of 56 stickers costs £11.95 plus £1 p&p (but you can often get a discount

code by doing a quick Google).

School ID: 37273

We will not receive commission unless this number is entered on your order form.


Monday 18th February to Thursday 21st February

Holiday Activity Programme

Play Aloud Simon Balle

High quality, Ofsted registered childcare for Primary School age children.

We are open from 08:00 to 18:00 on the days below, with all of our toys, crafts, games,

books, puzzles etc. available to children all day in addition to the special activities

listed.

Special Activities are optional between 10am and 3pm at no extra charge.

Children from all schools are welcome.

Start and end bookings at the times that you need: a few hours or full days.

Sibling discounts applied 10%, 15% etc. for 2nd, 3rd etc. siblings.

Breakfast and dinner available, please bring a nut free packed lunch.

Special Activities: Monday 18th

February

Become a scientist for the day

Today we will be scientist. Come and join in with some exciting homemade

experiments and activities.

Tuesday 19th

February Animal kingdom day

Today is all about animals of all different kinds. We will be craft making,

cooking and looking at our favourite animals. What is your favourite animal

Wednesday

20th February Superhero’s and princess day

Are you a Superhero or Princess? What powers have you got?

We will have been doing various activities throughout the day supporting our

magic powers do you need new magic wands or masks if so come along.

Thursday 21st

February Space explorers

Come and explore space with us. Take away your very own Planet or Rocket

that you can make with us. Where will our space rocket take us? Will you be

an astronaut or an alien?

TO BOOK OR FOR MORE INFORMATION

Email: [email protected] or message Emma on Famly

(Please be sure to tell us the start and finish times you need and whether you require meals)

Please let us know what days/times/meals you need and we will confirm your place asap.

If you are not registered with us that’s no problem, we will e-mail you a booking form.

Please bring a packed lunch if you are with us at 12 noon.


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