PE

We were delighted to welcome a cricket coach to SMBS from Middlesex Cricket club, who conducted 6 engaging sessions with our students.

The coach introduced the fundamentals of cricket, including batting, bowling, and fielding techniques, through a series of interactive drills and games. This hands-on approach not only made the learning process enjoyable but also fostered enthusiasm for the sport among the students.

SMBS students demonstrated our school values, showing respect, a good attitude to learning, teamwork, strategic thinking and sportsmanship throughout. 

Students actively participated and demonstrated noticeable improvements in their cricket skills over the weeks. The students provided positive feedback; many sharing that they are eager to continue playing.

Focus on Enrichment

As families with older pupils at SMBS will know, each week at school finishes with an Enrichment period on Friday afternoon. This is the highlight of the week for many of our pupils and ensures that pupils finish the week on a high, engaging in an activity of their choice.

Each half term, pupils are offered a choice of activities. The activities are varied and pupils from across all year group participate, enabling pupils to develop friendships with pupils from across the school and engage in established or new interests.

As a school, we place great importance on this period of the week and providing varied and high-quality experiences for our pupils. This is particularly important as many of our pupils travel on local authority transport and cannot stay for the Monday after school club.

This term, pupils have been engaging in one of 7 possible activities: Comic Book Club, Football, Paint by Numbers, Cooking, Fencing, Computer Club and Music Club.

In English, Key Stage 4 have been working on writing in different genres. Below are some extracts of their work:

Dystopian extract by Elijah (y10)

It’s been four years since the invasion

It’s the middle of the winter now. The roads I am walking are completely covered with snow and ice. The buildings are packed together as if hugging each other. A soldier's jacket hangs from a lamp post, which flickers on and off. So they too fought against the robots, yet they miserably failed.

My boots crunch softly on the ground, muffled by the snow as I trek on, thinking bitterly I wished that none of this invasion and the death would have happened and that I was lying in a warm, coy bed.

I stop walking. I just heard something. Someone...or something... is nearby. I must be on my guard.

I walk a little more slowly, straining my ears to hear even the tiniest sound. Then there it is. I hear a hum. My heart is beating against my chest as if it wants to get out. Somehow I have been found but then that doesn't make sense. I feel something in the air. I keep on walking. It seems that I am walking towards the sound. Suddenly my foot comes into contact with something hard. 

Gothic extract by Kaleb (y10)

With the wind howling on the outside, you start to shiver. In every corner of the ceiling there are cobwebs, even on some of the furniture. The paint on the walls is starting to pee;and the cupboards all have broken doors. You start to wonder what happened for the room to be like this. Why was it abandoned?

Then you hear the door slam behind you.

The wind gets stronger until the window feels like it is going to break open. Shelves are slanted like they are going to fall. You run out of the room hoping that you never have to go back.

Farewell to Mrs Benet

After almost 10 years in the school office and as SEN Administrator at SMBS, Mrs Benet is retiring at half term.

Mrs Benet has been a part of the Staff team at SMBS since the school's second year when we only had Year 7 and 8 pupils. She joined us in our premises at Third Avenue and has seen the school change and develop over a decade including working in our brand new school building since 2022.

We wish to extend our heartfelt thank you to Mrs Benet for all her years of dedication and for keeping us efficient and up-to-date with our paper work! We wish you a very happy retirement. We will miss you.

Interview with Mrs Benet, by Jannah Year 10.

I am interviewing Mrs Benet. Today we will be talking about Mrs Benet's journey through SMBS.

How long have you worked at SMBS for?

I have worked at SMBS for 10 years. I started my job in January 2015. I had my interview in December 2014 and then after Christmas I started working here.

How did you feel when you went for your interview?

I was nervous because I hadn't worked for a long time. At that time I had a little girl who just started in Year 7. My last job was before she was born so I hadn't worked for 11 years! Also I had been for a long time without using a PC because in my house we use a Mac so I was a bit worried I wouldn't remember how to work on a PC. 

When you applied to the school were you expecting to work in the office or did you choose to work there?

My job role was called 'Administrator' and 'Displays'. This means I was working in the office and also doing displays around the school. My job was just 2 days a week to start with. About a year and a half later I went up to 4 days. They wanted me for 5 days but I quite like having a day off. I had a long weekend and it meant I could go away if I wanted to!

Do you remember your first day here?

I remember coming in and being very nervous. Starting a new job is a bit like when you are a student starting at a new school. But everyone was so friendly and really welcoming. There was only one other person in the office then, Mr Taylor. He showed me all the things they do at the school and took my photo and gave me a password to log in.

Would you say the school has changed in the time you have been here?

It has changed a lot! Obviously we're in this amazing new building. The old building was... quite different! Also the number of students has changed. When I first started there were only 2 year groups: Year 7 and 8. After that each year the school grew as a new year group joined. 

What will you miss about working at SMBS?

I will miss my colleagues, the people that I work with, like the teachers and the other people in the office. I will also miss the students a lot. I've loved seeing smiley kids in the morning!

What was your favourite thing about working here?

Everyone is so friendly. It's a small school. I've also loved seeing the students grow from when they join in year 7 to when they leave in Year 11.

What do you plan to do with your retirement?

I have a big pile of books which I'm looking forward to reading. Not all of them at once! I also have always wanted to find out about my family tree so now I have a bit more time I am going to look into that. Most importantly, I am going on a very long road trip with my husband and my daughter who is 22. We are getting in a motorhome and driving all round Europe.

Do you wish you had started working at SMBS earlier in your career?

I have been here for 10 years and that is a good amount of time. I am also happy that I got to try out different jobs before I joined SMBS as that means I have experienced a lot.

Thank you for answering my questions. We hope you have an amazing retirement and we will miss you a lot at SMBS.

ASK Apprenticeships workshop

This term, Year 10 pupils participated in workshops delivered by ASK, an apprenticeship organisation specialising in helping young people access apprenticeships and traineeships at various levels (Entry Level/Level 1/Level 2). These workshops focused on understanding current job trends, the application process and preparing for future opportunities.

Cooking Club

After school Club this term has been Cooking Club run by the Healthy Living Faculty. Pupils have enjoyed trying out new food and learning to make healthy snacks including mixed Berry smoothies, oat and raspberry cookies and chicken wraps.

Free access to audio books

We would like to highlight to families these sites where children and young people can access audio books free of charge:

https://www.calibreaudio.org.uk/

https://help.libbyapp.com/en-us/6103.htm
Audio books are available for free but membership of a local library is required.