Busy Lizzies

Busy Lizzies at Simon Balle aims to provide an interesting, stimulating and safe environment where children are happy to express their creativity, enjoy positive respectful relationships, grow in self-confidence and delight in the joy of learning.

From the team who run the Ofsted rated OUTSTANDING settings Busy Lizzies Kids Club and Bengeo Playgroup and recently opened Busy Lizzies Preschool, we were pleased to welcome the opening of Busy Lizzies at Simon Balle in September 2019. You can read more at the Busy Lizzies website.

Accent Catering

“At the heart of everything we do is our love of great tasting, fresh and healthy food, prepared by teams who care. We know pupils consider fast food as the biggest treat imaginable but we know that it does not make you feel good or live well.

That’s why we focus on every single aspect of our food to ensure our customers get the very freshest, natural fast food that is healthy, great tasting and nutritious. Over 98.3% of our food is prepared from fresh, all our meat Red Tractor assured, fish from sustainable stocks only and the fruit and veg UK sourced where possible.”

Please see the catering page of our website for details of menus.

MCR Pathways

The Young Talent programme, delivered in partnership with MCR Pathways, is a school-based 1:1 mentoring programme that connects young people who need additional encouragement, with adult mentors.

MCR recruits and trains volunteer mentors who are matched with a young person based on
personality, interests and career aspirations. Mentors meet with their young person at their
school for just one hour a week and provide a compassionate, listening ear. Mentors help their young person engage with their education and build the self-belief they need to progress onto positive destinations such as further education, higher education or employment. For this, MCR are looking for the local community to become mentors. For more information and to become a mentor in one of the Hertfordshire schools, please visit MCR Pathways England.

The Young Talent programme also delivers Year 7 and Year 8 weekly group work sessions. These are focused primarily on building confidence, health & wellbeing, and developing life and work skills. This allows the Pathways Coordinator to build trust and an individual relationship with each young person, preparing them for mentoring when they reach Year 9.

The school’s Pathways Coordinator develops, facilitates and oversees the individual
requirements of each pupil they work with. The Young Talent programme is a highly effective way for young people to identify and build on their strengths, achieve goals and realise their full potential.

Since the introduction of the programme in Hertfordshire schools in 2021, 1 or more suspensions for participating young people saw a reduction of 38%, and in the academic year of 2023, amongst the young people who had met with their mentor 10 or more times, attendance at school increased by +2.23%.

“I feel like I am a happier person since meeting my mentor” – Young Person, Barclay
Academy

“Being a mentor has been incredibly rewarding. It's a privilege to watch my young person grow in confidence, and to know that I've played a small part in their journey” – Mentor, Marriotts School

“I love my mentor. She helped me figure out how to express myself more without getting
into trouble and was a great person to talk to” – Young Person, Nobel School

“The best thing about mentoring is seeing your mentee change and grow. Sometimes you
can almost see the penny drop when you’re talking to them and you know they are
starting to see a different way of thinking about things or approaching a problem. It’s also
really good fun spending time with my mentee who has a lot of energy and a great sense
of humour!” – Mentor, Simon Balle School