On Saturday 18th January, Presdales hosted its first VEX robotics tournament. On the run up to the day the girls had worked extremely hard to prepare their robots for the competition, building through lunchtimes, staying after school and even taking robots home to work on. All the members of the robotics club should be extremely proud of what they have achieved.
16 teams attended the tournament representing John Warner, Greig City Academy, Henrietta Barnett, Nobel and Presdales School. With places for the national finals at stake the teams fought hard, the overall winners were from John Warner School and Greig City Academy.
We were very lucky to have an excellent judging panel on the day, Jamie D’Ath (MBDA), Steve Green (Lockheed Martin) and Parent Adrian Hughes. A special thank you to the team of volunteers that helped set up and supported throughout the event, especially to Mr Bedwell and Dr Gale. Well done to Megan Hughes (Year 7) for being awarded the volunteer of the tournament.
On Tuesday 28th January, the Year 10 Graphics Design and Technology groups visited the Design Museum in London. The students visited the Beazley Design of the Year exhibition, now in its newer home on Holland Park, and the architecture of the inside.
The Beazley Design of the Year exhibition was fantastic, where the girls explored an array of different designs that had been nominated for the competition. Some of the ideas were very thought provoking, however many of the girls mentioned that the designs, though simple, would change people’s lives. For example, a virtual postcode for homeless people so that they can apply for things such as jobs, passports, bank cards etc., and upcycled fashion to bring different cultures to the forefront of design. The ‘Designer, User, Maker’ exhibition was also something the girls really enjoyed. For example, the computers and mobile phones through the ages is always a talking point for them, and the huge 3D printer!
After lunch, the girls had a treasure hunt to do around the museum where they had to look for specific items. 14 students in total got all of the questions correct, and were rewarded with chocolate, which went down well!
It was a fantastic day, and one which we hope will widen the students’ thought process about design and their questioning skills about material choices and ethics from a designer point of view, ready for their NEA coursework which will begin in June 2020.
‘The architecture videos were great, showing the environment of each of the structures.’ Jessica & Isobel
‘The AI face design, which is a website called www.thispersondoesnotexist.com was really interesting, but quite scary to think these people do not actually exist-very clever! Rebecca
‘I really liked the puppet fashion pieces and the other outfits and costumes.’ Elizabeth
‘The pregnancy chairs and the blue mood lighting to encourage home births was fascinating and caused a big discussion amongst us.’ Izzy, Ria, Kirstin
Year 9 have produced some exciting and beautifully presented surrealist research homework. Over the next few weeks, they will be creating their own surreal designs linked to the theme of inside/outside. I cannot wait to see their final outcomes.
Mrs Page
https://presdales.herts.sch.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/art-header-Copy-2.jpg283800Presdales Schoolhttps://presdales.herts.sch.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/presdales-school-logo.pngPresdales School2020-01-31 10:33:282020-01-31 10:33:28News from Art
Congratulations to the following students who are our PE Stars of the Month!
Hockey
A massive well done to the senior hockey team who have recently been in action. On Monday 13th January, they played Simon Balle school and, in very wet and cold conditions, won 6-0. On Monday 20th, they played Parmiters and drew 1-1 after a very close battle! Well done girls – some great hockey!
The Year 7 and 8 hockey teams played Simon Balle last week. The games were played in an excellent spirit with Presdales showing a high level of commitment and lovely skills throughout. Both teams won comfortably with the Year 7 team running out 10-0 winners and the Year 8 team winning 3-0. Well done girls, great performances!
Sportshall Athletics
The athletes were in action last week at Lee Valley Athletics Centre for the District Indoor Athletics competition. They were all brilliant and performed so well individually and in the relay. Well done girls!!
Results –
Minor girls – 2nd
Junior girls – 3rd
Inter girls – 4th
Overall we came 2nd and only 5 points off 1st so it was very close!
Special mentions to those who came 1st in their events-
Martha Ker – minor hurdles
Jess Downing – junior hurdles
Maddie Stewart – inter hurdles
Ellie Bostock – junior shot (new pb of 11.53m!!)
Seren Miller – junior triple jump
Alice Lynn – minor 200m
Beth Botheras – minor 800m
Roisin Hurley – inter 800m
Minor girls relay team!
Bethany Botheras and Alice Lynn in Year 7 represented Hertfordshire in the East Regional Sportshall Athletics Finals yesterday at Essex University. Unfortunately, the U13 girls’ team were 2 members down on the day and therefore couldn’t score in all events, but both girls thoroughly enjoyed representing the county and did brilliantly in their individual team and field events. Well done girls!
Netball
Year 7
Well played to the Year 7 netballers who also played against John Warner this week. A great close game but unfortunately lost 4-6. Well done girls. Star player was Sophie Wilson.
Year 8
Great efforts from the Year 8 netball team who played against John Warner this week. The girls unfortunately lost 9-3 but they worked really well as a team! Star player was Elspeth Mayers. Also a massive thank you to Evie for amazing umpiring.
Year 9
Well done to the Year 9 B team who won 17-9 against Freman College last week. Awesome play, girls! Star Player was Amelia Kaufman-Cook.
Year 10
Well done to the Year 10 netball team who won 21-9 tonight against Freman College. You were all fantastic! Star Player was Ella Coker.
Year 10/11
Awesome effort from our fantastic regional netball team in their final practice game v Haileybury before Regionals on 25th January. We won 25-22 and Star Player was Mia Hannington.
Year 11
Amazing effort from the Year 11 in the district tournament this week. Showing great team work and resilience the Year 11’s came 3rd overall losing a tight game to Broxbourne 7-6. Star player was Emily Mayes. Well played girls!
Senior Netball Team
Senior team won their district tournament winning both their games 18-4 and 31-0! Star player was Ava Cabbani. Well done all!
U16s – Regionals 25th January
Amazing effort from our fantastic netball team! Outstanding team work and resilience! U16 East Regionals 3rd is a massive achievement, just missing out on going through to the National finals. Well done, girls!
Indoor Cricket Tournament
Any students in Year 7-10 who are interested in playing in an indoor cricket tournament please attend a practice session on Wed 5th February in the Gym from 3:30-4:30pm. You MUST attend this session to have a chance of being in the team!
PE Department
https://presdales.herts.sch.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/netball-3-Copy.jpg313800Presdales Schoolhttps://presdales.herts.sch.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/presdales-school-logo.pngPresdales School2020-01-31 10:33:182020-01-31 13:02:16News from PE
On Friday 17th January in the afternoon, Year 8 had the pleasure of watching a performance by Anthony Glenn from “Shaking up Shakespeare”. Year 8 had been studying “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” and this fast-paced one man show brought the plot and characters to life in a highly engaging way. Several girls were involved in taking parts and there was much hilarity, as Shakespeare intended.
Sarah Culley
‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’ Reviews
The ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’ production was a one-man show that encouraged the audience to participate as characters. The first part of the play was where a few members of the audience volunteered to become the main characters of the play.
Then, a few people volunteered to become The Mechanicals and the Fairies. It turned Shakespeare’s plays into a comedy. At points in the performance, there were songs, which everyone enjoyed and laughed at.
The best part was when he kept inviting the audience to join him on stage, as many people in the audience wanted to volunteer. I enjoyed the physical theatre and costumes as it brought the play to life. It also made everyone laugh!
In summary, I enjoyed the play and I laughed a lot.
By Amy Adams (Year 8)
On Friday the 17th of January, we had Mr Anthony Glenn in school to do his one man show ‘Shaking up Shakespeare’ for all of year 8. Mr Glenn started the performance with a short humorous introduction, telling us about himself and starting with some audience interaction. He then selected an audience member to come up and do a warm up; it got everyone excited and buzzing for his performance. He then picked the main characters to begin with, and began his witty interpretation of the play. It was very accurate and, though it was humorous, a lot of detail and information was portrayed in his performance. He managed to use as many of the audience members as possible, given the characters available, and those who weren’t chosen still felt involved, thanks to the large amount of audience participation. Even when small hiccups in the play occurred, he just laughed and made a clever joke about it, adding to the humour of the show. Not only was the show hilarious and highly enjoyable, but it was also very educational as he recited several passages from the play and had a discussion with us about the play afterwards. He let us discuss not only the play but him, Shakespeare and acting in general. We asked lots of questions and we received great answers back! Overall, I found the performance fast-paced, witty, very funny, educational and interesting. I do hope we will get to see another performance of his.
By Esme Sabin (Year 8)
It was a hilariously funny performance which my friends and I enjoyed all the way through. I enjoyed the audience participation and the costumes. The volunteers were made to wear a costume used to portray Thisbe which was a messy blonde wig, a long dress and a fake beard. The girl who portrayed Puck (Robin Good-fellow) wore some funny glasses and made a funny noise when pretending to fly. The man performing kept the audience excited at all times and everyone clapped along when he started to sing. One of the things my friends and I probably found funniest was when he wore a wig pretending to be Helena. The reason we found it so funny was because the wig kept falling off his head. It was good how he remembered all the Shakespearian lines and that he could say them so quickly. Although he did rush around a lot trying to find the props he needed but it slightly added to the humour of it because when it came to his next line he was out of breath. We also enjoyed how he got the volunteers to say their lines despite how quiet or nervous they were. It was a hilarious one man show of Shakespeare’s Midsummer Night’s Dream and we all very much enjoyed it.
By Evie Mordecai (Year 8)
https://presdales.herts.sch.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/One-man-Show-Copy.jpg379800Presdales Schoolhttps://presdales.herts.sch.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/presdales-school-logo.pngPresdales School2020-01-31 10:22:422020-01-31 13:33:13News from English
On Monday 27th January, 3rd February and 10th February there will be a Year 10 Workshop & Interview Skills session. The students will have one session with YC Herts working through their CV and interview skills and the other session they will be working on the Barclays Life Skills website which has lots activities/videos and practice interview techniques. Students have been working on their CV’s on Unifrog in preparation for The Big Interview Day on Friday 6th March and the build up to their work experience coming up this year.
https://presdales.herts.sch.uk/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/Careers-Header-Logo-Copy.jpg399800Presdales Schoolhttps://presdales.herts.sch.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/presdales-school-logo.pngPresdales School2020-01-17 11:28:392020-01-17 11:28:39News from Careers
On Monday 6th January, the day of Epiphany, more KS3 classes than ever before found out about the tradition of “la galette des rois” during their French lessons. As many of our students now know, “la galette des rois” is enjoyed by French people on the day of Epiphany and a “fève” (a sort of charm/coin) is hidden in it. Whoever gets the slice with the “fève” is crowned King or Queen for the day. The recipe was shared and many Year 7 students have been busy this week creating crowns and making the galette at home.
Here are a few photos of the galette and the beautifully creative crowns. We were particularly impressed with the efforts of Nefeli in 7Z who made the Greek version of the Galette for the whole class, as well as an amazing PowerPoint which explained the tradition and the recipe. I definitely declare Nefeli the “Queen” of this year’s “fête des rois”!
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