We had a brilliant sunny weekend at PGL with the Year 7 netballers! The girls have played some excellent netball and supported each other throughout. The girls came in the following positions;
Team 1 – Runners up in Year 7/8 tournament
Team 2 – 3rd place in Year 7/8 tournament
Team 3 – 5th place in Year 7 tournament
Team 4 – Runners up in Year 7 tournament
Team 5 – 3rd place in Year 7 tournament
The girls selected players player from each team and the coaches selected most valuable player for each team over the weekend.
Team 1 – PP – Sophia W & MVP – Scarlet C
Team 2 – PP – Freya E & MVP – Lois D
Team 3 – PP – Jasmine B & MVP – Holly P
Team 4 – PP – Evie R & MVP – Lyla C
Team 5 – PP – Jasmine S & MVP – Daisy F
Well done everyone!
The girls have been doing lots of activities when not playing netball, including, zip wire, giant swing, axe throwing, archery and abseiling and climbing!
Well done to our badminton players who played a friendly match against Haileybury on 25th February. Some tough games narrowly lost and some great individual matches won against a strong opposition.
Well done to the Presdales U18 team who recently beat RMS 6-3. Player of the match was Cara Nolan.
U14s Well done to the U14s football team who, on 25th February, beat Broxbourne 4-3 in the District League. It was a closely contested match between two evenly matched sides. Presdales dominated possession but Broxbourne carried a constant threat so the game was always in the balance. The girls showed their resilience twice coming back from going behind, especially when Broxbourne scored a 3rd to go 3-2 ahead with less than 10mins left.
Presdales equalised with only a few minutes left via a confidently taken penalty from Keira G, then snatched victory with literally the last kick of the game, AJ ghosting in at the front post to turn the ball into the net from a corner! Our other goals were scored by Florence W and Ava M. We now await the results of the other remaining group matches to find out if Presdales go through to the semi finals. Coaches PoTM shared between Ava M and Sienna R. Well done to all the girls!
Congratulations to the U14s Football Team who this week qualified for the County Cup Final following an 8-2 win against St Clement Danes. The girls got off to a lightning fast start going 3-0 up within the first 10 minutes, however Clement Danes came back into it and scored twice in quick succession to reduce the deficit to 3-2 at half time. This left the girls a bit stunned, but they started the second half with renewed purpose and energy, playing some lovely football and taking control of the match. The goals soon started to flow and take the game away from Clement Danes. Some great performances all over the pitch, with special mention for Aleks Iv and Lily F who showed incredible power and energy throughout. Coaches PotM goes to Ava M who was outstanding with 1 goal and 3 assists. Well done to all the girls! The U14s complete the hat-trick of County finals for Presdales, joining the U15s and U16s. The U14s will now face either Croxley Danes or Parmiters in the final.
U15s Congratulations to our talented U15s football team who on 27th February reached the County Cup Final with a 3-1 win against Parmiters! The girls played in their smart new Navy football shirts, generously funded by the Parents Association. Thank you!
The match didn’t have the best of starts with Presdales going a goal behind in under a minute and losing our GK, Poppy W, to an injury in trying to save the shot. Poppy had to come off, but luckily Liv W was willing to take the goalie gloves for the remainder of the half. Presdales began to dominate and limit the threat from Parmiters. The girls came close to finding an equaliser on several occasions but went in 0-1 down at half time.
Poppy W felt ok to return to her goalkeeping duties so this released Liv W to play in midfield for the second half. It literally took Liv only a few minutes to show her quality with a fine finish to level the tie, 1-1. Liv then added a second shortly after with a quite outstanding solo goal to give Presdales the lead.
Presdales took control of the midfield and created chance after chance. This dominance eventually resulted in a well worked 3rd goal from Marlee S to lead 3-1. Presdales then hit the bar, hit the post and kept the Parmiters GK busy, but couldn’t add to their tally. So, after a difficult start, the game ended in a comfortable 3-1 win for Presdales.
The girls can now look forward to another County Final! They are such a talented group and it’s a real pleasure to work with them. All the girls performed brilliantly and played football to an incredibly high level. I could award Coaches PoTM to several players, but it goes to Liv W for her outstanding performance in a combination of GK and midfield roles to help Presdales secure the win. Well done to all the girls!!
The U15s journey in the Football National Cup unfortunately came to an end on Friday, losing 3-0 to a very strong Shenfield team (National Champions) in the Qtr Finals.
All three of Shenfield’s goals came direct from corners in the first half. Aside from this, it was an evenly balanced game with Presdales competing well.
In the second half especially, Presdales were the better side. The girls found their stride, playing more confident football and taking control of the game.
Unfortunately, despite creating a number of chances, we couldn’t quite find the back of the net. The momentum was definitely with Presdales and getting one goal could easily have led to more. The girls should all feel extremely proud of themselves. It was a gallant effort and they played their hearts out. They now have the Final of the Hertfordshire County Cup to look forward to in a few weeks time.
Coaches PoTM goes to Annabel G who made lots of great runs and was a constant threat on the left wing. Well done to all the girls, I’m incredibly proud of you.
U16s Well done to the U16s football team, who reached the Final of the County Cup with a 2-1 win against Royal Masonic (RMS)!
It was a close match throughout and could have gone either way. Presdales led 1-0 at half time through a goal from Amy L but RMS came out very strongly in the second half putting Presdales under a lot of pressure.
RMS deservedly equalised with about 20 minutes of the match remaining. Both teams then missed chances to take the lead, but Annabel G managed to put Presdales ahead 2-1 with less than 10mins to go. RMS pressed hard to equalise again but Poppy W pulled off a couple of great saves, including one where she dived at the strikers feet, to keep Presdales ahead and see out the game. Coaches PoTM goes to Poppy Ward for a fantastic performance in goal. Considering that Poppy does not normally play in goal, it shows what a talented, brave and versatile athlete she is. Presdales is very grateful that Poppy is willing to play GK for the school teams. Indeed, she filled in at the last minute today after Teairra L suffered an injury at the weekend. Thank you Poppy and well done to all the girls on a fantastic achievement!
Presdales win now play either Herts & Essex or Ashlyns in the final.
First ever handball experience for the U13s last week. They loved it!
Some tough opposition but Presdales soon found their flow learning every step of the way. Hertfordshire Runners Up
Year 8 Congratulations to the Year 8 netball team who played a tough county cup semi final on the 4th March against Herts & Essex. The score was very evenly matched throughout but the girls dug deep in the final quarter to win the match 23-21.
POTM Sophia P for her excellent determination and resilience on court!
This means we are through to the CC Final on Thursday 13th March held at STAHS.
UPDATE : On 13th March, the Year 8 netball team competed against Queenswood School in the County Cup Netball Finals at STAHS. The first quarter was very close with Queenswood leading by 1 goal but as the game continued, Presdales found their well known stride and dominated the game.
Our non stop teamwork and determination led to us winning the match 36-20 meaning we are YEAR 8 COUNTY CUP NETBALL CHAMPIONS!!
POTM as voted by Queenswood was Maisy W and CPOTM was Leah H.
Amazing work girls, so proud of you all and truly deserved!
Year 9 Pure grit, drive, versatility, and teamwork on display from our Presdales teams this week at the Year 9 District tournament.
Congratulations to the B team for coming Runners up in the plate competition.
Superb performances and only dropping two games all afternoon (one of which was against the winners).
The A team dug deep suffering from another injury, and playing the majority of their games with only 6 players. The determination to still do their best for each other, despite being out of position, was really admirable. Their reward…. DISTRICT CHAMPIONS!!!!
Year 10 Well done to the Year 10 Netball team who recently played their County Cup semi final against Herts and Essex. It was a close, tough game from the start. The girls worked hard in every quarter but unfortunately lost 27-33. Star player was Clemmie.
This brings to an end our netball for the season. It has been a successful season with a district title, runners up in the STAHS league and County Cup semi finalists. The girls should be very proud of themselves and the quality of netball they have produced game after game. I am looking forward to the challenges of next season! I know the girls will come back even stronger!
Well done to the Year 10 indoor cricket team who held their own at indoor tournament last week.
On Wednesday 26th February, the Year 12 art students were lucky enough to take part in a Procion Printing Workshop, where we all experimented with Procion and Brusho inks to create prints that linked to our personal investigation theme. The inks were painted on top of a screen, which was then transferred onto paper or fabric using a squeegee that firmly drag acrylic medium across the screen and over our painted image. The inks could be used to make patterns as well as portraits, and could be printed on various backgrounds multiple times. “Ghost prints” were created as the ink faded with each print, which allowed us to later work into them with embroidery, coloured pencil and other experimental media. The process was really exciting, and allowed us to create unique prints with beautifully vibrant colours, and intricate layers – each print was different from another, as colours faded or blended into one another, and this is what made the process so satisfying and rewarding. Overall, it was a really valuable experience for all the art students, and incredibly interesting to learn new skills in printmaking and design that can contribute to our personal investigation project.
Hattie Pryke
The Procian screen printing workshop encouraged creativity and curiosity, allowing students to develop their artistic skills while learning about the printing process. Year 12 have further developed their prints by adding a variety of mixed media and stitched embellishments. It was an enjoyable and productive day with such a calm atmosphere. We are looking forward to seeing the students use this new process in their future coursework.
The Art Department
Year 7 have been looking at the amazing illustrations by the Italian artist Alfred Basha. He combines animals and natural forms such as trees, branches and leaves to create his beautiful ink drawings. He works in black ink using contrasting mark making.
I think you would agree the inspired results by our Year 7 are a great success!
We love your landscapes within the animal forms. So much imagination and effort.
Well done to all the students.
The Art Department
This half term, the Year 7 & 8 Art Club have enjoyed exploring the work of Robert Indiana, whose LOVE piece has been recreated as sculptures all around the world. Some chose to recreate the LOVE design, whilst others created other bold, four letter designs.
Well done Art Club!
‘Abacus Creative Resources’ held an Art Students’ Competition during 2024. It was a platform for students to express and elevate their artistic talents and was open to various educational levels. Students were able to use any media of their choice and create Artwork about a personal theme. We are delighted to announce that Natalia, one of our Year 9 students, was awarded 3rd Place. Congratulations Natalia!
The Art Department
‘This is my painting of a candle on a rainy day. In my painting I used gouache paints but also acrylics. I was inspired by an atmospheric image I found online. I used a range of different painting techniques to create this and am very proud of how it turned out.’
Natalia Tsamili
The week before half term 15 Year 8 and 9 students visited the capital of Estonia, Tallinn where approximately 40% of the population are native Russians and there are lots of Russian speakers.
Students enjoyed a whirlwind tour of what life was like in Estonia during the Soviet Union, discovered what the KGB might be interested in them for and where they would have ended up if they didn’t go along with party communist party lines. They also took a step back into Imperial Russia and visited Peter the Great’s house and palace, enjoying the art collection there.
Students particularly enjoyed the Russian lessons and visit to the school where they met young Russian speakers and exchanged ideas about their lives and hobbies. Tallinn has a beautiful Russian language theatre which offered the students the opportunity to enjoy a very novel staging of Figaro, which was visually very engaging even if they spoke very quickly.
The students thought the old town of Tallinn was very beautiful and made their own Russian dumplings at the Russian restaurant in the old town centre. They also ordered their own Russian pies in the pie shop. We were very lucky to enjoy Tallinn in the snow and the students represented Presdales very well in spite of extreme tiredness from such a packed programme.
Slightly belatedly for the Russians, the Year 7 Russian class marked Maslenitsa (pancake week) with pancake ordering, sushki bracelet making and singing. The students embraced the challenge of singing quite fast and made a rather pleasant sound by the end of it! Well done Year 7.
Latest News
Coming Up
Monday 24th
Year 13 A Level Politics Conference, London
Tuesday 25th
Year 9 Options Evening, 6pm
Year 10 L4L (pm)
Tuesday 25th & Wednesday 26th
Year 11 Art Mock Exam
Thursday 27th to 12th December
Year 11 Mocks
Contact Us
Presdales School
Hoe Lane
Ware
Hertfordshire
SG12 9NX
Tel: 01920 462210
admin@presdales.herts.sch.uk
Headteacher:
Mr Warren
