https://presdales.herts.sch.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/header-PE-stars-Copy.jpg272800Presdales Schoolhttps://presdales.herts.sch.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/presdales-school-logo.pngPresdales School2025-10-16 13:03:232025-10-16 13:03:23PE Student of the Month – September
Massive well done to our U14 and U16 netball teams who took part in the Anne Miles County netball tournament on Saturday 4th October.
The U14 team started strong with a 19-1 win against Sandringham. This was followed by intense games against St Eds winning 9-4 and Berkhamstead winning 8-7. They continued to dominate their pool winning 8-0 against Queenswood and 18-4 against St Mary’s. This meant they topped the group and qualified for the semi-finals. Here they met STAHS where they continued to work hard and won 12-6. This meant that they were through to the final, where they went on to meet St Eds again and maintained their undefeated winning streak with a score of 12-7. This means the U14 netball team are COUNTY CHAMPIONS and have qualified for the regional finals on 7th February!
The U16s had a very good tournament. The team was made up of a mixture of Year 10s and 11s. We started our group games with a strong 14-8 win over Parmiters and a 10-6 win over Dame Alice Owen’s. The girls then really showed their ability with a convincing 20-4 win over STAGS. Our 4th game was a much closer encounter against Chauncey, but the girls showed their determination coming out winners 12-10. We then played Leventhorpe and were back to our best with a good 16-7 win. Our last two games were always going to be the hardest. First up was STAHS. Despite some excellent work all over the court the girls just couldn’t stay close enough and ended up losing 11-6. Our final group game was against Queenswood. The game just didn’t go our way, with the strong wind having a much bigger impact in this game. We finished with an 11-3 loss. This meant that we made it into the Shield Final, but couldn’t progress to the Regional Finals. The girls picked themselves up and dusted themselves off for their semi final against St Edmunds College. It was incredibly close, going to extra time and then golden goal, but we squeezed out a 15-14 win to progress to the final, where we met Leventhorpe again. This was a much closer fame, but the girls battled to the end and won 10-9 to finish as Shield winners and 5th overall.
Well done to all of the girls and thank you for your hard work and commitment over the last few weeks. You did yourselves and Presdales proud!
U15s
Well done to the U15s for their first round win of the County Cup last week. A convincing victory which allowed for a bit of variety on court. Credit to Abbott’s Hill for their determination and spirit throughout the game. Final score was 60-13. OPOM Lottie!
This week, the U15s played Broxbourne. A real nail-biter in the first half with the score sitting at 8-7 with Broxbourne matching all of our efforts. In the second half we stepped it up and found our rhythm! With some fantastic passing, solid defence, and sharp shooting, we pulled away to finish the game with an impressive 22–9 victory. Brilliant teamwork!
OPOM Scarlett
CPOM Matilda
Year 9
Congratulations to the Year 9 netball team who beat Berkhamsted 38-23 this week. The girls worked tirelessly throughout all 4 intense quarters and showed excellent teamwork and versatility
POTM – Savannah and Maisy
CPOM – Sophia
Great start to the county league girls!
Aquathalon
Presdales entered our first ever Aquathalon Race with four talented and enthusiastic Year 8 pupils taking part. The race was held at the Royal Masonic School where the girls completed 350m in the Pool and then straight into a 2.2km cross country race. This was a gruelling challenge and the girls showed amazing grit and determination to finish well in their heat. We await the final results.
Presdales was the only state school competing and it shows once again what a range of talents our pupils have. Not just talent, but also the drive and determination to push through when things get tough.
The girls were exhausted at the finish but rightly proud of their efforts. Well done Scarlett, Lily, Lois and Millie for being such fantastic competitors and also a lovely group of girls!
Football
Accomplished performance from our U15s in the National Football Cup, winning 8-0 against Brampton Manor in a one sided match.
The girls played some lovely football which was pleasing on the eye, however we squandered a lot of chances to only lead 2-0 at half time. In the second half, the girls were more composed in front of goal. When the score got to 8-0, the referee asked us to finish the game 15 minutes early, which we agreed to.
The result made the long journey to Newham in East London (and facing the hazards of London traffic!) worthwhile. Lots of good performances, however Coaches POTM goes to Florence W who scored 5 times and just missed out on a ‘double hat trick’. Well done to all the girls!
Student News
Please see more student achievements in non-school sporting activities on our PE Facebook page. We have recently had student successes in horse riding and swimming!
https://presdales.herts.sch.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/PE-Header-Sept-2023-e1695304313521.jpg528800Presdales Schoolhttps://presdales.herts.sch.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/presdales-school-logo.pngPresdales School2025-10-16 13:03:112025-10-16 13:03:11News from PE
Year 10 have been getting creative with their sweet-themed art project! They’ve been exploring layering and blending techniques with coloured pencils to create bright, eye-catching compositions.
Right now, they’re working with biro and fineliner pens, experimenting with scale, pattern, shadows, and tone to produce amazing enlarged sweet drawings. After half term, we’ll be moving on to painting, where students can take their skills even further.
Everyone has shown fantastic enthusiasm – well done, Year 10!
Year 11
Seashore
The Year 11 stunning seashore mixed media sheets are now on display in the Art rooms. This new project began last year in the Year 10 workshop, where students created lino prints of sea life, which have now been developed into a wonderful mix of drawings, oil pastels, printmaking, and beautifully collaged sheets.
A big thank you to Andrea, our technician, for helping create such a lovely display!
Print Workshops – 7th October 2025
We ran a very successful mono-printing workshop on 7th October 2025 with our Year 11 students. They learnt the process of mono printing and experimented with a variety of mark-making techniques, producing a wide range of exciting prints for their sketchbooks.
Students then developed their outcomes further by working back into their prints using pastels and paints, exploring texture, colour, and composition in more depth.
All students demonstrated maturity and genuine curiosity throughout the day, showing great enthusiasm to expand their knowledge of printmaking techniques. Both Mrs Harmer and I were extremely impressed with their creativity, effort, and positive attitude towards the workshop.
Mrs Page – Art Department
Year 12
Mechanical Botanical
This term, our talented Year 12 artists have been diving into the fascinating theme “Mechanical/Botanical” — where the manmade meets the natural world! Through a series of exciting mixed-media workshops, students have been experimenting, creating, and discovering new ways to bring this theme to life.
Earlier in the year, they built their own installation to photograph and draw from, sparking imaginative ideas and bold compositions. Their work features an amazing mix of materials and techniques — from pencil, oil pastels, charcoal, and inks to bleach effects and card relief.
Right now, they’re taking their creativity even further, developing large A1 mixed-media pieces and crafting beautiful concertina sketchbooks. It’s been wonderful to see their confidence grow as they experiment, refine their skills, and produce such inspiring work!
Mrs Page and Mrs Harmer
Year 13
🎨 Bursting with Creativity: Year 13 Personal Projects in Progress!
The art studios are alive with energy as our Year 13 students dive into their personal projects! From bold experiments with texture and colour to intricate designs and thought-provoking concepts, every corner of the room is filled with imagination in action.
It’s amazing to see each student developing their own creative voice — exploring new materials, testing out techniques, and pushing their ideas in exciting directions. These works-in-progress already showcase incredible talent and dedication, and we can’t wait to see how they evolve in the coming weeks.
https://presdales.herts.sch.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/99D7A5B1-DB46-442B-961F-A5BA0DB31DCF-Copy-1.jpg481721Presdales Schoolhttps://presdales.herts.sch.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/presdales-school-logo.pngPresdales School2025-10-16 12:56:032025-10-16 13:17:52News from Art
I recently went on the Yr9 Battlefields trip with the History department, and I had such an amazing time learning about the First World War and key battles. The trip was very moving and helped me to learn loads in a super engaging way while having a great time with friends. It was massively inspiring to learn about all the people who lost their lives for our country, especially when we visited the graves and you could see just a fraction of the people that were killed. Something that was especially special for me was that I was able to visit my great-great-grandfather’s grave at the Lijssenthoek Military Cemetery which meant a lot to me that I could pay my respects. We also visited Flanders Field Museum which gave us more information about individual experiences during ww1 and gave us more of an insight into how the war affected people. My personal favourite place we visited was the Talbot house in Poperinge. This was a place for rest and relaxation for the soldiers during times when they weren’t fighting, so that they could escape the harsh realities of the war. It was lovely to know that there was some hope and a sense of community during the war because this house was made, especially when the negative side of war is predominantly talked about. Additionally, we visited the place where the Battle of the Somme took place at Newfoundland memorial park. It was amazing to be able to see the trenches and no man’s land as it felt very real and eye opening. When we were in Belgium, we got to go to an incredible chocolate shop with some delicious chocolate that my parents were definitely grateful for me bringing them home! All in all, I really enjoyed the trip, and I had a great time exploring Belgium and France and deepening my knowledge on World War 1. Plus, I have made some unforgettable memories with my best friends too.
Lottie Fellows
https://presdales.herts.sch.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/IMG_0142-Copy-1-e1759737481569.jpg285800Presdales Schoolhttps://presdales.herts.sch.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/presdales-school-logo.pngPresdales School2025-10-06 08:58:402025-10-06 08:58:40Year 9 History Trip to the Battlefields
Year 13 Drama students attended a production of The Bacchae at The National Theatre on Wednesday 1st October.
It was a thrilling adaptation by Nima Taleghani of Euripides Greek tragedy which allowed a strong female chorus to take us through the eventful return of Dionysus to Thebes seeking recognition from his family. The students were blown away with the production, commenting it was “Extraordinary”, “Captivating” and “Relatable to a contemporary Audience”. The students will use this experience of live theatre to debate in their A Level exam the value of using old theatrical material when trying to build younger audience attendance.
The students were exemplary and were upgraded by the National to the best seats in the house!
Miss Mack
Head of Drama
https://presdales.herts.sch.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/Bacchae-Trip-Pic-2-1-Copy.jpg800601Presdales Schoolhttps://presdales.herts.sch.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/presdales-school-logo.pngPresdales School2025-10-03 12:37:012025-10-03 12:40:38A Level Drama and Theatre Trip
During the week of 22nd to 26th September, we celebrated the diversity of languages and cultures within our school community with a variety of activities throughout the week. In tutor groups, we looked at how many loan words from other languages we already use on a day to day basis. We also embraced the idea that learning other people’s languages opens hearts and minds.
Presdales teachers greeted their classes in a different language every day. By lesson 6 they were quite proficient!
On Monday we hosted an event for students during Monday lunchtime called ‘Culinary Connections’. Students from Years 7 to 9 were invited to bring in a home-prepared dish/snack originating from a different country. Over 60 families baked and prepared a variety of dishes. There was a real buzz of activity. Thank you very much to those families who contributed to this very popular event. The aims of the event were to showcase and share food from other countries and cultures and to allow students to try something that they might not usually eat!
In class, in Year 7, we celebrated with researching flags, languages and ‘hello’s’ from all over the world. and creating bunting with the information gathered. Students in Years 8 and 9 in both of their languages were given a theme or topic to focus on and have produced some excellent bookmark creations, which you can view here.
German
In German Year 8 information about German companies and Year 9 researched different musicians and music genres which are popular in Germany.
Spanish
This year for Global Week of Languages and Culture, the Spanish Department celebrated in KS3 lessons by students researching various aspects of hispanophone (Spanish-speaking) culture and decorating bookmarks with their research. Year 8 enjoyed researching traditional food from Spanish-speaking countries such as paella valenciana, crema catalana, patatas bravas, churros, and croquetas. Year 9 considered the different amazing places that Spanish could take them, and found out about tourist attractions such as Machu Picchu, La Sagrada Familia, La Isla de Pascua, and La Alhambra. Year 7 celebrated the diversity of languages and countries around the world, researching different countries and making decorations with each country’s flag, the languages spoken there, and how to say hello in those languages.
Italian
Year 8 bookmarks had a Made in Italy theme and students researched Italian brands such Prada, Nutella and Lamborghini.
Year 9 Italianists found out more about Italian music and researched artists from Jovanotti (Signora Jennings’ favourite rapper) to global superstar, Andrea Bocelli and this year’s Italian Eurovision entrant Lucio Corsi.
Russian
In Russian Year 8 students researched countries where Russian is spoken or the Cyrillic script is used and Year 9 looked into different Russian cities and their points of interest to fit into the holidays topic that they are currently studying.
https://presdales.herts.sch.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/GWoLaC.jpg191339Presdales Schoolhttps://presdales.herts.sch.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/presdales-school-logo.pngPresdales School2025-10-03 12:25:252025-10-03 12:25:34Global Week of Languages and Cultures 2025
In order to acknowledge World Mental Heath Day, we are inviting all Presdales students to wear something yellow on Friday 10th October!
We would love to see every student wearing something yellow, no matter how small, to show their support for what the day represents: the idea that everyone deserves good mental health.
This is not a non-uniform day; students are being invited to wear a yellow accessory with their normal school uniform. Examples of what students may choose to wear are listed below:
Yellow socks
Yellow hair accessory
Yellow stud earrings
Yellow tights (if they’re feeling wild!)
Yellow clothing that conforms to the Sixth Form uniform policy (Sixth Form students)
https://presdales.herts.sch.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/Monday-October-10th-from-1-p.m.-to-4-p.m.-123-Anywhere-St.-Any-City-ST-12345-Copy.png591800Presdales Schoolhttps://presdales.herts.sch.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/presdales-school-logo.pngPresdales School2025-10-03 09:55:512025-10-03 09:57:28World Mental Health Day – 10th October
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In German Year 8 information about German companies and Year 9 researched different musicians and music genres which are popular in Germany.
This year for Global Week of Languages and Culture, the Spanish Department celebrated in KS3 lessons by students researching various aspects of hispanophone (Spanish-speaking) culture and decorating bookmarks with their research. Year 8 enjoyed researching traditional food from Spanish-speaking countries such as paella valenciana, crema catalana, patatas bravas, churros, and croquetas. Year 9 considered the different amazing places that Spanish could take them, and found out about tourist attractions such as Machu Picchu, La Sagrada Familia, La Isla de Pascua, and La Alhambra. Year 7 celebrated the diversity of languages and countries around the world, researching different countries and making decorations with each country’s flag, the languages spoken there, and how to say hello in those languages.
