News from Politics

October 20, 2023/in Departments, General News, Politics, Trips & Visits /by Presdales School

Year 12 Trip to Parliament

On the 6th October the Year 12 Politics students set off to London to visit some of the most important political buildings in the country. After catching a train, bright and early, we arrived at Westminster for our tour of Parliament. We were led by two tour guides, equally witty and insightful. We were stunned at the decorative design of the House of Lords – covered in gold leaf and the famous red leather – howether we made sure not to sit down! Our friendly tour guides talked to us about the job of the Lords and how they become appointed. Next we wandered into the House of Commons where we were informed about where different parties sit and the history of the rebuilding of this half of Parliament. We had time to look at the central lobby of Parliament and its incredible statues, before taking a group picture and saying goodbye to Emmet and Ben – our lovely guides.

After our tour we went to the education centre and took part in a group activity to help us understand the role of the House of Lords and the House of Commons. We were split into teams and debated on the topic of free university education. A big thank you to our group leader Celeste.

After a lunch break in the sun, we headed to the Supreme Court, where we experienced a fascinating exhibition about its history and importance in our government. We read about the compelling stories of minority and female judges paving the way of our country’s legal system before having a chance to look around the courts themselves – where we took a group picture. Overall we think everyone would agree this day was both informative and fun,

We would like to say a big thankyou to Miss Chandler and Mr Spurgeon for organizing this wonderful day and ensuring everybody got there and back safely.

Lexie Harrington

Tinaye Dzapasi

World Challenge – Iceland 2023

September 21, 2023/in General News, Trips & Visits, World Challenge /by Presdales School

10 Night Expedition in Iceland

In July, six teams set off to experience the spectacular sights of Iceland. This adventure of a lifetime saw our students discover geysers and thundering waterfalls in the Golden Circle, trek past volcanic peaks in Kerlingarfjoll, get hands-on with a conservation initiative (beach clean-up) and visit the Westman Islands and the South Coast. The students were driven along Europe’s biggest ice cap, Vatnajokull. This national park is an extraordinary sight, with 30 glaciers flowing out from the ice cap. The students even had the opportunity to strap on some crampons and walk on a glacier. We are very proud of our students who worked well in their teams, stepped out of their comfort zones and learnt a wealth of invaluable new skills while making some extraordinary memories.

Here are some wonderful photos from this amazing trip …

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: Reviewed by Lucy White

: Reviewed by Constantina Nichola

Music Academy – Free Instrumental Tuition

September 6, 2023/in General News, Music /by Presdales School

Presdales Music Department is excited to announce the launch of our Music Academy. The Music Academy will offer free group tuition in clarinet, flute, recorders (descant, treble and tenor) and cello for one year. Students will have the loan of a school instrument and can choose whether to rent this to take it home or practise their instrument in school with no charge.

To find out more information or apply for a place in the Music Academy use the Google form below.

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1POJz9QJIkaqYz9IqAiSXvImN40Ly77uG2lRQcxDA_pU/edit

GCSE Results 2023

August 24, 2023/in General News /by Presdales School

We are extremely proud of our Year 11 students for their GCSE results. The high standard of results are a reflection of the hard work from both students and staff.

Well done to all.

A Level Results 2023

August 17, 2023/in General News /by Presdales School

We are extremely proud of our Year 13 students for their A Level results. This is testament to their continued hard work throughout the last 2 years. We are pleased that many achieved top grades in their subjects. We wish them well for the future.

More details will be published in September.

Year 7 Textiles Club

July 20, 2023/in Clubs, DT /by Presdales School

Textiles club is a great place to learn and create new things as well as meeting new people. This term we have enjoyed making bunting for the annual swimming gala. We learnt how to use the sewing machine so that we were able to put together the bunting. To make the bunting we used scrap materials to save money and be eco friendly. We would recommend this club to anyone that likes textiles and sewing. It is a fun place to be and all of us really enjoy coming.

By Isabella Tilley, Amelie Wooding and Lily Corney

This year we have been privileged enough to be a part of the Year 7 textiles club. We have learnt many great skills and facts. From how to use a sewing machine to learning how to cut bunting and use templates.

In the first term, we used the patterned year 8 bags to make makeup bags. We cut the fabric carefully and then embroidered the outside fabrics. We then chose fabric for the inside and started to sew the bag together. We added a zip to the top and then it was done. Mine has its own proud place in my room.

At the end of the first term, we made Christmas decorations. We chose fabric and then added ribbon and accessories. Once we had sewn it, it was done. Mine was a reindeer. I hung it up on my door and it looked very christmassy.

All of the exams prevented us from making anything in term two but we came back for term three to make bunting for the swimming gala. It was very intense as the deadline was looming closer and Mrs Hayhurst had to take some home to finish. The first step was cutting all the different fabrics. We had six different colours: yellow, green,red, blue, white and purple. This is the stage where we learnt how to use the bunting.

Finally, the day before the swimming gala we began to put up the bunting. We tied it to the fence and it made this nice looking pattern. We had yellow, red, blue, purple, green and white. The wind made them descend and it looked adequate.

Sadly the swimming gala was cancelled but the bunting was still up and looking fabulous.

We would like to thank Mrs Hayhurst for her amazing work and help. This club and all we have achieved could not have been possible without her.

This is an article made by Lucille and Evie

The Crochet Club

July 20, 2023/in Clubs /by Presdales School

We have had a hugely successful first term of crocheting club, with over 40 students taking part.

We have created out first blanket and hope to make more going forwards, as well as moving on to baby clothes and toy in the near future.

Well done to all those who took part, looking forward to our new Year 7s joining the class after their induction day.

Wishing you all a good summer,

The Crochet Club

Grant Funding – A huge THANK YOU to our local supporters

July 20, 2023/in General News /by Presdales School

Our first thanks must go to Hertfordshire charity, EdufundUK. Presdales has benefited again this past year from the amazing generosity of this organisation. Their simple and effective grant systems saw funding granted under the PE banner for a 12 bar set of barbells for use by our GCSE and A-Level students as well as our elite athletes and the growing number of boys in sixth form. A second application under their Major Grant banner achieved success to further enhance strength and conditioning training for students and staff alike with a £10,000 grant to purchase a stair master and further weight systems. With these additions the Presdales Fitness Suite will be complete and a fantastic addition to the PE offering here at Presdales.

A STEM grant enabled us to enhance our D&T provision with the addition of a wood-turning lathe. This machine will help greatly with key projects within our curriculum such as the lamp project. This was further supported by a very kind donation from the Managers Fund at Wickes Hertford which provided us with a belt sander and clamps to further assist with woodwork projects.

EdufundUK supported us further through their final category of ‘Learning to Learn’ on an application for biology models of elements of the human body but in addition to this, very interestingly, a quantity of frozen animal specimens and owl pellets to create a ‘dissection library’ for Biology. This resource can be used to enthuse our younger Biology students and stretch and challenge our A-Level classes and Med-Soc students. Now established this will be replenished from their budget as items reach the end of their useful life.

As part of this project, plant and human cell models were identified but due to their cost could not be included. The identical items were found on eBay for a fraction of the price and we would like to thank the Presdales PA for their support in their purchase. This photo shows just how happy our Biology Lead was with these.

Crochet club, run in lunchtime groups next year, is currently regularly full to capacity and provides a quiet creative space for students to learn a new skill. Making squares for baby blankets and next year will be working to making baby bonnets for charity putting their work excellent use. Next year students can choose to make items that can be sold at our annual Fayre to further support the group itself. Again this initiative has been supported by Presdales PA with seed funding for yarn and hooks. Generally self-supporting this club would also be very pleased to accept donations of an unwanted yarn and crochet hooks when we return in September.

Another creative project that has been running in this past half term is one to create mosaic decoration on one of our outdoor structures. Full details of this are in a dedicated article in PressTales and our thanks go out to Wickes Hertford.

Finally, a first time application to Tesco was successful and a project to replace production lighting in the school hall is currently in the voting system in Tesco’s Ware store. The voting continues until the end of September please vote for us whenever you shop in store.