Speech Day 2019

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We gathered to celebrate the many achievements of our students as prizes and GCSE and A Level certificates were awarded at the school’s annual speech day on Monday. Musical performances included the A level students’ choir, the recorder group and a sublime piano solo from Deniz Isingor.

Guest speaker, Rebecca Huntsman, former Head Girl (1991) and disputes lawyer for Hogan Lovells International (2000 – 2019) returned to the school to give an inspirational address. She highlighted the drive and impact of women in the legal profession as we approach the centenary of the landmark Sex Disqualification (Removal) Act 1919. Rebecca shared important lessons from key female lawyers and her own legal career, such as striving even when the task ahead seems impossible, the power of positivity, and the value of working with and learning from others.

Uppermost in hearts and minds was Tierney Kinsella, who is deeply missed by all her friends, family and the school community. She continues to inspire all who witnessed her beauty, strength, determination and ongoing hard work in her studies whilst undergoing treatment for cancer. The prestigious new award in Tierney’s memory, established by the Kinsella family, recognises determination and resilience, and was presented for the first time to Lottie Mills.

Returning Head Girl, Katie Adamson, and Deputy Head Girl, Hannah Davies, gave incredibly thoughtful and moving valedictory speeches. They reflected on the happy memories as well as the sad times they and their peers have been through together. One of their key messages that will stay with all of us was, “If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.”

Bar Mock Trial, Snaresbrook Crown Court

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“Oh my word. We can’t have done it again, surely?” was the thought running through Miss Catterall’s and Mr Spurgeon’s heads as the lady from the Bar Mock Trial competition read out the names of the two schools who had made it through to the final of the Outer London heat.

This was 2pm Saturday 23rd November and we were in the familiar surroundings once again of the Snaresbrook Crown Court.

Tired from an early start, the team kicked into action in the euphoria of the news, rushed to collect bags and belongings from our allotted station and assembled outside Courtroom A. We were to face Heathcote School, Chelmsford in the final.

A coin was tossed. Safia called correctly and “yes, thank you, we would like to be the defence counsel”. In we piled. Safia presented her eloquent opening speech in true barristerial style, Maddie and Meena submitted their evidence to the jury under intense cross-examination and Talitha summed up brilliantly. Mila’s officiating as court usher was at the same excellent standard as the rest of the team, but had we done enough? (The tension was getting too much for some.)

The judge deliberated for what seemed an eternity, complemented all the participants on an excellent contest and finally announced that ………………Presdales had won!! (cheers) ….by one point 74-73 ! (gasps)

Next stop: the National Final on 21st March

Venue: The Old Bailey in London.

A reward well-deserved.

Presdales Christmas Fayre 2019

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On Friday 29th November, we held the Christmas Fayre, our main fundraising event of the year and what an amazing afternoon!

A great variety of stalls for everyone and mulled wine, Prosecco and mince pies for the adults.

We were so happy that so many of the girls, their families and the teachers attended, maybe thanks to the ‘throw a wet sponge at a teacher’ stall which appeared to be a great attraction.

We couldn’t have run such a successful Fayre without the kind donations of raffle prizes from many local companies and some kind parents:

Standon Calling, Hanbury Manor, Velopark, Fox & Hounds in Hunsdon, Luna Cinema, Johnson Blythe Hairdressers, Simmons Bakery, Yoga with Kirsty, Ware Bouncy Castles, McMullens, Angela Archer and Vicky Yeoman and Domino Pizzas

We would like to thank Keith Ian Estate Agents for sponsoring the Fayre this year and very generously donating £300.

Lastly we would like to thank all of you for buying raffle tickets and attending the Fayre.

We are really excited to say that we raised a massive total of £4,258.10! We will be talking to Mr Warren soon to discuss how we can support Presdales with this money.

Hope you all enjoy a very Happy Christmas and we look forward to seeing you in 2020!!

Presdales PTA

International Partnership Seminar

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Duisburg Germany 28th November – 1st December 2019

At the end of November, we represented Presdales School and travelled to Germany to take part in a seminar with students and teachers from all over England and Germany. We worked together to understand our cultural differences and build up long lasting friendships in our respective countries.

The British Council organised 24 schools (12 English and 12 German) to work together for 4 days, staying together in a youth hostel in Duisburg. We took part in many icebreaker activities which helped us build our confidence and social skills. On the second day, we went to the ‘Gymnasium am Neandertal’ in the small town of Erkrath with Anne and Raik (the two students representing their school). All the children were excited to see us and we got asked lots of questions about our lives and life in England. We were shown a lot of hospitality by all the staff and students. We met with the headteacher, Herr Gruttmann and two of the teachers who teach English at the school to discuss what it would mean to partner with the school. After having a tour, we spent break time exchanging numbers, taking photos and chatting with the children. Once we had returned to the youth hostel for lunch, we played more icebreaker games with both German and English students. In the evening we played football in the sports hall. On the third day, we went on a trip to the Düsseldorf Christmas markets with Anne and Raik. Together we ate German food and bought souvenirs for ourselves and our families. We got back to the hostel and played more sports. Exhausted, we all went to bed. The next day we met with our partner schools to construct a presentation about our hopes for the future of an exchange. We used the last of our free time saying goodbye to the German students and spending what time we could with the English students.

This trip has been a huge success. We found an amazing partner school and we look forward to a full partnership, exchanging cards, letters and emails, doing projects together and reciprocal exchange visits with the school in the future.

#neandales

Adelaide Peart and Rhianna Venables (Year 9)

News from Music

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We are the future concert

The music department wishes to say a huge thank you to all of the 100+ students that took part in the concert on Thursday 21st of November. We performed to a sold out audience and were so grateful to have so many family, staff members and friends supporting us by attending the concert. The senior choir kicked off the evening with a medley from ‘Waitress’, and then Queen’s ’Somebody to Love’ with an awesome solo from Talitha Hookway in year 12. A group of year 7s from Music Makers then performed a beautiful rendition of ‘If I Die Young’ from ‘Glee’ with a beautiful solo from Olive Palestanga. Thank you to our 6th form leaders Safia Sipi and Saidhriti Siddantham for running Music Makers. The Recorder Group then wowed the audience with their versatility and comic vibe in Rogers’ ‘A Flippancy’. Ukulele Group gave a beautiful performance of ‘Shallow’ from ‘A Star is Born’ and the Cello group lulled the audience with the beautiful and relaxing Schubert’s ‘Ständchen’, and then showed their versatility with the latin vibes ‘El Choclo’. The flute choir performed the impressive Bach piece, ‘Konzert’, and the Junior Choir finished off the first half with an epic rendition of a Lion King medley with soloists Maddison Scully (Year 7) and Esmé Sabin (Year 8). The Concert Band started off the second half with ‘Dear Evan Hansen’ followed by some Christmassy numbers from The String Group. The Clarinet Group then played a smooth and relaxing piece called ‘Indian Summer’, then the orchestra gave us a swift and joyful waltz with ‘Les Patineurs’ and then performed ‘The Dambusters March’. Bella Voce finished the evening with two Christmas numbers, the first, ‘Where Riches is Everlastingly’, had a percussion trio accompanying and finally Bella Voce performed a complex and technical arrangement of the traditional carol ‘Gaudete’ with soloists Alaina Nwosa and Grace Farrell. Thank you so much to all of the peripatetic teachers involved in this concert, in particular Mrs Slade, Mrs Kirkwood and Mr Woodin. Thank you also to Mr Daniels for his technical help and the PTA for arranging the interval refreshments.

Kenyan Drumming Workshops

On Friday 22nd of November we were delighted to welcome Kato Ooko to the music department to deliver African Drumming Workshops to some of our classes. Kato has come from working in Grensteds School, near Nairobi, Kenya, and is a proud member of the Luo tribe. Kato spoke of his life growing up in his tribal village and also spoke of city life in Nairobi. Kato taught us that music is strongly linked to the people of Kenya’s identity and demonstrated various rhythms that belong to some of the 43 tribes of Kenya. The students thoroughly enjoyed hearing from Kato about his life but also enjoyed playing the rhythms of the djembes. We would like to thank Kato for visiting our school and hope to welcome him again in the future.

Pianoman Masterclass

Six of our most talented pianists from our GCSE and A Level classes were selected to play at a piano masterclass with concert pianist Richard Meyrick on Monday 25th November.

It was a wonderful occasion to hear some challenging and varied pieces in the piano repertoire. Richard’s knowledge and expertise was invaluable; where the different editions, technical skill, tone, pedalling and all manner of musicality were discussed and explored.

We hope to host similar events in the future and look forward to inviting Richard to return next year.

Coming up

Presdales Dance Evening 2019

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What another brilliant show! As always, we are very fortunate to have such enthusiastic and talented dancers who work extremely hard to get their performances ready on time! This year the Dance Club Leaders have been amazing! They have worked so hard to choreograph such fantastic dances in and around their GCSE and A Level studies. They have been so committed to run numerous practices and I am very appreciative of the hard work involved, and I know the girls are as well, so, well done and a huge thank you to Freya Campbell, Nicole Fenman, Maddi Drake, Olivia Sanders, Millie Walford, Lucy Dell, Sienna White, Emma-Jane Thompson and Emily Patrick.

Also, a massive thank you to Miss Fentiman for putting a show-stopping Gymnastics piece together with the 34 gymnasts!! It is not an easy job but the girls have been dedicating their time before school and at lunchtime on a weekly basis to get their performance ready.

The show doesn’t happen without the people behind the scenes! Thank you to Scarlett Kendrick, Ellis Miller and Sarah McCarthy, who are all A Level PE prefects, doing the sound and lighting for both performances. They did an amazing job. I really am so grateful for your time and preparation for quite a stressful job!! Thank you to Miss Seaman who took the brilliant photos during the dress rehearsal; the PTA for the interval refreshments; Mrs White, Miss Johnston and Miss Baldo for getting the girls ready backstage and on time, and Mrs Miller for being front of house.

This year, Impress Theatre Show team came to perform their medley of ‘Born Ready’ and ‘Greatest Showman’, which was a great opening to the show! With a theme of music from any movie, Presdales Dance Evening was a winner for parents and staff! Students from Year 7 to Year 13 performed in routines from tap to ballet to an amazing gymnastic display, creating an evening which was entertainment all the way. During the first half, Year 8 Dance club looked very stylish in their ‘Men in Black’ costumes and Millie Walford performed on an incredibly emotive piece to ‘Shallow’ from a ‘Star is Born’.

The second half of the evening led off with the Gym club, choreographed by Miss Fentiman to ‘Lets hear it for the boy’. The girls’ agility and timing left the audience breathless and applauding enthusiastically. Following this, the girls performed solos beautifully: Seren Miller, Jessica Downing, Olivia Sanders, Elizabeth Green and Sienna White. The Senior dance club put on a well-choreographed glitzy number to ‘One Night Only’ and Nicole Fenman and Lucy Kennard finished with a tap-dancing re-creation of the bar scene in the Greatest Showman of ‘The other side’. The show finished with everyone on stage dancing to ‘Holding out for a hero’ and the audience clapping in time with the music.

Finally, the Dale Dance Trophy Award this year was awarded to Freya Campbell, Maddi Drake and Nicole Fenman for their commitment to Dance during their time at Presdales. You have all been truly outstanding and have been fantastic role models to many younger students. Thank you to those who came to watch, I hope you had an enjoyable evening!

Mrs Dann Head of PE

News from Art and Photography

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Artists and Photographers of the Month – October

Artists of the Month

Year 7 : Jessica Deasy

Year 8 : Rosa Ward

Year 9 : Sophie Doyle

Year 10 : Zoe Kiers

Year 10 : Hannah Wood

Year 11 : Amelia Stephen

Year 11 : Isabel Oseman

Year 12 : Rosie Hough

Year 13 : Eleanor Turpin

Photographers of the Month

Year 12 : Luis Gogol

Year 13 : Alessia Mariotti

Year 12 Photography

Well done to all the Year 12 photography students who have been producing some fantastic outcomes after the recent Photoshop masterclass.

Year 12 Art trip to Cambridge, 6th November 2019

Our Art students recently enjoyed a day in Cambridge studying, drawing and recording natural forms. We visited Cambridge Botanical Gardens and Cambridge Zoolological museum.

The students brought back a variety of ideas and images to inspire their portfolios.

Year 10 GCSE Art Lino Printing day, Thursday 14th November

A fabulous day was had by our students yesterday. The students learnt new lino printing techniques and experimented with unusual and colourful backgrounds. Everyone worked very hard and produced beautiful prints for their coursework.

Well done to all the students from Mrs Francis.

Trip to Russia

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Our school trip to Russia took place from October 24th to 29th, 2019. Firstly, we got to Moscow after a day’s worth of travelling. It was a beautiful and unique place to visit – truly unlike any major European city and filled with different ages of architecture. Whilst there, we visited numerous amazing places such as a school, in which we got to converse with the students using our language knowledge. We also had a guided tour around the Russian Kremlin (the working place of President Putin). Also, we got the chance to visit the beautiful Red Square and shop in the huge adjacent shopping centre, extravagantly lit up, and saw Saint Basil’s colourful cathedral. The hotel ‘Cosmos’ we stayed at was very cosy and had an incredible curved architecture. We ended our stay in Moscow by taking the overnight train travelling 714 km towards the other major Russian city – Saint Petersburg. Saint Petersburg was more akin to European cities, however. It was filled with bigger, grander buildings. We visited the Summer Palace of the old monarchs pre-revolution. It was a beautiful place and held so much gold in the gardens and detailing inside as well as historical furniture. Along the river Neva, we saw many sites such as the spectacular Winter Palace, adorned with intricate gold leaf details, and, when entering, we found a vastly decorated interior with paintings all around. It was an astonishingly large palace and one unlike any other. We also got to dine in one of the palaces accompanied by music and then watched a national dance show with many acts. One night, we also watched the Nutcracker ballet at the world class Mariinsky theatre with top professional dancers. Our time there was really fun and interesting.

Freya Church (Year 12) and Charis Church (Year 10)

Russian Trip Photo Competition Winner

St. Basil’s Cathedral, Red Square, Moscow. Photograph by Molly Marriott (Year 11)

Art & Photography News

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Our new Art/Photography Prefects 2019/20

Ava Cabbani Charlotte Ellis Molly Reid Maddie Meins Helen Tang Georgia Ridley Simge Horoz Jasmine Cooper Elainne Grant

Congratulations to you all and thanks for all your wonderful applications!

Photography Workshop

“We spent an entire day learning how shutter speed and aperture can affect your photography. We experimented with light painting in the morning, which allowed us to create a range of patterns, and explored both smaller and larger apertures in the afternoon. I found the workshop really interesting and, with help from the photography staff, we were able to create incredible work to utilise in our coursework.”

Siobhan Barnsley

Year 11 Lino print workshop day

Imaginative and skilful work was created last week by our Year 11 GCSE Art students. Advanced printing techniques were discovered and practised, resulting in wonderful prints to be added to our students’ portfolios. Well done to everyone!

 

Latest News

Quick Links

Coming Up

Wednesday 11th March
Year 12 Printmaking Workshop
Year 8 Parents Consultation Meetings

Thursday 12th and Friday 13th
Bronze DofE Practice Expedition

Thursday 12th
Post-18 Options Evening, 6pm

Friday 13th
Year 10 Big Interview Day

Contact Us

Presdales School
Hoe Lane
Ware
Hertfordshire
SG12 9NX

Tel: 01920 462210
admin@presdales.herts.sch.uk

Headteacher:
Mr Warren