https://presdales.herts.sch.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/Music-HEADER-Copy.jpg446800Presdales Schoolhttps://presdales.herts.sch.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/presdales-school-logo.pngPresdales School2020-03-06 11:37:352020-03-06 13:48:18News from Music
On Wednesday 5th February we went to Fanuc Coventry, we saw many amazing robots and delved into what engineering careers had to offer. As we entered, we were greeted by members of FANUC. We were able to see some of their robots which were displayed. Robots in green were human friendly meaning if it comes into contact with someone it will stop what it is doing. Whilst yellow robots do not and are kind of dangerous.
We then had an introduction from representatives from the PPMA, who told us about the companies involved in the project. An apprentice then took us on a tour around the rest of the factory.
After the tour, we came back and they explained what the next 10 weeks would entail. They suggested how to set out a plan for the next 10 weeks and learnt a bit about Gantt Charts. We also had an activity involving Lego and one involving a paperclip.
In the end we had a great experience looking at robots and learning a few more things about engineering and robots. We are hoping to raise the 8% of women working in the industry to 50%!
Thea, Alice, Isabella, Louisa, Becky and Mariam (Year 9)
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
Isla was lucky enough to go this week to the Royal Institution Christmas Lectures, presented by a former Presdales student and mathematician, Dr Hannah Fry. Isla really enjoyed it, learning a lot about maths and how TV programmes are made. She was even chosen to go up to the front and take part in an experiment, so you should be able to spot her on TV when the programme is aired! Isla also managed to grab a quick photo at the end with Hannah who was thrilled to hear that Isla is a Presdales girl too – they had a chat about maths teachers!
Karate
After 7 years of training Zoe Van Maanenberg (Year 10) successfully achieved her 1st Dan (Black Belt) Karate yesterday. She has shown amazing resilience to obtain this and achieve it this weekend as the next grading would have clashed with her GCSE’s so she was determined to get it before then! Huge congratulations Zoe, this is amazing!
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.
Year 9 have had an assembly with information about the GCSE options process which is happening over the next few months. More information to follow before Christmas.
Year 10s are starting to write their CVs using the destinations package Unifrog. We have also set up a parent login so that you can use Unifrog as if you were a student yourself, allowing you to truly support your child. The form code you need is: PresdalesParent and you can sign up here: www.unifrog.org/code
Year 10s will be participating in an interview skills workshop after Christmas which will culminate in the Big Interview Day during Careers Week on the 6th March 2020. They will be given a formal interview by parents and alumni volunteers to help them land their dream job in the future!! In the summer on the 1st July 2020, we are intending for every Year 10 to do a day of work shadowing. More information on this to follow.
Year 11 participated in A Level taster lessons in sixth form classrooms in Economics, Media, Psychology, Philosophy and Ethics, Government and Politics, Photography, English Lit, English Lang Lit and Sociology. The students who would prefer to progress with a college pathway were given a tour of the HRC campus in Broxbourne and Ware. The next step for Year 11s is to complete their A Level application by Friday 13th December. An electronic application form is on the website.
If, as a parent, you feel you could participate in any of the careers programmes then please fill out the Presdales parent work survey. I will be contacting parents and alumni during December to ask support with careers week activities. All information on the careers programme for each year group is on the website.
Also below is some recent Local Market Information about global strengths in Hertfordshire and opportunities on our doorstep in East Herts.
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!
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