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PressTales Issue 27, 2 March 2018

Dear Parents/Carers

As I am due to be at the Hertfordshire Head’s conference on Thursday and Friday I am writing this on Wednesday morning. The snow is still falling and we are keeping up to date with the latest forecasts and deciding whether we should stay open or close. The snow is so disruptive and we know that any decision we make about staying open or closing will work for some and not for others.

We trust that you and your family had a pleasant half term, and that the students had a well-earned break.

We are very proud of our Robotics team who have made it through to the UK finals of the Tomorrow’s Engineers EEP Robotics Challenge at the Bing Bang Fair on Friday 16 March. We are grateful to the teachers who have supported the group, in particular Mrs Warburton. Please read below for a more detailed overview of their achievement.

I am mindful of the recent events at Parkland School in Florida and the devastation that is caused by such events. I read and hear of the suggestion that teachers should be trained to carry and fire weapons. I am so grateful that such events are incredibly rare in our country and that our children are in safe environments where they can learn, flourish and just enjoy being children without these fears.

We are continually impressed with the behaviour and attitude of all our students. They are polite, respectful and well-mannered and a real testament to you, their parents. We thank you for the continued support that you give us at Presdales.

Kind regards

Matt Warren Headteacher

Congratulations to the following forms who have achieved the highest number of reward points this half term:

Rewards

7BR 8EC 9SR 10SL 11AL 12NG 13SR

Following a successful trial with the Battlefields, Urbania and Opal Coast trips, we will now be sending Parental Consent Form’s via InTouch. There will be a link to take you to the form which we would ask you to complete and submit. We believe this is a more secure way to gather data with the information going directly to the member of staff that needs to process it. We use Google G Suite for Education which is used by many educational establishments across the world and supported by Herts for Learning and RM Education.

Please see here for more information https://edu.google.com/intl/en_uk/trust/

However, you are still welcome to complete a paper form if you wish.

Parental Consent Pupil Information Form

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The Drama and Music departments are thrilled to announce that we will be putting on our first ever musical production in July this year. After long deliberation, we have decided that this will be 'Made in Dagenham' a musical with music by David Arnold, lyrics by Richard Thomas, and taken from a book by Richard Bean. Based on the 2010 film of the same name, which in turn was based on the real events of the Ford sewing machinists strike of 1968, the musical made its West End and world premiere at the Adelphi Theatre in 2014.

Presdales' showing of this poignant and historically important story will take place on Wednesday 4th, Thursday 5th and Friday 6th July 2018.

We hope you are as excited as we are to begin the making of Presdales’ first ever musical production!

Miss Mack, Mrs Hetherington, Miss Ward & Miss Ringer

MADE IN DAGENHAM THE MUSICAL - SCHOOL SHOW AUDITIONS!

In order to participate in the school production students will be required to attend rehearsals throughout the remainder of this term and the Summer term. Up until May 31st 2018, the rehearsals for the show will be held on a Tuesday after school until 5:00pm and on a Thursday lunchtime. After this time rehearsals will increase in accordance with the needs of the show. Due to the collaborative effort needed to produce the show to a high standard, students will be required to attend all rehearsals and we will, unfortunately, be unable hold extra 'catch up' rehearsals.

Please visit the below website for more information on the show.

http://www.madeindagenhamthemusical.com/

We would like to invite students to audition to take part in the musical on Tuesday 6th March 2018. Auditions will be held after school in the Main Hall and take place until 5:00pm. Students should ensure that they have prepared for this by first collecting an audition pack and instructions from either Miss Mack or Mrs Hetherington. Further details on this and the audition process will be announced in assembly this week. After this time, students will then be advised of any further 'call back' auditions that are necessary for the casting of main roles. These will take place week beginning 12th March 2018.

The events that unfold in the musical are centred around the true-life events of the Ford sewing machinists’ strike of 1968. The story follows the main character of Rita O'Grady, who acts as the spokesperson for a group of female workers at Ford's Dagenham plant. Rita and her co-workers go on strike to fight the inequality that becomes apparent when women workers are paid less because they were classed as unskilled. In contrast, their male colleagues were classed as skilled and ultimately received more pay. These actions led to the creation of the Equal Pay Act 1970.

The Story

Auditions

Rehearsals

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An amazing total of 156 Year 9, 10 and 11 students took part in this individual Maths challenge at the beginning of February, and 47% of the students achieved certificates of merits for their efforts.

Additionally, a new Presdales record of 9 students have been invited to take part in the follow-on round called the Intermediate Kangaroo competition that is inspired by the Australian Mathematics Trust. This international challenge takes place on March 15th and students from more than 50 countries world-wide compete in the Grey Kangaroo (Year 9) or the Pink Kangaroo (Year 10 and 11 students). It is the second year in a row that Rebecca Fletcher and Grace Farrell have been invited to take part in this and now they are joined by 7 more young mathematicians in their year groups.

Mrs Rugg-Gunn, Head of Maths

Certificates for the Intermediate Maths Challenge are awarded to:

UK Intermediate Mathematics Challenge 2017-18

Year 11

Daisy Dewson GOLD Pink Kangaroo

Grace Farrell GOLD Pink Kangaroo

Hannah Emery GOLD Pink Kangaroo

Amber Dunstan GOLD Pink Kangaroo

Quynh-Phi Buingoc GOLD Pink Kangaroo

Samantha Fisher SILVER

Lily Oakes SILVER

Freya Campbell SILVER

Catherine Boyd SILVER

Chloe Liu SILVER

Alyssa Stein SILVER

Scarlett Kendrick SILVER

Charlotte Head SILVER

Shauna Corcoran

Snowden SILVER

Serenay Koch SILVER

Elodie Osborn BRONZE

Emily Wilson BRONZE

Charlotte Goodman BRONZE

Emily Smith BRONZE

Kim Van Maanen-

berg BRONZE

Year 10

Rebecca Fletcher GOLD Pink Kangaroo

Sara Qureshi GOLD Pink Kangaroo

Elizabeth Attfield SILVER

Phoebe Edwards SILVER

Constance Robinson SILVER

Francesca Holmes SILVER

Saffron Adams SILVER

Isabelle Phillipson SILVER

Megan Sleath SILVER

Molly Hobson SILVER

Sophie Pratt SILVER

Lauren Turner BRONZE

Edith Corkery Schless BRONZE

Leanna Rhodes BRONZE

Leah Cottam BRONZE

Emily Morgan BRONZE

Lorna Mackie BRONZE

Amelie Cooper BRONZE

Natassja Smith BRONZE

Joely Andrews BRONZE

Libby Wade BRONZE

Elizabeth Appleford BRONZE

Connie Rowswell BRONZE

Lauren Chandisingh BRONZE

Millie Pennington Seibert BRONZE

Harriet Curzon BRONZE

Ayesha Unadkat BRONZE

Georgie Gaudencio BRONZE

Sophie Legg BRONZE

Phi-Khanh Buingoc BRONZE

Lara Craig BRONZE

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UK Intermediate Mathematics Challenge Continued ...

Year 9

Amelia Botting SILVER Grey Kangaroo

Elisenda Henderson SILVER Grey Kangaroo

Hester Peart SILVER

Georgina Waller SILVER

Evie Reilly SILVER

Rebecca Sheffield SILVER

Nyah Lythall SILVER

Sydney Hall SILVER

Erin Morris SILVER

Lily Woodward BRONZE

Molly Marriott BRONZE

Holly Wilson BRONZE

Grace Dunstan BRONZE

Harriet Fowler Noon BRONZE

Catherine Ryan BRONZE

Ella Walsh BRONZE

Vanessa Liu BRONZE

Seren Roberts BRONZE

Kitty Morton BRONZE

Giselle Garrott BRONZE

Yuxi Chen BRONZE

Scarlett Hopwood BRONZE

On Sunday 2nd February 2018, six members of staff braved freezing temperatures to run 10km in aid of Cancer Research UK. TeamPresdales (Mrs Teal, Mrs Willett, Dr Gale, Mrs Stewart, Miss Jennings and Mrs Nicholls) raised over £1245 for the charity.

Cancer Research UK

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Robotics News

Presdales team heads to final of UK robotics competition

A team from Presdales School has been selected to compete in the UK finals of the Tomorrow’s Engineers EEP Robotics Challenge. As a winner in the regional heat, held at Airbus in Stevenage, they will go head-to-head with teams from across the country at The Big Bang Fair on Friday 16 March 2018.

The winning team of 10 students built, programmed and controlled LEGO robots for a series of ‘aviation missions’. Students also had to research, design and present their own solution to a contemporary engineering problem faced by STEM professionals in the aviation industry.

The Tomorrow’s Engineers EEP Robotics Challenge introduces student teams to real-world engineering, technology, robotics and computing challenges. The challenge aims to help students put their school learning into context and discover exciting new careers.

Mrs Warburton said ‘I am extremely proud of all the girls who have contributed to this Robotics Challenge. It has been a fantastic experience for all the girls, giving them a great opportunity to develop their STEM skills and learn a lot about engineering.’

The students in the Presdales team are Amelie Wisniewska-Sadok, Lily Woodward, Amelia Fosher-Purcell, Faith Wonfor, Anthe Beston, Matilda Moore, Molly Marriott, Lorna Ferguson, Miffy Harlow and Meshezabeel Narciso.

Research from EngineeringUK, who run the Tomorrow’s Engineers EEP Robotics Challenge, shows that communicating engineering careers to young people is vital for the future of the British economy.

EngineeringUK’s Chief Executive, Mark Titterington, said: “In order to meet the country’s demand for engineers we need to inspire more young people to consider a career in the industry.

“Tomorrow’s Engineers EEP Robotics Challenge aims to help young people from all backgrounds understand the variety, excitement and opportunity presented by an engineering career.”

For more information on the Tomorrow’s Engineers EEP Robotics Challenge please visit www.tomorrowsengineers.org.uk/robotics

On Monday the 12th of Febru-ary, a group of 3 girls from the Presdales Robotics Club com-peted in a VEX Robotics com-petition at John Warner School. The atmosphere was great and our robots came 7th and 11th out of 16! Both competed in the quarter finals (against the oth-er!) and one competed in the semi-finals, only missing out on nationals by one place. The ex-perience gave us even more ideas and we are excited to put them into action.

Rebecca Fletcher (Year 10)

Well done to Naomi Harvey, Rebecca Fletcher (top right) and Mesheza-beel Narciso (bottom right).

Regional Champions

Robotic Challenge

Team Challenge

Presenting Robot Corporal Stephen Baldwin

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On Friday 9th February, we left school to head to Nendaz, Switzerland. The journey was good and it seemed to pass very quickly; most people slept very

well on the coach. When we arrived at our hotel, we were a little tired but very excited to see the snow, get our skis fitted and, most importantly, see our rooms!

The skiing was such fun, with plenty of laughter and some falls, but so good to see everybody making great progress. The days flew by and we had lots of snow and sunshine (until the last day) which made the ski conditions amazing.

We enjoyed some fun activities in the evenings, too. The Big Quiz is always a good one, plus, this year, we went bowling and to the Carnival.

I think that we were all sad to leave and face the long journey home but we had a fantastic time and will be able to talk about all the memories for years to come.

Miss Clarke

Ski Trip

'I was so nervous about skiing and especially about going on the chair lifts but I loved everything. I cannot wait to go again and hopefully I can

get even better.'

'The 2018 ski trip is something I will never

forget....as it was AMAZING. All of the teachers really

looked after us.'

And from a parent ‘I would just like to thank you and all the teaching team that supported the girls

on the recent Ski Trip, My daughter came home having had the very best of

times. She really enjoyed the week, particularly the skiing.

Kind regards and many thanks again.’

‘The ski trip has been, and always will be, an amazing part of my time at Presdales. Despite

the long coach journey, our week in Switzerland was unforgettable. No one can

describe the feeling of skiing down a mountain with your friends and teachers, admiring the blue skies, snowy mountains and warm sun.

Thank you to Miss Clarke and all teachers involved for organising a spectacular trip!’

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On Saturday the 24th of February, three A Level English Literature students were invited to attend the Oxford English Faculty Open Day. After arriving at 10am, collecting our welcome packs and browsing the extensive Faculty Library, it was agreed that we needed a cup of tea! We then attended an introductory talk on ‘English at Oxford’ where a Tutor outlined the broad range of options an Oxford English degree can encompass and the freedom students have to sculpt their degree. Following this, we had a sample lecture on ‘Shakespeare in Context’ with a prominent Oxford lecturer (whom Mrs Somers was very excited to see!). Afterwards, we headed to Mansfield College for lunch in their beautiful hall and a

tour of the grounds by students. The students went above and beyond to provide a glimpse into their lives, springing on

passing friends requests to see their rooms. Indeed, we were privileged to see a realistic university student kitchen … and consequently not unsee it! Post-College tours (and a rather windswept group photo), we heard a general admissions talk back at the English Faculty which included a practice interview. Our final session was an ‘Informal Q&A’ with the student helpers which was invaluable for reflecting what life as an Oxford student would actually be like, dispelling a multitude of myths we often hear. We would like to thank Mrs Somers for sacrificing her Saturday to accompany us to this fantastic opportunity, a reflection of the commitment of teachers at Presdales!

Katie Adamson, Year 12

Over the weekend of Saturday 24th February, Miss Chapman, Miss Stitson, Mr Chapman and Ms Coulson accompanied two groups of year 8 and 9 students to a training centre in Buckinghamshire in order to prepare for their upcoming trip to Norway at the end of the academic year. The weekend involved lots of hiking, learning how to use the camping and safety equipment, and camping overnight in minus 3 temperatures! All staff and students managed to survive the experience, thanks to having a positive mental attitude, fantastic World Challenge leaders and plenty of hot chocolate!

Text and photos from Miss Chapman

2018 World Challenge Training Expedition

Oxford University English Faculty Open Day

This is Katie Adamson, Lottie Mills and

Charlotte Dean outside Mansfield college. Inside Mansfield college library, Oxford

Lunch in Mansfield college

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What does a fashion designer do? Your day-to-day duties could include:

analysing or predicting trends in fabrics, colours and shapes

producing concept and mood boards (a collection of items to capture a mood, like

photos, fabric pieces or colour samples)

producing designs by hand or by using computer-aided design (CAD)

developing basic shapes ('blocks') through patterns

estimating costs for materials and manufacture

supervising the making up of sample clothing items

making in-house presentations, for example to finance departments and

merchandisers

You’ll often work closely with garment technologists and sample machinists. You could also work with manufacturers (often based overseas) to make sure that designs are reproduced accurately.

What skills are required?

a good eye for colour, texture and shape

technical skills like pattern cutting and sewing

the ability to spot and develop trends

drawing skills

the ability to use computer design packages

the ability to solve problems

What do I need to do to become a fashion designer? You’ll usually need a relevant higher education qualification, like a foundation degree, HND or degree. Taking a course which teaches design and technical skills at a British Fashion Council member college could be helpful when looking for work. You’ll often start as a design assistant before working your way up to a full designer role.

You’ll need a portfolio of your work that you can take to course and job interviews. Your portfolio should include mood boards, designs and technical drawings. An employer or college may also ask you to take along actual garments that you have produced. Making industry contacts through work experience or internships can help you find employment.

Design & Technology - Career of the Month - Fashion Designer

On Thursday 26th January, 11 sixth form students went to see the Ilya and Emilia Kabakov’s ‘Not Everybody will be taken

into the Future’ and ‘The Red Star over Russia’ exhibitions.

I really enjoyed the trip, despite thinking that I disliked modern art. The first exhibition by Ilya and Emilia Kabakov gave a really interesting insight to how people who lived under soviet reign felt about the situation of communism and the state. I found myself looking at each piece of art work for at least a few minutes, taking notes and discussing with other people how they would interpret the work; after group discussions we realised that one piece of work could symbolise many different meanings for different people. My favourite pieces of his work were in the penultimate room. There were huge paintings which depicted future events with past events underneath appearing in areas of the painting. I was also very impressed by his room artwork ‘The Man Who Flew Into Space from His Apartment’ which depicted someone who had tried to escape from communism and the heavy propaganda.

The second exhibition ‘The Red Star over Russia’ contained propaganda posters and photographs collected during the rule or the USSR. Many photographs were shown alongside the same photograph taken a few years later. However certain people were cut out of the photo because they had been sent to the Gulags.

Claudia Holmes, Year 12

Russian Trip

Annual Salary? £20,000 to £80,000. These figures are a guide.

How many hours would I be expected to work? Between 35 – 40 hours. Could be longer if you need to meet a deadline.

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Art & Photography News

Year 7 have been working hard on their portraits this month. They had a brief to produce a monochromatic portrait and have begun adding pattern work inspired by the artist Klimt. They are looking fantastic so far - well done!

Year 7

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Our Year 10 Artist workshop on 9th February with Christina Pattison was a great success.

Christina Pattison, a Swedish Artist, currently works from her studio in Barley, Hertfordshire. Her work is seen worldwide and her colourful, expressive paintings are derived from the ordinary and spiritual in her life. Our students painted still-life’s based on their current theme of cakes/teatime using a variety of new techniques. The workshop provided a valuable opportunity to work alongside a practising professional artist and, as you can see, the resulting work was lively and vibrant. Christina enjoyed working with Year 10 and said how polite, enthusiastic and hardworking they were throughout the day.

A fantastic experience for all with lots of extended work for their projects.

Year 10 Artist Workshop

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News from PE

Madeline Drake in Year 11 and her dance partner, Ethan, (from John Warner School), competed in their first competition on the 11th February, and, despite having trained for only 4 weeks, they achieved a 2nd and a 3rd in Ballroom and two 2nds in Latin. They also each won their individual solo categories. Congratulations to you both for doing so well.

Dancing News

Thank you to our Level 2 Community Sports Leaders for helping at the Rapid Fire Primary schools tournament yesterday afternoon! You all did a fantastic job, well done!

Community Sports Leaders

Can you help? Have you got a recommendation of a recording company to film Dance Evening (25th or 26th April) please? If so, please email Miss Weaver at weaverl@presdales.herts.sch.uk. Thank you!

Call for help ...

Well done to the U15 cricket team who came 3rd at the Lady Taverners Indoor Cricket tournament this afternoon. Some fantastic wicket keeping from Flick; an awesome foot touch from Ella straight to Gracie’s hands to throw at the wicket and get a player out; great bowling from Hannah, Molly and Lotty and steady batting from Georgia and Emily! Great team effort!

Cricket

Ellie Nuttall (Year 11) took part in the CGN European finals for Winter guard in Holland last weekend. Winter guard is an indoor colour guard sport derived from Military ceremonies. Having won all the UK competitions so far Ellie and her team of 14 travelled to Holland last weekend for the European Finals. After various preliminary elimination rounds, Ellie and her team came second overall. A further UK final is coming up at the end of March. Well done Ellie and good luck for the next final.

Winter guard

Please click here for the PE fixtures.

PE Fixtures

Year 7 - Molly Cobbold for being the overall 12 year old winner at the Herts County Swimming Championships

Year 8 - Alana Poole-Long for fantastic effort in lessons and extra curricular

Year 9 - Amelie Anstead for always being so helpful to the PE department and other students in her teaching group

Year 10 - Poppy Parfitt for resilience in trampolining - trying to do a half turntable!

Year 11 - Katie Egerton and Immy Raphael for being extremely helpful and leading Year 7 Netball club

PE Students of the Month –

February

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Hoe Lane

Ware

Hertfordshire

SG12 9NX

Tel: 01920 462 210

Email: admin@presdales.herts.sch.uk

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Presdales School

March

Saturday 3rd : Training Day Duke of Edinburgh

Monday 5th : Year 8 Parents Consultation Meeting, 4.15pm

to 7.15pm

Wednesday 7th to Friday 9th : Year 7 Isle of Wight Maths

Trip

Monday 12th : Year 11 PSHE Day

Tuesday 13th : Year 12 Parents Consultation Meeting,

4.15pm to 6.15pm

Tuesday 13th : Year 13 Drama Mock Exam with evening

performance

Wednesday 14th to Wednesday 21st : Year 9 French

Exchange (here)

Thursday 15th : Year 10 PSHE Day

Thursday 15th : Year 11 Drama Mock Exam with evening

performance

Monday 19th : Year 10 Diphtheria, Tetanus, Polio and

MenACWY vaccinations

Tuesday 20th : Year 13 Drama Exam, 8.40am to 12pm

Wednesday 21st to Saturday 24th : Year 9 Trip to Rome

Thursday 22nd : Spring Concert, 7.30pm

Friday 23rd : Year 11 Drama Exam, Time tbc

Tuesday 27th : Year 10 Drama Mock Exam

Thursday 29th : Non-Uniform Day

Thursday 29th : End of term, 12.45pm

The full school calendar for the current academic year can be viewed by clicking here.

School Calendar

Presdales School is seeking to build a team of confident and efficient Cover Supervisors who could provide cover on an ad hoc basis.

We are looking for applicants who: ¨ have strong communication and interpersonal skills ¨ are flexible and reliable ¨ are able to work well in a team ¨ can be proactive in meeting students' needs ¨ are well organised ¨ would be committed to contributing to the overall ethos and aims of the school ¨ have experience in a Primary or Secondary school setting

Please contact Mrs Hazel Goodwin, Cover Manager, by email: cover@presdales.herts.sch.uk if you would like to apply for the role or need to know more information about the role, including hours/days/pay.

The school is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of young people and expect staff to share this commitment. Applicants must be willing to undergo an Enhanced DBS disclosure and approved references will be required for the post.

Cover Supervisor Roles

Year 7 Little Canada Trip (March 2018) - Please

return medical consent form if you have not already

done so.

Year 9 Trip to Rome (March 2018) - Information

Evening : Tuesday 6th March at 6pm in the Lecture

Theatre.

A Level Economics and Business Revision

Conference (24th April) - Cost of ticket: £25 each.

Year 8 Take Your Daughter to Work Day (26th

April) - Permission and confirmation form to be

returned as soon as possible.

Year 9 Geography Trip to Epping Forest (30th April

and 4th May) - Please return slip and voluntary

contribution of £31.

Year 11 Celebration Evening - Save the date!

Monday 25th June 2018. More information to follow

shortly.

Year 10 & 12 Trip to Berlin (June 2018) - Next

instalment of £100 is due by 16th March 2018.

Year 8 Opal Coast Trip (June 2018) - Final payment

due by 2nd March 2018.

Italian Trip to Urbania (July 2018) - Next instalment

of £225 is due by 27th April 2018.

Trips and Reminders

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