This summer, we’re inviting learners, teachers, lecturers, and anyone with an interest in this year’s summer exams to complete our short questionnaire on exams. We want to hear your views about exams and assessments this summer. The feedback we receive will help us monitor the qualification system in Wales.

Our online survey is short and should take around five minutes to complete. All responses are completely anonymous – we will not ask for your name or the name of your school or college.

We would be very grateful if you can help us promote awareness of our survey to your colleagues and learners. If you’re able to, you could:

• share the questionnaire with your colleagues
• add the questionnaire to your staff and student bulletins
• include the questionnaire in your newsletter
• share a link to the questionnaire on your school or college’s social media channels.

Our questionnaire is open from 16 May until 4 July. If you would like to share your views, have your say by completing our online questionnaire.

Thank you in advance for your support with this survey, we appreciate your views.

Kind regards,

Qualifications Wales

Dear Parents and Carers - Download the letter Ltr to Parents 6th May 22 (1)

I do hope you and your family are safe and well, and you are on the road to recovery from the pandemic and the effects it has had on us all.

We are at the end of the second week of the Summer Term and we have had a very successful start, preparing our Year 11s, 12s and 13s for their critically important exams later this month whilst also helping the pupils and students bridge any gaps in education, brought about by COVID-19 school closures.

Wales is currently at Alert Level 0 and we need to change our procedures accordingly whilst maintaining safety. We are ensuring that week by week, we remove as many restrictions as possible so that we get back to pre-pandemic normality as soon as possible. What is clear is that the virus is still circulating in our community and therefore we will continue with some hygiene measures to keep us all safe.

Due to the hard work of all parents, pupils and staff we are now in a position to remove some further restrictions. It is with great delight that I can announce that the Welsh Government have changed their guidance and from Monday May 9th, facemasks will no longer be required anywhere in schools. If pupils, students or staff wish to continue to wear face covering or masks they are free to do so as a personal choice. Our school will continue with our risk assessment, reviewing and altering it when needed. We will consider the best way to reduce the spread of the virus, protect our learners and staff and minimise any disruption to education. Public Health Wales will inform the school if there are changes to the risk level and therefore the need to change our procedures.

Best wishes and thank you for your support over the past two years.

Yours sincerely

Neil Foley - B.Sc. MA.
Pennaeth Headteacher

Download the Ballot Paper - Parent Lts & Ballot Paper - May 2022

 The parents named on the attached ballot form have been nominated for the two vacancies on the governing body. It is therefore necessary for an election to take place.

I should be grateful if you would:

a) Place an X in the box opposite the name of the parents for whom you wish to vote.

PLEASE NOTE: You may only vote for two parents.

 b) Place the completed ballot form in an unmarked envelope which you should seal and place in a second envelope on which you should put your name and address and child’s name and form group and then place your signature across the sealed flap. This double envelope system enables the school to check the eligibility of those who have voted. The unmarked envelope will then be placed in the ballot box, ensuring that your vote remains secret.

c)Please return your ballot slip to the school by 1.00pm on Thursday 12^th You may bring your ballot paper to the school personally – there will be a ballot box in the school main office from Monday 9^th May – or if you wish, you can post it in the letter box outside the main school office at the front of the building.

The votes will be counted at the school on Thursday 12^th May after 1.00pm in the presence of an independent person.

Ballot papers not submitted strictly in accordance with a. and b. above will be excluded from the count.

The result of the election will be notified to the candidates following the count and will also be posted on the school’s web site.

Yours sincerely

Neil Foley - B.Sc. MA.

Pennaeth Headteacher

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Dear Parents and Carers,

We are currently suffering a significant spike in the number of staff absences due to COVID-19 and other illnesses. This has led to disruption of teaching and learning in a minority of classes as they have not had their normal scheduled teacher for some lessons throughout the week. We are doing everything we can to make sure the pupils are well educated and that we have enough staff to safely keep all of the pupils in school. Our staff are covering each other’s lessons, supporting the pupils and going above and beyond to make sure families are not disrupted by pupils being at home.

We are delighted that up to this point we have not had to switch to online learning for any year group due to staff absence, unlike many schools across Wales. We will continue to do what we can to make sure we are open to all pupils for face to face learning, but there may come a point that we have to ask one year group to switch to online learning. Hopefully this will not happen, but if it does we will give parents notice of any change.

If pupils are asked to switch to online learning then they must follow their timetable and engage in the lessons set by their teachers virtually. Mr Barons will email further instructions as and when needed.

Going forward we ask that all staff and pupils wear face coverings when in communal areas such as corridors and the diner, and not to come into school and self-isolate if they have tested positive or if they have the three classic symptoms of COVID-19.

Regards

Neil Foley - B.Sc. MA.
Pennaeth Headteacher

Open Evening 29th March - Join Prestatyn Sixth and achieve your full potential in a supportive and nurturing environment.

Dear Parents and Carers,

On Monday 28th March, the laws on COVID-19 will change, and most of the regulations will be removed by Welsh Government. This will mean that self-isolation after a positive test for COVID-19 will no longer be required by law after a positive test for the virus. The guidance now asks people to isolate if they can, but it is not compulsory. Additionally, the requirement to routinely wear face coverings in public places has been removed in most settings.

What this means to schools is as yet unclear, as we are still awaiting guidance from Welsh Government as to how educational settings will operate. In the short term, we will continue with our current risk assessment and regulations until we get clear direction.

This means that we will continue to ask all pupils and staff to:

 wear face coverings when in communal areas such as corridors and the diner; and

 not come into school and self-isolate if they have tested positive or if they have the three classic symptoms of COVID-19.

This is a short-term request, but we cannot insist on this. We will also continue to ask all staff and pupils to practice good hand hygiene; this will be a measure that we will continue indefinitely into the future. The building and all classrooms will continue to be as well ventilated as possible and as infection safe as possible. We will continue with the additional cleaning staff and systems set up in school to keep everyone as safe as possible now and into the future.

Routine testing will cease on the 8th of April and LFD testing kits will no longer be issued by Welsh Government to schools after the 31st of March. All pupils and staff must continue testing until the end of term. Please ensure all pupils have enough tests (4) to get to Friday 8th April.

Assemblies and parental events can now take place without restriction and we cannot wait to see parents face to face and invite them into school. The first event to take place is the 6th Form evening next Tuesday 29th March, and we look forward to seeing all parents and prospective students then. We will advise parents and students to wear face coverings at this event and we will have plenty available.

We are definitely coming to the end of the restrictions put in place to protect us during the pandemic, but we are also clearly aware that the virus is still circulating widely all across Wales. Please join us in doing what we can to continue to protect each other whilst we return to some form of normality. Here at Prestatyn High School, we are all very proud of what we and the community have achieved over the past two years. We have not had to send multiple year groups home due to the virus or staff absence, and we have tried to do what we can to support all of our learners during these very challenging times.

I wish you all a very enjoyable and sunny weekend and I hope to see you all soon.

Best wishes and many thanks for your support
Neil Foley - B.Sc. MA. Pennaeth Headteacher