Dear Parent/Guardian,

Following the announcement from Denbighshire County Council that all learning will move online for the final day of this half term (18-02-2022) I would like to inform you of our provision for this day.

All students will be set work following their normal timetable using Microsoft TEAMS. This work should be completed and submitted back to the class teacher on the same day. Work set will be in line with the learning they would have completed following their learning plans. Teachers will be available on TEAMS during school hours to support pupils with their learning.

May I take this opportunity to wish you a safe and happy half term.

Many Thanks

Alex Barons
Assistant Headteacher

Dear parents and carers,

COVID-19 update As the half term draws to a close, I wanted to update you with some changes in relation to our Covid-19 procedures in school. Following the Welsh Government’s announcement this week, learners no longer need to wear masks in classrooms on their return to school after half term, unless they choose to continue to wear one. However, pupils and staff are still required to wear masks in communal areas such as the corridors and the Diner, except for when they are eating. Furthermore, after half term, pupils and staff will only be asked to test using a Lateral Flow Device twice a week, not three times a week as we have been doing since January 2022. Pupils, students and staff are to now test on a Sunday and a Wednesday each week. Please ask your child to collect their boxes of LFTs from their year room as usual so that they can continue to test.

The school has worked incredibly hard this half term to remain open for face to face learning for all year groups despite the significant challenges we have faced due to the ongoing pandemic. We once again have got through a half term without having to switch to online learning for any year groups. We want to thank all of our young people and their parents who have supported our efforts in keeping the school open and following the guidance. We continue to ask that you remain alert to the signs and symptoms of Covid-19 and do not send your child to school if they have a temperature, loss/ change of taste and smell or a new, continuous cough. Only by us all working together can we keep the school as safe as possible.

Community update
On another matter, you may also have seen recent reports in the papers about anti-social behaviour in the Prestatyn community by a small minority of young people in the area. We want to reassure all of our school community that this sort of behaviour is not tolerated by the school and the school is doing all it can to support the police and the local community in addressing this unsavory behaviour. These young people are letting the community down and spoiling it for the vast majority of amazing young people we have in the school. As the school closes for the half term break, we ask that all parents and carers are aware of where their children are and who they are spending their free time with and ensure that they are conducting themselves in a responsible and respectful manner at all times.

Festival of Culture
Finally, we end the half term positively with our festival of culture and diversity, the last day being a non-school uniform day. As mentioned in a previous letter to you, we ask that a contribution of £1 is made for this day as we are raising money for New Hope, a school in Kenya. Many thanks to those who have already sent a contribution for this. This can be paid via ParentPay or by giving the money to the year teams on Friday morning.

I hope you have a nice half term break. We will see all students when they return to school Tuesday 1st March as school is not open to pupils on Monday 28th Feb due to this being a training day.

Yours sincerely
Neil Foley - B.Sc. MA. Pennaeth Headteacher

Do you live in North Wales? FREE online courses for all residents! Evidenced based & accreditedThis is an enjoyable, well established and trusted way of understanding your child. The courses were developed in the NHS together with front-line practitioners. It can be accessed on any PC, iPad, laptop or smartphone, at a time and pace to suit family life. Parents who complete the course say they feel calmer, more confident and have a better relationship with their child.

1.Understanding Pregnancy, Labour, Birth and your Baby – for everyone around the baby (Mums, Dads, Grandparents, friends and relations).Written by Registered Midwives, Infant Feeding Specialists and NHS Professionals

2.Understanding your Baby – for everyone around the baby, supporting you and the new arrival. Written by Psychologists, Psychotherapists and Health Visitors

3.Understanding your Child – Popular online course about being the best parent, grandparent or carer. Award winning with trusted content

4.Understanding your Teenagers Brain (short course) – Find out what happens to the brain in adolescence and how this explains some of the changes you may have noticed about their behaviour

To access these FREE courses please contact either Michelle Jones or James Williams via email and provide a contact number they can reach you on.

majones@prestatynhigh.co.uk | jwilliams@prestatynhigh.co.uk

Download the information here - Promoting Banner For Your Websitesv1 (1)

Vale of Clwyd MP Dr James Davies has praised Prestatyn High School for raising funds for a £3.2m campaign to build a cenotaph honouring NHS and emergency services workers. The 999 Cenotaph campaign was set up to support the two million people currently working and volunteering within the emergency services, all of whom have shown commitment to public service throughout the pandemic.

Applauding their contribution to the campaign, James, who visited the school last week to congratulate the staff and pupils in person, said: “This is a fantastic effort by both staff and pupils at Prestatyn High School and I thank them all for taking part. “Our NHS and emergency service workers have always done a sterling job, but they have gone above and beyond over the past two years. Having a cenotaph to honour them will be incredible but raising the £3.2 million needed is no mean feat and therefore every little helps. “I put an appeal out to schools in the area to get involved and I am very pleased that Prestatyn High School decided to do so. I know their contribution to the cenotaph will be very much appreciated.”

Whilst there are various monuments dedicated to each of the emergency services, there is no one national monument where the NHS and emergency services are honoured together - which is why a 999 Cenotaph was proposed. This important monument is aimed to be located on Whitehall at the heart of Central London and is being sculpted by Philip Jackson CVO and supported by HRH The Duke of Cambridge.

Assistant head teacher at Prestatyn High School, Pam Hill, said: “We were very pleased to help raise funds for the campaign and thank James for letting us know about it. “It was an enjoyable day raising vital funds for a very worthy cause.”

On Friday December 3rd last year, staff and pupils at Prestatyn High School supported the 999 Cenotaph campaign by wearing a colour from the emergency services (red, blue, green or orange) with their full school uniform. They also made and sold key rings and cakes with the colours represented by the emergency services and in total raised £202.85.

Dear all parents and carers,

I do hope you are well and that you are coping well with the current measures and restrictions in place for COVID-19, hopefully we will see these measures removed as soon as possible. We are still awaiting further guidance on what measures will be in place as the risk level reduces, but for now all existing safety procedures remain the same.

Due to the rising cases before the Christmas break, as you are aware, the Welsh Government instructed all schools to have two planning days for COVID-19 at the start of this term and reschedule any INSET days that were due to have taken place on these dates for later on in the year. Working alongside, and in consultation with our local cluster primary schools we have decided to place these INSET days on the following dates:

8th July 2022

20th July 2022

These dates were chosen so that they had no impact on exam classes as they take place after the summer exams have concluded. This means that pupils and students will not be expected in school on Friday 8th July and that pupils break up for summer one day earlier on Tuesday 19th of July 2022.

See attached New INSET Days ltr school calendar with the term dates and the remaining INSET days highlighted.

Please contact the school if you have any questions about the dates provided.

Dear parents and carers,

Prestatyn High School are committed to working with our local community to ensure that all members of our society behave in a respectful way. We work very hard with our pupils to teach them how to be responsible, respectful and safe citizens in school and in our community. On occasion, a small minority of our students, and at time parents let us and the community of Prestatyn down.

All forms of anti-social behaviour are disgusting and we would like to assure our school community that we are doing all we can to address such issues and to educate our young people. We are working closely with the local policing team and the youth service to proactively address concerns. We encourage all of our parents and carers to reinforce the key messages with their children to ensure that they are behaving in a safe and responsible manner if they are out and about in the community. All parents and carers must encourage and ensure that their children are behaving well whilst in the community and check they know where they are. Without parents taking the leading role in the behaviour of their children, the police, youth service and schools will not be able to change their behaviour.

Prestatyn High school is determined to reduce all anti-social behaviour and we welcome information from the community so that we can identify and deal with all instances effectively.

North Wales Community Alert Poster

North Wales Community Alert Card (b)

As part of our partnership working with the local police team, they have asked us to circulate information about a 'Community Alert' system.

'North Wales Police have recently launched North Wales Community Alert to improve engagement with our communities. We are trying to share crime prevention advice, support and guidance as well as hear the views of our communities to enable us to understand any areas they feel would benefit from additional support.

On Friday 3rd December staff and pupils at Prestatyn High School supported the 999 Cenotaph campaign. The campaign was set up to support the two million people currently working and volunteering within our emergency services, all of whom have shown commitment to public service throughout the pandemic.

In Prestatyn High School staff and pupils supported the campaign by wearing a colour from the emergency services (red, blue, green or orange) with their full school uniform. We also sold key rings and cakes with the colours represented by the emergency services, all made by staff in school. In total we raised £202.85

Eco Club Sofia Jones, Head of Eco Club Prestatyn High School has an Eco Club and we are very enthusiastic about preserving the environment. Mr Rasmussen runs the club of about 10-15 students from Years 7-10, who come every Wednesday after school to do various activities.

We have planted hundreds of trees in the school grounds. We also have lots of insect-friendly flowers, a herb garden and several raised beds for vegetables and fruit. Over the last few years, we have used what we have grown to make pumpkin soup, strawberry ice cream, elderflower cordial, hash browns and even had a beetroot tie-dye session!

We are keen to make our school grounds as animal friendly as possible. Keep Wales Tidy helped us to install several bird and bat boxes. We have made mini-ponds and a dead hedge to provide habitat for insects to live. We allow part of the grass to grow longer to allow flowers to grow and give seed as well as feeding the birds. We make sure not to cut our hedges during the bird nesting season.

One of our most recent and expanding projects is our apiary. After attending the beginners’ beekeeping course with the Flintshire Beekeeping Association, Mr Rasmussen used some funding from Polli:Nation to acquire two nucs and two hives. We had whole school numeracy tasks based on bees to announce the arrival of bees to our school!

Since then, we have had hundreds of pupils come out to see the bees and watch them flying in and out of the hive. We are slowly building up the number of suits we have, to allow more and more students to learn about the wonderful lives of bees. During the summer term we were able to split one hive and catch a swarm to bring our total number of hives to four. They currently have a good supply of honey to see them through the winter (hopefully).

We have enjoyed the produce too! We have sold 40 jars of honey to raise money for our equipment and each member of our group was able to have a taster pot to take home. Soon, a local beekeeper will be running a session on using the wax we have collected from our hives. We look forward to spring when we can start to see the bees out in force again. The daffodil bulbs are planted, ready for their early foraging!