Denbighshire Creative Kids Cooking Challenges

Denbighshire Creative Kids Cooking Challenges

Easy, fun and healthy cooking activities for Kids to Get Through COVID-19

The first of our new and exciting Denbighshire Creative Kids Cooking Challenges starts today, whether you’re at home or at school in Denbighshire. Entry will be in three age categories – up to 7 years, 7 to 11 years and 12-14 years.

If you’ve been reading a book, watching a film or your favourite TV shows, have you ever wondered what your favourite character(s) might like to eat?

Challenge Number One ‘FLAVOUR’-ITE BITES’

You have just over 10 days to come up with an idea of what your favourite book, TV or movie character would like to eat. The idea(s) must be healthy, easy and fun to make, super-tasty and well-presented on a plate, so that you can photograph and send your entry to us via e-mail – sarah.dixon@denbighshire.gov.uk by 5pm on Monday 27 April 2020.

Please complete the Entry Form, save it as a PDF and attach it to your e-mail, together with a photograph of your super-tasty, healthy snack.

Your entries will be judged by a panel of top school chefs.  The first challenge will be judged by Jane Jones, School Cook at Ysgol Twm o’r Nany and Wales School Cook of the Year 2020!

Winners will be announced via Twitter @cyfoeth_enrich on Friday 1 May 2020.

Prizes: The winner of each age category will be awarded a copy of an age appropriate current best-selling children’s book.

For further details, please contact Paula Roberts, Healthy Schools Co-ordinator – paula.roberts@denbighshire.gov.uk / 01824 712059

Download the application form

Heriau Coginio Plant Creadigol Sir Ddinbych – Rhif 1
Denbighshire Creative Kids Cooking Challenges – No. 1
Denbighshire Creative Kids Cooking Challenges – No. 1
Heriau Coginio Plant Creadigol Sir Ddinbych – Rhif 1

PHS make visors to help support frontline workers

Yesterday Prestatyn High School made over 150 visors and have delivered them to local GP surgeries, midwives, district nurses and hospitals. We have about 30 left and are in my car so if anyone else knows anybody who is desperate let me know and I’ll deliver some.
Again thanks for the support, it was a joint PHS effort which will help our hardworking and brave NHS staff.
Unfortunately we have used up all of our stock and suppliers are either out or lifting prices up. For now, we won’t be making anymore unless I can source more plastic.
Just wanted to say a huge thank you to Gwyn, Sian B, Liane L, Pam and James firstly for helping out today. Also, thanks to all the staff who have got in touch with suggestions of who might need them or offered to help.
Dan Nuttall
Subject Leader for Product Design
Prestatyn High School

Qualifications Wales – A letter to learners

A message for all Summer 2020 GCSE, AS, A level and Skills Challenge Certificate learners.

Download the letter – Letter to learners 2020

I appreciate the announcement to cancel exams this summer will have been unsettling for you as learners, and that you are urgently waiting for news. To keep you informed, I wanted to let you know what we are doing to provide you with grades that you can use to progress to sixth form, college, university, training or work.

Our aim is to treat you as fairly as possible this summer.

How will grades be calculated?

Most GCSEs, AS and A Levels that learners in Wales have been entered for will be awarded by WJEC. The Skills Challenge Certificate is only awarded by WJEC. If you are entered for a GCSE, AS or A Level offered by a different exam boards, the same principles will apply. Your schools, colleges and other exam centres will be asked to send exam boards two pieces of information for each of your qualifications, based on what they know about your work and performance:

•the grade they believe you were most likely to get if teaching, learning and exams had happened as planned •the order of learners, by performance, within those grades.

Your centre will consider a range of evidence like your class and homework; your results in assignments and any mock exams; any non-exam assessment you might have done; and your general progress during your course.

This information will allow WJEC and other exam boards to gather and compare grades across centres. Together, we want to make sure that results are fair and that, as far as possible, learners are not advantaged or disadvantaged because their centres are more generous or harsh than others when making those judgements. That means the final grade you get could be different from the one your centre sends to WJEC or other exam boards.

What do I need to do?
Nothing. Your teachers will review all the work you have done so far, any new work set will not influence this summer’s results. Teachers may continue to set work to ensure that all teaching and learning has been completed and help prepare you for next year. The data (grades and rank order) that will be provided is confidential and cannot be shared with you as learners, your parents or carers. Please don’t ask your teachers, or anyone else at your centre, to tell you the grades they will be sending to exam boards or where they have placed you in the order of learners. This is to help ensure the information submitted by schools and colleges is as fair as possible.

When will I get my results?
We’re working hard to make sure you get results as soon as possible – and no later than the published dates of 13 August (AS and A level) and 20 August (GCSE). We will confirm dates as soon as we can.

Can I take my exams another time?
There are already exams available in GCSE English Language, Mathematics, Mathematics-Numeracy and Welsh Language in November each year. You can enter for these exams in November 2020. Other exams will be available, as usual, in summer 2021.

Keep informed
We’ve published a set of FAQs here that you and your parents or carers might find useful. There are also regular updates on our website (www.qualificationswales.org) and social media (@quals_wales on twitter and @qualswalescymcymru on facebook) that you might want to follow.

We’ll keep you updated.

Easter break – Pupil work

We hope you have a safe and restful Easter. Pupils can continue to access Microsoft Teams during the Easter break and complete work. Some teachers will set Easter homework, but this will not be marked until after the Easter break. Please encourage pupils to read regularly as this will help them in all subjects.  Pupils in years 10-13 who are completing their BTEC work need to continue to do so as we are still awaiting clarification regarding the award of BTEC qualifications.  Regular setting and marking of work will resume following the Easter break on Monday 20th April. 

School update – COVID-19

2nd April, 2020

Dear all Pupils, Parents and Carers

As we near the end of the second week of a countrywide lockdown, of school closures and the ongoing COVID-19 crisis that has befallen the world, I thought it would be a good time to write to you all and share some important information.

As the whole world it seems, goes into lockdown and extreme social distancing is practiced, it’s with great admiration that as I drive into Prestatyn and home each day and observe that the call from the government to stay at home unless it is absolutely essential, is clearly being heeded. The young people, our pupils, are safe in their homes helping the national effort to reduce the spread of the virus. This will go a long way in helping us all turn the tide on this disease, reduce the spread, protect the vulnerable and reduce demand on our NHS services.

As I am sure you are aware, the school has stayed open over the past few weeks as we continue to educate and look after the children of keyworker staff such as parents who work for the NHS or other emergency services. We have also opened our doors to other pupils who have been identified by the pastoral teams as needing additional support during this very trying and difficult period. We intend to remain open until this crisis is over, we will still offer this support until society and our daily lives get back to “normal”. Whilst open, we operate a very strict hygiene policy to reduce the chance of any infection or spread of the disease. It cannot be over emphasised how important social distancing and hand washing is in school and also in our daily lives.

I am delighted to announce that Prestatyn High school will continue to offer this provision for pupils still attending school over the period of Easter break (excluding both bank holidays).

Please contact the school if you qualify but have not yet sent your child to school over the closure period and you would like to utilise this provision. There is a list of keyworker staff on the Denbighshire website and guidance to whether or not a parent qualifies to send their child to school; if in doubt please phone PHS and we will answer any of your questions. Please remember the advice from the Government that pupils are only to attend school if there are no other options. This will once again reduce any potential spread of the virus.

An essential way for our pupils to remain focused and to continue to develop and progress is to access and complete work set by their teachers. This has happened in two stages to allow PHS teachers the time to develop systems and procedures to set work. The first stage was to immediately upload work to the website so that pupils could gain access to some materials in the first week. The second stage and something that will continue for the duration of the closure, is to use Microsoft Teams to directly send work to pupils.

We will continue to monitor the uptake of this system, refine it where needed and improve the service we give to our pupils. If there are any suggestions you wish to make please contact the school through the normal channels so that we can act on this feedback. All parents and carers must ensure that pupils are engaging with this work to keep their minds active and ready to return to school whenever this may be.

We will ensure that over the closure period, we are in contact with all pupils, either by online methods or by direct phone calls. As a school, we want to make sure all pupils know that we are here for them.

Another key area the school has been focused upon is helping the community. We have collected food and provided vast amounts of produce to local food banks because we know that during this difficult period many people will lose income or jobs. We are also collecting donations from staff, local businesses and members of the community to provide vital supplies for the parts of Prestatyn worst hit by this crisis. The impact of COVID-19 is significant not only on health, but also financially. The school has already provided hundreds of pounds for the local food banks and community. We have added a facility to parent pay if anyone wishes or is able to make a contribution.

The school is also using its twitter feed to provide links for mental health charities and other support groups so that those people in our community that are feeling anxious can access the support that they need.

This change to all of our lives is unprecedented, surreal and something only a month ago we would have dismissed as fiction. In a very uncertain time one thing is for sure, this will come to an end and we will only get through this as a community by working together for the good of all. Everyone involved at the High School are so proud to be part of a community that is working together, helping each other and supporting the most vulnerable in society.

Please continue to stay home and please stay safe.

With kind regards

Neil Foley – B.Sc. MA.
Pennaeth Headteacher

PHS Student work TEAMS/365

Download the letterStudent work March 2020 (1)

As a school we maintain our commitment to ensuring that pupils have access to high quality meaningful work for whatever length of time the school is closed. Initially we have done this through the classroom cloud on the school website. But, having listened to feedback and through consultation with various stakeholders, we have decided to move our working arrangements to a different system.

Over the next week we will be migrating to using Outlook 365 and specifically Microsoft Teams for the setting and return of work. All pupils have access to this via their school email address. Pupils were given instructions on how to access their school emails in the last week of school. This system has been designed for pupils to be able to be set and return work in an easy and straightforward way. We believe this will significantly enhance their provision during this challenging time. Microsoft Teams is available via the web browser version of their Outlook email, but is also available as a desktop app for Windows devices, and on the app store for both Android and Apple devices.

Pupils will be added to a ‘team’ for each of their subjects. Work will be set as assignments by the pupil’s class teacher. These assignments will have tasks and work to complete and return to the teacher. This will enable their class teachers to monitor the students’ progress. There is a facility to chat within the team so pupils can ask for help, or indeed help one another. There is also the facility to add more extended work through the OneNote system which some teachers will utilise. It is important that pupils check their Outlook emails regularly for updates and work.

We must urge that during this extended school closure that pupils are completing work so that they do not fall behind with their progress. We hope that this system will make it easier to do this.

This system will take a little time to be fully operational, but we anticipate that all work will be set using this system by Friday 3rd April. We ask that all students use the system responsibly and follow the school’s ICT code of conduct at all times.

FAQs
How does my son/daughter log in to their school Outlook?
Visit the school website www.prestatynhigh.co.uk and click on the school email button. The email address is the year the pupil started at PHS, followed by their initial and surname. E.g. if Joe Bloggs was in year 7 it would be 19jbloggs@prestatynhighstudents.co.uk the password is the same as the one to log in to the school computers. Teams can be accessed by pushing the 9 dots in the top left corner.

How often will my son/daughter be expected to complete work?
It is expected that each subject will set at least one piece of work per week, with more work from those subjects they have more lessons in (e.g. Maths, English, science)

How is the work handed in?
Work can be completed on a word document and pupils hand it in via teams. A handy video guide is here: https://youtu.be/O6XcIVR6hH4

What if we have trouble logging in or submitting work?
Please contact out ICT support team by emailing support@prestatynhigh.co.uk

We thank you for your support in this difficult time, and hope to continue utilising this platform once school returns.

Year 11-Welsh Bacc coursework

Thank you, for all of your hard work on your Welsh Baccalaureate coursework over the last two years. A decision has now been made by the WJEC that learners will no longer have to continue working on their Individual Project. We appreciate your ongoing patience and understanding during this difficult time, and we will update you on decisions made regarding the process of grading learners as soon as we can.

Free support site for parents and carers

Good afternoon all,

As promised, we’re getting back in touch with you all to share news of our free support site for parents and carers looking after children during the school closures.

Here, parents and carers can find free primary and secondary activities, tools and advice to support learning at home – including sample homeschool planners, primary reading and maths support, access to free eBooks at secondary, and much more.

In addition to this, we hope you’ve all had the opportunity to sign up for the free support we made available to schools earlier in the week. If not, you can access it, along with the latest information, on our webpages dedicated to supporting schools through coronavirus (Covid-19).

We’re working hard to provide a broad range of support, and will add to this bank of resources over the coming days as our teams develop more, and as we learn together with you, parents and students what type of support is most needed and useful.

To help keep us in touch with parents and carers during this time, please do ask your parent communities to follow us on Twitter at @pearsonparents, and on our Pearson Primary Facebook page. They can also sign up on the free support site to receive updates as more information and support becomes available.

As ever, my thoughts and best wishes to you all,

Sharon Hague
Senior Vice President, Schools

Coronavirus Update: Prestatyn High Provision

Coronavirus Update: Prestatyn High Provision

As I am sure you are now aware, we have been instructed to close to help slow down the spread of COVID-19. From Monday, 23rd March our school will have a new purpose. It will help support those most in need, including people involved in the immediate response to the COVID-19 outbreak.

We will be open Monday to Friday, 8am-5pm, although this is subject to change. Any alterations made to the provision will be communicated with parents/carers. Pupils will be provided with learning and enrichment by school staff during these hours. We will provide breakfast and lunch for pupils attending this provision. Breakfast will be served 8-8.30am and lunch will be served 12.30-1.15pm. Pupils are not required to wear school uniform. However, pupils are still expected to follow our expectations of behaviour and our behaviour policy ‘Ready to Learn’.

Food will also be available for any of our pupils who are eligible for Free School Meals.

As per the Government’s advice, please only send your child to school if there is no safe alternative. This is the first principle of their guidance to prevent the spread of the virus.

Please continue to follow the official guidance from the Welsh Government, Public Health Wales and Denbighshire County Council on how to stop the spread of COVID-19 and how to remain safe in the community.

Please continue to remind your children about hygiene, how to keep safe and to wash their hands regularly.

It’s a difficult time and we know you’re worried about the impact this might have on our community. It’s important we keep each other safe and follow the guidance we get from the government and health board.

Dowload the letter  – PHS COVID-19 provision