Airbus invites students currently studying A-Levels to find out more about our Degree Apprenticeships in Engineering, Business and IT. Representatives from Airbus will be available to speak to you about the opportunities on offer.
Presentations will take place at 17:30 and 18:30.
Thursday 30 January 2020 17.00-19.00
Deeside Sixth Form Centre Kelsterton Road, Connah’s Quay, Deeside, Flintshire CH5 4BR
Launch your career airbus.com/careers
The ‘Creative Arts Dept’ annual carol service took place on Monday 16th December at Prestatyn Parish Church. We had around 50 talented musicians and drama students who participated in this event.
The concert was a mixture of instrumental, choral, drama and solo items prepared through enrichment sessions held throughout the term. Thank you to all our wonderful young performers.
Congratulations also go to Ethan Gordon, who received the ‘Joe Irving Young Musician’ award for his exceptional musical skills!
We are fast approaching the end of another busy and successful year for Prestatyn High School. Once again we were delighted with our exam results with our Year 11s and 13s achieving our best ever results. The percentage of pupils achieving high grade passes of a C grade or above including English and maths at GCSE increased by 10%. Our A level results improved for the 3rd year in a row, and our results place us in the top 25% of schools in Wales and England. We are exceptionally proud of all pupils and staff and these amazing results reinforce our belief that what we are doing day to day is the right thing to do and that the high standards we hold are having an impact.
As a reward for everyone’s hard work I’m pleased to announce the school will be closing early at 12.20pm on Friday 20th December. This will allow pupils and their families a little extra time together to prepare for Christmas and enjoy a different routine on a Friday afternoon.
However, I am keen to stress that I do not expect to see a dip in attendance just because it is a shortened day. Pupils are expected to attend school and lessons as normal. The school has made all the necessary arrangements for school buses/taxis to be at school early to transport pupils home.
The last day of term will be a non-uniform day for pupils. Pupils wearing their own clothes are expected to make a £1 donation which will be shared between Yr Urdd, who are hosting the Eisteddfod in Denbigh during summer 2020 and Hand in Hand, a charity building a school for orphans in Kenya – for further information follow this link: www.justgiving.com/fundraising/phshandinhand
School re-opens for new term: The school re-opens for students on Monday 6th January; there is no staff training day.
I’d like to wish everyone a lovely break, a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.
GCSE English Language: Oracy Assessments
As part of the GCSE English Language qualification, all Year 11 students are required to complete a group discussion. The assessment contributes to 10% of their final grade.
All students will be sitting the non-examination assessment during the week beginning the 9th of December. Due to the importance of this assessment, it is vital that all students attend school every day. To ensure that students are fully prepared, we will be completing vital preparation during English lessons. In addition, we will be offering extra intervention time in the lead-up to these assessments.
As part of the regulations linked to the qualification, it is compulsory for all students to be recorded. They must attend school on Thursday, 12th December and Friday, 13th December. If your son or daughter is absent from school during this time, they will have a significant impact on their own progress, as well as the progress of their fellow students. We will need a doctor’s note to verify any absences.
If you have any concerns regarding the above, please contact a member of the English Department. Alternatively, please contact Mrs. Baker (Head of Year) or Miss Jones (Assistant Head of Year).
Thank you for your support.
GCSE English Literature: Set Texts
As part of the GCSE English Literature qualification, Year 10 students are required to use copies of their set texts to support their revision.
All students will be sitting the GCSE English Literature Unit 1 examination on Wednesday, 8th January.
Due to the cost of the set texts, and the fact that a number of students failed to return their books in previous years, we are asking parents and carers to pay a deposit of £10 via ParentPay. Providing the deposit is paid, students will be allowed to take books home. Once books are returned to the department, the deposit will be refunded.
If you have any concerns regarding the above, please contact a member of the English Department.
Thank you for your support.
‘Parentalk - the teenage years’ continues each Wednesday evening from 6.00pm until 8.00pm in the 6th Form Centre until 11th December. Everyone is invited to these informal sessions to share ideas on the challenges and joys of being the parent or carer of teenagers. This DVD based course produced by Care for the Family, provides common sense, jargon-free ideas to help us all to engage with our teenagers and boost relationships in our families. The sessions are free and light refreshments are provided. Further details are on the leaflet sent home last week with the following topics still to come:
27.11.19 - Communication and conflict
4.12.19 - Big pressures, good choices
11.12.19 - Letting go
For more information or to register, contact Allison Watson at allison.watson@denbighshire.gov.uk or Mel du Preez at mel.dupreez@cff.org.uk.
Alternatively, just come along on the evening and join in the discussions.
Please click below to download the
Governors’ Annual Report to Parents.
All schools are advised to put in place emergency arrangements in the unlikely event of an incident requiring a school to use a lockdown procedure to ensure the safety of the pupils and staff. We have done many things to reduce risk to our pupils in school including putting up additional fencing, a new back gate and changing our procedures. We update our Emergency Plan each year and in support of this, we have put in place lockdown procedures. The lockdown procedure is a response to any incident that has the potential to pose a threat to the safety of pupils, staff and visitors in the school. The procedure may be used in situations such as an incident or civil disturbance in the local community, terrorist action or threat of terrorist action or an intruder on the school site.
When the school is in lockdown, all those on site will be required to follow the procedures. Staff and pupils will be required to go to or stay in the nearest classroom where the door will be locked or blocked to prevent access. Windows will be closed and phones need to be placed on silent. Senior members of staff in school will coordinate the lockdown procedures to ensure the safety of all areas of the school. We will establish contact with emergency services and the local authority until such time as it is appropriate to end the lockdown procedures.
The school will communicate to parents that lockdown procedures are in place via the school website and other social media platforms. We would request that in such circumstances, parents do not use the phones to contact the school as we would need to keep phone lines clear for communication with emergency services. There will be no access to the school other than to emergency services. During a lockdown, the school retains loco parentis and pupils will not be released to parents until the lockdown has ceased.
These procedures are a precaution and are nothing to be alarmed about. In order to support this process, we are going to undertake a lockdown rehearsal with all pupils, staff and visitors in school. This rehearsal will allow pupils to become familiar with the procedures as they are different to our fire evacuation procedures. We will discuss this with pupils to prepare them for this rehearsal but we would be grateful if you could reinforce the message that this is nothing to be concerned about but allows additional safety arrangements to be made in school should we need to use the lockdown procedures. The rehearsal will take place on Monday 18th November. Should you have any questions in relation to this, please direct them via your child’s Head of Year
The praise and recognition structure allows pupils who meet and exceed our expectations to be recognised through a reward system (points), based on their attendance and engagement in learning.
Pupils are ranked Gold, Silver and Bronze over a half term period and receive amazing rewards celebrating their participation across the school.
It is an exciting system that has been developed with the student council, Heads of Year and Heads of Department. It is a whole school recognition system where positive attitudes are consistently rewarded.
Thank you to all of our supporters on Saturday 5th October, in the proclamation event at Prestatyn High School, to welcome the Eisteddfod yr Urdd to Denbighshire. We managed to raise a fantastic £500 for the Urdd. Thank you to Dave from Prestatyn Lidl for providing us with food and drinks to sell on the day. Thank you also to Flip Out Chester and Voel coaches for donating a voucher for the raffle. We look forward to welcoming the Eisteddfod yr Urdd to Denbighshire in May 2020.
