Dear Yr11, 12 & 13

As you know the government issued guidance a few weeks back about how GCSE and A level results were going to be awarded this year.  At the time they failed to mention what was going to happen with BTEC courses which are mainly coursework based.  They have now issued information and I have summarised it below:

Yr11 and Yr13

How will vocational qualifications be awarded?

Some qualifications are usually taken alongside or instead of GCSEs, AS and A levels, and are principally used for progression to further or higher education. This group includes, for example, many BTEC courses.   We consider that, as far as possible, such qualifications should be treated in the same way as GCSEs, AS and A levels, with learners receiving a calculated result. Calculated results will draw appropriately on a range of evidence, depending on the structure of the qualification.  They may be based in part on teacher, trainer or tutor judgements of what result each learner would most likely have achieved had they been able to complete their assessments in summer 2020. Any centre assessment result will be based on a range of evidence held by the school, college or training provider.

Yr12 BTEC/WBQ

There has been no further information about Yr12 so you must continue to follow your teachers on Microsoft Teams where work is still being set for BTEC and the WBQ.  As soon as we get any further details we will let you know.

Yr12 progression to A2: 

If you are studying a BTEC course or the WBQ then as explained, for now, you need to continue working on the Yr12 elements.  However over the coming weeks, for those of you studying any AS courses, staff will want to move onto the A2 elements of the course, some may already have done this.  Please make sure that you are engaging with the work so that you are up to speed when we return.  If you are doing four courses, then I want you to start thinking about the subject you may drop, as you go into Yr13.  My advice is to continue with the three courses you are best at.  I will email you again shortly to discuss how we might do this.  All students should continue with all courses for now.

Yr11 progression to AS/BTEC:

I am sending all staff the names of students who have applied to study their courses in the 6th form from September.  Yr11 students should continue to monitor teams over the coming weeks as staff will start to get in touch regarding work that can be done in preparation to start your AS courses next year.  Please make sure you engage with this.  If you haven’t applied to come to our 6th form but want to engage with your teachers through teams in the subjects you intend to study then please by all means access the work.  If you haven’t applied to come to us but now want to, then  please just email me and I will be in touch.

Yr12/13 GCSE resits:

Any GCSE resit grades will be calculated in the same way as any other GCSE grade awarded this year.

These are unprecedented times and I know that you have all worked extremely hard this year.

Keep safe.

Mr G Vernon

Deputy Headteacher

Dear all pupils, parents and carers

Download the letter – Week 4 letter v2

I do hope that you, your families and the whole Prestatyn community are doing well during these unprecedented times. I would like to pay tribute to the whole community in your efforts to follow the guidelines on staying at home and observing the social distancing rules. This is making a huge difference and it will ensure we all get out of this crisis quickly, safely, with fewer people having to be admitted into hospital. As I am sure you are all aware, the lockdown arrangements will continue for a minimum of a further three weeks. If we all continue to work together and follow the guidelines we will be able to beat the virus and get back to normal.

I would also like to take this opportunity to thank all the staff at Prestatyn High school, from the teachers, TAs and office staff, to the cleaners, canteen and site team. They continue to work everyday to keep the school open, provide support for the pupils still attending and provide work for online study. We are also doing what we can to support the community.

Lots of praise and recognition must go to pupils and parents for their support for the online working at home provision. Over 1000 pupils have regularly accessed, completed and returned online work. This work has been marked by the teachers and is returned in a timely fashion. We are reviewing our provision on a weekly basis and we will be constantly refreshing what we do going forward until schools return to normal. Additionally, we are contacting parents, carers and pupils if they have not been in communication through the online provision, ensuring that all of our learners are safe.

Over the Easter break we continued to open to the pupils that needed to access education. The attendance was good and we hope that we have enabled our keyworker parents to continue their essential and critical jobs without worrying about childcare. Alongside this, we opened our doors to pupils that needed additional support over the Easter period to make sure they also had school contact during these very demanding times. School meals have continued to be delivered and served over the last four weeks and now hopefully, Denbighshire CC will have organised the additional payments to families in receipt of free school meals. We will continue to provide food on a daily basis to any pupil that qualifies for free meals whist attending school. If you have any questions regarding free school meals, please contact DCC directly via their website.

https://t.co/yHVxtoX5IX?amp=1

Over the past few weeks, Prestatyn High has also been providing hundreds of items of PPE to the NHS and other health providers, which have hopefully helped protect healthcare workers in some way and reduced the spread of the infection. A special thanks to Dan Nuttall, the technology department and all the volunteers for designing and producing the visors that are out in healthcare settings.

On the issue of examinations, grades and awards; all teachers are working tirelessly to ensure that all pupils gain the grades their ability and endeavours deserve. We are currently working closely with Welsh Government and Qualifications Wales to make sure the system is fair, transparent and rewards all pupils at the levels and grades they would have achieved in the summer. For further information on this please visit our website.

To support the community, the school continues to raise money and collect food for the food banks in the local area. We have collected several hundred pounds so far and donated a vast quantity of food to support any family that needs additional help during these very challenging times. A massive thank you once again to all staff and parents who have donated food or money to help the cause.

We would welcome any further contributions via either the ParentPay option or food donations to school.

If any parents or families are struggling, or if you know of anyone in the community that needs additional help, please contact the school and we will support in any way that we can.

Please continue to ensure our pupils are engaging in the work set by their teachers so that all learners and ready and able to resume normal schooling when the time comes. Anyone struggling to access the online work needs to contact the school so that we can make arrangements for their continuity of learning.

Please continue to follow the government advice and please continue to support the community. Please stay home and please stay safe.

If there is anything else we can do, please let me know.

Yours sincerely

We are manufacturing more #facemasks today at Prestatyn High School.
If you are in need of or know anyone who is looking for some then please get in touch ASAP and we can try and deliver some this afternoon #COVID2019

Thanks again @GwasgPrint for your kind acetate donation.

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

Denbighshire’s Youth Service are currently running virtual groups via their You Tube ‘Live’ Channel, anyone is free to watch the videos, subscribe and engage. It may be a helpful tool for young people, parents and carers whilst social distancing, that’s local and fun.

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCbhtvYIZiB_WSUXk8ry5eEQ

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.

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. 

2^nd 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