Dear Parent/Carer,

I write in accordance with the Changing of School Session Times (Wales) Regulations 2009 No 572 (W.54) and on behalf of the Governing Body of Prestatyn High School to inform you of proposed changes to the timing of the school day with effect from September 2017.
Prestatyn High School is committed to improving the outcomes and life chances for all young people no matter their starting point or background. A fundamental part of raising standards is having a modern and fit for purpose timetable and school day. The proposed new school day will allow the school to achieve its aims and accelerate the progress for all of our learners.

• The proposed changes are summarised at the end of this letter but the main points are listed below:
• The students will continue to have 5 one-hour lessons each day over a fortnightly timetable
• The time at which the day begins will be 8.40am
• The school day will end at 3pm
• Registration will be at the start of the day
• Lunch is now split – KS3 have early lunch and KS4 pupils have late lunch
• No year 11s will be allowed off site during lunch
• KS4 pupils will only have 1 lesson after lunch
• The advantages of the proposed system are:
• Registration is now at the start of the day so that tutors can check that all pupils are ready and equipped to learn
• It is statistically proven that pupils learn and engage better earlier in the day
• Reducing the number of lessons after lunch will improve behaviour and engagement
• Having an earlier end of the day will encourage more pupils to attend extra-curricular events or interventions after school. The school will invest in far more enriching activities after school for our pupils
• A split lunch time will allow our pupils to be more relaxed and less rushed in the diner leading to a calm environment
• The school will now take responsibility for Year 11s over lunch time ensuring that their focus is maintained right until the end of the academic day

There will be a meeting open to all parents/carers and staff to discuss the proposal at 6.00pm on Tuesday 25th April in the main hall. If you are unable to attend, you may submit written comments to me for consideration before the meeting. Any written comments will be discussed during the meeting on the 25th April.
I look forward to receiving your comments by 7th April 2017.

Yours faithfully
Neil Foley – B.Sc. MA.
Pennaeth Headteacher

An early morning start for us 40 GCSE and A-Level Geography students off to Iceland for a few days. We were all very excited, even though we didn’t have much sleep, because we knew in a few hours we would be sat in the Blue Lagoon relaxing in a 38 degree C mineral-rich lagoon which was formed from geo-thermally heated water. The first stop when we got to Iceland was the bridge between two continents, where we stood between the Eurasian Plate and the North-American Plate, which move about one inch per year. The gap between them now is quite big and you can see how they once fitted together. The last stop for the first day was the much anticipated Blue Lagoon, which lived up to it’s expectations. We arrived at the hotel that night tired but very relaxed after a great day.

Day two was another early start as we wanted to get on the road because we had lots of activities planned. The first stop was Thingvellir Rift Valley where we learnt about how the plates moved apart and how the layers of the rocks were layers of lava from all the previous eruptions. I also learnt that lava stops plant growth and most of the land is covered in moss because of the this. We visited the Geysirs, which is a geo-thermal area of steam vents and hot springs. Strokkur Geysir, the very active star, erupts every 6-8 minutes, we were lucky and managed to see it erupt a few times. We also visited the Gullfoss waterfall and the Hellisheidi Power Plant, which provides electricity to the city of Reykjavik. That night we went into Reykjavik centre where we explored some of the shops.

On the final day we visited Seljalandsfoss Waterfall, where you can walk behind the waterfall but you get quite wet. We visited the Eyjafjallajökull Visitor Centre, which is where we learnt about a family who lived through the 2010 eruption of Eyjafjallajökull. We learnt about the story of their farm and how the ash helped the crops grow but caused a lot of harm to the animals. The next stop was the Skógafoss Waterfall. This was a beautiful waterfall and you could climb over 400 steps to reach the top of it. The view from the top was magnificent. The Sólheimajökull Glacier was 8km long and 1-2km wide, which will be larger in winter and will shrink in summer because the sun will melt the ice. You could see where some ice remained after the glacier retreated. The final stop of the trip was Reynisdranger black basalt beach. The beach was rocky and very windy, the tide was also very strong. The last morning, we got up extremely early to come home and had to wait a while on the plane while it defrosted. Overall it was an amazing trip with an amazing group of people.

by Erin Shanks Y11