Presdales School is a girls'

secondary school A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' secondary education, lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) ...

with academy status, located in

Ware, Hertfordshire Ware is a town in Hertfordshire, England close to the county town of Hertford. It is also a civil parishes in England, civil parish in East Hertfordshire district. Location The town lies on the north–south A10 road (Great Britain), A10 road ...

in the

East of England The East of England is one of the nine official regions of England. This region was created in 1994 and was adopted for statistics purposes from 1999. It includes the ceremonial counties of Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire, Essex, Hertfordshire ...

. The school also operates a coeducational

sixth form In the education systems of England, Northern Ireland, Wales, Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago and some other Commonwealth countries, sixth form represents the final two years of secondary education, ages 16 to 18. Pupils typically prepare for A-l ...

. The current headmaster is M Warren, who took the post in 2016.

History

It was founded as Ware Grammar School for girls in 1906 at nearby Amwell House, and moved to its present site of Presdales House in 1964. It became a comprehensive in 1975. It was awarded specialist college status three times by the

Secretary of State for Education and Skills The secretary of state for education, also referred to as the education secretary, is a secretary of state in the Government of the United Kingdom, responsible for the work of the Department for Education. The incumbent is a member of the Ca ...

, namely as: a

Language College Language Colleges were introduced in 1995 as part of the specialist schools programme (SSP) in the United Kingdom. The system enabled secondary schools to specialise in certain fields, in this case, modern foreign languages. Schools that successf ...

, in 1995; an English and Music College, in 2003; and as a Mathematics & Computing College, in 2009. The school converted to academy status in April 2012. Presdales made the news in December 2020 when its plan to switch to remote learning for the last week of the autumn term was thwarted by Schools Minister,

Nick Gibb Nicolas John Gibb (born 3 September 1960) is a British politician serving as Minister of State for Schools since October 2022, having previously held the office from 2010 to 2012 and again from 2015 to 2021. He has served at the Department for E ...

, who threatened to use legal powers to make the school stay open. The intention had been to keep staff and students isolated and safe from the ongoing

Coronavirus Coronaviruses are a group of related RNA viruses that cause diseases in mammals and birds. In humans and birds, they cause respiratory tract infections that can range from mild to lethal. Mild illnesses in humans include some cases of the com ...

pandemic ahead of Christmas.

Notable former pupils

Kacey Ainsworth Kacey Ainsworth (born 19 October 1968) is an English actress, best known for portraying the role of Little Mo in the BBC soap opera ''EastEnders'' and Cathy Keating in ITV drama ''Grantchester''. Early life Ainsworth trained at the Royal Centr ...

, actress who played

Little Mo Mitchell Maureen "Little Mo" Slater (previously Morgan and Mitchell) is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera ''EastEnders'', played by Kacey Ainsworth from 18 September 2000 to 26 May 2006. Little Mo originally appeared with a turbulent marriag ...

from 2000-06 in ''

EastEnders ''EastEnders'' is a Television in the United Kingdom, British soap opera created by Julia Smith (producer), Julia Smith and Tony Holland which has been broadcast on BBC One since February 1985. Set in the fictional borough of Walford in the Ea ...

'' *

Nicola Fibbens Nicola Fibbens (born 29 April 1964) is a British swimmer. Swimming career Fibbens competed in four events at the 1984 Summer Olympics. She represented England and won a gold medal in the 4 x 100 metres freestyle relay, at the 1982 Commonwealt ...

, Olympic swimmer, who competed in the

1984 Summer Olympics The 1984 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXIII Olympiad and also known as Los Angeles 1984) were an international multi-sport event held from July 28 to August 12, 1984, in Los Angeles, California, United States. It marked the secon ...

Hannah Fry Hannah Fry (born February 1984) is a British mathematician, author, and radio and television presenter. She is Professor in the Mathematics of Cities at the UCL Centre for Advanced Spatial Analysis. She studies the patterns of human behaviour, ...

, mathematician and broadcaster * Jane Gandee, Headmistress since 2010 of St Swithun's School, WinchesterJane Gandee
/ref> *

Bianca Gascoigne Bianca Gascoigne (born 28 October 1986) is a British glamour model and television personality. Biography Personal life Born Bianca Jade Kyle on 28 October 1986, Gascoigne is the daughter of television personality Sheryl Gascoigne (née Failes) ...

, British glamour model and television personality *

Grace Harvey Grace Harvey (born 31 August 1998) is a British Paralympic swimmer, and European and British record holder, who specializes in the breaststroke. Career Harvey is a British para-swimmer competing in the S6 SB5 SM6 classification for swimmers wi ...

, British paralympian who won silver in the 2020 Tokyo games

Ware Grammar School for Girls

Tessa Blackstone, Baroness Blackstone Tessa Ann Vosper Blackstone, Baroness Blackstone, (born 27 September 1942) is an English politician and university administrator. Early life Her father, Geoffrey Vaughan Blackstone, CBE, GM, was the Chief Fire Officer for Hertfordshire and ...

Ann Dummett Ann, Lady Dummett (born Agnes Margaret Ann Chesney; 4 September 1930 – 7 February 2012) was an English activist, campaigner for racial justice and published author. Early life and career Born at St George Hanover Square, London, the daughte ...

(née Chesney), Director from 1984-87 of the

Runnymede Trust The Runnymede Trust is a race equality think tank in the United Kingdom. It was founded in 1968 by Jim Rose and Anthony Lester as an independent source for generating intelligence for a multi-ethnic Britain through research, network building, ...

Kim Wilde Kim Wilde (born Kim Smith, 18 November 1960) is an English pop singer, DJ and television presenter. She first saw success in 1981 with her debut single "Kids in America", which peaked at No. 2 in the UK. In 1983, she received the Brit Award f ...

, 1980s singer and DJ

References

External links

Presdales School official website
{{authority control Secondary schools in Hertfordshire Girls' schools in Hertfordshire Educational institutions established in 1906 1906 establishments in England Academies in Hertfordshire Ware, Hertfordshire