Therfield School Leatherhead

This is based on OF GOOD REPORT by Mrs Linda Heath
published by the Leatherhead and District Local History Society in 1986

Leatherhead County Secondary School
In April 1945 the Leatherhead Central School on the Woodvill Road/Kingston Road site became known as Leatherhead County Secondary School. This was as a result of the 1944 Butler Education Act, whereby Infants' and Junior Schools became Primary Schools and Senior Schools became Secondary Schools. Another provision of this Act was to ensure that every child should have the right to receive secondary education instead of having to leave school at fourteen after only elementary education, as most children had done up to that time.

This meant that extra accommodation was needed at the Kingston Road school, so three Horsa Huts were installed to provide more classrooms. By 1946 there were over 550 pupils and there were plans to build a new school, though this was not to happen for some time yet. However, three years later, the playing field at Dilston Road was being fenced, which was on land adjacent to the new school site. By 1952 the school was so crowded that there were times when three classes had to share one of the Horsa Huts and the situation was becoming impossible.

However, by 1953 the new school was at long last ready for occupation and Mr Stanley Moore (who had been Head since 1938) and some of the teachers spent a great deal of time making arrangements to move into the new building. Unfortunately, it was not just a simple matter of transferring the whole school from one building to another.

Owing to financial cuts by Government in education, the building programme had been halved, which meant that the new school was not big enough to take all the pupils, of whom there were by then over 700. So they were divided between Dilston Road for the older pupils and Kingston Road for the younger ones and it was to be another twenty three years before all the pupils could be housed in the Dilston Road buildings.

Opening of the school at Dilston Road
As the two schools are over a mile apart, it must have been extremely inconvenient for all concerned. However, in April 1953 some of the second year pupils and all of the third, fourth and fifth year pupils moved into the newly completed building which was opened officially later that year, on 24th November, by Lady Maxwell Fyfe.

When the new building first opened, it was treated with such respect that no outdoor shoes were allowed to tread the polished wood floors, especially the one in the Hall used every day for Assembly! This hall was also used as a gymnasium and Mr Moore refused to allow fixed apparatus to be installed there, as he felt that this would further delay the building of the proposed gymnasium which had been promised.

Mr Claytor - a man of immense will-power
At the end of the summer term in 1957 Mr Moore retired after eighteen years as Headmaster. In September, he was succeeded by Mr Frank E Claytor and within another two years there were over 1,000 children attending the school. Mr Claytor was a man of immense will-power and courage - he had one arm which was useless, but so determined was he to overcome this handicap that other people were hardly aware of it. He played every form of sport and gave demonstrations of how to make equipment for scientific experiments and would in no way allow his disability to curtail his activities.

The buildings at Dilston Road get a name
It was he who decided that the school should have a name. In February 1964 he received notification from the Divisional Education Officer that the Governors' request for a name for the school had been granted by the Surrey Education Committee. From henceforth, the school was to be known by its present name of Therfield School. Mr Claytor had suggested this name to the School Governors after having done some research to find a suitable name and on 6th February 1964 he wrote in the School Log Book:

"This name is connected with the district in that we stand on land which was once part of the Manor of Pachesam, and this Manor was presented to Brian de Therfield by King John in 1205."

Mr Claytor remained in charge of the school until 1972, two years before his death.

Mr John D Wooding, Head 1972-85,
recalled many happy memories of staff and pupils. On arrival he was faced with a school in three locations (some were on the site of the United Dairies depot, as well as at Dilston Road and Woodvill/Kingston Road): school leaving age was rising to 16, the school was to go fully comprehensive and was to be concentrated on one site. There was a strong 'family' atmosphere which he wished to preserve as the school enlarged. In April 2002 he provided the following:

EVENTFUL YEARS - 1972 to 1985
Most of the events described were not discrete happenings; they inevitably reacted with others to make life more complicated, Many changes were required by Government and/or Surrey County Council; others were made by Therfield to meet the school's special needs.

ROSLA (The acronym for the raising of the school leaving age to 16)
There was a national apprehension that requiring reluctant 15 year olds to stay on for another year would be fruitless and disruptive. There was no set curriculum; It was largely left to schools and their teachers to provide stimulating and worthwhile courses. Amazingly, there were few problems. In fact, many pupils gained exam passes, and some wanted to continue with further studies as they realised their own capabilities.

COMING TOGETHER (under one roof)
Therfield's upper school (13 plus) was housed at the main Dilston Road site.

The lower school was in older buildings in the Kingston Road, some 20 minutes walk away.

A few classes were held in rooms rented in the nearby United Dairies building. I was concerned that there was only limited day-to-day contact between the upper and lower sections, and so the coming together required careful planning. To meet the immediate and progressive needs there had to be successive building programmes at Dilston Road. The lower school site was taken over by Woodville School. Our own two groups of teachers merged with alacrity.

SURREY CHANGES ITS PATTERN OF SCHOOLS
Surrey LEA decided to reorganize all its schools with new age ranges. It created First & Middle schools and moved secondary transfer from age 11 to age 12. Therfield worked closely with its linked middle schools to ensure that the curriculum flow was harmonious. On the whole the new system worked well but there were two intractable problems. The middle schools had difficulty in recruiting specialist teachers (especially Science, Crafts and French) for their top year. Also, with most LEAs keeping 11+ transfer, problems could arise when families moved in or out of Surrey.

GOING COMPREHENSIVE
This was the most challenging task for Surrey's secondary schools. As a former grammar school teacher I had come to consider that the 11+ was unreliable and unfair; it wasted a great deal of our national talent. At Therfield, we did not accept the rush into mixed ability classes. We looked for a system which provided flexibility and individual opportunity. There were broad ability bands which allowed for movement, and some subject setting within the bands. The control lattice featured horizontal year groups and vertical house groups. Even so, it took years of striving and shaping before we felt that we were providing a fair deal for the range of abilities.

INTERNAL DEVELOPMENTS

CAREERS
We opened a Careers/Counselling dept which included an annual fair to link employers, students and parents. There was an Information Centre, an interview scheme, and some aptitude testing. There was work experience available for all Fifth formers. The head of careers had help from most of her colleagues in supervising this programme.

SPECIAL NEEDS
A classroom was allocated and fitted out for those needing urgent remedial teaching in small groups. The purpose was to return pupils to their normal classes as soon as a significant improvement was made. I often joined the teacher to encourage and help with the reading.

We were also concerned that exceptionally gifted pupils of all ages should meet together (out of school lesson time) with a gifted Cambridge graduate to stimulate lively discussions and problem solving. The BBC became interested, and the group was televised in competition with a similar group of Moscow students.

CARE COMMITTEE
This was set up to meet twice termly for the early detection and treatment of student problems referred by teachers. These might include such difficulties as learning, health and inter-personal relationships. The school doctor, welfare officer, psychologist and social worker joined with the year heads. We found that the most appropriate professional skills were enlisted with minimum delay.

SIXTH FORM
The small existing sixth form expanded rapidly and a full range of courses was soon available. Some courses with limited demand such as Economics and Business Studies were set up as joint projects with other local sixth forms. Our Sixth formers provided excellent leadership in the main school and they helped the staff run the other year groups parents evenings.

PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT
What could we do to increase self confidence and strengthen relationships between pupils, their peer groups and their teachers? We squeezed some school time for an experimental course for study skills (homework, note-taking revision etc.) and teaching some social graces.

DEPARTMENTAL PROJECTS
Music and Drama: A staff team produced a succession of the popular musical shows: Oliver, Grease, Fiddler on the Roof, The Boy Friend. The Swing Band was started.

The Technical Dept built a hovercraft which floated over our playing fields.

The new Leatherhead Leisure Centre enabled us to teach swimming, and some time later the Therfield Sailing Club was an instant success.

The advent of personal computers proved a boon to all departments and, in particular, changed the character of our secretarial courses

PARENTS
Vital to our progress through the years was the trust and support of our parent body, not only in fund-raising but in their continual encouragement for us to implement new ideas. When the Year Heads all reported that parental attendance at the year progress evenings had risen sharply to exceed 90%, we knew our parents had become both friends and partners in the education of their children.

THE SCHOOL STAFF
Our teaching staff were exceptionally able and hardworking professionals.They never worked in isolation but were always helping and encouraging one another. Many devoted countless hours after school and during vacations with clubs outings and productions.

Their combined skills raised the Ordinary Level pass rate by 400% over about 10 years. We lost many fine teachers to headships and deputy headships elsewhere, but there was always younger talent eager to replace them. The teachers in turn were supported by technicians and other ancillary staff.

A focal point for most schools is the office. Supervised by a highly competent secretary, the office staff were industrious, diplomatic and protective. On behalf of the school I thank all of the staff who helped over this busy period.

Finally, these eventful years at Therfield seemed to pass all too quickly. There were many occasions with stresses and heartaches but, for most of us, we cherish the memories of laughter, pride and friendship from our life together.

Mr Frank E Claytor
Headmaster
1957-72 d1974

Mr John D Wooding
Headmaster
1972-85 d2011

Mr Terry R Reddin
Head Teacher
Jan 1986-2001

Mr Graham
Tuck
Headteacher
Sep 01-Dec 06

Mrs Susan Willman
Headteacher
January 2002-

This history will be brought up to date in due course. Anyone who has pictures we could use to illustrate this page should please contact Frank Haslam, the editor of this page, on therfieldalumni@leatherheadweb.org.uk