THERFIELD NEWS Issue No.11, September 1994

Following last year's excellent A' level results our students have done even better this year. 44.7% of pupils achieved A and B passes (last year's figure was 41.9%) and the school secured the remarkable overall pass rate A-E of 96.3%. Remember 'A' levels are looked upon as the 'gold standard' of our further education system!

Detailed results show that the 78 pupils who took 'A' levels had:
21.4% (14.7) passes at A grade,
23.3 (17.0) at B,
21.4 (18.7) at C,
20.5 (18.1) at D and
9.8 (14.4) at E.
(National averages are shown in brackets)
Our average number of points, scored by students taking 2 or more A levels is 18.5.

One national newspaper (the Daily Mail) rates us as one of the top 20 mixed schools in the country and makes the point 'among the top 50 schools, fewer than one in four - 12 establishments - are mixed'. We are also placed in the list of top comprehensives with the general explanation - 'comprehensive schools take pupils of all abilities. Our results show that the best of them can compete favourably with the cream of the nation's grammar schools'. It in pleasant to reflect that as a genuine comprehensive mixed school we feature so highly in tables of excellence.

There were a number of first class individual performances. Rebecca Lake of Fetcham was among the top five candidates in Sociology for her Board in the whole country. Mark Baker and Ben Hanson both achieved four As representing 40 points; Christopher Dicken 3As + 1AS 35 points, Peter Eggington 3As, 1D (32 points); Tracy Hall 2 As, 1B, 1 AS 'A' (32 points); Nicholas Ong-Seng 3As, Sara Phillips 3As, John Angus 1A, 2Bs, 1D, all at 30 points.

Our Oxbridge candidates (two for Oxford, one for Cambridge) were successful and thanks to the general excellence of Therfield's results the transfer into Higher Education went smoothly with the vast majority of students getting their first choice.

The GCSE results were down slightly on last year, although still well above the national average. Our results do, however, reflect the true comprehensive nature of our entry. We promise pupils that if they work to the best of their abilities and complete all coursework then they will be entered for GCSE regardless of their expected grades.

A number of pupils gained the new star grade and 16% gained either A or A*. 19.4% achieved B grades and 21.7% C grades, representing a 57.1% pass rate at grades A-C. Our overall pass rate was 96.9% with 196 pupils making a total entry of 1708.

Outstanding results were achieved by Claire Hanson with four starred As and five As; Mary-Ann Ross 2A*, 7As; Heather Atkins 1A*, 8As; Darren Cahill 4A*, 4As, 1B; Jon Skull 3A*, 5As, 1B; Tanya Hardy 2 A*, 6As, 1B; Alexander Elvey 8As, 1B; James Inge 6A*, 1A, 1B.

SCHOOL UNIFORM
The procedure for ordering school uniform is as follows:
1. The pupil should collect an order form from the School Office.
2. On completion, the form should be returned in an envelope marked SCHOOL UNIFORM ORDER together with cash or a cheque (made payable to Graham Andrews) for the correct amount.
3. The pupil will be informed when the order is available for collection.
4. If you need to contact the supplier direct the number is 081 642 2147.

CLOSURE DATES
An update on dates given in the Information sheets sent out at the end of the Summer Term - the school will be closed to pupils on 29th and 30th November 1994 and 30th June 1995 + one more day during the Spring Term. Staff will be in school for In-service training.

GLYN SCHOOL
I have been informed that the governors of this nearby school are making application to the Secretary of State for Education to take about half their intake of pupils on the basis of their ability (as old grammar schools used to do for all their entry). If their application is successful and they are able to attract able boys - despite the school's recent mediocre examination performance - this could damage Therfield in a number of ways:
1. Able boys are attracted away from Therfield and our ability to provide a challenging environment in which all are encouraged to achieve their highest will be damaged.
2. The school's ability profile will become unbalanced with more able girls than boys.
3. Boys from Epsom and Ewell who have not met Glyn's entry criteria will have to travel long distances to Therfield because they will no longer be able to get into their local school. This will cost the council a lot of money and affect their ability to stay after school for clubs and teams.

This move breaks the long established and successful Surrey policy of comprehensive education. If Glyn is allowed to change its intake we will have significant numbers of boys who will see themselves as failures and second class at the age of eleven. This cannot be right.

I would therefore encourage parents to write to the Secretary of State for Education and express their views. As individual letters will not be accepted please send all letters to me and I will forward them in the requisite bundles of ten! Why should good schools with proven track records of examination success be endangered by schools who do not seem able to match that performance? Perhaps they should seek to put their own house in order before attempting to lure away able students from elsewhere.!

Our new pupils seem to have settled well into school. A reminder of the Year 7 Parents Evening on Wednesday, October 5th. Details will be sent home nearer the date.

The Friends of the School and the School Governors are holding their Annual Meetings on 28th September at 7.30 pm in the Main Hall. Do please try and attend. Formalities will be kept to a minimum and there will be an opportunity to meet and talk with the Governors. This will be their yearly statutory meeting with Parents.

You should have received a sheaf of letters giving information about the Friends - if you have not, please contact the school. The Friends provide an important service, acting not only as a useful link between parents and school but, thanks to their fund raising efforts provide additional equipment and facilities for a number of clubs and departments. These 'frills' make life at Therfield more enjoyable.

Next Friends function - Jumble Sale on 24th Sept. 1.30 Preview 11 am.

Apologies to anyone who could not reach us on the telephone at the end of the Summer holiday - the phone systems were being changed: The new number is (0372) 818123