THERFIELD NEWS Issue No.148, November 2006

In the recent Sunday Times Parent Power listing of more than 2250 of the country's top schools, Therfield was listed as the sixth highest ranked secondary school in Surrey. This is a great tribute to the hard work of both students and staff.

I would like to share this quote with you which I feel embodies what having Sports Specialist Status means to us.
“Sport has the power to change the world. It has the power to inspire, to unite people in a way that little else can. It speaks to youth in a language they understand. Sport can create hope, where once there was despair. It is more powerful than governments in breaking down barriers. It is an instrument for peace and it laughs in the face of discrimination.” Nelson Mandela

I would like to put on record how delighted I am that Susan Willman will be taking over from me as Therfield's Headteacher. Since her arrival in the school as Deputy Head in September 2000, she has played a major role in the school's many successes. Respected by students and staff alike, I know that Susan will do a superb job as leader of our school community.

Finally, I wish you and your children the very best in what I know will be an exciting future for Therfield School.
Graham Tuck

From the Governors After a rigorous selection process the Governing Body of Therfield School is pleased to announce that Mrs Susan Willman, currently Deputy Head teacher at Therfield has been appointed as Headteacher from January 2007. We are looking forward to working with her and the rest of the Leadership Team in the interesting and challenging times ahead.

Important Date Change To facilitate the move into our new building the school will be closed on Wednesday 3rd January. The closure will allow us to complete the move with minimal risk to staff and students.

Senior Student Election Congratulations go to our new Senior Students, Harriet Collins and Stuart Cork who were elected by their peers.

Work Experience 2006 223 Year 11 students took part in Work Experience Week from 9th - 13th October. A wide variety of employment was undertaken with over 65% of students finding their own placements. The majority of remaining students were placed in either their first or second preference. Jobs varied from aircraft engineering, the Army and Police, film and television, barrister's clerk, banking and construction. The locations of the placements varied as well including Leatherhead, Kingston, Basingstoke, Weybridge and London, again this gave the students added skills in organisation and independence.

Students on work experience begin to understand the value of much of the work learnt in the classroom through practical application in the workplace, most especially with numeracy, information technology and communication. This helps them to focus on the skills and qualities required in today's workplace. They have the opportunity to work alongside other adults as part of a team, increasing confidence and abilities. Many students find a direction and focus at a critical time of their academic life allowing them to make more informed decisions about their future careers.

Students were fully debriefed on their return to school and feedback from their employers was exceptionally positive with many students being praised for their approach to the work place. The majority of students found it a very rewarding and worthwhile experience even when the outcome confirmed that they definitely didn't want to pursue a particular career path!

Here are just a few comments from the debrief:
“The placement has helped me to understand what it would be like to be an electrician.”
“It helped me to see what it was like to work in an office environment.”
“The placement has helped me to have more confidence.” This was quoted many times!
“The experience I enjoyed the most was taking responsibility for a small group of children on my own.”
“I most enjoyed the police dog presentation and going to Scotland Yard .”
“I enjoyed everything about my work experience.”
“I was surprised at how tired I was at the end of the week.”
“I was surprised by the amount of different jobs that are available in the Army.”

Through our work experience programme we make new links and strengthen old links with our business partners enabling us to work towards a mutually beneficial future for our community. If you think you or your company may be able to offer a Work Experience placement to one of our students next year then please contact Ms Sykes at ssykes@lhead.therfield.surrey.sch.uk or call 01372 818123 extension 252.

Year 12 Visit to the Houses of Parliament On Tuesday 3rd October, forty six Year 12 students embarked on a trip to Parliament, kindly organised by Miss Cortizo. We were first shown a short film depicting the democratic system and the use of general elections, reflecting especially on the most recent general election. We were then given the fantastic opportunity to question non other than the Attorney General. We impressed the Attorney General with our variety of questions, the boys took a specific interest in the Iraq war.

We were then given a tour around Parliament itself. For many this was a first time experience. Our questions were answered by the guide, as we were taken through the Royal Chamber with its magical features, the House of Lords in all its glory and finally, equally awe inspiring, the House of Commons. The guide told fascinating stories that brought the building to life.

This was a memorable trip and a fabulous experience that we were lucky to have. Year 12 Student

The Therfield School Trust The Trust consists of a small number of parents, teachers and governors who actively raise funds for the benefit of the students. We administer the Trust Fund which accepts donations from parents, and are actively engaged in approaching specialist trusts and businesses for larger donations.

We have recently received the first two major donations from charitable trusts, £10,000 each, which is enabling the new Music block to be completed. Hopefully more will be forthcoming.

In order to spread the duties more evenly we are seeking two people to join the team for the posts of:

• Secretary - to attend a one hour, monthly meeting, to take and circulate the Minutes and to deal with any issues relating to the Trust constitution. Experience of secretarial duties would be an advantage.
• Treasurer - to monitor donations to the Trust Fund; monthly bank reconciliation; prepare simple financial reports for monthly meetings; annual accounts. Experience of simple accounts and book keeping is preferred.

For further information please call Robin Eddleston on 818123 x 366, or email robineddleston@gmail.com

The Dragon's Den On Tuesday 7th November, two Therfield Young Enterprise teams attended a practice run at presenting their business ideas at an event held by Young Enterprise at The City of London Freemen's School. This event was set up in the guise of the infamous television programme, The Dragons Den. Three well established business people sat before each team to challenge our Young Enterprisers on their ideas and the feasibility of their business plan. Therfield has two teams representing the school this year.

The first is 'Kreate' who have decided to sell greeting cards and small gifts. Toby Edwards (Managing Director) and Gemma Barker (Company Secretary) took to the floor and answered the questions posed by The Dragons.

The second company is 'Collars & Cuffs' who are selling personalised sports shirts with Therfield's Sports Status logo. Managing Director Emma-Jean Callaghan and James Choules, Jono Hodgson and Will Poole from the 'Collars & Cuffs' team followed the 'Kreate' team onto the floor. Whilst a knee-knocking experience, the Dragons were friendly and professional - they even smiled now and again!

Gemma said that before she went on she was “nervous but once on the floor the 5 minutes of question time seemed to fly by.” She really enjoyed herself and felt it was an invaluable experience. Toby added that he had “learnt a lot at the event having listened to the other teams and the advice given to 'Kreate' from the judges”, he will certainly be putting some of what he learned into practice.

Emma-Jean of 'Collars and Cuffs' said, “It was rather nerve-wracking. Preparing the speeches was good but standing up and telling everyone about the idea was the best part, however scary it was. It was great seeing everyone else's ideas and predicted sales and profit. Some ideas were brilliant and I hope people thought that about ours. We were the only business who incorporated our school logo into our product.”

As for Emma-Jean's view of The Dragons - were they all fire, or was their puff worse than their bite? Emma-Jean felt that, “they weren't as bad as the real ones which was great. However the questions were quite heated… but we pulled through in terms of answering them.”

Both teams will be donating profits to charity and both did Therfield proud. We presented two professional teams, dressed in suits and ready for action - a credit to the Therfield name!

Healthy Eating facts! Did you know that if you eat a chocolate bar, a packet of crisps and a fizzy drink every school day, that's an extra 559 calories a day. It'll take 40 minutes of football every day or a marathon every five days to burn it off!

If this is continued over the course of the school year, it would add up to eating 5kg of butter, 41 salt sachets, 11 kg of sugar, and would cost around £235 - the same price as a 12-month mobile phone contract with 500 minutes and 300 texts.

How can you help? If your child has a packed lunch, here are some ways to make them healthier…

4 EASY CHANGES
Change chocolate for fresh fruit
Change white bread sandwiches for brown or wholemeal
Change crisps for a yoghurt
Change the content daily - variety is the spice of a packed lunch

Jumble Delight The Trust Social Committee would like to say a big thank you to all who helped in anyway with the jumble sale. A massive total of £817.33 was raised. A special thank you must go to Michael Lambon for his tremendous help once again.

New IT Equipment As part of our commitment to advancing technology at school, we have installed 30 new desktop PCs along with 30 new flat screen monitors in the 6th form block. These will enable 6th form students to use advanced applications for their AS and A level coursework. In addition, 30 new wide screen laptops were installed in a new ICT suite at the start of the year, as well as 15 new desktop PCs and flat screen monitors in the PE department.

Cycling Safety - Lights On We have been asked by Surrey Police to pass on the following to cyclists:

• Wear light coloured or reflective clothing and protective headwear
• Ensure that you have lights at the front and rear of your cycle and that these work well, giving enough light for you to see obstacles or potholes ahead and to be clearly visible to vehicles approaching from behind
• Be aware that pedestrians are more difficult to see in the dark until quite close.
• Travel slower in areas where pedestrians may be
• Be even more careful than usual to ensure you have been seen by drivers before changing direction on the road
• Be wary of skidding on the wet leaves that always accumulate at this time of year
• Be careful when wearing hoods as these can affect the ability to see clearly.
• In addition to the above Therfield students must display their cycle number at all times. A penalty point system is in place and will be imposed in the event of a breach of these rules or notification of dangerous cycling.

What's on in Maths
Statistics Conference Students from Year 10 went on a Statistics conference at Kingston University on 1st November with Mr Ross and Mrs Pickett. They were given a talk on sampling in the environment.
UK Maths Challenge We are choosing teams from Years 8 and 9 to enter the UK maths team challenge. Watch this space……
Senior Maths Challenge Year 12 and 13 students took part in the Senior Maths Challenge on 9th November. Results will be included in a future edition.
Booster Classes Year 7 Maths booster classes started on 9th November with students from Year 12 helping build their confidence.

Congratulations Congratulations to Michael Laverty in (11JMS) . At the recent Surrey Schools Sailing Regatta he came first in the series of races for the Fast Handicap Fleet. It was an excellent day for sailing with steady wind and bright sunshine.

Have Your Say The Children and Young People's Trust are seeking your thoughts on how to build services around the needs of children, young people and their families. The consultation process will run until 22nd December 2006. To find out more or to complete a questionnaire please go to www.surreycafis.org.uk/cyptrust

Year 7 Disco Year 7s attended a disco organised by sixth formers on Tuesday 7th November to raise money for the 'Old People's Christmas Party'. The Party forms part of their Extra Programme, which is included in the sixth form curriculum.  The Year 7s had a great time dancing throughout the evening to the excellent DJ'ing skills of Geoff Nunn in Year 12.  The Year 12s interacted fantastically well with the Year 7s and there was a great atmosphere. Congratulations to Jamie Ebrada (7NHR) who was awarded the prize for the best dancer.

School Lunches Following recent reports in the national press about the decline in the number of students having school meals we are pleased to be able to inform you that we are not experiencing this at Therfield. We introduced healthy meals at Therfield before Jamie Oliver's campaign. Initially there was a drop in numbers with students opting not to have school meals, however, we are very pleased to see that this decline has now been reversed following promotions on healthy eating by the school and canteen.

At our recent Open Evening the Canteen staff served samples of school meals to prospective parents and students. The response was extremely positive. Other examples of promotions going on within the school can be found in this Newsletter.

Grease
Advertising We will be selling a professional, full colour programme at each performance of Grease. If you or your company would like to place an advert in it, then please contact Tricia Barker on 01372 814486 for further details. All proceeds will go towards the cost of this production.
Raffle Prizes Wanted To help raise funds to cover the cost of our production of Grease we will be holding a raffle at each of the performances. If you have anything suitable for a raffle prize we would be very pleased to receive it. Just pop it into reception for the attention of Tricia Barker.
Tickets Tickets will go on sale when we return to school in January.
T Shirts If you would like to order one of the limited edition T shirts please contact the School Office for an order form.

Trust Website Designed by Student Part of the bronze Duke of Edinburgh award involves learning a skill. For my skill, I decided to learn how to create computer generated graphics and how to manipulate graphics using adobe photoshop. I spent hours and hours doing tutorials which I found on the internet and in photoshop magazines, and  learnt about all the features available. A lot of them are really complicated but once you've mastered them they get easier. I wrote a report at the end which I'll be submitting to the award organizers to show what I've learnt. One of the tasks I did for this award was to design and create the graphics for the Therfield School Trust website. This website can be viewed at www.TherfieldSchoolTrust.co.uk I designed my own website too for my graphics which is at www.G2Graphics.co.uk
Scott Gibbs  10 LOS

Food Tasting Have you been wondering what the new healthy schools menu tastes like? Well, about 40 students got to taste some of the new dishes on offer and comment on them. The dishes they tried were chilli, roasted vegetable filo tart, mushroom stroganoff, home-made soup and bread, sweet and sour pork and banana cake (Yes, there is cake on the menu as part of a balanced diet!). By all accounts, students enjoyed the tasting, especially the banana cake!!

Apparently, some of the staff found out about the free food on offer and went along too! Mrs Foley said “it beats pub-grub anytime”.

Trust Update Due to support of Parents who contribute to the Therfield Trust, and from the support given to the Trust by the Social Committee and its supporters, the Trust has been able to purchase resources for the Maths, Geography and RS Faculties and the Amnesty International club. If you would like to make a donation to the Trust please contact Robin Eddleston on 01372 818123 extn 366.

POETRY LIVE!
Year 11 Trip On the 16th November, a group of year 11 students were lucky enough to attend the Poetry Live! day at the theatre in Woking. Gracing the event with their presence were some of Britain's best poets; talents such as the charismatic John Agard and the mysterious Carol Anne Duffy. There was also a GCSE examiner there to provide advice and direction for the forthcoming exams, which was highly useful.

The day was spent hearing the poets recite their works and explain their reasoning and their inspirations. After studying many of the poems, it was particularly captivating to hear their own take on the words. This made a very useful and interesting day all round; I believe everyone got something advantageous from it. Mickie Green Year 11

Dates for Your Diary

Early Closures School will close at 3.15pm for Parents' Evenings. The dates of these are:
24 January Year 10
31 January Year 12
21 February Year 11
7 March Year 9
21 March Year 7

Carol Service Please don't forget our Carol Service on Monday 11th December. This is being held at the Parish Church of St Mary and St Nicholas in Leatherhead and will start at 7.30pm.

Letters If you would like copies of any letters listed below please contact the Main Office 01372 818123

VACANCY
Receptionist We require a Receptionist to start as soon as possible working 8am to 4pm Monday and Wednesday and 8am to 12 noon on Fridays. This equates to 19 hours per week, term time only (39 weeks per year). Salary is in the range £6041 - £7113. Required to start as soon as possible.

We are looking for an enthusiastic person to join our friendly team. The post involves all reception duties and helping with ad hoc admin duties. Applicants should have good communication and organisational skills but full training will be provided. Closing date 8th December 2006

Therfield School is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people and expects all staff and volunteers to share this commitment.

For further details on the above positions and an application form please contact the school on 01372 818123 or via email to headteacher@therfield.surrey.sch.uk.