THERFIELD NEWS Issue No.149, December 2006

As you are aware Graham Tuck, Therfield's Headteacher since 2001 is leaving at the end of this term. I would like to take this opportunity to thank Graham for his vision and leadership of the school in the last five years.

During that time Therfield has achieved great success in many areas including some of the best examination results in the school's history; becoming a Specialist Sports College; the successful completion of a building project to enhance facilities for performing arts; an OfSTED inspection report which acknowledged the school's significant strengths and resulted in Therfield's recognition by Her Majesty's Chief Inspector for Schools in 2005 as one of England's top forty-five outstanding secondary schools.

Graham has worked closely with all members of the school community and inspired us to realise the vision of The Best for All.

Graham is leaving to take up an exciting new role in the world of education. As from January, 2007, he will be working as a School Improvement Partner and Adviser for a number of Local Authorities and as a Consultant Leader with the National College for School Leadership. He will be missed by the school community and we all wish him success in his future career.

Important Date Change To facilitate the move into our new building the school will be closed to students on Wednesday 3rd January.

Science Revision Guides Revision Guides for Years 8, 10 and 11 are still on sale from the science technicians at a cost of £4 each.

School Uniform To enable the Admin department to return items of lost property please could you label all your child's items of clothing over the Christmas holidays.

Parenting Classes Family Links parenting classes will begin again in the New Year on Wednesday evenings from 6pm to 9pm, for further details please see the Therfield website or contact L Noble on 01372 814431.

Sixth Form Debating Society - Runners up in first round of National Schools Debating Competition
In response to the enthusiasm and achievement of last year's Sixth Form Debating Society it was decided to enter a team into the English Speaking Union's National Schools competition for debating.  After conducting its own selection procedure the society sent a team of two speakers to the first round debate at Rosebery School, Epsom.  The format of the evening was that there were to be 3 debates involving 6 schools, from which 2 schools would go through to the next stage of the competition with one runner up.

The Therfield team of Dan Howell and Isaac Proud were first to debate against Howard of Effingham arguing that trial by jury should be abolished.  Having to kick off the evening was no easy feat, however, Dan made an excellent 7 minute speech without the use of notes presenting a witty and eloquent case for an end to trial by jury.  This case was further supported by Isaac's well constructed and fluent speech aiming to undermine the case of the opposition. 

The team were very well supported by a large number of debating society members who, along with Isaac and Dan, gave an excellent account of themselves.  The Judge gave well deserved praise to Therfield's team and placed them in the runners up spot behind St Catherine's and Howard of Effingham.  Being placed third of the 6 teams present on the evening in our first year in the competition was a great achievement and hopefully one that the debating society can build on next year.

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 T 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.

One Day Economics Conference   Our Year 12 and 13 Economic Students had an opportunity to witness a wide variety of different points of view and presentations by key Politicians and Economists at a one day conference held next to the Houses of Parliament. The venue was befitting of the stature of the guest speakers that included Tony Benn and Kenneth Clarke both former Cabinet Ministers and heavyweights whose views about market failure and the desirability for a single currency were deliberately provocative in challenging the  current conventional wisdom.

Economist insiders from the Bank of England and other prestigious bodies in the public and private sector were eager to share their thoughts on a wide range of current economic issues and they did not disappoint. Not to be outdone, Evan Davis, the BBC Economics Correspondent stole the show given his experience and ability to communicate a difficult subject to lay people. Our students did not display any reluctance to show their praise as they succeeded in obtaining Evan's autograph in recognition for a job well done.

Overall it was a stimulating day, the students were privy to insider tips on how to do well in their exams presented by a Chief Examiner and left armed with enough knowledge to assess whether the Economy is heading for a hard or soft landing. Now that's what we Economists call an efficient and effective use of our time, a scarce resource that we can all identify with!  Mr Tytko

Head Lice It has been noticed that some students in Year 7 have head lice, and I would ask you to check your child's hair.

The current thinking at this time is that most products sold on the market are ineffective, and that conditioning and combing with a nit comb over a period of time has been proven to give the best results.

Welfare do have a small stock of these combs, and if you would like one please contact our Welfare Officer on 01372 814444. The combs are free.

England Ladies Football Match Report by Georgie Giddings-England U17 and Chelsea Academy.
From Sunday 2nd to Friday 27th October, England Women U17s were in Denmark to play two friendly games against the Danes. A squad of 18 and a group of 12 staff left Heathrow Airport early Monday morning. That afternoon we had a training session and the following morning we had another, a few hours before the game.

Tuesday afternoon we all got on the coach to go to the game early enough so that we had time to warm up and prepare properly. The starting line-up had 8 players who had never played for England before with another one who came on later in the game. We stood lined up and sang the national anthem before shaping up in the 4-3-3 formation that we were going to play in.

By half time we were 1-0 down but by the end of the game we had won 3-1 with goals from Toni Duggan (Everton), Katie Owen (Chelsea) and Tori Williams (Leeds). Nerves had settled and confidence was high, the team were happy with the performance and we went back to the hotel proud of ourselves.

Before we knew it Thursday's game had arrived. With a more experienced line up for the game we were confident at the start. Again we had a good warm-up and sang the national anthem for the last time this week.

Just as Tuesday night, we conceded a goal within the first 10 minutes but were put level again not long after by Jade Moore (Lincoln City). As the game continued we were put under more pressure and went 2-1 down until Katie Owen scored our second to equalise 2-2. The game was a lot tighter than the one from Tuesday afternoon and we managed to squeeze ahead taking the score to 3-2 with Katie Owen scoring her second of the game. Our captain for this game, Gilly Flaherty (Arsenal) went in for a challenge which left her with an injury needing to be substituted by Amy Cleaver-Kane (Everton). Fay McCoy (Everton) took the captain's arm band for the last 20 minutes. Then due to a good attack they equalised bringing the final score to 3-3.

Despite the score it was a great game and we all enjoyed our time in Denmark.

Report on Therfield's Performance at the Royal Albert Hall by Nicole Collins (11JMS)
We had three rehearsals in Woking, two of them were at the H.G. Wells Centre and another in a primary school. At the first rehearsal, it was very interesting to see all the different schools that were involved. It was also interesting to see how many of them actually knew the songs - none of them, we were the best! Having had some excellent training with Mr Casselton! The third rehearsal was amazing as we had the orchestra that was going to play with us, the County Youth Orchestra. It was an experience we will never forget. Everyone seemed to know all of the pieces by then! Throughout all the rehearsals we had a brilliant time.

On the performance day, Tuesday 21st November, we left school at 11.30am and got to the Royal Albert Hall at around 1.30pm. The building is amazing.

Jess Goddard (10NPE) said 'the building is big and in the auditorium there are mushrooms hanging from the ceiling'. We found out that the mushrooms help with acoustic sound. Ruth Mottershead (9LCH) said 'the building is big and posh'.

At 2pm we went into the auditorium and began our rehearsal, the sound was amazing. The primary schools arrived and we went through the Gareth Giles' piece What Joyous Sound.

From 3pm to 6.30pm we sat around in the dressing rooms while other groups rehearsed, and talked to people from different schools. We then got changed and chilled out before we had to perform.

It was fantastic when we first sat in the auditorium for the performance and all our families were looking at us, we were all searching for them! Many students thought that What Joyous Sound was their favourite piece. We felt that this piece was very jolly and happy. The other piece, Toward the Unknown Region seemed gloomy in places and was very hard but it is very exciting towards the end.

It was an amazing experience to sing in the Royal Albert Hall and to be part of the atmosphere both on and off stage - unforgettable.

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

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