| This is a text only version provided for continuity
of searchable newsletters on the Therfield Alumni website, for the full, illustrated pdf version please click July 2008 (this is a large file) FROM THE HEADTEACHER Dear Parents, As we come to the end of the term I would like to thank you for all that you have done to support your children and the chool during the year. It has been a very successful year with a number of exciting new developments. The OFSTED report and the Kirkland Rowell School Satisfaction Survey were extremely positive, reflecting the high achievement and outstanding opportunities provided for students at Therfield and giving us some very encouraging feedback about the support we have from our school community. Both also gave us some thoughts about areas for development and we have included these as we have worked with parents, staff and students in reviewing and creating the new school development plan. The Parent Focus Group was a great success this year with 30 parents attending to discuss key issues in the development of the school. The introduction of the House System has been seen as a hugely positive move and the House Days and Sports Day, which were held this term, were wonderful examples of the school community working together and thoroughly enjoying themselves in the process. The new website has been very well received and the introduction of schoolcomms has made communication with parents much more effective, so do please let us have an email contact for you if you have not already done so. We welcome our largest year 7 group for a number of years in September and we are looking forward to the contribution they will make with the skills and talents they bring to Therfield. I wish you and your families a very happy and relaxing summer
break. Some of our Successes 07/08 Ofsted November 2007: Therfield is a good school
which provides “outstanding care support and guidance for its
students”. Examination Results 2007: Significantly above
Surrey and national averages which place Therfield amongst the top
performing state schools in the country. In 2007 at A level In 2007-8 Therfield won numerous awards:
The continuing commitment of students and staff to personal and community development:
Art Leatherhead Festival Nicole Davis won second prize for her mixed media flower which she has worked extremely hard to produce for her GCSE Tate Modern project. Well done Nicole! Year 11 Ball On Thursday 26 June 2008 the Year 11 students had their Year 11 Ball to celebrate the completion of their GCSE exams and Year 11. This Ball could be considered somewhat of a pioneering event as it was the first time it was held off site, at the Sovereign Suite - Preston Cross Hotel in Little Bookham, and the first time it was held in the summer after the GCSE exams. Students took the opportunity to get dressed up and looked impressive in their suits and dresses. In fact the staff all commented that they had never seen the students looking so smart. Almost as amazing was the variety of vehicles the students arrived to the event in. There was a wide range of stretched limousines but the two most memorable arrivals were the group of students who arrived in a blue camper van and one student who arrived on the back of a motorbike. The Sovereign Suite was decorated with an assortment of balloon arrangements provided by BDD Events. It was a mere twist of fate that Preston Cross Hotel had recently refurbished the function room and the new colour scheme perfectly complemented the supplied decorations. The most popular attraction at the Ball was the chocolate fountain that was hired from Hot Chocolates. Many of the students and staff took the opportunity to dip a tasty treat into the cascading chocolate. Entertainment on the night was provided by DJ Paul Dawson, who played a good mix of popular songs, and the Year 11 Oscar Ceremony where ten awards were presented to students. The evening, including the students’ arrivals, was documented by photographers Barry Holder and Jordan Holder-Mansfield, who between them took over 780 photos. All of the staff, students and individuals involved thought the night was a great success and set a high standard for future Year 11 Balls. The behaviour of the students was impeccable and it was a fitting end to Year 11. Thanks must go to the Year 11 Ball Committee (Josie Anderson, Nikki Barclay, Lydia Devonshire, Steph Leyland, Ellie Pattison, Nicola Piantino, Cathy Poplett and Nicki Shepherd) who had spent a year organising the event. English and Media We are coming to the end of another successful and busy year for the English & Media Faculty. Students have had opportunities to participate in a wide range of extra-curricula activities, for example; Year 11 students went to London to see the some of the poets whose work they have studied, perform and discuss their writing; Year 9 students watched a performance of The Tempest in preparation for their Key Stage 3 tests and Year 8 students saw a lively and enjoyable performance of extracts of a number of Shakespeare’s plays and had the opportunity to join in with the actors on the stage. A group of Year 8 students took part in the BBC News School Report, producing a news programme over the course of a day and, in the process, interviewed Radio Four’s Evan Davies and Dave Spinks, who plays Keith Miller in Eastenders. Year 9 students have followed The Carnegie Prize for children’s literature shadowing procedure, reading all the books on the shortlist and deciding on their own winner Finding Violet Park by Jenny Valentine, unlike the judges who chose Here Lies Arthur by Philip Reeve. Year 13 students spent an extremely interesting day at the British Library, attending a series of workshops on English Language and being lucky enough to handle some of the ancient texts. A Level Literature and Media Studies students have attended conferences and lectures to widen their subject knowledge and all our Year 12 students have attended a talk by Professor Marion Wynne Davies from Surrey University on university entrance. The Media Studies A Level and GCSE course which we have introduced over the last few years are now well established and successful; our first Media Studies A Level students entered degree courses in 2007 and have already had opportunities to work for the BBC on their trainee programmes. Students find the courses both challenging and stimulating and we feel, despite the negative impression given by the popular press, that these courses provide them with opportunities to develop their knowledge of media technology, to gain hands-on experience of media production and to understand the role of the media in modern life. The re-designed, colourful and professionally produced school magazine, published termly this year, indicates our students’ level of success. Miss Tilley and Mr Mentz, both of whom have been with us for several years are leaving at the end of term to take up other teaching positions and will be very much missed by their colleagues and their students. Catering Congratulations to Mrs Stedman for her County ‘Award for Excellence’ -’Champion for Partnership Working’ . This is a great achievement. SCHOOL MEALS WEB LINK Gifted & Talented Entrepreneurs in Action (EiA) have been working with many schools across the South East to bring the concept of Business to as many students as possible. This started just after Easter when 100 ‘Young Gifted and Talented’ students (or potentially so) from schools in Croydon and Lambeth participated in a programme, ‘From Classroom to Boardroom’ . This was arranged with the support of the national ‘Young Gifted and Talented’ Programme, for which EiA is now an accredited supplier. Therfield was invited to take part by Rydens School in Walton, in an EiA Business Challenge week – an exciting and intensive experience where students are set a real life challenge by an Executive from a real business, work on the problem all week and present the results back to the business at their Headquarters on the last day. Rydens School were hosting the event from the 7th – 11th July. Therfield was asked to nominate up to 10 Gifted and Talented female students from year 8 and/or 9. The following students took part in the challenge, Sarah Balmont, Emily Batchelor, Yasmin Belgrave-Warner, Samantha Bosacki, Ellie Davies, Tamsin January, Ana Jessett, Emily Walter and Danielle Wilson. They would join 4 other schools also providing up to 10 female students each. They were set challenges by:
The girls were split into two teams of 25 and started the process of bonding. Day 1 – Introductions and team building exercises Sport College and School Sports Partnership Sports Day July 4th 2008 Staff dressed in house colours; some preferred the ‘Leithal Lion’ or ‘Polesapart Penguin’ suits, students had ‘war paint’ or ‘pretty glitter’ – depending on their perspective of the day! But all contributed hugely to its success – earning points for their house, cheering on competitors, singing and dancing, helping to officiate, keeping the water supplies stocked, taking photos, clearing up the litter, listening out for their house’s ’winning tune’ and generally enjoying the atmosphere. A special mention has to go to the record breakers on the day,
some of whom broke records set back in 1982 & 1984! And now for the results: Leatherhead Life Tennis Academy The players who were selected for the Academy are Anna Murphy (Yr7), Alice Payne (Yr7), Hollie Montague (Yr7), Max Van Gorkum (Yr7), Billy Barham (Yr7), Matt Benham (Yr8), Dominic Lloyd (Yr8), Beth Lloyd (Yr8), Alex Fennemore (Yr10) and Simon Dean (Yr10) Chance to Shine Also in conjunction with the sports college we have run a very successful Easter Camp with Chance to Shine and at the moment we are gearing up for a further two weeks of summer camps which will take place at Therfield during the first two weeks of the Summer Holidays. Total Football The night is overseen and run by Community Sports staff and volunteers from the Leatherhead community and further a field. It is the plan and vision of the Sports College to develop the 6th form students by training and equipping them in the area of our community projects. Students will be mentored in the area of coaching, project management and admin duties. This will also create a self sustainable pool of volunteers from within the school. The project was originally setup and the vision continues to be to provide an opportunity to play football in a safe environment to secondary ages. The running and management of the project is designed to give the players a positive and fun experience. Total Basketball Mend Project Therfield School is pleased to provide facilities and sports coaching for the project making it the main MEND centre for the Leatherhead area. The project runs over 9 weeks, with two sessions each week on a Tuesday and Thursday between 4.30-6.30pm. The first hour is for diet and nutrition education and the second hour is for physical exercise. The project has now finished its third cycle and was fully booked for the first time. Six families completed the project in total, if you are interested in taking part in the project in 2008/9 please email sportscollege@lhead.therfield.surrey.sch.uk Therfield Summer Sports Camp 2008 BLF-Boxing Primary School Beijing Olympics Festival 30th June and
3rd July On the Monday the year 12 pupils led year 1s and 2s from Trinity and Royal Kent who were accompanied by some year 8s and year 9s through a variety of different sporting events including javelin, discus, standing broad jump, sprinting, hurdles, throwing and catching, obstacles and relay. This was also the same for the Thursday however 120 year 3s and 4s attended from Trinity and were accompanied by year 10s. Both days were really well organised and a fantastic achievement for all pupils involved. Luckily the rain stayed away so the pupils stayed dry apart from a little on the Thursday. Well done to a Royal Kent pupil for winning overall performer on the Monday and Trinity for winning first place for both teams on Monday and Thursday. Very well done to the year 12s, hopefully it will be as good next year! Therfield’s Mid Surrey Sports Partnership Highlight’s for
2007/08
The additional funding will help school partnerships move towards a new national target of providing FIVE hours of PE and school Sport for every pupil aged 5 to 16 by 2011. This new goal comes on the back of news that the existing national target of 2 hours of PE and School sport for 85% of 5 to 16 year olds had been met a year early – an amazing achievement by SSCo’s, PLT’s and all colleagues in schools across the country. Young Ambassadors Lead the Way to 2012 The lead YAs for our areas have been Ali McQueen of Christ’s College and Jordan Belgrave Warner of Therfield School, but they have been working alongside students from all of the other seciondary school sin the partnership, meeting challenges, acting as role models to inspire other young people to get involved in sport, visiting primary schools and helping to select next years intake of YAs. The Young Ambassadors are Ali McQueen, Jordan Belgrave-Warner, Lea Benn, Alex Mackie, Oscar Richards, Natasha Willett, Emily Napier, Jack Bookham, Ellie McWilliam and Greg Cackett. Thanks to all of them for efforts other the past year, I hope that they can all stay involved as Mentors to the new YAs who will take ion the role next year. Thanks also to SSCo Duncan Thompson for his hard work in co-ordinating the programme for the Partnership. Mid Surrey SSP wins County award The Partnership won the award for running a programme of ‘B’ team fixtures and tournaments for secondary school pupils across the Guildford area. Andy Morrison, SSCo for the George Abbot and St Peter’s school families in Guildford, was on hand to collect the award on behalf of the Guildford SSCo’s (see picture). Andy explained; “Often pupils don’t get the chance to represent their school at sport when they move from primary to secondary school, which can result in them drifting away from after school sports clubs as well. We have been really pleased with the enthusiasm shown by the children at the ‘B’ team fixtures and tournaments, and are also grateful for the support shown by the PE Department staff at the partnership secondary schools in Guildford.” Congratulations to all the Guildford SSCo’s for their hard work on this, and to all the pupils who have represented their schools at ‘B’ team fixtures and tournaments. Here’s looking forward to this being the first of many awards for Mid Surrey SSP! Inter and Intra school Competition on the increase
Thank you and well done to all students that have helped at a festival or school club this year, your efforts are very much appreciated. More activities for Young People In addition to this, 21 year 11 girls have been attending a lunchtime dance club aimed at motivating girls who do not particularly enjoy team sports and PE to be more active. The girls have really enjoyed this club and would love to see dance in the curriculum. The Big Lottery Funded Positive Playground scheme is now running well in 13 Mole Valley Schools. SSCo Carolyn Stowell has had a lot of positive feedback from schools particularly in the improvement in the behaviour of children at lunchtimes, the more active involvement of all children (particularly the children from our target groups) and the positive contribution of our year 6 and year 2 Play Leaders. Year 10 and 11 boys from five secondary schools in Guildford have had the opportunity to take part in Martial Arts activities, thanks to funding from the Big Lottery Fund (BLF). Training for teachers In addition to the conference, the Partnerhsip also ran successful CPD for Gymnastics, Dance, Leadership Tutor training, Poolside helpers, Huff ‘n’ Puff, Tennis and Hockey. Ugandan pen pal links This term several year 8 and Year 10 students have written to students at our link school Lords Meade Vocational College in Uganda. We are very excited about receiving replies and developing pen pal friendships. We hope that next year students from Therfield School will have the opportunity to visit Uganda to meet their pen pal. Watch this space… If you would like to find out more about the link with Lords Meade School please visit our website or alternatively visit www.lordsmeade.org Geography Year 7 Trip to Westhumble RS Year 7 RS Trip The Year 7s then went to a synagogue. Before they went in the boys had to cover their heads with a skull cap. When they were inside the Year 7s were shown the Torah Scrolls and then a few pupils were given a chance to blow on a horn. Finally, we went to the Mosque. Before entering the mosque we had to take off our shoes. When inside the mosque we were given a quick talk about the mosque and what takes place. The thing they were told about the most by the Imam was that they had to pray five times a day. Muslims believe that this is the most important part of their religion. Leith and Juniper who went on Tuesday were then given the opportunity to watch one of the prayers at lunchtime. It was incredible how many men came to the mosque to pray and we were all fascinated! We were then able to ask questions again and we learnt why we had to take our shoes off and why there were no women at the mosque. Everyone learnt a lot from this trip and found it very rewarding.
We may never get the chance to go to a mosque or synagogue again
and it really helped us understand these different religions, and
actually how similar they all are as well. A big thank you to all
the teachers who helped on this trip, especially to Miss Wheeler
who organised it. History “How can I change my community” session MFL Arsenal FC link up with MFL! Football skills that have been improved include passing, heading, penalty taking and target shooting. The course will be followed up with a trip to the Emirates Stadium in the Autumn Term when the pupils will be able to take a stadium tour and visit the Arsenal Museum. Pupils who have taken part have been enthusiastic about the football as well as the languages learning resources that accompany the course. Ready to Learn During the summer as you prepare for the new school year in September, please encourage your sons and daughters to be ready to learn. This will include bringing the equipment they need for their lessons and wearing full school uniform. Regarding uniform, please be aware that trainers (unless during sport) and “hoodies” are not allowed. SATs Results As you may be aware there as been a delay in schools being able to access their key stage 3 test results. Therfield were unable to access any of their SATs results until Friday 18th July and then it was only most of mathematics and science that were available, English had not been released by then . Despite this tight turnaround, Therfield has managed to produce the reports containing the data available in time to issue to parents before the end of the summer term. Dates for your Diary INSET DAYS
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