Issue No.26 October 1995
Issue No.26 October 1995
| FROM THE HEADTEACHER
The result of the recent ballot for
the vacancy for a Parent Governor on the
school's Governing Body was as follows: - November 15th is an important date in our calendar - this is the Information Evening for parents of pupils who will be starting secondary school in Sept. 1996. The school will be open from 6.30 pm and exhibitions of work and displays will be on view. I will be giving an introductory talk at 7.15 and 8.30 and the chance to see the school during a working day is offered through tours of the school at 10.45 am and on November 14, 16, 17 20, 21, 22, 23, 24. Therfield is a popular school and we seek to keep it that way so if you have friends, neighbours, relatives, acquaintances with children rising 11 do tell them about Therfield and encourage them to come along on the 15th or ask the office for more information. PLEASE NOTE: School will close early on the 15th at 2.35 and will open the following morning at 10.00 am. This is to give time to mount and dismantle displays and takes account of the great number of pupils who will be staying late on the 15th. For parents who find this change of time difficult, pupils can arrive at school at the normal time and work in the Resource Centre - volunteers to help dismantle and move the displays would also be welcome! Any changes to coach or bus times will be announced in Assembly. I have recently attended a meeting at the DFE to talk with the Minister regarding Glyn School's wish to change to admission by selection. A decision is expected in December. More news then. We welcome back Gill Cox from maternity leave as Head of Science. Congratulations to Christine Stedman and her staff in the Canteen on being awarded the 'Heartbeat Award' by the Environmental Health Department of Mole Valley Council. This goes to establishments which satisfy the criteria of good hygiene and a choice of healthy food. The Harvest Appeal for boots and shoes for Bosnia was splendidly supported. Sacks and sacks of good quality footwear will be distributed by Scottish European Aid. School Uniform : Parents are reminded that order forms for uniform are available from the school. If you are unable to get to the school shop at Cheam your order form can be left in the School Office and the goods will be delivered to school for collection. FRENCH EXCHANGE : YEARS 9 & 10 - Many letters have gone out by 'pupil post' so some may have gone astray - there are still a few places left so if you are interested contact Mr. Boucry. The French students will be here from 30th April-8th May 1996 and we will be in France from 8th-17th June. GERMAN EXCHANGE: (report by Ms Neumann) this year's Exchange - the fourth so far - was a real success. The German partners visited us in June and we went to Bergisch-Gladbach in the last week of September. While our German visitors had only sunshine in England, we put up with drizzle and rain on most days in Germany! Unperturbed we visited Bonn and posed for a photo on the Town Hall steps where the Queen, Mrs. Thatcher and Mr. Major stood before us! After a visit to the 'House of History' we took a boat trip up the Rhine, visited the aquarium and Castle 'Burg', a local craft museum and had a guided tour of Cologne's famous Cathedral and the City - all but 3 of us climbed the 509 steps to the top of the Cathedral tower to enjoy a spectacular view. Our one and a half days in school were informative and we braved the rain to enjoy a super barbecue put on by our hosts. The farewell was tearful but most of us have already been invited back for next Summer ..... The Next Exchange will see the German pupils here from 14th-21st May 1996 and our return visit to Berg isch-Gladbach will be in June from 15th-22nd. Letters and more information from Ms. Neumann. This has been a busy time for visits. Seventy Year 10 Painting and Drawing students visited the Royal Academy on October 5th. They viewed two major Exhibitions on 'Impressionism' and 'Africa : Art of a Continent'. Both exhibitions provided students with the 'first hand experience' of looking at original artwork which is required at GCSE. They wore outdoor clothing so that they could squat informally on the floor to make their studies of both painting techniques used by the Impressionists and examples of African masks, costumes and artefacts. Students will use the material gained from the visit to produce two major projects in their coursework folders during the Autumn and Spring terms. - Report by Mrs Newstead. Museum of the Moving Image(MOMI)/Houses of Parliament Trip : 92 Sixth Formers as part of their Year 12 General Studies programme chose to visit one or the other. At MOMI , which is stuffed full of memorabilia about the history of film, students also experienced reading the news on ITN, being interviewed by Barry Norman and flying over London like Superman. A more serious note was struck when students researched the power of propaganda films, the different type of film genre and the complexities of animation. At the Palace of Westminster their tour included entering the House of Commons and 'the other place', rubbing the foot of Sir Winston Churchill's statue for luck and meeting a Labour M.P. ! - All students are entered for GCSE General Studies in June. The course aims to allow students to think about current issues, the impact of technology and science and the arts. - Report by Ms. Roberts. This week Year 9 went to the National History Museum and spent their time finding out more about dinosaurs, the human body, ecology and man's place in evolution. It was an informative trip - and very popular as well! A busy time too for the Music Department - a visit by professional musicians from the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields to work with our GCSE students was rounded off by a performance of the students' work at Dorking Halls prior to a full concert given by the Academy Orchestra. Mr. Pratt, Mr. Wood and the Academy musicians all thought the young musicians had done tremendously well and provided a memorable start to the evening. The Lower School Singers are going to the Royal Albert Halt on October 31 st as part of a mass choir in a `Best of British' Concert. This follows on from the successful performance of Howard Blake's 'All God's Creatures' given in Guildford Cathedral last March. On October 12th the Swing Band played to great acclaim at the retirement party of Dorothy Clark, one of the County's Senior School Advisers in the primary sector. On Monday, 20th November the Swing Band will give a Concert jointly with pupils from St. Andrew's School. This will take place in St. Andrew's Hall at 8.00 pm and is being organised by Ashtead Rotary Club for the benefit of the Senior Citizens in the area. On Friday, 1st December at 5.00pm the Swing Band will take part in the official ceremony to switch on Leatherhead's Christmas Lights and please remember the Carol Service on December 18th. All this week Year 11 pupils have been out on Work Experience. This has involved Mrs. Kinloch and the Careers Service in a mammoth joint exercise and resulted in some imaginative and much sought after placements. All except 3 pupils who were unwell have been placed. The problem solving skills of all associated with Year 7 were put to the test during the High Ashurst Activity Week. We hope to have some coverage in the local Press. At Littleton Regatta this month the Sailing Club recorded an impressive number of successes - Thomas Greenwood and Magnus Coney won the Mirror Trophy in the Scratch Race. Other first places went to Richard Guy and Andrew Bowen (Enterprise Class) and James Angus (Fast Handicap Series). Three of our Sixth Formers - Neil Smith Jon Buckley and Matthew Strickland have taken part in trials for Surrey's U19 soccer squad and Bryn Halliwell is in the U15 side as goalkeeper. Our Year 10s are doing well in the League, being unbeaten. In the TSB Cross Country Cup our Junior Boys came first, Junior Girls 2nd and Intermediate Boys 3rd. DIARY DATES: A plea from the Science Department - does anyone have an unwanted - perhaps punctured - inflatable dinghy or large rubber ring - the type used for playing in the sea - with handles welded on to it? We would like it to repair a damaged piece of equipment. (Liz Boon Extension 208). |