Issue No.29 January 1996
Issue No.29 January 1996
| FROM THE HEADTEACHER
I am pleased to report that once again Therfield is proving to be a popular school with parents. For September we are over-subscribed with 244 first choice applications for the 226 places. For us to continue to be successful it is important that neighbouring schools should not be allowed to take unfair advantage. All parents should have received a letter last week asking you to support us in the battle to stop Rosebery School from introducing selection - 30% by academic ability and a further 10 places on musical ability. My thanks to all those of you who have written in support, not only on this issue but over the budget cuts and Glyn School and selection. If anyone has not received a letter please contact the school office without delay. I am sure all those who attended Presentation Evening on January 5th were impressed by the variety of attainments and skills achieved by our senior students. This is an occasion when we are able to celebrate their successes and it is good to see such an encouraging turnout of parents, pupils and former pupils. Congratulations to our Senior Students, Matthew Enston and Leah Perona-Wright, who followed Therfield tradition in taking the opportunity to air their views on a contentious topic while thanking the Guest of Honour, Professor Patrick Dowling, Vice Chancellor and Chief Executive of the University of Surrey. This year Leah and Matthew highlighted student grants or, more exactly, the lack of them. Thursday, February 1st is set aside for Staff InService Training. Pupils are not in school. The Friends of Therfield have again been generous in their support of the school. Their 'shopping list' for the coming year includes - £1650 for some mobile cricket nets (loud cheers from the Sports Department), £1500 for 'smart boxes' for Technology, text books for Modern Languages and Sociology, Encylopaedia for Music, a video player and more seats, plants and trees for the grounds. Without this financial help from the Friends' the school would be deprived of many essentials plus much-appreciated 'frills'. On 10th February the Friends will be holding a Jumble Sale at the school - jumble is needed and so is your support to buy some bargains in the afternoon. An Auction of Promises which in previous years has proved a popular social event as well as a good money spinner will be held on 11 th May. An auctioneer is needed so if you have any ambitions in this direction or know of a professional auctioneer who could help, please contact Pat Williams on 01372 273359. A plea for 'promises' to auction will also be going out from the Friends. Looking ahead to the Autumn - a Craft Fair will be held at the school on Saturday, 2nd November. This is a new venture for Therfield and many exhibitors have already expressed an interest. Further details from Barbara Sharkey in the school office. (Traders or bought-in goods will not be accepted). Proposals for a floodlit Astro-Turf facility are progressing. Negotiations are under way for a joint development with Mole Valley District Council. Funding looks reasonably secure thanks to the promised donation from the Barnby Charitable Trust and an approach to the Sports Council via the National Lottery. An application for planning permission will be made at the end of February and if all goes well the facility should be in use by April 1997. Help please : In March (from the 5th-18th) we shall be welcoming French Students from Riom involved in the Sixth Form Exchange. They are bringing two extra students (girls) who will need accommodation for which they are willing to pay. We do need to find families for them to stay with and Mrs. Pass, Head of Modem Languages, suggests it could be very useful for pupils in Years 10 and 11 to expand their conversational French! If anyone - from any year - can offer accommodation, please contact Mrs. Pass. Mrs. Nicole Jones is organising another Cruise to the Mediterranean - from March 28th to April 4th in 1997. The cruise is available for Years 9, 10 and Lower Sixth at the time of the cruise and places to be visited are Crete, Egypt, Israel and Turkey. An Information Evening has been arranged for 8th Feb at 6.30 pm in the Resource Centre. Contact Mrs. Jones for more details. A donation of £380 has been made by Mobil Centenary Trust to the Sailing Club. The money will probably go on a new Topper sailing dinghy, but as the club is homeless at the moment awaiting relocation of the Boathouse there will be no shortage of things on which to spend the money! Emma Zweig (Year 7), Kelly Hawkins-Farr (Year 10) and Karl Zweig (Year 9) were prizewinners in a recent Consortium Art Competition and their work has been submitted for the national competition. Fifty Year 10 students who are studying Drama and Community Studies attended a matinee performance of Willy Russell's Blood Brothers at the Phoenix Theatre on Jan. 18th. The play is a musical with a difference, due to its hard-hitting message about the effects of poverty and prejudice. The production, starring Stephanie Lawrence and Stefan Dennis, is not without humour, however, and a great deal of laughing was done by both staff and students. The Drama Group are now producing their own critiques of the performance and will be working on extracts from the text in their lessons. As an interesting supplement to their Religious Studies lessons, 50 students from Years 8 and 9 visited an exhibition of Judaism at a Reformed Synagogue in Weybridge. The building is a converted gym and is used now to exercise souls in the mitzvot (commandments) of the Torah (law). Jill, our guide, ethusiastically helped by colleagues took us through aspects of Jewish festivals, symbols and, most movingly, the undressing of the Torah scrolls. An exhibition by an Israeli painter in water colours of the Holy Land included work done by Bedouin children. Our patience with a delayed coach was well rewarded - Todah Rabah (many thanks) to Jill and her colleagues - from Mr. Digby and students. The Art and Power exhibition at the Hayward Gallery on the South Bank was the destination of 30 Year 11 students on January 12th. Students were able to examine the relationship between the State and the Arts in Hitler's Germany and Stalin's Russia - providing a valuable supplement to their GCSE work. The Music Department is planning a Concert called "Therfield Sings" on Friday, 9th Feb at 7.30 pm. The Lower School Singers will give a performance of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat, the Main Choir will perform Vivaldi's Gloria with soloists drawn from the school singers and accompanied by an Orchestra. There will also be some solo songs. Tickets will be £2.50 for adults, free for children and further details plus a booking form will be sent home shortly. As a school we believe it is important for pupils to be involved in a range of activities both within school and in their own time. We have close links with a number of local youth groups and Mr. Thomas has contacted them about possible activities for our Year 7 students. The youth workers for the Ashtead Church of St. George have offered to run the following events for Year 7 pupils - this evening there is a showing of Batman Forever FREE in the School Hall, in March a disco will be held, April has Ten Pin Bowling, May a visit to Thorpe Park, June canoeing at Thames Young Mariners Centre and in July dry skiing at Sandown Park. A letter has gone home giving fuller details. The School Council continues to meet regularly and brings a variety of issues to the attention of the Head. Currently they are consulting tutor groups about the spending of £300 of School Fund money for the general benefit of pupils - the purchase of a School Pet has been vetoed! Therfield's cross country runners are still covering themselves in glory as well as mud. In the Holly Run at Reigate Priory in December, Terry Lyszyk (Year 8) won the gold medal in the U13 race. In the sub-mile relays at Sutton, the junior boys took first place for the third year in succession, the junior girls also won and the intermediate boys came third. In the District Championships the U15 Girls A team had an impressive win and the B team took 4th place. The U17 team finished third. The junior boys also won their contest, Marc Leyshon was second home in the intermediate boys and Jon Buckley first in the seniors. They, together with Terry Lyszyk, Adam Churchill, Ben Adams, Emma Firth, Emily Nelson and Sarah Green, have been selected to run for Central Surrey in the County championships. DIARY DATES: |