Issue No.38 November 1996
Issue No.38 November 1996
| FROM THE HEADTEACHER
The school was very much alive and buzzing with activity for Prospective Parents' Evening on the 13th. All departments put on displays and staff were kept busy answering questions from parents and children. We estimate that 450 family groups visited the school that evening, and in the following seven days we were kept busy with tours of the school when about 200 parents and 75 children took the opportunity to see the school at work. A number of pupils helped with demonstrations and as ushers at this important time for the school and visitors commented favourably on their smartness and willingness to talk! The new Sixth Form Block was formally opened on Friday last week by Baroness Thomas of Walliswood, chairman of Surrey County Council. Sixth Formers acted as guides to the many visitors from county and Mole Valley and all were impressed by the new facilities we can offer. Baroness Thomas remarked particularly on the ambition and enthusiasm displayed by our students. Fourteen of our Sixth Form were described as "an absolute credit" to the school when they took part in the London heat of the National Mock Bar competition. Although this was the first time we had entered, our team narrowly missed getting into the national finals to be held in Belfast. The judges - real life ones! - commented on Therfield's 'slick' witnesses and the high quality of legal debate plus much "excellent practice". The four 'barristers' - Richard Guy, Russell Holliday, Elizabeth Daniels and Emily Porter managed to convince the juries in all of their trials but could not quite persuade the judges to vote in their favour. However, Louise King was awarded first place for her legal writing skills - and Ms. Roberts, who trained the team, says she has picked up some tips for next year! Local Bus Service 676 - as from November 30th this bus will operate 5 minutes earlier in the mornings and so, hopefully, reduce the number of late arrivals from this area. The bus will leave Tadworth Station at 7.40 and be at Ashtead, The Street, at 8.23, arriving at the school stop by 8.35. You will already have read a report in the Friends' Newsletter last week of their recent events, and their exciting plans to give a 'new look' to our Assembly Hall. Parental support and interest is vital to all fundraising ventures and the next major event is the Christmas Fair on Sunday, 8th Dec. 2.00-4.30 pm - we hope to see many of you there. Following the very successful Craft Fair, another is being planned for next Autumn - some stallholders have already booked. Some cases of head lice have been reported in the school. The Health Authority recommends Lyclear Creme Rinse, a fine tooth comb and regular checking as the best solution. A Science Homework Club for Key Stage 4 students has been running successfully this term - every Tuesday lunchtime, two Science teachers are to be found in Lab A6 to offer help and advice on any Science work, homework or investigation. They offer an opportunity to sit in the warm and complete any difficult or lengthy work to the best possible standard - not all parents know about this!! Families wanted for well-motivated French pupils: The Modern Languages Faculty is looking for families willing to accept a French boy or girl, aged 14-15, at the same dates as our French Exchange (probably in March `97). 40 French pupils from our Exchange School in Nantes would like to come to Therfield but, at present, we have only 29 students enrolled at our end. We are looking for 11 families who would be willing to accommodate the extra French pupils who would, of course, contribute towards their keep and accommodation. Activities could be arranged so that you would not be responsible for all entertainment! If you can help, please contact Mr. Boucry at school. A reminder about the special opening of Menzies store in Leatherhead from 6.15 to 8.15 pm on 5th Dec. Not only will you be able to escape the usual seasonal crush but Therfield pupils with merit awards will be eligible for a special discount as well as being able to spend the tokens they have been awarded under our 'Learning Pays' initiative. An excellent day was had by the Girls Rugby squad who played on the hallowed turf of Twickenham as a curtain raiser to the London v Argentina game. This was a dream come true for the players - and PE teacher, Mr Marshallsay! They were able to see the changing rooms, walk round the stadium and, best of all, line up in the tunnel ready to sprint out for a 20 minute game before taking their places in the stand to watch the match. Year 10 and Year 11 girls regularly train together and are looking forward to the competition of a Festival with 5 other local schools in the New Year. A rugby clinic, sponsored by Lloyds Bank, was held earlier this month and 25 girls stayed behind after school to attend, reflecting the popularity of the Club and the game. Two groups of Year 10 Food Technology students visited British Airways Catering division at Heathrow, which caters specially for long haul flights and included Concorde menus. They were impressed by the stringent hygiene regulations as they washed and disinfected their hands and dressed in protective overalls before entering the food areas. The sheer size of the whole operation was brought home when they realised the building was the size of four football pitches! They were able to walk into larders/fridges and see how much food was needed for one day and reflect that as a return to New York on Concorde can cost £5,500 caviar was not a luxury item! Come and start Christmas in the traditional way by attending Therfield's Carol Service and Lessons at St. George's Church, Ashtead on Monday, 16th Dec. 7.30pm. Everyone is welcome. Our Cross Country runners are to be congratulated again - for the second year in succession a team of girls have won their way through to the national finals of the prestigious TSB Schools Cup and are still young enough to compete again in the Inter section next year! They travel to Leicester on Dec. 7th to compete against 23 other top teams. The junior boys and intermediate boys teams also won their events at the District Cross Country, run under appalling conditions on Epsom Downs. Ten of them have been chosen to run in the county championships - our best representation ever! On an individual level, Terry Lyszyk (Year 9) came third last weekend in an international cross country match in Bolec, France. With arrangements for Cruise '97 in March well in hand, Mrs Jones is now organising Cruise `98 which will visit the Eastern Mediterranean in April '98. The cost is £850 - letters from Mrs. Jones in S3. Much thought and work has gone into improving the environment of the school during 1996. In May a voluntary committee was formed with its membership drawn from a wide cross section of the teaching staff, under the chairmanship of Mr. Geary with the brief of compiling a list of the most pressing needs for improvement. A wall, costing £6,000, now encloses the picnic area, fencing has been added, £4,000 worth of trees and shrubs are to be planted. Improvements to the school lavatories - expected to cost £14,000 - is the next major work planned. Believing that people respect a well tended environment more than a shabby one, we hope that these improvements will be noticed, appreciated and treated well. From Mr. Lacey, IT Co-ordinator - The IT dept. was given a brand new, very powerful computer by Seeboard as part of their community links programme - it is a Pentium 166 Multi-Media with 16Mb of RAM. No doubt many parents are being pestered to buy a computer this Christmas and you may be interested to know that the school has access to companies that are willing to give large educational discounts on computers and printers. They also supply their machines with 5 year warranties, though neither the school nor its employees can be held responsible for any purchase that you may make. Also, most parents are not aware of the massive discounts that can be obtained from Microsoft on most of the software that is used in schools. If you are interested in buying a computer and/or Microsoft software then please feet free to contact me for more information. HOLIDAY DATES DATES FOR YOUR DIARY Jan 6th 1997 - School re-starts. |