Issue No.50 December 1997
Issue No.50 December 1997
| FROM THE HEADTEACHER
With Christmas almost upon us, I wish you a very happy and peaceful time. Certainly the staff here will be glad of the break after yet another action packed term. I am delighted to be able to announce that Therfield is once again oversubscribed with first choices of parents wanting their children to join us next September. May I thank all of you who have helped over the year. One of the delights of being Headteacher here is the enormous interest, support and hard work of so many of you. Have a Happy Christmas. Good wishes especially to Ms Tom Smith (Science), Mrs Eileen Mussi (Social Studies), Mrs Margaret Laker (Bursar) and Mrs Linda Kelley (Library) who leave us this term. We welcome Miss Linda Tate and Miss Dawn Badminton who will be joining the Science Dept. and Mrs Jenny Good, Finance Manager. Carols - Monday's Carol Service got the week off to a wonderful start. The Chapel at SeeAbility was a marvellous setting but such is the popularity of this traditional event that it was 'standing room only' for many. The evening was a joyous celebration in which so many people were able to take part - thank you once again to Mr Pratt, Mr Payne and the school's singers, musicians and readers. Year 11 Ball - Glamorous dresses and formal evening attire enhanced the atmosphere and made it a night for pupils to remember at this year's Ball. Cabaret entertainment was supplied by pupils and the sketch including the Teletubbies and Ken and Barbie performed by Mrs Thomas and the Year 11 team was particularly appreciated! Presentation Evening - We celebrate the achievements of past and present Sixth Formers on Friday, January 9th when our guest of honour will be the Bishop of Guildford, the Rt. Rev. John Gladwin. Welcome to our Sixth Form - January 14th is our Market and Open Day for the Sixth Form. During the day, Year 11 pupils will be able to visit the Market and discuss opportunities with subject staff and then from 7-9 pm parents can meet staff, question current Sixth Formers and tour the Sixth Form Centre. If you know of anyone seeking a change of school after GCSE please tell them about Therfield. Problems Solved! - Congratulations to our teams who took first place in the junior and intermediate sections of the Problem Solving Competition sponsored by Halliburton Brown & Root earlier this month. Year 9 representatives were Sarah Waldman, Lina Haines, Andrew Marlow, Stephen Garden and James Singleton and from Year 7 the winners were James Duff, James Day, John Crozier, Melanie Worsfold and Lara Poder. Such was the enthusiasm among Year 7s that we sent two teams from this year and both competed well. The problem set was to build the lightest possible free-standing bridge to span a gap of 40 cms, bear a weight of 180 grammes and to show a light. Materials provided were drinking straws, paper clips, cord, sticks of spaghetti, card, paper, light bulb, cocktail sticks, wire and sticky labels. Mrs Carr, who selected and trained the teams, was full of praise for the thoughtful and enthusiastic way they approached the task and admitted that she was the most nervous Therfield representative! Other schools taking part included Parsons Mead, St John's and Howard of Effingham. Worldly Wise - Three of our Geography students from Year 11 demonstrated their knowledge and quickness on the buzzer by coming second in the Surrey heat of the Geographical Association's World Wise Quiz held at Kingston University. Alex Graves, Jeremy Weeks and Jo Woollatt were competing against ten other schools from both the state and private sector. Mr Moorhouse, who accompanied them, said "I rather dragooned them into taking part but they were superb - and very confident". Friends' Fair - the reputation of this traditional event is such that the crowds came in droves, not only to spend money on unusual and good value Christmas presents but also to visit Santa, have a cup of tea and piece of cake and take part in the competitions and games provided. A brace of pheasants proved a popular lot in the auction and it looks as though over £2000 will have been raised. Grateful thanks to Carol Belk, Joyce Tibbetts and the 'Fair' team for all their hard work and brilliant ideas. Prayer Group - The next meeting of the Prayer Group will be held at the school on Monday, 2nd February at 8 pm. This is a group of parents and friends who meets twice a term to pray for the school. Mrs Poole (01932 865476) would be happy to welcome any newcomers or give information. Badminton - Christopher Langridge (Year 8) has been selected to represent the English Schools U13 Badminton team in an international match being held at Hoensbroek in Holland on December 28th-30th. Chris and team-mates, David Urry, James Molyneux, Craig Smith, David Swingler and Philip Rippin, have made a good start to the defence of their U14 Surrey team title by beating Dulwich College 8 - 1. Collingwood, Whitgift, Tiffin and Reigate Grammar are among those still to be overcome. Snowboarding - Following his success in a number of national competitions, Stuart Clowser in the Sixth Form, has been picked to join the British Snowboarding Junior Team at their training camp in Switzerland this month. This is Stuart's final year as a junior competitor and the second year running he has been invited to the national training camp. Sailing - James Spencer in Year 11 has enjoyed a highly successful year in his chosen sport of sailing. In the U16 Optimist class he was placed 3rd and 4th in the last National ranking events and in the Selection Series for the World and European teams he came sixth. He represented Great Britain in Slovenia at the European Championships. James is now looking forward to competing in U19 events. Rugby - A number of our pupils have been spotted as being talented in this sport - Philip Leyshon in Year 10 has been selected for the U15 County Squad, Sixth Formers Michael Rippin and Philip Hunt are in Surrey's development squad with Alex Joseph in the U19s. George Tavner , Year 13, plays and trains with Scotland U19s. Football - Congratulations to our Senior Team who beat Sutton Grammar on penalties after extra time in the semi-final of the County Cup. This means that for the first time Therfield has a team through to the national finals. More news in the New Year. Football for Year 7s - Joseph Torgbor, a GNVQ student, plans to hold a 5-a-Side tournament on the new Astro-Turf for Year 7s in the New Year. Teams must be mixed, entry fee per team is £2, prizes will be won and profits will go to Charity. Joseph is planning the tournament as part of his Leisure and Tourism course and hopes for plenty of support. Cross Country - Splendidly kitted out in their Puma sponsored sweatshirts our Intermediate Boys and Junior Girls competed in the All-England finals of the TSB Schools Cross Country at Crawley. The girls team achieved 19th place and boys 23rd. Terry Lyszyk was the first Therfield runner home at 22nd and Emily Parker was 27th for the girls out of 144 runners. Summer dates : Holidays often have to be fitted around the expected dates for GCSE and A Level results to be published, so we give an additional reminder to parents and pupils that A Level results in 1998 are due on Thursday, August 20th and GCSE results on Thursday, August 27th. Treasure Island - Mark Wheeler from Year 7 contributes this report : "A hundred children in Year 7 went to the Lyric Theatre, accompanied by 5 members of staff. The three main characters were Ben Gunn, a man who was left on the island by his fellow pirates on a treasure hunt, Long John Silver, a one-legged man who was cook on the ship and had a plan to get the treasure for himself and Jim Hawkins a young boy. Ben Gunn was our favourite character who brought a funny sort of humour to the play! The overall verdict from my class was "go to see it before the tickets disappear". Macbeth - Over 30 Year 10 pupils visited the Yvonne Arnaud theatre to see an excellent production of Macbeth, which is one of the text books for their GCSE English studies. Tough Guys - Mr Hill and Mr Marshallsay plus a dedicated or crazy group of Sixth Formers will be thinking twice before having that second helping of turkey or extra mince pie over Christmas - instead they will be thinking about what awaits them on January 25th. They will be taking part in the Tough Guy Challenge - billed as Britain's hardest race - in which they are expected to complete a 14 mile gruelling cross country course complete with such hazards as muddy tunnels, freezing streams and vertigo-inducing rope bridges. It seems appropriate that the charity which will benefit is a Horse and Donkey Sanctuary. The third male member of our PE staff, Mr Garner, has wisely decided not to take part this year - he doesn't want to interrupt his training for the London Marathon! Fashion Visit - 47 girls and 2 boys from Years 10 and 11 enjoyed an exciting day at Clothes Show Live in this popular trip organised by Mrs Gale and the HFT Department. They all proved to be skilful bargain hunters beating the staff easily in this department! Cruising - Those booked on the Mediterranean Cruise '98 have a change in itinerary following the tragic events at Luxor. Cyprus and Rhodes will now take the place of Egypt in the programme. Party Time - About 60 senior citizens enjoyed a traditional Christmas Party on Tuesday. This was organised by GNVQ students with the help of other Sixth Formers and had all the ingredients of a good party -food, wine, song and plenty of cups of tea! JANUARY DATES ADHD News - alternatives to Ritalin. To know more telephone Harmonies - 01372 376247. |