Issue No.55 May 1998
Issue No.55 May 1998
| FROM THE HEADTEACHER
We say farewell to Mrs N Jones from the Modern Languages Department, who leaves us at half term. Mrs Jones has taught French and German at Therfield since 1990 and we thank her for all that she has contributed during that time. We wish her every happiness for the future. Ofsted - We have just been informed that Therfield will receive its second Ofsted inspection in the second week of next term. This is going to involve us in a lot of work during the second half of this term. The Inspection team will be holding a meeting for parents on the evening of 7th September so please put the date in your diary. Reading Programme - The Learning Support Dept. has been operating a Reading Programme for able Year 7 pupils this year. The pupils selected have high levels of ability but the results of their reading tests carried out early in Year 7 showed reading levels which were lower than expected. There could be many reasons for this. one being that youngsters at this stage often have a diversity of interests in which reading comes rather low on the list of priorities. Approximately 30 pupils have already been on this programme, which began in October '97. Each group attended twice a week for a period of six weeks for a one-to-one session with a Reading Assistant. Pupils, parents and staff have generally been very happy with the results which have shown an improvement in both reading accuracy and comprehension. Best of all is that many of the youngsters have discovered 'new authors' and have got into the habit of borrowing books and reading more at home. Homework Club - Mrs Kirton has set up a Homework Club every lunchtime in Room M8. Here youngsters can be certain of a quiet place to work with help available if needed. This is something of an experiment and will run through to the end of this term. Mock Trial - Having won the Redhill area heat of the Magistrates Mock Court Trial competition, our team of lawyers, defendants, witnesses and court officials from Years 8 and 9 went to Guildford on Saturday to contest the Regional final and were runners-up. They were disappointed not to make it through to the Final as they have found it an invaluable and largely enjoyable experience. The `trials' in which they took part were for grievous bodily harm and possession of drugs. Simon Matthews from Year 10, who was just too old to qualify for the team, went along as court reporter and found the legal process "completely fascinating". Practical Maths - 47 Year 8 students with two Sixth Formers and 4 staff spent 3 days in Devon recently on a residential Maths trip. The activities undertaken included an investigation of the angles involved in a game of snooker, estimating heights of cliffs and checking on the speed pupils could travel down the flumes in the pool! In spite of the poor weather, students had a good time and welcomed the chance to study mathematics in an enjoyable and practical way. Religious Studies Visits - Fifty students from Year 8 visited the West London Synagogue last Friday, followed by an afternoon visit to the Gurdwara (Sikh Temple) in Hounslow. These were both valuable learning experiences with excellent tuition and . hospitality. Lunch on a brilliant warm day in Hyde Park was a much-appreciated bonus. Success in Maths - In the UK Intermediate Mathematical Challenge competition, Therfield achieved 4 gold, 13 silver and 19 bronze awards. Philip Haines, Year 11, achieved the highest score for the school and went through to the next round - we are awaiting his result! Prayer Group - The next meeting for the group of parents who meet twice a term to pray for the school will be on Wednesday, 24th June at 8 pm at school. Sponsored Famine - A big thank you to all those Year 9s who took part in the '24 hour famine' in March as part of their development studies in Geography. £695 has been raised for World Vision to invest in improving water supplies for people in Sudan and Bangladesh. Art on the Farm - Year 12 A Level Art students visited Bocketts Farm last Friday to photograph and draw from observation a variety of animals, farm buildings and landscape to use for their Summer term project. It was hot and sunny and most enjoyable. Computer Vouchers - Mrs Burnham, the Librarian, is most grateful for the vouchers you have sent in to school. We collected over 20,000. River Mole Studies - On the 12th and 13th May the whole of Year 7 ventured out in glorious weather to investigate the River Mole. The purpose was to enhance their understanding of river processes and morphology. Great fun was had kick sampling for mini-beasts and measuring channel geometry. It was a successful and tiring two days for the Geography staff who were very happy to have missed the heavy thunderstorm which came the next morning! All about food - During this month the Canteen has been running the National School Meals World Safari competition which involves a questionnaire on the animal kingdom and also caring for yourself with regards to nutrition. A bonus has been the daily prizes of elephant buns, panda pops and cat biscuits which have been given to pupils. A competition for a cuddly ape was won by Catherine Sandiford of Year 7. School uniform - The Friends will be holding a sale of second hand uniform on 7th July from 3 - 5 pm. Items for sale and donations are needed. Project Trust - Deborah Alexander of the Project Trust visited Therfield to encourage Sixth Formers to do something useful if they were planning to take a gap year between A Levels and university. She recounted her tales of voluntary work in the Far East with the Trust and advised students on how to apply and how to raise money if accepted. A former pupil, Danny Shimmin, had a very successful time teaching in the townships of South Africa before taking up his place at Cambridge. One present Year 12 student, Michael Traboulsi, is already into his fund raising and plans a sponsored parachute jump as one of his activities. Election Time - A former Therfield senior student, Jon Harber, stood as a Conservative candidate in the Leatherhead North ward in the recent Mole Valley Council elections. Jon, who is now 22 and graduated in Modem History from Oxford University, polled 284 votes, with Bridget Lewis (Lib-Dem), who has been a parent at the school, being elected with 870 votes. Fun Day - our traditional Fun Day this year will be Therfield's Very Own World Cup Tournament on Tuesday, 14th July. Each of the 32 tutor groups in years 7 - 10 will represent one of the 32 teams in the World Cup - a draw will take place to decide who represents which country! Teams of 7 will play each other on a Year basis and each team must contain at least 3 boys and 3 girls. The competition will last all day, parents will be welcome to attend and pupils will be encouraged to dress up for their teams. Educational Material for Azerbaijan - Mr Cox has recently received an appeal from Surrey's Chief Fire Officer to collect any English language educational books for transportation to Baku. Although the appeal is aimed primarily at schools as they 'spring clean' at the end of the academic year, if you have any text books which you think might be suitable, please bring them into school. Sailing News - Therfield sailors continue to do well in Surrey Schools regattas. At Island Barn Reservoir on Saturday they took two first places, six second and two thirds. Anna Jones with Jenny Lawrence, Simon Fuller with Ian Dibble were our first place winners. Remember to book 10th July for the sponsored sail and BBQ, always a popular social occasion and the main fund raising event of the year. Pole Vaulting - Tracey Bloomfield, 18, who performed strongly as an athlete while at Therfield has won the Surrey Women's Pole Vault Title for the fourth year running. She added 20 cms to her personal best and set a new championship record. Tracey was picked out as a promising vaulter by Brian Hooper, ex-British champion, while she was still at school. Tracey is a junior international vaulter. CRICKET -Year 7 and Year 10 teams got off to a good start by winning their opening round matches in the County Cup. Year 7 beat Reed's School by 3 wickets and Year 10 beat Thamesmead by 66 runs. HOLIDAY DATES 1998-1999 1999-2000 DIARY DATES FOR JUNE |