Issue No.57 July 1998
Issue No.57 July 1998
| FROM THE HEADTEACHER
OFSTED - I want to publicly express my thanks to all at the school who have worked so hard to prepare for our Ofsted Inspection. It represents a huge workload at a very busy time of the year. Mr Maden, the Chief Inspector, took away 63 files of preparatory work. (I hope his car's back axle is strong!) The formal inspection begins on 14th September when we have 13 inspectors in the school and is a time of much stress for all. My thanks to all who have completed questionnaires - these have been passed on. This is also a reminder of the Parents' Evening organised by the Team of Inspectors at 7.30 on Sept. 7th. It is for parents only. STAFF - Sadly we say farewell to a number of teachers this summer. Miss Henson is taking over as Head of English at Shene School and we wish her well in this much deserved promotion. Two of our younger teachers are travelling the world, Miss Coates is off to Japan and Mr Payne is going to teach in the Canary Isles. Mrs Want is leaving primarily for personal reasons whilst another mathematician, Miss Pyle, is getting married and moving to Lincolnshire. Mrs Hannen, who has worked with pupils with learning difficulties, is also moving on after a number of years. Miss Tate, Miss Hartwell and Mr Williams, who all stepped in to cover for sick staff on a short term basis are going to Glyn School, teaching in Liverpool and back to Australia respectively. In addition, Mrs Carr starts her maternity leave in September. We thank them for all that they have contributed and wish them all every happiness in the future. Also, it would be helpful if all pupils had the necessary 10p to make a telephone call. The Finance Office is constantly being asked by pupils to change money for the phone - even £20 notes have been proffered! We cannot keep large sums of cash on the premises or spend time constantly changing money. One final plea - please do label clothes. THE NEW SCHOOL DAY: This is the
final reminder that in September our new School Day timings
start. Pupils will be expected in school at 8.30 am with
registration taking place at 8.35; there will be a break at
10.45 - 11-05, with lunch BUS TIMES - We understand that a number of contracts for bus services are being changed and bus operators cannot confirm the times of services. You should get the information needed from the Surrey Travel Line on 01737 223000 towards the end of the holiday. EARLY EATERS - For a trial period of two weeks the Canteen will open at 8.00 am to supply a hot drink, some hot food and breakfast fare. This is at the request of the School Council. The Catering Manager needs to hear from parents and pupils in September as to the type of food/ drinks wanted. If sufficient pupils use this facility it may well continue but it does need to be well supported. ADMIN. REQUESTS -Unless it is an emergency could parents please refrain from telephoning to contact children at school. At present so many messages are being taken that lessons are being disrupted not to mention the constant pressure on switchboard time. In the Autumn Term 602 messages had to be taken to pupils, Spring Term 457 and Summer Term the figure is 367 and rising daily! CONGRATULATIONS to our Mathematicians who achieved 9 gold, 17 silver and 22 bronze awards in the UK Junior Maths Challenge. This highly prestigious national competition drew an entry of 130,000 and only a small percentage qualify for an award. Laurence Dobie in Year 7 won the Best in School Certificate and Lisa Romain was the only girl to reach gold standard. Other gold awards went to Adam Harwood, Mikal Mursaleen, Geoffrey Cousins, Duncan Pickett, Dan Richards, Ian Lyszyk and Nicholas Reeves. Philip Haines, a Year 11 student, was among the 50 top scorers in the Intermediate Challenge held earlier in the year and was invited to attend a 5 day National Maths Summer School at Birmingham University. SAILING SUCCESSES - Therfield is once again Surrey Sailing School of the Year. We successfully defended our title at Hayling Island earlier this month and also collected eight more trophies at this popular sea sailing regatta. Neil Ferguson, Joe Fincham, Philip McMorrow, Simon Fuller and Ian Dibble were among those who collected first prizes. ACCOMMODATION NEEDED - our new German assistant a young lady of 26, arrives on October 1st and is seeking accommodation, either permanently or until she gets herself settled in. If anyone would enjoy welcoming a student into their home, perhaps to share meals and have a two-way improvement of English-German, could they contact Mrs Hrouda at school early in September. FUN DAY - The World Cup stayed alive and kicking at Therfield until Tuesday, 14th, when students staged their own 7-a-side tournament. Each tutor group represented a country and the inclusion of at least three girls in each team certainly did not tone down the tackling. It was a happy, colourful occasion with many groups making great efforts to match their team colours, kits and flags. The squad system meant that over 500 pupils took part and one or two of the finals sent the nerves jangling with penalty shoot-outs. Final winners were Year 10 - Denmark (PCI), Year 9 - Bulgaria (LCN), Year 8 - Belgium (PHR), Year 7 - Cameroon (JOL). PRAYER GROUP - Two days have been set aside for the group to meet at school next term - Monday, October 5 and Monday, November 23, both at 8 pm. All parents are welcome to attend. EXAMINATION RESULTS - August 20th is the day `A' level results arrive and August 27th is the day for GCSEs. AFRICA EVENING - as usual this event in which all of Year 7 take part was well-supported and attractively presented with music, dance, costume, art work and food well to the fore. ASTRO TURF - the official opening was well reported in the local Press and Radio Mercury. This £530,000 project is now being well used and has its own changing rooms. A cheque for £416,024 was presented by the English Sports Council. Trustees from the Lord Barnby Foundation who donated £50,000 and members of Mole Valley Council (£10,000) also attended as did members of Leatherhead Hockey Club. Pupils gave a demonstration of hockey skills. JACOBEAN CULTURE - as part of their Links Week programme, A Level Drama students spent a day researching Jacobean London. They visited the Globe Theatre, the London Dungeons and the Victoria and Albert Museum and now plan to pool their knowledge and skills with History students to put on a Jacobean Evening in November. STUDIES IN LITERATURE - 40 Year 12 English Literature students had the opportunity to bring their set text of King Lear to life when actress Abigail Robinson (Darling Buds of May) had volunteers working hard to interpret the play from an actor's viewpoint. As a follow-up, together with Drama students, they visited Polesden Lacey and enjoyed a very good outdoor performance of the play. The central storm scene was aided in its authenticity by a real-life downpour but fortunately both audience and actors were commendably resilient and the production voted a triumph. The Changeling at Battersea Arts Centre proved an unusual production which drew positive feedback from the students as they enjoyed the strong musical element plus a high level of audience participation. 'BRAIN TRAINING' in September the Science Dept. intends to introduce CASE (Cognitive Acceleration through Science Education) to pupils in Years 7 and 8. This is an approach to teaching which emphasises the development of pupils' thinking and will involve one special Science lesson every two weeks. Activities have been developed and tested by the Centre for the Advancement of Thinking at King's College, London and we await feedback with interest! HOLIDAY FUN - Surrey County Council is running a 'Summer Scheme' for four weeks from 3 - 28th August. Activities include ice skating, bowling, horse riding, dry slope skiing and several all day excursions to such places as Alton Towers and the South Coast. These activities will be heavily subsidised and need early application. Forms can be picked up from the Bridge Youth Centre or telephone Sarah Van Schaik on 374434. FRIENDS ANNUAL MEETING will be held on 7th October in conjunction with the Governors' annual meeting with parents. This year we lose a number of very hard working and willing members - please put the date in your diaries and let the Friends have nominations for new Committee members. The work the Friends do in fund raising and in liaison with the school is invaluable. We need a strong and representative Friends section if Therfield is to continue to enjoy so many extra-curricular and social activities. SPORTS DAY - Champion House this year is Polesden with 7655 points, followed by Leith (7509), Juniper (7000) and Norbury (6892). Polesden came top in the girls' event and Leith won for the boys. Top athletes in Year 7 were Simon Holmes and Mary Nelson; Year 8 Sean Sweeney and Emily Parker; Year 9 Christopher Lloyd and Hannah Alexander; Year 10 Tristan Blood and Emma Firth. CRICKET ROUNDUP - Year 7 started well and had some good wins particularly early in the season. Year 10 and Year 8 sides were unbeaten in the District Leagues. Year 9 reached the final of the Callingham Crane Trophy where they were beaten by Parkside and with the Seniors were winners of the district Six-a-Side competition. The PE department are grateful to parents who helped with transport during the term and hope for your continued involvement as we look forward to football, rugby, hockey, netball, basketball and cross country in the Winter term. 'BREAK OUT' The ingenuity of our Sixth Formers was shown in the annual Break Out for Charity when one team reached Pisa. They had £10 to spend and 12 hours in which to operate. A total of over £400 was raised for Leukaemia Research and the Motor Neurone Disease Association. WINDOWS ON WESSEX - Residents of Wessex may have seen 28 bedraggled Sixth Formers traipsing through Dorset fields one wet July weekend. Luckily, they hadn't lost their way but were in fact exploring Thomas Hardy country as part of the A Level English Literature course. They tramped through part of Egdon Heath to visit Hardy's birthplace in Lower Bockhampton and then walked to Stinsted Church, where his heart is buried. On Sunday they took part in a two hour seminar at Max Gate, the house Hardy designed and lived in, plus a guided tour of Dorchester/Casterbridge to view a variety of settings for his famous novel. Despite seemingly non-stop rain, spirits remained undimmed and learning was enhanced in true Hardy spirit! OTHER VISITS - This has been a busy time for school trips and outings and we seem to be waving goodbye to and welcoming back a steady succession of coaches. One morning we had Year 7s going to Dieppe or Koblenz and Year 10 on a Science trip to Swansea. A Level Geography students furthered their studies on a field trip to Switzerland. Year 8 went to see A Midsummer Night's Dream, while Year 10 enjoyed their traditional 'unwinding day' at Thorpe Park on Monday. CABARET EVENING - As we go to Press this promises to be, as usual, a lively and happy social occasion for the end of the year. Full report in the next Newsletter. START OF NEW TERM - Pupils have letters of information about this from their Heads of Year. Students going into Year 12 arrive at 8.30 on Friday, 4th September, the new Year 7 pupils arrive at 10.45 and the rest of the school i.e. Years 8-11 and Year 13 arrive at 12 noon. NB - Amendments to Parents' Information Booklet: DATES FOR SEPTEMBER Oct. 3 Friends' Jumble Sale |