Issue No.59 October 1998
Issue No.59 October 1998
| FROM THE HEADTEACHER
Next year's school roll - If you know anyone with children due to start secondary school in September 1999 please tell them about our Open Evening on 11th November. The school will be open from 6.30 pm with a formal talk in the Main Hall at 6.45 pm and again at 7.45 pm. Demonstrations and displays from all departments will be going on around the school as we take this opportunity to let prospective parents know what Therfield has to offer. Times for tours of the school have been changed to fit in with our New School Day timings and will take place at 11.15 am and 2.30 pm on the 12th and at 9.15 am for the next five school days until Thursday, 19th. Tours can be booked via the School Office or on Open Evening. PLEASE NOTE THAT SCHOOL CLOSES AT 1.10 pm ON WEDNESDAY 11th. A number of pupils may be asked to stay and help. SCHOOL RE-STARTS AT 9.40 am on THURSDAY, 12th for registration and Period 2. OFSTED - A summary of the final report will be sent to all parents shortly after half-term. A copy of the full report, which runs to 48 pages, can be obtained by application to the School Office at a cost of £1 to cover the reprographics and paper costs. RAJIV DODAH - We were very sorry to hear of the tragic death of Rajiv Dodah, Year 8, following a massive allergic reaction to something he had eaten. About 10 staff and 40 students attended his funeral. WORK EXPERIENCE - All of Year 11 were finally placed on work experience. The company organising this have not really been up to the task, and only a lot of work by staff here, has enabled all pupils to be placed. I shall be contacting Year 11 parents in the near future about this. CYCLING TO SCHOOL - we have had three accidents to our cyclists recently - one could have been fatal if he had not been wearing a cycle helmet. I am very concerned at the number of pupils who do not wear helmets - some cycle with the helmets tied to their handlebars! - and will be re-writing the School Rule on the wearing of helmets. Please do encourage your children to cycle safely and to wear a helmet. PARKING PLEA - residents on the Waterfields Estate have asked that Therfield parents should not park across driveways while waiting for their children - very often they find it impossible to get into their homes! SHARP EYES WANTED - two motorised go-karts were stolen from a locked workshop at the school last weekend. The karts were designed and built by A level students as part of their Design & Technology course and were used by Woodlands School to help their pupils develop new skills and help with hand-eye co-ordination. They were very, very popular aids to learning! If anyone has seen the karts being used in the vicinity, Mr de Little would be delighted to hear from you. ANNUAL MEETINGS - the annual meeting of the Governors on 7th October which was doubled-up with the Friends' Annual Meeting drew a good attendance and proved to be a pleasant social occasion. Mr John Hickey, chair of governors welcomed everyone and, together with representatives of the sub-committees was available to answer questions. Joyce Tibbetts (01372 361138) is the new chairman of the Friends and Ann Jenner (01372 275172) is secretary. SCHOOL FUND - My grateful thanks to all the parents who have contributed to the School Fund which stands at over £5,500. This will help to fund a number of the extra-curricular activities, and £500 will be set aside for the School Council to decide how best it should be spent. PRIZEGIVING - Dr Dick Harris, Operations Director of Halliburton, Brown & Root presented prizes to nearly 200 of our pupils who were in Years 7 - 10 last year. The evening was to celebrate their successes not only in academic spheres but for effort, improvement, attendance, punctuality, service, musical and sporting prowess. It was a happy occasion, the hall was full to capacity, prizewinners looked smart and pleased, our ushers and refreshment waiters were impeccably polite, Emily King and Tim Boniface contributed brilliant musical interludes, Senior Students, Michael Traboulsi and Jenny Williams gave confident and gently humorous votes of thanks and Dr Harris left very impressed by all Therfield School had to offer the community Our next similar occasion is Presentation Evening when we mark the successes of our students in Years 11, 12 and 13 and I am delighted to report that Richard Stilgoe, now High Sheriff of Surrey but well known as a singer-entertainer has agreed to be Guest of Honour. SAILING NEWS - the number of trophies won by our Sailing Club made an impressive display at Prizegiving and the story of success continues - at Littleton Regatta where competition was fierce with Royal Grammar School and Howard of Effingham also well to the fore, Neil Ferguson won two first places and Therfield pupils also took two seconds and five thirds. The Club is holding its Open Evening on November 13th at the school when more details of the Sailing Holiday to be held on the Isle of Wight from 12-17 April 1999 will be given. PRAYER GROUP - All parents are welcome to attend the next meeting which will be held at the school on Monday, 23rd November at 8 pm. HARVEST APPEAL - this year we collected sugar, rice and flour for the European Children's Trust to help Eastern European Children particularly those in orphanages. The 300 kg we collected has now been bagged up and dispatched. Many thanks to all who contributed. COFFEE DAY - a total of £121.79 was raised for the McMillan Nurses Appeal by a coffee and cakes day run and organised by Sixth Formers. CHALLENGING EXPEDITION - Years 10, 11 and 12 are being offered the chance to participate in a four week expedition to Venezuela in the Summer of the Year 2000. , Team members will plan all aspects of the trip, which could I include trekking through the rainforest, walking in the Andes and project work with the street children of Caracas. Over the next 18 months they will plan how to raise money for the trip. An information evening from World Challenge, the organisation who will work with the students, was very well attended. Interest has been high but there is still time to apply and Mr Smith or Miss Allen will be glad to give advice. CENTENARY PRIZE - Alex Rendall, Hannah Marshall, Libby Bond and Hannah Delmar accompanied Ms English to the Reigate Office of the Leatherhead Advertiser to collect Therfield's prize in the 'Leatherhead in 100 Years' competition run by the paper in connection with its centenary celebrations. They were shown around the news building and were able to find out about the different production processes involved and talk to members of the team about their roles. All four students enjoyed this opportunity, finding it "interesting and inspiring" and useful knowledge for 'The Green Bottle' production. The school now has a copper newsplate of pages published with Therfield poems which will be proudly displayed in the English department. NEWS FROM ICT - This year has seen a major transformation to ICT (Information Communication Technology) provision at Therfield. During the Summer the school was updated to modern industrial standards (for the technically minded we now have a fibre optic backbone with Cat 5 cabling). This has enabled us to install modern software. Pupils are able to use the latest version of Microsoft Office software together with a wide range of other useful software to enhance their learning. All pupils at Key Stage 3 and 4 will learn about the new software through discrete ICT courses, whilst the development of cross- curricular IT will be improved by additional computers in many areas. Internet access is now available across the whole network. RM Internet for Learning is a dedicated, Educational Service which provides a great variety of materials for staff and pupils which is not generally available through other providers. The Internet will extend the materials available for use in the classroom, especially for older pupils when I resources need to be up to date. The service we use is filtered to allow pupils to explore in safety. Contact Mrs Moysey, Head of ICT if you would like to know more. EXCHANGE NEWS - The French Exchange is an important experience offered to Year 9 and 10 pupils. The dates are as follows : French visitors here - Mon. 3rd - Tues. 11th May 1999, English pupils to Vertou from Wed. 9th - Thurs. 17th June 1999. Letters will be going out shortly, Ms Perrett is the organiser this year. The Modern Languages Faculty also offers pupils in Years 9 & 10 the opportunity to take part in a German Exchange. German students are here from 6th - 13th March 1999 and our return visit is 23rd - 29th May. Therfield has had a thriving relationship with a school near Cologne for over 8 years and pupils have benefited both culturally and linguistically from the Exchange. The trip includes visits to Cologne, Bonn, a cruise down the Rhine and a visit to 'Phantasieland'. Miss Buckell is organising the exchange and hopes for good support. If pupils are interested they can begin corresponding with their pen-pals. So please get in touch with Ms Perrett or Miss Buckell if you are interested - an Exchange is one of the best ways to add to Language skills. THANK YOU for the continuing fabric flow. The Home & Food Technology department currently seek an old Bernina sewing machine in whatever condition for use for spare parts, especially the foot pedal and lead into the machine. Mrs Gale will be running a Craft Stall at the Friends' Christmas Fair on 6th December to help raise some extra money for Textiles equipment. All products will be designed and made by students. JACOBEAN EVENINGS - an unusual theatrical experience is promised for 20th and 21 st November when the school stages a promenade performance featuring "Those Juicy Jacobeans". As tickets (£5) are limited to 100 each performance please send in your application form as soon as possible. lt promises to be an ambitious and entertaining evening. BASKETBALL -Years 7-9 have the opportunity to get some tips from a coach from the National League Side, Thames Valley Tigers. Sessions cost £2 and start on November 2nd 3.45-5.00 pm. PLAYERS WANTED - Would you like to play Badminton? Frankie Coysh in the School Office is your contact. She says "we meet Friday evenings in the Sports Hall 7.30-9.30 and are a small friendly group who need a few more players, but not absolute beginners please." Phone her on 818123. CRAFT FAIR on Sunday, 1st November. There will be over 50 displays of traditional and modern crafts plus several demonstrations. There will be something of interest for everyone and the chance to make some inroads into your Christmas Shopping list! Opens at 10 am until 4.30 pm. CONGRATULATIONS to Christopher Langridge in Year 9 who in a recent Badminton international at Lausanne, Switzerland won the U15 doubles and was also in the U15 England team which won that competition. Chris reached the quarter finals in the singles. Sixth Former, Sarah McMahon has been selected to represent Division 11 at the English Schools' Swimming Championships in Jersey on 23-24 October. Three of our teams - junior and intermediate girls and intermediate boys - have all qualified for the regional round of the TSB Cross Country Cup. PARTNERSHIP WITH PARENTS has its headquarters at Merstham and was set up by the local education authority to help parents of children who have special educational needs. On 20th March 1999 it will stage an all-day conference at Guildford College for parents of children with special needs in Surrey Schools. More information from 01737 646227. At Esher College on Saturday, 14th Nov. a Dyslexia Awareness Seminar for parents is being held. Cost is £25 - contact Jill Kirby 0181.398.0291 for details. MONEY - It would be appreciated if students could have sufficient change with them for telephone calls and canteen lunches, as we do not have the facilities in the Finance Office to meet the increasing number of requests for change. DATES FOR NOVEMBER |