Issue No.81 18 October 2000
Issue No.81 18 October 2000
| FROM
THE HEAD TEACHER Parent Governors There was an excellent response when it came to voting for parent governors for the next four year term. Successful candidates were Mrs Debra Beer, Mr David Christie and Mrs Sheena Reeves who are all new to the job, and Mrs Lynn Pendlebury who was re-elected. We are grateful to all those who let their names go forward and, at a time when many schools find it difficult to recruit governors, it is another indication of the strength of Therfield and its standing in the community |
| School
Trust Fund Many thanks to
those of you who have responded generously to the Fund. We are
conscious that a number of people have not replied and would
encourage you to do so. The Trustees will be writing to you
again in the near future. |
| Happiness
Survey Once again returns
from this survey among our new Year 7 pupils show that the
great majority have settled in well and are either 'happy' or
'very happy' at secondary school. A swift straw poll taken as
youngsters got off the coaches from High Ashurst indicated
that this was a very, very popular activity and pupils enjoyed
testing themselves, trying out new tasks. and seeing their
teachers similarly challenged! |
| Academic Tutoring The
first of this school year's three Academic Tutoring Days was
held earlier this month. It was a pleasure to welcome so many
parents with their sons and daughters. Targets have been set
and should be recorded in pupils' planners. In November and December, pupils should be getting these signed off by their teachers in preparation for the next day in January when targets will be reviewed. We would be grateful if parents would make themselves aware of their son's or daughter's targets and support us in encouraging them to achieve the targets. |
| Parents'
Evening Year 8 Parents'
Evening will be held on Wednesday, 15th November and school
will close at 3.15pm that day. Would parents for all such
evenings please make sure that requests for appointments are
returned to school by the deadline date given in the letter
home. It is very difficult to fit people in after that
deadline has passed. Dates for future Parents Evenings are: November 15th Year 8 January 24th Year 10 January 31st Year 12 February 14th Year 13 March 7th Year 9 March 28th Year 7 |
| Wanted
School Catering Assistants
are required - please contact Christine Stedman 01372 375089.
|
| Prizegiving
The Lower School prizegiving
takes place this evening with Dr Paul Gray, Surrey's Director
of Education, as guest of honour. About 150 pupils will
receive awards for academic achievement, sport, service to the
school, music, merits, attendance and evidence of an all-round
determination to improve. |
| Recruitment
Time This has been an
extremely successful year for the school and the time has now
come round again for us to recruit for next year. If you know
anyone who has a daughter or son due to start secondary school
in September 2001 please recommend Therfield to them and tell
them that our Open Evening is on 8th November starting at 6.30
pm. |
| Change
of Times To enable staff to
prepare displays and generally get ready for the evening,
school will close at 1.10pm on the 8th and re-open at 9.40am
on the 9th. A number of pupils will be helping in the evening, assisting with demonstrations and acting as escorts and guides - when you bring them into school and pick them up later I would be grateful if you would use Kingston Road or the Cleeve Road entrance as your drop off/pick up point and so avoid using Dilston Road. |
| Millennium
Picture We managed to find a
dry, moment last week so that Year 7 could have a mass
photograph taken by the Leatherhead Advertiser. This
is to be published shortly as part of the newspaper's
Millennium series as a record of those who started their
secondary education at Therfield in the year 2000. |
| Attention
Seeking Staff, and hopefully
students, of the Food and Textiles Technology department are
grateful to the Friends who have generously agreed to finance
the purchase of two 'virtual babies' for use with Child
Development classes. More news on their use will follow, but
parents need not panic about sleepless nights for them! |
| Looking
at London As part of their
GCSE Geography studies, 110 Year 11 students visited London
Docklands. They investigated land use patterns and changes in
the area and, via a much-enjoyed boat ride down the Thames,
were able to observe and make notes on how the land on the
banks is utilised. A walk from Greenwich to Canary Wharf to note the different types of service provision and residential developments completed a satisfactory day's work. Perhaps with thoughts of future employment, students were horrified to hear of the high cost of property both for buying and renting in London. |
| Political
Insight A visit to the
Houses of Parliament by 21 Sixth Formers afforded the
opportunity for students to hear Lord Falconer answering
questions on the Dome in the House of Lords and to see the
inside of the House of Commons. The tour was interesting and informative and provided much useful background information as well as enabling students to see behind the scenes and even imagine themselves starring during Prime Minister's Question Time! |
| Work
Experience All of Year 11
are out this week on work experience. Most will be
experiencing the world of work on local placements but
students have managed to travel as far afield as Liverpool,
Northern Ireland and Greece! |
| Modern
Art Art and Design students
from Years 10 and 12 visited New Tate at Bankside to
experience Modern Art at first hand. The 70 students were
fascinated by Louis Bourgeois' 20ft high sculpture of a Mother
Spider with marble eggs and sketched both this and the huge
towers also made by this modern sculptress. Art Work in the Gallery is arranged in themes of Environment, Human Relationships, Cinema Imagery, Revolutionaries and Common Objects and delivers an immediate insight into 20th century Art thinking and expression. Year 10 will receive prizes for the most thoughtfully completed questionnaires about the Art work and Year 12 will try some of the ideas for themselves in their A level work. |
| Second
Hand Cars We run a Radio
Control Car Club in school and are looking to obtain cars for
the use of pupils who come along but do not have their own
vehicle. If you have a car with controls that you no longer
use, please contact Mr Cockerill in the Technology Department
if you wish to sell or donate the vehicle. |
| Parents
Prayer Group The next
meeting will be held on Monday, November 27th at 8 pm at
school. All are welcome to attend or you can request a prayer
to be said. Mrs Jill Poole (01932 865476) would be pleased to
give more information. |
| Many
thanks We are most grateful
to all of you who collected Books for Schools
newspaper tokens and crisp packets. As a result, the Learning
Support Department benefited from 100 new books and CDs. Don't forget - we are now collecting Box Tops for Education, which can be found on certain Nestle cereals. Each box top is worth 10p cash to the school - send in your collection to Mrs Swingler or the School Office. |
| Enjoying Poetry Once
again, National Poetry Day enjoyed a successful
celebration at Therfield. Staff and students gathered together
at lunchtime for recitals of favourite poems. There was no
shortage of volunteers willing to give renditions of verse. The selection covered traditional favourites, including poems by Keats and Betjeman, but also on offer were modern poets such as Roger McGough and Wes Magee. The emphasis was on enjoyment and we certainly proved that poetry and fun are not mutually exclusive!! |
| Local
History Linda Heath's A
Rich lnheritance which is a dramatisation of historic
events in Leatherhead from 1395 to 1897 will be performed in
Leatherhead Parish Church at 8 pm on 16,17, and 18th November.
Tickets can be obtained from the church after morning service
or from Alan's Antiques, 1-3 Church Street, Leatherhead. All proceeds will go to the Youth Project Scheme funded by Churches Together in Leatherhead. |
| Millennium
Musical Members of the
community and local churches have got together to produce Hopes
and Dreams the Christian Musical for the Millennium.
This will be presented at Howard of Effingham School on 26, 27
and 28 October - ticket details from 01372 450709. |
| School
Photographs Money and orders
for these or any 'not wanted' packs should have been returned
by now. Would parents of any students in Years 7, 10 and 12
please check over half term that no orders or packs are left
lying around at home. |
| Request
Could you let us have any
used printer cartridges as we can trade them in for software
and, if sufficient, even computers! Pupils should bring the
used cartridges to Mr Wessell in the IT department. |
| Park
Meeting Emma Carson and Katy
Boniface in Year 10 are the envy of their friends after being
photographed with singer Craig David at Party in the Park
and seeing the result published in teenage magazine Sugar.
Emma and Katy were particularly pleased to see Craig David
went on to win three trophies at the Mobo Awards. |
| Help
with Health Practical advice
and help in GNVQ Health and Social Care lessons has come from
Ashtead Health Visitor, Mrs Louise Addington. Not only has she
supported lessons in school but has allowed the girls io work
shadow her so as to give them a real understanding of the
duties involved. |
| Lost
Property All kinds of
clothing items can be found in 'lost property' but cannot be
returned because there is no name inside. Please do scribble a
name somewhere. Also, no money is kept in the office so we
cannot give change. |
| THE
FRIENDS CRAFT FAIR SUNDAY
5th NOVEMBER from 10am to 4.30pm. Further details are being
sent to you with this newsletter, but of particular interest
is that amongst the crafts new to Leatherhead will be a superb
display of a totally unconventional, unique organic approach
to silver by Rhys Morgan, a Year 8 student, and his family,
whose work is known worldwide. This is one of the most
enjoyable and interesting events to be held at Therfield - and
an opportunity for you to do some early Christmas shopping!
HELP NEEDED - The Friends would be very
grateful for any offers of help on the day with
refreshments. If you can spare an hour or two, please phone
Barbara Sharkey in the school office on 814432, or Pauline
Score on 275177. |
DATES FOR THE DIARY
also see the School Calendar
| 19-20th Oct | Y9 WW1 Battlefields Visit |
| 23rd-27th Oct | Half Term |
| 30th Oct | Return to School - Week 2 in week cycle |
| 5th Nov | Craft Fair (see advertisement) |
| 8th Nov | Prospective Parents' Evening 6.30 pm |
| 15th Nov | Year 8 Parents' Evening |
| 24th/25th Nov | INSET Days - pupils not in school. |