Issue 82 29th November 2000
Issue 82 29th November 2000
| FROM
THE HEAD TEACHER School Trust Fund - please respond My thanks to all of you who have responded to the Fund. We would be grateful for any outstanding response forms - whether parents choose to contribute or not. It is the only way that we can check that you have received the letters. |
|
Open
Evening The feedback from
our Prospective Parents' programme has
been huge. Any of you who were here for the Evening on the
8th November will know that we were packed out. In addition,
we have been showing prospective parents and children around
for the best part of two weeks. We have had up to 75 in the
groups each day. |
| Music News
Sadly Mr Pratt (Head of Music)
is still unwell and unable to return to teaching yet. However, we have recruited Mr Ben Langford, a very experienced and dynamic Head of Music from a school in Brisbane, Australia. He will be with us at least until Easter. I have been very grateful to Mrs Junge who has held the fort this term. Meanwhile our music programme continues - please make a note that our Carol Service is on Monday, 18th December at 7.30 pm. This year it will be held in the School Hall and, as usual, will feature readings and plenty of traditional carols. We are always packed out for this event, so please arrive early and in good voice! |
| End of
Term Pupils will be
dismissed at approximately 1 pm on the last day of term, Wednesday,
20th Dec. |
| Friends'
Craft Fair & Calendar Hundreds
of visitors turned up on November 5th to support the Friends'
very successful Craft Fair, finding numerous unusual and
interesting gifts and enjoying demonstrations by many of the
exhibitors - plus some excellent refreshments! This really is
a lovely event and if your were unlucky enough to miss it,
then make a note of the next one - Sunday, 4th November 2001!
The next major events in the Friends' calendar are: Christmas Fair - This traditional and popular event takes place this year on Sunday, 3rd December at school, starting at 2 pm. As well as the usual seasonal fare being available plus the expected appearance of Father Christmas, a number of new gift stalls will be featured. Friends' Ball - This happy and lively social event takes place at school on December 9th. Unexpectedly, ten tickets have become available - contact the Ball Organiser on 01372 272887 - first come - first served. |
| Prizegiving
This evening which recognised
the achievements of our Lower School pupils proved to be a
happy occasion. All seats were taken as Dr Paul Gray, Director
of Education for Surrey, presented awards to over 150 pupils.
Dr Gray commented on the great variety of book prizes chosen by the youngsters as they collected awards for academic achievement, sport, service to the school, music, merits, attendance and all-round determination to succeed! A special mention here for Gillian Fox, who as a Year 7 pupil, gained a school record for the number of Merits (424) received in the year. |
| Accent
on the Modern Trustees of
the Lord Barnby Charitable Foundation
visited Therfield to see for themselves how the recently
installed new computerised language facility was working. The Foundation had contributed £40,000 towards the setting up of the unit and, following lessons led by Miss Williams and Miss Collier and a demonstration of facilities by Mrs Hrouda, they expressed themselves well satisfied with the use to which the donation had been put. Therfield pupils from all years now have access to ultra-modern teaching aids, which also mean that they can work at their own pace. |
| Arkwright
Scholarship Awards Sixth
Formers Daniel Loughlin and Andrew Marlow attended a ceremony
at the Royal Aeronautical Society in London last
month to receive their Arkwright Scholarship Awards. The presentations were made by Sir Ralph Robins, chairman of Rolls-Royce plc, and a selection of prize-winning work was on exhibition. Daniel and Andrew won this recognition in the face of fierce competition following a two day selection process involving 433 candidates from schools, both independent and state, from all over the UK. A total of 104 awards were made which give the students and the school £250 a year each to assist their design and engineering studies during 'A' level studies. |
| Acadamic
Tutoring A reminder that the
next date is 18th January 2001. Pupils should now be getting the targets set in October completed and signed off. |
|
Lost
Property We have 14 winter
coats now in lost property, plus a pair of walking boots and
numerous other items, all without means of identification.
The PE staff are also inundated with sports kit and boots. |
| Counselling
The new team of Sixth Form
counsellors have now completed their training with Helen
Riseborough, the School Counsellor. They will form the ASK
team which is available daily to help and advise younger
pupils who have problems. Counselling for pupils by the
pupils is their watchword. |
| Messages
We try to keep interruption
of lessons to a minimum so pupils need to collect from the
Main Office, either at break or lunchtime,
any items brought into school. So far this term we have had 390 messages to relay to pupils. If a message comes in before 1.45 pm it can be sent via the afternoon register. Later than that means interrupting a lesson. So please, urgent messages only and as early as possible. |
| Wanted
- Urgently Someone to serve
tea/coffee in the Staffroom on Tuesday and Thursday each week.
The hours usually work out between 10.30am - 12.00 and the pay
is £8 per session. Anyone interested, please contact the
School Office. |
| Second
Hand 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. |
| Visiting
the Battlefields Sixty Year
9 students visited the Ypres Salient just before half term for
the History department's annual Battlefields trip. They walked
the trenches and visited many of the cemeteries and memorials
which mark the resting place of thousands who died in WWI,
including Tyne Cot which has the graves of 12,000 soldiers. They also attended the very moving Last Post ceremony at the Menin Gate and visited the interactive Cloth Hall Museum. The trip clearly made a tremendous impression on the students, many of whom entered high standard art work or writing in a post-trip competition. First prizes went to James Claxton and Sarah Rowntree for their magnificent model trench and Menin Gate. Other notable entries came from Katie Rintoul, Richard Ladd, Louise Noble, Melissa Garland, Oliver Collins and Emily Sweeney. Well done to all students on the trip, who were well-behaved and positive about all they did and saw. visit the Leatherhead War Memorials research website |
| London
Zoo On a very wet November
morning, the Year 13 'A' level Biology group visited London
Zoo to attend a lecture on conservation. This directly
supported the work covered in earlier lessons and also allowed
an opportunity to research current essay assignments. Issues such as habitat destruction, tourism and trade in exotic souvenirs and various aspects of pollution were all considered. There was also an opportunity to visit the Web of Life which explores the importance of conserving and maintaining bio-diversity on the planet. It did finally stop raining, so that a visit to the old favourites, the tigers and elephants, could be fitted in! |
| Please
help - French Exchange Mr
Boucry would like to hear from three families willing to act
as hosts to French students during the Year 11/12 Exchange,
January 22nd to February 1st 2001. Please contact Mr Boucry at
school if you are willing to take in a student. |
| Gym
& Dance Show This is a
first ever event for Therfield and takes place on Wednesday,
6th December at 7.30 pm. Everyone is invited but
space is limited and tickets at £1 each can be obtained
through the school office via letters already sent home. Further information from Miss Jackson or Miss Jefford. |
| Request Thank
you to all those who have responded to last month's request
for used printer and laser cartridges. We
trade them in for software and, if sufficient, even computers!
Please give to Mr Wessell in the IT dept. |
| Therfield
Stompers The group's
Christmas Concert is being held at Ashtead Baptist Church on
Friday, 22nd December at 8 pm. Contact Tim Boniface (01372
273770) for tickets - remember last year there was almost
black market for tickets!! visit the Stompers' website |
| gb
The December issue of the
school magazine will be on sale at school from 12th December.
Features in this 2000 Review edition will include an in-depth
analysis of the Year 2000, a report on High Ashurst and all
the usual music, games, sports news and quizzes. |
| School
Meals From 1st January 2001
the price of a free school meal is increased to £1.35. (well that's what it says here! - Editor) |
| Breakfast
News Following the success
of the Creda Breakfast Challenge among our Year 9s,
McDonalds of Epsom have donated 10 breakfast
vouchers to the winners of the in-school competition. At a recent School Council meeting members requested that breakfast should be served at school - the Canteen did offer this for a time but the take-up was very small. Are parents interested in breakfast being supplied? |
| Congratulations
Matthew Dries in Year 7 was
one of a team of six divers from the area taking part in the
annual Inter-Divisional Diving Championship of England
at Hatfield earlier this month. He was placed eighth in the
individual event and joint 3rd in the team event. His success
in the Individual competition was a particular challenge as he
was competing as a Novice Diver against others of greater
experience. So far this year, Matthew has taken part in 14
competitions and been placed in the top three on 12 occasions,
winning 8 gold, 3 silver and one bronze awards. |
| Football
So far this season the school
has played 43 matches, winning 27 of them. The Year 7 and Year 9 teams have both reached the last 16 of the County Cup, the Year 7s having had a particularly good start, winning nine and drawing one of their first ten matches! Steven Carroll and Stuart Wallace, both in Year 11, have played for Surrey in recent S.E. Championship matches. |
| Netball
Congratulations to Sixth
Former Jessica Price, who has been re-selected for the County
U18 squad. This is her third season playing at county level.
The school has played a number of fixtures this term, often
running A and B teams. The U16s came 3rd in the District
Tournament. |
| Out
of School Requests A
Christingle Candlelight Carol Service is to be held at All
Saints Church, Leatherhead on Sunday 3rd December at 3.00pm. A thriving Guide unit in Ashtead is looking for a new female leader to work alongside an experienced Guider. Please call Sarah on 01372 272181 if you can help. |
DATES FOR THE DIARY
also see the School Calendar
| 3 Dec | Friends' Christmas Fair 2 pm |
| 6 Dec | Y11 Study Leave starts & Mock MFL Orals |
| 7 Dec | Y10 Modular Science Exams |
| 8 Dec | Y11 Mock GCSEs begin |
| 9 Dec | Friends' Ball |
| 15th Dec | Year 11 Ball |
| 18 Dec | Carol Service in Main Hall 7.30pm |
| 20 Dec | LAST DAY OF TERM - 1.00 PM FINISH |
| 8 Jan 2001 | New Term starts |