| Thank
you from Mr. Terry Reddin Many
parents and former pupils have been generous in their
comments about my prospective retirement and I thank you
all, especially Mr Chris Luke, who spoke for so many at
the Presentation Evening.
As explained in my letter
home to parents,
I will be away from school for six weeks after half term
and Mr Geary will be my able deputy. To date we have
received 54 enquiries about the headteacher post and
interviews will take place on 15th-16th February.
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| Trust
Fund Mr David Crutchley,
school governor, writes: "We are very pleased to report
that there has been a very significant response from
parents to our decision to set up a Trust Fund. We have
already been able to pay for numerous items that would not
be affordable out of the school's annual budget.
We are now in a position to consider a
major project. The Trustees wish to proceed vvith the
leasing of 30 laptop computers which would greatly
enhance the computer facilities of the school and
thereby the teaching and learning opportunities
available to all students.
Some parents will recently have received
from the Trust a letter asking for this term's donation
or, perhaps, their first response to the Fund. We hope
that parents will respond as generously as possible to
ensure that Therfield can provide the best possible
facilities and opportunities for all students.
The Trustees will provide a detailed
half-year statement early next term and we are always
pleased to hear from parents in matters concerning the
Trust Fund".
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Looking
Ahead National
Curriculum Tests for Year 9 pupils take place on Tuesday,
8th May to Monday, 14th May (inclusive). More details
about these tests will be available at the Year 9 Options
Evening on 7th February.
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| On the
Buses All schools have
received a timely warning about pupil behaviour on buses
and taxis provided by the local education authority.
Operators in some areas have been so concerned about poor
behaviour that they no longer wish to provide vehicles.
Parents are reminded that it is their
responsibility to see that their child's behaviour is
acceptable and that the privilege of travelling on 'the
school bus' can be withdrawn. Parents are also expected
to pay for any damage caused to a vehicle.
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|
Changes
to bus Routes and Times Local
services, notably the 465, 479, 418, and 406 are
involved in changes as from Saturday, 27th January.
The details are too
complicated to give an adequate summary here but new
timetables should be available from bus offices,
libraries and local councils, or contact Traveline 0870
608 2608 (open 7am to 8pm) for information.
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| Presentation
Evening Due to the
Christmas holidays, this year's event was held a little
later so it was very gratifying to see the large number of
ex-students who managed to attend - many of them returning
from university especially.
Our guest of honour was the Chief
Constable of Surrey, Mr Denis O'Connor, who, in his
brief and humorous speech, suggested that his schooldays
had not hinted at the career path he was to follow! He
also made the very valid point that the environment of a
school was something that did not show up in the league
tables and, listening to all the comments accompanying
the awards, he felt that 'Therfield was a school with a
caring environment'.
The announcement by Mr John Hickey,
chairman of governors, that Therfield had attracted 327
'first choice' applications for next year showed that
local parents had a great deal of belief in the school.
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Early
Closures Year 13
Parents' Evening takes place on 14th February and Year 9
on 7th March. School will close at 3.15 pm on those days.
A reminder too that 6th February is an INSET Day and
pupils are not in school.
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Sixth
Form Open Evening It was
'standing room only' for this highly successful occasion.
Increasingly we are attracting students from other
establishments and this is reflected in the attendance and
enquiries received. We still have places available, so if
you know of anyone seeking a Sixth Form place do tell them
about Therfield.
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Prayer
Group The date for the
next Prayer Group meeting for Parents is Monday 12th
March. Meetings are held at the school at 8pm and anyone
wanting more information or would like to request a
prayer, should contact Mrs Jill Poole on 01932 865476.
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Results
Days Two important dates
for August :
'A' level results come out on Thursday, 16th,
and GCSE results on Thursday, 23rd.
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| School
Uniform Lester
Bowden of Epsom will be taking over as our uniform
suppliers from 1st February - their phone number is 01 372
747475.
There could be a slight hiatus during the
changeover period so, if you need an item of uniform
during February, check first and contact the school if
there is a problem. However, we do expect that in future
all uniform will be bought directly from the Epsom shop.
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Accommodation
Wanted Miss Collier is
still seeking families willing to accommodate French
students (Year 9 age) from 19th-28th March. She needs to
know urgently if you can help, so please contact her at
school. It is not too late for pupils in Years 8, 9 or 10
to sign up for the Exchange.
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|
Sponsored
Spell Year 7 excelled
themselves this year and produced the record return of
£1276.26. The money will go towards books for the
Library and Lower School English. Many thanks to
parents, sponsors and pupils!
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'Lost'
Property As mentioned in
a number of previous Newsletters we do not have the space
to keep lost property for ever. If property is labelled we
can return it, if not it will eventually be disposed of -
currently we have a number of good quality coats, three
blazers, numerous gloves and scarves all waiting to be
claimed.
|
Keep
Collecting Many thanks
to all those who have sent in vouchers and tokens for free
software and books for schools - we are still keen to
receive more.
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| Tough
Guys Wolverhampton was
'brutally cold' for this year's Tough Guy
competition but all of our 17 strong contingent completed
the course and, once again, we are in contention for a
Team Trophy.
Seven staff - Miss Lansdown and Messrs
Hill, Garner, Rolaston, Smith, Sadikali and Wheatley -
and ten students took part in conditions which saw
chunks of ice floating in the water hazards! First home
for Therfield yet again was Mr Hill.
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| Study
Skills The school is
holding a one-day Study Seminar on Monday, 19th February
during the half term break. It will be run by Learning
Performance Seminars, costs £15 and is aimed at
GCSE students.
The programme will cover areas such as
effective methods of revision, memory techniques and
time management. In previous years the seminar has been
appreciated by students and has drawn many favourable
comments. There is still time to sign up, but Friday,
2nd is the absolute latest.
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Parking
Plea A reminder to
parents to be thoughtful about where they park in the
vicinity of the school - local residents complain that
their driveways and garages are blocked often for some
considerable time.
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| Drug
Awareness The Rotary
Club of Ashtead is again organising a Drug Awareness
Evening. It will be held at the City of London
Freemen's School on March 6th starting at 7.30pm.
The main speaker will be Phil Cooper, who
describes himself as a 'reformed junkie' and who is
reputed to speak with great force, insight, conviction
and humour. This evening is for parents and is free. The
demand for tickets is likely to be great, so local
schools have each been allocated 30 places. If you are
interested in attending let the school office know and
we will make arrangements for tickets.
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Support
Workers Wanted Surrey
County Council is seeking to recruit more part-time
student support workers. This will involve helping deaf
and visually impaired students in colleges and
universities - training courses will be held in June and
July. More information from Sue Lockyer-Heath 020 8393
2872.
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| Making
Music An open rehearsal
for adults to take part in a new String Orchestra or a
Wind Band was held at Therfield on Sunday 28th January.
However, if you have aspirations to take
part in either and missed the rehearsal, contact Esher
& Mole Valley Music Centre (01372 370294) and they
will be pleased to give you details. The Wind Band will
be led by Rainer Dolz and the String Orchestra by Kate
Elphick.
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Donation
We sent £500 to the
Bishop of Guildford's Appeal for the Homeless
following the Carol Concert.
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Dyslexia
Conference The Harlequin
Theatre, Redhill on 10th February is the venue for an
all-day conference run by SE Surrey Dyslexia Association.
More information from Hermione Puzey 01737 763 888.
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|
Olympic
Encouragement We were
proud to watch former pupil Paul Belk on TV swimming for
Team GB in the Sydney Olympics and now have
every reason to be grateful to him. Paul has nominated
Therfield to receive the equivalent of his Personal
Best Award of £1020 from Kellogg's.
To mark the success of the GB
team, the firm decided to give a cash award to athletes
who achieved a personal best during the games and Paul
nominated Therfield as being a key to his sporting
career to receive a matching amount. We hope Paul
will be able to come into school next month to present
the award.
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| Sporting
Successes Congratulations
to Stuart Wallace and Steven Douglas, both in Year 11, who
have been selected to represent Surrey at football
- they have a game against Buckinghamshire this week.
Our Year 9s are through to the quarter
finals of the County Cup and the Year 7s have also
reached the quarter finals and are unbeaten to date.
They were runners-up in the Central Surrey 5-a-side
tournament - losing in the final on penalties.
At cross country, Alice
McFadden, Mary Nelson and Rachel Stamper were picked to
run for Central Surrey in the County Championships and
Guy Head, Warren Gale and Dean Matthews all gained
selection for the Surrey team following the County
Trials.
We continue to do well at Badminton
and our Boys U16 team having defeated Wilsons, Tiffins
and Trinity schools next take on Charterhouse in defence
of their title.
Chris Langridge, our captain, continues to
excel and was recently selected to represent the England
U17 team. For the first time we plan to enter a girls
team in Surrey's U14 knock out tournament; they play Sir
William Perkins school next month.
Basketball is a popular
sport this term and our Year 8s remain unbeaten in their
League.
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Revision
Help GCSE French and
German revision guides can be obtained from the Modern
Languages Faculty - cost £2 each.
|
Winners
Alice Cox, Jasmine
Whaley, Samantha Page and Melanie Worsfold, all Year 10,
will be 'shadowing' Jane Siegle, Mole Valley's Road Safety
Officer as reward for winning the Road Safety competition
in their Child Development course.
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Pupil
Post Letters you should
have received via your son/daughter recently are :-
Y13 Parents' Evening,
Y11 GCSEs Learning Seminar,
Y10 Parents' Evening, Free School Meals entitlement,
Sixth Form Open Evening,
letter from Mr Reddin re his impending retirement.
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| e-billing
Sutton and East Surrey
Water will make a £5 donation to the school every time a
parent/customer switches to SESW e-billing.
All you have to do is give your name, SESW
water account number, home email address (if different
from the one you are emailing from) and which school you
would like the educational donation to be paid to (Therfield,
we hope!).
SESW's website is on www.waterplc.com
and their ebill address is ebill@waterplc.com
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Issue 84 31st January 2001