No
Re-Sits One of the
consequences of the changes to Post-16 education is that
for students taking linear 'A' levels (i.e. those where
all exams are sat at the end of the course) there are no
re-sits.
This means that for the 'A' level students of Summer 2001
there is the one and only opportunity to achieve the
grades they need. In common with other schools we feel
this is grossly unfair and have complained vociferously to
the Examination Boards but all to no avail. The decision,
it seems, is final.
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Set
Your Videos! Some time
ago, a group of our students took part in a BBC
Learning Zone programme to help with the teaching
of English. Now, at last, is the time to programme your
videos to catch the programme. which will be broadcast on
BBC 2 between 0200-0400 hours on Tuesday 20th March.
Therfield students are featured in Programme 3 which is
about better writing skills. Programmes 1 and 2 are
broadcast on 12th and 19th March and, whilst not having
quite the same personal interest, are also valuable
learning resources.
Ms English wrote the script for Programme
3 and pupils appearing are Heather Miller, Lydia
Taylor, James Day, David Erasmus and
Richard Easton, all of whom are now in Year 10.
The pupils give advice on taking the National Curriculum
Test in English at Key Stage 3 and, as this is an
inter-active session, students should be able to print
worksheets off the internet to use within the programme.
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Mufti
Day At the suggestion of
the School Council a special Mufti Day was held and we
were able to send a cheque for £1,000 to the Indian
Earthquake Relief Fund.
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Enrichment
Day General Studies
students in Year 12 had the opportunity to widen their
horizons with a choice of three interesting destinations
on 2nd February. One group opted for cultural and
aesthetic awareness and visited the Tate Modern at
Bankside, others chose social perspectives and enjoyed a
day in the new City of Brighton and the third group paid
a visit to the Science Museum.
This proved to be a highly successful day for all
concerned with plenty of comment and enthusiasm shown in
the follow-up lessons - particularly when the Science
group demonstrated the effectiveness of the rocket they
could not resist buying in the Museum shop!
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Early
Closures Year
9 Parents' Evening takes place on 7th March
and Year 7's on 28th March. School
will close at 3.15 pm on these days. Friday, 30th March
is an INSET Day when pupils are not in school.
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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 8 pm and anyone
wanting more information or would like to request a
prayer, should contact Mrs Jill Poole on 01932 865476.
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School
Uniform Lester Bowden of
Epsom have now taken over as our uniform suppliers - their
phone number is 01372 747475. A list setting out what is
required can be obtained from school, but all uniform
should now be purchased direct from the Epsom shop.
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Spring
Concert 2001 This year's
Spring Concert will be held in the Main Hall on Thursday,
5th April. All of the school's ensembles - Main
Orchestra, Symphonic Band, Main Choir, Lower School
Singers, Swing Band - will be performing, as well as
selected soloists. (N.B. The Choral Concert scheduled for
19th March has been cancelled).
A letter will be sent home shortly with all the details
plus ticketing arrangements - this advance notice is to
remind you to keep the date free in your diary .
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Study
Skills Year 11
students who decided to sacrifice one day of their half
term break to attend the Study Seminar
held at school voted it a worthwhile exercise. Run by Learning
Performance Seminars, the programme covered areas
such as effective methods of revision, memory techniques
and time management. 70 students attended and feedback
to date has been very positive.
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Literacy
Strategy To support the
new Literacy Strategy for Year 7s, the English Department
is organising a Dictionary Week and a Punctuation
Fortnight.
March 19-23 is the date for concentration on dictionary
skills which will be tested and built on with
find-the-word-first races, sessions of Call My Bluff
and Word Families Challenges.
Next term, from 30th April to 11th May the emphasis will
be on punctuation, with similar challenges and activities
across all subjects.
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Drama
Night Year 13 students
will be presenting a programme of their Drama 'A' level
work at school on Friday, 9th March at 7.30 pm. This is
an evening which always offers a diversity of
presentation as well as considerable skills and anyone
interested in attending should contact the Drama
department.
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Happy
ExchangeTime spent here
with their French exchange partners has whetted the
appetite of our Sixth Form language students for the
return visit to France in March.
Most students admitted to feeling apprehensive as they
waited at Leatherhead station for the arrival of their
partners - "I was a bundle of nerves wondering if this
was a mistake" was one comment. However, by the end of
the French students' stay, the feelings were much more
positive and all said how well everyone had fitted in,
even though some students had to brush up on their
Playstation and Nintendo 64 skills!
While here the French students visited London and
Cambridge and spent some time in school, (including
doing a two hour Maths paper!). "I had a brilliant time
and the best is yet to come!" said one enthusiastic
hostess as she looked forward to seeing what life was
like in Riom.
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Charity
Rag Days Sixth Formers
plan to raise as much money as possible for their chosen
charities - MacMillan Nurses and Tadworth Court
Children's Hospital - with a series of imaginative
events planned for the end of March.
Possible fund-raising schemes include a Sixth Form
Pyjama Day, a Pop Stars lunch time
concert and evening entertainment for parents and
pupils.
Some sports matches between staff and students should
add to the fun and on Friday, March 30th, a sponsored Break
Out is planned, with teams of students challenged
to travel as far as they can in a day on £5! Permission
has been given for a street collection in Leatherhead
and Epsom.
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Drug
Awareness A reminder
that 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 Tuesday, March 6th starting at 7.30
pm. This evening is for parents and is free. Local schools
have each been allocated 30 places, so if you are
interested in attending please leave your name with the
School Office and we will forward tickets.
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Not
So Good! Drama and
Theatre Arts students from Years 10 and 11 looked forward
to a visit to the Victoria Theatre, Woking to see Confusions,
especially Miss Harris's Year 11 group who had studied it
for their practical exams.
Sadly, the production did not live up to expectations and
students were heard to comment, "Honestly, we were much
better than that. We were funny in our performances" -
staff who accompanied the group agreed with this verdict.
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Gratefully
Received All tokens,
coupons and empty ink cartridges are put to good use by
our ICT and Learning Support departments. A good deal of
computer software has already been received and other
items have been earmarked for future ordering.
Books for Schools to be obtained via Walkers
Crisp packets, is the province of the Learning Support
Department who are assiduous in their collecting. To date
they have 1,500 tokens and are aiming to beat last year's
figure of 13,000!
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Design
Skills Becky
Williams in Year 8 has received a Certificate
of Excellence from the Guild of British Tie Makers for
her entry in the national Young Tie Designers 2001
competition.
Entrants were asked to design a tie for a star
personality and Becky's choice of yachtswoman Claire
Francis prompted an attractive design of a sailing boat
on a background of waves and clouds.
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Safe Return The
extreme weather conditions in Austria over the weekend
meant delays in the return journeys for both ski trips.
Happily, both groups returned safely having enjoyed
plenty of good skiing and fun off the slopes.
The seniors, led by Mr Hill, revelled
in the challenges to all grades of skier at Zell Am See
while sixty junior skiers, led by Mrs Wingrove,
went to Kufstein near Soll.
Once again they were congratulated on their good
behaviour by coach drivers, hotel staff and ski
instructors as they enjoyed a full programme of skiing,
ice skating, bowling, and swimming in an outdoor pool!
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USA Visit Sixth
Formers packed in plenty of sight seeing and shopping
during their week's visit to New York, Washington and
Philadelphia. 'Tremendously successful' was the verdict
with the promise of a fuller account in next month's
Newsletter.
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Friends
Fun Quiz Night This
takes place on Saturday, 10th March, 7.30 pm.
Booking forms went home just before half term but can be
printed off now by clicking on quiz tickets
application form. Tickets are available from
the School Office - adults £3.20, students £2, including
gateaux and tea/coffee. There will be a Raffle and
licensed bar.
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Easter
Holiday Fun Reeds
School at Cobham is the venue for Destiny
2001, a residential holiday programme being
organised by a local Christian Charity.
9th-12th April is for Years 7-9 and a week for Years 10-13
runs on 16-19th April. The price is £20 to include plenty
of activities, three square meals a day and a bed for the
night. The theme is 'Space' and Sam Coates, our Relational
Youth Worker, can give more information.
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Famous
Faces Winners of the Famous
Faces competition organised by the Resource Centre
were Matthew Daines and Matthew
Dries (Year 7), Matthew Knoyie
and Dean Smith (Year 8), Hannah
Goodwin (Year 9), Heather Miller
and Hayley Scott (Year 10).
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Sporting
Success Antony
Penny from Year 9 was in the Surrey U14
Rugby Development Squad which took part in a curtain
raiser display with Sussex and Kent teams before the
England-Italy international at Twickenham.
Sixth Former Michael Plenty has once
again been selected for the GB Under-18 Ice Hockey squad
for a foreign tour.
Our U16 Badminton boys are still on
course to defend successfully their county and national
team titles - their most recent win was against
Charterhouse.
Basketball across all years has been
going well; the Year 11s having a particularly good win
93-44 over Howard of Effingham.
Many fixtures for football still have to be completed -
a round-up will appear next month.
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Pupil
Post Letters you should
have received in February include Y7 Internet Permission
Form, Y13 Parents' Evening, Y9 Parents' Evening, Friends'
Quiz Night, Uniform Sale.
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Tough
Guys (this item is
additional to the printed issue). All of the Therfield
staff/student contingent completed the Tough Guy competition
at Wolverhampton (see last issue), some raising
substantial amounts for charities.
No prizes for spotting who this one is! |
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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
or contact them on 01737 772000.
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Issue 85 28th February 2001