THERFIELD NEWS Issue 90 24th July 2001

The time has therefore come for me to hand over to someone who can bring fresh drive and energy to take the school to even greater success.

Mr Graham Tuck will be taking over from me in September. He is presently Headteacher of Sunbury Manor School, where he is held in very high regard. I know that he shares with me many of the values that have made Therfield what it is.

Therfield has never been stronger as a school. Examination results, Ofsted Reports, Achievement Awards for Staff, The Sportsmark Award and finally Beacon Status all point to the official recognition of what the school has achieved. Equally important, however, is the view of the local community. The fact that we had 100 more families wanting to send children to us than we had places, points to the confidence that parents have in what is happening here.

These achievements have only been possible as a result of a huge team effort. The teaching team at Therfield has for the most part been exceptional. Most teachers work far harder than anyone has the right to expect. However, the administrative and other staff provide superb backup to enable the school to function efficiently.

I could not have asked for a better school to lead and I have enjoyed my time enormously (well most of it!). My thanks to all those of you who have sent good wishes. I shall be continuing to work part time supporting schools and new headteachers, but hopefully will have a little more time to tend my garden and grow some orchids.

Quite a number of staff will be leaving Therfield this Summer. The quality of what we do here makes Therfield teachers a very attractive prospect for other schools wishing to recruit. This year has also seen, nationally, a massive amount of staff movement. Very high house prices in the South East mean that teachers here often move away to be able to afford somewhere to buy.

I especially want to pay tribute to Mrs Cain, Head of Maths, who moves on to join the Surrey Advisory Team. She will be helping to train and support other Maths staff across the County. She has led our Maths Faculty brilliantly, so that the school is achieving examination results way in excess of those that might be expected.

Other long serving staff who are going include Mr Boucry who may be returning to his native France. He has helped so many pupils try to master both French and German, as well as leading visits abroad.

Mrs Harper is going to develop her work with pupils with learning difficulties. We shall miss her involvement with so many sports teams, as also with Miss Lansdown who is returning to VSO work in South America.

Mr Oliver is moving to a promoted post teaching English, his quiet humour and brilliant teaching will be much missed.

Miss Smeaton from Science and Miss Steel from Drama are also going to promoted posts where other schools have spotted their very special qualities.

Mrs Williamson who has done so much to enhance the work of the Technology Faculty is going to run her own Department at Esher High School.

Mrs Junge is finally retiring, possibly for the third time and our thanks to her for standing in and helping the Music Department yet again this year, and for all the help with Therfield's musical performances.

Also leaving, Miss Collier to run her own Department, Mr Cordell, Miss Garner, Ms Landsmann, Mrs Lidderdale, Mr Ogan, Mrs Want, Mr Weekes and Mrs Williams. To all of them my grateful thanks for all that they have done to help our youngsters achieve the best that they can.

The school will also greatly miss Mrs Good, our Finance Officer, who plans to join her family in the United States.

Other gold award winners were - Thomas Rushton, Alan Skarda, Thomas Crayden, Stuart Cork (all Year 7) John Andrews, Ben Thomas, Luke Mursaleen, Philip Hutchison, Gareth Mead, Colin Pitt, Simon Bannister (Year 8). Well done again!

We had the Red Hot Chilli Peppers, aka Dave Urry, Phil Haslam, Dave Swingler, Ed Nix and Matthew Dean, playing 'Scar Tissue' and 'Under the Bridge'.

Simon Staples, Alex Warren, Matt Dean, Tom Early, Tom Marshall and Sam Hopper gave Santana a run for his money with 'Smooth'. Add to that Robert Young and Amy Worsfold's version of 'Can You Feel the Love Tonight' and solos and duets from Sarah Waldman, Holly Ashby, Libby Bond and Lucy Morek and you had a programme that appealed to most present. Going by audience response, Lucy and Libby's version of 'Eat at Joe's', accompanied by three of The Stompers was a definite highlight.

Mr Langford and the Music Department thank everyone who came to listen or perform and especially the Year 13 students for whom this was the last official concert at the School - the audience were especially reluctant to say goodbye to The Stompers (Tim Boniface, Alex Head, Tom Marshall, Tom Early) who have performed so brilliantly at school and public functions over the years.

The Year 7 pupils took part enthusiastically and fully justified all the hard work and preparation that had gone beforehand. Boys and girls strutted the cat walk wearing the colourful costumes they had created, and the costume jewellery they had made and designed showed plenty of imagination and ingenuity. Musical instruments created in Design Technology and played under the guidance of the Music teachers provided the rhythm while colourful posters made an eye-catching Art exhibition. In the interval, cool drinks and cakes supplied by Food Technology followed the African theme. As one tired yet triumphant Year 7 put it - "I didn't think we could be this good!".

Pupils also visited the Canterbury Tales Museum where the Chaucer poems they had studied in English lessons were brought to life. Finally, they were able to explore the ruined castle which has stood guard over the city for 1,000 years.

The week's activities were varied, including a Rhine cruise, visit to Bonn and the famous Haus der Geschichte, Germany's museum of contemporary history. Pupils spent a morning with their partners in school and, as a contrast, visited Cologne's equivalent to Chessington World of Adventures.

Tears were shed as our coach pulled away for the journey home and many return visits have already been planned - pupils in Years 9 and 10 next year are reminded that exchanges to Germany and France will be taking place again - details from Miss Buckell.

Here are a few of their thoughts, "I really loved having baby Darren - even though he woke me up seven times in the night", "The baby woke me up six times but I really enjoyed looking after him", "I took the baby to the shops and loads of people were interested, saying it was a really good idea", "Lots of people said the baby was the Big Brother baby", "I called the baby Damien - devil child - because it was very tiring looking after him. He woke me up eight times", "Falling down the stairs didn't help", "it was an excellent experience but I did get some funny looks as I walked to school carrying him!". All of the girls agreed that it had been a worthwhile experience and gave a very realistic idea of what bringing up baby could be like!

Seven new school records were set, most notably by Steven Douglas, Year 9, who broke the 100m record which has stood since 1987 and a Year 7 pupil, Ben Stevenson, who broke three records.

Top athletes for each year were: Year 7 - Holly Pearce and Ben Stevenson; Year 8 - Alexandra Kazosi and Christopher Scott; Year 9 - Kayleigh Staples and Steven Douglas; Year 10 - Stephanie Hughes and Nick Leyland.

Years 7, 8 and 10 all finished in the top three of their leagues. The coaching tie-up with Ashtead Cricket Club has certainly helped our cricketers who have been particularly impressed by the input from the club's overseas player, Pakistan fast bowler Amir Nazir. We have run up some really impressive scores in 20 over matches, our bowlers then have shown a maturity in keeping scores down while taking wickets and there has been a noticeable improvement in running between the wickets! It is such a shame the season is so short but a number of boys do now go on to play club cricket.