Trust
Fund More details of the
achievements of the first year of the Trust are available
via this link.
Mr David Crutchley, governor and chairman
of the Trustees, writes: "this demonstrates what can be
done through the generosity of parents. I know that
students and staff are enjoying making good use of the
additional equipment and facilities available to them."
"We are planning what we would like to do this year but to
put plans into action we need continued donations from
parents. If you have not yet responded to this term's
mailing would you please do so as soon as possible. Every
gift is much valued and will contribute to enhancing the
educational experience of all our students."
The Trust is happy to receive suggestions
from parents if they feel there is an area of the school
which would benefit from additional funding.
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Important
Dates The start of the
new school year in September will now be Monday 9th
September for most students. Thursday 5th September will
be an INSET day when staff but not students attend and
Friday 6th September will be for Sixth Form only.
Other Dates to Note - 5th February is an INSET Day when
students are not in school apart from those on the Year 11
Revision Course. 13th February is Year 13 Parents' Evening
and 6th March is Year 9 Parents' Evening - on both days
school will close at 3.15 pm.
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Results
Days On Thursday 15th
August results of AS and A
level examinations will be in school and
Thursday, 22nd August is the date for GCSE
results.
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Presentation
Evening Once again this
evening was a happy occasion as many students made a
special effort to attend and meet up with staff and old
friends.
Lord
Ron Dearing, whose
impact on school life has been considerable, proved to be
a delightful guest of honour. He took an interest in the
books chosen by the award winners, applauded those who had
done exceptionally well and had a quiet word of
congratulation for all. He gave a polished speech with
many amusing anecdotes yet succeeded in promoting a more
serious message. "I can" and "I will' were the five
watchwords he left with his young audience.
He also appreciated the Headteacher's comment that 'back
in the late 1980s it was said of the National Curriculum
that it resembled a Medieval map of the world - 'pretty
to look at, perilous to navigate and designed by flat
earthers'. This, of course, was pre-Lord Dearing!
Much appreciated musical interludes were given by Jonathan
Collins and Tim Boniface and
a vote of thanks by our senior students, Nicola
Bailey and Tom Valentine.
Brief reports and pictures of the evening were published
in the local Press.
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Time
to Choose Now is a very
important time for Year 9 students as they will need to
select which subjects they will take at GCSE. An evening
for parents and students to help them make this choice is
being held on Wednesday, 6th February at 7.30 pm.
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Joining
the Sixth Form The Open
Evening was very well attended and it was particularly
gratifying to welcome a number of students from outside
Therfield - evidence of our growing reputation as an
excellent provider of Post-16 education.
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Prayer
Group The first meeting
of 2002 will be on 4th February at 8 pm in the school. All
parents are welcome or you can request a prayer to be
said. Mrs Jill Poole (01 932 865476)
would be happy to give more information.
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Parking
Plea Our near neighbours
- and those not quite so near in Hazlemere Close - have
requested that parents please be considerate when parking
and waiting for students to come from school.
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Year
7 and Harry Potter A
cast and back up crew which took in a large number of Year
7 students worked tremendously hard to make their first
production at Therfield a success. The Adventures of
Harry Potter played to full and very appreciative
audiences on two nights this month.
The actors' familiarity and sympathy with the characters
was very evident and this was a production which was full
of fun for audience and players alike. Lawrence
Tanner as Harry and David Young
as Hagrid had the main parts and played them well and the
whole cast contributed towards creating the magical
atmosphere - there were three-headed dogs, trolls, singing
hats, dancing chess pieces and musical goblins. A special
vote of thanks to Miss Ferguson who
directed the play and coaxed such excellent performances
from so many young players and backstage workers.
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School
Mini-bank Scheme This
has now started and the initial response has been very
encouraging. Many students from Years 7 and 8 have chosen
to open accounts and our Year 10 Business Studies students
and staff from Leatherhead's HSBC bank have been kept busy
on Tuesday banking days.
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Revision
Help One hundred Year 11
students have taken up the offer to attend the one day
course run by the Learning Performance Group on 5th
February.
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An Exciting
Challenge Pupils in
Years 7, 8, 9 and 10 are entering a Maths Challenge
issued by the Royal Air Force. Top prize is a laptop for
the school but most students have their ambitions set on
the promised visit for the winners to an operational RAF
base to meet the Red Arrows and a ride in a flight
simulator.
visit the Red
Arrows
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Extra
Maths Six students from
Year 8 are attending a series of twelve masterclasses in
Maths at Surrey University in Guildford. Over the next two
terms they will be attending lectures and workshops with
other able students in the county.
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Practising
to Play Well Not only do
Year Seven Band members get up early to attend rehearsal
but they also put in a lot of practice time. Towards the
end of last term, the students kept careful track of all
the home practice they were doing and logged it onto a
central graph. The prize for the section of the band that
averaged the most hours of work was a free pizza party.
In total the students did 251 hours of practice - sweet
music for Mr Langford! In fourth place
with 52 hours at an average of 5.2 hours per student were
the trumpets and comets, third with 90 hours at an average
of 5.3 was the reed section, the flutes managed an average
of 6.3 but it was the lower brass section who took first
place with an average of 7.4 hours.
The individual top place went to Amar Chauhan
for a massive 12 hours of practice time. Congratulations
to all band members for so much hard work, especially Amar
and all trombones and euphoniums.
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Please
Collect Tokens from
crisps and newspapers are welcomed by the Learning Support
Department who are enthusiastic collectors in the Free
Books for Schools campaign. They are also
collecting the Nestlé cereal packet tops. ICT like to
receive old inkjet cartridges for recycling and Tesco
Computers for Schools is due to start again soon -
many thanks for all of you who cut out, keep, collect and
send in to school.
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Partnership
with Parents A seminar
giving information about the Special Educational
Needs Code of Practice 2001 and the SEN &
Disability Act 2001 is being held at Guildford
College from 9.30 - 1.00 pm on Saturday, 9th March. Ashley
Ayre, Head of Surrey Children's Services, will
outline the programme and a series of workshops will be
held with parents being able to select those which are of
greatest interest. More information and a booking form
from 01737 646227.
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Help
with Dyslexia SE Surrey
Dyslexia Association plan a lively programme of meetings
in the coming months - on 5th February the topic is Is
Nutrition Important? An all-day conference on 16th
March covers Dyspraxia, Maths and Dyslexia and Code of
Practice and in May a demonstration of games and puzzles
designed to help dyslexic children will be given. All
meetings are held at the Harlequin Theatre, Redhill and
more details can be obtained from 01737 763888 or 01737
556173.
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Dancing
Success Tom
Davies in Year 8 attends Laine Theatre
Arts in Epsom. Back in October he auditioned to
take part in a joint project between the charity UNICEF
and the dance association ISTD. The project is to produce
working material, including a video, for the new Key Stage
3 project, Global Citizenship.
Tom was successful in the audition and has been chosen to
be one of the 24 dancers featured. Rehearsals have been
taking place in readiness for the video shoot at half
term. Tom can also look forward to July when he will be
taking part in a charity gala performance at the Saddler's
Wells Theatre.
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First
Aid Science teacher Mrs
Stephen is willing to run a First Aid course
for students in Years 7, 8, 9 if sufficient interest is
shown. Although the initial meeting was held on Monday, if
your son/daughter is interested but missed it, do
encourage them to see Mrs Stephen.
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English
visit A group of A level
English Literature students went to see Faith Healer
by Brian Friel recently and found it a very worthwhile and
enjoyable evening. The students have been studying another
of Friel's plays and this gave them the chance to see his
text come to life. It was an excellent performance with
convincing acting, magical set changes and a deeply
engaging plot.
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Pleasing
the Customer As the Year
11 GNVQ Leisure and Tourism students are currently working
on an assignment entitled 'Customer Service', a visit to Drusilla's
Wildilife Park in Sussex provided a good
opportunity for them to study it at a practical level.
They were given a presentation on how it is delivered with
the Park to make sure that visitors get the most out of
the day. The Park authorities also had much to ponder as
the fifteen students suggested that a visit to the
Under-11 play area was a highlight for them!
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Clocking
up the visits Since
launch in January 1999, the school's website has proved of
great value in giving information about Therfield to a
great many people. Over 10,000 visits have been made. The
website is run by the Friends and the IT department and
continues to grow, with staff adding pages for their
subjects.
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Cross
Country Team positions
were excellent in the boys district cross country. Thanks
to our junior and intermediate teams finishing second in
their groups and the seniors coming in first we were
adjudged champion school. A number of Therfield runners
both boys and girls, took part in the county trials and Tom
Scriven, Matthew Thomas and Mary
Nelson will now go on to run for Surrey.
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Gym
and Dance Show This will
take place on Thursday, 7th February at 7.30 pm. Tickets
are now on sale at £2.00 each. Seating is limited and,
judging by the success of last year's display, early
application is advisable. The Gym and Dance Clubs draw on
a very enthusiastic and lively membership. A great deal of
hard work and time has gone into rehearsals and the girls
promise to make this a first class evening.
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Help
Wanted We are seeking
accommodation for teachers from our partner schools in the
German and French Exchanges next month. If you could offer
accommodation to a German teacher from 8th-15th March
please contact Miss Buckell, or for a
French teacher 14th to 24th March please contact Mrs
Collins.
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Issue 95 30th January 2002