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THERFIELD
SCHOOL
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THERFIELD
SCHOOL
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| Dear Parents
With half-term now receding into the past, it is time to bring you up to date with news and events at Therfield. EXAM RESULTS Advanced Level Examinations General Certificate of
Secondary Education Examinations
Under the old system, 'O' Level examinations were intended to examine the top 20% of the ability range in the population as a whole. The Certificate of Secondary Education was aimed at the 40% of the population below that catered for by 'O' Levels. The average candidate at C.S.E. would have been awarded a Grade 4. With the G.C.S.E. examinations, the Examining Boards do not specify pass or fail grades, but most employers consider grades A-C as acceptable qualifications for entry to the professions, and schools accept them for entry on to 'A' Level courses. Bearing in mind the difficulty of making comparisons between two very different examinations one would normally expect about 20% of the pupil population to achieve A-C grades. Noteworthy Features In all, 47% of all grades awarded were in the A-C category. The outstanding individual was Nicholas Green who gained 9 passes at Grade A. HIGHER EDUCATION PLACEMENTS PUPIL NUMBERS BUILDING DEVELOPMENTS Plans are now being drawn for a major extension to the School Library. A new Business & Information Studies room and a Technology Laboratory have been completed, although we still await some of the new computer equipment to be installed. MAJOR EVENTS Thanks to an enormous amount of work by Mrs. Hodgson (Head of Careers) Therfield has once again placed all of our Fifth Form pupils in work experience placements for a whole week prior to half term. Our links with the Royal Opera House are developing, with singers leading workshops at the school attended by all Fourth Year pupils. Pupils following Creative Arts courses in the Fourth Year and Sixth Form have visited the Royal Opera House. This link continues until Easter. At Harvest time, large quantities of produce were donated and we received letters of thanks from the Leatherhead & District Old People's Association. We were grateful, also, for tools handed in to be sent out to Africa. Two teams of young actors from the school were invited by the Thorndike Theatre to play supporting roles in their recent production of "Candleford", and once again Mr. Clissold, the Director, has expressed his gratitude, pointing out the high quality of commitment shown by Therfield pupils. Whilst the Fifth Years were on Work Experience, the rest of the school took part in a Sponsored Walk to help raise funds for the Children in Need Appeal, together with School Funds. My thanks for all your support for this and to the Friends for helping supply refreshments. I was delighted that we were joined on the walk by pupils and staff from West Hill School and also from Woodlands School for severely handicapped pupils. Pupils from Woodlands have been sharing Craft and Computer facilities. Over half -term, the History Department, under Mr. Goldhawk's management, led a party of over ninety Third Form pupils and ten staff to Flanders, as part of their studies on the First World War. SPORTS NEWS This term we have Badminton teams playing in the Barclays National Competition. At the present time the boys, girls and mixed teams have all reached the third round. Only one more round and teams will be in the National Finals. Special congratulations must go to Alex Bennett on being selected for the England Badminton team. Our Cross Country teams also compete in a National competition. The Junior and Intermediate girls and Junior boys teams were successful in getting through into the Southern Final. They need to finish in the first three team positions to get into the National Final in Sunderland. The girls' Volleyball team also successfully won through into the next round of the English Schools Competition. The Basketball Leagues begin this term and we are hoping for success in the Surrey Leagues from the U14 and U16 boys' teams. We are also hoping that a number of boys will be selected for the Surrey teams. All of these activities go on over and above the regular routine of lessons and are a tribute to the dedication of the staff and the enthusiasm of the young people. You may also be interested to know that Therfield is running 40 Clubs and Societies this year. Prayer Group I have recently had a letter from parents interested in forming a parents 'Prayer Group'. If you would like to know more, would you please contact Mr. and Mrs. Benko on East Horsley (04865) 2777. ELECTION OF PARENT GOVERNORS WE ARE VERY GRATEFUL to you for your contributions to the School Fund. Contributions this year were £4,200 which will go to funding the Clubs and Societies and to improving facilities for pupils. We are enormously grateful too, for all the hard work put in on our behalf by the Friends. This was highlighted by the delivery to the School on 29th September of a much more modern 17 seater Minibus. FORTHCOMING EVENTS The Friends have their CHRISTMAS FAIR on Sunday 11th December. The School will be breaking with tradition this year, in that we plan to have a Junior Carol Service on the afternoon of 19th December and a Senior Carol Service on the afternoon of 20th December. These will take place at the school. REQUEST FOR HELP One of the delights of being Headteacher at Therfield is the steady stream of parents who, when moving into the area, apply for their children to come to the school. The reason given over and over again is that in talking with friends in the area who already have children at Therfield they are told of the high regard in which Therfield is held. It is my desire we shall be able to continue to provide the best possible educational experience for the young people of this area. TJ Reddin |