 [Who can provide the facts on what this is about - looks like the aftermath of a fire. Two policemen can be seen. ] Susan Ford, now Hall : The burnt room with the windows open is room S, the Art room. It was believed that a fault in the new kiln in this room started the fire. The library block can be seen on the left of the photo. |
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SNIPPETS FROM HOUSE NEWS
JUNIPER This year Juniper are supporting the World Wildlife Fund, and the results of their efforts for the House Charity have been very pleasing. We have held a disco, cake sales, and no-one in Juniper could possibly forget trying to calculate the number of Smarties in the jar.
.. Juniper continue to try hard at the sporting events in the School calendar but our enthusiasm is not matched by our results: However, both Games Captains, Vicki Greatorex and Dave Morris deserve praise for their efforts in organising the teams and arranging practices. Dave is to be congratulated on winning the senior crosscountry for Juniper, an event in which we came third over all.
.. Juniper is lucky to have a strong house spirit, and this is sure to materialise into improved results if it is maintained. Lastly, both House Captains, Kathryn Hill and Michael Pledger would like to thank everyone who takes part in house activities and whose support is invaluable.
Kathryn Hill 6J TI
LEITH Luck was on our side at the beginning of last Summer Term when Miss P. Wood became the Head of Leith House. "Fame at last," we thought, because we had all seen the effect she had had previously on Norbury House. Since Miss Wood came to us the enthusiasm of the whole House has been tremendous, both in sporting activities and in raising money for our House Charity. We get people volunteering for activities now: We even manage to win a few.
Again, this year we have supported a local charity, The Grange Centre, Bookham, and have made a total of £120 to buy special lights for the disabled peoples' flats.
.. Earlier in the year a number of 4th, 5th and 6th Formers went to see No Sex, Please, We're British. What about the younger members, you may ask? Well, a number of 2nd and 3rd Formers went bowling with Mrs. Farnfield. Our latest outing is to see Star Wars which I'm sure all will enjoy.
On the sports side we have been more successful than in previous years, winning a number of events including the girls' netball, gymnastics, and the boys' cross country. Of course, we must not forget to mention the marvellous performance of the whole house on Sports Day, in which we had a tremendous win and all enjoyed themselves. Throughout the year the team work of Leith has been most encouraging and I hope that the enthusiasm of the House will continue to flourish in the future.
Finally, I would like to thank Miss P. Wood and her deputy, Mr. Stewart, for all they have done for us! Also I would like to thank Darren Newman, our House Captain, and Games Captains, Elizabeth Stuttard and Andrew (Gus) Guffog for all they have done.
Christine Fenton
House Captain 6L TA
STOP PRESS
Leith's Charity- The Grange Centre at Bookham - is celebrating
its 50th Anniversary this year, and the Principal has invited
Miss P. Wood and two pupils, Elizabeth Stuttard and Richard
Moyse, to attend a Reception at St. James's Palace, London, on
Wednesday, 26th April, to meet the Patron of the Charity, Her
Royal Highness, Princess Alice, Duchess of Gloucester.
NORBURY Hi there, oh, and to anybody out there reading who is not in Norbury, keep going, you won't be bored. Well, it's been a very busy year for Norbury, a year of wonderment and success. In the Summer Term there was a 4th, 5th and 6th Year trip to Ipi Tombi, an "extravaganza" of African dance music, in London. Then at the end of the Summer Term came the high point; Norbury won back the Cock House Trophy by an incredibly high margin. Miss P. Wood sadly left Norbury to become Head of Leith, but we have an admirable replacement in Mrs. Wells. It is interesting that the House Heads of all the three other houses were at one time in Norbury. We seem to be used as a breeding ground for new talent in House leadership.
After the Summer holiday, Norbury came back to show that winning the Cock House Trophy last year was no fluke by winning the eleven-a-side football, the boys' basketball, the girls' netball, the girls' basketball and the literary competition. So, once again, we are well on the way to winning the Cock House Trophy, and we can do it!
... Norbury also went on a visit to that sensational film Star Wars in London, which was an all-year trip. Also, there was a Star Wars display by Mrs. Watlings in the Entrance Hall. Her husband made the robot Artoo-Deetoo (R2-D2) which, as all Star Wars fans will know is the android partner of See-Threepio (C3-PO). So, all in all, Norbury is very busy and to end with a message to all other Houses - Never mind. Not everybody can be in Norbury; you will just have to grin and bear it.
Paul Glass 6N GD
POLESDEN In 1977-78, Polesden started top of the table, holding the Cock House Trophy, but finished at the bottom! We did, however, raise £50 for food parcels for old people living locally and also set new standards for house sportswear. All Polesden football teams wore house colours, and special vests were purchased for the athletic and basketball teams. Once again Polesden leads the way!
.. Philip Morris came to the end of his reign as Games Captain and Roy Partington took his place. Andrew Shand was elected boys' House Captain; Lilian Godfrey and Jane Luff became joint Captains for the girls.
Debbie Gammon 5JJN
THE LOIRE VALLEY VISIT
Saturday, 4th June, and the Dilston Road gates were the time and place for thirty-two school children to congregate for the visit to Paris and the Loire Valley. Shortly after the appointed hour the coach rolled up, the cases were packed, and everybody clambered onto the coach. Our first destination was Dover where we were to catch a ferry to Calais. On reaching Dover and discovering we had missed a ferry we faced a boring time waiting for another ferry. Once on the ferry, and seeing the White Cliffs of Dover disappear into the distance, the excitement really began. We had a very cold but also very calm journey.
Having arrived in Calais and having gone through Customs we headed south to St. Germain, a few kilometres from Paris. The scenery was a little like some of the English countryside, but the houses were more like villas. There were a lot of lovely green fields and green trees, and when passing through some of the towns they looked quite isolated, totally different from Leatherhead.
On our arrival at St. Germain we discovered we were staying in an International Youth Centre. Having had our evening meal, the remainder of the evening was left free, so the majority of us walked into St. Germain to explore and went into one of the small cafes for a nightcap before going back to the Hostel and settling in for the night.
On Sunday we went as a party into St. Germain where the weekly market was being held in the town square. It was a market totally different from English ones. It had cheese stalls, bread stalls, sweet stalls, toys, clothes, records, bags and purses, baskets, poultry, fresh meat, fruit stalls and vegetables and these were a lot larger than in English markets. It was very interesting to see the French housewife buying; the majority of them bought food to last them until the following Sunday. Some of the queues for certain stalls were very long, and some people tried to bargain with the stall holders.
Sunday afternoon, all day Monday and Tuesday morning we did a lot of sightseeing, visiting The Eiffel Tower which we climbed to the second floor and from which we had a most magnificent view of all of Paris. We also saw Notre Dame and The Sacre-Coeur, both beautiful churches, L'Arc de Triomphe, the wonderful Palace of Versailles, and Le Louvre with all its beautiful paintings, including the Mona Lisa.
Tuesday afternoon was spent travelling to the Loire Valley where we stayed in Vendôme and the Hotel du Lion d'Or. That evening was left free, so we explored the place.
The itinerary for Wednesday and Thursday was very full and included visiting many of the beautiful chateaux of the Loire Valley such as Chenonceaux which was surrounded by water. We also saw towns such as Blois, Tours and Orleans, and visited wine cellars to see how the local wine was made and also to actually taste it. In Paris and Vendôme the evenings were spent going to discos and indoor bowling.
Then Friday was spent travelling to Dieppe and from there to Newhaven on the ferry home. It was sad for us all to think what a wonderful week we had had and to think we had school on Monday. The holiday gave us opportunities to speak French and shop in France, and also to taste some wonderful French cooking.
Jill Donaldson 4P LU
THE FRENCH EXCHANGE
On 15th April last year a group of Therfield pupils
were waiting at Leatherhead Station for the 8.00 a.m. train to
Waterloo. We were all taking part in the French exchange. From
Waterloo we went to the ferry by train and crossed to Boulogne.
We then had a long train journey to Paris where we changed
trains for Brunay where we eventually arrived at 9.00 p.m. We
were then taken back to our French friends' houses to meet their
families. The rest of the weekend was spent with our families,
sightseeing and settling in.
During the week we went on various sightseeing tours to Paris, also seeing famous castles and, generally, seeing France. Trips to Paris were excellent opportunities to practise our French in the shops and to buy souvenirs. We also went into a French school and participated in their lessons and tried out the French school meals. (They were just as bad as the English!)
As we were staying with French families it was easy for us to see the lifestyle of the French and to try to converse with them. Most people found the food different, being much spicier and oilier, but still enjoyable. It was not all frogs' legs!!
Most of the group were sad to see the end of the holiday and to return to England.
Fiona Donaldson
3L BR
"THE THWARTING OF BARON BOLLIGREW"
On 1st and 2nd December the School produced its first full-length play for a number of years. Preparation for this began at the end of the Summer Term when parts were cast, but it was not until the middle of the Autumn Term that we realised the size of the task we had undertaken. Scenery, props, music, make-up, costumes, seating arrangements and tickets; all had to be organized, quite apart from attending rehearsals!
However, at the first performance a matinee for the second and third years, we seemed to be literally "thwarted" on all sides. Firstly, a wire burnt out in the lighting box and the performance continued with little lighting and no sound effects. This was probably just as well, as the hero had begun to lose his padding: The second Act began with a long line of flags descending upon the actors but, in spite of all this, "the show must go on" - and so it did.
The following night, at the performance for parents and friends, proceedings went without a hitch, much to our joy. Those on stage went from strength to strength as they gained confidence. Those behind stage felt their spirits rise. We received many compliments afterwards and felt all had been worthwhile.
Well done to ALL who helped, whether those behind the scenes or those who took part on the stage - staff and pupils. It was certainly hard work, but very enjoyable and an experience that I, for one, shall not forget.
Mrs. D. Farnfield
SNOW WHITE AND THE SEVEN DWARVES
Shortly after I started at Therfield in September a meeting was held by all members of staff interested in providing some form of entertainment for the School at Christmas. We agreed that a pantomime would be well worth doing and, as it happened, I had produced "Snow White" at my previous school in December 1976.
One might say, therefore, that I was "volunteered" to act as producer of the Therfield Staff version! The requisite number of scripts were quickly produced by Mrs. Hayes, and I set about casting the nineteen parts. Some say that the casting was easy, especially when it involved such parts as "two idiot woodsmen", "a wicked queen", "a handsome prince", "a beautiful princess" and of course "Seven Dwarves"!!
The biggest problem of the whole production was rehearsals - I can assure you that teachers are very difficult to direct, especially when they "can't come to rehearsal tonight", "have to leave early", arrive late and often, when present, spend the whole time trying to upstage everyone else in the production!!
Nevertheless, we had a lot of fun at rehearsals and when it came to the crunch it was "all right on the night".
I'd like to express my thanks to everyone involved, especially all the backstage people. The lighting and sound boys of the 6th Form, Mrs. Newstead and the Art Department for painting the scenery, Mr. Hanks for building it and, of course, Mr. Pratt and the Orchestra who did a thoroughly professional job on the musical side.
The major panic of the production was when Mrs. Palmer, who was originally to play Snow White, was taken into hospital one week before the performance. Mrs. Farnfield immediately stepped in, but wasn't very well during the few days she had in which to learn the part. Then Miss Lukeman, who was "Happy", completely lost her voice the day before the performance: Luckily our very talented Head Girl, Erika, stepped in literally at the last minute.
All in all, I felt it was a successful effort, and showed that at Therfield we were capable of an all round team effort to produce such an entertainment. What shall we do next year?
D. J. Cox
Page created 15 Sep 2005: updated 17 Apr 2010