As we reach the milestone of starting our tenth year, we are delighted to report a record number of pupils on the roll. We currently have only five vacancies in the entire school for immediate entry, and a waiting list has been started for many of our current classes. Year 10 has been divided into two classes this term in order to accommodate the growing numbers. A large number of families have been to view the school at recent open days and applications for Year 7 2010 are coming in. If you have a Year 6 child and have not been to see the school yet, it is not too late. We have a further Open Morning on Wednesday 4 November from 10.15-12.15 and we would welcome your visit. The official closing date for applications is 30 November 2009 and we recommend hand-delivering your application to avoid it being caught up in the post strike.

Stephen Holsgrove
Executive Head

Clubbing at Thames!

Education is so much more than academics. We believe it is vital that pupils have opportunities to take part in activities other than the range of subjects they study in the day to day curriculum. With this in mind, we have redesigned our extra-curricular programme in order to create more opportunities for clubs. After lunch on Fridays is now the Clubs Afternoon, with clubs now integrated into the school day. Every pupil takes part and chooses one club from each of the two 'blocks'. The choice this term includes tennis, netball, dance, football, choir, drama, French, film, debating, business & current affairs, the science of Formula 1, leadership mentoring and educational board games. Rather than squeezing the clubs into the lunch hour, which was never enough time, this is proving a tremendous success. Clubs being considered in the future are self-defence and badminton. At one club, the Thames Charity League, the pupils themselves have already raised nearly £300 for their chosen charities. They are now busy organising the school to take part in the Samaritan's Purse Operation Christmas Child. Staff are also enjoying this development as they get to share their passions! 

Thames Scoops Art Awards

We were extremely pleased with the news that Thames Christian College won the Good Schools' Guide Art Award for 2009 in both the boys' and girls' categories. This came about because Thames has achieved the best GCSE results in Fine Art of any independent school in England from 2006 to 2008. These awards aim to highlight excellent teaching in individual subjects. David Adkins, our proud Head of Art, said "I am delighted with these awards which reflect the hard work and attention to detail put in by pupils over the past three years. We aim to build on these in the future."  

Ben, second from left, and Alice both achieved A*s in Art. Ben also attained A*/As in Maths, Business Studies and Personal Finance and Bs in English, Science, Additional Science, PE and ICT. Ben is going on to Gordonstoun College in Scotland where he has been offered a scholarship.

Alice achieved an excellent set of results, attaining 2.7 grades higher than her CATs predictions. As well as A* in Art, she gained As in Spanish and Religious Studies, Bs in English, English Literature, Science, Drama, ICT and Personal Finance. A talented actress, singer and dancer, she successfully auditioned for Performance Preparation Academy, a top independent performing arts college which shares facilities with Guildford School of Acting.

Chris, left, is gifted in Maths and Science and an accomplished keyboards player. He gained a place in the sixth form of the much sought-after Tiffin Boys' School in Kingston after achieving A*s in Maths and Personal Finance and As in English, English Literature, Religous Studies, Science and Additional Science.

GCSE Results 2009

We are delighted with our GCSE results once again. Our willingness to tailor the curriculum means that despite being a mixed ability school, all except two pupils achieved one A*/A grade and almost half achieved at least 3 A*/A grades. Our top pupil this year attained 7 A*/A grades. Every pupil achieved some grade B passes and at least 6 grade A*-C passes including the important subject of English. The top grades were again spread accross many subjects with Maths, Spanish, Religious Studies, Child Development, Business Studies, Art and Personal Finance taking the tops spots.

Year 11 at Leadership Conference

Five pupils from our leadership team were chosen to represent Thames Christian College at the Student Leadership Conference in Budapest, Hungary, in September. Run by the Association of Christian Schools International, there were pupils from 42 schools from 18 European countries. The keynote speaker, Ken Rudolph, took the theme 'Be Courageous and Strong' using Joshua and other young leaders from the Bible to illustrate what is needed to be a successful leader in today's world. Levine learnt it is what you do when you are by yourself that is a true reflection of your character, as many people are different when they are around people. The students were challenged to rebel against the sterotypical expectations people put onto teenagers by choosing instead to do the hard things and make right choices. There was also an array of workshops. Nathanael chose 'Media-driven World' and learnt how to discern between what is true and not true in the media, how society is affected by the media and how to derive hidden meanings from what may be portrayed as entertainment. While they were in Budapest, they had a look round the beautiful city centre and also visited the Holocaust Museum. All five thoroughly recommend this conference to next year's Year 11 leaders.

Year 7 Camp

Each October our Year 7 pupils enjoy three action-packed days at the Horstead Centre on the edge of the Norfolk Broads. Sunshine and friendly instructors greeted them as they arrived at the centre just before half term. They undertook many exciting outdoor challenges from abseiling and climbing to raft-building, all of which were tackled with gusto! In the raft-building, pupils worked in groups to build their raft and race each other across the tranquil River Bure. Once on the other side, they could not resist jumping in and judging by the shocked look on some of their faces, the water was freezing! Other highlights included climbing Jacob's Ladder, taking pupils 50 feet up into the treetops, the zip wire, the high ropes course and a night walk under the star-studded sky. On the final evening, their imagination was put to the test as the pupils put on a fashion show. Provided only with recyclable materials such as newspaper and bin liners, they created some elaborate designs. The creations even included belts and dress straps made from old train tickets, with finishing touches made with J cloths! Mr Knapp, Year 7 class tutor, said, "None of us wanted to leave. It was a great success once again and we look forward to next year."