Matthew Arnold Newsletter

It has been a very busy time with much going on and much to celebrate. I would like to thank Year 11 students for the incredible effort shown during their mock exams. They have worked hard and deserve to do well. Equally, I would like to thank staff for all the effort put in to prepare our students for these exams. We are in such a privileged position as a school to have staff who strive so hard to ensure our students do as well as they possibly can.

It is testament to the dedication of students and staff that our school continues to shine with recent recognition by the Department of Education as a high-performing school across the country with regards to attendance. We run an average of 30 extracurricular clubs a week during the school day. Please do encourage your child to attend at least one of these clubs. It is an opportunity to share interests, learn new skills and make new friends, as well as hopefully bring enjoyment. The list of clubs available can be found on the school website.

As we move into the latter part of the term, we look forward to the festive events and celebrations that bring our school community together. Thank you for your continued support in making Matthew Arnold School such a special place.

Wishing you all an enjoyable weekend.

Assal Ruse

• Friday 21 November - Year 11 PE practical mocks

• Tuesday 25 November - Whole School Flu Vaccinations

• Wednesday 26 November - Whole School Flu Vaccinations

• Thursday 4 December - Year 11 Mock Exams Results assembly

• Thursday 4 December - Year 11 Parents' Evening

• Thursday 11 December - Year 10 Parents' Evening

• Friday 12 December - Christmas Lunch

• Thursday 18 December - Last day of term

• Friday 19 December - Holidays begin

• Tuesday 18 November - Year 9 Boys Football 7-a-side

• Wednesday 19 November - Year 9 and 10 Netball at Bishop Wand

• Thursday 20 November - Year 10 Girls Football 7-a-side
• Thursday 20 November - U14s Girls Football at Orleans Park

• Tuesday 25 November - X-Country at Hazelwood

• Wednesday 26 November - Year 10 Boys Football 7-a-side

• Thursday 27 November - Year 8 Girls Football 7-a-side

The Matthew Arnold School remember and honour those who have sacrificed their lives. Our touching remembrance displays were made by our Textiles and D.T. departments.

"At the going down of the sun and in the morning, we will remember them."

Students in Year 10 (Sebastian S, Leah B, Charlotte D and Phoebe C), took part in Remembrance Sunday as part of the 398 Air Cadets at the Air Forces Memorial Runnymede. All did a fantastic job representing their squadron and the school.

The English Department proudly participated in the Young Writers’ National Poetry Competition and we are delighted to share that 83 of our students have had their entries selected for publication.

This is an outstanding achievement and a testament to their creativity and hard work. Published copies are expected to be available in the coming weeks. Congratulations to all students and staff involved in making this success possible!

Three of our talented Year 8 students, Remee EB, Avnee P, and Chloe G, represented our school at the Rotary Youth Speaks Competition, competing against four other local schools.

They demonstrated exceptional confidence, eloquence, and teamwork, embodying the very best of what our school stands for. Their hard work and professionalism shone through as they achieved an outstanding result — winning three out of the four awards on the night — and have now progressed to the Rotary District Semi-Finals in 2026.

Winning Team – Remee, Avnee and Chloe

Best Proposer – Avnee

Best Chair – Chloe

Feedback from the adjudicators was overwhelmingly positive, with one very long-standing Rotary Club member commenting that she had never seen a single school take home three out of four awards in one evening! It was a truly wonderful event, and the girls should feel incredibly proud of their achievements and the way they represented the school.

We had a brilliant time visiting Shaftesbury Theatre to watch 'Just For One Day', a fantastic show about how Bob Geldof organised the 'Live Aid' concert in 1985. The band, singing, acting, set, lighting and whole atmosphere was phenomenal. The students did the school proud with their impeccably respectful behaviour.

Thanks to Mrs Lacey for making this possible, it was a memorable evening. We cannot wait for the next theatre trip!

Ready to turn reading into rewards? Students are encouraged to join our Library Bingo competition! To participate, students can pick up a bingo card from the library and borrow their first book.

As we head into the end of November, Matthew Arnold begin to host the Borough 7-a-side competitions. All schools from the Borough descend to TMAS and partake in a two leagued, 7-a-side, 8 minute game, which results in the top two teams playing against each other in the final.

Our Year 7s had their first taste of this, and unfortunately learnt the hard way, that goals are hard to come by, and mistakes are costly. In our Cup draw we won one, drew one, and lost one. Unfortunately this followed a disappointing evening the night before that saw our Year 7 Boys bow out of the Surrey Cup against St John’s Leatherhead, 5-3. Charlie B did come away with a hat-trick, but we were just left wanting.

Year 10 ‘B’ team boys played in their 2nd game and took on Parmiters from Watford. They ran out successful winners 1-0 and move on to the ESFA Round 3 – a great return from Mr Glossop who is heading up the team.

We have had girls football friendlies in Year 10, that saw us win against Thamesmead, our Year 10 & 11 combined girls lost to Bishop Wand. We also have our Year 11s taking on Raynes Park in the Surrey Cup and our Year 10s competing against Guilford County Scohol – wish them luck!

Huge congratulations to Dylan C in Year 11 for winning 3 awards at the Escalate Arts Film Festival as part of the Surrey Youth Arts and Culture Festival in Staines.

Dylan is a budding filmmaker who directed and produced his film ‘Actress’ which was awarded for the exceptional and innovative film making and digital skills. It really was an incredible experience to be able to see the industry influences on Dylan’s work and how he incorporates this into his own style of film making. Well done Dylan for an exceptional achievement

"I still really can’t believe that night happened, I had dreamt of winning awards for my work for years and now it’s actually happened!"

Maxie’s design ‘Book lover forever’ was chosen from many entries and is a lovely reminder of the power of art and reading on our wellbeing. Students can pick up a free bookmark at the school library front desk.

During half term, Phoebe C, Year 10, took part in a week long camp with the Air Cadets as part of the Annual Middlesex Wing Camp at RAF Cosford. Activities included survival skills, seeing day to day operations of a working base, visiting the armoury, and of course sitting in the planes behind the scenes within the Museum.

Year 7 have been experimenting with pumpkins, practising their form and tone in sketches and oil pastels.

Year 11 students experimenting with clay and plaster to develop 3D studies. This allows for tactile exploration and supports a deeper understanding of form and material handling.

Instagram have come out with their latest 'we prioritise teen safety' feature. This time they have introduced a new way for parents to manage their teens' access to one-on-one chats with AI characters. Teen accounts are now to be guided by PG13 movie ratings, which means that users should only see content that's similar to what they would see in a PG13 movie by default.

AI characters (chatbots) are a significant concern. They were introduced into many apps around 3 years ago and there continues to be reports of multiple failures of so-called safety guardrails with children being exposed to chats, advice and guidance which is entirely age-inappropriate.

The new features:

• Allow parents to turn off their child's access to one-on-one chats with AI characters entirely.
• Allow parents to block specific AI characters.
• Parents will get insights into the topics their children are chatting about with AI characters.

You can find a more in-depth explanation here: Our Approach to Teen AI Safety: Empowering Parents, Protecting Teens for the AI chatbots and here: New PG-13 Guidelines for Instagram Teen Accounts | Meta for the teen/PG13 accounts

We kindly remind parents that lockers are provided for students to keep their belongings safe and organised. Each locker is the responsibility of the student, and we encourage them to look after it carefully. If a lock is misplaced or lost, it will need to be replaced to ensure security. Thank you for supporting your child in developing good habits of care and responsibility.

Should a lock need replacing, please contact the main office at info@matthew-arnold.surrey.sch.uk

Having now completed the Parent Governor elections, we are pleased to announce that Simon Bennett has been elected as your new Parent Governor.

Thank you to everyone who took the time to vote and support the process. We look forward to having Simon on the Local Governing Committee as they bring their perspective and experience to support the continued success of our school community.

Club4, part of the national Holiday, Activity and Food (HAF) Programme, is back this Winter! This DfE-funded programme is for children from Reception to Year 11 who are eligible for benefits-related free school meals

Why join?
School holidays can be tough—but Club4 makes them active, healthy, and fun! Every child gets:
✅ Loads of physical activities
✅ Exciting enrichment sessions
✅ A nutritious meal every day

With 120+ locations across Surrey, there is something for everyone—sports, arts and crafts, outdoor adventures, theatre camps, and even youth day trips! Plus, this winter brings:
✨ Family panto experiences
✨ More SEND stay-and-play sessions for children with additional needs to enjoy with their families