Matthew Arnold Newsletter

Tuesday 17 February - Geography Trip to Iceland departs (return 21 February)

Monday 23 February - Spring 2 half term starts

Monday 23 February - Second week of Year 11 Mock Exams begin

Tuesday 24 February - Geography Trip (Pompeii Immersive Experience)

Thursday 26 February - Brooklands Innovation Academy Trip

Monday 2 March - Careers week

Saturday 7 March - Surrey Youth Speaks Semi Final

Thursday 26 February - Year 9 Boys Football vs Sunbury Manor

Monday 2 March - Year 11 Basketball vs Thamesmead

Tuesday 3 March - Year 10 Netball Tournament at Thomas Knyvett College

Thursday 5 March - Years 9 & 10 Netball vs Magna Carta

Monday 9 March - Years 7 & 8 Netball vs Bishop Wand

Tuesday 10 March - Year 7 Boys Football vs Bishop Wand

Wednesday 11 March - Years 8 & 9 Girls Football @ St. Pauls

Thursday 12 March - Year 9 Netball Tournament @ Thomas Knyvett College

Would you like to be part of a friendly group of parents and carers helping to organise events throughout the school year?

We have launched the Friends of Matthew Arnold School, a new group that meets once every half term. It’s a great way to:

• Meet other parents and carers
• Support the school community
• Help plan and run events (as much or as little as you would like!)

Whether you are a seasoned event organiser or just want to lend a hand occasionally, we would love to hear from you. Please contact stergiopouloss@matthew-arnold.surrey.sch.uk if you would like further information.

As we approach the half‑term break, we ask all parents and carers to remain especially mindful of their child’s social media use. Although I have spoken to students on several occasions about appropriate online behaviour, we are still being notified of incidents involving unkind or inappropriate interactions between students.

Your support in monitoring your child’s online activity is crucial in helping us address and prevent these issues. Please also remember that many social media platforms have strict age restrictions—for example, TikTok and Snapchat do not permit users under the age of 13.

To support you at home, we have identified several effective monitoring tools that families may find helpful: Qustodio (best overall for UK families) and Bark (best for social media monitoring). The school, will continue to use Lightspeed Monitoring to safeguard students when they are logged into their school accounts.

On Thursday 29th January, 50 of our Year 11 students attended Poetry Live! in London. This was an opportunity to hear the poets they study at GCSE perform their poems, listen to senior examiners talk about how to approach the poetry questions in their exams and to ask the poets questions on the different meanings behind the poems. Thanks to Miss Parker, Mr Harrison, Ms Sorenson and Ms Karena for organising and running the trip.

The GCSE concert was a true success, and we couldn’t be prouder of the students who took part. The night was a celebration in particular of our wonderful GCSE students, with beautiful playing and singing from over 40 students. We heard incredible performances by artists and composers such as Mika, Chopin, Queen, Beethoven, Radiohead and many others. Many thanks to Alfie D, our former pupil who returned to support with sound and lighting and really took the experience to a whole new level.

Well done to everyone, it has been wonderful seeing our students thrive and shine. Thank you to everyone who attended, we look forward to welcoming you all back on Friday 3 July for our World Music Day 2026 Concert!

We are extremely proud as a school to highlight the success of the Youth Speaks Debate Club, ran by Mr Boyle. Youth Speaks is The Rotary Youth Speaks: A Debate Competition, organised and promoted by Rotary International in Great Britain and Ireland (Rotary GB&I).

This is a public speaking debate competition in which teams of three students take on the roles of:

• Chairperson

• Proposer

• Opposer

Competing in the Year 8 competition our students won 3 awards out of 4. Our Year 10 students saw an award come back to MAS as well! The competition was held at the end of last year, but the students recently were awarded their trophies by the Rotary Club.

A huge congratulations to Remee, Chloe, Avnee, Florence, Evie and Scarlett.

On Tuesday 3rd February, Staines Rotary Club celebrated outstanding young people at the Thames Side Brewery in Staines.

First up was the Rotary's new poetry competition that was set up this year to honour a local resident, Peter Jackson. Matthew Arnold student Joshua R-W (Year 10) won the top prize in the Year 7-11 category, becoming the very first winner of the award and collecting a £50 voucher. Joshua was kind enough to read his poem to the sizeable crowd and received a roaring round of applause.

Next up, were the awards for young volunteers. Three Matthew Arnold students: Oliver W, Casie C and Sara C in Year 10 were recognised for their efforts helping to support the local community. Their efforts helped to raise funds for several local charities and show the great work that young people are doing in the community.

It was a great evening, finished off with donations to local charities and organisations including Holly's Heroes, 6th Staines Scouts, Beas Cheerleading, Phoenix Project and Crossroads.

If you would like to get involved in volunteering or you would like to support the Staines Rotary Club at their events please contact Nick Charalambous at niccharalambous@yahoo.co.uk

Fourteen of our Year 9 students have been taking part in The Brilliant Club, an Urban Scholars programme designed to give young people an authentic taste of university-style learning. Throughout the project, students have been exploring the fascinating theme “How Chemists Can Save the World”. Their sessions have included hands‑on, practical scientific activities — most notably growing bacteria collected from their own hands and from door handles around the school!

The programme has not only deepened their understanding of chemistry but has also broadened their aspirations, offering a unique insight into higher education and the exciting possibilities it holds.

We are incredibly proud of their engagement, curiosity, and enthusiasm throughout the course.

Students from Years 9 and 10 at The Matthew Arnold School took part in the UKMT Intermediate Mathematics Challenge, a nationally recognised competition.

The Challenge is designed to stretch and inspire young mathematicians through a series of demanding problem-solving questions that reward logical thinking, creativity, and perseverance.

We are extremely proud of all students who rose to the challenge and represented the school so impressively in this hour-long national competition. Their results reflect both their commitment and the high standard of mathematical thinking across the school.

Award outcomes:

14 students achieved a Silver Award

20 students achieved a Bronze Award

50 students received a Certificate of Participation

A special congratulations goes to our top-performing Mathlete, who achieved the highly prestigious Gold Award:

Mustafa H (Year 10)

As a result of this outstanding achievement, Mustafa has qualified for the next round of the competition, the Pink Kangaroo Challenge, which will take place on 19 March 2026.

Well done to all students involved for their hard work, ambition, and enthusiasm for mathematics — a fantastic achievement for Matthew Arnold School

Year 10 have been exploring evolution and the work of Charles Darwin, they used a board game to test their knowledge and comprehension skills. They also used different tweezers and tongs to pick up seeds to show how different birds have evolved according to the food available to them.

Our Year 10 students, in Science, have also been looking at chromatography in their lessons. This involves separating dyes using a water soluble solvent. This technique is used in crime scene investigations with dye fabrics.

Year 9 students are currently exploring armour, developing their own designs inspired by the Middle Ages and Medieval films.

Year 10 have been experimenting with monoprint techniques as part of their still life project. Monoprinting is a printmaking process where students create a single, unique print by transferring ink from a smooth surface onto paper.

We are incredibly proud of the artistic talent of our students!

• Year 8 students have been exploring cultural motifs through lino printing, investigating the values and stories behind designs from different cultures.
• Year 10 student Shannon M created a detailed observational still life, arranging, photographing and developing her own composition.
• Year 7 students have been experimenting with complementary and monochromatic colour schemes in bold Pop Art projects, while Year 9 have been busy designing medieval inspired cauldrons featuring intricate gold and silver decoration.

It's been a fun and creative term!

Our Year 11 students are busy preparing for their English mock exams with an array of revision techniques! We are incredibly proud of our students and their determination.

Our Year 8 students have been amazingly creative in Jewellery Club, designing and crafting some truly wonderful handmade pieces. From unique pendants to beautifully detailed charms, their skills and confidence are growing each week.

This week, they also made blazer charms: small, stylish accessories that add a personal touch to their school uniform. Each charm is completely student‑designed, showing off their individuality and brilliant imagination.

We’re so proud of their hard work and can’t wait to see what they create next!

Our students have enjoyed some sport successes recently, with all of our Years 7-10 students winning their matches against Thamesmead and our Year 9 also won their match against Sunbury Manor. A big well done goes to our Year 8 students who won their match against St. Paul's too.

The MFL department hosted the Languages Bake Off, bringing together students from across the school to celebrate international culture through creative baking. Pupils showcased an impressive range of cakes inspired by their home country. The judging panel (the teachers) were blown away by the effort, imagination and attention to detail. Well done to all those who entered!