Matthew Arnold Newsletter

As we approach the end of a busy term, I would like to take this opportunity to thank staff for their unwavering commitment and hard work to ensure we do our best by students. I would also like to thank you too for your engagement as clearly evidenced at the last two parents’ evenings. Around 90% of parents attended from each of Year groups 10 and 11 which is the highest we have had at Matthew Arnold school. It is also testament to our students and how much they are aspiring.

Students and staff depart on the ski trip, we wish them a wonderful and memorable experience.

I wish you all a joyful and restful festive period. This is a time to celebrate, recharge, and enjoy moments with family and friends, while staying safe and looking after one another. We look forward to welcoming everyone back in the New Year on 6th January, ready for the opportunities and achievements that 2026 will bring.

Assal Ruse

• Monday 5 January - Inset Day for Staff

• Tuesday 6 January - Term begins for all students

• Friday 30 January - GCSE Music Concert

• Monday 9 February - Year 11 Mocks begin

We welcome working with parents, so please do take the time to fill in the Ofsted Parent Survey. The link can be found below.

If your family needs help during the holidays, there are services available to support young people:

• Childline – Advice on bullying, body image, and relationships. Call 0800 1111 (24/7) or visit www.childline.org.uk.
• Barnardo’s – Practical and emotional support for young people, including those leaving care or young carers. Visit barnardos.org.uk/get-support/support-for-young-people.
• Samaritans – For anything at all, call 116 123 (free, 24/7).

You are not alone — help is just a call or click away.

On Friday, 12 December, Matthew Arnold School hosted its annual Christmas lunch, and it was a wonderful celebration for our students. Every student had the opportunity to enjoy a traditional Christmas dinner, complete with all the festive trimmings!

The atmosphere in the canteen was full of festive spirit, with cheerful music adding to the occasion. It was fantastic to see students coming together to share in the celebration, and from all the smiles and laughter, it was clear that everyone thoroughly enjoyed the experience.

A big thank you to our catering team and staff who helped make this event so special. It was a perfect way to round off the term and spread some holiday cheer!

Happy Holidays from the Knot & Yarn Club! The students have worked hard to create festive crochet decorations to brighten up the Library's Christmas Tree.

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If any students are interested in joining the Knot & Yarn club, please speak to Ms. Sorensen.

Our talented MA students made us all immensely proud on Monday 15th December at the Winter Concert. We heard excellent ensemble and solo pieces as well as beautiful readings. Congratulations to all involved for a hugely successful evening! Thank you to the many staff, families, friends and students who supported the evening. We are incredibly proud of all who participated and cannot wait for the GCSE Concert on Friday 30th January.

Our Year 11 students have been busy with their required practicals where they carried out acid and alkali titrations, and then calculated the unknown concentrations. There are over 20 required practicals that students are required to learn for their GCSEs, and the best way to learn them is by practising them!

Year 7 students investigated the 'murder' of Father Christmas by using paper chromatography to work out who owned the pen that wrote the note which was found at the scene of the crime! By testing each of the suspect pens they could use chromatography to work out which pen had the same mixture as the 'killer's' pen.

Our Year 9 learners continue to demonstrate outstanding commitment as they work through key Maths statistics concepts in preparation for their Mock Statistics GCSE assessment in February.

This assessment will cover essential skills such as data handling, representing data in charts and graphs, calculating averages and measures of spread, interpreting statistical information, and applying statistical techniques to real-life scenarios.

We are incredibly proud of their dedication, focus, and motivation to achieve their very best. Well done, Year 9.

Our Year 7 Drama students have been exploring the conventions of Ancient Greek Theatre this half term. This week, they have been looking at mask work and designing their own character half masks. It is wonderful to see their creativity and enthusiasm on stage. Well done, Year 7.

We were kindly donated 10kg of Mussels from Offshore Shellfish via the Fish Heroes in-school programme. Our year 10 students enjoyed learning about mussel sustainability, nutrition, preparation, cooking and trying (some for the first time). This was such a fantastic experience for the students!

Excitement is in the air at The Matthew Arnold School as we prepare to enter students to the prestigious UKMT (United Kingdom Mathematics Trust) Challenge! The competition is designed to spark curiosity and develop problem-solving skills among young mathematicians in Year groups 7 – 10.

Year 7 and Year 8 students will compete on 9th June 2026 whilst Year 9 and 10 students will tackle the challenge on 28th January, 2026. They will face a series of multiple-choice questions that test their mathematical reasoning and precision.

To ensure our learners are well-prepared, our dedicated Maths club will be hosting special sessions every Friday next term from 3-4pm in room L43, where students will work through past papers and hone their skills. Not only will this challenge push them to think critically, it will also be a fantastic opportunity to have fun whilst learning.

We look forward to seeing our students take on this exciting challenge and represent The Matthew Arnold School. Stay tuned for updates and good luck to all participants.

Capital Tuition are offering families 75 minutes of free, intensive GCSE English tuition, with a key focus on Language Paper 2 skills. These are virtual sessions on Saturday 25th and Sunday 26th January (various session times available). The sessions are delivered by experienced, qualified teachers with expertise in GCSE English. While the tuition is free, there is a small administrative booking fee of £2.20 required to secure a place.

Over the past few weeks, our Youth Engagement Officers have been working closely with Year 7 students as part of our PSHE curriculum, focusing on managing changes and staying safe online and in everyday life.

PC Barnes and PC Kelly delivered an engaging and informative Staying Safe session, guiding students through a range of real-life scenarios. Together, they explored what to do if someone makes you feel uncomfortable on a bus, how to respond if asked for inappropriate photos or how to stay safe while talking to people during online gaming.

The sessions encouraged thoughtful discussion, helped students build confidence in recognising unsafe situations, and equipped them with practical strategies to protect themselves both online and offline.

Students and staff can now log in to Accessit, the library webapp.

Once logged in, students and staff can search through the library catalogue, check their loan history, view curated book lists and online resources, and submit book reviews.

Students will be visiting the library in the New Year to learn more about Accessit and how to search for books independently.

Our Year 8 and Year 10 boys won the Borough 7-a-side. Added to this, we were fortunate to have a Year 10 B team; both teams went on to meet each other in the final resulting in a penalty shoot out, which the ‘A’ team won. Ultimately, it was the emails we received from staff from opposition teams that noted how polite and well mannered our boys were. We strive to be successful on the field, but so much of what we teach is also in how we show ourselves on and off the field. We am extremely proud of our students' behaviour and long may it continue. Unfortunately our girls did not manage to find that top spot this year, but with the Year 10 Girls' competition coming up, perhaps this is the time for silverware!

In the Surrey FA Schools, our Year 11 Boys beat Southborough (Tolworth) 1-0, which sees them move into the next round of the Surrey Cup. They will face St Josephs College in the next round. Alongside this, our Year 11 boys basketball team beat Magna Carta to head to the Borough Finals which will be played soon.

Finally, our Year 10 Boys B football team lost to Ravens Wood 4-0 in the ESFA 3rd Round. The boys put up a great fight against a side who actually won the National competition last year!

We had some fantastic entries for the Gingerbread House competition and Ms Ruse had a difficult time deciding on the placings. There was great eye to detail and much hard work put into all entries. Congratulations go to:

1st Place - Leah B (Year 10)

2nd Place - Rose N (Year 8)

3rd Place - Henry H (Year 9)

Well done to all students that entered the Sustainable Christmas Bauble competition. We had some brilliantly creative entries, with students recycling and reusing materials to make the best one.

We had lots of entried for the Christmas Card competition, but Ms Ruse managed to narrow it down to the following winners:

1st Place - Dinuri P (Year 7)

2nd Place - Valerie M (Year 7)

3rd Place - Lily R (Year 8)

Lily R in Year 8 took part in her dance exam at the Royal Academy of Dance, which she has been training really hard for alongside her school studies. We wish Lily luck with her results in a few weeks time, and we know that she will smash it.