Matthew Arnold Newsletter

Dear Parents and Carers,

As we settle into the new academic year, our students have made a fantastic start—showing great enthusiasm, kindness, and a real commitment to their learning. The atmosphere around school has been genuinely lovely, and it is a joy to see everyone engaging so positively. Thank you to you all for your support as is evident to see in how well our students are behaving. Please do not hesitate to contact us if you have any concerns or if you would like to share and celebrate something your child has done.

Our new staff members have settled in well and are already making great impact. Their care, energy and dedication have added to the special ethos of our school community.

Looking ahead, we have our Year 7 Tutors’ Catch Up this Thursday. Year 7 families, do please log in and see how your child has settled in so far. We are excited about our upcoming Open Evening, which promises to be a great opportunity to showcase all that makes our school special. We look forward to seeing and welcome as many prospective parents who are able to join us.

Wishing you all a wonderful weekend.

Assal Ruse

• Thursday 2nd October: Year 7 Tutor Online Tutor Catch Up, 4:00pm

• Thursday 2nd October: Year 11 Art Trip to the Victoria & Albert Museum

• Monday 6th October - Friday 10th October: Open mornings, 9:00am -11:00am

• Tuesday 7th October: Open Evening, 5:30pm - 8:00pm

• Monday 29th September - Year 11 Netball at Jubilee High School
• Tuesday 30th September - Year 7 Netball at Thomas Knyvett College
• Wednesday 1st October - Year 8 Boys Football at St. Paul's
• Wednesday 1st October - Year 9 Boys Football at Emmbrook
• Thursday 2nd October - Year 7 Boys Football at Thomas Knyvett College
• Thursday 2nd October - Year 8 Boys Football at Matthew Arnold
• Friday 3rd October - Year 10 Boys Football at Sunbury Manor
• Friday 3rd October - Year 11 Boys Football at Matthew Arnold

We warmly invite parents and guardians of Year 6 pupils to our open events. Please see below for more details. Bookings can be made via our website.

Open Evening and Open Mornings - The Matthew Arnold School

Last week, we marked the national Jeans for Genes Awareness Week. As part of this, our Year 7 and Year 8 students took part in assemblies and lessons exploring inherited disorders. They not only learnt the science behind these conditions but also reflected on their impact on individuals, families, and communities. Students also engaged in thoughtful discussions around the ethical dilemmas linked to genetic decision-making.

We asked families and staff to contribute to this important charity for two key reasons:

• 1 in 10 families in the UK are affected by a genetic condition—meaning your support could be helping someone close to you.

• Together, small actions create big change. While individual genetic conditions are rare, collectively they are the biggest cause of death in children under 14. Your generosity funds vital services, provides support, and—most importantly—offers hope across the UK.

A heartfelt thank you to everyone at MAS for your generosity, engagement, and support during this important week.

We are pleased to share that The Matthew Arnold School is now working with Sol Attendance to monitor and support student attendance. As part of this initiative, students will review their attendance data weekly with their Form tutor, helping them stay informed and take ownership of their progress.

All research indicates, good attendance is key to better grades, and those who maintain high attendance will be recognised and rewarded regularly by the school.

We were delighted to welcome Surrey Arts to host an assembly for our Year 10 and Year 11 students. They shared some really inspiring thoughts, ideas and opportunities about creativity in so many different contexts and in the community of Staines. It was also an opportunity to tell the students about the Surrey Youth Arts & Culture Festival which is being held in Staines this year.

We hope students see the value of creativity and the arts on wellbeing, not just in studies or careers and this can come in so many shapes and forms. Hopefully we will see many of you at the festival in November to celebrate creativity.

Year 10 students have been learning about Homeostasis - the regulation of the body's internal conditions. In their biology lesson this week, they had to name a beaker of water and keep it alive for ten minutes using a Bunsen burner and ice cubes to keep the temperature at a healthy 37 degrees Celsius. Through this investigation, students were better able to understand how hard the body works to maintain a stable temperature to enable our enzymes to work properly!

Year 8 students have been working hard in Food Technology, developing their skills and confidence in the kitchen. They enjoyed making pancakes, showing great teamwork and creativity with their cooking.

In Design & Technology, students have been really enjoying our new curriculum while exploring the iterative design process. Year 7 students have been learning how to operate machinery for practical lessons.

Our Year 7 students have been enjoying learning how to play djembes this half term, developing their listening, ensemble, performing and improvising skills. Well done on a great start to the year!

Year 8 students enjoyed learning about the digestion system with the use of modelling to learn about each of the organs involved.

The Year 11 boys got their final football season off to a great start, with a comfortable 3-0 over St Paul’s at home. A lovely brace from Harry S and a penalty by Tawfiq B. Some early season nerves at the back almost gifted a goal away but the team did enough to see it through. Well done Year 11!

The Year 11 Girls' Football Tournament: In their final tournament, the team finished a respectable 4th place against the local borough opposition. Tallula W being the top goal scorer with Sienna D providing the most assists on the evening. Well done to the rest of the team for their efforts: Haya A, Alice M, Holly M, Skye S and Elsie A.

Huge congratulations goes to Rajan S in Year 11 who has won the Tim Spencer award. Out of hundreds of entries, Rajan was chosen as one of the top three with his submission on the effects of weight loss injections.

Another huge congratulations to Lola B, who has qualified for the grand tour supreme champion in showjumping. She has also been awarded a special membership into British showjumping for her achievements thus far.

We have had a brilliant start to the gardening club. We grew lettuces, beetroot and peppers during the summer term, and Ms Ruse was very pleased when we gifted her a box to take home! This term we will be planting spring bulbs, winters salad and spring greens.

The Music Department would like to let you know about 2 opportunities.

Open 2 Music supply our vocal and instrumental lessons. All students can have a free lesson in one or more of the following instruments: singing, bass guitar, ukelele, electric guitar, acoustic guitar, drum kit and piano. Lessons then start at £13 to continue. More info and link to sign up is here: Home

"I have to say what an absolute pleasure it has been taking part in the assemblies this week, we’ve all loved it and the pupils have been amazing, they are a true credit to yourselves and has been a joy to hopefully inspire some more to get into Music and add to what is already a thriving Music Department at Matthew Arnold. We are already looking forward to the next time!" - Open 2 Music

Surrey Arts offer online music theory lessons of all levels of difficulty: Registration - Surrey Arts. This would be especially useful to anyone taking instrumental or vocal lessons or considering or taking GCSE Music. A flyer with a QR code is below.

Applications are open for a new Parent Governor to join our Local Governing Committee. This is a fantastic opportunity to work alongside school leaders and fellow governors to support our school’s vision and influence key decisions.

All registered parents/carers will have received a letter through Arbor which includes the details of the position and how to apply – closing date is midday Tuesday 7th October 2025. If you would like another copy, or a digital version of the application form, please email clerk@matthew-arnold.surrey.sch.uk

If we receive more than 1 application parents and carers will be asked to vote for the candidate in a secret ballot. If that is necessary, voting papers and instructions will be sent to all parents and carers so please do watch out for these.

If you have any queries or are interested in more information, we’d love to hear from you! Please send enquiries to clerk@matthew-arnold.surrey.sch.uk