Matthew Arnold Newsletter

Welcome back everyone, and a very happy New Year. I hope you all enjoyed a restful and well‑deserved Christmas break. As we return for the spring term, it is wonderful to see students and staff coming back refreshed, focused, and ready for the opportunities ahead.

Welcome to the new staff who have joined us and who seem to have made such a positive impression with our students. Thank you to the staff team (Mr and Mrs Scott, Mrs Van Duyn, Miss Smith, Miss Sorensen and Mr Schofield) who gave students such a memorable experience on the ski trip. It is not long before our Iceland trip followed by the Eden Project trip set off for more fantastic experiences.

I am incredibly proud of our students who entered the National Poetry competition and have had their poems published in a book. What a fantastic achievement and special thanks go to Miss. Parker who encouraged and supported the students to enter in the first place.

This is an especially important time for our Year 11 students, who are preparing for their upcoming mock exams—an invaluable chance to demonstrate their progress and build confidence for the months ahead. I look forward to a positive and productive start to 2026 for our whole school.

Assal Ruse

Tuesday 20 January - Eden Project Trip meeting

Thursday 29 January - Year 11 Poetry Live! Trip

Friday 30 January - GCSE Concert

Wednesday 4 February - Year 11 English drop down day

Monday 9 February - Year 11 Mock exams start

Thursday 12 February - Year 9 Parents' Evening

Tuesday 13 January - Swimming Gala

Tuesday 13 January - Year 7 Boys Football vs Sunbury Manor (Cup)

Wednesday 14 January - Year 11 Boys Football at St Joseph's

Monday 19 January - Years 7 & 8 Girls Netball vs Thamesmead

Wednesday 21 January - Year 7 Girls Football vs St.Paul's

We are aware of the scheduled roadworks on the A308, which are expected to continue until 22 January. Please plan your journeys carefully to ensure your child arrives on time for the start of the school day at 8.30am. For up-to-date information on all planned roadworks in our area, please use this live link:

55 students and 6 staff flew off to Italy (eventually, after a cancelled flight!) for 6 days of skiing over the Christmas break. Students had a fantastic time skiing along the pistes around Claviere, with all students making it onto at least the blue runs. It was great to see the progress made by the students over the trip. They were also a credit to the school and themselves on how they conducted themselves throughout the whole trip.

The ski trip details for next December will be released soon, so watch this space...

Just to remind parents/carers that if they take their children out of school without authority for 5 or more days (which do not have to be consecutive), then the following will apply:

1. If you have not incurred a penalty notice relating to this child/children in a rolling 3 year period since 19 August 2024, then the penalty notice will be charged at the rate of £160.00, per parent/carer per child, if paid within 28 days. This will be reduced to £80.00 if paid within 21 days of receipt of the notice. Failure to pay the Penalty Notice will result in Surrey County Council considering legal proceedings against you in the Magistrates Court.

2. If you have incurred a penalty notice relating to this child/children since 19 August 2024, the rolling 3 year period will be activated from the date of the first penalty notice and the second penalty notice will be charged at the flat rate of £160.00, per parent/carer per child, if paid within 28 days. There will be no reduction for payment within 21 days. Failure to pay the Penalty Notice will result in Surrey County Council considering legal proceedings against you in the Magistrates Court.

3. If you have incurred 2 penalty notices relating to this child/children in the rolling 3 year period since the first penalty notice was issued, then you will NOT receive a third penalty notice – Surrey County Council will have no option but to consider a prosecution, per parent/carer per child, in the Magistrates Court under s 444 Education Act 1996.

Surrey County Council is not responsible for authorising pupil absence and therefore cannot withdraw any Penalty Notice requests without the written permission of the Headteacher.

The Bebras Challenge is an international competition that introduces students to computational thinking—a key skill in problem-solving and computer science. Through engaging puzzles and logic-based tasks, students learn to think critically and creatively. This year, over 3 million students from more than 80 countries participated!

We are proud of all Matthew Arnold students who took part in this exciting challenge. The tasks are designed to give every student the opportunity to showcase their potential—whether they excel in maths, computer science, or simply enjoy problem-solving.

All students from Years 7 to 9 entered the competition:

• 152 students achieved Distinction
• 140 students achieved Merit
• 279 students achieved Certificate of Participation

Special recognition goes to our top Computer Science stars who achieved the Gold Award:

Ariana V

Maximilian D

Naryan R

Alexander D

Tobias K

Yuraj S

Congratulations to our talented student Michelle S-W, who won the cover design for the 'Show Racism the Red Card' calendar. Details can be found below:

Year 11 boys in 3D Design, collectively decided to donate the stools they made to Ms Ruse and her office. She now has plenty of options for seats...

We are delighted to invite you all to our GCSE concert of 2026 on Friday 30 January at 6:30pm. Our wonderful students in Years 10 and 11 will be performing GCSE performance exams and there will be participation from other year groups too.

Tickets are available to purchase via Parent Pay at £5.00 for adults and £3.50 for children. Due to capacity, there are a limited number of tickets which will be sold on a first come first served basis.

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

We are launching the Friends of Matthew Arnold School, a new group that will meet once a half term. It is 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.