The year has started well and truly in earnest with so much happening. Just before we broke up for Christmas, we carried out a whole school anonymous student survey and the feedback has been extremely positive. Of course we still have work to do, but it was very heartening to read that out of 832 students who took the survey, 84% said 'they enjoy school', 90% said 'My teacher gives me work that challenges me' and 82% of students said ''Behaviour around the school is good'.

We have come such a long way and I could not be more proud of our students.

Please do take a moment to complete the survey to give your views too on how we are doing. Give your views | Ofsted Parent View.

Assal Ruse

Wednesday 29th January - UK Maths Challenge (Years 9 & 10)

Wednesday 29th January - Houses of Parliament Trip for the student council

Monday 3rd February - Eden Project Information Evening, 6pm

Friday 7th February - School Concert, 7pm

Monday 10th February - Year 11 Mock Exams

Monday 17th - Wednesday 19th February - Year 11 Half Term Revision

Thursday 27th February - Year 7 Parents' Evening

We would like to let you know about a small change to our 25/26 term dates as follows:

• Bourne Education Trust currently operates a 37 week academic year which includes two InSET days.
• From 2025-26 we are making a minor change to our term dates, increasing the academic year by two days to 37.4 weeks. This is to enable schools to identify two further InSET days - 16 January 2026 and 1 June 2026, which will enhance opportunities for staff training and development.
• The change has no impact on students, who will still be in school for the same amount of time as they are now.
• Autumn term 2025 will now end on 18 December 2025, not 16 December as previously published.
• Term dates can be found on our website here: Term Dates - The Matthew Arnold School

Year 11 have been busy finalising their pieces for their Textiles 'Enchanted Forest' project. Some fabulous creations have been made, examples of which are below.

Year 7 have been busy delving into Shakespearean England and looking at the lives of Romeo and Juliet. Below are two young fighters acting out Act 1, Scene 1!

Year 7 students, in Design Technology, are making 'Pull string toys' this half term, and are currently building their prototypes out of cardboard, before constructing them out of wood.

Our Year 11 Geography students recently embarked on an exciting field trip to Stratford, London, as part of their preparation for their GCSEs. Throughout the day, students participated in a variety of fieldwork activities, including questionnaires, land use surveys, field sketches, and mapping exercises.

The students conducted themselves with great enthusiasm. All students mastered techniques during the trip that will be invaluable as they apply their learning in the classroom to maximise success in their exams. However, many students also showed individual success whilst engaging with public, as well as developing their teamwork and collaboration skills throughout the day.

We are incredibly proud of the hard work and dedication shown by our students and look forward to seeing their continued progress!

On Tuesday 7th January we were fortunate to welcome 36 South Korean students to Matthew Arnold to learn about British Culture and values. The students were all buddied up with Matthew Arnold students and attended their lessons. They also attended British Value lessons to support their understanding of life in Britain.

We hosted their farewell session on Tuesday 21st January and many commented on how much they enjoyed the experience and would love to visit Britain again. A special mention and thanks go to our buddies, who looked after them fantastically well.

We are excited to share that we have many musical events coming up, starting with our school concert on Friday 7th February at 7pm. Tickets are available to purchase on Parent Pay. We also have the following to look forward to:

• Steel Pan Workshop all day on Thursday 6th February where all Year 7 students will be taking part for 1 lesson to complement the Reggae topic they are studying.

• Film Music Gala Concert on Saturday 15th March where 60 students will be travelling to the Royal Albert Hall. We are so looking forward to returning for another fabulous Film Music and Musical Theatre Concert!

On Wednesday 22nd January, our school was thrilled to host an exciting Book Fair in collaboration with Usborne Publishers for our Year 7 and Year 8 students. It was a wonderful opportunity for students to explore a fantastic selection of books across various genres, sparking curiosity and fostering a love for reading.

The deadline for orders is Monday 27th January and any books purchased helps raise funds to add even more books to our school library. A big thank you to Usborne Publishers and everyone who participated in making this event such a success.

We have a lot of House Competitions running this half term! Please see below for details of our Badminton tournament and our Spring Photography competition!

A massive thank you to everyone who kindly donated food towards the food bank run by the Salvation Army. Miss Wood's car was packed to the brim! A special mention must go to Miss Bayliss for organising this!

We are all very proud of Chloe F, who received a Commendation from the Regional Commandant of the RAF Air Cadets. This award was given in recognition of her use of first aid skills when, in class, a teacher was suddenly taken ill and Chloe was pivotal in providing the emergency services with life saving information. These skills were learnt as a member of the RAF Air Cadet.

Congratulations go to Paul from the Cucina Team, who was nominated for Cucina’s Making an Impact monthly award in December for his unwavering commitment to his job, exceptional work ethic, and genuine kindness towards the students, staff, and work colleagues. He always goes above and beyond to ensure everyone enjoys their meals at school and attentively listens to feedback to make any improvements.

Thank you, Paul, for all your hard work!

We had Laura, a vet from The Livestock Clinic, in to visit our animals and do a health check. Everyone has had a clean bill of health (our hens were the healthiest she had seen for a long time). We are so pleased with the outcome of our visit!