Arnold House Annual Review 2016

ANNUALREVIEW 2016 Academic Success

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f the 305 Common Entrance and Scholarship exams taken in English, Mathematics, Biology, Chemistry, Physics, French, Latin, Ancient Greek, History, Geography and Religious Studies, 81% were graded A* to B and 45% A or A*.

Particular congratulations must go to a third of the boys who had the honour of being entered for scholarships.

Max Kensington (Tonbridge) and Alex Stannard (Wellington) for sport, Alexander Austin (Westminster) for music and on the academic side Alexander Austin (again), Ali Hasan (St. Paul’s) and Joel Toledano (St. Paul’s) all acquitted themselves extremely well. Seven boys performed strongly enough to gain an award: James Flaherty (Tonbridge) for sport, Flash Mitra (Oundle) for music, and for academic excellence Adam Ait El Caid (Harrow), Archie Boyd-Taylor (St. Paul’s), Hector Cross (Westminster), Nathaniel Franklyn (Harrow) and Alexander Wallace (Mill Hill). Two boys were also rewarded with prizes for being the top performing Common Entrance

Year 8 Leavers 2016 ANNUAL REVIEW | AUGUST 2016

candidates to Harrow; Hammad Hassan in Maths and Rohan Prasad in French.

The majority of senior schools invite boys for pre-assessment and interviews when they are in Year 6 or 7.

If schools feel confident about a boy’s potential to succeed in their particular environment he will be offered a conditional place; the condition being that the required standard at Common Entrance is reached in the summer term of Year 8.

The range of senior schools to which Arnold House boys transfer differs from year to year but as a ‘stand-alone’ prep school we forge strong links with an array of senior schools and it has been particularly pleasing this year to see an exceptionally broad range of day and boarding schools (15 in total)

Year 8 Scholars 2016

represented on our destinations list.

Senior school destinations

Number of boys transferring

Bradfield

2

City of London

1

Eton

1

Harrow

5

Mill Hill

4

Oundle

1

Radley

2

Rugby

1

St. Paul’s

5

Tonbridge

2

UCS

3

Wellington

1

Westminster

2

Wetherby

1

Winchester

2

Communication • The annual parent questionnaire was carried out in March

using Survey Monkey. There were 110 responses and issues such as the information provided to parents about their son’s progress and homework have prompted further review.

• An exit survey was conducted by governors for Year 8 parents leaving Arnold House in July 2015. Subsequent meetings were held with senior staff to review our systems and procedures for preparing boys for senior school pre-tests in Year 6, Learning Support, staff recruitment and the boys’ mental well-being.

• An Open House for current parents in January and Grandparents’ afternoon in June were arranged to give family members the opportunity to catch a glimpse of what life is like on the inside of the school gates on a normal school day.

Assessment and Pupil Tracking • A site licence was obtained for an online practice and reinforcement programme for use in the lead up to senior school pre-tests in Years 6 and 7. The resource covers the four key areas of English, Maths, Verbal and Non-Verbal Reasoning and is used by the boys both at school and at home.

• Standardised Age Scores from progress tests in English, Maths, Reading, Verbal, Quantitative and Non-Verbal reasoning are now shared with parents in Years 5 and 6.

• The half-termly internal Arnold House assessments in English and Maths from Year 3 to Year 6 have now been running for a full two years. Their value has been reviewed and both departments have endorsed the following observations: o Boys are much more familiar and relaxed with testing in English and Maths. o Staff have a reliable set of data for analysis and tracking of pupil performance across each year group. o There has been a noticeable improvement in standards over the two years as skills have been given greater focus. o Staff collaboration on putting the tests together, adapting them year on year and discussing the results has been very worthwhile.

• An electronic database and tracking system (School Manager) has been purchased. Assessment data from 2015-16 has been installed and data from previous years will in time provide a more effective means of tracking pupil performance and highlighting areas where we would like to see greater progress.

ANNUAL REVIEW | AUGUST 2016

‘There has been a noticeable improvement in standards over the two years as skills have been given greater focus’.

Staff & Training at Arnold House has grown over recent years. In September 2016 we will have 32 full-time equivalent staff and 9 assistants, providing a 1:7 adult to pupil teaching ratio.

• We now have at least two subject specialists, capable of teaching to Common Entrance and Scholarship Level in each academic subject.

• The newly created position of Assistant Director of Studies in September 2015 has led to more sessions highlighting best practice for Teaching and Learning in staff meetings.

• The number of teachers and teaching assistants employed

• The induction of new staff has been reviewed and a more structured programme put in place to help new arrivals settle quickly and familiarise themselves with the School’s routines, procedures and standards.

• Through the annual audit senior staff and governors have taken due regard for Safeguarding and Child Protection matters, together with Health and Safety considerations, to ensure that the School is compliant with Regulatory requirements.

New educational opportunities and innovations • Arnold House continues to run a full and varied programme of activities and clubs. In the summer term, for example, there were over 50 active clubs, with every member of staff leading at least one club. There are also a growing number of clubs which are run by the boys themselves, including: Patball, Throwdown, Physics, Origami, Gadgets, Abstract Materials and Greek Mythology.

• Ludi Scaenici: Latin play competition at Westminster Under School. Year 7 boys performed a comic version of the story of ‘Pyramus and Thisbe’ and were rewarded with the runners-up spot.

• Year 8 Post CE programme included a session from The Organic Pharmacy about teenage issues and an inspirational talk given by polar explorer Alex Hibbert.

• An orienteering morning around Hampstead Heath for Year 7 and a visit to Lord’s Cricket Ground for Year 3.

• The Debating club continues to thrive and our junior and senior teams, comprising boys from Years 5 to 8 met with success (runners-up and winners respectively) at the annual Haileybury Debating Competition, covering topics such as ‘A University Education should be free’, and ‘The future is vegetarian’.

• The Year 5 and 6 Forms produced four plays from Greek Mythology; ‘Theseus and the Minotaur’, ‘Lysistrata’, ‘Unbelievable Cassandra’ from Homer’s ‘Iliad’, and ‘Odysseus and

the Cyclops’.

The aim of the Drama programme in these two years is to give the boys more to get their teeth into via smaller productions – an experiment we will build on in future years.

• Boys in Years 1 and 2 have enjoyed interactive workshops about Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night, Maths and Electricity.

• Boys from Years 6 to 8 were invited to sign up for a Classics trip to Rome for 4 days over the October half-term. 23 boys had a thoroughly enjoyable and interesting time with a particular highlight being a ‘Gladiator Workshop’.

• After the exams, the Year 8 scholars produced a book, ‘The Puffin’s First Day at Arnold House’ which was subsequently sent to all new boys due to join Year 1 in September.

ANNUAL REVIEW | AUGUST 2016

• We have now established that Year 3 and Year 4 will perform different plays. This year it was ‘Robin Hood’ for Year 3 and ‘Treasure Island’ for Year 4. Each play was not far short of an hour long, which gave the boys more time to display their talents.

regional heats and narrowly missed out on reaching the national finals, included Dodgeball at Sports Day, increased the number of hockey fixtures and strengthened links with Hampstead and Westminster Hockey Club.

Y7 using maths in orienteering on Hampstead Heath

• The Dance and Drama club continues to be popular for boys in Years 2 to 4 despite the 8.00 a.m. start time. An imposing spectacle of 42 boys gave us a glimpse of what they get up to on Friday mornings in conjunction with our budding gymnasts at the end of term display.

• A discrete Programming lesson now forms part of the IT curriculum in Year 4.

• The developing use of Chrome books to aid teaching and learning has been especially effective in Years 4 and 5.

• Sport: acquired two i-pads (through the Annual Fund) for analysing performance, entered 6-a-side cricket tournaments at Charterhouse and Bradfield, entered Under-11 Independent Schools Football Association

Development The Bursary Fund The School provided five bursary places this year funded through a combination of the School’s fee income and donations from current and former parents, old boys and friends of the School.

In total, the School raised £70,000 for the Bursary Fund this academic year following a successful fundraising event and a number of generous donations from our current parent body and old boys.

A number of boys have been through the application process for a bursary place in Years 5 to 7. This process is rigorous and demanding for both the boys and their families who go through a number of stages including assessments and taster days. Three of the boys who are currently in the School on bursaries will continue next year and will be joined by two further boys on full bursaries in the senior part of the School.

two new pianos for the School.

One piano was fully funded by the Parents’ Association and has been installed at Canons Park in memory of Andrew Cuthbertson. The second piano funded by a number of parents is now in full use in the main hall. The launch of the 2016 Annual Fund was also met with enthusiasm with the majority of items already being funded and purchased in the summer term.

The Annual Fund The Annual Fund 2015 was a great success with every project being funded and now in place including a weather station, 3D printer pens for the art department, two iPads for skills analysis in sport and 30 chapel choir gowns. We were also delighted to complete the fundraising needed to purchase Arnold House School 1 Loudoun Road St.John’s Wood, London NW8 0LH Telephone: 020 7266 4840 Email: office@arnoldhouse.co.uk Website: www.arnoldhouse.co.uk Arnold House School Ltd (Limited by Guarantee). Registered in London Number 889424. Educational Charitable Trust Number 312725

ANNUAL REVIEW | AUGUST 2016