Arnold House Winter Assembly 2016

ASSEMBLYWINTER 2016 From the Headmaster Ever since 1997 when the newly elected Prime Minister, Tony Blair, set out his priorities for his first term in office as, “education, education, education”, the spotlight has been on the quality of teaching and learning taking place in our schools. There have been numerous and significant changes to contend with but during that time at Arnold House two things have remained constant – our values and our adaptability. These two

things are by no means contradictory.

We wish to provide the best all-round education we can for our boys; by seeking new and exciting ways to do this, we will always be open to changes and challenges.

The growth in quality of what is offered in and out of the classroom is abundantly displayed in this edition of “Assembly”. We value what are sometimes called “extra curricular” activities as much as class based curricular ones. Indeed, we would argue

that boys who find enjoyment and success beyond the classroom are more likely to replicate the same within it. Happy boys will learn – and I am both delighted and impressed that the boys develop into such academically-minded and accomplished pupils, with so many interests and passions to lead happy and fulfilled lives.

Viv Thomas Headmaster

Year 8 Trip to Burgundy

Armistice Day Service at St Cyprian’s Church

Year 1 Nativity Play

Football Festival at Canons Park

Book Character Charity Day in aid of Plan

Year 4 Trip to the Verulamium

Visiting Author Caroline Lawrence

Michaelmas Term Concert at the American School

Year 3 Trip to the Zoo

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The Sport of Reading competition for the first time a few years ago. I suspect he was expecting a few tables, a quiet atmosphere and not very much excitement. Then he came up to Canons Park for the afternoon and watched, and cheered, and sat on the edge of his seat as one of our teams narrowly missed out on victory. Most importantly though he witnessed the huge hall packed Arnold House Kids’ Lit Quiz World Cham pions 2008 with boys and girls, the tense silence whilst the little realising that nearly twenty five years questions were being asked and the naillater he’d be travelling the world, asking biting anticipation when waiting for the final thousands of questions a year and bringing score… together thousands of children, librarians, ne Mills

Quiz Master Professor Way

If I described to you a quiz in which boys and girls competed to answer questions on books, it probably wouldn’t sound that exciting. However, what if I said that the quiz is international and this year comprises of countries such as Australia, Canada, Hong Kong, New Zealand, Singapore, South Africa, United Kingdom and the USA? Or that the final each year is hosted by one of the competing countries? Or that I can think of nothing better for getting boys and girls interested in reading than a hugely competitive quiz? Because The Kids’ Lit Quiz is really about the sport of reading; it is about like-minded children meeting up with their peers and showing off their skill whilst having a really good time.

I’m not completely certain that Mr Thomas understood until Arnold House hosted the

AH Team 1 2016

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I can confidently say he was converted on the spot, and he hasn’t missed visiting – and handing out the trophy and prizes ever since.

The KLQ started in New Zealand – the brainchild of Wayne Mills, a professor at Auckland University.

He believed that the turning point for many children in their reading Josh Lacey & Caroline Lawrence Authors Candy Gourlay, Cliff McNish, was that transition between kids’ books teachers and parents in an enterprise that and young adult ones. A turning point now has international charitable status. which many miss out on and actually stop The quiz is simple – ten rounds, each with reading at all. So, in 1991 he started this quiz, a theme. The teams play a joker on one round, which would double the points for that round. There is a break in the middle.

Teams consist of pupils from Years 6, 7 and 8 and there is usually a team made up of local authors – this year we were lucky enough to have Caroline Lawrence, Cliff McNish, Candy Gourlay and Josh Lacey. Parents act as markers and boys are runners, collecting finished sheets and helping out as they are needed. Prizes are given for each round, and Wayne keeps everyone entertained between rounds with quick-fire questions for all the teams and the audience.

Arnold House were lucky enough to win the world title in 2008 – though sadly we had a week in Oxford (in the pouring rain) rather than a week somewhere more exotic. I know that some of those boys are still in touch with members of the New Zealand and

South African teams (clearly a week in the pouring rain bonds you for life). We have reached the UK finals twice and on one of those occasions came third.

AH Team 2 2016

I am passionate about reading, as are many boys at Arnold House. Some of those boys may be sporty as well, some may be musical and win their rewards that way. Yet some are simply wonderful readers, and they rise to the challenge of the quiz brilliantly. It has to be said that each year most of the Year 8 competitors

are boys attempting a scholarship to their next school – so all that reading has more than one valuable use!

This year was the last time, at least for a while, that Arnold House acts as host for the quiz. The Canons Park hall isn’t quite big enough anymore, so it is time to let someone else enjoy the site of their school bubbling with excitement for a quiz about books.

Leonie Flynn Librarian & English

Shakespeare Schools Festival “Some are born great, some achieve greatness, and some have greatness thrust upon ‘em.”

“It was an amazing thing to do and it was great to be part of the team and put on such a funny play.” (Jonas Sellar/ acted as Maria – Olivia’s maidservant)

Since its inception at Arnold House seven years ago, the Shakespeare Schools Festival has slowly grown into an established part of the autumn calendar. Since 2000, a quarter of a million young people have participated in the festival, from fledgling primary school pupils to highly-skilled ‘A’ Level Drama students performing abridged Shakespeare plays. This year, over 1100 schools have performed in 131 theatres from Aberdeen to Aberdare, Carlisle to Clacton in the world’s largest youth drama festival.

This year, the Year 7s performed Arnold House’s first attempt at one of the comedies, ‘Twelfth Night’. Written for the Epiphany of 1602, Shakespeare produced an archetypal episode of cross-dressing in a hilarious love triangle. It has since proved to be one of his best-loved plays.

Tale and last year’s foray into the history plays with Freddie Rhodes playing Henry V.

At Arnold House over the years, we have seen various stand-out performances, such as the unforgettable Jonah Freud playing Lady Macbeth in a gold lamé dress; and Sam Hodder-Williams treading the boards swaggeringly as Macbeth four years later.

Our various directors have chosen a good range of plays: along with two versions of Macbeth, we have seen Julius Caesar, Much Ado About Nothing, The Tempest, A Winter’s ASSEMBLY

The boys began the play with a choreographed storm scene, in which props and music helped to create the tempestuous atmosphere. In the court of Duke Orsino (“If music be the food of love, play on”), the boys performed a medieval dance and managed to pull this off with grace – not a bad effort for a bunch of 12 year old aspiring actors.

‘Twelfth Night’ is a magical comedy and the boys managed to convey Shakespeare’s subtle humour very effectively, making the audience laugh in the right places and at the right times! One of the most hilarious

“I had lots of fun building up to the performance night. On the night itself, after watching the first school perform ‘Romeo and Juliet’, I had pigeons flying around my stomach; but after I said my first line, I was fine and so was everyone else, apart from getting a little muddled in the first scene – otherwise everything went like clockwork.” (Max Freudenheim/ acted as Orsino) scenes involves Malvolio, who is miserably traduced by Olivia’s maid, Maria, played with great flair by Jonas Sellar. Alexei Joukovski, as Malvolio, shows his love for Lady Olivia, wearing his yellow cross-gartered stockings, finally throwing himself across the stage towards her, causing her to recoil in horror.

On the night of the performance at the Shaw Theatre in Euston, the boys ended a long day with a seamless performance that utterly belied their youth, showing that Shakespeare can be appreciated by all ages as long as the context is a thoughtful one - the SSF endures year on year as a charity that supports young people in their endeavour to grapple with some of English literature’s greatest language.

It was a great pleasure for both of us to direct the boys in this delightful Shakespearean comedy. The boys invested a lot of time and effort in this play and some of their written comments and thoughts show exactly how they felt and how much they enjoyed the whole process.

David Moss-Marks Head of English, Drama & Christina Aristidou Head of Drama, Latin

“When I first looked at the stage it didn’t look as big as I had imagi ned. When I was waiting on the sides, wa to go on stage I was buzzi iting ng with excitement. Overall, the exp erience was exciting and fun. I ma de the right choice volunteering for the Shakespeare Schools Festival”(Alex Wo olf/ acted as Sir Toby Belch).

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Chess Chess at Arnold House continues to thrive.

There are currently ninety boys from Years 2 to 8 choosing to do chess club each term.

We run weekly clubs on a Monday, Tuesday and a Wednesday with two classes running simultaneously on each of these days. The boys are split according to a mix of age and ability.

There is a team of chess coaches from Wallace Chess that get to know the boys and encourage them, teaching them the tactics and strategy of the game in a light hearted way.

Each term we participate in competitions.

Whilst the chess teams will feature familiar faces, the selection process is completed anew each time to enable children that are working and improving to make it into the squad if they so deserve.

In the spring we compete in the strong Lochinver House Chess tournament, in the summer we host the Annual Arnold House Chess Tournament at Canons Park whilst in the autumn there is the prestigious London Chess Classic.

Arnold House Chess Tournament:

With so many participating, chess means different things to different boys. For some it is a fun hobby and a chance to enjoy a game with friends, whilst for others it grows into their main sporting activity and a large part of their life. Arnold House has had two individuals ranked No 1 in the UK in just the last couple of years, and these boys have represented England on the international level.

All boys, whether they realise it or not, learn the typical chess skills that they can then benefit from in the rest of their lives: the ability to plan ahead, to stay cool under pressure, to try and work out what is going on inside their opponents mind.

Lochinver House School Chess Tournament: This event is run annually by Stephen Sharland, Maths teacher and chess coach.

He invites some of the top chess schools in London including The Hall, Heathside Prep, Devonshire House and Hereward House.

All of these schools have long traditions of chess coaching and compete regularly. This year was a tough one for our Under 11 team which came 10th, whilst our Under 13 team took 3rd place.

This event is run at Canons Park and is organised by Astrid Wallace. It has now run for four years straight and has become a highly sought after event, with schools keen to be invited to take part in this strong event. Like the Lochinver tournament, we invite some of the top chess schools around in order to push our boys to extend themselves. This Year Arnold House took 3rd place in the Juniors (Years 2-5) and 2nd place in the Seniors (Years 6-8) behind The Hall but ahead of last year’s winners, Heathside Prep.

London Chess Classic: Held at Kensington Olympia and attracting 400+ children, this event is probably the boys’ favourite. We have had tremendous success at the event with overall second place in 2013 followed up by first places in 2014 and 2015. The final overall winners are decided by looking at the average results across Year groups and it is a testament to the depth of skill at Arnold House across the age spectrum that we continually do so well.

In fact, in the last two years we won every single year group – from Year 3 to Year 8!

The boys involved in Arnold House chess can be very proud of their achievements over the years, and this goes for all the boys and not only the players in the chess squad. They have shown themselves to be fantastic competitors in tournaments and display excellent sportsmanship, which is an important part of chess club. All of the participants in after-school chess have shown a lot of enthusiasm for the game and continue to enjoy learning which is why the classes continue to be popular.

John-Paul Wallace Chess Master

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Interview with old boy Daniel Ross (AH 1984-93) John Grey, please impose your own version of his face and sense of utter disbelief and frustration as I tumbled to a terrible 4/20. He gave my paper back to me and said: ‘You know, Ross, a monkey would have got 5.”

Actual things worth doing might be: -

Develop a profile, have particular interests, write about them and share your opinions

One of the main reasons that so many boys of relatively recent vintage have such strong and enduring memories of Arnold House is Johnny Clegg. He still pops into my head now and again and I smile.

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Have an exploratory mind set; allow yourself to drift around the fringes of mainstream activities and trends and discover new things

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Read widely: find the blogs and commentators you like and understand their theses

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Start a business/work in a start-up: get real operational experiences under your belt

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Build a small portfolio of investments (with real or imaginary cash) and develop your intuition and pattern recognition

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Attend meetups

How has being an Arnold House pupil impacted your life?

It impacted my waistline significantly during the early 90s. I’d love to sit down now to breaded chicken with gravy followed by chocolate crunch.

What was your favourite subject at School and why?

French – I always enjoyed languages and took to them quite easily; unlike many other subjects!

What have you done since leaving Arnold House?

After Arnold House, I attended St Paul’s followed by Bristol University, where I read French and German. In 2009, I did an MBA at London Business School.

Have you stayed in touch with any of your fellow pupils?

Yes. James Crown, David Lambert, Philip Stubbings, Fergus Reynolds. I’ve reconnected and crossed paths with a bunch of others over the years too.

I started my career in advertising, then switched towards finance, more recently being part of a crowdfunding start-up, before taking on my current venture capital role with Yellowwoods Ventures. We own international businesses in insurance and leisure and hospitality and I invest in technology start-ups on their behalf.

What has been your greatest achievement?

Meeting my future wife – she took a year to reply to my first email but I hung in there.

What are your overriding memories of Arnold House?

Very happy memories mainly, with plenty of fun, laughter and scraps.

What advice would you give someone who would like to follow in your footsteps and pursue a career in venture capital?

There is no obvious, regular path. Interest in technology and start-ups should be a given.

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A funny story… Science was a weak subject and I used to dread the classroom multiple choice tests. I regularly wavered around the 10/20 pass mark. For those who remember

Describe an average day in your role?

Reading and learning, reading business plans, meeting entrepreneurs, assessing investment opportunities, working with our own Group businesses to develop the right partnerships with start-ups.

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

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