Arnold House Winter Assembly 2017

ASSEMBLYWINTER 2017 From the Headmaster ‘Happy boys will learn’ is a familiar saying at Arnold House. And on the basis that we know AH boys learn exceptionally well, it follows from this maxim that they must be happy.

For me, the interesting question is ‘How should a school be set-up so that the happiness and wellbeing of each pupil is guaranteed?’ I offer below some basic principles which we adhere to at Arnold House that have done the trick for our boys and stood the test of time: • Enable each boy to feel cared for and valued as an individual

• Have a busy working week / term / year with the fullest range of subjects, activities and school trips possible for a boy to take part in

• Place a high value on good manners and consideration for others

• Praise and reward a boy for trying his best or doing the right thing whenever the opportunity arises

You will have noticed that there isn’t any mention of achievement. Experience tells me that achievement follows on naturally as a consequence of a boy feeling and believing the above to be true of his school.

• For teachers to take an interest in the boys and to match their energy and enthusiasm • Encourage a boy to aim high in all that he turns his hand to and put trust in him to grow into a fine ambassador of the School

• Expect to have some fun

Viv Thomas

Top row left to right: Year 8 trip to Burgundy, Armistice Remembrance Service, Year 7 perform ‘Romeo & Juliet’ at the Shakespeare Schools Festival Middle row left to right : Year 3 Trip to London Zoo, Years 1&2 Harvest Festival, Michaelmas Concert Bottom row left to right: Year 4 Trip to the Verulamium, 1st XI Football Tour to St George’s Park, Myths & Legends Charity Day in aid of Facing the World.

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A New Curriculum for Religious Studies In September 2016, after the departure of Mr Turpie, I took over as Head of Religious Studies. My degree is in History and Church History, so I did some theological courses at university, meaning that RS wasn’t an entirely new discipline for me. However, knowing about something isn’t the same as teaching it effectively, so I decided that the best approach would be to adopt and adapt the successful methods used in the Arnold House History Department. My aim was to create a complete set of tailor made notes to be used by AH boys, matching those that exist in History for Y5-8. Those notes were written over a good number of years, with the RS notes, I gave myself three terms to produce almost all of them. The task was time consuming, but always interesting.

I greatly enjoyed both the research and the writing involved – it’s the sort of thing I actually like doing! The end result has been well over 100 handouts (equating to around 500 printed pages or a quarter of a million words). The creation of the notes was also a chance to refresh the RS curriculum at Arnold House, which resulted in some changes.

Examples of the boys’ RS workbooks

Religion”. Part of the impetus behind this was comments made from English, History and Art teachers around the country, saying that many of their pupils lacked once common general knowledge about Christianity, making it difficult for those pupils to access some literary, artistic or historical materials in their subjects. In a modest attempt to resolve this issue the first term in Y5 is devoted to a unit called “Saints and Symbols”, where the cultural impact of the western Christian tradition is emphasised. Thereafter the Y5&6 course is devoted to a comparative study of six world religions: Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, Sikhism and Buddhism. Boys are taught about the origins, sacred texts, festivals, worship and rites of passage within the religions and become increasingly aware of what they hold in common, as well as how they are different.

Y1&2 continue to have Tricia Legan’s excellent weekly RS assembly as the basis for their learning, with its focus on famous Biblical stories and religious festivals from different religions. For Y3&4, I based a new curriculum on the advice of the CE exam board, which suggests that boys at that age should be taught the key stories from the Old and New Testaments, due to their impact on western culture. In order to make this easier, each boy in those year groups was issued with a copy of The Lion Children’s Bible – acting as a text book for the stories selected to be studied and a general reader for those who wanted to read more.

Y7&8’s curriculum is largely determined by the CE exam board, with a combination of Old and New Testament texts, world religion and contemporary issues questions. The notes provided for the boys encourage

Y5&6 saw the greatest change with the formulation of a course called “The World of SYMBOLS 1. SAINTS AND Saints OF RELIGION: 1.1 Arnold House THE WORLD

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es ance of the Apostl John 1.6.1 The import , James the Great, 1.6.2 Peter, Andrew s, Matthew lomew, Thoma 1.6.3 Philip, Bartho Jude, Simon, Matthias Less, 1.6.4 James the

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1.6.5 Judas

 What is a saint? such a well-known saint? el Arnold House?  Why is St Micha connected to the history of House? el n have with Arnold  How is St Micha tion does St Cypria  What connec

have lived a are people who y is saints. Saints but whose memor ask are over 10,000 to have now died, religion there to the saints gs of Jesus, and In the Christian Christians pray seen as good role ing the teachin to follow. Some are still good life, follow example for others pray to the saints, but they ls and schools and even cherished, as an don’t as are some hospita Other Christians help. saints, for after them churches are named models. Most s. ent towns and village Arnold House

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a disciple? n an apostle and difference betwee buried?  What is the to be Peter believed  Where is St the Apostles? unique among  How is St John of the Apostles? d Judas as one  Who replace es tance of the Apostl ry Jewish men 1.6.1 The impor es were ordina as his special The Twelve Apostl he whom Jesus chose living in Israel during the time were with him g to people and helpers. They the country teachin They were also went around life. to live a better on telling them how was executed and carried he of them were present when ge. Nearly all messa many t his ed to conver spreading but they manag e. The Biblical also put to death, ing Jesus’ messag huge people to follow the Apostles don’t give us s of each legend of and accounts about their lives, and the way did amounts of detail about what they become attached have grown up symbols that have ce to the way they died. The often make referen legends. Other to the Apostles these of some to ing ly not true, they died, accord – these are probab supposed ing the Gospel s’ they made spread r (see the story of St Thoma they have about journeys stories grew up they remain popula may not have historical basis, they are told, paintings. but in the places example). Although the stories g them to identify statues and for it is worth knowin journey below, group works of art, so ut 1.2), but this often influenced Hando (see as St Paul

by Jesus and Apostle too, such the ones originally chosen given the title were Other saints are ance, since they Department special import Religious Studies 1 of twelve has Arnold House

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2.6.1 Early life enlightenment 2.6.2 Seeking ideas 2.6.3 Buddha’s us significance 2.6.4 Religio

of the Koran 5.3.1 The origins the Koran t of 5.3.2 The conten treat the Koran s 5.3.3 How Muslim

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and Ayahs? other holy books? � What are Suras us stories from contain religio respect to the Koran? � Does the Koran do Muslims show � In what ways from the Koran?

Hadith different � How is the

a’s childhood? react? l about the Buddh and how did he he left his palace  What was unusua did he see when Bodhi Tree?  What four things Buddha when he sat under the ed to ?  What happen Four Noble Truths  What are the

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and Islam m, Christianity ism n) Religions: Judais Sikhism and Buddh amic (or Wester ns: Hinduism, • The Abrah they view (or Eastern) Religio religions is how one life • The Indian two groups of you only have nce between the simply, the differe The Abrahamic religions believe the afterlife (heaven). In in Explained very ed earth. t life our life on will be reward do in your curren good and you the purpose of and what you you should do lives or as a better life many that d you have and during le, as an animal ns, it is believe life (for examp the Indian religio will be reborn in your next (say: re-in-kar-nay-shon). n you determines how called reincarnatio of out ). This belief is India and came type of human g all originated in t we are learnin ” because they handou “Indian this In called ism. ns are Hindu most ancient ed there, called The Indian religio it is one of the first faith. Because t religion practis into being or who the very ancien tant figures from the Hindu say how it came of the West about three impor are unknown to us – we cannotdifferent from the religions practices. religions, its origins n. In fact Hinduism is very a huge variety of belief and is there are a religio there as e it believe sed also becaus , organi Brahman), they anity and Islam) of God they (Judaism, Christi believe in one God (called to worship whichever forms think s are free but it is best to Although Hindu of God and Hindus hundreds of gods, ter. hundreds of forms might seem that Hindus have charac it part of God’s standing of one want. This means a different under ent of each god as Arnold House

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and Indian religio

l name was and his origina 2,500 years ago tant and rich was born over into an impor as the Buddha parents that a). He was born The man we know ma (say: sid-har-ta got-a-m e teller told his parents was born, a fortun holy man. His Siddhartha Gauta BC. Before he ruler or a great decision to shield him in around 560 a either a great family in India be made they would born that if their up he when he grew a great ruler, so when he was age and death. They feared people less be , old such as illness wanted him to and try to help hout e a holy man realities of life, him to be. Throug d want to becom from the harsh wanted would they he attende ruler things, great and he was only son saw these than being the himself, rather his parents’ palacebut still stayed inside the fortunate than allowed to leave up he married, he was never his childhood ts. When he grew healthy servan beyond its walls. by young and nt of the real world palace, ignora e so d 30, he becam he was aroun One day when like beyond the what life was his curious about ded one of that he persua Once outside the palace walls riding with him. as Buddha) servants to go (the man we know walls, Siddhartha could not understand: he saw four things

2.6.1 Early life

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ed man  An old wrinkl  A sick person  A dead person man)  A monk (holy

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mic between the Abraha main difference art? � What is the a depicted in Hindu art? � How is Brahm depicted in Hindu art? � How is Vishnu depicted in Hindu � How is Shiva

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introduction 2.4.1 Important the Creator 2.4.2 Brahma: : the Protector 2.4.3 Vishnu the Destroyer 2.4.4 Shiva:

Examples of the new RS worksheets

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The task of formulating and implementing this new curriculum was not a solo one and I have been helped enormously by Jo Rendell and Dayne Matthews, who did much to provide supplementary audio-visual material on the topics for Y5-8 boys on the Intranet.

This year Abigail Spear and Athena Mann have also helped by providing materials for Y3&4, building on work done last year by Jo Rendell.

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them to look at the Biblical texts in a wider historical and cultural context. This better allows any relevant message from the texts to be isolated from the detail of the narrative and transferred to the contemporary world.

There is no expectation that boys should necessarily accept the message, but they should be aware of how it came about and how it has influenced people down the generations. The CE board are planning to expand the philosophical element of the exam in the near future, so being able to contextualise is an important part of developing thinking skills.

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n) imes spelt Qur’a the Koran (somet mmad in stages Muslims believe Muha to the Prophet the time was revealed in 610 AD. At but period, starting words down, over a 23-year not write the in the Muhammad did This was a normal practice and write. When memorised them. people could read ers, they too follow days before most down words to his of them wrote he told the did although some memorised them, full single version of the Koran death.

Muhammad’s the text. The first a few years after book form, it was a not appear until in written down Muhammad’s When it was the versions t Koran agains The name checked tion” learned by heart. followers had meaning “recita word Arabic comes from an loud). out (saying words to and Muslims have fully. written in Arabic The Koran is understand it they in order to learn Arabic ges do exist, but will s into other langua Translations original. Muslim can as the Arabic Muslims who same authority There are some an as having the heart. quite is by It ered Arabic hafiz. consid in called a are not parts of the Koran ne who manages this is often learn large – someo book by heart words in it. recite the whole the book has around 78,000 achievement since Department Arnold House

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The boys seem to have taken to the new course well and I have been impressed by the quality of work in boys’ books. Y5&6 especially have some very full and colourful exercise books, which show a huge amount

of learning has taken place. This response is gratifying, since it shows that boys will respond well to material that is part of an integrated process of learning and they can see how the building blocks of knowledge

can be joined together.

John Hill Head of History & Religious Studies

Mental Health and Wellbeing at Arnold House At Arnold House we aim to help the boys build resilience and to enjoy positive mental wellbeing. We do this through our extensive extra-curricular programmes, in lessons and through our pastoral care systems.

We believe that the boys are robust and happy but at the same time we are not complacent. A very powerful presentation at the start of term to all staff by Dick Moore from the Charlie Waller Memorial Trust (CWMT) highlighted the extent of mental health problems amongst children today and taught us how to identify the early signs of stress, depression and anxiety. Having

we are concerned about a boy, is structured around an Individual Action Plan which is put in place by the Individual Support Group and headed by Susie Dart who is our Mental Health Lead.

sought advice from Dick, Susie Dart and myself received advanced training about mental health in schools and we have been able to put together a structure for supporting the boys’ mental wellbeing at AH. The diagram below shows how this works.

We are holding a Forum for parents at 7pm on Monday 29th January with Dick Moore as our guest speaker and this will provide parents with the opportunity to find out more about our programme. I hope to see many of you there.

We have met with and established a partnership with Clinical Partners who specialise in Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. They can offer families specialist help once a mental health problem has been identified. In-school support, when

Sport, Music, Activities, PSHE, Citizenship

Sebastian Stones Deputy Headmaster, Pastoral

Pastoral care. Form teachers/tutors, Year Heads, Senior Master, all staff

All staff training Sept. 2017 Dick Moore

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Tracking Records/Lists/ Individual Action Plan SD Behaviour records SS

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Parents Forum 29th January 2018 Dick Moore

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Wellbeing through The Activities Programme “Character education” is the term used by educational policy-makers to describe a whole raft of activity within schools as they support children to become well-rounded individuals, who can bounce-back from life’s set-backs, succeed and be happy. As concern about the mental health of children and young people mounts, it is inevitable that schools have to focus on how they ASSEMBLY

support their pupils in building resilience and emotional wellbeing.

The Department for Education (DfE) has recently published two pieces of research, one on “character education” and the other on mental health provision in schools, which may hint at the direction of the government’s Green Paper on mental

health in schools, expected later this year.

The paper is likely to set out proposals for improving support for children with mental health conditions, but also for bolstering prevention in schools, including through developing character traits such as resilience.

boys and staff to be the key to our success.

Our staff model the desired traits and are approachable and engaging, so the boys feel encouraged to be open with them and take on board advice.

Dodgeball Club

At Arnold House, we have always been actively developing character through a school-wide, cross-curricular approach to this work. Our core values intend to contribute to character education – where qualities such as honesty, integrity and respect for others are set out as guiding principles.

These key messages are promoted and reiterated at different levels, using our extra-curricular activities, assemblies and subject lessons to instil these values into the boys and encourage them to reflect upon, develop and demonstrate positive character traits.

Crucially at Arnold House, we consider the quality of relationships between the

The activities programme, run by our teaching staff, including classroom assistants and members of the admin team, gives the boys down time from academia and this contributes greatly to their wellbeing, and their attainment too. It’s simply not possible to study effectively for hours and hours on end; so a pupil who stops to have a proper break and enjoy an alternative activity for a little while will return physically, emotionally and academically refreshed.

not otherwise have the capacity to manage.

We are committed to supporting each boy to ensure that his experience at Arnold House is a happy and successful one. We believe the “character education” we provide for all our boys is fundamental to the allround education which we pride ourselves on at Arnold House.

Natalie Hall Activities Coordinator

The friends the boys make through their activities are often different from the ones with whom they spend most of their school day. This exposure to a wider range of opinions and experiences can help to broaden hearts and minds.

We learn a great deal about ourselves from trying new things and facing new challenges, so our wide range of activities gives the boys an opportunity to ‘have a go’ and try something new. Also, many of our activities help the boys to find a language and a means to express themselves or to work through difficult feelings they might

Boardgames Club

Remembering Arthur William de Segundo 100 Years On 2017 marks the centenary of the death of three Arnold House old boys who fought in the First World War: Frederic Cloete Walker, Hubert Green and Arthur William de Segundo. Following a recent connection with Arthur’s nephews, we have been able to gain a deeper insight into his life and death which was commemorated at Armistice Day in November.

Arthur William (known within his family and hereon as William) was born in September 1899. He was the second of three de Segundo boys who attended AH. William started at AH in January 1906 (aged 7), a term after it opened. He enjoyed acting and Miss Hanson recalled his role in a play at Christmas 1908 in her diary.

In 1912 (aged 13) he went to his senior school, the newly opened Royal Naval College at Osborne. This was no ordinary school, it was a school operated by the Royal Navy and those attending it were likely to become naval officers. The outbreak of war in 1914 had a profound effect on the Royal Naval College, because it was essentially a branch of the Royal Navy, all the boys there were immediately sent to sea. William was at war in August 1914, aged 14 years and 11 months. To the modern mind, this is ASSEMBLY

uncompromisingly wrong, but the Royal Navy had a long history of boy sailors and the ethos and culture at Osborne would have taken a different view to ours.

In February 1915 (aged 15½ at the time), his ship (HMS Albion) was sent to support the fledgling military operation in the Dardanelles against Turkey, which was later given the name Gallipoli. His dates of service show he was there for the whole campaign, operating from both his ship and the beaches.

In letters sent to his mother in July 2015, he begins:

“I am so glad to hear from auntie Mabel that you are looking very well” The charming start does not hint at what lies ahead in the following eight pages, as he describes coming under attack from Turkish guns, while he and other British sailors bring supplies ashore, during the operation. He notes that he and his men tended to a wounded Turk, a remarkable act of humanity in the brutality of work. Despite

this, he continues:

“The Turks counter attacked our troops who were on the hill just above us. Maxim guns were rattling for all they were worth.

To add to this there was incessant rifle fire from both sides. We had to take cover as rifle bullets were singing around us and smacking up the sand and water. I had to take cover behind two dead men and it was not a pleasant job either. After the attack we recommenced out work.”

He continues on the following line:

“The next job we got was collecting the dead and their belongings, such as rifles.

This was also very unpleasant, because they had been dead two days and the smell was horrible and secondly some of them were badly mutilated – it was the worst and most ghastly sight I have ever seen.”

A.W. de Segundo on HMS Albion December 1914

He was 15 years old when he wrote those words and witnessed these events.

Yet the same letter records, in huge detail his daily routines on the ship, in the sort of detail that reminded me of how some Arnold House boys write today. The letter is a mix of the truly shocking and the wonderfully charming.

In another letter (dated September 1915, by which time he has just turned 16), he writes to his father about the ANZACs, the group we now most associate with the Gallipoli campaign. This contains a description of the use of planes to bomb the troops on the beaches. William though remarks how some of his suitcases were damaged and a shirt was torn, but that he would keep it as a memento, along with some Turkish shells and bullets. Another charming detail, which again seems so typical of an Arnold House boy – that desire to collect all sorts of stuff!

By 1916 the Gallipoli campaign was over and William was sent to a new ship, HMS Vanguard. This was an enormous battleship, home to almost 1,000 sailors, which was based off the far north Scottish coast at Scapa Flow. It was part of the huge British

naval presence in the North Sea to keep the Germans locked in to their ports after the Battle of Jutland (June 1916). William writes in a letter to his mother in September 1916 (by which time he had just turned 17) that there had been Zeppelin (airship) and submarine attacks, but his ship had chased off the enemy, although some British ships were lost.

William remained on HMS Vanguard as 1916 turned into 1917. By this time, his career in the Navy was taking off and he was in the process of taking exams to gain promotion from the rank of Midshipman to Sub Lieutenant. He and the rest of the ship no doubt experienced the increasing threat posed by German submarine attacks during 1917. So risky were these attacks that drills were in place to practise the swift and safe evacuation of any ship hit by a German submarine torpedo.

On the afternoon of 9th June 1917, the sailors of HMS Vanguard had undertaken a practice evacuation drill. It had gone well and the day was coming to a close, but at 11:20PM something happened that changed everything in an instant.

the Royal Navy. Most bodies were never recovered.

Among those who drowned and whose bodies were lost at sea was Midshipman Arthur William de Segundo RN, aged 17 years and 10 months.

At the time, it was assumed a German torpedo had caused the explosion, but investigations showed it was a tragic accident, not an attack. The loss of so many men so quickly was a national disaster and one made all the more tragic for families like the de Segundos, who had no grave on which to focus their loss and memories.

Both de Segundo and Green have their names carved on memorials that the Y8 boys visit during the battlefields tour and we take time when we go to remember them individually. However a grave is not a requirement for remembrance, even a carved name is just one of many things that can focus us. We should look instead at the stories of those who have died and their character during their lives, recalling the quote from the Psalms:

In memoria aeterna erit justus

The truth of what happened that evening A good man will be held in everlasting took many investigations to establish. It was remembrance a very warm night and many of the internal John Hill doors within this massive ship, which was Deputy Headmaster, Academic home to almost 900 sailors, were open. It is believed that a fire started in one part of the ship and spread very rapidly to the area where the huge amounts of ammunition used in the massive guns that fired on the enemy was stored. Once the fire reached the ammunition storage area, the ammunition exploded and the force of the explosion of tonnes of cordite was so destructive that the huge ship sank almost immediately. There were 845 on board the ship at that moment; 843 drowned. It was the worse Arnold House July 1906: Arthur William - seated, middle front row accident in the history of

With thanks to Adrian & William de Segundo for their donation of Arthur William’s letters to his family to the School’s archives.

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Interview with old boy Geordie Macleod (1999-2004) What has been your greatest achievement to date?

AH Rugby Team 2002 (Geordie back row second from the left)

What have you done since leaving Arnold House?

After leaving AH I went to St. Paul’s, Barnes and then to read Geography at Christ Church, Oxford. At St. Paul’s and Oxford I rowed a lot and after graduating I kept rowing for a few years with a view to competing for national selection.

Unfortunately I had a series of back injuries and had to retire. I’d been interested in Formula One since I was young and a lot of the UK based teams are near Oxford. When I was at university I became more interested in the business side of the industry and when I retired from rowing I started working at the Mercedes F1 Team. After 18 months I was approached to move to a different role at the Force India F1 where I currently work in the Commercial Team.

What are your overriding memories of Arnold House?

The red blazers! If I’m speaking with anyone about schools in North London, or someone who lives in St. John’s Wood the red blazers always come up and they are a big part of the School’s identity. I remember the turn of the millennium as a time when the School was undergoing a lot of rapid changes and expansions. I think over the course of the seven years I was at AH pretty much every part of the school was either renovated, expanded or demolished and rebuilt!

In a sporting context, winning the Oxford and Cambridge Boat Race in 2013 is my greatest achievement.

On a personal note I recently got engaged, so convincing someone to spend that much time with me is definitely a big achievement!

Professionally, we’ll see how the next few Oxford v Cambridge Boat Race 2013 (Geordie with his arms up) months go ahead of the 2018 Season as we What advice would you give someone who try to line up some new would like to follow in your footsteps and partners for the Team! pursue a career in Formula One? Describe an average day in your role in Part of my motivation to take the career Formula One? path that I have was to avoid taking the One of the great things about my role is path that many of my peers have into that there are not too many ‘average’ days! consulting, finance, accountancy, etc. It Some days will be spent at the Factory in is not that I don’t see value in those roles, Silverstone doing research and meeting I just knew that it was not a lifestyle that with my team to discuss how we’re appealed to me. A big part of securing the positioned commercially. Other days I’ll be career I have now is persistence; it is a hard meeting with prospects, often in London. space to break into, but that is not unique The best days are often the weekends; my to Formula One. Identify what value you role isn’t a full travelling role so I attend races can add to an organisation, find a way of as and when necessary. There is something conveying that and then wait for the right special about being trackside watching your opportunity. cars head into the first corner – hoping they If you would like to know more about come out unscathed!

Formula One and how to get closer to the action, please contact Geordie at geordie.macleod@gmail.com

What was your favourite subject at School and why?

I really enjoyed studying history. I was fortunate to have some great history teachers, John Hill in particular, who really made learning about all these different people and places over the centuries so interesting. The breadth of history is what made it fantastic for me, there is always more to learn.

Mexico Grand Prix 2017 (Geordie second from the right)

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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