Arnold House Annual Review 2020

Arnold This has been a busy year for Arnold, our school dog, as he has been involved in all aspects of school life. For the first two terms he was an enthusiastic visitor to lessons across the school, including reading lessons when he would sit with individual boys reading aloud or the whole class reading their class reader. One of his favourite duties was to accompany boys on local walks and outings around the School during breaks and in the afternoons so that he could enjoy their company whilst they chattered about how their day was going. Being a keen runner, he joined

Arnold – Google Meets with the boys

in with the Activities Programme and was a regular up at Canons Park, watching the boys playing their games.

When there were matches he represented Arnold House as the school mascot, which encouraged the boys to raise their game in matches with other schools.

Arnold – writing postcards to the boys during lockdown

As we moved into the uncertain times of lockdown, it was evident that his calming effect and his positive influence extended past the school gates. Arnold was able to help the mental wellbeing of our community by appearing in lessons via digital learning, bringing a smile to the faces of boys, parents and staff as he popped into Google Meets and Form Times. The boys particularly enjoyed the

uplifting photos that were shared of him ‘working from home’. Every boy in the school received a handwritten, personal postcard from Arnold, celebrating their achievements and congratulating them for overcoming the challenges they had been confronted with during this unusual and unsettling time.

Senior School Transfer A bespoke document detailing the background to and significance of Standardised Testing in the admissions process to senior schools has been produced for AH parents. Receiving comprehensive information well ahead of time has been greatly appreciated by parents as they are guided through the process by AH’s experienced team tasked with overseeing this very important area of school life in Years 5 and 6. Internal assessments take place at regular intervals as a boy progresses through the School to Year 6, when the vast majority of senior schools hold entrance tests and interviews. That the boys become so familiar with the different forms of testing in English, Maths, Reading, Verbal, Non-Verbal and Numerical Reasoning, both computerised and written, is an obvious benefit. In addition, however, the results produced over a period of time give parents an accurate profile of their son’s capabilities by the time he applies to senior schools in Year 6 and with it a strong indication of his suitability and likely success in being offered a place.

Now that the selection process in Year 6 is so thorough, with senior schools having confidence in the Standardised Testing model, it is a welcome development that Common Entrance in Year 8 is no longer a qualifying examination with the inherent danger that it could be failed. This has provided prep schools with an opportunity to be more creative and less exam driven in Years 7 and 8.

From September 2020, therefore, Year 8 boys will not sit CE exams in all subjects in their final term with us and will instead complete their studies through a combination of exams, extended projects and presentations which will be relayed to their senior school along with a final report and Headmaster’s reference. Common Entrance has changed very little since it was introduced over one hundred years ago and this initiative presents prep schools with some very exciting educational opportunities to develop and establish in the foreseeable future.

ANNUALREVIEW 2020 The Annual Review focusses on three areas: Year 8 Leavers, Curriculum Development and New Educational Opportunities, and Fundraising (not this issue). The School Magazine published every autumn, provides a comprehensive account of all the boys’ exploits and achievements throughout the school year.

Farewell Year 8!

T

he boys’ final term at Arnold House was an unexpected and complete departure from the experience enjoyed by former AH boys. The Covid-19 pandemic, subsequent national lockdown and closure of the School put paid to the Leavers’ Programme (the icing-on-the-cake to a boy’s time at AH) but also to the Scholarship and Common Entrance examination season. The odd senior school managed to complete a part of their exam schedule or decided to postpone scholarship exams until Year 9.

The majority, however, followed the same line taken with GCSEs and A Levels and cancelled them altogether. This was a great shame for our boys as they would have much preferred to sit their final exams and show their future schools what they could do. Their predicted grades (92% graded A* to B and 72% A* or A) confirm the extremely high standards to which they were working and compare very favourably with those achieved by Y8 boys over the past five years.

Eight boys had the honour of being entered for academic scholarships: Tomas Lopez-Valcarcel (Eton), Guy Lewis (Sevenoaks), Ben Mendelsohn, Matteo Shidrawi, Alex Toledano

Saturday Enrichment Programme A series of four Saturday morning sessions was planned for the spring and summer terms for Y6 pupils from local primary schools together with a few Arnold House boys.

The focus of learning was on science, mathematics and problem solving and was run in partnership with the Faculty of Engineering Science at UCL. The lockdown has slowed momentum after a promising start but we hope to provide more learning opportunities at AH for primary school children in STEM subjects (Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths) during the course of next year.

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 2020

Scholarship Group 2019-2020

(all St Paul’s) and Jai Gupta, Matvey Nikitichev and Aarush Pethe (all Westminster). Three more boys were considered for sports scholarships: Teddy Barnett and Ralph CollierWright (both Harrow) and Lucas Smart (St Albans), with Ralph and Lucas richly deserving of their awards.

All of the Y8 boys have contributed enormously to the wider life of the School and it was wonderful to be able to hold a Prize Giving and Leavers’ Service for them and their families at St John’s Wood Church on the last day of term. They end their prep school days in very good heart, despite the disappointments brought about by the lockdown, and can look forward with confidence

to five very rewarding and happy years at their chosen senior schools.

Many congratulations to all of Year 8 and we all send them our very best wishes for the future!

Senior school destinations

Number of boys transferring

City of London Eton Harrow Merchant Taylors’

2 3 3 1

Mill Hill

3

Sevenoaks St Albans St Paul’s Tonbridge UCS Westminster

1 1 4 1 6 3

Curriculum Development and New Educational Opportunities Poet in Residence This year we were fortunate to have our very own Poet in Residence, Simon Mole. For the first time, a poet has come into school on a weekly basis and helped the boys to create individual and group poems, eventually to be collected in a poetry anthology due to be published in the autumn.

Simon worked with all the boys across the school at some point in the year, coming in every Thursday during the autumn term, followed by occasional visits in the spring. As well as poetry workshops and assemblies, he orchestrated lunchtime jams in the dining room, as well as a songwriting session in the library.

Maths The boys have taken part in two national maths challenges – the Primary Maths Challenge (for Y6 and below) and the Junior Maths Challenge (for Y7 and Y8). It is difficult to prepare for the Challenges as they jostle for space with the ISEB Pre-Tests in Y6, and Scholarship and Common Entrance exams in Y8, so the boys need to take these tests largely in their stride. They did extremely well – in the Primary Maths Challenge 15 boys entered and there were 3 bronze, 1 silver and 2 gold awards and in the Junior Maths Challenge 26 boys entered and there were 8 bronze, 9 silver and 6 gold awards.

Eco Council This has been an exciting first year of the Eco Council in starting the movement to become a more environmentally friendly and sustainable school, with Y8 Chairman Rohan Ragoowansi supported by a further 21 boys on the Council.

Activities – lockdown cooking

Already, small changes have been implemented across the School to reduce our reliance on single-use plastic; greater recycling has been encouraged and each form room has been given an air purifying plant to look after.

Poet in Residence

Activities Our Activities Programme adds an extra dimension to the sporting life of the school, which is organised through PE lessons at Loudoun Road and Paddington Rec and games sessions at Canons Park. Many boys continue to enjoy the sporting abilities nurtured at Arnold House long after leaving us, taking the lessons they have learnt with them on to their senior schools. So, this year we were extremely pleased to introduce Polo to the programme. The group of boys trained with Miss Hall and Moore Hall Farm Polo Club every Tuesday evening after school. By the time of “lockdown” most of them were riding and striking the ball confidently. In fact, we were so pleased with their progress that we were looking forward to playing in the beginners’

The purpose has been to introduce small but vital changes into everyday school life to try and minimise our impact on the environment. It is refreshing to see just how many boys are already so invested in the impacts of climate change, and it has been the perfect year to work side by side with the School’s chosen charity – Plastic Oceans UK.

We have worked with Westminster Council to make the air

Activities – lockdown chess

chukkas at the National Inter-School Polo Tournament at Black Bears Polo Club.

With some imaginative thinking, many activities were able to continue remotely during “lockdown” (knitting, chess, science and nature outdoors, ‘le petit cordon bleu’, running and cycling challenges) and this offered a wonderful outlet and a chance for the boys to connect with different members of the school during a time of isolation. Quiz club became a Form activity for all boys in Y5-8 and debating, origami, book and poetry clubs also added to the boys’ interests.

Activities - Polo Club

Eco Council 2019-2020

ANNUAL REVIEW | AUGUST 2020

ANNUAL REVIEW | AUGUST 2020

Eco Council - Environmental Information Evening

in St John’s Wood cleaner. Next year, we will build on the drive to raise awareness of the negative effect that idling in a car can have on the air around us and to encourage drivers to switch their engines off. The boys have been collecting data on both travel and air pollutant levels, which will be passed on to next year’s committee.

The Environmental Information Evening we held in February was a huge success with the majority of the school and many parents attending. The boys led all the stalls themselves, and covered a huge range of topics including the fashion industry, travel and the effect of climate change on the planet.

Curriculum Development and New Educational Opportunities Poet in Residence This year we were fortunate to have our very own Poet in Residence, Simon Mole. For the first time, a poet has come into school on a weekly basis and helped the boys to create individual and group poems, eventually to be collected in a poetry anthology due to be published in the autumn.

Simon worked with all the boys across the school at some point in the year, coming in every Thursday during the autumn term, followed by occasional visits in the spring. As well as poetry workshops and assemblies, he orchestrated lunchtime jams in the dining room, as well as a songwriting session in the library.

Maths The boys have taken part in two national maths challenges – the Primary Maths Challenge (for Y6 and below) and the Junior Maths Challenge (for Y7 and Y8). It is difficult to prepare for the Challenges as they jostle for space with the ISEB Pre-Tests in Y6, and Scholarship and Common Entrance exams in Y8, so the boys need to take these tests largely in their stride. They did extremely well – in the Primary Maths Challenge 15 boys entered and there were 3 bronze, 1 silver and 2 gold awards and in the Junior Maths Challenge 26 boys entered and there were 8 bronze, 9 silver and 6 gold awards.

Eco Council This has been an exciting first year of the Eco Council in starting the movement to become a more environmentally friendly and sustainable school, with Y8 Chairman Rohan Ragoowansi supported by a further 21 boys on the Council.

Activities – lockdown cooking

Already, small changes have been implemented across the School to reduce our reliance on single-use plastic; greater recycling has been encouraged and each form room has been given an air purifying plant to look after.

Poet in Residence

Activities Our Activities Programme adds an extra dimension to the sporting life of the school, which is organised through PE lessons at Loudoun Road and Paddington Rec and games sessions at Canons Park. Many boys continue to enjoy the sporting abilities nurtured at Arnold House long after leaving us, taking the lessons they have learnt with them on to their senior schools. So, this year we were extremely pleased to introduce Polo to the programme. The group of boys trained with Miss Hall and Moore Hall Farm Polo Club every Tuesday evening after school. By the time of “lockdown” most of them were riding and striking the ball confidently. In fact, we were so pleased with their progress that we were looking forward to playing in the beginners’

The purpose has been to introduce small but vital changes into everyday school life to try and minimise our impact on the environment. It is refreshing to see just how many boys are already so invested in the impacts of climate change, and it has been the perfect year to work side by side with the School’s chosen charity – Plastic Oceans UK.

We have worked with Westminster Council to make the air

Activities – lockdown chess

chukkas at the National Inter-School Polo Tournament at Black Bears Polo Club.

With some imaginative thinking, many activities were able to continue remotely during “lockdown” (knitting, chess, science and nature outdoors, ‘le petit cordon bleu’, running and cycling challenges) and this offered a wonderful outlet and a chance for the boys to connect with different members of the school during a time of isolation. Quiz club became a Form activity for all boys in Y5-8 and debating, origami, book and poetry clubs also added to the boys’ interests.

Activities - Polo Club

Eco Council 2019-2020

ANNUAL REVIEW | AUGUST 2020

ANNUAL REVIEW | AUGUST 2020

Eco Council - Environmental Information Evening

in St John’s Wood cleaner. Next year, we will build on the drive to raise awareness of the negative effect that idling in a car can have on the air around us and to encourage drivers to switch their engines off. The boys have been collecting data on both travel and air pollutant levels, which will be passed on to next year’s committee.

The Environmental Information Evening we held in February was a huge success with the majority of the school and many parents attending. The boys led all the stalls themselves, and covered a huge range of topics including the fashion industry, travel and the effect of climate change on the planet.

Arnold This has been a busy year for Arnold, our school dog, as he has been involved in all aspects of school life. For the first two terms he was an enthusiastic visitor to lessons across the school, including reading lessons when he would sit with individual boys reading aloud or the whole class reading their class reader. One of his favourite duties was to accompany boys on local walks and outings around the School during breaks and in the afternoons so that he could enjoy their company whilst they chattered about how their day was going. Being a keen runner, he joined

Arnold – Google Meets with the boys

in with the Activities Programme and was a regular up at Canons Park, watching the boys playing their games.

When there were matches he represented Arnold House as the school mascot, which encouraged the boys to raise their game in matches with other schools.

Arnold – writing postcards to the boys during lockdown

As we moved into the uncertain times of lockdown, it was evident that his calming effect and his positive influence extended past the school gates. Arnold was able to help the mental wellbeing of our community by appearing in lessons via digital learning, bringing a smile to the faces of boys, parents and staff as he popped into Google Meets and Form Times. The boys particularly enjoyed the

uplifting photos that were shared of him ‘working from home’. Every boy in the school received a handwritten, personal postcard from Arnold, celebrating their achievements and congratulating them for overcoming the challenges they had been confronted with during this unusual and unsettling time.

Senior School Transfer A bespoke document detailing the background to and significance of Standardised Testing in the admissions process to senior schools has been produced for AH parents. Receiving comprehensive information well ahead of time has been greatly appreciated by parents as they are guided through the process by AH’s experienced team tasked with overseeing this very important area of school life in Years 5 and 6. Internal assessments take place at regular intervals as a boy progresses through the School to Year 6, when the vast majority of senior schools hold entrance tests and interviews. That the boys become so familiar with the different forms of testing in English, Maths, Reading, Verbal, Non-Verbal and Numerical Reasoning, both computerised and written, is an obvious benefit. In addition, however, the results produced over a period of time give parents an accurate profile of their son’s capabilities by the time he applies to senior schools in Year 6 and with it a strong indication of his suitability and likely success in being offered a place.

Now that the selection process in Year 6 is so thorough, with senior schools having confidence in the Standardised Testing model, it is a welcome development that Common Entrance in Year 8 is no longer a qualifying examination with the inherent danger that it could be failed. This has provided prep schools with an opportunity to be more creative and less exam driven in Years 7 and 8.

From September 2020, therefore, Year 8 boys will not sit CE exams in all subjects in their final term with us and will instead complete their studies through a combination of exams, extended projects and presentations which will be relayed to their senior school along with a final report and Headmaster’s reference. Common Entrance has changed very little since it was introduced over one hundred years ago and this initiative presents prep schools with some very exciting educational opportunities to develop and establish in the foreseeable future.

ANNUALREVIEW 2020 The Annual Review focusses on three areas: Year 8 Leavers, Curriculum Development and New Educational Opportunities, and Fundraising (not this issue). The School Magazine published every autumn, provides a comprehensive account of all the boys’ exploits and achievements throughout the school year.

Farewell Year 8!

T

he boys’ final term at Arnold House was an unexpected and complete departure from the experience enjoyed by former AH boys. The Covid-19 pandemic, subsequent national lockdown and closure of the School put paid to the Leavers’ Programme (the icing-on-the-cake to a boy’s time at AH) but also to the Scholarship and Common Entrance examination season. The odd senior school managed to complete a part of their exam schedule or decided to postpone scholarship exams until Year 9.

The majority, however, followed the same line taken with GCSEs and A Levels and cancelled them altogether. This was a great shame for our boys as they would have much preferred to sit their final exams and show their future schools what they could do. Their predicted grades (92% graded A* to B and 72% A* or A) confirm the extremely high standards to which they were working and compare very favourably with those achieved by Y8 boys over the past five years.

Eight boys had the honour of being entered for academic scholarships: Tomas Lopez-Valcarcel (Eton), Guy Lewis (Sevenoaks), Ben Mendelsohn, Matteo Shidrawi, Alex Toledano

Saturday Enrichment Programme A series of four Saturday morning sessions was planned for the spring and summer terms for Y6 pupils from local primary schools together with a few Arnold House boys.

The focus of learning was on science, mathematics and problem solving and was run in partnership with the Faculty of Engineering Science at UCL. The lockdown has slowed momentum after a promising start but we hope to provide more learning opportunities at AH for primary school children in STEM subjects (Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths) during the course of next year.

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 2020

Scholarship Group 2019-2020

(all St Paul’s) and Jai Gupta, Matvey Nikitichev and Aarush Pethe (all Westminster). Three more boys were considered for sports scholarships: Teddy Barnett and Ralph CollierWright (both Harrow) and Lucas Smart (St Albans), with Ralph and Lucas richly deserving of their awards.

All of the Y8 boys have contributed enormously to the wider life of the School and it was wonderful to be able to hold a Prize Giving and Leavers’ Service for them and their families at St John’s Wood Church on the last day of term. They end their prep school days in very good heart, despite the disappointments brought about by the lockdown, and can look forward with confidence

to five very rewarding and happy years at their chosen senior schools.

Many congratulations to all of Year 8 and we all send them our very best wishes for the future!

Senior school destinations

Number of boys transferring

City of London Eton Harrow Merchant Taylors’

2 3 3 1

Mill Hill

3

Sevenoaks St Albans St Paul’s Tonbridge UCS Westminster

1 1 4 1 6 3