The Matthew Arnold School is on the outskirts of the east of Staines-upon-Thames, south of the A308, towards Ashford. It has transport links via buses 117 and 290 trains Matthew Arnold takes in many pupils from a variety of schools located around Staines-Upon-Thames and surrounding areas, including Buckland Primary School, Laleham Church of England School, Riverbridge Primary School, Town Farm Primary School, Our Lady of Rosary, Stanwell Fields, Clarendon, Ashford Park, Echelford Primary School and many more. '''
History
''' The Matthew Arnold School was started before the Second World War and some pupils were admitted before hostilities started.Aerial photographs taken on two separate occasions in 1933 illustrate some of the progress of construction of the new housing in the immediate vicinity of the survey area. These photographs also show the cropmarks of the supposed Roman enclosure in the playing fields of the school. Subsequent aerial photographs, taken at regular intervals from the late 1940s, to present also record cropmarks of the enclosure The site was partially excavated in 1989-1990 and although the dating is inconclusive, it is suggested that the enclosures are of medieval date.The School was finished after the war as two separate Secondary Modern Schools. There was no state Grammar School in Staines-upon-Thames. Boys and Girls who passed the 11+ went to Ashford County School or Hampton Grammar School,. With comprehensivisation on the 70s Matthew Arnold became a mixed comprehensive school. It became a comprehensive in 1975. The school became an academy in 2012, Construction is expected to be completed in December 2020 whereupon the current building will be demolished and external landscaping will take place and will be built by Wates Construction company with funding by the government’s Priority School Building Programme 2 which aims to rebuild or replace the schools in the worst condition across the UK.
Academic performance
In January 2008 the school was awarded "The Most Improved School in the Country". In 2014 the school was placed in special measures following an Ofsted inspection report that rated the school as 'inadequate'. As part of an improvement plan the school has joined the Bourne Education Trust, a Surrey-based multi-academy trust that includes Epsom and Ewell High School and Jubilee High School.
