An education for life: Find out what Sunderland’s only independent school could do for your child
Argyle House School is Sunderland’s only independent school.
It offers an education which is built on strong family values, imparted by dedicated staff who pride themselves on building relationships of mutual respect with pupils, parents, carers, colleagues.
The school is open to pupils aged from three to 16 years and has a 50-week nursery.
A walk around the site will showcase its innovative approach to education in action: music, drama, sports; external visits; and visitors, who often speak in assemblies, run by staff but in which pupils deliver content.
The school says it strives to prepare them all for life after Argyle House by grounding them in the real world.
This ethos is amplified by the journey many pupils make, from nursery to GCSE, supported by staff who know them well, encouraging parents to be partners from the outset.
Parents are extremely supportive of music events and drama productions that we stage. All Argyle House children make mutually supportive relationships with their peers, enhanced by Enterprise Club, careers events, Duke of Edinburgh Award, field study, annual camp in Cumbria, skiing trips and a whole panoply of sporting activities, honed weekly at a local facility, which has seen the small school produce national sporting champions and potential future Olympians.
The school’s direct, down to earth approach breeds self-reliance and humility.
Supporting each other
Older pupils participate in reading programmes in primary and function as listeners to support emotional needs.
Each year group elects representatives to sit on its student council, whose suggestions are fed-back to staff, and taken very seriously indeed. Peripatetic teachers deliver music tuition, from saxophone to flute, guitar to drums; on-site there are a host of clubs – yoga, construction, history, debating.
The school’s target is that pupils will begin to run clubs independently, again underpinning our strong values: older pupils supporting the younger pupils. Those with an unquenchable thirst for knowledge form our cadre of quiz champions. The school has recently initiated the Argyle House Diploma, in Bronze, Silver and Gold. This will allow the pupils to strive for, achieve and celebrate the school’s strong values of Ambition, Respect, Integrity, Compassion and Positivity.
Highly rated
Academically, GCSE results and comments from ISI speak volumes, the school says, although these result from everything it does. Smaller classes (split in core subjects) allow staff to give bespoke help to individuals, often on a 1:1 basis outside lessons. Skills-based reports allow parent-partners to understand precisely how to support their child at home. Parents are always well-informed, with an open-door policy, as well as regular reporting and parents’ evenings.
There is a programme of customised revision, especially at GCSE, which enhances ‘value added’. Daily, there’s a programme called ‘Accelerated Reader’, and pupils can access the library, support base, ICT facilities, the literacy room and other quiet areas to seek further assistance.
Argyle House has all the facilities of a larger school, but on a small, personal, site. Certainly, everyone is assured of a warm welcome from a school where everyone knows – and wishes to support – each other.
Argyle House ensures pupils are grounded in a world of strong values; thus, preparing them for life beyond school.
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