Any parents reading this will know that the day you send your son or daughter to school for the first time is one of the most stressful days of your life. Dropping them off and then walking away is a massive wrench.
Prospective parents….be warned. First impressions mean a lot. Consequently, rolling-up at Argyle House School in Sunderland is a hugely comforting experience. As soon as you arrive, there is a welcoming atmosphere and a friendly face. You can instantly tell that the children are happy and content in their surroundings. “That is the most important aspect of this school,” said Headmaster Chris Johnson who also owns the school. “We see ourselves as an extension to the child’s family and try to make it a home from home experience, operating on family values. If a pupil is happy and content in their school surroundings, they have every chance to do well in terms of academic and personal achievement.” Argyle House School is situated in Sunderland. The school was formed in 1884 and has been privately owned since the day it opened. Chris’s family took over 1968. Chris has been in charge for the last twenty years. Argyle House is also a rarity in that it is the UK’s only familyowned school outside of London. As usual, the school is running very close to capacity, such is its popularity. “We currently have 232 pupils. Our capacity is 240 but due to the inevitable coming and going of families who are moving into or away from the area, we try avoid running at our limit so as to provide some flexibility. Traditionally we attract pupils from Sunderland and the surrounding areas such as Hetton, Houghtonle-Spring, Boldon, Cleadon, Roker and Seaburn as well as locally in Thornhill and Ashbrooke, but we are starting to see more and more families visiting the school who’re moving into the North East from the south of the country.” The school’s fees are highly competitive and are another reason why places at Argyle House are in demand. You could say the same about their results at GCSE level because Argyle House is always a top performer and easily outstrips the national average for grades. “We have mixed ability classes for early years, juniors and seniors. We provide all of the subjects you would expect at any school as well as placing an emphasis on sport and music. It’s wonderful to see how a pupil, who may perhaps initially struggle slightly with academic subjects, can flourish when it comes to sport and the arts. This gives the pupil more confidence and certainly boosts their personal morale which inevitably helps them when it comes to studying other subjects.” As you would expect, Argyle House School offers a much better pupil – teacher ratio than you will find in state schools. Classes in the lower school generally have around 16-18 pupils while in the senior school there are normally low 20s per class. This allows a greater level of pupil – teacher interaction and personal attention, and goes a long way to explaining the school’s academic success. The school enjoys an extremely low turnover of staff. This allows pupils and teachers to get to know each other and maintain the family atmosphere within the school. There can be very few schools in the UK where every member of staff will know the name of every pupil. “This is all part and parcel of maintaining the sense of ‘family’ within the school. We want pupils to feel relaxed and comfortable in school….enjoy their time here and look forward to coming to school. Things haven’t been quite so straightforward since the Covid-19 lockdowns due to the precautions we’ve had to take. There is no longer the level of mixing within the school that we’ve previously tried to encourage. After-school activities have had to be curtailed and we have to restrict the number of visitors we can admit. Any parents who would like to visit our school with the intention of sending their son or daughter here, are asked to arrive late in the day when all of the pupils have gone home and the school has been sanitised. On-line teaching is also less than ideal and of course it means that the family atmosphere which we always encourage has been slightly watered-down for the moment.” Argyle House School is like a big family. It is family owned; family values are key. Your son or daughter becomes part of the family. You only get one chance at providing the best possible education for your child. Argyle House School achieves excellent academic results and, thanks to the family values on which the school is built, it also gives children confidence and self-belief. Traditional family values for the 21st Century. Argyle House….no ordinary independent school.