Marking update

6th August 2024

Congratulations to all of our students on a fantastic year! It's been a delight to see so much progress and hard work.

The Mainland Schoolroom will be closed from 12th-23rd August. Feel free to carry on sending in orders, assignments and queries, but there will be a bit of a delay in getting back to you.

We look forward to working together again in September!

 

 

20th June 2024

The summer has finally arrived! It has been a real pleasure and privilege to watch our students progress over the last year. Many of our IGCSE students have finally come the end of their exams, and we hope they enjoy a glorious summer full of possibilities. For those still studying - keep at it! The work is worth it.

Having said that, we at the Mainland Schoolroom are taking a brief break over the next week (21st-28th June). You are welcome to keep sending in queries, assignments and orders, but please be aware that there will be a slight delay in responding. 

Best wishes and well done for all the hard work!

Meg

Little Arthur Independent 

 

 

 

 

15th March 2024

We are flying through the spring term, and exam season is almost upon us! Well done to all students who have already sent in their mocks; you've come on in leaps and bounds and your papers have been testament to your hard work so far.

A reminder to all that those marked by Meg that she will be taking a brief pause at some point in the next few weeks to welcome the arrival of her baby. Since we don't know exactly when that will be, please do make sure all papers are in as soon as possible so that we can make sure they are marked with plenty of time for you to build on the feedback!

We thank you all for your patience as the schoolroom tackles the more concentrated workload. 

 

 

 

End of Term

9th August 2023

As we reach the end of the academic year here at Little Arthur Independent, we would like to say 'well done' to all of our students. We have seen some exceptional assignments this year, and a real focus and determination to learn and improve.

It's also been wonderful to hear stories of what our students do in addition to our courses; whether they are managing menageries of pets, honing their blacksmithing skills or writing books of their own, they continue to inspire us!

Two quick notes:

  • 2024 is the LAST YEAR in which we are able to offer examination in IGCSE Agriculture. It is possible to do the course in a year, but if you are interested you will need to act quickly!
  • The schoolroom will be closed from 17th - 28th August (inclusive). You are still welcome to send in queries, orders and assignments, but they will not be looked at until we are back for the new school term.

Thank you for joining us for this year, and we look forward to working with you again next year!

16th June 2023

Please be aware that we are not taking new students for IGCSE Agriculture at present. This is because we are looking into the viability of moving to a Mainland exam centre - watch this space! If you would like to be kept informed about the availability of IGCSE Agriculture, do drop us an email at [email protected], and we will update you. 

30th May 2023

With this season's exam students hurtling towards the finishing post, this seems like an excellent opportunity to say WELL DONE to you all. Regardless of how the results pan out, you have all worked exceptionally hard and should be really proud of the effort you have put in throughout your courses. 

Keen students will be aware that the Mainland schoolroom stayed open over Easter to allow for last-minute exam prep. The schoolroom will now be CLOSED for two weeks from 4th June, so any assignments or queries sent in during this time won't be dealt with until we are back. 

Enjoy the beautiful weather, remember to take regular breaks from studying, and wear sun cream!

9th January 2023

Welcome back!

As we launch into a new term, we are delighted to announce that the IGCSE Marine Science course is now available! An essential course for anyone interested in sea life and how to protect it. You can order it directly from our website, or by emailing the school.

Notes for your calendar:

Normally the mainland schoolroom is closed over the Easter holidays. We know this is a very pressured time for our IGCSE students, so this year we are trialling remaining open over Easter (excluding bank holidays) and closing instead from 5th-18th June, when almost all exams will be over. 

20th June 2022

With the IGCSE exams finally over, we're delighted to have added two new videos to our 'Introduction to Home Schooling' series.

7th June 2022

We know there is a lot of concern about the Schools Bill, which is currently before the House of Lords, and we are seeing a lot of misinformation about its contents. We have produced a brief summary of what the Bill means, in its current form, for home-educators in England (it does not apply in Wales, Scotland or Northern Ireland). The proposed amendments are in the video description, and deal with some of the concerns we've noted in the video; we will be keeping an eye on this one, and updating on it as and when things develop.

17th May 2022

We are pleased to announce our 'Introduction to Home-Schooling' video series! We are often asked about how to get started in home-schooling, so we're setting out to answer as many of the burning questions as possible; let us know what you would like us to cover!

31st January 2022

We hope all our students are well and enjoying their studies.

A few updates for the New Year:

  • We are working hard to bring out a new IGCSE Marine Science course soon - watch this space! 
  • Individual pay-as-you-go tutoring is now available for existing students who want extra practice in any of their subjects. This is done via email, is highly flexible and focuses on the area of your choice. Email your tutor for further information.
  • We have been doing some work at higher levels in Biology and Physics with a couple of students over the past year, and we hope to soon bring out an option of a Higher level course in both subjects. If this is something you would be interested in, please get in touch!
  • Equally, if there are any other courses you would like to see, let us know.

 

With warm wishes on a very chilly day!

Meg 

 

15th December

Well done to all our students for your hard work this term; it's been a joy to mark.

The school will be closed from 22nd December for two weeks; assignments, queries and orders sent in during this time will be responded to once we are back in the schoolroom from 5th January.

A quick reminder that when you are sending in your assignments, you need to include:

  • The assignment!
  • Your student record card, so that we can update it;
  • A stamped, addressed envelope with the correct postage. Please take care with the postage - although assignments are very rarely lost in the post, the most common assignments to go missing seem to be exam papers, and we suspect this may be due to incorrect postage. A mock paper will need more postage than a regular assignment, and please leave some allowance for helpsheets which might come back with it.

It is a good idea to take a copy or photo of assignments before sending in case of accidents; we would also recommend putting your assignment in a plastic wallet in case the envelope gets wet in transit.

We wish you a healthy and happy Christmas season!

Meg

 

25th October 2021

It's been a busy half term! Our students have produced some wonderful, through-through work so far this term, and it's been great to see our IGCSE students able to sit real exams again. We wish you all the best!

Do remember that the school is closed for the half-term holiday. As ever, you are welcome to send in assignments, queries and orders, but there will be a delay in getting them back to you. 

Meg

 

30th July 2021

We want to say well done to all our students for their hard work this year; it has been a joy to work with you and see your progress.

The mainland schoolroom will be closed for two weeks from 6th August - we worked through our Easter holiday to make sure our IGCSE students could get school-assessed grades, so we're taking the break now! You are still welcome to send in assignments and orders, but please be aware that they won't be marked/sent out until after the holiday.

 

Enjoy the summer!

 

12th March 2021

IGCSE Students

As you are all hopefully now aware, the summer exam series has been cancelled to be replaced with tutor assessed grades. If you were planning on sitting exams this summer, and have not already contacted the school to discuss the next steps, please do so urgently. It is important to remember that we are not able to give an assessed grade for any student who has not completed their full set of assignments and mock papers.

 

School Holidays

Due to the situation with the IGCSEs, the mainland schoolroom will be remaining open during its usual Easter break. We will instead be closed for two weeks in the summer, between 8th and 22nd August.

 

7th January 2020

Our Mainland Schoolroom has moved! If your work is marked by Meg, please send all future assignments to: Little Arthur Independent (Assignments), 34 St Davids Road, Letterston, Pembs, SA62 5SE. You should have received a sheet of address labels with our newsletter before Christmas; if you have not, contact the school and we will send some out to you.

IGCSE Students - The latest from Cambridge International is that the IGCSEs will go ahead in the summer as planned, despite GCSEs being cancelled. The statement from Cambridge can be found here: https://www.cambridgeinternational.org/news/news-details/view/statement-following-uk-government-announcement-on-june-2021-exams-20210105/

We advise that you contact your exam centre and check what their current plans are. Our partners at Tutors and Exams have advised that we prepare for a tutor-assessed approach as we did last year, and our IGCSE students will be hearing from us soon on how we plan to approach this. In the meantime, if you were planning to take exams this summer:

  1. Let the school know which exams you were planning to take, and with which exam centre.
  2. Check with your exam centre what evidence they would require in the event of tutor-assessed grades, and let us know what they say. We will do everything we can to help you get the grades you deserve, but the more time we have to prepare the better!
  3. Make sure you are on track with your assignments and mocks! We are only able to give predicted grades where a student has completed their full course, and if students leave it to the last minute we may not be able to complete all the marking. Priority will be given to students who send in their work one assignment at a time - they also have the advantage of learning from the feedback for their next assignment! Now, more than ever, you want your assignments to be your best work.

Please be aware that Little Arthur will not be acting as an exam centre this summer, as our Island Schoolroom is still shielding.

 

8th November 2020

The timetable for the 2021 summer exam series has now been published; it can be found here: https://www.cambridgeinternational.org/Images/513563-june-2021-timetable-zone-3-uk.pdf

 

21st October 2020

We hope you are all keeping safe and well!

If your assignments are currently being marked by Meg in Tongwynlais, we're happy to reassure you that marking will carry on through the Welsh circuit-breaker lockdown. However, if you have sent work in this week there may be a slight delay in returning it to you, as she is currently self-isolating pending test results. We hope normal service will resume next week!

Little Arthur Independent.

 

3rd October 2020

Welcome to all our new and returning students this term!

We are pleased to say that there are now spaces available on our KS3 Maths and Science courses.

The Science courses have been rewritten this year, with a series of new textbooks which promote individual investigation and curiosity. For those who are part way through our previous series, the new courses take a slightly different style but still cover everything you will need to know to prepare for IGCSE level.

Meg

 

 

24th August 2020

 

Please be aware that our KS3 Maths and Science courses are currently fully subscribed. If you are hoping to enrol your child on these courses please contact the school to put your child's name on the waiting list for the courses; we hope that spaces will become available from the end of September.

 

Meg