News from MCS

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You may well have seen the headlines about the shocking incident in Ammanford, where three people were injured in a school stabbing. It must be a terrible time for the whole school community there, and my thoughts go out to them.

We have robust security and safety measures in place here at MCS to safeguard everyone onsite, which are reviewed frequently by the School, the Local Authority and additionally by Estyn and other agencies. You will have noted, for instance, the recent notice here to parents and carers to wait outside the school building at the end of the day, instead of coming into reception – a minor measure that came out of a recent review of security procedures for us. We also have a lockdown procedure, which we are scheduled to practise with all staff and students this term. We will now bring this forward so that it takes place before the exam season. We will also, as a matter of good practice, continue to evaluate and review our policies in this area.

Whilst serious events such as this are rare in UK schools, we are well-prepared to respond appropriately in emergency situations to keep everyone safe.

Hugo Hutchison
Prifathro/Headteacher

Year 8 student Oliver Hall, has been selected by Cricket Wales to be part of the Under 13s summer playing squad following a successful Winter Training programme.

Great news, Oliver.

County Cup football success for Lydia!

Year 10 student Lydia Lannen plays for U15s girls football team Tupsley FC. The girls played and won the Herefordshire Football Association (HFA) U16s Girls County Cup final, taking on Ross-on-Wye U16s girls' team.

It was a hard-fought battle and they won 3-0. This is a tremendous result and shows their resilience, skill and determination for such a young squad. Lydia did a fantastic job on the wing, with impressive pace.

Congratulations!

STUDENT ABSENCE – PLANNED AND UNPLANNED

As parents/carers you will receive a text message if your child does not register with their tutor and does not arrive at session 1 and you have not already reported their absence to school (Absentee Line 01600 775284 - mon.attendance@monmouth.schoolsedu.org.uk). Please respond to this text message, with the reason for absence. We aim to send this text message by 10am. 

This should speed up the process of recording absences and staff will have more time to support students.

Your voicemail/email should provide as much detail as possible regarding the reason for absence, which ensures the absence is an authorised one. Please be aware that for repeated absences or patterns, you may well be asked for medical evidence.

Appointments during the School Day

If your child has an appointment outside school during the day, could you please let the school know in advance (01600 775177) and provide physical evidence of the appointment - a screenshot of a text confirmation or a copy of an appointment card/letter - no later than the day of the appointment.  This means that it is recorded at Reception and students can be signed out quickly, avoiding unnecessary delays. You may also wish to give your child a note to show their teacher, who will release them from class. 

If we are not aware of a request to leave school, either via a message or a note, we are obliged to call parents/carers to confirm a child is leaving/being met at Reception.  If we are unable to make contact with a parent/carer, we cannot allow a student to leave the school.

Thank you for your support.

This Thursday, MCS students attended the South East Wales School Athletics Championships. Students competed in individual competitions with the opportunity to qualify for the district finals if finishing in the top two of their event.

The day got off to a flying start with Alys Roberts flying out of the blocks to finish 1^st in the hurdles, followed quickly by Arthur Rowlands throwing over 9m in the shot putt to also finish on top of the pile. This set the tone for a hugely successful day for our students. Will Chalk and Carmella Yeshin both dominated the 3000m finishing 1^st and Lily Cornish, competing as the only Year 8 against Year 9 students, won the 1500m despite apparently running an extra lap!! Isabella Hobson smashed her PB to win the 300m and Kacey Batty ran a storming finish in the final straight of the 200m, coming from 4^th to win on the line. In the other throwing events, Macs Perrou and Max Swayne cruised to victory in the javelin and discus.

As well as our event winners, a number of students fought valiantly to finish in 2^nd place and also qualify for the next round of competition. Ava Powell in the 300m, Seb Jones in the 800m, Hamish Sperring in the triple jump, Emily Forde in the 1500m, Josh Hughes in the 300m, Levi Sillman in the 200m, Chase Lane in javelin with Kacey Battey finishing 2^nd in the triple jump as well as winning the 200m.

Despite not finishing in the top 2, Martha Day, Mya-Mae Snell, Heidi Worgan, Lily Turner, Bea Morgan, Mim Opher, Dottie Williams, Millie Cross, Lucy Shukman, Grace McLeod, Oscar Smith, Tom Sutcliffe, George Pustka, Sam Deighton, Felix Holbrow-Brooksbank, David Casadesus-Hall, Macsen Rees, Leo Palmer and James Townsend get an honourable mention for their efforts and representation of the school.

The PE team would like to say a massive well done to all involved and remind all students who would like to compete in upcoming events that Athletics Club runs Thursdays after school.

Top job all!

Letters detailing Sixth Form Study Leave were emailed home to Y12 and Y13 parents earlier this week.

These letters may also be found by clicking on the links below:

Y13 Study Leave

Y12 Study Leave

Last weekend the crew of Barney Shaw, Joseff Jones, Bartek Skrzypnik, Sam Willis and Nathan McAuliffe from Year 10 represented the WAGS and Wales region at the Junior Inter Regional regatta.

The event comprised of the best crews from each region from Wales, England and Scotland. After a tight time trial, and narrowly missing out on the top 6, the boys secured a C Final win and got the club's regatta season off to a good start.

We hope to carry the momentum onto May Bank Holiday weekend when the club races next at Evesham Sprint.

Teacher of Additional Learning Needs within the SRB (eteach.com)

Closing date: Wednesday 1^st May