News from MCS

Many thanks to everyone who has contributed their views to our survey on the cost of the school day. Themes coming through so far include breakfast/lunch, transport, uniform and trips. Please click here to contribute your views. We will keep the survey open until the end of Monday, after which all responses will feed into our ongoing work on tackling aspects of poverty in our community, alongside other schools, community groups and the local authority.

Over £500 has been raised today by the Charity Committee in their wonderful cake sale (and I can attest to the quality of the bakes too!) Congratulations to them and many thanks to everyone who contributed. Photos appear below.

We have been informed that Estyn will publish their inspection report on 19th April. We look forward to sharing the report with you, after what was a very thorough, positive and constructive process. With 14 inspectors in the team for the inspection week, we feel that they really got to know our school well.

All the best for a restful weekend - now that the snow has gone, perhaps spring has now eventually sprung?

Hugo Hutchison
Headteacher

If you received forms to complete (Y7/8/9) or a letter directing you to the NHS vaccinations link (Y10/11), could you please return the forms to school, or use the link, no later than Wednesday 22nd March.  This will allow the ABUHB nurses time to process information received.  

Please note the school is simply hosting the ABUHB nurses - If you have any queries at all, please contact the School Nursing Team on 01633 431685.
 

Over the weekend,  Miss Price and myself had the pleasure of taking four of our Year 8 boys from Drama Club - Tomi North, Hamish Sparring, Tom Fell and Lukas Beard - to a devising competition run by Drama Matters. 

The boys beat out 83 schools internationally to get to the finals and walked away with two awards:  Best Actor for Tomi North and Overall Best Script.  Naturally, the group took it in their stride, giving an acceptance speech after their award to finalise their intentions.  These learners found themselves so frustrated with how adults leave young people out of the conversation when they talk about politics,  assuming they don’t understand or even want to.  This piece showed their in-depth political knowledge, making incredibly intellectual jokes; some of which we didn’t even understand! 

We were absolutely thrilled to see that parents had come along to watch all the finalists perform, which made the experience all the more special for the performers!  We, as a Faculty, are so proud of the boys and everything they achieved; not only was their script incredible but their overall performance was fantastic.  

Miss Brickley-Clark

Y12/13 Pathways Support

After the success of our Careers and Higher Education Fair in February, an email has been sent home to Year 12 and Year 13 parents and carers, giving details of  further helpful events organised by the school that will support students with preparing for their exams and looking for their next pathway after Sixth Form.

Donating Blood

An amazing 61 out of 64 spaces have been filled on Friday 24th March when we will be hosting the Welsh Blood Service at MCS - who are delighted to see this number of students getting involved.  If any Sixth Formers would like to fill the last few spaces, please use the link below:

https://wbs.wales/MonmouthSchools

Water Polo

Y12 student Toby Chilcott is currently with the GB Water Polo team in Malta to compete in the FINA European Qualifiers.

Toby will play matches against Slovakia, Poland, Latvia and Malta. Good luck Toby.

Tennis

Max played on Saturday at Cwmbran LTC in an 18U Grade 5 tournament. The weather conditions were pretty atrocious and, by the end, the courts even had puddles on them!

He fought hard and beat 2 other players who were seeded higher than him, resulting in a win!

Max is now ranked in the top 100 of the whole of the UK in the 14U age group.  Well done Max.

Open to Years 7, 8 and 9.

Please use this link to access the form to fill in before your audition: 

https://forms.gle/dqgJn1yW37kXTyKE7

or use the qr code below

Don't forget that if you wish to order a Yearbook, this will appear on your Parentpay account.  We have a closing date of 27 March for all orders to be placed.  Unfortunatley once this date has passed and the order has been sent to the printer, we won't be able to add to it.

If you  have already placed your order, it will have disappeared off the item list.

Student Safety at MCS

We would like to remind you that the front entrance to the School is for students to arrive safely on foot.  As you will be aware, pedestrian access from Old Dixton Road and the Burgage is limited with some areas having little or no pavement for students to use. 

At the start of the day, the safe ‘drop-off’ point for students arriving by car is at the rear of the School in the car park accessed via the Dixton Road.  Please use the drop-off zone (the vehicle to pavement area on the left) and then exit the school site.   Please do not park in the parking bays to drop off your child/children.  If you need to park and come into School, please use the visitor car park located adjacent to the Leisure Centre, off the Old Dixton Road and report to Reception on arrival.

Students can be safely collected from the car park at the end of the school day from 3.20pm, once home to school transport vehicles have exited.

Your ongoing co-operation is appreciated.

Healthcare

If your child feels unwell during the day, they should speak to the teacher taking their lesson who will call someone from the PSO team to talk to them, find out what is wrong and liaise with Healthcare.  Our Healthcare Support Worker will talk to the student and call home to request that a student is collected, if necessary.

Please remind your child of this process – students should not be calling/messaging home directly, either during lesson time or during break.  Our system means that we are quickly aware that a student is unwell, that we know where to locate them and that we can then ensure they are somewhere comfortable and supported whilst awaiting collection.

If, however, your child contacts you, please contact the school (01600 775177), explain the situation and we will then locate and speak to your child.  As mentioned above, Healthcare will contact you if your child needs to be collected.

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).  This means that it is recorded at Reception and they 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.