Shwmae bawb - my video this week can be found here.

Many congratulations to everyone who was involved in the wonderful performances of Legally Blonde last week - once again a production of superb quality. Students onstage and backstage alike were incredible, and a huge thanks in particular to the Performing and Expressive Arts team for the time and effort they put in to ensuring that the sellout audiences were treated to a professional-quality performance.

Our Sixth Form Open Evening took place yesterday evening, and was once again exceptionally busy and vibrant. Please also note that the Careers and Higher Education Fair is held at school on Wednesday 4^th February between 5pm and 7pm. Every student between Years 10-13 should come along to this, in order to find out more about potential pathways. There is something here for everyone.

Finally, many congratulations to the MCS teams in the Youth Speaks competition, who swept the board at the Monmouth event, and now move onto the next stage of the competition. A very impressive feat!

All the best for the weekend ahead.

Cofion cynnes

Hugo Hutchison
Headteacher

Please could all parents and carers be particularly vigilant to inform us immediately if you become aware of any chicken pox, measles or shingles cases in your family.

This is so we can take steps at school to protect the recovery of a student who has returned to us after a very significant illness.

Rugby Success for U13s

Despite torrential rain and difficult conditions underfoot, Monmouth U13s produced a confident performance to comfortably beat Bedwas RFC and secure their place in the semi-finals of the Dragons Cup.

The opening ten minutes were intensely competitive, with Bedwas applying sustained pressure and pinning Monmouth deep inside their own 22. However, a disciplined defensive line and strong tackling kept the opposition scoreless. From there, momentum shifted firmly in Monmouth’s favour, with the match comfortably finishing 38–10!

There were excellent performances from Charlie Kedward, Dan Anderson, Harry Thomas, Josiah Watton, Ollie Lee and Roman Pritchard, whose work across the field helped maintain control throughout the game. Elijah Powell also made a significant impact with a number of strong carries, crossing the line twice as part of a six-try team effort to earn Player of the Match. The squad now looks ahead with confidence to the semi-finals in March.

Help Us Secure Funding for Our New Community Space

We are delighted to announce that the project to create a new Community Space on site has reached its next milestone. After consultation with Mon Life and local planning, we are now ready to finalise the design of our new outdoor learning and activity pods.

To secure the necessary funding to begin development, we need a final round of feedback from our families. Please take 2 minutes to view the final design and share your thoughts here: Community Space for development survey.

Thank you for helping us create this innovative space for our students. We are very grateful to our Parent Governor Ceri Jones for her leadership of this project.

I am the opposer of the MCS Senior Youth Speaks Team, alongside Grace Tait, the proposer and Lydia Lannen, the chairperson.  Our Intermediate team consists of Annabel Atkinson, the proposer, Carys Parker, the opposer and Clarabel Perez, the chairperson.

Rotary Youth Speaks is a competition in which teams of young people each deliver a 15-minute debate on a subject chosen by them. 

As Grace and I are both Philosophy and Ethics students, we decided to debate one of the most important topics in this field – whether or not 'Human beings are inherently wicked'.  Our Intermediate team chose to discuss the ethics of self-defence, debating the statement 'If you strike me, I'll strike you right back'.

The 15-minute presentation consists of: an introduction from the chairperson, a speech each from the proposer and opposer, a question from the audience directed to either the proposer or the opposer and a summary from the chairperson.

Our speeches were written almost entirely independently, with support from Mr Jones.  Once our speeches had been written, we began the process of memorising them and rehearsing regularly.  In the weeks leading up to the first round, we practised continually, at home and in school.   

Mr Jones gave us tips and feedback to ensure that our performance was the best it could possibly be.

On 14^th February, the day of the competition, there were feelings of nerves and excitement all round as we walked to the Hitchcock Pavilion where the competition was held.  In this first round, we were competing against Haberdasher’s Monmouth Schools.  Both schools delivered a performance to be proud of, but there could only be one winner. 

Both our Intermediate and Senior teams were successful in progressing to the next round, which will take place in February against a greater number of schools.  We are all looking forward to continuing to represent both MCS and the town of Monmouth.

Niamh Hunter

Thank you to those who have completed and returned the consent forms, ready for the ABUHB Year 9 immunisations on 05/02/2026 & 06/02/2026:  

Meningitis ACWY and 3 in 1 Teenage Booster (Polio, Diphtheria and Tetanus).

These immunisations protect against debilitating and life-threatening diseases.  
  
If you wish your child to receive these immunisations, the signed form should be returned to school no later than Monday 2nd February.

Alternatively, you can download the consent form from: School Immunisation Team - Aneurin Bevan University Health Board  and return the signed consent to school.  

For additional information, please visit: School Nursing - Aneurin Bevan University Health Board or contact the Immunisation Team on 01633 431685.

A reminder that we would ask that all students come to school with a bottle of water or refillable bottle to ensure they remain hydrated during the day.

Bottles of water may be purchased from the Food Hall, but parents may wish to ensure that refillable bottles are brought from home, to ensure student allowances are not eaten into by constantly purchasing them from school.

Additionally, this reduces the use of single-use plastics at school when these containers are filled at the various water fountains around the school.

MCC has a lot of cost of living support available on their webpage below: 

https://www.monmouthshire.gov.uk/money-matters/ 

This includes Warm Spaces, Food Support, Energy Advice, Localised Support and much more, so please don't hesitate to have a look at what help is on offer.