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

I'm writing with a request to you all, please: please could you take a moment to check your child's equipment over the weekend, and replenish any missing items. The list of equipment can be found here. We are seeing increased numbers of students arriving to school without sufficient equipment, which delays lessons and causes disruption to classes. Many thanks.

We have also been informed that the store in Hereford run by Monkhouse, our uniform suppliers, is closing. We are keen to know what impact this will have on how you buy uniform for your child, so that we can have informed discussions with the supplier. I'd be grateful if you could complete this 1 minute survey: MCS uniform outlet 1 minute survey.  

A reminder also that recycled uniform is available at Magic Cottage in Monmouth, and they expect good numbers of new stock in the coming weeks, if you need to replenish items.

All the best to you for the weekend ahead.

Hugo Hutchison
Headteacher

An enormous thank you to all of you who made use of easyfundraising last year. Your contributions raised valuable funds for the school, which were enormously appreciated. It is never too late to join easyfundraising and even more supporters means even more funds for the school.

For those wishing to escape the grey and book a holiday, many holiday sites are also part of easyfundraising, including Booking.com and Tui.

Wednesday 4 February
5.45 - 7.30pm

This annual event is designed to support young people and their parents or guardians to find information and make contacts that will help young people make informed choices about their post-16 and post-18 pathways. We have over 100 employers, education institutions, apprenticeship and training providers coming to MCS and this is the biggest event of this type in the region.

The Fair will prove extremely useful to students from a variety of year groups:

Year 9 and 10: Will be considering their Year 10 subject choices and their pathway after GCSEs.  By talking to career professionals, further education and university representatives, Year 9 and 10 students and parents can get subject advice relevant to their future goals.

Year 11: Will soon be deciding whether to stay on at school in the Sixth Form, go to college, undertake training or enter into employment. The Fair will help their research with all of these pathways so they can develop a Plan A, Plan B and Plan C for next year.

Year 12 and 13: Will soon be considering, or in the process of applying for their University or career choices. The Fair will help with both.

We are extremely grateful to the many individuals who have given their time freely, and in many cases travelled long distances, in order to represent their career, college or university. Please do talk to them to find out what they do, how they got where they are and what advice they can offer.

CHEF BOOKLET 2026

CHEF FLOOR PLAN 2026

All students in Years 10 to 13 will also bring home on Monday a list of the exams or coursework modules that they will be entered for this Summer. 

It is very important that you check these together and any queries are raised with the particular subject teacher by Friday 6^th February. 

Nearer to the exams, you and your child will be e-mailed an individual exam timetable which I recommend is checked once more and printed out a few times. 

A copy placed on the fridge at home may support prioritising and revision planning.

There's still time to give your feedback - survey closes on 12 February

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.

We are again very grateful to Janet Jefferies and Robert Price Builders Merchants, Abergavenny, for supporting MCS and our GCSE Built Environment course and students with their kind donation of materials. 

It is really appreciated and makes a huge difference. 

A huge thank you to all the students, parents, and staff who supported the Amnesty MCS fundraisers at the end of last term.

Students from Amnesty MCS worked incredibly hard to organise a bake sale on 5 December in support of the Mayor's Flood Fund. So many students (and parents!) contributed delicious cakes, cookies, and sweet treats, and an impressive £200 was raised.

Just a week later, students from several year groups took part in a sponsored silence to raise awareness of Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights: the right to opinion and freedom of expression. Their dedication resulted in over £460 being raised, with half donated to ARTICLE 19—an international organisation that defends freedom of expression and access to information—and the other half to Amnesty International UK.

A brilliant effort to support human rights locally and internationally from our wonderful students.

On Friday 6^th February, 18 of our enthusiastic readers in Year 7 will read to nursery children in the local library as part of our National Year of Reading celebrations. In preparation for this, students met with Miss Painter and Mrs Curry after school on Monday to practise their readings.

We were very impressed by the energy and excitement that students put into their recitations, and loved to see some old classics resurface; the nursery children are in for a brilliant treat next week.

Thank you, Year 7, for your hard work and commitment.

Tree Pruning at the Community Orchard – this Sunday 1st February, 2pm-4pm

Monmouth Allotments Association are holding an afternoon of fruit tree pruning with Transition Monmouth at the Community Orchard this Sunday 1st February 2pm-4pm.

The Community Orchard can be found at the Two River Meadows, beyond the allotments (what three words///shepherds.booms.scornful)

Bring the family and build your skills and confidence in pruning as you speak to the experts and watch their demonstrations. You can even get stuck in! Come and join us for a hot drink and find out more.
 

Transition Monmouth is delighted to share that Monmouth Community Fridge is back open following the flooding caused by storm Claudia.

The Community Fridge aims to reduce food waste by redistributing nutritious food from local businesses and making it available for all. Everyone is welcome and there is no cost (though customers may make a donation if they wish).

The Community Fridge is open six days a week (closed Mondays), with a new opening time of 9am (3pm on Wednesdays). Food is no longer weighed out for each customer, helping to reduce time spent queuing. Come along to find out what is available!

Find us on Facebook or visit the fridge at Unit 5, The Stables, Bridges Centre, NP25 5AS

Open Tue & Thurs-Sun 9am-11.30am, open Wed 3pm-5pm, closed Monday.

Monmouthshire County Council has opened its consultation on the Draft Budget and Priorities for 2026–27. Residents are invited to share their views on how resources should be allocated for the year ahead.

You can read the proposals and take part in the consultation at:

www.letstalkmonmouthshire.co.uk/budget-2026-27