Monmouth School Almshouse Street Monmouth NP25 3XP Telephone: 01600 713143 Facsimile: 01600 772701 Email:hm-sec@monmouthschool.org Website: www.habs-monmouth.org

December 2009

Dear Parent

The sound of slamming boots and cars driving away, the thrilling music of the School Choir and Brass Band and the general sense of excitement and anticipation of a rest and fun to come, after the longest term, are all part of the atmosphere of the approach of the Christmas holiday.  I hope too that our excited boys take away with them a strong sense of the needs of others at a time when the gap between those who are wealthy and those who are not seems to be widening in our world.  They have been encouraged to think of others through the many fund-raising activities that have taken place this term.  The Mufti Day in October raised about £600 for the South East Asia Disaster emergency fund; a brilliant idea by James Woodard of VI.1 led to the collection of 75 bags of clothing and household goods which were sent to the Sue Ryder charity; about 30 hampers for Christmas have been presented to the Raven House trust in Newport for families in need; there are ongoing fund-raising activities in Wye and Dean houses in support of the Christian Lewis Trust; and once again Dr Moseley’s superb calendars of original photographs of local landscapes have yielded £150 for this year’s  charities.  This is all within the spirit of the true meaning of Christmas as the Chaplain has reminded us over the last few weeks.  Of course the way in which modern society obscures the religious meaning of Christmas under a welter of materialism was also brought powerfully and comically home to the boys by a short staff play in the Chaplain’s Assembly, brilliantly scripted by Miss Wynne.

Just before Half Term the Band of the Welsh Guards visited the School to perform for the Merlin Music Society in the evening, and in the afternoon undertook a workshop performance with some of our own players.  It certainly inspired the Junior Symphonic Winds who won a Gold certificate in the South West regional heats for the NCBF competition which we hosted in November.  Of course they also qualified for the National Final which will be held in Birmingham next April.  Well done to Mrs Dollins and all the Junior Symphonic Wind members who seem to be going from strength to strength.

Shortly after Half Term, Haberdashers’ Senior Strings (around 30 string players from both schools) took part in the joint performance in London given by musicians from all the Haberdashers’ senior schools in commemoration of the part the Company played in Handel’s later career.  This year saw the 250^th anniversary of his death.  I received a fulsome letter of appreciation from the Haberdashers’ Company for the way in which our string players performed so admirably that evening.  On a lighter note, rehearsals for South Pacific, our joint production with HMSG, are now well underway and anyone who saw Pink Champagne will be looking forward to another entertaining production which demonstrates just how well the boys and girls of our two schools collaborate.  Closer to Christmas, the Gala Charity Christmas Concert, just a few weeks ago, was a stunning example of what can be achieved by well focused pupils superbly led by their teachers.  The grand finale of the Little Drummer Boy was one of those moments that will live in the memories of those present for a very long time!  Well done to the Music department and all involved: it was a delightful experience for all ages which raised a great deal of money for the Severn Area Rescue Association.

Drama at the school also continues to go from strength to strength and the A2 Drama Practical Performance was truly professional in both its conception and execution.  Well done to all the boys involved who were Alistair Lee, Adam Oldfield, Matt Amos, Luke Aldridge and Arpan Das.  There is plenty of talent coming up through the school too and many congratulations go to the junior dramatists for their very powerful presentation of Stone Cold.  There were some strong performances from the lead characters, notably Sam Norris, Christopher Wright, Lewis Stephens and Jack Aldous-Fountain. Congratulations too to their director, Mr Murray for pulling the whole thing together.

The Michaelmas term saw the various Monmouth Rugby teams enjoying one of their most successful seasons in recent times.  Overall, our teams scored 4422 points and conceded only 1566.  Pride of place goes to the unbeaten teams this year: they were the 4^ths, the U15Bs, U15Cs and the U12Cs.  The 1^st, 2^nd and 3^rd XVs all had impressive seasons with the latter two only losing to Millfield.  Equally impressive has been the average points tally and the fact that this season, at all age groups, we won 100 matches out of 140.  Word of the strength of Monmouth School Rugby has certainly reached the Newport Gwent Dragons who have approached us in order to form a much closer relationship in the years to come.  My thanks for the season go to all our Rugby coaches who give up so much of their time, to all the staff who support the matches by providing medical assistance and of course to all the parents who support our teams in such a very sporting manner, whether they win or lose.  I hope that we, both players and spectators, shall all continue to set a high standard of behaviour by being generous to the opposition and supportive of all referees, without whom there could be no game.

So much else has happened in this activity packed term, but I will leave you to browse through The Dasher for all the details. You will certainly find there more details of how the CCF’s RAF section put in an extraordinary performance, even by their high standards, in the Western Area Ground Training Competition. They won five out of the seven activities, easily securing first place and therefore gaining a place in the National Air Squadron Trophy in March 2010. Congratulations to all involved, but a special mention to Harry Baynham who won top individual score in the Knowledge of the RAF test, getting all but one question correct in just 3 minutes and 20 seconds!

I am sure that news has reached you that sadly this is to be Mr Orton’s last year at the school.  He retires with all our appreciation of all that he has done on behalf of the boys of Monmouth for some 35 years.  There will be time enough to celebrate his massive contribution to Monmouth School in the terms ahead, my purpose in mentioning his retirement at this juncture is to bring you news of his successor as Second Master who was appointed from a very strong field of applicants indeed.  Mr Dorman is currently an experienced Boarding Housemaster at The Leys School, Cambridge where he was also formerly Head of German.  He graduated from Jesus College, Oxford with a First class Honours degree in German and Philosophy, then, prior to his arrival at The Leys, he taught at Gordonstoun and spent a year in Spain to improve his Spanish.  He is an enthusiastic and talented Rugby coach and is married with two daughters.  I am sure that we all look forward to welcoming him and his family to Monmouth School next September.

Mr Hope is not retiring, but, after two years’ very successful custodianship of the Classics Department, he will revert to just his day (and evening!) job of  Housemaster of Chapel House upon the retirement of Mr Dennis-Jones who has given unstinting and outstanding service to Monmouth School for many years.  Again there will be time enough to celebrate Mr Dennis-Jones’ achievements before the academic year is out, but I am very pleased to announce that Dr Murgatroyd, currently teaching Classics at Tonbridge School, has been appointed as Head of Classics with effect for September 2010. After graduating from Cambridge with a Double Starred First, he spent a year at Harvard as a Herschel Smith Scholar, before returning to Cambridge to read for his MPhil and PhD.  As well as being involved with debating and running the Classical Society at Tonbridge he also helps with Rugby.  In his spare time he is also a keen organist, an amateur actor and enjoys Karate training. He will bring much to the school community.

It will be of interest to all parents that we are, for the first time, making boys’ reports available to overseas boarders’ parents via a Parent Portal which gives them protected and secure private access to their son’s academic information.  Other details, such as email addresses and telephone numbers will be able to be updated online far more speedily than is currently the case.  If this service proves reliable and effective there are plans to develop more parental access to such important information, thereby of course avoiding the inevitable postal delays that we experience at times like Christmas.  This service is in its infancy, but has massive potential for the transmission of helpful information speedily and easily.  This letter itself being a prime example!

Many of you will have enjoyed the warm hospitality of our new pavilion, and quite a number have enquired as to its availability for hire for private functions.  You should find with this letter a flyer which explains how you may hire this superb and rather stunning facility with its own easily accessible car park.  This also includes information about hiring the Blake Theatre which of course will offer another superb facility for larger groups.

As ever, in the modern, constantly examined world of education, a holiday also brings with it a vital chance for some boys to focus on important examinations ahead.  I hope that parents of V^th Form boys will encourage them to prepare for their mock examinations and that all those parents of boys taking AS or A2 modules will be equally forceful in spurring on their sons to do some serious revision for examinations that will have a big impact on their futures.

I hope also that the holiday will bring you and your families much needed rest and recuperation after a busy and productive term for all.  I look forward to seeing you next term, whether it be in the Blake Theatre or out in the cold air supporting our sporting endeavours or wherever else our boys perform.  As ever may I take this opportunity to wish you and all members of your family a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Yours sincerely

Steven Connors