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

December 2011

Dear Parent

All those who helped out or attended the hugely successful FOMS Christmas Fair will have sensed that Christmas would soon be upon us.  There was a wonderful atmosphere with all manner of fun and I am deeply indebted to Mrs Patricia Hall and Mrs Sarah Pierce and their team of willing helpers for creating such an enjoyable, productive and very festive event.  The momentum towards the Christmas holiday began to build then and here we are at the end of term without seeming to draw breath.

Straight after the last holiday we heard news of another wonderful trip to far off lands, this time the Morocco expedition, led by Mr Lindon and Mr Hawley.  The boys returned with great memories of the Jebel Sahro and the Atlas Mountains, as well as some stunning photographs of a landscape as far removed from the lush fields of the Wye Valley as it is possible to be.

Of course, there has been so much activity that it is difficult to choose what to include here, but one definite highlight occurred just a few weeks after the resumption of lessons, over the Exeat weekend in fact, when the IIIrd and IVth Form Cross Country team finished 2nd at the Welsh Schools' Championships.  They were presented with their silver medals in assembly and I was very pleased to see that all but one of the team is in the IIIrd Form, which bodes very well for next year’s race.

On the sporting front, this term is always very much the Rugby term and in the second half of the term, the 1st XV and many other teams have continued in their winning ways.  There have been wins against King’s, Taunton, Colston’s Collegiate School and Bromsgrove for the 1st XV, the latter being a first fixture for some twenty years.  The results across the board were very positive and a good measure of our current status, with wins for the 1st XV, 3rd XV, U16 A & B, the U15 B and U14 C teams.  The final Saturday of the term produced some tremendous Rugby and some record results with the 1st XV beating Blundell’s 53 - 0.  In fact the 1st, 2nd and 3rd XVs together scored 176 points against Blundell’s, conceding only 3 in reply!

The U16s have impressed all term and, having beaten Bishop Vesey’s in the last round, are now through to the last four of the North Midlands Cup.  They have scored an impressive 141 points and only conceded 29, thus far, the best record in the competition at this stage.  Well done too to the U16 B team for their most emphatic 40 - 22 win against Millfield, showing what strength in depth there is in this group.

The most stunning recent Rugby news though was the appearance of Hallam in the full Newport Gwent Dragons team in a televised cup match against Wasps.  Hallam is believed to be the youngest player in the northern hemisphere to score a try for a professional team, when he made his debut for the Gwent Dragons against London Wasps on 22nd October aged just 17.  Hallam played for the full Newport Gwent Dragons side in an LV+ game against Wasps at their stadium in High Wycombe, where he started the game at full back, scored a try and finished at centre covering an injury.  Hallam even played against the Scottish full back Hugo Southwell and former English international wing, Tom Varndell, in this televised game.  Hallam has also appeared in a Crawshay’s XV this term, along with Dominic, Sam (Captain of Crawshay’s on two occasions), Luc, Henry and Evan.  Well done to all on this great honour.

The two music competitions held so far this term, the George Shuffrey String Competition and the Michael Williams Piano Competition, both saw formidable displays of musical talent by the boys.  The String Competition was adjudicated by Lesley Hatfield, leader of the National Orchestra of Wales and won by 13 year old Zelig, and the Piano Competition, adjudicated by the Director of Music at Christ College, Brecon, Richard West, was won by 15 year old Jordan, for his ­tour de force performance of Chopin’s Berceuse in D flat, from memory.  The Brass Band and the Chamber Choir both assisted in the Armistice Day and Remembrance Sunday ceremonies and for the first time a Monmouth School pupil, Nicholas, played the Last Post before the very large number of those assembled at the St James Square war memorial.  The end of term saw four carol services of various kinds, plus two Christmas Concerts, one in The Grange (for The Lighting of the Christmas Tree) and one at Monmouth School in aid of the Japan Earthquake Appeal.  Junior Symphonic Winds, with its sixty members, once again take part in the National Concert Band Festival regional heats at The Cheltenham Ladies’ College and returned triumphantly with a Platinum Award.

There were some stunning performances by our dramatists this term, none more so than VI.2’s devised performances.  A huge amount of work had clearly gone into the performances and they were all thought-provoking, challenging and very entertaining at the same time.

There was more exceptional talent on show at this year's Evening of Literature and Music, fast becoming an annual event organised by the English Department.  Pupils from all year groups entertained a capacity audience in the Music Auditorium, with a range of musical, dramatic and poetic performances of excellent calibre, ranging from a recital of Chopin’s Berceuse op.57 by Jordan, to James’s humorous version of Peter Sellers’ A Hard Day’s Night, and on to an entertaining scene from Pinter’s Trouble in the Works, performed by Will and Alex.  All such performances were seamlessly compèred by Hamish, who also delivered a comic monologue from Breezeblock Park by Willy Russell.

Debating has seen some notable successes in recent months.  In the CEWC-Cymru Schools’ Debating Championships, Piers was named Best Debater and this led to a trial with the Wales Debating Team.  Happily, Piers has now been chosen as one of the four students who will make up the Wales team at the World Schools’ Debating Championships in Cape Town, South Africa, in January 2012. Another member of the Welsh quartet is Helen of HMSG, making it a 50% Haberdasher’s team! Meanwhile, at the Cambridge Union Schools’ Debating Championships held at Howell’s School, both the A and B teams were victorious.  Piers and Helen combined well to win their four-team knockout debate, while the B team of Alex and Alasdair won their debate and deservedly also progress to the next round – another step closer to the grand finals at Cambridge University.  Hopes are therefore high of continued success at the Oxford Union Schools’ Debating Championships, to be held in February.

Another Monmouth School pupil has already represented Wales in an international competition, this term, in another exotic location, this time, Brazil!  Nyasha played Chess for the Welsh Junior team in the World Championships and although he did not win the competition, he acquitted himself well amongst the best junior players in the world.

As a temporary Chaplain we have welcomed Reverend Dr Ali Green; I would like to thank her for stepping into the Chaplain’s shoes so ably for a term.  She has brought much to the role, including breaking new ground as the first ever female Chaplain at Monmouth School.  Of course we look forward to welcoming our new Chaplain, Reverend Dr Adrian McConnaughie who will be with us in January and is currently Assistant Curate at Bath Abbey.

The sixth Monmouth Enterprise Initiative, hosted in November this year by the Worshipful Company of Information Technologists at Haberdashers’ Hall, was another great success.  Once again over 50 sixth form pupils from the Haberdashers’ schools were introduced to the work of leading national and international companies such as Ernst & Young, IBM, KPMG, Aviva and Lloyds TSB all of course based in the City of London. This far-sighted project, brought into being by the generosity of Old Monmothian, Lord Ezra has never seemed more appropriate in times when the employment prospects of today’s school leavers seem more challenging than ever.    

When we return next term, the school site will begin to look rather different.  Already the temporary classrooms are installed to house the History and English departments when they vacate the Red Lion Block so that Phase 1 of the Heart Project can begin in earnest in January, we hope with minimum inconvenience to us all.  Included with this mailing is the first Heart newsletter from the Bursar which will keep all members of the school community informed about the progress of this exciting project, timed to coincide with the School’s 400th anniversary.

The temptation to let one’s dogs roam on the School’s playing fields is, I know, all too great, but there is a risk from toxocariasis spread through dog faeces to our boys, so I would be grateful if parents could keep dogs off the fields, whether on a lead or not.  Parents are quite at liberty to bring their dogs to the car park and exercise them along the glorious Wye Valley footpath that borders our playing fields and even bring them onto the Pavilion balcony on a lead if they wish.  Signs to the effect that dogs are not permitted on the fields will be erected shortly, if they haven’t already.

Not quite the seasonal note I had hoped for to end this Christmas missive, but perhaps, if I try and sell you something before I close, I will be closer to the modern yuletide mood.  There is now the chance to buy the perfect Christmas or New Year gift of a Monmouth School umbrella from the School Shop for someone you love!  They are hardwearing and emblazoned with Monmouth’s magnificent golden lion rampant on a background of Haberdashers’ blue.  I shall be modelling mine on the touchlines in the new term, but for now may I wish you and all your family a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Yours sincerely

Dr S G Connors