Michaelmas TermWeek 10November 2016

NEWS

I hope that you all had an excellent and enjoyable half term break. We had a number of exciting school trips, and I am very grateful to the boys, for their enthusiastic participation in these, and to the staff, for their leadership of the trips. A report on the Normandy trip is included in this newsletter. We also celebrate Rowan’s canicross success, and the achievements of our 1st XV and U16A rugby teams.

MONMOUTH SCHOOL BOYS 11-18

Top Stories

A note from the Monmouth School Headmaster

CELEBRITY CRIMINOLOGIST WOWS SIXTH FORM WITH GRIPPING TALK

A famous criminologist, who has come into contact with virtually all recent serial killers, gripped sixth form psychol-ogy students with his talk on the mind-set of murderers.

Professor David Wilson, founding director of the Centre for Applied Criminology at Birmingham City University, fascinated teenagers from Monmouth School and Haberdashers’ Monmouth School for Girls when he visited just before half term.

Author of Mary Ann Cotton: Britain’s First Female Serial Killer, which is the inspiration behind ITV’s new drama, Dark Angel, Professor Wilson told his attentive audience about the prolific Victorian poisoner who killed up to 21 victims, including her husbands and children.

The charismatic expert, who started his career as a prison governor and at 29 became England’s youngest govern-ing governor, designed and ran units for the 12 most violent prisoners in the country.

Many thanks to the staff at HMSG for organising this talk which is another in a long list of lectures and visits de-signed to help braoden the horizons of Monmouth School students.

MORE CANICROSS TRIUMPHS FOR ROWAN

Huge congratulations to Rowan who has, once again, taken a gold medal at the European Canicross Federation Championships in the Czech Republic.

Rowan and Henry, one in Form 3 the other his four-legged canine running part-ner, ran hard to retain their Gold Medal in their category. They ended day 1 with a 10 second lead for individual starts on a hilly course and finished after the mass start with a 12 second lead.

Based on their performance and times, they were then selected for the Men’s A relay team (elite runners) and helped secure the Bronze medal.

Well done Rowan, another great season of success awaits!

LANGUAGE AND CULTURE FOR JUNIORS IN NORMANDY

During half term a group of Form I and II boys spent an action packed few days in Normandy to improve our knowledge of French language and culture whilst visiting some historic places.

Visits relating to World War Two included the land-ing beach at Arromanches, an American military cemetery where over 9,000 soldiers are buried, and a German gun emplacement overlooking the Chan-nel. We also went to Mont St Michel where a guide led us on a walk across the moving sands in the bay. We were all told to keep moving to avoid sinking in the quicksand as many English invaders had done before us!

On Saturday morning we enjoyed practising our French when sampling local specialities at the mar-ket. One evening we ate crêpes in a local crêperie and on another we sampled snails. It was a great trip and we came home tired, but full of joie de vivre!

MONMOUTH SCHOOL BOYS 11-18

MONMOUTH SCHOOL BOYS 11-18

Many thanks to Rui from Form III for taking these excellent photos

LATEST RUGBY NEWS:

FAMOUS WIN FOR 1ST XV AS U16AS STORM ON!

Before the half-term break, two Monmouth teams saw themselves involved in mid-week games. Firstly, the u16 A’s took on a Pontypool District team made up of some of the best rugby players in the South Wales region at the u15 level. It was fitting, after a mercurial first half of the season, that the u16’s stormed their way to a 26-7 in another impressive display from surely one of the best Colts age group teams in the country.

The 1st Team, fresh off the back of a win against Malvern, took on a Craw-shays Welsh XV possessing several star players from across Wales and from the Welsh Exiles. The game looked ominous as Crawshays scored a good try within the first 10 minutes, but steadfast Monmouth defence combining with a Taylor penalty left us behind by just 4 points at the break. The resilience and quality of Monmouth shone through in the 2nd half, with sustained pressure resulting in a line-out drive over the line to give us an 8-7 lead going into the final stages. Typically, Monmouth’s defence stayed solid and a turnover at a ruck allowed Taylor to boot the ball into touch, sealing a famous win for the 1st XV.

This win will galvanise the boys ahead of the long trip up to Oakham School for the quarter-finals of the Champions Trophy and will hopefully provide inspi-ration for all the teams ahead of the block fixture against Bromsgrove School this coming Saturday.

Click here for all of the latest news on the Monmouth School Website

OM MAKES WELSH NATIONAL OPERA DEBUT

Sam Pierce (OM 2013) shown here second from the left, made his professional debut with Welsh National Opera in Mahler’s Symphony No. 2 on Thursday evening at St. David’s Hall. Sam, who studied under Martin McHale (also pictured, in the red shirt) is in his final year as a Scholar at the Royal Academy of Music. Well done, Sam, and good luck luck with all of your future engagements.

Calendar Dates:

Fri 11th November

ARMISTICE DAY8.40a.m. Chaplain’s Assembly for Armistice Day10.15a.m. Brass Ensemble meets (Music School)10.50a.m. Act of Remembrance (School War Memorial)1.50p.m. Agincourt Society: Friends of Israel: Q and A Session (Library)6.00p.m. - 7.30p.m. The Grange and Inglefield House Social (Blake Theatre)

Sat 12th November

Year 6 Activity MorningBoarders’ Activity: 6.30p.m. Cinema (Newport)Chess: Welsh Junior Chess & Secondary Schools’ Chess Championships (Merthyr Tydfil)Rowing: Fours Head: J16 - J18 (London)Rugby: v. Bromsgrove School:1st, 2nd, 3rd, U15A, B & C XVs (A) Lunch 11.50a.m.,Depart 12.15p.m., K.O. 2.30p.m.4th, U16A & B, U14A, B & C XVs (H) K.O. 2.30p.m.

Sun 13th November

REMEMBRANCE SUNDAY9.00a.m. Chapel Choir rehearsal (Chapel)9.30a.m. CCF meet for Parade (Outside Science Block)10.00a.m. Chapel: Service for Remembrance Sunday (New House)1.00p.m. Prep Schools’ Challenge (William Jones Building and Library)Rowing: City of Bristol Head: J15 - J18

Mon 14th November Form VI Scholarships

Tue 15th NovemberMonmouth Enterprise Initiative: The Worshipful Company of Information Technologists (London). Depart 12.00 noon8.00p.m. Boarders’ Multi-Activity: Form IV/Year 10 (School House)

Wed 16th November

Senior Challenge Quiz Competition (Christ College, Brecon). Depart 12.45p.m., return 6.45p.m.Monmouth Enterprise Initiative: The Worshipful Company of InformationTechnologists (London). Return 7.15p.m.7.00p.m. Children in Need Concert: Senior Strings and Symphonic Winds (HMSG)Rugby: v. Bromsgrove Preparatory School:U13A & B, U12A, B & C XVs (A) Lunch 12.30p.m., Depart 12.50p.m., K.O. 2.45p.m.

Thu 17th November Swimming: MS/HMSG v. Dean Close School (A) Depart 4.00p.m., return 8.00p.m.

SCHOOL SHOP ANNOUNCEMENT: UNFORTUNATELY THE SCHOOL SHOP WILL NOT BE OPEN THIS SATURDAY (12TH NOVEMBER). WE APOLOGISE FOR ANY INCONVENIENCE THIS MAY CAUSE.

THE REGULAR OPENING HOURS FOR THE SHOP REMAIN UNCHANGED: MON – FRI 12:30PM – 2.30PM AND 3.30PM - 4.30PM EACH DAY.

COME ALONG: COMPUTER SCIENCE FAIR AIMS TO PUT JUNIOR PROGRAMMERS ON ROAD TO INVENTION.

From parallel universes built in Minecraft to bat-sensing cameras, a host of clever cre-ations which demonstrate the power of coding will be on display at an upcoming com-puter science fair.

Anyone who has programmed an app, game or project is invited to show off their work during the free event at Monmouth School:

2pm to 3.30pm on Sunday, November 20th

And people of all ages are welcome to come along, meet the inventors and find out more about how to get involved with computer science. We look forward to seeing you there!

MONMOUTH SCHOOL BOYS 11-18