a note from the head of school...entr’acte-waltz (from coppélia) and prelude; mazurka by léo...
TRANSCRIPT
The first half of the Lent term seems to have passed by quickly. We have had a busy week of sport with success in cross-country competitions and football fixtures against Cheltenham College and Malvern College. I was sad to call the Monmouth School for Girls' Spring Concert my final performance with HMSSO and, as ever, the many talents of the dedicated musicians shone through. I would also like to encourage boys to look over the information about the proposed visit to Russia; I cannot speak more highly of my experiences on this trip. I wish all students and families an enjoyable half-term break.
Lent term: Week 715th February 2019News
A note from the Head of School
Top stories
A very wet Friday was spent braving the elements, working ‘en plein aire’ around the streets of Bristol with the fantastic watercolourist Peter Cronin (described by one of the students as “the nicest, and best, artist I have met”.)
With torrential rain all day Pupils took shelter to see some of Da Vinci’s origi-nal drawings before developing their initial pencil studies by adding 2 washes of colour. Peter made this technique look remarkably easy, transforming, and
bringing images to life with a minimal amount of ‘ tinkering’.
ARTISTS BRAVE THE DOWNPOUR TO PERFECT THEIR WATERCOLOURS
Written by Head of School, Charlie
Boys benefitted from some top tips regarding ‘artistic license’ and Peter stressed the importance of regularly drawing from life with a focus on shape, edges and tone. Finally there was pizza and some amazing street-art before heading back to school armed with images and ideas to explore further.
HABERDASHERS' MONMOUTH SCHOOLS CAREERS CONVENTION21ST MARCH: 6.30 - 8.30PM
CROSS-COUNTRY NEWS: OLLIE WINS GWENT LEAGUE TITLE
Last Saturday, the 4th round of the Gwent Cross Country League featuring many of the leading runners from South Wales and the South West of Eng-land, was held in Pontypool Park.
In the Under 13s race, Ollie and Henry were to the fore in the early stages in a field of 76 runners. Ollie (pictured above left) took control of the race showing fantastic strength and stamina on the tough, hilly course and no-body could live with him.
In his best ever cross country race to date, Ollie continued to pull away from a class field to win by a clear 11 seconds. Henry battled well to take 6th (his second best finish) following his 3rd place finish at the last round in Parc Bryn Bach in December.
Meanwhile in the Under 15s race, Josh Jones (pictured left) finished an excellent 12th in a quality field of 60 and in so doing moved up to 7th in the overall league with one fixture at Blaise Castle, Bristol remaining in early March.
Since then, our runners have competed at the Welsh Schools, where we had thirteen boys representing South East Wales. A full report will appear in the next newsletter.
POETRY AND SONG CREATED IN STUDENT LED WORKSHOP
On Monday, talented musicians and writers from Years 11, 12 and 13 volunteered their time to run a song and poetry writing workshop in the English Department.
In a fast paced session, junior boys learnt how to construct a song from scratch or to use everyday ideas to make imaginative poetry. Thanks to Za-mir, Joe, Zac and Iwan for their entertaining and creative guidance.
SCHOOLS COME TOGETHER FOR MEMORABLE EVENING OF MUSIC
A host of sparkling performances raised the roof in Monmouth School for Girls’ beautiful Spring Concert on Wednesday.
The senior musicians at Monmouth School for Boys and Monmouth School for Girls shone as they tackled a challenging repertoire featuring music by Mozart, Fauré, Purcell and Mussorgsky.
Haberdashers’ Monmouth Schools Symphony Orchestra (HMSSO), involving pupils from both senior schools, were outstanding.
Under the baton of Mr David Lawson, HMSSO delighted the audience with Where Eagles Dare (Goodwin), Night on the Bare Mountain (Mussorgsky), Entr’acte-Waltz (from Coppélia) and Prelude; Mazurka by Léo Delibes.
Under the baton of Mr Derek Harris, cellist Imogen impressed with Romance by French composer, Fauré, as did the Vivace Piano Trio of Xialo, Eleanor and Eden with Minuet (Bridge). The Senior String Ensemble performed Mozart’s Violin Concerto no.5 in A Major K.219 and Movement 1: Allegro aperto-Ada-gio-Allegro aperto.
Mererid (leader) and Mrs Ruth Friend (conductor) had earlier brought the first half of the evening to a spectacular close with Purcell’s Chacony for Strings in G Minor. Talented vocalists Angelika and Carys sang Serdtse by Soviet film composer, Dunayevsky, and Tell Me on a Sunday by Andrew Lloyd Webber, respectively. Many thanks to all staff and students involved for such a wonderful evening.
A WORD FROM THE LIBRARY: THERE'S NOT ONLY BOOKS! DVDS ARE FREE TOO...The library holds over 350 DVDs which are free to borrow for a week. They range from the latest films, Hollywod blockbusters and classics through to subject related films.
DVDs that relate to GCSE reading texts such as Frankenstein, Of Mice and Men, Birdsong, To Kill a Mockingburd, Atonement, Dorian Gray and The Color Purple to name a few are stocked by the Library. Get ahead of your reading by watching the DVD!
YOUR CHANCE TO DO SOME 'RUSSIAN' AROUND!
“A riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma”
The Modern Languages and History Departments are proposing to run a six day visit to Russia in December 2019.
Previous visits have been an eye-opening experience. The focus is on visiting sites connected to the culture and blood-soaked history of the fascinating cities of Moscow and St Petersburg.
The trip would run from the 13th to 18th December and is open to all current Year 11 and 12 students.
Contact Mrs Johnston ([email protected]) or Dr Harrison ([email protected]) if you would like to find out more about visiting a country that Winston Churchill described as “a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma”
FOOTBALL REPORT - U14S WIN AGAIN AND 2ND XI ALSO TRIUMPHANTAfter all fixtures against Clifton were called off due to the snow, all teams were involved in the highly anticipated fixture against Malvern College. The Under 14 B’s won 3-1 whilst the Under 14 A’s won 1-0 in a tight game, con-tinuing their undefeated season. The Under 15 B’s also won a tight game 3-2 and the A team came away 2-1 victors. However, the Under 16’s were unlucky to lose the game 3-2 in a game which could have gone either way. The 3rd XI were also unfortunate to lose 3-2 away from home. The 2nd team were going into the game strongly after a 3-1 win against Cheltenham College midweek.
Josh hammered home to put them 1-0 up only 5 minutes in and it wasn’t until late in the second half Malvern found an equaliser from a corner. However, there was still time for Rory to score a winner and secure the victory in a hard fought match.The 1st XI were also heading into the game on the back of a 4-1 victory against Cheltenham College. We took the lead early on against Malvern after a great team move resulted in Harry’s cross being headed home by Seb. Malvern then grew into the game and exploited our mistakes to score 2 goals in quick succession. Despite this we continued to create numerous chances and eventually found an equaliser with a calm finish from Samuel but we were caught out once again meaning we trailed at half time. As frustration started to kick in, we threw bod-ies forward in the second half and with minutes to go Malvern hit us on a counter attack to finish off the game in which nothing seemed to fall our way. A midweek fixture against Bristol Grammar School gives us the opportu-nity to go into half term on a high before a busy second half of term. Written by George, Captain of the 1st XI
Live on our big screen:Sat 19 Feb 2019
Royal Opera House: 7.15pm
COMING UP AT THE BLAKE THEATRE
Future Calendar Dates:
Fri 15 February 2pm - 3pm Years 11 & 12 PSHE Talk: Healthy Relationships and Consent (Blake Theatre)4.05pm Half term begins
Thur 21 February 11.15am Prayer Book Society Cranmer Awards National Final(Lambeth Palace, London)
Sun 24 February
Boarders return from 5pm6pm Boarders' Supper7pm Boarders' coach departs Newport StationRugby: 1st VII (Christ College, Brecon VIIs) Depart 8am, KO 10am
Mon 25 February School resumes 8.35am2pm Literary Society Lecture: Measure for Measure (E6)
Click on the image to buy tickets for this event
Cervantes’s story of the bumbling knight Don Quixote has inspired countless artistic interpretations. Marius Petipa choreographed this sparkling ballet about the encounters of the man from La Mancha and his faithful squire Sancho Panza. At its heart are virtuoso roles for the lovers Basilio and Kitri.
The story follows Don Quixote’s picaresque journey to do deeds in hon-our of his imaginary noble lady, Dulcinea. Sunny, charming, funny and touching – Don Quixote is a ballet as full of uplifting emotion as it is of astonishing ballet technique.Tickets: Adults £18, Concessions £17
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AN ENGINEERING OPPORTUNITY FROM NMITELocated in Hereford, NMITE is aiming to be the first wholly new UK University in 40 years. It is an initiative backed by government, educators (including The University of Warwick) and industry, to transform engineering education in Britain. NMITE will be admitting engineering students from September 2019 (subject to Validation by The Uni-versity of Warwick).
This half-term they are running engineering 'sprints', this is a free opportunity to explore engineering at their Hereford Campus. The dates are as follows: 19th February:11 to 13 year olds. 20th February:14 to 16 year olds. 21st February: 16 to 18 year olds
Places are limited and booking is essential by emailing [email protected]. For more details take a look at their website: www.nmite-ingenuitystudio.org