Mountain Ash Comprehensive School
51°41′19″N 3°23′22″W / 51.68861°N 3.38944°W
| Ysgol Gyfun Aberpennar Mountain Ash Comprehensive School | |
|---|---|
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| Address | |
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Dyffryn Site, New Road , CF45 4DG | |
| Information | |
| Type | Comprehensive School |
| Motto | Deuparth Bonedd yw Dysg (The Root of Nobility Lies in Education) |
| Local authority | Rhondda Cynon Taf |
| Headteacher / Prifathro | Samantha Evans[1] |
| Gender | Male and Female |
| Age | 11 to 18 |
| Enrollment | approx 1,100 |
| Colour(s) | Green and Black |
| Website | www |
Mountain Ash Comprehensive School (Welsh: Ysgol Gyfun Aberpennar), known as MACS, is a comprehensive school near Cwmpennar near the town of Mountain Ash, Rhondda Cynon Taf, Wales. The school was formerly known as Mountain Ash Grammar School (Welsh: Ysgol Ramadeg Aberpennar) and is located near the former Dyffryn Colliery.
School Banding
The Welsh Assembly Government placed all secondary schools in Wales into one of five bands according to a number of factors, such as performance across the three core subjects, attendance levels and the number of pupils on free school meals, with one being the best and five being the worst. Mountain Ash Comprehensive School was ranked at Band 2, this places Mountain Ash as one of the 5 best schools in Rhondda Cynon Taf and among the top 35% of schools in Wales.
Background
Mountain Ash Comprehensive School is a mixed sex school with approximately 1,100 pupils, including about 150 in the sixth form.[2]
The school's catchment area includes:
- Mountain Ash
- Penrhiwceiber
- Perthcelyn
- Abercynon
- Tyntetown
- Fernhill
- Glenboi
- Cefnpennar
- Cwmpennar
- Caegarw
- Newtown
- Darranlas
A few pupils come from further away, including from Aberaman, Abercwmboi and Cwmbach.
Education
A high proportion of the pupils move on to Sixth Form, college or other training organisations.
Mountain Ash Comprehensive School is now one of the best/top performing schools in Wales which around 78% of the pupils in the school achieve a pass rate result of 5 A* - C grades in GCSE/BTEC.
The following is a list of the main feeder primary schools:
| English Name | Welsh Name |
|---|---|
| Caegarw Primary School | Ysgol Gynradd Caegarw |
| Glenboi Primary School | Ysgol Gynradd Glen-boi |
| Darranlas Primary School | Ysgol Gynradd Darren-las |
| Miskin Primary School | Ysgol Gynradd Meisgyn |
| Newtown Primary School | Ysgol Gynradd Y Drenewydd |
| Pengeulan Primary School | Ysgol Gynradd Pengeulan |
| Penrhiwceiber Primary School | Ysgol Gynradd Penrhiwceibr |
| Perthcelyn Community Primary School | Ysgol Gynradd Gymuned Perthcelyn |
| Abertaf Primary School | Ysgol Gynradd Aber-taf |
| Carnetown Primary School | Ysgol Gynradd Carnetown |
| Ynys-boeth Junior School | Ysgol Lau Ynys-boeth |
Subjects
Mountain Ash Comprehensive School offers a range of subjects. Subjects that are taught at the school include: English, Cymraeg (Welsh), Science, Maths, Art, Music, Personal and Social Education (PSE), Physical Education (PE), Information Communications Technology (ICT), Religious Studies (RS), Geography, History, French, Drama, Business Studies, Public Services, Design Technology (which includes: Wood work, Home Economics, Engineering, Textiles), Hospitality, Child care, Vocational Studies.
History
The school was founded as Mountain Ash County School in 1907,[3] which was later known as Mountain Ash Grammar School (Welsh: Ysgol Ramadeg Aberpennar). From 1926 until 1983 the school was based in Dyffryn House, the former home of Henry Bruce, 1st Baron Aberdare (1815–1895). The house was found to be unsafe and was demolished; the current school is on the same site.[4]
Selective education was abolished in the area in 1966, when the school became Mountain Ash Comprehensive School.[3]
School mottos
The motto on the school's crest is Deuparth Bonedd yw Dysg,[5] which is Error: {{language with name/for}}: missing language tag or language name (help). The school also uses "Every Child Will Succeed" (Welsh: Bydd Pob Plentyn Yn Llwyddo).[6]
Community
The school is a community school and takes that role very seriously. The school's aim is to be a place of learning and enjoyment not only for the students but for the wider community as well. Mountain Ash Comprehensive School is open for business from 8.00 in the morning through to 9.30 at night. Many national and local groups and organisations use Mountain Ash Comprehensive School's outstanding facilities. The University of Glamorgan base their Welsh for Adults provision at the school, and many local sporting clubs use the school's gym and barn facilities. The school runs tea dances for the elderly and organise many courses from the school during the holiday periods.
The school houses a community room which is home to E3, 5×60, On Track, and other specialist community workers. They pride themselves on these links, and is the instrumental in developing the Mountain Ash Partnership which ensures that all local organisations working with the young people in this area are all working together constructively.
Cynon Valley 16+ Consortium
The school is a member of the Cynon Valley 16+ Consortium which combines the sixth-form teching resources of several local schools.[7] These schools have approximately 620 sixth-form students, most of whom travel between the schools for tuition. The schools have a common sixth form timetable and a common registration and assessment management information system.
The students have access to a full sixth form curriculum to include a total of approximately 44 subjects which include traditional AS Level, A2 level and GCSE courses, and vocational BTEC, OCR and Key Skills courses. Some of the vocational courses are taught at Coleg y Cymoedd's Aberdare campus and at Merthyr Tydfil College.
Incidents
In March 2013, Daniel Lewis, a former mathematics teacher at the school, was jailed for six years after sexually assaulting a thirteen-year-old girl, who was not a pupil at the school.[8]
Notable former pupils
- Edmund Davies, Baron Edmund-Davies of Aberpennar (1906–1992), law lord (senior judge), chairman of the Aberfan Disaster Tribunal
- Les Manfield DFC (1915–2006), Welsh Rugby Union international, later deputy headmaster of the school[9]
- Geoffrey Evans FRCS (1935–2010), surgeon[10]
- Bruce George (1942–), former Labour MP for Walsall South
- Stephen Williams (1966–), former Liberal Democrat MP for Bristol West
- Samantha Bowen (1986–), soldier and paralympic sitting volleyball player
References
- ^ "Welcome To Mountain Ash Comprehensive School". Retrieved 27 February 2017.
- ^ http://www.estyn.org.uk/inspection_reports/Mountain_Ash_Sec_06.pdf English]
- ^ a b "A Chronology of History of the Cynon Valley to c. 2013". Cynon Valley History Society. Retrieved 3 March 2017.
- ^ "Dyffryn; Dyffryn House, Mountain Ash". Coflein. Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Wales. Retrieved 3 March 2017.
- ^ "MACS". Twitter. Retrieved 3 March 2017.
- ^ "Prospectus" (PDF). Mountain Ash Comprehensive School. Retrieved 27 February 2017.
- ^ "Blaengwawr Comprehensive School Information Booklet" (PDF). Retrieved 3 March 2017.
- ^ http://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-news/teacher-dark-sexual-nature-jailed-2493645
- ^ Cole, Rob. "Les Manfield (Obituary)". The Independent. London. Retrieved 3 March 2017.
- ^ "Evans, Geoffrey (1935 - 2010)". Plarr's Lives of the Fellows Online. Royal College of Surgeons. Retrieved 3 March 2017.
