Type Comprehensive School Students approx 1,100 Ages 11–18 | Headteacher / Prifathro Samantha Evans Gender Male and Female Phone +44 1443 479199 | |
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Location Dyffryn Site, New Road
Mountain Ash, Rhondda Cynon Taf
CF45 4DG
Wales Address New Rd, Mountain Ash CF45 4DG, UK Motto Deuparth Bonedd yw Dysg; (The Root of Nobility Lies in Education) Similar Blaengw Compreh School, Treorchy Compreh School, Aberdare High School, Lewis Girls' School, St John Baptist High Sch Profiles | ||
Volunteers talk about visiting mountain ash comprehensive school
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.
Contents
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.
The school's catchment area includes:
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:
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, 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.
Selective education was abolished in the area in 1966, when the school became Mountain Ash Comprehensive School.
School mottos
The motto on the school's crest is Deuparth Bonedd yw Dysg, which is Welsh for "The Root of Nobility Lies in Education". The school also uses "Every Child Will Succeed" (Welsh: Bydd Pob Plentyn Yn Llwyddo).
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. 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.