Approximately 1 in 10 pupils receive a bursary or scholarship. We are committed to ensuring an MCS education is open to the brightest pupils, no matter their personal circumstances.
Approximately 1 in 10 pupils receive a bursary or scholarship. We are committed to ensuring an MCS education is open to the brightest pupils, no matter their personal circumstances.
Easter is always a time to step back and reflect – activities which have rarely felt so topical. We bring our warmest Easter tidings to the MCS community, and hope that, in spite of the current situation, you are able to relax, reflect, and look to the future this weekend.
This newsletter we invite you to contribute to the MCS Pandemic Papers project, join the Chaplain for some Maundy Thursday contemplation, and enjoy a spot of quizzing…
Pandemic Papers
(image from MCS archive)
We are pleased to launch the ‘Pandemic Papers’ which will be part of the MCS Archive and will bring together the experiences of pupils, staff, OWs and friends of the school during this time of great challenge.
The Master’s Address to pupils on the school’s closing day, which elicited a huge response from so many of you, will rightly take pride of place in this new collection.
We would like to receive your reflections, diary entries, record of events or anything else that you think will allow pupils of the future to understand how everyday life in 2020 was affected by the current pandemic.
You can decide what to submit. You may like to write up a diary for a day, take some photos of the world outside and tell us the news headlines of the day, or write down how your life has changed since the siutation started unfolding.
To submit your own entries to the Pandemic Papers, you can: • Email text, image or video (.mp3) files to archive@mcsoxford.org • Contact the Waynflete Office (waynfleteoffice@mcsoxford.org) to arrange a time to talk through your experience in person over the phone • Share a particular social media post or tweet of yours directly with the Waynflete Office (waynfleteoffice@mcsoxford.org) @OldWaynfletes • Post materials to Magdalen College School, Cowley Place, Oxford, OX41DZ (though please hold on to objects until school reopens).
Note that we can restrict access if your submission(s) contain sensitive information, so please indicate whether this is the case on donation.
There is more information about our Pandemic Papers initiative on our website.
A Thought for the Day from the Chaplain, Reverend Wealands Bell
“The night is passed, and the day lies open before us.”
Click here to listen to the next installment in Reverend Wealands Bell’s Thought for theDay as part of the MCS Virtual Chapel series, which will be continuing over the Easter break.
University Challenge – OW through to final
“That is impressive.”
(Jeremy Paxman during Monday’s semi-final on Alex Gunasekera (OW 2015)’s speedy answer to the question ‘what is the sole three-digit number that has the following characteristics: firstly, that reversing the order of its first two digits gives its square root, and secondly, its last digit is also its cube root?’*)
Many congratulations to Alex (representing Corpus Christi, Cambridge) who is through to the final of University Challenge 2020. The programme is due to air on Monday 20th April, 20:30, BBC2 – tune in!
Monday’s semi-final, featuring Gunasekera, can be found here.
*Answer: 729
MCS Quiz
If you’re feeling inspired by Alex Gunasekera’s general knowledge prowess, or simply nostalgic for a spot of MCS-style quizzing, why not try your hand at a Mr Mac quiz?
First three questions are as follows:
How was Sir Percy Blakeney, creation of Baroness Orczy, better known?
By what name does Mrs Cripps, a Portsmouth bumboat woman, go in Gilbert & Sullivan’s HMS Pinafore?
The Wordsworth poem “I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud” is commonly referred to by what name?
The rest of the quiz can be found here. Answers to be released on the webpage week commencing 20th April.
MCS makes PPE for NHS
Work is now well underway repurposing our DT facilities, overseen by DT teacher Mr Hlaing, to create protective visors for NHS workers.
As always, we are thinking of you and endeavour to help you feel connected to the school during this unprecedented time.
After the Easter Break, teaching will continue online for our current pupils. You can keep in touch with the school on Instagram,Facebook and Twitter, as well as the Waynflete Office on our Facebook and Twitter.
We particularly look forward to receiving your notes for the Pandemic Papers. Keep us posted via social media, by telephone (07501 373933) and email: waynfleteoffice@mcsoxford.org.
In the meantime, we wish you good health and a bit of rest (if possible) over Easter. Our gratitude always goes to members of our community who are on the frontlines of this pandemic, helping to keep the country going.
MCS ranks among the top independent secondary schools in The Sunday Times Schools Guide 2024, placed seventh nationally and third in the Southeast.
MCS ranks among the top independent secondary schools in The Sunday Times Schools Guide 2024, placed seventh nationally and third in the Southeast.
28 of our pupils achieved 10 or more 8 or 9 grades in 2024.
Your donations contribute over £150,000 a year to bursaries as well as building an endowment to fund bursaries for the future.
28 of our pupils achieved 10 or more 8 or 9 grades in 2024.
Your donations contribute over £150,000 a year to bursaries as well as building an 
