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.
This week we celebrate 75 years since VE Day with some remarkable memories from OWs.
In addition to the account below from Brian Cairns (OW 1948), next week we will also share a video account of the events from our good friend OW Leo Goldschmidt (1950), who came to MCS as a refugee from Belgium at the start of WWII.
If you or someone you know was at MCS during the war and have further recollections of this extraordinary time, we would love to hear them via email.
VE Day
OW and former staff member Brian Cairns (1948) was 16 years old when VE Day occurred. In this moving video from 2016, he shares his evocative memories of that unforgettable day in School House.
Many of you may recall Brian as the artist of the Basil Blackwell portrait which hangs at the entrance to the school library.
We regret to share that Brian died last month from Covid-19. An obituary can be read on our website.
He is greatly missed.
This week, we share a timely throwback to the editorial from The Lily 1945.
“The Allies are Victorious, but Man is by no means assured of peace … Past experience must not be allowed to repeat itself … if the strictest attention is not paid to what is happening now, six years of pain will have been completely wasted … We must (insist) on the highest possible ethical standards, without which every society is bound to fail.”
Thank you to our Key Workers
This week’s #ThankYouFromMCS goes to OW Alex Black (2011), who is working on the Covid-19 team at Bristol Royal Infirmary.
Thank you Alex!
Virtual Chapel
In this week’s Virtual Chapel, the Master nods to her historian roots by examining past pandemics of the 20th and 21st century – and what the current one will hopefully teach us.
Next week, in a special video message, the Master will share the VE Day account of Leo Goldschmidt (OW 1950), who came to England and then MCS from war-torn Europe. Her address will be included in our next newsletter.
This week, school Chaplain Reverend Wealands Bell addresses the school community on the theme of “Abundance”.
When We Meet Again is an original play researched, written, performed and produced by MCS pupils and staff. Drawing inspiration from original accounts – including those in the MCS archives and teacher Mr David Bebbington’s book Goodbye Shirley – it draws on the striking parallels between the ‘Phoney War’ period from September 1939-May 1940 and our current circumstances amid the Covid-19 lockdown – a period of waiting, with movement curtailed, foodstuffs disappearing from the shelves and normal life disrupted.
Click here for podcasts. An introduction is currently available, while episode 1 will go live tomorrow at 6pm.
Hardship and Bursary Fundraising
With a virtual Trinity Term underway, we have a picture of the current MCS families who are facing hardship. The School has reduced fees by 15% for Trinity Term in recognition of the challenges that the current situation presents to parents.
This term the Master is donating 15% of her salary (while the school remains part-closed) to the hardship and bursary fund, and we have asked parents to do the same if they are able to. We are delighted that parents have already begun to respond with their usual supportiveness, with at least £30,000 already raised through their generosity. We are also grateful to OWs who have helped us build a fund of £80,000 to address hardship which will also be used immediately to support pupils.
It is of course likely that this will not be a short term problem for our current families, and we may lose pupils who would otherwise have applied to us. Bursaries will be the main focus of our fundraising in the months and years to come.
If you can help, you can make a gift through the website, or contact Susie Baker in the Waynflete Office.
Update your details
We really appreciate OWs and Friends updating us when their contact details change – so we can stay in touch!
If anything changes for you, please notify us via the new online form on our website. This will continuously be available, so can be accessed at any point in future.
And finally…
MCS music teacher Mr Mann has created a quarantine-inspired cover of Neil Diamond’s “Sweet Caroline”. Enjoy!
Keeping in Touch
As always, we are thinking of you and endeavour to help you feel connected to the school during this unprecedented time.
If you would like to organise a virtual reunion, or reach out to long lost school friends, please let us know via email. The MCS Strava group is also serving to keep members of the MCS community healthy, connected and motivated.
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. 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.
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.
