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Boys and girls will learn together, providing equal opportunities for all while recognising their different needs. Our teaching will continue to be outstanding and our students will gain not only the grades they need to move on from Monmouth successfully but also skills to be life-long learners who contribute positively to society and become leaders in driving change. The school will offer something different from neighbouring schools, providing excellent teaching and wide-ranging opportunities in a caring and supportive environment.

The move towards full co-educational has already begun.

From September 2024:

• Years 7, 8, 9 and 10 will become fully co-educational, and will be based on the current Monmouth School for Boys site at Almshouse Street.
• Years 12 and 13, boys and girls, will be based on the west side of the Monmouth Girls’ School site on the Hereford Road.
• Year 11 students, who will be midway through their GCSEs, will remain in single sex classes on the Monmouth School for Boys site, at Almshouse Street, to minimise any disruption.
• The Prep School will move to the east side of the Girls’ School site.

From September 2025, Monmouth School will be fully co-educational in every year group.

We are now engaged in all aspects of this change and work is underway, including creating a wider variety of study areas and a superb Sixth Form Centre with six times more space than is currently available.

We plan to make space for other new facilities, including a dance studio, by optimising our use of the existing buildings, and to extend current facilities such as the dining hall, which will become our first carbon neutral building. Some boarding houses will be refurbished, with more recreational spaces and improved access to outdoor areas, and some rearrangements made to housing for boarders – though the boarding structure will remain the same. And as with all of the changes being made to the estate over the coming months, we aim to carry out all major projects with minimal disruption, with much of the work undertaken during school holidays when most pupils are absent. These redevelopments present a valuable opportunity for us to place sustainability at the heart of the way in which the school operates.

This development is greatly helped by the William Jones Endowment and the support of the Haberdashers’ Company. The move to full co-education improves the school’s financial position and provided the necessary confidence for the Trustees of the William Jones Endowment to release funds to further improve the facilities and opportunities for all our pupils.

Simon Dorman, current Head of Monmouth School for Boys, will take over as Head of the new co-educational school from September 2024, and Rachel Rees as Deputy Pastoral. Meanwhile, Simon leads an Executive Team, which includes Heads of the Girls’ School and Prep School, the Senior Deputy Head (Academic) and Bursar, to oversee the transition. They are being supported by 13 Working Groups who are making recommendations.

These are exciting times, and we are determined to seize the opportunities they present. Students have been familiarising themselves with the developing site with a programme of social events, shared lectures, academic activities and structured events to enable new classmates to get to know each other. Activities now include boys and girls wherever practically possible to develop friendships before being based together full-time.

If you have questions, you can write to us at govboard@habsmonmouth.org and we will provide as much information as we can. Details of the transition are still evolving, but please do get in touch if there is anything you would like to find out more about or if you have any queries about the immediate impact this announcement might have that are not addressed on our Frequently Asked Questions page.

Latest updates – December 2023

Simon Dorman, Headmaster, shared an update with parents on the building progress, in his letter here. He also details updates to the school names, the house structure which will be in place for September 2024, pastoral updates and a review of our online and in-person Parent Forums.

Our Sixth Formers have settled well in their temporary home in Inglefield and the students are delighted with their new, spacious environment. The new refurbished rooms are light and welcoming and offer space for both social and working areas for the students.  In the words of one of our  Year 13s, “Inglefield has adapted well to the changes with sixth form. The addition of the cafe and the extension of the classrooms has made the space perfect for the year 12s and 13s.”

In addition to the work undertaken to house the Sixth Formers this year, work on landscaping around Inglefield, in preparation for the arrival of the Pre-Prep is on schedule, with new play areas, a buggy ramp from the car park and pretty garden space.

Work on School House (new classrooms and day rooms) is also well underway and, in preparation of the conversion of the squash courts into the dance centre, the strength and conditioning equipment has been moved to a spacious area in the basement of School House, so that it can continue to be used by the students.

Finally, we are also well on track with the work to extend the current dining hall in the lower campus. Meanwhile, students are finding the temporary dining area very easy to use and are delighted with the continuation in the range and variety of food on offer.

Whilst it is difficult to visualise what the new campus areas will look like, due to all the current building work, we are really delighted to be able to bring you a ‘fly through’ video which clearly shows how the new buildings will look.  We thank our architects, Levitt Bernstein, who have produced the video for us.  Click on the link here, or visit the ‘Becoming co-ed’ pages of our website.

• Working Groups

Our thirteen working groups, looking into every aspect of the transition to co-ed in the senior school next year continue to meet regularly and are making great progress. This is looking at teaching and learning, pastoral care, communication, orientation of pupils, uniform, boarding and co-curricular provision.

We look forward to seeing many of you at the packed schedule of fixtures and events coming up in the coming months.