Mountain Ash Comprehensive School (), known as MACS, is a comprehensive school near the town of

Mountain Ash, Rhondda Cynon Taf Mountain Ash () is a town and former Community (Wales), community in the Cynon Valley, within the County Borough of Rhondda Cynon Taf, Wales, with a population of 11,230 at the 2011 Census, estimated in 2019 at 11,339. It includes the districts ...

, Wales. It is a mixed-sex school with approximately 950 pupils, including about 90 in the

sixth form In the education systems of Barbados, England, Jamaica, Northern Ireland, Trinidad and Tobago, Wales, and some other Commonwealth countries, sixth form represents the final two years of secondary education, ages 16 to 18. Pupils typically prepa ...

. The school was formerly known as Mountain Ash Grammar School () and is located near the former Dyffryn Colliery.

Teaching

Mountain Ash Comprehensive School offers a range of subjects. Subjects that are taught at the school include: English, Cymraeg (Welsh), Science, Maths, Art, Music, Physical Education (PE), Information Communications Technology (ICT), Religious Studies (RS), Geography, History, French, Drama, Business Studies, Design Technology (which includes: Wood work, Home Economics, Engineering, Textiles), Hospitality, Vocational Studies. A high proportion of the pupils move on to Sixth Form, college or other training organisations.

Catchment area

The school's catchment area includes: A few pupils come from further away, including from

Aberaman Aberaman is a village near Aberdare in the county borough of Rhondda Cynon Taf, south Wales. It was heavily dependent on the coal industry and the population, as a result, grew rapidly in the late nineteenth century. Most of the industry has now ...

Abercwmboi Abercwmboi is a village in the county borough of Rhondda Cynon Taf, Wales. Location Abercwmboi is a village in the Cynon Valley. The village lies on the B4275 Cardiff Road - the old main route to Cardiff before the A4059 road was built - betw ...

and

Cwmbach Cwmbach is a village and Community (Wales), community (and electoral ward) near Aberdare, in the county borough of Rhondda Cynon Taf, Wales. Cwmbach means 'Little Valley' in Welsh language, Welsh (Cwm = valley, Bach = little). Cwmbach has a pop ...

. The main feeder primary schools are:

History

The school was founded as Mountain Ash County School in 1907, which was later known as Mountain Ash Grammar School (). From 1926 until 1983 the school was based in

Dyffryn House Dyffryn Gardens, also spelt Duffryn Gardens (), is a collection of botanical gardens located near the villages of Dyffryn, Vale of Glamorgan, Dyffryn and St. Nicholas, Vale of Glamorgan, St. Nicholas in the Vale of Glamorgan, Wales. The garden ...

, the former home of

Henry Bruce, 1st Baron Aberdare Henry Austin Bruce, 1st Baron Aberdare (16 April 1815 – 25 February 1895), was a British Liberal Party politician, who served in government most notably as Home Secretary (1868–1873) and as Lord President of the Council. Origin Lord Abe ...

(1815–1895). The house was found to be unsafe and was demolished; the current school is on the same site.

Selective education A selective school is a school that admits students on the basis of some sort of selection criteria, usually academic. The term may have different connotations in different systems and is the opposite of a comprehensive school, which accepts all s ...

was abolished in the area in 1966, when the school became Mountain Ash Comprehensive School. In 2019, five pupils won international travel scholarships: two to build a school in

Rajasthan Rajasthan (; Literal translation, lit. 'Land of Kings') is a States and union territories of India, state in northwestern India. It covers or 10.4 per cent of India's total geographical area. It is the List of states and union territories of ...

, India, two to explore in the

Yukon Yukon () is a Provinces and territories of Canada, territory of Canada, bordering British Columbia to the south, the Northwest Territories to the east, the Beaufort Sea to the north, and the U.S. state of Alaska to the west. It is Canada’s we ...

, Canada and one to visit the

Massachusetts Institute of Technology The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a Private university, private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Established in 1861, MIT has played a significant role in the development of many areas of moder ...

in the USA.

School mottos

The motto on the school's crest is ', which is Welsh for "The Root of Nobility Lies in Education". The school also uses "Every Child Will Succeed" ().

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 facilities. The

University of Glamorgan The University of Glamorgan () was a public university based in South Wales, that merged with University of Wales, Newport to form the University of South Wales in April 2013. The university was based in Pontypridd, in Rhondda Cynon Taf, with ...

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. The school has developed developing the Mountain Ash Partnership to support local organisations working with young people in this area to work together constructively.

Cynon Valley 16+ Consortium

The school is a member of the

Cynon Valley Cynon Valley () is a former coal mining valley in Wales. It lies between Rhondda and the Merthyr Valley and takes its name from the River Cynon. Aberdare is located in the north of the valley and Mountain Ash in the south. From 1974 to 19 ...

16+ Consortium which combines the sixth-form teaching resources of several local schools. These schools have approximately 350 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 The A-level (Advanced Level) is a subject-based qualification conferred as part of the General Certificate of Education, as well as a school leaving qualification offered by the educational bodies in the United Kingdom and the educational au ...

and

GCSE The General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE) is an academic qualification in a range of subjects taken in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland, having been introduced in September 1986 and its first exams taken in 1988. State schools ...

courses, and vocational BTEC, OCR and

Key Skills The Key Skills Qualification is a frequently required component of 14-20 education in England, Northern Ireland and Wales. The aim of Key Skills is to encourage learners to develop and demonstrate their skills as well as learn how to select and ap ...

courses. Some of the vocational courses are taught at

Coleg y Cymoedd Coleg y Cymoedd (English: ''College of The Valleys'') is a further education college located at four main campuses across Rhondda Cynon Taf, and Caerphilly (county borough), Caerphilly, Wales. Coleg y Cymoedd was formed after the merger of Coleg ...

's Aberdare campus and at

Merthyr Tydfil College Merthyr Tydfil College ( Welsh: Y Coleg Merthyr Tudful) is a further education college located in Merthyr Tydfil, Wales. From May 2006 to April 2013, it was a constituent college of the University of Glamorgan and thereafter, a college of the Uni ...

. Mountain Ash Comprehensive School, Rhondda Cynon Taf Council and the Consortium are currently in discussion to close the Sixth Form in Mountain Ash and migrate all students who start September 2025 to Aberdare Community School. A cabinet meeting was held to discuss this on 20 November 2024.

Notable former pupils

* Edmund Davies, Baron Edmund-Davies of Aberpennar (1906–1992),

law lord Lords of Appeal in Ordinary, commonly known as Law Lords, were judges appointed under the Appellate Jurisdiction Act 1876 to the British House of Lords, as a committee of the House, effectively to exercise the judicial functions of the House of ...

(senior judge), chairman of the Aberfan Disaster Tribunal *

Les Manfield Leslie Manfield DFC (10 November 1915 – 2 November 2006) was a Welsh rugby union international. He was the second oldest Welsh international of all time, and at the time of his death, aged 91, the oldest living man to have played as a fo ...

(1915–2006), Welsh Rugby Union international, later deputy headmaster of the school *

Bruce George Bruce Thomas George (1 June 1942 – 24 February 2020) was a British Labour Party politician, who served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Walsall South from February 1974 until 2010. Early life George was born in Mountain Ash, Mid-Gla ...

(1942–), former Labour MP for Walsall South * Stephen Williams (1966–), former Liberal Democrat MP for

Bristol West Bristol West was a borough constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom since 2015 by Thangam Debbonaire of the Labour Party. It mostly covered the central and western parts of Bristol. Following t ...

Samantha Bowen Samantha Bowen (born 21 March 1986) is a former British soldier and Great Britain, British sitting volleyball player. Bowen was discharged from the British Army in 2008 after suffering shrapnel wounds following a mortar attack during active duty ...

(1986–), soldier and

paralympic The Paralympic Games or Paralympics is a periodic series of international multisport events involving athletes with a range of disabilities. There are Winter and Summer Paralympic Games, which since the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul, South Kore ...

sitting volleyball Sitting volleyball is a form of volleyball for athletes with a disability organized by World ParaVolley. As opposed to standing volleyball, sitting volleyball players must sit on the floor to play. History Sitting volleyball was invented in t ...

player

References

External links

School website
{{authority control Secondary schools in Rhondda Cynon Taf

School A school is the educational institution (and, in the case of in-person learning, the Educational architecture, building) designed to provide learning environments for the teaching of students, usually under the direction of teachers. Most co ...