Happy Easter!
Last week at St Peter’s – Visitors to the school – Year 10 lessons
– Year 9 options – Building bids – Orchard - Forthcoming events – Summer uniform
A Good Weekend
Last weekend was a good one for St Peter’s. I was delighted by the good sense and good
order shown by our students during the partial solar eclipse. The weather was perfect for the event, and
the holes in the technology department roof provided the perfect ‘camera
obscura’!
Last Friday afternoon, Miss Fearn of the history department
organised a full parliamentary election debate with candidates from Gloucester
and Stroud constituencies, including Stroud’s current MP Neil Carmichael. This was a fabulous opportunity for our sixth-formers
to meet working politicians face to face and to learn about our democratic
system and the issues facing voters in this spring’s election.
Throughout the day there had been a whole series of activities,
coordinated by Mr Hudson and Mr Devane from the ICT department, to mark the
anniversary of the Philippines cyclone which so devastated that country. Special lessons for key stage 3 classes were
managed by year 10 students, and in addition there was a cake sale, a candlelit
prayer service and other sporting events long into the night.
And, finally, we and the parishioners of Stroud Immaculate
Conception enjoyed a wonderful performance by the school Choral Society, led by
Mrs Perfect, of John Stainer’s ‘Crucifixion’.
John Stainer’s great-grandson, Andrew, was in the audience and he
enthused warmly about the quality of the choir which was pitch-perfect
throughout. A marvellous way to mark a
Friday in Lent.
A Good Visit
A local secondary headteacher visited the school this last Monday
to undertake a review for us of our ‘pupil premium’ provision. She praised the quality of teaching and
learning which she saw, the quality of marking and homework, and the honesty
and enthusiasm of the students whom she interviewed. She
identified some areas where we can work a little more efficiently in
administering the pupil premium funding and in ensuring that all students
achieve their academic potential.
In the last six months we have welcomed four senior staff on formal
visits to St Peter’s: two senior staff
in large comprehensives similar to ours, and two inspectors. All four of them have focused their praise on
the things which we most hold dear:
teaching and learning, homework, and ethos & behaviour. We are always striving to improve and we are
sensitive to any adverse criticism, but sometimes we can afford to reassure
ourselves that the staff at St Peter’s are providing a first-class education.
You will all be aware that we changed our pattern of subjects for
this year’s year 10 students: they have
one fewer option but more time for English and maths. I have been speaking individually to all our
English and maths teachers, and without exception they assure me that the extra
time has helped them to teach more broadly and more carefully and for the
students to learn more richly and more deeply.
I am very grateful to them for the quality of their work, and I am
delighted by their confidence in the effectiveness of this change.
Year 9 options
All too soon, perhaps, our year 9 will begin their GCSE years and
their option evening is fast approaching.
They will follow the same option pattern of our current year 10s. However, we are not publishing option blocks
in advance this year and this is essentially for financial reasons: we cannot afford to run small groups. We are asking students to place their chosen
subjects in a priority order and then we plan to create efficient groupings
from these so that the school can provide the requested options as efficiently
as possible. We are not planning to
increase the size of option groups overall – subjects are still generously
staffed – but we want to avoid having to run a group for 8 in block A while
there is a group of 10 studying the same subject in, say, block C. A group of 20 is for many subjects an
efficient and sensible size.
We had great news about our
building bids this week
We are delighted to receive the news from the Department for
Education that we had been successful in our two bids to the Condition
Improvement Fund for refurbishment of the design & technology and main blocks. £1.1 million!!
The original 1964 buildings at St Peter's Catholic High School and
Sixth Form Centre are past their serviceable life. We began the programme
of work to refurbish or rebuild these buildings last year with the English block
refurbishment which has been transformed. The next phase in the programme
will take place this summer following the approval of our two bids. We
are obviously delighted with this news.
The work will start in May 2015 and will be largely be completed
by September when we return after the summer holidays. The frontage of the school will be
transformed – surely a huge fillip when students enter the school – and the
design technology area will be modernised and improved.
Orchard
Eagle-eyed passers-by may notice that we have taken delivery –
from Day’s Cottages in Brookthorpe – of thirty apple trees. All local varieties. There will be a small orchard, then, at the
Stroud Road end of the far rugby field, and we are dreaming of picking our own
apple crumble from the branches before too many years have passed.
Forthcoming events
Hay festival coach
We have (provisionally) booked a coach to go to the Hay Festival
on Friday 29th May (the Friday in Whit half-term). Hay Festival is a lively affair in a lovely
Borders town - loads to see and do – but
parking can be terrible! So we think
that enough of us may enjoy going by bus and enjoying a day out without having
to worry about parking or driving back home.
The coach will leave here at 9, so will arrive around 10.30, and will
set off home from Hay at 8 pm. The cost
is £17.50 for adults and £7.50 for students/ children. Might sound a lot until we remember the cost
of parking and petrol! And any profits
will go to the PFA.
Could you let us know if you’d like tickets, please, by emailing Mrs
Cameron, rcameron@sphs.uk.com. We need
to know numbers by the beginning of May.
Thank you.
Lawrence Montagu Ball
Following on from the huge success of The
Lawrence Montagu Ball last year, the extended school team is delighted to
announce an even bigger and better Ball for 2015! 16th May is the date.
Last
year, our guest speakers kept us entertained with stories about their careers
and school life here at St Peter’s. The auction prizes were absolutely
incredible and included: a signed Andy Murray tennis racket, a signed 1966
England shirt, a one-of-a-kind Harley Davidson leather jacket and a week’s
residential revision prize with Oxford International College, just to mention a
few! The prizes raised a staggering amount for the foundation and, with your
help, we are hopeful of beating that amount this year.
It is
a ‘black tie event’ with a 3 course meal and wine. In addition, there will be guest speakers, an
auction with some fantastic prizes, live music (St Peter’s Jazz band) and DJ
until late. Tickets cost £40 and the proceeds will all go towards the Lawrence
Montagu Foundation. Champagne reception
with canapés starts at 6pm and everyone will be seated for their meal at 7pm.
If you
would like to attend, please email Frank (fcarter@sphs.uk.com or call 01452509280) with the number of tickets, before
Friday 1st May.
We really do hope you are able to join us this year as, I’m sure those of you who attending last year would agree, it was a terrific and enjoyable evening in memory of a fantastic man.
We look forward to seeing you there!
Anniversary Mass
Fr Kevin will be celebrating a Mass in memory of Larry, at 4 pm on 28th April, in the drama theatre. All will be welcome.
PFA
Our school Parents and Friends Association are hoping to raise
funds on Saturday 25th April at Sainsbury’s in Gloucester Quays, by
helping with bag-packing. We are lucky to have secured the slot at
Sainsbury’s but now need student (or parent!) volunteers to help. It is a
great opportunity for the PFA to raise considerable funds – can your
son/daughter help? All we need is a few hours of their time between 10
and 6 on Saturday – perhaps they could bag-pack whilst you do your shopping?
The PFA is a very hard-working group of people who arrange
numerous events throughout the year with a view to assisting in financing the
school minibuses, as well as providing vital funds for one-off items to ensure
that your children get the very best opportunities in all areas of their
education. Your support is essential to its success!!
Summer is Coming …
And we look forward to seeing students in their summer uniform –
polo shirts, with sweaters on chilly days – when we return after the Easter
break. It would be really good to see
the whole school smart from years 7 to year 13 for the final, sunny, term.
Please enjoy a good Easter break.
Philip Rush
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