Dear Parents and Carers,
Thank you for all the support you
have given us in making sure the new school year has got off to a good
start. All the students look smart and
ready for work.
I am delighted by the high
numbers of students returning to our sixth-form or joining us for the first
time in year 12. High numbers at this
stage helps us to offer as wide a range of courses as possible to all
students. They also tell us all that St
Peter’s is an attractive school.
We have had some hiccups with the
year 12 timetables, partly through coping with such strong recruitment, but
chiefly to do with the complications of moving from one set of option blocks to
a completely new one in order to deliver the government’s new 2-year model for
A levels. Apologies to any year 12 affected;
I hope things have settled down now.
It’s important for all students to do their very best from day one in
the sixth form so that we can all be sure that the right options have been
chosen.
Year 7 look especially smart and
enthusiastic. They have made a great
start to life at St Peter’s.
Our new heads of year are also
settling in. Mrs Brindley is the new
head of year 7; Mrs Natasha-Moore has
moved up to year 8. Many of you will
know Mrs Tassinari who has taken over as head of year 9. She is already showing us the benefits of
having a senior member of the pastoral staff available throughout the day. Miss Bhaiyat has moved with her year group to
year 10 and Mr McDermott has taken over the reins of year 11, repeating his
work last year. Mrs Gittins continues to
oversee key stage 3 (years 7, 8 and 9) and Mr Lax has taken over from Mr
Coughlan overseeing key stage 4.
Attendance at the first series of
our information evenings has been excellent, and I thank you all for that. We are trying to give you a flavour of the
targets and issues facing all our students.
You will know now about our ‘open
house’ Wednesdays and this has already proved to offer an opportunity for
parents to raise issues with us. Please
contact us if you want to make use of this.
The building programme is on
schedule and progress is obvious every day.
The students have been very sensible in adhering to the new access routes
and to the health and safety rules we have to follow.
Just a word about buses and
transport, please. Firstly, buses. Two things.
If your child uses the Bennetts Coaches service through Brockworth,
please check the published timetable on the website (http://www.stpetershighschool.org.uk/Parents/Buses/). Bennetts have worked very hard with us to
make this service work, but the cost is a tight timetable. Traffic congestion and roadworks can delay
this bus and there is little margin for manoeuvre. However, we know this, and no student will be
penalised if this bus happens on occasion to arrive at school a few minutes
late. I am very keen to maintain as many
bus routes as possible, and sometimes we have to compromise a little on the
arrangements.
Secondly, if your children catch
the number 9 bus into the centre, please help us to ensure that they do so
safely. The buses immediately fill up at
that stop, and it really needs three buses to cope with the demand. This means that some students will have to
wait. They generally do so politely and
patiently, but I was a little worried to see students running for the bus,
without taking (in my opinion) quite enough care in crossing the road. I am telling them about this at school, but
we need to work closely here.
And if you collect your children
by car – which many of you do – please do so safely. The best practice, please, is to drive into
the main car park after 4 pm when all the buses have gone. We are worried about the number of students
being collected from the main road outside the school while the buses are still
leaving. None of us wants an accident.
Lastly, congratulations to Joe
Williams who has won a national poetry competition for poems responding to Thomas
Gray’s ‘Elegy written in a Country Churchyard’;
the ‘Elegy’ was one of the poems Joe studied in his Year 13 A-level
English Literature course last year. He
attended the prize-giving last night, which took place at Stoke Poges church
where Thomas Gray is buried, and read his poem to the audience there. He has just begun his studies for a degree in
English at Goldsmiths College, University of London. Well done, Joe!
So, thank you for a great start
to the year. Please let us work together
to improve and progress through the new year;
please help us make 4 pm as safe as possible!
Yours,
Philip Rush
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