Mass and awards celebration on the feast of Saints Peter and Paul

Last Thursday was a special day for staff and students at St Peter's.  In the morning Fr. Kevin Hennessey said Mass in a packed sports barn bedecked with banners made by year 8 forms.  Our musicians and choir led the singing and were, as usual, superb.  We were joined by governors, parents, former members of staff, former students and by teachers and students from St Rose's, Stroud.  Our students behaved beautifully and showed their appreciation for Fr. Kevin - who is moving to Weston-Super-Mare in September - in a standing ovation which lasted for several minutes.  Two of our governors who are about to retire from their completely voluntary work on the governing body were awarded certificates from Bishop Declan to mark their years of dedicated service to the school: Pat McCrink has served on the governing body for 31 years and Jim Stenson has served for 12 years and been Chair of Governor for 10 years.  As usual the Mass ended with a rousing rendition of 'Sing it in the Valleys'!

In the afternoon we were treated to a gymnastics display to the theme music from The Lion King followed by a wide range of awards for academic, musical and sporting excellence as well as for community and charity work.  The awards were interspersed with well chosen musical interludes: Dominic Travell from year 9 played 'Maple Leaf Rag' as 2017 is the 100th anniversary of Scott Joplin's death; Seb Rowe from year 8 sang and played 'Don't Look Back in Anger' as a tribute to the victims in Manchester; Fin Stevens from year 11 sang 'Bridge over Troubled Water' as a tribute to the Grenfell Tower victims.  As usual, the family of former student Anna McGurk (nee Potts) also joined us to award bursaries in Anna's name to three deserving students.  It was a real privilege to be part of this special celebration and to give out the awards to the following students who have show real commitment and dedication in their various fields:

Sue Goble Award for R.E. - Iona Price
Governors Award for Philosophy and Ethics - Charlotte Burnham
Governors Award for Theology and Ethics - Michael Wright
The David Watts Cup for Science - KS5 - Jack Bruton
The David Watts Cup for Science - KS4 - Ethan Wood and Jamie Gill
The Tony Chesson Award for Biology - Storm Maguire Toombs
The Governors Award for Science - KS3 - Ivy Wang
The Governors Award for Science - KS5 - Jack Cullimore and Jack Jarvis
The Trendgrey Award for Maths - Eddie Evans
The Governors Award for Maths - Finley Stevens and Sean Bryden
The Governors Award for English - KS3 - Keeley Davies
The Governors Award for English - KS4 - Sam Harte
The Governors Award for English - KS5 - Will Bussutil
The Governors Award for Computing - Lily Magri
The Trendgrey Award for ICT - Jahnai Selassie
The Molly Gravells Community Award - The Year 9 Charity Group
The Boyce Award for Endeavour - Cassey Butcher
The Governors Community Award - Mr and Mrs Osman (for 30 years service on the PFA)
The Governors Award for Languages - Alessia Johnstone
The Governors Award for English as an additional language - Yao Ding
The Anna McGurk bursary award (senior) - James Etheridge
The Anna McGurk bursary award (junior) - Ailsa Hall and Emily Watson-Howell
The Moss Construction Award for Sport - Venice Agbayani
The Dave Pointon Award for Sport - Reece Dunn
The Governors Award for Art - KS5 - Emily Burrus
The Governors Award for Art - KS4 - Erin Koronis
The Governors Award for Music (junior)  - Edward Cutting
The Governors Award for Music - (senior) - Christopher Slemensek
The Governors Award for Drama - Alice Davies and Jack Barron
The Sally Holloway Most Valuable Performer award - Patrick Meehan
The Governors Award for Geography - Darcy Woods Broady
The Governors Award for Technology (Textiles) - Jess Walker
The Governors Award for Technology (Product Design) - Kelsey Ryan
The Governors Award for Psychology - Callum Milne
The Peter Baker Award for Social Sciences - Grace Riglar
The David Croft Award for Love of Learning - Warren Greaves
The Governors Award for Social Sciences - Dominik Brown
The Governors Award for Business and Economics - Ellie Robinson
Head Student awards - Anna White and Joe Hill

Bronze Duke of Edinburgh awards: Dominic Thomas, Charlotte Cutting, Pippa Brogden, Rebecca Terry, Hannah Osmanski, Maddie Park, Adam Nash, Rebecca Lambert, Deanna Mempin, Milly Robinson, Fran Smith, Romana Protsyshyn, Elena Davies, Louise Watkins, Ethan Crew, Bradley Coomber.

Certificates for Altar Servers - Simon Cook, Sean Bryden, Dominic Thomas.

Our award winners

Two other occasions added to the celebrations last week.  At the 'Fab 5' Art award ceremony students received awards for excellence in art classwork and homework and superb work from students from KS3 to A-level art students was exhibited. The week ended with an enjoyable evening of Shakespeare from year 7 to 10 students.  We had previously seen talented performances from KS3 musicians at the junior concert two weeks' earlier.