Christmas 2019

Welcome to the last blogpost of 2019. Staff and students are looking forward to a well deserved break.

Chaplaincy news

Ignite evening with Guvna B

On Friday 15^th November we had the wonderful privilege of welcoming double MOBO award winning urban music star and author Guvna B to our IGNITE event at St. Peter’s RC High school. Guvna B has appeared at the last two Flame conferences, the largest gathering of Catholic youth in the country, at Wembley Arena. He has also played many times at the Big Church Day Out and Soul Survivor. Taking a leap of faith, our chaplain, Mandy Baker, sent an invitation on social media last March which was picked up by Guvna B’s booking team and the rest, as they say, is history!

Ignite follows the pattern of Flame and uses amazing Christian speakers and performers to inspire the faith of young people. Guvna B was a truly inspirational artist who shared his faith story as part of the performance of his songs. His performance was a wonderful tapestry of high tempo and reflective songs. Guvna B took a real interest in the school and in the Ignite event, saying, ‘You have a really good thing going on here!’ He was supported by some of our own students - Avygayle Smith and Point Naught who shared their musical talent providing inspiration for our younger students to allow their gifts to be used in the community.

It was wonderful to see young people from Swindon, Trowbridge and local Christian youth groups joining our young people in praising God through Guvna B’s music. Guvna B is an inspirational role model for all young people and his book ‘Un-Popular Culture’ has a positive message encouraging young people to be a light and shine wherever they go. Catholic education seeks to educate the whole person, to give young people hope and bring people into community with people of all faiths and none. We hope that Ignite will continue to do this with prayer and much needed financial support. Also, don’t forget to check our Guvna B’s new single ‘Mazza’!

Liturgies for year saints

This term Year 9 and 10 have celebrated their year patron saints: St Agnes of Assisi and St Francis Xavier. We were reminded that as a Catholic community we stand on the shoulders of the saints, the giants of our faith tradition, who continue to inspire us with their lives of faith and charity.

Year of Communion

Advent marks the beginning of the Year of Communion in the Clifton Diocese. We were present at the service of Evening Prayer with Bishop Declan on Friday 22^nd November to receive the latest booklet and resources.

Christmas shoebox appeal

98 Christmas Shoeboxes and £115 was donated as part of the Christmas Shoebox Appeal this year. Our boxes will go to children in Belarus. Thank you to all who contributed.

Primary Schools’ Chaplaincy Day and Posada

On January 13^th 2020 we will be hosting a morning for the main Catholic feeder primary schools’ chaplaincy teams. During the morning we will be reflecting on the theme of Community. To start our refection a Nativity Posada is journeying around the schools and will return to St Peter’s High School for our Christmas Liturgy celebrations.

St Peter’s Primary School’s Advent Service

Ms Baker was delighted to be asked to lead an Advent Service at St Peter’s Catholic Primary school to mark the start of Advent; the theme was ‘prepare the way of the Lord’.

CAFOD World Gifts

The CAFOD groups in Year 10 and Year 12 are working hard to raise awareness of CAFOD World Gifts. Year 10 are selling the opportunity to send a ‘Secret Santa’ message with either a candy cane or brownies to friends and teachers. Year 12 have a challenge to purchase 2 toilet World Gifts. 40% of the world, more than 2.4 billion people, lack access to adequate sanitation. If you would like to donate to this cause, please send donations to Ms Baker in the Chaplaincy.

Thank you to Ms Baker for all her amazing work!

Music Department News

Peter Pan

The annual whole school musical, Peter Pan, was the collaborative brainchild of the Performing Arts Faculty (Music, Drama & Media). Approximately fifty students in Years 8-13 performed to a full and appreciative audience on the three nights preceding October half term. It was enormous fun and the students on stage and in the band were an absolute credit to the school.

 Percussion Club

A new extra-curricular music activity started in November: Percussion Club run by our drum teacher, Mr Sunderland.  Students in all year groups are welcome to attend on Mondays after school until 4.15pm.  Attendance has been excellent and we look forward to their first performance at the Senior Concert in February.

On Saturday 7 December, two Year 13 students, Romana Protsyshyn and Harry Matthews, were soloists for Handel’s Messiah with Evesham Community Choir.  They performed with real musicianship, confidence and panache.

We were also delighted to hear that Harry Matthews has successfully auditioned for a Gap Year Cathedral Choral Scholarship. Harry will spend the 2020/2021 academic year singing in the Choir of St David’s Cathedral, Pembrokeshire, a beautiful part of the country. Congratulations Harry!

Carols by Candlelight

The Choir has been extremely busy this half term preparing for the annual Carols by Candlelight event. On Friday 13 December, at the Church of the Immaculate Conception Stroud, a 70-strong choir performed to a packed audience. We were proud to showcase our Full Choir, Year 7 Boys’ Choir, Year 7 Girls’ Choir, Chamber Choir, soloists and readers. We are grateful for the extremely generous contributions given in the retiring collection and will be delighted to donate significant sums to the Church funds and to ‘Singing Medicine’, a charity which brings music to patients in the long-term wards of Birmingham Children’s Hospital.

The Chamber Choir was honoured to be asked to sing at the wedding of two former student Choir members - Hannah Mahon & Chris Thomas. Congratulations Mr & Mrs Thomas!

Congratulations to Year 7 student, Sophia

Congratulations to year 7 student Sophia who recently performed in her first major production, ‘Nativity’ at the Wales Millennium Centre, alongside Dani Dyer. Sophia thoroughly enjoyed playing evil student Maleificient. Well done Sophia!

Congratulations to Mrs Lee

On Friday 13^th December Mrs Lee, head of maths, came second in the University of Bath Teachers’ Awards 2019 in the category of Learning for Life Award. This is for teachers who nurture students’ talent. The university states that “the awards recognise and celebrate teachers who have gone above and beyond to support your students; guiding them on their path to university; inspiring them to aim high; offering pastoral care to support their well-being and of course nurturing their talents by providing them with exceptional learning opportunities. Thank you for what you do, day in day out, not just from us but from them, your students themselves!”

Mrs Lee was nominated by year 13 student Lily Magri who said in her nomination that “she wanted to thank Mrs Lee especially for acting as a strong female role model within the world of maths and for giving her a love of the subject. Lily feels that all your support and encouragement has made a real and ongoing difference in shaping her future pathway and that you have had a genuine and lasting impact on not only Lily’s life but on the lives of all your students.” 

Mrs Lee attended the University of Bath Celebration Event and was presented with a Teachers' Award trophy. She was also given accommodation at a hotel for the evening. Lily also attended the event and surprised Mrs Lee with a video she had made including Lily’s reasons for nominating her and comments from other students also. 

Congratulations again to Mrs Lee and thank you to Lily Magri for what was clearly an excellent nomination. Lily is currently studying Maths, Further Maths and History and is aiming to study Maths and Computer Science, possibly at Bath University next year

Modern Foreign Languages News

Trip to Normandy

October half term seems like a long time ago now but lots of memories were created by 59 year 8 and 9 students who took part in the bi-annual cross-curricular trip to Normandy.  Students stayed at an old converted château, and enjoyed the culinary delights of frogs’ legs and snails amongst the more usual fare of croissants and fresh bread. Visits included the Normandy Landing Beaches at Arromanches, where the students were impressed with the 360 Cinema which gave them an insight into the D-Day Landings. Respects were paid at the British War Graves, and although it was a wet rainy afternoon, everyone was impressed by the splendour of the American Cemetery, where we listened to the Last Post as the flag was respectfully lowered.  Equally poignant was the German Cemetery, giving a different perspective to this time in history.  The visit to the Mont St Michel was quite an adventure – crossing the causeway by shuttle bus and trying not to get blown over by the blustery wind; everyone was impressed with the Cathedral and the narrow, cobbled streets. 

Although it is hard to pick a favourite (the Bayeux Tapestry? Bayeux Cathedral? Shopping??) many of the students said they really enjoyed practising their French when they undertook the Lunch Challenge – going to the local market to buy fresh produce to create a healthy lunch back at the château.  All in all it was a great trip, made even better by a wonderful email from the château staff complimenting us on our students’ behaviour and manners. Thank you to Mrs Beamish for organising the visit and to the staff who accompanied the students.

Performance by a Spanish Theatre Company

Year 9 students were recently treated to an afternoon of educational fun in the Drama Theatre when we welcomed the Onnatti Theatre Company to St Peter’s to perform their Spanish play, Primera Cita (First Date). The 2 actors captivated the students with their funny antics and slapstick-style comedy, ensuring the Spanish was clear and accessible for all students – even for some invited Year 10 students who had never previously learned Spanish! We hope that students will be motivated to consider Spanish as one of their future GCSE options, as well as realising the importance of having a second language.

Association for Language Learning 6^th Form Lectures

On Wednesday 27^th November 6^th Form students studying A Levels in Modern Languages attended a lecture at Stroud High School. The lectures, delivered in conjunction with the Association for Language Learning and the University of the West of England, are designed to give students an idea of what studying languages at undergraduate level might be like. The French lecture, Le Bénévolat (Charity Work), the Spanish lecture, Monarquias y Dictaduras (Monarchy and Dictatorship) and the German lecture, Bayern (Bavaria) allowed students to hone their comprehension skills, whilst also giving them some ideas for their Independent Research Project for their A Level examination.

G15 Student group chair

Congratulations to Joanna Fajkowska who became the first St. Peter’s student to become the chair of the G15 student body. The G15 is a council of young people (aged 14 – 19) from the 15 secondary schools in Gloucester. They meet six times a year to focus on issues that are important to young people in the area including charity initiatives, visions and plans for Gloucester in the future and social as well as emotional issues.

Joanna had to deliver a 3 minute speech and was voted in by her peers. My informer tells me that Joanna won by a landslide and she will now chair the remaining 5 meetings. This is a great achievement for Joanna and it’s wonderful to see St. Peter’s represented so well amongst our neighbouring schools. Well done Joanna!

Democracy in action

A mock election took place last week with KS5 students representing the views of the key political parties. These were shared via poster campaigns and through presentations of key messages sent to tutor groups. This was a great opportunity for all students to learn more about democracy and to participate in the ballot. As is often the case, the school (and also overall G15 schools results) did not mirror the national results and are as follows:

St Peter’s votes:

1)     Labour Party (53% of votes) – 438 votes

2)     Conservative Party (15%) - 128

3)     Lib Dem Party (12%) - 100

4)     Green Party (11%) - 95

5)     Social Democrat Party (4%) - 33

6)     UKIP (3%) - 27

7)     Scottish National Party (1%) - 11

Total votes 832

Votes of G15 schools who participated:

	Brexit Party	Conservatives	Green Party	Labour	Lib Dems
Holmleigh Park	24	113	72	372	114
Ribston Hall	0	126	76	224	95
Severn Vale	9	148	67	322	87
Chosen Hill	67	95	162	196	52
Gloucester Academy	1	15	12	62	4
St Peter’s	0	128	95	438	100
TOTAL	117	662	509	1663	493

Thank you to Ms Tilley for organising the mock election.

School Council

Democracy in action is also seen in the way in which the school council works with representatives of each form attending year council meetings led by members of the KS5 leadership team. Two elected members from each year group then attend the school council. In the most recent meeting members of the school council from year 7 to year 13 worked hard with Mr Lax and our chaplain, Ms Baker, to refine and update our school mission statement. Brilliant contributions were made by students of every age group. Their ideas will now be taken to the staff at the ethos inset day on Monday 6^th January. (Students return to school on Tuesday 7^th January 2020).

Green Teams and Global Climate Strike
Friday 29^th November 2019 was a day of Global Climate Strike which saw many people and especially young students striking in order to get the attention of those in authority so that policies are changed to help us reach net zero emissions. Our Green Teams felt very strongly about these strikes and wanted to do something to show their support but without missing valuable lesson time. They produced campaign boards which were displayed on the fence outside St Peters so that anyone passing by can see that the students of the school supported the action and want to make a difference to the climate change movement.  The boards were made using cardboard from delivery boxes which had come into the school and will be kept safe until the next global strike day.

#globalclimatestrike #youthstrike4climate #gretathunberg

  

Clay club

The Art Department ran a lunchtime Clay Club to make some little owls to give as Christmas presents. Both staff and pupils attended and all said they really enjoyed creating their own unique creatures. Owls are now available to collect. Thank you to the art staff.

Sports News

Girls Football

Commiserations to the under 14 girls who were knocked out of the ESFA schools cup in the last 32. It was a fabulous achievement to get to this stage, the girls have had some excellent games in the process and scored an incredible number of goals (52 goals in five games!)

Boys Football

As the Christmas period arrives we have 5 teams progressing to the next stages of the national competitions, the highest we have ever had and an incredible achievement for the school. Congratulations to the Year 7 A and B teams, the Year 8B, Year 9 and year 10 teams who are all into the last 32 in the country.

We have played a total of 25 fixtures across the year groups and won 22 with nearly 150 boys representing the school along the way. We are looking forward to 2020! #greenarmylovesoccer

Cross country

Congratulations to the following students who represented the school in the Gloucestershire cross country meet. They ran in their respective year groups and some have now progressed to the next stage of the competition.

Country Cross country results:

Grace Clarke, Year 9 20^th

Esther Rumsey, Year 8 28^th

Poppy Jermyn, Year 7 18^th

Todd Fieldhouse, Year 7  27^th

Ralph Dodwell Year 7  2^nd

Reuben Lowe Year 11 29^th

Finlay Hawkins  Year 11 26^th

Congratulations also to Amy Ross, Year 10, who has been selected to play netball for the Severn Stars Under 16 academy and to Elicia Kennedy, Year 11, who has progressed to Gloucestershire academy centre for hockey. 

We hope that you and your families have a peaceful and happy Christmas and look forward to seeing students on Tuesday 7^th January 2020 (week 2).

October break 2019

Students and staff are looking forward to a well-deserved half term break.

Chaplaincy news

Year 7 and year 12 Retreats

The year 12 retreat programme began in the first week of term, allowing students to get to know one another in their form and year group. The days were well-received by the students who were very responsive. Year 7 retreats also went extremely well with both students and tutors finding the experience of a ‘day with a difference’ very rewarding. The focus was on their worth as ‘God’s masterpiece.’ 

Masses for the start of the academic year

We began our academic year officially with our start of year Masses celebrated by Monsignor Liam Slattery. Our theme was ‘Rock Solid,’ providing a link between our ethos and our ROCK values and award scheme (respect, optimism, community and kindness). Both Masses were uplifting with a lovely prayerful atmosphere and excellent student involvement including new altar servers and youth Eucharistic ministers. Our head students read the prayers of the faithful and Year 7 pupils - with their year 11 mentors - led the offertory procession.

Other events

Earlier in the month Year 11 celebrated their patron saint, St Therese of Lisieux, with a Liturgy.

Film night – a showing of ‘The Greatest Showman’ was successful and brought a variety of students from different year groups together with some parents.

The Green Team worked with chaplaincy to celebrate God’s Creation on St Francis of Assisi’s feast day. The activities included younger students contributing to a collage of creation, pledges to be better stewards of creation and some financial contributions to CAFOD world gifts. We are most appreciative to the staff who provided music during the break.

Wear it Pink: as usual we raised money for breast cancer charities during last Friday’s Wear it Pink day and raised £380 for this charity. (Our Wear it Pink day for prostate cancer takes place in February).

Cafod programmes for year 10 and 12 students

Fourteen students from both Year 10 and Year 12 have joined the Young Volunteers and Young Leaders Programme run by CAFOD.

Confirmation programme

Many of our students are keen to be prepared to make their Confirmation with us and arrangements will be made to facilitate this.

Lunch Time Groups

Rock Solid on Monday break two, facilitated by the YFC team.

GLOW on Thursday break two involves prayer activities

Don’t miss Guvna B

Double MOBO award winning urban music star Guvna B is performing a live gig in school on Friday 15^th November. Tickets are on sale now for only £3. This is an outstanding opportunity for our young people to be inspired by a positive role model. Guvnor B is also an ambassador for the Prince’s Trust.

Languages visit to Normandy

This morning staff and students set off on the languages visit to Normandy. They will visit the D-Day landing beaches & museum; visit war graves; see the Bayeux Tapestry (which some students have been learning about in history); use their language skills by participating in a French market shopping challenge; and taste both snails and frogs’ legs! Previous visits have been a huge success and contribute to the school’s aim to educate pupils culturally, morally, historically & linguistically. Thank you to the staff who are taking the visit.

History and Politics visit to New York and Washington DC

Early this morning students from Years 9 to 13  set off to visit New York and Washington DC on a History and Politics trip. They will spend the first three days of their visit in New York. Excursions include Ellis Island, Liberty Island, the Rockefeller Centre, the 9.11 museum and a walking tour in Harlem. In Washington DC the group will visit the Lincoln Memorial, the Holocaust Museum and the American History museum. The focus of the 6-night trip is the history of immigration, civil rights and the political system in the U.S.A and we look forward to hearing all about the visit on their return.

Japanese and Russian students visit St Peter’s

St. Peter's has been giving our students a chance to experience two very different cultures this half term through our buddying scheme with foreign students. Early in September, four of our year 11 students spent a week 'buddied' to a Japanese student of a similar age. The visitors followed the timetables of our buddy students for the whole week as well as spending break times trying to understand each other and teaching each other different things about their respective cultures. It was a great opportunity to learn about another part of the world and to see how young people are similar, no matter where they are from.

In October we welcomed fourteen KS3 Russian students to St. Peter's. Again, they were buddied up with our students, this time from KS3, and again they went to all of their lessons. Although this particular exchange was only for two days, once again it enabled our students to learn about other countries and how other young people are educated.

Both of these visits were very successful. Thank you to Mr Lax for arranging them. He was pleased and overwhelmed by the number of volunteers who wanted to be buddies. We hope to have more exchanges over the year and we look forward to giving more students the chance to be pair up with a visiting student. Every buddy has also gained credit towards their Community ROCK Award badge.

History department visit to the Gloucester History Festival

Over twenty year 11 students participated in the Gloucester History Festival, attending a talk by leading historian Sam Willis (BBC4’s The Silk Road and Britain’s Outlaws) who offered a fascinating new perspective on the Spanish Armada and the Elizabethan Age, a vital part of the students’ GCSE exam content this year. The talk was highly engaging and thought provoking, offering an opportunity for the students to engage with the topic in an interesting format. Several of the students were interviewed after the event and may be used for promotional material for the festival next year. Thank you to Mr Slaughter for organising this visit.

St. Peter’s student Ruby Macklin meets and interviews David Cameron

Whatever their feelings about the man and his decision to call a referendum, this was the headline event at this year’s Cheltenham Literature Festival and the memoir that had everyone talking.  

On Saturday 5^th October, students from the St. Peter’s, the University of Gloucestershire and other with local schools and colleges, had the opportunity to go backstage to meet and interview the former Prime Minister.

David Cameron spoke to the BBC’s Sophie Raworth about his memoir ‘For the Record’ on the first day of The Times and The Sunday Times Cheltenham Literature Festival. In one of just two interviews ahead of his appearance, students from the university’s Journalism BA course, and local schools and colleges were given the opportunity to hold the former Prime Minister to account with questions on the EU referendum, Brexit and climate change.

Students from St. Peter’s were invited to enter a competition for places by letter, including the question that they would like to pose to the former Prime Minister. Ruby Macklin’s winning question was “What led to your interest in dementia research and how will your support help to improve patient outcomes?” Mr Cameron was delighted to be asked a question on this topic as he is very passionate about this public health issue. He explained that he is very proud of helping to drive dementia research up the international agenda, having used the UK’s presidency of the G8 to shine a light on the devastating impact of the disease. He hopes that we can find a cure through further fundraising and investment and he is donating proceeds from his memoir to this cause. Ruby’s thoughtful question certainly provided some respite from the inevitable questions on Brexit! Ruby was thrilled to meet him and commented that he was funny and made the students feel welcome and comfortable.

Ahead of the interview, students from schools and colleges across the South West and the West Midlands were invited to a special ‘Journalism and Interview Skills’ workshop with journalism staff, graduates and students from the university. The session included how to ask the right questions, how to get the best out of an interviewee and what to look out for in those all-important answers.

All of the students, teachers and staff from the university then joined the festival audience at The Centaur to hear David Cameron’s perspective on his time in Downing Street, his personal life and, with just weeks to go till October 31st deadline, his decision to call a referendum on Britain’s membership of the European Union. Each student also received a copy of “For the Record” signed by David Cameron himself. It was a memorable afternoon.

Music Department news

A big thank you to all the students and staff (including almost forty Year 7 students!) who sang as part of the school choir at the first two Masses of the school year. They played a huge part in creating the prayerful and joyful atmosphere in both Masses.

On Wednesday 16 October, a Chamber Choir of twenty students from St Peter’s High School performed five movements from Howard Goodall’s ‘Eternal Light’ at Gloucester Cathedral with other singers from Denmark Road High School and Gloucester Choral Society alongside dancers from Ribston High School and the University of Gloucestershire. Year 13 student, Harry Matthews, sang a beautiful solo as part of the performance; this is available to listen to via our Music Department’s website page or via the music department's or school’s twitter feed.

We are delighted that Year 13 student, Romana Protsyshyn, has successfully auditioned for a Choral Scholarship at Keble College, Oxford.  We wish her luck for the upcoming academic interview. Head student, Romana, has been a stalwart of the Choir, Choral Society, Masses and musicals throughout her school career, including in her recent role as Wendy in Peter Pan.

Peter Pan
We have thoroughly enjoyed the whole school production of Peter Pan directed by Mrs Skyrme and produced by Mr Waring with Mrs Perfect as musical director. It is always lovely to see so many students involved, working together as a team and showcasing their talents. More on this production after half term. With photos!

Finally, a date for your diary: St Peter’s High School’s Carols by Candlelight at The Church of the Immaculate Conception in Stroud is on Friday 13^th December 2019.

Student Investor Challenge

Ninety-two students have registered and are taking part in the Student Investor Challenge. This is the ‘share game’, a national competition where students have to invest £200,000 of virtual money and play the stock market. This is the largest number of students we have ever had taking part and we look forward to them learning more about the stock market and making lots of virtual money!

Year 11 Amended Curriculum coffee morning for Macmillan

As part of the Key Stage 4 amended curriculum, students are working on the ASDAN Personal Development programme. For a recent task, students had the challenge of demonstrating that they could work as a team to organise a charity coffee morning. The group decided to host a coffee morning in aid of the Macmillan cancer charity.

As a group, they discussed whom to invite and produced some original invitations using their IT skills. They then planned which cakes everyone would make. Each student worked hard to bake a variety of cakes. Every student had a specific job on the day from setting up the room, welcoming guests, serving drinks and cakes and helping each other to clear away at the end. Students were able to demonstrate that they can use many of the key skills they have learnt relating to team work, use of maths, communication and problem solving.

There were lots of compliments from guests about the quality of the baking and the students were delighted that they raised just over £45 for Macmillan.

Christmas card competition

This year we are running a Christmas card competition. We hope to receive designs from students of all ages. Details are below.

Family Festive Fun Fandango

FOSPA (the Friends of St Peter’s Association) are asking for your support of the upcoming Family Festive Fun Fandango on Friday, 29^th November from 6-9pm. 

The event will offer families and friends of St Peter’s the opportunity to socialise through activities including a quiz and karaoke. They are also working in partnership with the school’s new catering provider, AIP, to offer some delicious food on the night. 

Tickets will be available from the school reception after half term and it would be great to see lots of friends and family there.

Coming up

Our Sixth Form Open Evening is on Wednesday 27th November from 5.30 pm when students and parents can find out about Key Stage 5 A-level and vocational courses, visit departments and talk to staff.

Guvna B

Double MOBO award winning urban music star, Guvna B, is performing a live gig in school on Friday 15^th November. Tickets are on sale now for only £3 (from reception or chaplaincy). This is an outstanding opportunity for our young people to be inspired by a positive role model. Guvnor B is also an ambassador for the Prince’s Trust.

We hope that students have an enjoyable and restful break and look forward to seeing them again on Monday 4th November which will be Week 1.