October half term

This term has been short but busy and our new students and staff have settled in well. 

We welcomed parents and carers back to school for information evenings for each year group. It was also lovely to see a huge number of prospective pupils and parents during open week and open evening. Our current students have been working hard in lessons and in a wide variety of extra curricular activities, some of which are reflected in this blogpost.

St. Peter’s celebrates the first term of 2022-23

Thursday 20^th October saw the first of our termly celebration assemblies where we reflected on and applauded a variety of endeavours and successes. Students spoke on a range of topics. Peace, a year 11 mentor, talked about the role of a year 7 mentor; Charlie in year 12 talked about what it’s like to be a buddy to an overseas student as part of our overseas students programme; Jennie in year 10 talked about her bronze ROCK tie and what she had done to achieve it; Josh in year 10 talked about his bronze DofE certificate and what he had done to achieve the bronze award. 

As well as hearing from student speakers we awarded ten year 10 students and one year 11 student with their bronze Duke of Edinburgh certificates and gave the attendance award to 7E. We also had two interviews, the first with Salim who is a first team football captain; he talked about some of our incredible cup success last year and how this season has begun. The second interview was with Jess and Ruby in year 10 who were in character to give us a glimpse of the brilliant Made in Dagenham school production taking place this week.

It was an excellent morning and we look forward to celebrating more success next term. Thank you to Mr Lax for coordinating this.

Ethos

Masses for the start of the academic year were celebrated by Father Liam Slattery on Friday 30th September. As always, the atmosphere was wonderful with students focused and respectful and lots of student participation including readers, altar servers, newly commissioned Eucharistic Ministers (pictured below) and, of course, our fantastic singers and musicians. Both Masses ended with the enthusiastic singing of Sing it in the Valleys which has become the school's anthem.

Year 7 and 12 retreats have taken place this term, giving these students a chance to discover more about our ethos, the school's values and, of course, to get to know each other at the start of a new phase of their education.

Sad news

Mr John O'Sullivan, a foundation governor at St Peter's since 1999, died on 20th September. Mrs Gittins, Ms Baker, Mr Newman, clerk to the governors, former governors and I represented the school community at his Requiem Mass on Friday 14th September at St Augustine's Catholic Church, Matson. We are extremely grateful to John for his unstinting commitment to the school.

Mrs Rosemary Steele who died last Friday 14th September at the age of 90 also served the school as a foundation governor for many years. She was equally dedicated to ensuring that our young people received the best education possible.

John and Rosemary remain in our prayers and we send our condolences to their families and friends.

 

Made in Dagenham

This week saw the return of the October whole school musical! Since July students have been rehearsing tirelessly to prepare for what has been a fantastic performance of ‘Made in Dagenham’. For most of our students, this has been their first foray on to the St. Peter’s stage and they have not disappointed!

Thanks to Mrs Skyrme, Mrs Perfect, Mrs Greenow, Mrs Smith, Mr Lyne, Mr Tempest, FOSPA (the Friends of St Peter's Association) and everyone else who has helped in any way.

 St. Peter’s welcomes European students

This term we have been able to resume our programme of overseas student visits to St. Peter’s. This programme began in 2018 but stopped soon after due to the pandemic. The programme involves students from overseas schools coming to St. Peter’s for a short period of time, usually 1 or 2 weeks. During the visit they 'buddy up' with a St. Peter’s student of a similar age and follow their timetable. The programme allows our students to meet young people from other parts of the world, make friends and, of course, they can keep in touch via social media.

So far this year we have hosted a group from Italy for four days and two schools from Spain for two weeks each. Over fifty St. Peter’s students have been buddies with dozens more having put in a request to become one. As always, our students have been welcoming hosts; if their buddies have limited English, they try and help explain what’s going on in their lessons. The whole programme has been superb for educating our students about other cultures whilst also showing that, no matter where they are from, young people are the same with similar ambitions, challenges and dreams!

Thanks to Mr Lax for organising these visits.

Double Gold ju-Jitsu Champion

Congratulations to Katelyn Lawrence who has achieved the remarkable feat of securing double gold in the European Ju-Jitsu championships!

Triathlon success

Year 11 student Eoin recently competed in his first triathlon in Falmouth. He had to complete all three elements: a 600m swim, a 20km bike ride and a 5km run.

Eoin finished the triathlon in 1 hour and 19 minutes. He was eighth out of the water and came nineteenth in his category which included the 15-39 year age group, a remarkable placing for a fifteen year old. Well done Eoin – this is a fantastic achievement!

Karate success

Congratulations to Tyrese Olaniyan on achieving a gold medal in his first karate competition at the regional karate competition held in Cannock in September. Tyrese, a beginner, said, ‘As a yellow belt this was my first competition. When I got there, we all bowed and then we were set into our categories. I went against my opponent and did my kata (a series of moves) I was delighted to win gold in this event!’ Well done Tyrese and good luck for the future!

Paired Reading

Every Friday during morning study period a group of sixth form students volunteer to read with younger students from year 7 and year 8 in the newly refurbished  Sixth Form Learning Centre. The younger students enjoy reading to the sixth form volunteers who encourage them and chat to them about the book. Some weeks they read together one to one while some students prefer reading the same book in small groups. The younger students are developing their confidence while the sixth formers enjoy their mentoring role with some bringing in their own books from home to read with the students. Keep up the good work everyone.

School shop

Year 13 students Phoebe Jones and Tessa Greaves have been appointed as school shop managers.

They are painting the newly purchased shed which will house the shop which will be open after half term. Students will be able to purchase stationery, tickets for school events (in conjunction with other departments) and, once a month, a tuck shop. The shop has been named ‘St Pick and Mix.’

Green Army alumni

We have created an alumni association to reconnect our community with those who have left. Our vision is that assemblies, careers events, masses and open evenings can be attended and supported by former students who can share their memories of St. Peter’s as well as the incredible things they have gone on to do with their lives. We know former students have a major role to play in inspiring the next generation and sharing positivity and optimism amongst the whole school community.

If you are a former student, please complete the Green Army registration form and feel free to share it as far and widely as possible. By completing the form, you are not committing to anything but you may be happy to support our students in future events such as careers days and sixth form open evenings.

We hope our students enjoy the half term break and look forward to seeing them again on Monday 31st October (week 2).