Happy Christmas

Another busy term draws to a close and I wish you a peaceful and happy Christmas and new year.

Chaplaincy news

Advent charity action

It has been a very busy time in the Chaplaincy this term.

As part of our Catholic Social Teaching we are called to reach out in support of those in need and our school Advent Charity Action has thrived this term.

Duke of Edinburgh award scheme charity volunteers

Year 9 and Year 10 Duke of Edinburgh award scheme students who are completing their volunteering section have helped to organize cake sales on ‘Treats Tuesdays’. All proceeds will go to CAFOD, our main school charity. Thank you to everyone for your generosity.

Rock Solid group

We have been supporting the great work of the Gloucester Food bank. Brooke and Chloe from the Rock Solid group have been helping to spread the word to form groups.  They also helped to deliver the school’s donations last week and had a tour of the Food bank. Thank you for all your donations.

CAFOD Young Leaders programme

Members of the Year 12 CAFOD Young Leaders Group are following a programme accredited by CAFOD. In December we hosted a CAFOD Young Leaders Day for St Bede’s Catholic College Bristol, St Gregory’s Catholic College Bath and our Young Leaders Group. The day was led by Kirstie Hutchinson, CAFOD’s national Young Leadership Coordinator. 

These students are currently working on action, prayer and raising awareness. For Action, they are fundraising by selling ‘Secret Santa’ Candy Cane so that we can purchase much needed World Gifts. We are hoping that mosquito nets, chicks and goats will be on our list of purchases to help communities around the world. For Prayer, the Year 12 CAFOD Young Leaders group have been leading end of day prayers over the tannoy using CAFOD Advent resources. For Awareness, Emma has spoken in school assemblies about CAFOD and World Gifts.

Advent service at St Peter’s Catholic primary school

Ms Baker visited St Peter’s Catholic Primary at the end of November to lead the school in an Advent Service. The theme was ‘Let our Light Shine Bright’.

Links with our Catholic feeder primaries are very important and it is always a delight to share and worship together with our friends at St Peter’s Primary. The pupils participated by leading us in prayer and their singing was beautiful.

The St Peter’s badge has gone global!

As a school community we support the work of the Help Madina charity in Sierra Leone, co-founded by local doctor Veronica Sawicki. Dr Veronica was able to take some of our school polo shirts out to Sierra Leone on her last visit. It was a pure joy to receive the wonderful photographs of the students wearing them. They are now part of the #greenarmy!

End of term Christmas liturgies

On the afternoon of Thursday 16th December we wrapped up warmly and enjoyed carols and readings in two special Christmas liturgies in the barn. 

There were a few surprises in store for me, including a presentation at the end and an unexpected final Sing it in the Valleys! Thank you to Ms Baker, Mrs Gittins, to our readers, gymnasts, altar servers and, of course, our singers and musicians led by Mrs Perfect for such a memorable occasion.

Music department news

On Wednesday 7th December our fantastic St Peter's Jazz Band played to 600 people at Cheltenham Town Hall. It was a wonderful experience for everyone involved and the audience support for the band was second-to-none. 

Carols by Candlelight

Those who attended Carols by Candlelight on Tuesday 13th December at the Church of the Immaculate Conception, Stroud, enjoyed a real treat. Students and former students and staff delighted us with a range of carols and readings. It was a real privilege to witness the immense talent of our students and, as always, it was the perfect preparation to the Christmas season.

Thank you to Mrs Smith, Mrs Greenow, Ms Baker and Mrs Perfect and to all the students involved.

A-level Politics trip to Parliament and the Supreme Court

On Wednesday 7^th December year 12 and 13 politics students attended an action-packed day in London. The visit began with a tour of the Supreme Court where we were able to sit in on a case involving a dispute over the sale of land, try out the seats in some of the courts (and admire the carpet designed by Peter Blake!)

Mr Lax then led us on a very informative walking tour of Westminster with key places highlighted such as Downing Street, the Treasury, the Department for Defence, the Cabinet Office, Horse Guards Parade and Buckingham Palace. We also heard about some interesting new monuments.

After a quick lunch break we then proceeded to parliament, were given a tour and able to sit in the public gallery to witness part of a debate. At the education centre students were given further information and met MP for Gloucester, Richard Graham, who they grilled with a series of challenging questions on topics such as house building, sustainability, funding for schools, the NHS and Brexit.

The day ended with a quick visit to Oxford Street to admire the Christmas lights and some speed shopping. 

Thank you to Mr Lax for organising the trip which was very beneficial for our A-level Politics students.

Science department news

On 28^th November 2022 Heather Hale and Ellie McCann from EDF energy came to St Peter's to educate our A-level physicists about the past, current and future state of Nuclear Power and its context within energy generation for the United Kingdom.

They are both currently working on the Hinkley Point C project and explained the needs and challenges of the project, the massive effect it will have on the power generation in our country, and how it will change the landscape in terms of green power generation.

They started with how energy in the UK has been produced in the past, how it is produced and how it will be produced in future. They then discussed the details of how nuclear generation works in fission and fusion processes.

They finished by discussing their careers and answering student questions.  Ellie is a recent graduate, so was able to answer questions about her time at university and what brought her into the nuclear industry.

University of Gloucestershire Business Challenge

It has been a busy term for year 13 Business and Economics students as they have been competing in the University of Gloucestershire's Business School Challenge in which students were tasked with creating a new sustainable business idea for Gloucester. Groups have been generating ideas in school and also attended lectures at the University to help them develop business plans.

Two groups were selected to represent St Peter’s at the final and were tasked with presenting a professional pitch to a panel of judges including Lance Bradley (CEO of Gloucester Rugby) and the managing director of Hazlewoods. The teams faced fierce competition from ten other schools and were scrutinised by the panel with some extremely tough questions which they handled with poise and ultimate professionalism.

There were five prizes available and the St Peter’s teams were able to secure two categories with Team Genesis (Alfie Callaghan, Louis Barrington, Alex White, and Phoebe Jones) winning the prize for the most entrepreneurial idea. The team planned to rejuvenate the old cinema in Gloucester and create a new entertainment venue. 

Team Crown (Goodness and Mercy Ogunleye and Suaad Babatunde) won a prize for the product most likely to get to market. This team developed a new hair care product that could help customers distribute oil to their hair.

The judges were so impressed with both teams they have suggested they begin to develop business plans and use the university ‘Growth hub’ to help them bring these ideas to a reality! The business department is continuing to develop its relationship with the University and hopes to work with them in the future on more exciting events.

 

Philosophy Club

The Philosophy Club spent their last meeting of term wrapping gifts for the Giving Tree and listening to ‘Sideways-My Last 5p’ on BBC Sounds. We had a quick introduction to Thomas Hobbs, however, everyone agreed with the rather more optimistic idea that humans have an innate tendency to help others!

This term, we have also discussed logic and arguments for the existence of a creator. As ever, our philosophers have handled big concepts with enthusiasm and great humour!

ASDAN group tea party

The Year 11 ASDAN group held a tea party as part of their assessed coursework. The students invited several guests and showcased their skills of working with others and working independently. I can confirm that the scones were delightfully light and delicious!

Sporting Success

Congratulations to EPP students Jess and Oscar who represented England at the international indoor pentathlon on 27^th November. 

Jess won gold with the over-16 girls’ team in the team competition.

Oscar achieved three personal bests and helped Team England win the gold in the team competitions.

Very well done both!

Max Jenner

Congratulations to Max who has been selected to join the England Men’s Under 15 Football Squad at St George’s Park, Burton upon Trent from 17^th to the 20^th December. 

Well done Max - what an achievement!

Kofi Shaw

Congratulations to Kofi Shaw who scored two goals for Bristol Rovers Under 18s on the 15th November in the FA Cup. 

Kofi's performance was noted by Sky Sports and the Daily Mail and, writing for ‘Bristol Live,’ Sam Frost said: “After a relatively quiet first half, the playmaker – aged just 16 – gradually grew into the game until exploding into life and sparking Rovers' comeback… Shaw flipped the game on its head with one moment of incredible quality.

With 18 minutes to play, Shaw lined up a free-kick 25 yards from goal and he produced a stunning, swerving, dipping strike that left goalkeeper Noah Phillips with no chance. It was a tremendous display of technique, executing a high-tariff knuckleball strike to perfection.

If Shaw's first goal was a display of technique, his second showed a nose for the goal. A few minutes after agonisingly watching a cross pass just out of the reach of his head inside the six-yard box, Shaw positioned himself perfectly again and this time he was able to convert, tucking away Charlie White's low cross in stoppage time to force the extra 30 minutes.”

Turing Sports Programme

Congratulations to Jack Carter, one of our Year 13 students who has overcome tremendous personal challenges to secure a highly sought after place on the African Impact Turing Scheme. In April 2023, Jack will be spending two weeks in Zambia where he will put his coaching skills to good use. He will be working with young children on all aspects of health and wellbeing, boys and girls’ rugby coaching, as well as sessions on the principles of coaching. Jack will also be learning about Zambian culture, including by taking Nyanja lessons, and will represent our school and ethos on a different continent. Jack truly exemplifies our ROCK values; we congratulate him on securing this amazing opportunity and wish him all the best for a wonderful trip.

School Shop – ‘St Pick n’ Mix’

The school shop has now moved to its new premises at the top of the site. It was officially opened by Mrs. Layhe on Thursday 15th December and will be open every Tuesday at lunchtime from the start of the new term in 2023.

The shop stocks stationery and revision cards and once a month will hold a tuck shop. Phoebe and Tessa have been appointed as managers and have been busy painting the shop in preparation for its official opening. 

We look forward to welcoming more customers in the new year! 

 

Staffing: leavers

Mr George Harris, Mr Peter Woolley and Mr Luke Woolway are leaving at the end of term. We wish them all the very best for the future.

January 2023

Tuesday 3rd January is a staff inset day. 

Term starts for all students on Wednesday 4th January (week 1).

Goodbye

After 35 years and one term, I am retiring and leaving St Peter's. I joined the school in September 1987 after teaching at Saintbridge School, Denmark Road High School and Colwell School. It has been a home from home for me with my husband being Head of Economics and Business Studies for many years and both my children, Harriet and Greg, attending St Peter's from year 7 to year 13. 

I have been privileged to work with a hugely talented and committed team of support and teaching staff (several of whom are no longer with us) and have thoroughly enjoyed teaching and interacting with so many remarkable young people over the years. At St Peter's I have experienced something akin to Dickens' "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of light, it was the season of darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair" but it is definitely the best of times which I will remember fondly.

Following our January 2022 Ofsted grading of Good in all areas, I am delighted to be leaving the school in a strong position from which it can improve further and look forward to hearing of future successes amongst students and staff. 

Thank you to parents, carers, staff, students, former staff, students and parents and to the wider #greenarmy community for all your support and, especially, over the last six years.

I hope you enjoy a peaceful Christmas and a happy new year.