Another packed term draws to a close.
Ofsted
Inspection: Good in all areas
We are delighted that the Ofsted report on the January 2022 inspection
graded St Peter’s R.C. High School as Good in all categories, including: The
Quality of Education, Leadership and Management, Personal development,
Behaviour and attitudes, and Sixth-form provision.
During the two day visit, a team of inspectors observed
lessons and free time, spoke to staff, and gained the views of parents and of
students of all ages. Pupils told inspectors that they enjoy school and feel
well-supported by staff. Sixth form students said they were ‘proud to
attend the school and value the education they receive’. Inspectors noted that the young people can
engage in the ‘many extra-curricular opportunities’ offered in the school and
that ‘pupils develop a breadth of knowledge and skills in many subjects.’ Students also spoke about actively
participating in year councils and in the student council which, the inspectors
noted, ‘has a strong voice that is listened to by school leaders’.
Leaders were found to have ‘established strong systems for
managing students’ behaviour’ and the team stated that in lessons there was ‘a
calm, harmonious learning environment’.
Inspectors noticed ‘students are punctual to lessons and attend school
well’.
I have the pleasure of working with a hugely talented team of
teaching and support staff and it is an honour to work with our students who
every day demonstrate the values we aim to instil in them and which we know
will stand them in good stead in the future. They demonstrated this throughout
the inspection and I am delighted that the work of staff, students and
governors has been recognised by Ofsted.
The governing body work extremely hard to support and
challenge school staff and their work was also recognised. They were found to
be ‘knowledgeable about the school, to monitor safeguarding arrangement well’
and are ‘mindful of the well-being of staff’.
We were especially pleased that ‘overwhelmingly, staff stated
that they are proud to work at the school.’
Thank you to our staff and students!
Chaplaincy
News
Liturgies
It has been a very busy time in the Chaplaincy this term with four Liturgies to celebrate the lives of our year group patron saints: Year 7 (St Angela Merici), Year 8 (St John Bosco), Year 12 (St Josephine Bakhita), and Year 13 (St Oscar Romero). Our year saints inspire and remind us of the importance of Catholic social justice teaching. Each one worked tirelessly for the education of the young, the grace of mercy and the need to be actively engaged in the mission of the church against human trafficking and to support the rights of the poor.
Ash
Wednesday We celebrated the first day of Lent with an Ash Wednesday whole
school Liturgy via Teams. There were opportunities to receive ashes throughout
the school day.
Ukraine Appeal
St Peter’s R.C. High School partnered with The Good Shepherd Ukrainian Catholic Church in Gloucester launched an appeal in school for donations in aid of the people of Ukraine. People feel the need to reach out in support and love as we see the heart breaking scenes in our news reports.
Within a few days we were inundated with
donations from our parents and students of tinned and dried food, batteries,
nappies, toiletries, money donations and much more. Our chapel was filled to
the brim thanks to the generosity and kindness of the community. A team of
students worked hard for two days sorting and boxing the donations. The
students helped to fill our large minibus to the brim and they and our
Chaplain, Ms Baker, delivered them to the church on the school’s behalf.
We have paused donations for now but you
are still able to send a donation via CAFOD at https://cafod.org.uk/Give/Donate-to-Emergencies/Ukraine-Humanitarian-Appeal
Consecration
of Ukraine and Russia
We have been
praying throughout this term for peace in the Ukraine. We united with Pope
Francis and the world-wide Church in prayer for peace and the consecration of
Ukraine and Russia to the motherly care of Our Lady. The school communit
Charity
Outreach:
Our Chaplain, Ms Baker, is working with the Year 9 Duke of Edinburgh Award scheme students who are volunteering for charity work. The group helped to organize staff pancake races on Shrove Tuesday which were enjoyed by all and raised some money for CAFOD.
Jenny, one of our Year 9 students, has spent the last few Mondays selling homemade cake cakes for the Ukraine Red Cross Appeal. Every Sunday she has been very busy baking over 200 cup cakes to sell in school. The grand total of her amazing bake off marathon is £550. Well done Jenny and thank you for all of your hard work – you really are a star baker!
Key Stage 3 students have also been raising money for CAFOD our main school
charity by participating in the Walk Against Hunger campaign for Lent.
St Peter’s History Makers!
Mr McDermott writes:
Under 16 Girls Football
Year 10 and 11 girls were drawn away against Rossall School in Fleetwood. YES FLEETWOOD. We took on the mammoth 4 and half hour journey, departing school at 7.15am.
We arrived at Rossall school on the Lancashire coast to be greeted by a fantastic breeze and very tough conditions.
The team we faced included 3 England and Manchester City academy players and a host of international students that follow a full-time football programme.
The first 20 minutes were scrappy and both teams struggled to get to grips with conditions. Playing with the wind behind us we were having to battle hard to keep possession and playing forward the wind was taking everything through to the keeper directly. Following a deflected shot, we had a passage of play from a corner that resulted in a scrappy goal that was calmly slotted home by Martha Riglar. Immediately after this we won possession high up the pitch and another resulting corner was picked up on the edge of box and fired into the top corner by Isobel Kinsella. In the space of a couple of minutes we found ourselves 2-0 up and we were pushing for more. Half time came luckily for Rossall as were on the front foot.
The second half began and we knew we had a tough job to defend our lead against some cracking players and the almighty breeze coming down the middle of the pitch. We defended heroically during the first 20 minutes of the second half with Abbie Carter in the St Peter's goal having the game of her life and Martha Riglar having to take more goal kicks than she ever has. In the 24th minute Rossall got the breakthrough as they scored with a thunderous header from a corner. At this point it was one way traffic and what happened next changed the game for St Peter's. We had a spell of 5 minutes where we managed to keep the ball higher up the pitch and Kinsella managed to pick the pocket of the Rossall centre half and scored our third goal.
3-1 up with 15 minutes to play and we continued to defend and clear the ball. A couple of dubious offside decisions and some serious added time were not enough for Rossall - they scored again late on but it didn’t affect the final result as the girls WON 3-2 and progressed to the national finals! (Date and venue to be confirmed.)
It was an incredible performance and the result made the return journey very manageable indeed!
Under 14s Football
The Year 9 boys travelled to The Aldenham Foundation in Watford, a large
independent school in London which runs a football programme for professional clubs in
north London.
We found ourselves 2-0 down in the first 15 minutes and the occasion appeared to be getting the better of us. On the stroke of half time a 40 yard free kick from Woody Burgess found the roof of the net and the half time team talk changed. We started the second half on the front foot and pushed hard for an equaliser, we had to wait until deep in the second half for it to come. It came from the penalty spot as Sopruchucko Obieri scored and we took this directly into extra time.
During extra time we pushed for the winner and early in the second period a fantastic bit of play from Max Jenner resulted in the winning goal. The boys celebrated and enjoyed the journey home with a 3-2 win.
National final here we come! (Date and venue to be
confirmed.)
Under 16s Football
The Year 11 boys travelled to
Reading’s training ground to play The Forest School. This school runs an
education programme for Reading town FC so we were very lucky to be playing at
a category 1 facility.
We started the game on the front foot and a fantastic strike from Taine Anderson saw us going 1-0 up; we were working very hard at this point and well deserved our lead. On the stroke of half time Adam Steele saved a penalty and we went 1-0 up.
Following the half time break we came out flying and Jose Marquez scored to top off a fantastic move. This was a turning point in the game and our opponents suddenly stepped up their game; they began playing like a side that had ten category 1 academy players in it. To put this in context, our side boasts one category 2 player and three category 3 academy players. We have done incredibly well to get to this point.
Gradually the home side got on top all over the pitch and we were at times chasing shadows. They managed to score twice quickly and before we knew it the game was back level. They scored a third soon after and we were now chasing the game. The boys did exceptionally well and have had a superb run in the national cup. They can hold their heads up high and have made some great memories along the way.
Department news
English: Blood Brothers Trip
In March, Year 11 students enjoyed a trip to the Malvern
Theatre to watch their GCSE literature text, Blood Brothers. The play explores
the complications of British class, and sees twin brothers separated at birth,
experiencing very different walks of life. St Peter’s students were exemplary
in their conduct and were engrossed in the play. A member of the public even took the time to
ask their teachers about the students and complimented their outstanding
behaviour.
Whilst this was an English Department trip, English teachers, Mrs Sewell, Ms O'Neill, Miss Vien and Mrs Cawley were joined by their colleagues Miss Sarson and Mr Lax. Huge thanks to all of them for giving their time to ensure our students could experience the theatre after 2 years of the pandemic.
Maths
Intermediate
Maths Challenge
The recent UKMT Intermediate Maths Challenge saw a large group of outstanding mathematicians emerge following Covid lockdowns preventing these cohorts from participating. Only years 9, 10 and 11 are eligible to try the tricky non-calculator problem-solving questions of the intermediate challenge.
Axel Philip (year 11) and Isaac Powrie (year
9) were brilliant, achieving such high scores that they were invited to enter
the next round of the challenge: the pink and grey kangaroos respectively. Axel was
awarded a gold certificate and Isaac a silver certificate, which is amazing
because the year 9s have not been taught all the maths in the challenge. Well done Axel and Isaac!
Overall
St Peters students were awarded 7 silver certificates, 21 bronze certificates
and Axel’s gold certificate in a great display of analytical skills and
calculating ability; we are immensely proud of the achievements of all
participating students. The certificates
were awarded recently in a celebration of success (with free pastries!) by Mrs
Layhe, Mrs Sewell and Mrs Lee where students were congratulated for doing
so well.
Silver certificates were awarded to the following
Year 11
Kyle Brown, Buffy Ciereszko, Zac Magri, Liam Murphy, Hubert Sokolowski
Year 10
Charley
Keveren
Yr 9
Isaac
Powrie
Bronze certificates were awarded to the following
Year11
Esther Baker-Walsh, Joshua Barsellotti, Raquel Chioma Ezenyinwa, Kiera Easey, Ryan Kirk, Ed Lopez, Ciara Mahon, Callum Meldrum, Daniel Murfin, David Onakoya, Matthew Pellissery, Olivia Rea, Adam Steel, Carlos Stevenson, Austin Umege, Lexie Whitlock
Year 10
Dabira Idowu, Filip Gaul, Bayley Smythe
Year 9
Nadia Jaworska, James Cooper
Bath Masterclasses
During February and March, three of our excellent year 8 mathematicians were invited to attend six Royal Institution of Mathematics Masterclass sessions at The University of Bath. This was a fantastic opportunity for the pupils which offered in-depth investigations into the world of maths, allowing them to combine theory with interactive exploration.
Caleb, Vanessa and Sebastian attended the sessions which were led by experts from industry, academia and education; the pupils asked insightful questions and thoroughly enjoyed the opportunity. Sebastian explained, “it was really different as we did challenging real life maths which was helpful for my learning”. Vanessa continued “we wouldn’t learn that type of maths in school so it felt different and special”.
Thanks to Mr Crowther, Mrs Harrisson and Miss Sarson for attending and acting as tutors to support.
Maths Feast
On 29th March, eight of our best year 10 Mathematicians represented us at the local Maths Feast competition, held at Pate’s School. This event is a fun challenge, which tests Maths problem solving and team work. The students work in teams of four. There are several ‘courses’ to the feast, requiring different skills and strategies.
Our teams showed great
enthusiasm, excellent team work and had a great morning. Thanks to Mrs Langdon for organising, Mr
Crowther for running preparation sessions and to Mr McAteer and Sean Bryden who
accompanied them to the event.
Music Department News
Our first major event this term was the Senior Concert on 17th February in which all Year 11 and Year 13 GCSE and A-level Music students, alongside some Year 10 & Year 12 students, had the opportunity to perform their solo performances to an enthusiastic audience. These were recorded for submission as coursework. Every student performed wonderfully, some for the first time, and they should be extremely proud of themselves.
Junior Voices Project
On 23 March, Year 11 Music students Matias Beales and Hubert Sokolowski provided fantastic bass & drum accompaniment for the Junior Voices Project in Gloucester Cathedral. This involved performing alongside students from St Peter’s RC Primary School and Field Court Primary Academy.
G15 Celebration of Success
A day later, we were back in Gloucester Cathedral for the G15 Celebration of Success Evening. This is a wonderful annual event where representatives from the fifteen Gloucester schools showcase one musical performance from each establishment, culminating in a Finale with all schools performing together. This year, brothers Sebastian & Xavier Rowe performed If I Fell by The Beatles.
Twelve additional St Peter’s students contributed to the Finale, composed by the G15 Youth Voice which includes our own Joshua Barsellotti.
Our final performance this term was the Lent Concert on Wednesday 6 April in St Peter’s RC Church, Gloucester. We were very excited to perform St John Passion by Bob Chilcott. The School Choir was augmented by parents and friends of the school. We were also delighted to be joined by several former students, two of whom were soloists on the night: Willow Burden and Harry Matthews.
To find out even more about what our musicians get up to, please subscribe to our YouTube channel https://www.youtube.com/MusicStPeters and like our videos. You can also follow us on twitter @musicstpeters and Instagram music_stpeters
Politics
On Friday 18th March the Politics department welcomed Lord Balfe (remotely but live) to our classroom to talk to our politics students. The event was part of the Learn with the Lords outreach programme and it proved to be a fascinating and engaging 45 minutes. Lord Balfe spoke for 10 minutes about his role within the Lords as well as the role of the Lords within our political system. After his opening lecture we had a Q&A session where students took turns to come up to the camera and ask Lord Balfe questions. These ranged from straightforward questions about his daily tasks to topical issues such as Covid, Brexit and the Ukraine conflict. Mr Lax's personal favourite was Callum asking who Lord Balfe felt was the most effective Prime Minister from the past 20 years only for the answer to be a PM from longer ago – ever the politician!
The whole event was a superb addition to our classroom learning and provided some wonderfully forthright answers from Lord Balfe who was not afraid to be critical of government action when necessary (he has been a member of both the Labour and the Conservative parties over his long career). Afterwards the students fed back on the experience and it’s clear this was a great programme and one we will re-visit every year.
Thank you to Mr Lax.
We hope that you and your families have a safe and peaceful Easter holiday and look forward to seeing our students in school on Monday 25th April (week 2 books and equipment).
