Clubs & Societies

There are over 80 different co-curricular clubs and activities at St Peter’s School. Children at St Peter’s 2-8 can choose from up to 30 activities, with the choice and variety of activities increasing as they move through the school.

Our extensive co-curricular programme has continued to thrive this year, despite the challenges posed by year group bubbles and another national lockdown. Debating, Duke of Edinburgh, CCF, Eco Club, Keystone, Community Action and Radio 627 all continued online, alongside a variety of other co-curricular activities in sports, music, drama and the arts.

CCF The Combined Cadet Force battled against the odds in the autumn term to ensure that their newest recruits could celebrate their passing out parade. After returning to school in September they trained weekly, with activities including drill and weapon handling. Following a successful training schedule, the newest five recruits received their berets on Tuesday 13 October with a special passing out parade at school. Promotions to Lance Corporal were awarded to Ella and Lucas, with Lucas being named ‘Best Recruit’. The parade would have traditionally been held in the summer after their final exercise, but the recruits were unable to finish their training earlier in the year due to lockdown restrictions. The recruits joined a team of 22 cadets at St Peter’s in the Fifth and Sixth Form, and were joined by Fourth Form pupils who began their basic training after October half term.

The CCF also continued to meet weekly over Zoom during lockdown in the spring term. In addition to short lessons on military topics, cadets were encouraged to take part in the weekly Contingent Challenge, in the form of a military themed puzzle to solve. Thankfully, the CCF were still able to enjoy their annual camp from 15-16 July. Fourteen cadets took part in the CCF Annual Camp, which was reduced to two nights this year with a day training at Driffield Training Area followed by an overnight camp in the school grounds. The cadets demonstrated excellent teamwork during all of the challenges presented to them and enjoyed the opportunity to put their recently acquired skills to practice. Lance Corporal Ella said: “I love CCF because it is completely different to other cocurricular activities. Through CCF I have developed important teamwork skills and made new friends. I really missed drill over the summer, so it has been great to get back to training this term.”

Debating The Debating Society returned to socially distanced, face to face debating in September, with pupils tackling topical, controversial and sometimes satirical topics to develop their research, debating and public speaking skills. Three pupils from St Peter’s School also reached the Grand Final of the ESU Churchill Public Speaking Competition 2021. Third Form (Year 9) pupils Victoria, Eliyah and Evie became Regional Champions following the regional round of the ESU Churchill Public Speaking Competition on Friday 19 March.

The regional round, which was hosted online via Zoom, featured six teams including two teams from St Peter’s School, and teams from schools across the North East. Evie was named Best Speaker of the round with a speech entitled ‘Is Social Media Still Guilty of Limiting Our Political Viewpoint?’

Meanwhile, Eliyah and Victoria were Questioner and Chair respectively for the speech entitled ‘Man is born free, and is everywhere in chains’ (Jean-Jacques Rousseau). The prestigious ESU Churchill Public Speaking Competition, sponsored by the International Churchill Society, is the largest such contest in England and Wales, with around 400 teams. Each team comprises a speaker, questioner and a chairperson. The different roles allow pupils to practise and excel in different skill sets, and the competition’s unique format, which pairs the speaker from one school with the chair and questioner of another, encourages quick thinking and relationship building.

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pupils have completed practice and qualifying Duke of Edinburgh expeditions this year

Duke of Edinburgh Working towards the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award can be a life-changing experience. Pupils discover new interests and talents, have fun with friends and develop essential skills for life and work. 132 pupils have completed practice and qualifying Duke of Edinburgh expeditions this year, despite restrictions on school trips. There are five sections to complete the Gold level, including the Volunteering section which encourages pupils to give time to help people, the community or society, or the environment. Pupils are encouraged to look to their local area to complete the volunteering section of their award.

All pupils must set up their own volunteering initiatives, giving at least one hour of their own time each week over twelve months. Many of our pupils have had to adapt and find new volunteering opportunities due to Covid-19 restrictions, whilst others have been inspired by volunteering activities which have arisen as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Hannah from the Upper Sixth volunteers at the York Covid-19 vaccination centre at Askham Bar, whilst Upper Sixth pupils Holly and Maddie volunteer in the Royal Voluntary Service Café at Foss Park Hospital. Other pupils who have identified innovative ways to volunteer include Megan, who tutors a girl from the Ukraine on Zoom; Emily, who helps a young individual develop her skills and confidence when playing the piano; Charlotte, who goes litter picking in her local village; and Melissa, who has been volunteering with Kent Mapping Online to put local businesses in Kent ‘on the map’.

Keystone Despite lockdown restrictions, budding journalists in the Sixth Form successfully published the latest edition of Keystone, our pupil-led school magazine. Keystone is a periodical written and edited by Sixth Formers interested in the creative arts and contemporary culture at St Peter’s School. All liaison with the publishers, design, editing and distribution are the responsibility of the pupil team, led by a designated chief editor. This year, the production of the magazine was delayed as a result of the coronavirus pandemic, but the pupils continued to collaborate remotely using cloud-based software to produce a professional quality magazine. Keystone - The Covid-19 Edition, with its iconic front cover, explores topical issues from Black Lives Matter to mental health, and is a snapshot of life as a young person in the years 2020-21.

In recognition of their hard work, the magazine went on to win the ‘Rising Stars 2021 Award’ at the Shine School Awards in August, the most prestigious school media awards in the UK! Sirius Society This year we launched a new society for pupils interested in furthering their involvement in academic pursuits beyond the classroom. The Sirius Society, named after our Headmaster of 1094, is a pupil-led society for pupils who want to generate ideas for talks, trips, discussion groups and clubs that will further their understanding of subjects and inform vocational choices.

Sirius means ‘bright, shining star’ in Latin and the Sirius Society provides a platform for our pupils to shine. The Society is chaired by a Lower Sixth pupil and supported by Ambassadors who have a particular passion for certain subjects or vocational areas such as Law, Medicine, Engineering or Marketing.

Ambassadors are encouraged to organise events and discussions alongside teaching staff specialists for the benefit of all pupils at St Peter’s 13-18. On Tuesday 24 November, pupils enjoyed the inaugural Sirius Society event. Pupils joined a Motorsport Engineering Q&A with Old Peterite Jonny MacGregor (Queen’s 2002) for their first Academic Extension Talk via Zoom.