Art & Design

Old Peterites

Charity Bike Ride Congratulations to Old Peterite Toby Simpson (class of 2014) who successfully completed a cycling challenge this summer to raise thousands for cancer and mental health charities.

Toby’s cycling challenge involved cycling to all of the National Parks in the UK in just 40 days. He began his journey on 1 June, returning to York on 9 July for his sister Hope’s final day at St Peter’s. The final leg of his journey saw Toby cycle back over the Yorkshire Moors, ready for his grandparents’ Diamond Wedding Anniversary on 10 July. Toby’s challenge was inspired by two charities – The Walk and Talk Trust and The Eve Appeal. In a rash moment, Tony also pledged to grow a moustache until the end of the ride if he hit the £1,000 mark so his moustache continued to grow as he cycled! Toby aimed to raise £1 for every kilometre he cycled, and he eventually raised an astonishing £11,386 pounds after cycling 4,400km around the United Kingdom. Cycled 4,400km around the

United Kingdom

Toby left St Peter’s in 2014 and after studying Materials Engineering at Imperial College, now works for Bain and Co, one of the top management consultancy firms in London. Toby took advantage of the ability to take several weeks off work to complete the cycling challenge, having caught the cycling bug after buying a bike with his first pay cheque!

Commemorative Kneelers Old Peterite, Richard Harding (Class of 1966) made his 75th Commemoration even more special by presenting two kneelers to Rev Daniel Jones, for the Chapel at St Peter’s. The kneelers feature the Cross Keys and were designed to commemorate Richard’s 75th consecutive year of attendance at St Peter’s School’s annual Commemoration.

It is wonderful that Richard chose to make such a special gift to the School to mark this special occasion.

Richard is a former Governor, was President of the Old Peterite Club from 2012-2014 and Secretary of the OP Club from 1980 – 1991. Richard is also a regular donor to the 627 Society, which supports bursaries at St Peter’s School. Son of Robert Harding (former Member of staff and Houseparent of The Grove), Richard attended his first Commemoration in his pram, aged 6 months! Richard was confirmed in the Chapel in March 1961 by the Archbishop of York, Dr Michael Ramsey and his two eldest daughters were christened in the Chapel.

Richard produced and updated the chronology of St Peter’s in 1982, which is an amazing resource for all and contains a huge variety of facts and useful information about the School and the Old Peterite Club.

We are delighted that Richard was able to attend his 75th Commemoration in the Chapel and look forward to celebrating his 76th year, which we hope will be back in York Minster next year. A special thanks to Richard for his ongoing support of St Peter’s and for these commemorative kneelers, which will be cherished by the School.

Old Peterites Online

Our series of ‘Old Peterites Online’ events were developed in lockdown as a way to continue our Old Peterite event programme, helping to keep the Old Peterite community in touch with the School and with each other.

The series was a great way to celebrate our Old Peterite community and ranged from webinars broadcast from School, such as our series of ‘In Conversation with’ events, to small groups of Old Peterites meeting online to participate in events such as gintasting and Negotiation Workshops, which were generously hosted and delivered by Old Peterites too.

The move to include online events in our programme has meant that Old Peterites from across the UK and overseas have been able to participate and this is something we look forward to continuing. Thank you to everyone who joined us and joined in!

Old Peterite Christmas Drinks 2020 - A tasting evening with York Gin Not being able to meet in person didn’t deter a number of Old Peterites from meeting for Christmas Drinks on 18 December 2020. Meeting on Zoom and hosted by Old Peterite Harry Cooke (2001) with tasting boxes at the ready, Harry gave a great insight into how York Gin began, the development and production of their variety of gins and how the company is creatively dealing with the challenges of lockdown.

Those who came along had pre-ordered the gin tasting boxes, which contained 5 of the best-selling York Gins in miniature, accompanied by mixers and garnishes for a full tasting experience. Harry talked us though the process for the production of the gins and explained how York Gin distill and develop their flavours differently to some other gins on the market. It was a fascinating insight into the industry and this very popular spirit. Harry kept us all entertained throughout, sharing lots of facts and interesting points including some of the awards they’ve won and how some of the big gin producers in the USA have now tasted and heard of York Gin!

After (almost) 5 gins, and a great opportunity to ask questions throughout, OP President Harry Gration gave a huge thanks to Harry for making this happen. It was a great opportunity to bring members of the Old Peterite community together for a very enjoyable and entertaining evening.

Class of 2020 Quiz Old Peterites from the Class of 2020 joined us in December for a chance to team up and compete against each other in our Class of 2020 Christmas Quiz. Staff members from different departments set some great questions to really test the OPs and all took a turn in hosting a round. It was a great chance for the OPs to catch up with teachers and each other. Well done to ‘Team Christmas Puddings’ who took the win with 44 out of 50 points. We look forward to seeing you all in person soon to welcome you all properly to the OP Club! Old Peterites Have Negotiated with The Negotiation Club! Perhaps one of the most important life skills we will ever use at business or in our personal lives is negotiation; and yet we very rarely, if ever, take an opportunity to understand or even practise it.

With many people working and schooling from home, there has been a growing number of Old Peterites and current school pupils who have been putting this right. They joined Philip Brown (The Rise 1990) CEO, Founder of The Negotiation Club in practising their skills online through Zoom in a series of Negotiation Workshops.

The super engaging, fun and highly effective format that Phil has created has been growing in popularity with businesses, universities and schools and is making the development of this skill far more accessible than at any other time. “Having virtually no experience in negotiation I found the presentation and the techniques that you demonstrated most interesting, informative and fun and I would expect that those in the last year of school - particularly those with a business interest - would find participation in the webinar interesting, stimulating and rewarding.” Kenneth Wilson (Oldest OP to take part at 90 years!)

“Phil is fantastic at simultaneously pushing you out of your comfort zone yet encouraging you to learn and improve after each negotiation. The session wasn’t what I expected, it was really interactive but I thoroughly enjoyed it and learned a huge amount which I use in other areas of life now too.” Sara Foster (1999)

In Conversation with…

Harry Gration We were delighted to welcome Old Peterite President Harry Gration to St Peter’s on Tuesday 8 December for our first ‘In Conversation’ event, with Head Master Jeremy Walker. ‘In Conversation with Harry Gration’ was hosted in the Head Master’s study and broadcast live via Zoom. The audience tuned in to hear Harry reminisce about his school days, discuss his career, recent retirement from the BBC and his hopes for the Old Peterite Club. The audience included Old Peterites, parents, teachers from St Peter’s School past and present, and even some of Harry’s old classmates.

Dr Harry Gration MBE DL (Queen’s 1969) was installed as the Old Peterite President earlier this year. Harry was educated at St Peter’s School and his twin boys are both educated here. Harry has fond memories of school, including his time in the CCF, and he has always been a great supporter of St Peter’s and the Old Peterite Club since he left school in 1969. Harry went on to pursue an illustrious career as a BBC presenter which lasted 40 years. In 2013, Harry was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire in the Queen’s Birthday Honours for services to broadcasting and in 2019 he was appointed Deputy Lord Lieutenant for North Yorkshire. Harry made his final appearance on BBC Look North on 21 October 2020 (the day before his 70th birthday).

Head Master Jeremy Walker said: “I thoroughly enjoyed interviewing Harry and it was wonderful to be able to share the conversation with our Old Peterite community through the medium of Zoom.” ‘Here Come The Girls’ We celebrated International Women’s Day on Monday 8 March with a special online event, in conversation with the first five girls to be educated at St Peter’s School. The event was broadcast live on Zoom, and was hosted by Head Master Jeremy Walker and Old Peterite Victoria Inness, who left St Peter’s School in 1990 and was the first female Head of School.

Jeremy and Victoria were joined virtually by Sue Miller (née Elston), Louise Denison (née Stansfield), Louise Morales (née Adams), Nicky Goodwin (née Jesper) and Zoe Jones (née Jackson), the first five girls who joined St Peter’s for the Sixth Form in 1976. They spoke about their first day at St Peter’s, the warm welcome they received from other pupils, society’s changing expectations, their subsequent careers, and their happy memories of St Peter’s School.

The women also answered questions from the audience, including why they wanted to come to St Peter’s School, what surprised them the most, how they think they will be remembered, what advice they would give their 17-year-old selves, and what message would they give pupils on International Women’s Day. Jeremy Walker, Head Master of St Peter’s School, commented on how the five women had blazed a trail for girls joining St Peter’s. He said: “It can’t have been easy, but it is quite astonishing to look back and consider that you were the ones who opened the doors for all those generations of girls and women who followed you... You were the pioneers but now there is a great sense of legacy and history of girls being at the school.”

Today, St Peter’s School is fully co-educational and provides an outstanding day and boarding education for girls and boys aged 2-18. From just 5 girls in 1976, St Peter’s now educates over 500 girls.

Both ‘In Conversation with’ events were recorded and are available on the St Peter’s School YouTube channel.

School Office, St Peter’s School, York, YO30 6AB Tel 01904 527300 Email enquiries@stpetersyork.org.uk