Key Moments – Independent School of the Year

St Peter’s 8-13

Rocking Robins Pupils at St Peter’s 8-13 made clay robin decorations to take home for Christmas. The pupils created their robins in their Art & Design classes and each decoration features a robin sitting on a log and wearing a Christmas hat. The robins were crafted from clay, before being fired, painted and glazed. The process started several weeks before the end of term, to ensure that the robins would be ready in time for the children to take them home at Christmas.

Lockdown Learning Art and Design lessons continued throughout lockdown at St Peter’s 8-13. J2 created colourful paper animals in their Design and Technology lessons using card, paper and other materials found at home. The designs ranged from bees and butterflies to frogs and birds.

J3 developed their watercolour painting skills in Art by painting adorable baby Emperor penguins at home. Miss Leaver was very impressed by their compositions.

Meanwhile, J4 learnt about one- and two-point perspective in their Design and Technology lessons. Miss Leaver asked them to think about horizon lines, light sources, oblique angles and the basic principles of isometric drawing.

Finally, J5 created some stunning artwork using watercolour paints, from brightly coloured parrots to delicate wildflowers. They also practised their pencil drawing skills, using pencil sharpeners as their subject matter. Photo Competition We organised a Lockdown Life Photo Competition for children and parents at St Peter’s 8-13 during the lockdown in the spring term. Participants were asked to enter up to 3 images that conveyed aspects of what ‘Lockdown Life’ looked like for them. The year group winners were chosen by our special guest judge, Michael Blyth, a professional photographer based in Wiltshire. Well done to our winners, Alistair, James, Nicola, Heidi, Lizzy and Thomas and thank you to everyone who took part.

St Peter’s 13-18

Makerspace The Design and Technology Department launched MAKERSPACE this year, an exciting new Co-Curricular club. Makerspace gives pupils the opportunity to pick up a new skill, work with exciting materials and components and meet with like-minded, creative and inquisitive people. We’ve strived to make the club accessible to all (even staff) so that there really is something for everyone.

Sessions take place on Tuesdays and Thursdays after school and the most popular session this year was mask-making, with pupils and staff choosing unique and innovative designs to create their own face masks. They have also made bird boxes, embossed leather bookmarks and laser cut Christmas decorations, to name but a few. Primo Art Exhibition On Monday 8 March we launched ‘Primo!’, an exhibition of Third Form art in the Whitestone Gallery which ran until 3 May. Visitors were able to enjoy a spectacular exhibition of artwork created by the Third Form, showcasing a wide variety of techniques and skills, from painting, drawing, printmaking, photographs, mixed media and ceramics. Stations of the Cross We collaborated with York Minster to create a special Stations of the Cross exhibition for Holy Week. The exhibition was on display in Dean’s Park in the weeks leading up to Easter, featuring artwork created by pupils at St Peter’s School.

The pupils who created the Stations were thrilled to see their artwork on public display after a twelve month delay due to Covid-19. Scarlett Ellis, one of the pupils, said: “I am very proud to have been chosen to display my ceramic artwork at the Minster, representing St Peter’s School.”

The exhibition featured nine Stations of the Cross, starting with the moment when Jesus was condemned to death and concluding with Jesus rising from the tomb. Each Station was accompanied by an interpretation panel, including a passage from the Bible, aids to reflection and a prayer. Design and Technology Awards Our Fourth Form Design and Technology pupils were eager to get back into the workshop in March after lockdown. The pupils each made a USB-powered desk lamp, shaping their moulds to vacuum form; casting their Jesmonite bases; laminating their plywood veneer stands; 3D printing their shades and soldering their circuits up in the final assembly! Four pupils received Design and Technology Awards in recognition of their hard work. Best Portfolio went to Maggie, Edison won the Design Risk Taker Award, Sophia won the GRIT Award, and Meriel received the Best Executed Product Award. Kibo Cranes Penny Phillips, local artist and Ceramics Teacher at St Peter’s School, York, collaborated with York Minster on an inspiring community art project this summer. Families, children and schools across York were invited to participate in the Kibo Cranes project, which saw hundreds of paper cranes displayed in the central crossing of York Minster as part of a summer exhibition. The Kibo Cranes exhibition was inspired by the Japanese tradition of creating paper cranes as a sign of hope or ‘kibō’, and children were encouraged to make origami cranes to express their feelings about the last year. Pupils and staff at St Peter’s School alone made over 500 cranes for the exhibition, many of which were designed by our boarders. Imagine 20 and 21 Each year, we host an end-of-year exhibition of pupil artwork called ‘Imagine’ in the Whitestone Gallery, but last year’s full exhibition was sadly delayed due to lockdown and we were only able to host a small exhibition of Upper Sixth artwork. This year we were delighted to host Imagine 21 in the Whitestone Gallery, featuring artwork from pupils across the school with a particular emphasis on Upper Sixth and Fifth Form art. We also hosted Imagine 20 in the Dining Hall to celebrate our talented pupils who were unable to display their work in 2020. Both exhibitions featured artwork created using a variety of materials and highlighted the remarkable artistic talent of our pupils.