Behind The Scenes

Batty About Bats Jonathan in Year 2 featured in an edition of The Young Batworker Magazine, after he impressed the Bat Conservation Trust with his bat habitat design.

Year 2 learnt about the natural world in the spring term, including hibernation. The children were asked to research an animal of their choice which hibernates. After producing an information sheet, they then made a habitat box based on the same animal in their art lesson.

Jonathan chose to focus on the vampire bat, one of his favourite animals. He created a detailed fact sheet and designed a cave habitat, complete with hibernating origami bats. After seeing the photos of Jonathan’s bat habitat on Twitter, the Bat Conservation Trust contacted St Peter’s School and asked if they could feature Jonathan’s design in the next edition of The Young Batworker Magazine. Jonathan has always loved bats and one of his favourite superheroes is Batman!

National Book Week Children at St Peter’s 2-8 enjoyed a very exciting week for National Book Week! Throughout the week the children watched members of staff and monitors reading stories, including the Head Master, Mr Walker. There were also quizzes and prizes, including ‘Who is hiding behind the book?’ Children at St Peter’s 2-8 took on an ‘extreme reading’ challenge and took pictures of themselves reading in some unusual locations. Prizes went to Tilly in her canoe, Sasha who read at great heights, Annaliese for reading in a tree and Alice who read quietly in her bedroom... on top of her wardrobe!

For World Book Day the children dressed up as their favourite character from a book. This year the theme was ‘Reuse, Recycle and Create’, using items found at home. Prizes were awarded for the most creative costumes in assembly with an exciting Zoom fashion show. The winners for the most imaginative costumes went to Albert, Aurora, Joseph and Miles. Grab Your Backpack! The theme for the summer term at St Peter’s 2-8 was Grab Your Backpack and Let’s Go Travelling! Our pupils enjoyed learning about different cultures and faraway lands.

Reception hosted backpack adventure sessions and used their own travel experiences to direct their learning. Each week, four children from each class shared with their classmates the places they have travelled to around the world. The teachers used their adventures to create an interactive map accessible through a QR code, featuring the children’s photos from their adventures.

Year 1 focused on Asia and the core text Elephants of the Tsunami. The children learnt all about the mistreatment of elephants in Asia and even made a Zoom call to Phuket Elephant Sanctuary to find out more about these amazing creatures. The pupils learnt about different Asian countries along the way, exploring concepts including faith, spirituality and belief, happiness and dreams, adversity, democracy and strength. They have been chefs, explorers, artists, inventors, builders and much more. They concluded with a Grand Exhibition for parents, to showcase their learning throughout the term and to sell homemade products in aid of the elephants at the sanctuary.

Year 2 learnt about Madagascar and its indigenous plants and animals, including lemurs and vanilla. Pupils explored the world map and oceans including looking at climates, continents and the Equator. In class, the children discovered the importance of conservation, debated animals in captivity, and baked vanilla biscuits to raise money for the charity Vanilla for Change, which is committed to giving a fair price to vanilla farmers in Madagascar. The pupils had a very extensive reading list including Madagascar, Into the Jungle, One Plastic Bag and The Big Book of Just So Stories.

Year 3’s learning theme was ‘On the Road to Africa’, inspired by their class text The Boy Who Biked The World by Alastair Humphreys. The pupils explored continents and countries around the world and learnt about different cultures and religions, from Christianity to Islam. On their journey they baked French baguettes and explored the work of wonderful artists including Paul Cezanne and Friedensreich Hundertwasser. The children also researched famous explorers of the past and present and looked at STEM designs of famous landmarks, such as the Blue Mosque in Istanbul and the Egyptian Pyramids. A highlight of the journey was definitely Africa, which inspired the children to create their own Masai Shields in Kenya and Tinga Tinga art in Tanzania.

Learning 8-13

Resilience is at the heart of our approach to learning at St Peter’s 8-13, inspired by our Learning Habits and Growth Mindset. The children are encouraged to see mistakes as a crucial part of the learning journey, and adapt to change with an open mind and a willingness to learn. This approach has enabled our pupils to overcome the many challenges they have faced this year, creating a seamless transition between learning at home and in the classroom.

Satellite Libraries Satellite libraries were introduced at St Peter’s 8-13 this year to make sure that our pupils could still benefit from the fantastic range of books available in the Library.

Although classes were unable to visit the Library for much of the year, they still had access to a great selection of books thanks to Mrs Locket’s new ‘satellite’ libraries. Mrs Locket created a small ‘satellite’ library for each class bubble. Each bubble had a trolley with around 200 - 300 books, and Mrs Locket carefully chose the books to ensure that they were age specific and covered a range of subjects. We are delighted that our pupils have still been able to benefit from the joys of reading during these challenging times.

Vikings! In the autumn term, J1 pupils enjoyed spending the day as Vikings in a replica Viking settlement based at Murton Park. The unique educational environment formed part of the history curriculum on their study of Invaders and Settlers. During the course of the day, they were farmers, hoeing the field and craftsmen making clay oil lamps. Children were even able to dress up in period-appropriate costumes and carry out a range of activities including collecting firewood and grinding wheat to make bread. Guard training was given to help the new settlers protect the village from marauding Saxons. Our pupils certainly took a ‘Viking’ to the day!

Back at school, J1 celebrated with a special Viking Day, acquiring new skills including weaving, making flatbreads and creating Viking inspired jewellery. Spelling Bee Success Three pupils from St Peter’s 8-13 reached the national final of the Modern Languages National Spelling Bee this year.

Isabelle, Sophie and Will secured their places in the final after competing in the Yorkshire and The Humber regional finals. Isabelle achieved first place in the German competition, Sophie achieved first place in the French competition and Will came third in the Spanish competition.

This amazing achievement is testament to many hours of dedicated learning and practice. Latin and Classics Miss Downes awarded merits to several J4 Latin pupils to celebrate their ingenuity and innovation. The pupils translated a short scene of the play ‘In Basilica’ in class and were given two weeks to create their own visual interpretation of the play. The pupils edited and recorded their videos at home via Zoom or Teams, with innovative results.

Sam and Charles made a video in full toga costume with the background edited to show them in a lawcourt, whilst Elliotte, Heidi and Lexi produced a video with costumes and an appearance from Heidi’s dog, which they managed to record ‘speaking’ using an app to edit the video. Congratulations also go to Arthur (J3) who entered a national competition with Athena’s Owls to write a new account of a famous Greek myth from the point of view of one of the mythical monsters. Arthur won the 8-13 age category!