Salvete

Chairman of The Friends of St Peter's Report 2009/10

The Friends of St Peter's (FOSP) by constitution serves and supports the school in its various functions and social events and, whilst not principally a fund raising Committee, any profits made are used for the benefit of the School.

As Chairman of FOSP for 2009/10 my year began by attending the "Welcome Tea for Boarding Parents" which takes place on the Sunday afternoon at the beginning of the Autumn term. It is very important for parents (who may be leaving their children with the School for the first time), to feel reassured and FOSP Committee members are able to give the support and reassurance on this occasion.

There followed the "New Parents Reception". On this occasion I joined Richard Smyth, the Headmaster, on the stage in the Memorial Hall to say a few words about FOSP and the School. The Hall was full and Richard Smyth's words of welcome greeted with enthusiasm.

The Committee continued Dance Lessons with Mark Edwards during the Autumn term and the Saturday morning Coffee Shop in the Stephenson Room. The latter varied in attendance and by the middle of the Spring term we decided to give the Coffee Shop a .rest with perhaps a chance to bring it back again in the Autumn of 2010. We did have some very pleasant mornings however and Louise Denison's excellent baking added a few extra calories which none of us regretted!

The Committee were also invited to Richard and Nicole Smyth's home for Supper during the Autumn term. This was a very enjoyable event if a little tinged with sadness in view of their early departure from the School. Their hospitality was much appreciated.

Whilst the Committee and Mark Edwards and friends danced on (with frequent attempts from Richard Smyth to emulate Mark Edward's skill on the floor!) Richard sadly left the School at the end of the Christmas term, the Committee arranging a farewell dinner with Richard and Nicole as their guests at the Pavilion Hotel in York.

The Spring term found the Committee planning a Salsa Evening, which proved to be a happy and successful evening enjoyed by all who attended and raised the sum of £423.15 for the Sanatorium. The Committee felt Sister Bevan required our support in making the Sanatorium as comfortable as possible for the children and overall we made contributions of £600 to the Sanatorium which we know has been used wisely for the benefit of the pupils when they are unwell and, in addition to that gift, we also bought a wall secured television for the use of the children whilst recovering in the San.

We have donated £150 to McMillan Nurses Appeal, £160 to a South African Hospital that had been visited by our exchange pupil Edwina Denison as this topped up her own fundraising efforts. We paid £178 to assist the leavers of 2009 with their leavers' activities and donated £200 to the Drama Department towards their Drama trip and perform in the York Cycle of Mystery Plays summer 2010.

A direct donation is received from parents annually of approximately £560 and this has again been used to pay the deposit for the Racecourse Venue for the Commemoration Ball for our leavers.

We have during the year found spare funds to add to our collection of drinks cooler/wine buckets/vases which will be available for our events, the Caterers and the Foundation and have commenced a hire service for same. We have also recently discovered that we have a tent/small marquee which again can be hired out and used for events for other School departments or inter School departments with St Olave's and Clifton Prep. We hope these will prove beneficial for the future.

We have supported various of the School's Music and Drama productions, culminating in the Cabaret Evening at the end of the Summer term.

The Cabaret Evening is always so much fun, but this year was a particularly poignant occasion as it saw us saying farewell to Andrew Wright, who had been with the School for 24 years and who retired at the end of the Summer term. The Cabaret Evening was much enjoyed by all who attended and we also raised more funds for the Music Department through the running of our raffle and bar.

As Chair of the Committee during this year I would like to thank each and every member of the Committee who put in so much work and support. This year saw Clare Taylor former Chairman of the Committee and current Treasurer together with Lesley Collingridge and Louise Denison, our Secretary, all retiring. They will be enormously missed.

We welcome three new members, Rebecca Cust, Anne Nelson and Sian Fraser whom I am sure will provide energy and ideas for the future.

I would also thank the continuing Committee, the incoming Chairman Dawna Coss, Vice Chairman Diana Widdecombe, Secretary Sara Mason and Committee Members Katie Fairbank (whose nimbleness in attaching decorations in high places was remarkable at the Cabaret Evening!) and Liz Freeman. Staff representative Wendy Shepherd has been little short of a miracle in her abilities to cope with this last year, teach and deal with many other issues - we respect her enormously for that.

I look forward to the coming year when I know we will have a very strong and committed group to take the Friends of St Peter's Committee forward and we look forward to working with the new Head Master Mr Leo Winkley, shortly to be in place.

Introducing The New Head Master

Mr Leo Winkley

Editor's note: The following article is a brief introduction to our new Head Master. We will allow him to some time to 'get his feet under the table' before we pester him for a full interview which will appear in the next issue of this magazine.

Mr Leo Winkley, 39, was previously Managing Head of Bedales School in Hampshire (2004-2010), and has held senior posts at The Cheltenham Ladies' College (1999-2004) where he ran a large RS department and Ardingly College (1994-1999), where he was Head of RS, an assistant house master, and ran the boys' tennis and girls' hockey. He studied Theology at Oxford University and has a Master's Degree in Education from the Open University. Before entering the teaching profession he lived and worked in France, teaching English and restoring a chateau in the Loire valley.

'I am thrilled to be taking on the leadership of St Peter's, a forward-looking school with a long and illustrious history", said Mr Winkley. "My family and I are very excited to be living in Yorkshire and I look forward to getting to know the pupils, parents and staff, as well as the local community."

Leo is married to Jules, a Medical Oncologist, and they have three young children. Tabitha (6), Ivo (4) and Dora (21 months). Tabitha and Ivo both start at Clifton Pre-Prep in September. Together they enjoy country walks and historic buildings and the family have enthusiastically begun exploring Yorkshire. Leo is a keen half-marathon runner and is looking forward to taking on the challenge of the Great North Run, having completed its southern and, he admits, "softer" version in 2009. He enjoys being with his family, good books, sport, especially cricket, football and rugby (from the safety of the armchair). He has a passion for wildlife and exotic animals, most notably anteaters.

Will Allan

Mr. Allan joined us this year as a new member of the G e o g r a p h y Department. However, Mr Allan did not always want to be a teacher and when he was younger, having been influenced by the film 'Top Gun', he considered becoming a fighter pilot. In addition to Mr Allan's academic interests he loves to play tennis, the piano and walking in beautiful places "with the geography all around me" showing that his love of geography really does extend outside the classroom. However, when questioned on the things Mr Allan doesn't like, he replied that he has a hate for certain noises including "the rubbing of a balloon".

Mr Allan grew up near Oxford and took a gap year in which he travelled around Australia and New Zealand before attending Cambridge University. Following university Mr Allan worked for a Christian charity called Titus Trust before joining us here at St Peter's.

When asked which three words Mr Allan would use to describe himself he initially chose "just amazing" (only two). However, after some consideration he changed his answer to "laid-back, positive and Christian".

Mr Allan claims that the best thing about St Peter's is the level of opportunity that pupils have here. He claimed that the most difficult aspect of his job was preparing lessons and making sure that he got them right.

When asked about his aspirations for the future Mr Allan replied that he wanted to acquire a Yorkshire accent!

We wish Mr Allan a long and happy career here at St Peter's.

Edwina Denison LVI & Bradley Smith V

Libby Ullstein

Miss Ullstein, was educated at Queen Anne's, Caversham and having taught at Ackworth School in Pontefract, came to St Peter's this September as the new Head of Geography.