Salvete

Alistair Cameron

"Please Sir, can we play 'Hot Seat' today?"

This is very often the request I receive from my classes, particularly towards the end of term. 'Hot Seat' is a game in which pupils try to describe a mathematical word to a team member without actually saying it, and before a picture of a bomb explodes. The pupils love it, and it is just one of the popular classroom resources that Ali introduced to the department. Of course underlying all the fun is the fact that the descriptions pupils use can be of great help to their understanding of mathematical terms (although a favourite description of Force is 'May it be with you!' and as you can imagine, is rarely the circumference of a circle divided by its diameter!)

Something else that Ali introduced, this time to the 6th form, is 'the cake mistake'. If a fundamental or critical error is made by a student, they are expected to provide a cake in the following lesson for all to share. This has gone down tremendously well with both staff and pupils, and has been adopted by other members of the department, including myself. (I appear to have gained a little weight though, whilst Ali has remained slim... testament, I'm sure, to his very good teaching!)

Ali is highly professional. He has built up excellent relationships with all of the pupils that he teaches and they have the utmost respect for him. He has also been fully involved in the wider school community where his commitment has been greatly appreciated. He has supervised Duke of Edinburgh Expeditions and Mountaineering Club trips, he started a Mountain Biking Club, he has regularly run Hockey training sessions and he has gone on a number of school trips including an expedition to India. In every one of these activities he has proved to be talented and highly professional; the students have certainly gained much from Ali's guidance. Ali is very competitive and I often hear of his success in some demanding weekend run or marathon. Even on the school trip to India he enjoyed being first up any of the hills! Ali's wife Sarah has also been involved with school life, joining Ali on trips with pupils to see Leeds Rhinos as well as accompanying him to India with St. Peter's pupils.

Ali has been described as the 'Maths Department iFawkes Champion', and I have certainly very much appreciated all of the work that he has put into this area. The maths home pages that he has created are attractive and fun. There's Shrek, maths quotes, radio and video clips, as well as various maths jokes (yes, they do exist!). that Paul used when describing Ali: 'From the moment he arrived in Manor, he was the consummate professional. He had a quiet but firm approach and the kids always responded brilliantly. Or maybe they were trying to impress Sarah who usually accompanied Ali! I'm sure you'll miss him.'

Ali moves to Abbotsholme School in Staffordshire. He will be very much missed at St. Peter's and will, I am sure, prove to be a superb appointment. The saying 'our loss is their gain' could not be more fitting.

D.Spencer

Tom Marriott

Tom joined St Peter's straight from Cambridge University. He was interviewed for, and accepted, the position of teacher of history even before he had taken his final examinations. Inevitably we had to 'knock off some of his rougher undergraduate edges (not wearing a jacket, missing Chapel etc.) and in Paddy Stephen the school had the H ideal man for the job! Tom was taken under his considerable wing and developed into a prolific coffee drinking, sport's kit wearing, marathon running...!

Like Paddy, Tom committed himself wholeheartedly to everything he did. He was an outstanding teacher of history with a passionate belief in his pupils. He had both an enviable breadth of knowledge (less enviable tastes in DVDs!) and a genuine love of intellectual argument; he often argued against his natural position for the sake of a good debate. Moreover, he achieved some of the best results within the department. For instance, one of his GCSE sets achieved 20A*s and one A in their exams; his other group that year had the best value added results of the department.

The school worked Tom hard and he threw himself fully (though not always uncomplainingly!!!) into all that he was asked to do. He was a very successful resident assistant housemaster in Linton and was a non-resident assistant in Manor before that. He participated fully in the school's extra-curricular programme taking the heavy burden of being master in charge of rugby teams, rowing squads and girls' cricket teams. Despite these heavy commitments he still managed to enthuse his charges and oversaw a great deal of success with them.

Tom Marriott will be impossible to replace. St Peter's loss is undoubtedly Cranleigh's gain.

R.J.P.Trevett

Mr.Graham Denteith

Graham was only at St Peter's as Deputy Bursar for two years but he will be remembered with fondness and respect by everyone he worked with. He and his family decided to move back to Cheshire and that was just a little too far to commute. Graham put great importance on listening to colleagues and really cared about finding a solution that was fair to all. This often lead to long days but he gave the time willingly to achieve the best outcome. He is a loyal Manchester City supporter and often braved the M62 through the winter to see his team; in the bursary we became accustomed to checking the results so we knew what to expect the following day. Graham would often conclude a meeting by sharing one of his jokes which occasionally would need explaining.

His good humour and kindness will be greatly missed and we wish Graham and his family the very best for the future and if he every strays over to the right side of the Pennines he will always be welcome to call in for a cup of tea and a Jaffa cake.

P Lacy

Helen Morgan

Helen joined St. Peter's full time in 2002 and immediately became fully involved in school life, coaching badminton and rounders and was a committed tutor in Temple house.

In 2004 Thomas was born and Helen has been part time since then. She has been an excellent teacher of physics and a strong member of the department. She has a lot of energy and enthusiasm and has outstanding classroom management skills, creating an environment where her students both learn and enjoy the subject and always know what is expected from them.

In recent years she has taken a leading role in organising many Science Society events and has been the School's Industry/University Liaison Coordinator for science. In the Physics Olympics she has led a game each year and has formed a dynamic partnership with Barry Gill that will be impossible to replace.

She has taught physics in St. Olave's, providing a very productive link between the two schools.

On a personal level Helen has always been 100% supportive of me and has been proactive in organising departmental social events, which has definitely brought us all closer together as a team.

She has a determined streak in her nature, has recently taken up cycling and earlier this year did the 100k Acorn bike ride, personally raising £800 for the Alzheimer's Society.

She will be a big loss to St.Peter's; we wish her, Rob and Thomas well in their new life in Cambrdge, and hope that she will keep in touch with us and will come back to visit. If she doesn't get a job straight away she could even come back for our Physics Olympics next year.

D. Morris

Lee Taylor

Lee Taylor arrived at the school in 2008 having completed his PGCE at Worcester and taught at Warwick School. He was closely involved with school rugby, despite a dubious background in the wrong discipline. Lee was a tutor in School House, conveniently positioned close to his department and the coffee machine. He was a fan of film and could often be found discussing this and his other academic interests in the common room. He has left the school to work for HM Government and we wish him the best of luck for the future.

C.Hempsall

Adrian Upton

Adrian joined St Peter's School in September 2008 as Finance Officer. He did not take long to fit into Bursary life and soon became a very popular member of the Bursary team and with the teaching staff. His tea making skills were legendary and the kettle in the Bursary kitchen was rarely off the boil!

He is a keen cyclist and often travelled the 20 miles to and from Malton by bike and would appear at the office kitted out in all the appropriate gear. In September 2010 he and his partner Alison had their first child - a little boy named William.

In April 2011 Adrian decided to move on from St Peter's and took up the post of Bursar at Terrington School and we wish him success and happiness in his new appointment.

Ben Fuller

Mr Fuller, an ex-student of St. John's College, Durham joined St Peter's in September and made an immediate impact upon his sixth form Politics sets and also on his third form historians. He describes himself as quite geeky as he has always enjoyed History and Politics and liked being in the sixth form so much that after taking part in an HMC teaching taster week he decided to study for his PGCE immediately after gaining his degree. The first thing that struck Mr Fuller about St Peter's was that it is a friendly, relaxed and purposeful school that 'isn't uptight so gets things done'. He and has enjoyed getting to know his colleagues and the pupils. Mr Fuller has already started to make his mark though as he has set up the first St Peter's Model United Nations and has continued to manage the Politics Exchange to Washington. Mr Fuller is looking forward to the return leg of this exchange and other school trips as his time at St. Peter's progresses. Despite having had a 'busy and positive' time here so far Mr Fuller has found time to return to Reading each weekend. He hopes to have found a permanent home in York before the start of the next academic year. Mr Fuller has many interests including driving and last summer he enjoyed exploring the North Yorkshire Moors in his MG. Already impressed by Mr Fuller's dynamism, he's even completed the Coast to Coast Walk, we are sure that he will have a great time at St Peter's and wish him well for his time here.

Ellie Binks UVI

Katherine Barker

Miss Barker joined us this year as a teacher in the Classics and Latin Department. Having studied Classics at Oxford and trained as a teacher at Cambridge, Miss Barker then taught at Magdalen College School in Oxford. Miss Barker chose teaching because of her love for Classics. Following in her family footsteps Miss Barker opted to teach straight after university in preference to studying for a PhD. Her move to York and here to St Peter's School was inspired by a desire to try somewhere new.

However teaching was not always her dream and at a younger age, Miss Barker hoped to be a vet before realising that sciences were not her strong point!

When asked about her proudest achievement, Miss Barker said that it had to be playing in a band after Chesney Hawkes and getting a bigger crowd! Besides music (singing and the trombone in particular), Miss Barker really enjoys cooking and sport including running and cycling. Her favourite films include 'Ghostbusters', 'Truly Madly Deeply' and, a Classics teachers' favourite,'Gladiator'. However Miss Barker says that she has a strong dislike for poor grammar and spelling and pupils turning up to lesson without a pen! And when asked what three things she would put in Room 101 she responded with mushrooms, house spiders and some of the questions asked in this interview!

Miss Barker would describe herself as happy, laid back and energetic and ends the interview with a Latin phrase: 'mens sana in corpore sano' meaning 'healthy mind in a healthy body'. We wish Miss Barker every success for her time here at St. Peter's and hope that it is a long and happy one!

Edwina Denison UVI

Gareth Callan

Having taught Chemistry at Abingdon School in Oxfordshire, Mr Callan joined the Chemistry Department last year, partly because he wanted to "teach girls as well as boys". A more personal reason was that as a student, he played against St Peter's at cricket and rugby and always lost so held the school in "high regard".

In addition to teaching Mr Callan has also worked for Mars and Pepsi Cola.

When not teaching, Mr Callan enjoys running, spending time with his children, going to church and coaching at York Rugby Club. He also enjoys watching movies and his favourites include 'The Shawshank Redemption', 'Gladiator' and 'Casino Royale'. Music is also on Mr Callan's list of interests and he enjoys a full range of styles from Mozart to AC/DC.

When asked to sum up his first impressions of St Peter's in three words Mr Callan chose "breadth" (in terms of its education), "friendly", and "content" (as in happy, satisfied).

On the subject of his intentions for the future after settling in, Mr Callan stated that he hopes one day to become Head of Chemistry or Science.

On behalf of the school I wish him the best of fortune for his future and hope he will enjoy his time at St Peter's.

Jeremy Connor

Mr. Connor joined us as a member of the Latin and Classics Department at the beginning of the year. He hails from Brighton and studied Latin at Manchester University. Mr Connor has always been interested in Latin and Classics and was first encouraged to study Latin by a 'cool young teacher' (Just like him). However, Mr Connor was inspired to teach by his sister who was a teacher and seemed to him to come back home each day happy and fulfilled. Mr Connor's previous job also involved working with children, which he greatly enjoyed.

His favourite classical person he decided, after much deliberation, is King Leonidas, who lead the Spartan 300 against the Persians.

Mr. Connor stated that he was drawn to St Peter's as it felt like his old school. He also likes the ethos and variety of activities that are available to the pupils. The friendliness of the staff struck him first about the school (which he apparently wasn't expecting). So far, at St Peter's, his best experience was seeing the U14 B's rugby team achieve their first win.

Outside of school life, Mr. Connor enjoys cricket and cooking. This links with his personal greatest success - cooking a 5 course Christmas dinner for 23 people! Mr. Connor has had a few weird and wonderful experiences, but decided that the oddest was having his legs waxed for charity. Not something I think he will be repeating for fun. His main aims in life are to be happy and successful and we wish him all the best in his time at St Peter's.

Emily Freeman LVI / Justin Wong UVI

Richard Chester

Mr Chester joined the Modern Languages Department whilst our own Mrs Lunardi was away on maternity leave. Having taught for a good number of years at King Edward VII School the major reason why he decided to come to St Peter's was because he knew some of the teachers

here who had worked previously at King Edward's.

When not busy marking, his interests include reading - with his favourite book being Madame Bovary - playing and watching any sport. He likes well-behaved children, and has a fine awareness for good value for money. Mr. Chester lists amongst his dislikes the Scots and Australians (when it comes to sport), and his fear of bungee jumping was tested out when he refused to participate in said activity during a school trip to Hackett Bridge in New Zealand, despite the fact that many older teachers were up for it! His most memorable moment included achieving his 50m breaststroke certificate when he was younger.

To sum up the school in three words, he chose "impressive", "sporty", and "academic", stating that they are "the words that people usually say." If he had the chance, he would retire and possibly live in France, developing his French and Spanish further. His advice to me was "Be good, but if you can't be good, then be careful." I hope that he had an enjoyable time during his stay at St Peter's, and I wish him well in whatever he does next.

Justin Wong UVI

Tina Kelley

Having completed her undergraduate degree at Leeds Metropolitan and her postgraduate at St John's, York, Ms Kelley is no stranger to York and she already felt at home when she joined us as a member of the Design and Technology Department. She is responsible for teaching Textiles, a new addition to the Design Curriculum. Already we have seen textile products, including some pretty cool hats, appearing in the display cases in the Monkey Cage.

Previously Ms Kelley has taught at Altrincham School in Cheshire, an independent girls' school and she also worked for several years in the IT Training industry including time working in Singapore as an IT Project Manager. Outside of teaching Ms. Kelley enjoys travelling, skiing, fine dining, theatre and stand-up comedy (though hopefully not all at the same time).

We wish Ms. Kelley well during her time at St Peter's School

Justin Wong (UVI) and Bradley Smith (LVI)

Jo Lawrence

It would appear that Mrs Lawrence just can't get enough of St Peter's as she joins us (yet again) as a member of the English Department. However, she did not always want to be a teacher; she originally hated the idea of it, but after a small taster in teaching, she gradually fell in love with it. Mrs Lawrence now claims her job to be the best in world; she loves the creativity and learning something new every day.

As far as hobbies go, Mrs Lawrence discloses that they are 'typical of a teacher'; these include cycling, reading and gardening. She lists her pet hates as the 'comma splice', text language, see through insects and also, surprisingly Star Trek! On the other hand, she likes Haribo 'a lot', with great emphasis on 'a lot', and also is a secret fan of My Big Fat Gypsy Wedding and Gok Wan.

Being a literary enthusiast we asked her for her favourite books which include The Shipping News', 'To Kill a Mockingbird' and 'King Lear'. When asked which three books would best sum her up as a person, she chose Stephen Fry's 'The Ode less Travels', 'Gothic Nightmares' and Stanley Wells 'Shakespeare for all time' definitely a Shakespeare fan. Also, Mrs Lawrence appears to be quite 'with it' as a keen follower of Elbow and Florence and the Machine as well as Debussy and Squeeze.

Finally, during her time at Peter's she aims to go on a 'great crusade' of enlightening the school about the budding arts within the school. She hopes to expand the drama department and get more people enthused about literature.

We wish her all the best for her time here (again).

LipmunnTang UVI

Toby Moschard

Mr. Moschard, a former student at Durham University, joined St Peter's at the beginning of the year as Assistant Director of Music. His interest in music began at an early age and he sang as a choir boy as well as played the piano, organ and clarinet.

When asked who his favourite composer was, he thought hard, but came up with Bach and Poulenc. However, he listens to a wide range of music himself, from Bach to jazz music.

He lists amongst his achievements so far conducting the Bach St. John Passion and completing a half marathon.

Mr. Moschard was first struck by the business of St Peter's more than anything else. He was drawn here by the fact that he has often visited York as a child, and wished to return. Having the opportunity to perform in different places is Mr. Moschard's favourite thing about St Peter's and his best experience with the school so far has been on the Chapel Choir trip to sing in Christ Church College in Oxford.

As we write this article in June 2011 it is sad to say that Mr. Moschard is leaving us at the end of this year, and we wish him well for the future.

Ellie Binks UVI / Emily Freeman LVI

Alex Newport

Mrs Newport joined St Peter's Modern Languages Department this year having always known that she wanted to be a teacher. However prior to teaching Mrs Newport had a range of exciting jobs abroad including being a tour guide for walking holidays in Italy, Austria and France. She also has worked for cosmetics companies including Dior and L'Oreal before returning to study at the Institute of Education in London. Although Mrs Newport always knew that she wanted to be a teacher she thought that working, travelling and 'getting into trouble' abroad would benefit her first before settling down to teach. When asking what made her want to be a teacher she responded with an enthusiasm to pass on her love of languages to teenagers, who she enjoys teaching 'most of the time'.

Mrs Newport says that she felt very welcomed into the school and describes the school as hardworking with friendly staff and interactive students. Nevertheless, when asked about her pet hates she replied with annoyance, when students attend lessons with missing equipment or un-tucked shirts.

Outside of the classroom, Mrs Newport really enjoys dancing (especially jazz and contemporary), hill-walking, outdoor swimming, European cinema and cooking. And she especially loves cooking her favourite food, anything Italian! When asked which three words best describe her, Mrs Newport answered with 'enthusiastic, talkative and fun-loving', attributes that were all shown in her interview!

We welcome Mrs Newport to St Peter's School and hope that her association with the school is long and happy.

Robert Spelling

Mr Snelling joined the English Department this year as maternity cover for Mrs Mallard. He studied Philosophy at King's College London and moved to York after finding London too expensive and overcrowded. Mr Snelling did not always aspire to be a teacher and instead considered the occupations of a marine biologist, RAF pilot and lawyer before unexpectedly following his father into teaching. He chose English as his subject as it gave him opportunities to discuss the impact of literature. Mr Snelling's decision to enter the teaching profession was partly due to the advice given him by his best friend (a primary school teacher) who told him that he would make an excellent teacher. Before teaching Mr Snelling worked in retail at Harrods, but unfortunately never received any complimentary Krispy Kremes!

When asked what three things he would put in Room 101, Mr Snelling responded with: intolerance, judging a book by its cover and exclamation marks!! Despite teaching English Mr Snelling hates Harry Potter, yet says if he had to teach any other subject it would be Defence of the Dark Arts. His interests include trekking, cooking (but not baking), cars and sport. Mr Snelling also loves sandwiches and would choose Subway as his favourite fast food restaurant despite having an obsession with making sure that the sandwiches are symmetrical before he eats them! He describes his idols as Eric Cantona (although he can't spell his surname) and Aristotle.

Mr Snelling also has a passion for films and has set up 'The Roundhay Society' already, showing some of what he claims to be great films including'Carlito's Way' and 'Dead Man's Shoes'.

First impressions are important and of St Peter's Mr Snelling says" it's the best school in the area by some distance with exceptional students and welcoming staff."

We wish Mr Snelling a very enjoyable and happy time at St Peter's and apologise for the use of exclamation marks in. this report!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Edwina Denison / Lipmunn Tang UVI

Matthew Thomson

Dr. Thomson joined us this year as a new member of the English Department. He studied at Nottingham and Cardiff Universities completing a MA in Journalism and a PhD in American Military Politics and New Media.

travelling the world, including places such as Hong Kong, Bali, Malawi, Mozambique | and Mexico to name but a few. A welltravelled man he has also explored most of Europe. Always looking for a new challenge, Dr. Thomson aims to climb peaks in the Himalayas including K2.

In addition to his love for his subject Dr Thomson is an avid sportsman. He hopes to inspire young minds in the classroom through reading and literature (he claims Catch 22 to be his favourite book). His hobbies include triathlons, climbing, rugby and music. He is also a fan of Inception and 'The Tragically Hip' (a Canadian rock band). He's not a big Harry Potter fan and hates it when the cover of a book is folded back.

When asked which three words Dr.Thomson would choose to describe him best, he chose 'tired', 'exhausted' and 'Lookingforward-to-half-term'. (Strictly seven words but we'll let him off seeing as he's an English teacher not a mathematician.) Obviously then, Dr. Thomson is not used to our six day week, but he believes it to be worth it as he likes to be involved in so much around the school.

We wish him well during his time here.

Lipmunn Tang / Edwina Denison UVI

Ed Mallard

Mr Mallard joined us as cover for Mrs Cowling's maternity leave. However Mr Mallard did not always want to teach, despite the fact that he loves to tell facts and calls himself a 'know-it-all'; he grew up wanting to follow in David A t t e n b o r o u g h ' s footsteps, and hopefully succeed him.

In addition to his love of David Attenborough, Mr Mallard loves keeping marine fish, talking about marine fish, looking at marine fish, being with marine fish, shopping for marine fish... going to the gym, Harry Potter, computer games and spending time with his family. He relishes cheesy or explosive films such as 'Empire Strikes Back' and 'Total Recall' which he describes as 'awesome' and 'mint' and enjoys singing along to Michael Buble. However, if Mr Mallard had a room 101 it would be filled with warm milk, football, and ITV. When asked what his proudest achievement was, he pointed towards his son Oscar, the first baby Mallard.

Mr Mallard was educated at Sheffield University, completing a degree in Genetics, and subsequently a PCCE at Norwich. He has also taken time out to travel and do volunteer work, incidentally how he met Mrs Mallard!

At the time of writing this article Mr and Mrs Mallard have been appointed as House Parents of The Rise from next September.

We wish them good luck next year with their new venture.

Lipmunn Tang, Edwina Denison, Ellie Binks UVI

Andrew Severn

Mr Severn is an unusual person to be featured in this section of the Peterite as he is returning to St Peter's from what he calls a '16 month holiday' - that's right, Mr Severn traded in a life of relaxation in front of the sea, fine wine and Spanish food to teach again. Although he is enjoying being back at Peter's, Saturday school has made him miss Spain just a little but as he thinks that a hatred of Saturday school cannot be cured by any amount of time away. Mr Severn has an interesting perspective of the school as he is able to clearly compare St Peter's life now to how it was a couple of years ago; for him the culture of the school is changing and everyone seems more relaxed and happier, though he notes that some things such as the photocopier not working will never change! We hope that the positive changes that Mr Severn has identified continue and we wish him well for his remaining time here. Mr Severn wanted to make good use of this report by informing his colleagues that they need not worry as he is certain that he will not be resurrected again!

Ellie Binks UVI

Sarah Emson, Head Master's PA

Mrs Emson joins us from Bedales School in Hampshire where she worked for nearly seven years. She is no stranger to the area as she was born and brought up in York, attending Mill Mount Grammar School as a student. From a young age, she was always aware of St Peter's "excellent reputation".