The Peterite 2000-2001 by StPetersYork

PRIZE LIST 2001 IN Form Jack Brittain Memorial Prize for Middle School Essay Robin Shannon Memorial Prize for Spoken English Richard Atkinson Memorial Prize for Drama III Form Prize for Academic Merit

Elisabeth Fishley Joshua Tindell Sarah Crompton Chloe Johnson Jayne Milburn Primrose Lovett Alastair MacLeod

IV Form Arthur Craven Prize for Middle School French (Forms III, IV, V) Music Prize Jack Brittain Memorial Prize for Middle School Essay Music Prize Middle School Information Technology Prize Old Peterite Club Reading Prize (Junior) IV Form Prize for Academic Merit

Tobias Burckhardt Alex Woodrow Alex Woodrow Charles Strickland-Constable Ben Noble Ben Hanson Louise Foody Charles Strickland-Constable Martin Smallpage Alex Woodrow Jonathan Forsyth

V Form

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Art Prize (Junior) Design and Technology Prize Stephenson Prize for Latin (Junior) The King-Reynolds Prize for Middle School Mathematics V Form Prize for Academic Merit Foluso Rotowa Memorial Prize for Classical Civilisation Course Work The Walter Smith Prize for QCSE Practical Science Prize for Academic Merit Geography Prize (Junior) PE Lord Prize for Classical Civilisation (Junior) V Form Prize for Academic Merit

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VI Form Army Scholarship Award Walter Smith Prize for Biology The Friends of St Peter's Prize for Business Studies The HSBC Prize for Upper Sixth Form Business Studies Course Work Chemistry Prize Mathematics Prize Skrentny Prize for Creative Writing John Crook Prize for Poetry Brian Holbeche Prize for a Critical Essay Richard Atkinson Memorial Prizes for Drama (Senior) Music Prize (Senior) Stephenson Prize for Latin (Senior) PE Lord Prize for Classical Civilisation (Senior) Mathematics Project Prize Wilcox Prize for Physics Art Prize (Senior) Orange-Bromhead Prize for String Instrument Accomplishment Whytehead Memorial Prize for Theology Pemberton Prize for Wind and Brass Tudor Howat Prize for Music Composition Stephenson Prize for Singing Geography Prize (Senior) French Essay Prize (Senior) German Prize Barry Daniel Award Toyne Prize for European History Politics Prize

Georgina Robinson Georgina Robinson Helen Hildebrand Helen Hildebrand Helen Hildebrand Lucy Robertson Matthew Suggit Matthew Suggit Toby Humphrey John King James Gibbon David Henderson

The Old Peterite Lodge Prize for Service to the Community The Shepherd Scholarship Le Tocq Prize for Economics CCF Award Norman Crombie Memorial Prize Arthur Craven Memorial Prize for Senior French

Indraneil Basu Mark Spilman Harriet Adamson Barry Jackson Matthew Maitland Matthew Maitland Alan Mak Alan Mak Nicholas Rusling Simon Whiteley Simon Whiteley Rebecca Potter Jennie Scott

Andrew Roberts Andrew Roberts Irene Burley Joanna Sargent David Jackson David Jackson Simon Jackson Paul Wilson

Ben Taylor Linda Clark Tom Sutherland Richard Gibbon Monika Heaton Philip Townsend Richard Pike Richard Pike Matthew Magee Mandy Cheng Claire Dalton To be awarded in Christmas term Alex Drysdale Sam Brown

Rupert Brown KH Rhodes Prize Katherine Downes

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2000-2001 Issue No. 418

CONTENTS Commemoration

Creative Writing Senior Common Room

The Head Master's speech at Commemoration, reprinted on the next page, referred to the extraordinary events which marked the 2000/2001 academic year. Against a background of floods, the petrol strike, and Foot and Mouth Disease, the school programme nevertheless continued on its regular course. Even more remarkable were the successful negotiations for our purchase of Queen Anne School and this is also marked in this issue of The Peterite both with words from the Head Master and Chairman of Governors, and by pictures recording the changes to the whole campus at the end of the year. The Editor's thanks must go to David Morris who is responsible for the great majority of the pictures, to Gillian Daniells, School Secretary, who has contributed so much of her time and energy, and to Linden Richardson and his team at York City Printers for their courtesy and skill. Avril Pedley Editor

News & Activities

The Peterite 2000 - 200I

Head Master's Commemoration Speech St Peter's, our Prep and Pre-Prep Schools to take place. Lord Mayor, lords, ladies and gentlemen, on your behalf may I thank Professor Young for her address this morning and for joining us for our Service of Commemoration.

Academic Scholarships James Brown Christopher Garnett Thomas Gastrell James Gibbon Laura Heaps Mathew Hodsdon Amanda Hughes Andrew Moroney Stephen Pike Richard Scott Jennifer Ashley Indraneil Basu Clare Fletcher Robert Heaps Holly Hughes Chloe Johnson Harriet Julian Alastair MacLeod Alan Mak Daniel Moroney Jeremy Rose Jenna Sillars Philippa Smith Gavin Westmoreland Jennifer Westmoreland James Wharton

Head of School (Catherine Downes Rupert Brown

Monitors Samuel Brown Alexander Cowan Alexander Drysdale Thomas Garnett " Richard Gibbon Robert Greetham Kate Hudson Barry Jackson Matthew Maitland Richard Pike Guy Robinson Nicholas Rusling Joanna Sargeant Holly Sturgess Benjamin Taylor Jane Todd Heather Williams

The Peterite 2000 - 2001

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LVI LVI LVI LVI LVI LVI LVI LVI LIV LVI LVI LVI III III LVI III LVI LVI UIV UIV UIV UIV III LVI

Together we have lived through a most unusual school year that was dominated by events beyond our control: petrol shortages, floods and foot and mouth disease. Mrs Paula Arkley, head of Clifton Prep School, best summed it up. In a letter to parents she wrote, "We have had famine, we have had floods and now pestilence. What comes next?". Foot and mouth still threatens and there is still considerable tension from the potential threat to the livelihoods of so many of our pupils and former pupils. Our riverside pitches and our boathouse are regularly flooded, but in October the water level nearly reached the crossbar of the rugby posts and submerged hockey goals; boats were crushed against the roof of the boathouse and water reached the very top of the flood defences. I knew things were serious on the Friday evening when the waters peaked. There, on the pavement outside my house, was a fleet of boats complete with Army crew in life jackets. Were we preparing for the final deluge? It reminded me of a time when I began teaching. The first lesson of the day always started with a passage from the Bible. As I read the story of Noah and the Ark the entire class stared, transfixed, through the window as the Royal Navy built a huge scale model of a frigate for a careers exhibition that afternoon. During the floods it was hard to concentrate on the everyday business of school. I was greatly encouraged and not really surprised at the large number of boarders who quickly volunteered to help the police and Army to prepare sandbags. Sadly, the Environment Agency eventually refused their kind gesture on Health and Safety grounds. One major change has occupied the minds of many of my Staff and Governors this year. At Commemoration last May I said that the Governors were committed to completing the purchase of the former Queen Anne School, and that it would be the most significant development for St Peter's since the School moved to our site in Clifton in 1844. At times this bid, too, seemed threatened by events outside our control. The purchase was finally completed at Easter, the process having taken over fifteen months. I am most grateful to the Staff, Governors and professionals who helped to prepare our bid. Since then, work has continued apace to enable the reconfiguration of

It is a brave move, and a wonderful opportunity for the schools. In a similar way, it was certainly a bold decision in 1844 to move to Clifton. The board of management of a new proprietary school had just commissioned the building by Harper that we know so well, a building that was described as the second most attractive one in York after the Minster and built at a cost of some £4100. The governors of St Peter's moved the 39 pupils on the roll to form a joint school with 100 pupils. Parents today would welcome the fees of £10 per annum. In September, exactly a century after its acquisition, St Olave's moves to a new home on the former Queen Anne School site. 1901 was also the date of the foundation of the school Orchestra. It comprised three first violins, three second violins, one viola and two cellos. This summer, in excess of 100 musicians will go on the tour to Italy. In September 2001, the roll of St Peter's will be 501 pupils with 1003 pupils in St Peter's, St Olave's and Clifton Prep School together. There will be an official opening for St Olave's on 6th November by the Archbishop of York, a previous Archbishop, Cosmo Lang, having opened the original Queen Anne school. The old hall there will be renamed the Queen Anne Hall in order to keep a link with the past. On that day, we shall also name the White House 'Denison House' after our former Chairman and now Chairman of the Foundation. At the new St Olave's we shall name the large school hall, the Shepherd Hall. Our leavers, our prize-winners, their parents and my invited guests will have the opportunity to see something of the new site when they come for drinks at School after leaving the Minster this morning. Instead of a marquee this year, we shall meet in the Shepherd Hall. Please follow the new path along the hedge below the science labs and you will be guided to the Hall. The Library at the new St Olave's will be named the John Mitchell Library in memory of the former St Olave's teacher and School Archivist whose funeral was held in the Chapel last Saturday. How much he would have enjoyed helping me with the historical detail in my address so far. While all of this has been going on, the school has continued to thrive. The examination results in August were outstanding and a real credit to both the pupils involved and to my Staff, not only to those who taught the pupils in the examination years, but also those who inspired the children in their early, primary and

middle school years. The number of Upper Sixth who exceeded expectations particularly encouraged me. St Peter's was ranked in the top six coeducational schools in the country, the best in the north, and 68th school overall in the country. Our GCSE results were the best ever. Events beyond our control were also evident in the academic life of the school. You will all be aware of the debate about the poorly planned and implemented system for the Curriculum 2000 and the new AS levels. I am glad that we chose a prudent route and did not overload our pupils. However, I am grateful to my Staff for the way that they coped with the additional stress of introducing new courses and preparing their pupils for exams that now even the Secretary of State accepts were flawed. This year the school sports teams have continued to thrive in spite of the floods and cancelled fixtures. The Upper Sixth year contains a number of gifted sportsmen and women who have made a significant impact over a number of years. Girls' teams have been exceptional at senior level, particularly this year in hockey, netball, squash, tennis and swimming. They dominated on the circuit even against the larger all-girl schools. A number represented the county with Jo Sargeant being selected for the Yorkshire U21 hockey team. In swimming, after an unbeaten season, the girls' team came fifth in the National Schools Championships at Crystal Palace and also had a record-breaking performance in the John Parry Relays. Two pupils, Stephen Emmerson and Jenny Hoggard, represented Yorkshire and Lincolnshire at the All England Swimming Finals.

The first rugby team beat Durham at St Peter's and Ampleforth away for the first time since 1980 and 1978 respectively. They also reached the last 16 of the Daily Mail Cup. It was our most successful team since 1979. The boys' and girls' tennis teams were strong and i reached the final stages of the Northern Championships. In athletics, Lara Gibbs, John Frank and Sandy Cowan achieved high honours in the northern finals. The fencing team of boys and girls was successful and the captain, Stephen Hancock, was awarded Grade 9 by the British Fencing Association, only the second Peterite on record to gain this honour. Rowing continues to thrive with more pupils than ever members of the Boat Club. Despite a reduced winter training programme, the boys' senior eight had a fast time in the Tideway

Head of the River Race and the Club had great success in the regatta season with good wins by boys' and girls' crews. Victoria Johnston kept in contention throughout the season for a place in the Great Britain team. The commitment and dedication shown by Victoria and the boys' captain, Edward Gill, was most commendable.

how much he had to pay to cut the rope! £1000 was raised at the talent show, £800 in the Beverley Run for Sargent Cancer Care for Children, and £4500 at the School Fete. The Fete was a marvellous day and the result of a great deal of hard work and planning by the Friends of St Peter's. Throughout the year, pupils have given their time willingly to community service projects throughout the city.

The first cricket eleven grew in confidence over the term and secured fine wins particularly over Ampleforth and Sedbergh. Trevor Smith led by example and encouraged fine performances from his players. I am sure that they would join me in wishing him every success in his trial with Yorkshire. There were a number of major musical successes. At the choral and orchestral concert at the university, the programme included a strong performance of Handel's The King shall rejoice and Faure's Requiem. Particularly memorable were the first performances of Simon Jackson's Oboe Sonata and Paul Wilson's piece, Night on Manhattan Island. In May, Paul Wilson and I took part in a radio interview for the BBC Music Live festival. It was about our famous Peterite, John Barry, and his visit last year. He had shown interest in Paul's composition. It was a real delight that the BBC chose to play the whole of Paul's recording. The summer concert provided a wonderful opportunity for our talented leavers to perform as soloists with an orchestra. It was a memorable evening. So too was the Cabaret Concert at which highly polished performances were given at a very relaxed social gathering. In December our musicians and actors combined for an inspired production of The Beggars Opera. It was a tremendous success, and in the second half Mr Lowe adapted John Gay's Newgate of the 18th-century, rewriting the play in a London era post-Eastenders, postCoronation Street and postQuentin Tarantino. Some of the younger members of that cast were on stage again this term in a chilling production by the Middle School of Arthur Miller's The Crucible. Pupils were given opportunities to broaden their education away from St Peter's. There was a Classics trip to Greece, a French exchange to Burgundy, and a history trip to the Western Front; this summer there is to be an exchange to Sweden and a World Challenge expedition to Ecuador. The pupils chose to support a range of charities this year: the Cystic Fibrosis Trust, the Tom Hughes Orphanage in Nepal, Candlelighters, and the British Epilepsy Association. There will be open plate collections at the end of this service. The Ball last July raised £9000 for the Foundation and Sargent Cancer Care for Children. Staff and pupils also raised £1800 for comic relief and enjoyed a day in fancy dress. Members of the school sponsored me for an abseil from the Tyne Bridge in aid of cystic fibrosis raising £1200. One pupil asked

Today we say farewell to our leavers: to Mr James, to Miss Gregersen, to Miss Lowther and Major Lodge. Mrs Greenwood left Clifton Prep School in February and I wish her every happiness in her retirement. Canon Ferguson retires from the Board and leaves the Minster to become Archdeacon of Cleveland. Our cricket professional, Mr Keith Mohan, retires this summer. Mr and Mrs Owen Barnett step down this Summer from Linton and I know that countless pupils and former pupils from Linton and the old School House would want to join me in thanking them for all they have done for boarding at St Peter's. Our two final leavers know exactly the commitment that entails. Mr Bulcock retires today as Head of English, a post that he has held since 1972. He was day Housemaster of Temple, Commanding Officer of the CCF, ran thirteen expeditions to the Sahara and was Housemaster of the Manor for ten years. I know that you will all join me in wishing John and Anne every happiness for the future. Mr David Kirby was a pupil at St Peter's where he had a distinguished sporting and academic record. He went on to Cambridge where he was Captain of Cricket and also a Squash Blue. He captained Leicestershire before returning to his old school in 1962. As Head of German, Housemaster of the Rise and Queen's, as a coach of rugby, squash and cricket you have inspired countless numbers of Peterites. It was a real pleasure to be at the surprise dinner in your honour given by your cricket captains. Needless to say, they are pleased that although you will retire from the teaching staff, you will remain as master in charge of cricket. To all of our leavers, Staff and pupils, I offer my deepest thanks and best wishes for the future. I would like to thank all Staff, Governors and pupils for their support over the year and I wish you all a very happy holiday and may God bless you. A F Trotman The Peterite 2000 - 2 0 0 1

Dr Frances Young's Commemoration Address June 30th 2001 I wonder if you've ever seen films of high altitude mountaineering, or read books about the conquest of Everest. If so you'll have some idea how such expeditions work. A base camp is established, with large support parties, porters, assistants and so on, and then small groups establish a series of high camps. I once went on an expedition like that in the Peruvian Andes. The climax was an attempt on Ranrapalca, 20,000 ft high!

As Sherpas assist in the Himalaya, so Andean Indians, locals well adapted to the high altitudes, have become expert assistants to climbing parties. We had a base camp around 13,000 ft. Above base-camp was an old broken down workmen's hut which provided a first night's shelter, and then higher up on the snow-covered shoulder across a massive glacier, a high camp had been set up. There it took hours to melt enough snow for drinking, and cooking and other necessities. Up there you took your boots to bed with you! Otherwise by morning they'd be frozen into plaster casts and you'd never get them on! Once on the glaciers and snow-slopes, you climbed roped together for safety: the whole thing depended not on you alone, everyone's dependent on everybody else. If you're no good, you let everyone else down. You have to climb, of course. In a sense it's your own achievement - but in another sense, not at all. You're all in it together. Well, the morning after our night in the high camp, we set out, and were soon slogging up a steep snow-covered slope. The snow was crisp - you could hear the crunch The P e t e r i t e 2000 - 2 0 0 1

of the crampons, and the heavy breathing.... When you are at high altitudes and the air is thin, it's not so many steps per breath but so many breaths per step! It feels as if you're bursting. You're dogged by exhaustion, and you can only stop when everyone else does. The leader needs sensitivity to the people following. At the top of the slope, we had to haul ourselves over a rocky crest onto the ledge, using a rope fixed by an earlier group from our party. As we stood together up there, a kind of physical relief ran all through our bodies. But we weren't yet at the summit. We had to follow along the high ridge, a great snow-covered crest, to a point at the end. Around us floated clouds and mist. I remember sort of flopping along that narrow ridge with a kind of dazed feeling - not quite 'with it', -euphoric with weariness. Suddenly the clouds parted at my feet and I saw thousands of feet below me! Shock brought me to my senses! We eventually reached the summit, and back then in 1965 I was probably the first woman to do so. Maybe it was more significant than any of the other things I'm supposed to have achieved! Or was it? And was it really worth it? Well - ask a mountaineer why he/she does it, and the only answer is "Because it's there!" It's impossible to explain why it's so important. All I can do is try to share the tremendous feeling on top. It's the exhilaration - but not just the sweet taste of victory, like you see on the winning faces at Wimbledon - not just a sense of achievement, because there's a strange kind of humility mixed up with the exaltation. This vast scenery surrounds you. It seems as though the whole world is at your feet, and you feel very small, vulnerable, insignificant, and yet intoxicated with the beauty and the thrill - just a bit scared, too - it all adds to the incredible feeling! And you can't have that sort of experience without pushing yourself to the limit, testing yourself. It's a physical test, of course, but also a spiritual experience. So here we are experiencing in imagination that extraordinary moment of standing on a mountain-top - the complex mixture of awe and joy, pride in success but also edginess - it's all so big - and we've still got

to get down safely! Pausing there, let's recall the words of Gregory of Nyssa read earlier - because he imagines that kind of moment as an image of what it means to let go of our known world and experience vertigo - utter mental dizziness - as one tries to grasp anything beyond the confines of the material universe in which we exist. And let's link that with Moses, asking to see the glory of God, and being told that no mortal, no mere creature, can possibly see the divine face and live. It's so easy to lose sight of how awesome creation is and how little we are. Whether we believe in God or not, we are not doing justice to the question if we fail to acknowledge the sheer infinity and glory of the Creator of all, the mind-blowing otherness of the One on whom no mortal may gaze and live, the vertigo induced in the mind as it tries to grasp something incomprehensible, like the Transcendent God. The first thing I want you to take away and think about is the possibility that Christianity - indeed each of the great world religions in its own way, but let's focus on the tradition in which, in this place, we stand - what I want you to consider is that Christianity might be an adventure of the mind and the understanding - a challenging intellectual journey in which our mundane concepts cease to be adequate to encompass the subject-matter. You have to reach the end of human possibilities to begin to understand what God

Commemoration might be like. And yet somehow God is discernible iirthe grandeur and awesomeness of creation - the mind of this transcendent Other is discernible in the very structures of the universe - as our poem hinted. Often scientists at the forefront of research have expressed awe and humility, wondering at the extraordinary way in which a mental construct like mathematics happens to be the language which is capable of describing reality, and affirming that their experience is one of discovery, of reality breaking over them, that same kind of mixture of exhilaration and humility I described on the top of the mountain. And for the disciples, the experience must have been a bit similar on the Mount of Transfiguration - the glory and wisdom of God breaking into human existence in Christ: recalling Moses, John's Gospel reminds us that no-one has ever seen God, but goes on: God's only Son, the one nearest his heart, has made him known. But back to my story: now came the descent - the return along the summit ridge, then down over the crest onto that vast steep snow slope. We'd been the last group to go up, so we had to retrieve the fixed rope. Then we made the crucial mistake - we split the party of five and used two ropes, three climbers on one, two on the other. So we started down the slope. The snow was still crisp, still nice going - by now it should've been softening in the sunshine, but there'd been more than usual cloud that day. Thoughtlessly we moved off one after the other, and were soon spaced out by lengths of rope, as ever dependent on one another - for good or ill... The man at the very back slipped and began to toboggan down. Only two on the rope: so by the time he'd passed his second and the rope was tight again, he'd fallen two whole rope-lengths, and his speed was colossal. The second man hadn't a hope of holding him, and was plucked out of his 'arrest' position - to hold a fall, you force the point of the ice axe into the snow and throw all your weight onto it, lying prone and hoping it will grip and hold. Both were now racing down the slope. The leader responsible for our party was on the top end of our rope; he rapidly moved across to try and intercept - he knew of incidents when people had been saved in that way. But the steep, crisp snow was a 45 ice-rink, and he was just knocked flying. So my turn next. I braced myself in 'arrest' position, and was simply snatched up in the air, and began a rapid descent, headfirst on my back. The main thing I remember is the way my ice axe flapped about over me (the ice-axe is so essential, it is attached to the wrist by a safety loop), and I thought, "This is a pretty lethal weapon" - apparently unaware I might be plunging to oblivion!

Then, to my surprise, I found myself upright down in a crevasse, loose snow hurtling all around, getting down my neck and into everywhere... and then the rope tightened around my waist until I thought I'd be cut in half, and suddenly everything went quiet and still. A voice called, "Frances, are you OK?" The two on either end of the rope (I was in the middle position) had pendulumed below - my fall into the crevasse had saved us, by jamming our fall. Everyone but me had skated straight over that crevasse. Was it coincidence I fell in? Or was there a jerk on the rope as the final person was pulled out of 'arrest', just as I was there poised over the crevasse? Who knows, but you're dependent on one another for good or ill all in it together. Soon the other two on my rope climbed up, and helped me out. We found the others dead at the bottom. I wonder if it's the case that the discovery of the true values in life only comes through testing, hardship, and even tragedy - perhaps you don't know what life is about until you've faced death. But today is not the time to focus on that aspect of the experience I've shared. We're gathered here to commemorate the founding of this School and celebrate achievement. In our society there's a lot of emphasis on achievement and success, on striving for excellence, on individuals gaining prizes, getting to the top - in sport, in performance, getting to University, finding a good job. In a way I've been there - done that but now I wonder if that's all that life's about.

We might pick out three worthwhile thoughts from my story: (1) No-one operates alone; we're all in it together. Proper pride in achievement involves a humility which respects the contribution of others, recognizes our mutual dependence and the vital contribution of everyone else to the human adventure. (2) An individual is far from capable, very vulnerable, and the deepest human values of love and faithfulness and commitment, forgiveness and peace, are often born out of facing tragedy or suffering. (3) The proper response to the great moments of life is a deep thankfulness and awe, a sense of being caught up in something so much bigger than yourself: I suspect that it's these three things that make it possible to glimpse the back of God as he passes by. Life is an adventure. It's not meant to be cozy. It's full of challenge and struggle. And striving for excellence is vital to the human spirit. The temptation is for achievement to make us proud, to be too pleased with ourselves, to gloat over others. But if you think about my story I hope you will see that real excellence carries with it other values: commitment to goodness, truth, and beauty; love of others, love of God; and a sense of awesome transcendence, which puts everything we are into proper perspective. Best wishes to all of you for a life that is full, and lived with courage in many dimensions. And God be with you, Amen

The Peterite 2000 - 200I

There were no requests for help during this term. However from a desire to organise a social event sprang the idea for a summer fete. A working committee was formed from our committee, staff, parents and pupils.

Chairmans Report 2000-2001

The fete took place on Sunday 20th May and it was a super day. I would like to thank all those who took part in the organising of it. A special thank you to Avril Garnett, Jim Downes, Chris Noble, Mary Trotman and Tory Gillingham whose knowledge and expertise were invaluable. A special thank you also to the pupils who volunteered

2000/2001 Committee President:

Mr A F Trotman

Chairman:

Mrs 6 Ward

Secretary:

Jennifer Oalton

Treasurer:

Susan Srnatlpage.

Staff Representatives:

David Hughes Wendy Shepherd Julia Davis

Members:

Julie Sharp Sandra Middleton

I am delighted to write this report at the end of a busy year for the Friends of St Peter's School. Over the year the committee provided both support for school events and organised the school fete.

Sally Smith Graham Clarke Catherine Noble Adrianne Johnson Jane Henderson Diana Kaars Sijpesteijn

The Christmas Term began with a reception for the parents of pupils coming into St Peter's. This was a very well attended evening, giving new parents the chance to meet staff and the members of the Friends committee.

jo Hilling Christine Austin Edward Duke

Change for 2001/2002 Chairman:

Mr Hughes, asked for volunteers to assist with audience safety at the production of The Beggar's Opera. I am pleased to report that our services were not put to the test and the production was excellent.

Board of Governoi 1999/2000

Support was also given to the Macmillan Cancer Relief Fund coffee morning organised by Julie B ainbridge. A request was made on behalf of St Peter's equestrian team for a contribution towards the purchase of saddle cloths. A contribution of £100 was made for this purpose. The Easter term began with a supper invitation from Andrew and Mary Trotman at St Catherine's. I can speak confidently for all those attending when I say that this was most enjoyable evening.

Christine Austin

their time and skills - namely Claire Dalton, Alan Mak and Jonathan Macgregor. The event took a lot of organising but was worth all the effort. The event raised almost £3500 and donations were made to the School's charities for this year: Tom Hughes Orphanage, Nepal; Cystic Fibrosis Trust; British Epilepsy Association and Candlelighters. Donations were also made to the St Peter's Foundation, the Music Department and the Boat Club. Support was also given to the Music Department's Cabaret night and to the Art Department with the setting up of the examination work.

Chairman: Members:

Major General D M Naylor CB MBE I M W Bainbridge Esq Mrs C Blenkin BSc S M Burn Esq LLB TEP ACIArb R A Elliott Esq FCA MUA (Dip) Canon PJ Ferguson MA FRCO (CHM)•: Mrs P Hewish Lady Emma Ingilby Brigadier P Lyddon MBE N A McMahon Turner Esq Professor N J Maitland BSc PhD J Pike Esq Mrs E M Reid Mrs C Rymer JP MBE

I would like to say a big thank you our Secretary, Jennifer Dalton, and Treasurer, Sue Smallpage, for their hard work. A thank you to our retiring members Adrianne Johnson, Sandra Middleton, Jennifer Dalton and Ruth Chambers. It has been a privilege to serve as Chairman of the Friends of St Peter's this past year. I have enjoyed the support of a great committee, made new friends and experienced some of the hard work that goes on behind the scenes of the school. I wish the new committee every success and hope that new members will be forthcoming to join. Q Ward Friends of St. Peter's The Peterite 2 0 0 0 - 2 0 0 1

P N Shepherd Esq R J Wilson Esq MA J R Wood Esq

Clerk to the Board:

R C Dixon Esq BA

The Old Peterite Club 2000/2001 Office Holders President:

S M Bum

Secretary:

P J Netherwood

Treasurer:

A B Tuck

This year has been notable for the quality and quantity of musical compositions which our pupils have produced. With the introduction of AS levels containing a sizeable Composition component together with the GCSE Composing requirement, a large number of compositions are being produced; many of these have been performed in School. In the summer term we had a three and a half week 'season' of performances at morning chapel and also a Composition Showcase Evening all demonstrating what excellent works were being produced here.

CHAPEL CHOIR The Choral Evensong in York Minster in October went very well with Herbert Brewer's expansive setting of the Magnificat and Nunc Dimittis and Bullock's 'Give us the wings of faith' both sung with style and flair. Unfortunately the trip that had been planned to Carlisle Cathedral in February, where David Gibbs, a former member of the music department, is Assistant Organist was cancelled because of snowdrifts on the A66. We hope to get there next year.

CANDLEMAS SERVICE The Candlemas Procession, which has replaced the Epiphany Procession, was again a special event in the Chapel Choir's diary, our own choir's contribution this year being a little known setting of '0 my dere hert' by John

Jefferys sung with delicacy and shape. This processional service, in its original conception, dates back to 1946 when the famous Dean Eric Milner White with the then organist Dr Francis Jackson planned this special event; St Peter's was asked to participate then and has participated every year since. The value of this connection with the Minster cannot be overestimated and I know that, over the years, our pupils have greatly valued being part of the ongoing worship of that great building on this annual occasion.

CONCERT AT THE SIR JACK LYONS CONCERT HALL Faure's Requiem is always a favourite with singers and audiences alike and performing this melodious work at York University in March was a real pleasure for all involved. The Choral Society and School Choir produced in equal measure the correct balance of lyricism and drama, reflection and contemplation. Ben Taylor and Simon Whiteley were the baritone soloists singing with a clear sense of line and authority and Lauren Walker's singing of the 'Pie Jesu' was pure and evocative. The orchestra with our fine viola section featured so much in this work provided a rich but always sympathetic accompaniment to the singers. The concert started with Handel's The King Shall Rejoice', one of the Coronation Anthems written for George II; this grand piece with its crisp rhythms and bold trumpets saw the chorus enjoying themselves greatly. This concert also featured two pupils' compositions, 'Concertino for Oboe' by Simon Jackson conducted by his twin brother David, and 'Night on Manhattan Island1 by Paul Wilson conducted by John Pennington. Simon's piece was a beautifully crafted pastoral evocation of the English countryside while Paul's reflected the racy and busy world of New York. Both showed a real flair for orchestral composition and an impressive use of contrasting textures.

The Chamber Choir contributed two items to the evening: 'Just as the tide was flowing' by Vaughan Wiliams and 'Clear and gentle stream' by Gerald Finzi. The Vaughan Williams setting of a vigorous folk song containing many exciting runs and giving a flavour of the sea was well contrasted with the rather calmer scene described in 'Clear and gentle stream' which, although containing many complicated textures and complex cross rhythms, nevertheless celebrates the serenity of the English countryside. Finzi was born in 1901 and so this performance together with two pieces in the summer concert celebrated his centenary. The String Orchestra's playing of Britten's 'Simple Symphony' which, incidentally, is certainly not simple and arguably not a symphony, was quite outstanding. The strings have really developed so much this year with some very advanced players recently joining us. The 'Playful Pizzicato' was especially well performed and its intricacies of ensemble most assured; above all there was a real feeling of commitment to the music.

MUSIC FESTIVAL Strings The Easter Term brought the usual frantic individual preparation for the annual Music Festival, which this year was split into three sections vertically down the school both to allow for a more relaxed schedule and also to enable us to call on specialist adjudicators to judge each section. We were extremely fortunate to be able to secure the services of Peter Maslin to hear our string players. He is coleader of the English Northern Philharmonia, based in Leeds (The Opera North Orchestra), and is a violinist for whom I have enormous admiration on account of his wonderful sound and expressive musicianship. There were many performances worthy of mention, including Charlie Strickland-Constable's Bach E minor Partita (1st movement) from memory, Sally McLaren's Czardas and David Jackson's Brahms Sonatasatz accompanied by his brother Simon to name but a few, but the winners turned out the be Sophie Ottewell playing 'Banjo and Fiddle' in the Junior section and Paul Wilson's Bloch and Daisy Cannons Vivaldi Sonata in the Senior Section.

Keyboard I Singing We were very grateful to Mr Martin Bussey who judged our keyboard and singing classes in this year's Music Festival. Martin is Head of Academic studies at Chethams School of

The Peterite 2000 - 2 0 0 I

Music in Manchester. Throughout the day he gave valuable comments to all competitors ranging from technical suggestions to ideas on interpretation. Above all he was looking for secure technique and communication with the audience. In the Junior Piano class he named Alex Woodrow as the winner. The Junior Singing class was won by Sophie Ottewell and commendations given to Brook Adams, Ben Noble and Lauren Walker. The Senior Piano class was won by David Jackson with commendations to Caroline Law and Paul Wilson. The Senior Singing class was jointly won by Tatiana Tikhnenko and Simon Whiteley with commendations to Ben Taylor and Daisy Cannons. It was a very enjoyable evening highlighting a very high standard of performing all-round.

Wind and Brass This year we were very lucky to have Christina Thompson-Jones as our adjudicator for the woodwind and brass section of the Music Festival. As a professional horn player and brass teacher working with young children, her comments were of value to all. There were many notable performances in both the senior and junior classes as the standard of wind playing in the school continues to excel. This is due mainly to the dedication of our visiting instrumental staff. Alex Woodrow's (Fourth Form) performance of The Butterfly' by Bohn showed great maturity and technical control for such a young flautist. Simon Austin (Lower Sixth) achieved a high standard in his playing of the Finale from the Divertimento in D by Fillia. His mastery of the small D trumpet, as opposed to the standard Bb instrument, was expertly done. The overall message from the day to our wind musicians from Christina was that good breath control and regular practice is essential to all good wind playing.

SUMMER CONCERT Each Summer our Upper Sixth formers say farewell, so to speak, with a concerto movement with orchestra and each year the standard seems to improve still further. This year Simon Jackson played the Oboe Concerto by Bellini, not only making the lovely sound which has characterised his playing over the years but also demonstrating a fine ear for the subtle details of expression and ebb and flow within the piece. Ben Taylor's singing of the aria 'Straight Opening' from Haydn's 'Creation' with its accompanying recitative showed his real command as a singer; clear runs, well enunciated words, and an impressive vocal range were all clearly evident. Simon Whiteley's performance of three of Finzi's songs from the cycle let us garlands bring' gave clear evidence of his ability to capture the vast range of mood contained within these songs from 'Come away death' to 'It was a lover and his lass'. Simon also showed his The P e t e r i t e 2000 - 2 0 0 1

clear control and vocal dexterity in the many subtle tempo changes in the songs.

CABARET CONCERT Sold out again! - the Cabaret Concert was again a great success with some new features this year - line-dancing and, during the course of the evening, a complete performance of Saint-Saens 'Carnival of the Animals' by our orchestra together with an array of pianists and soloists all creating vivid portraits. Joe Venables sang two of his own songs and demonstrated his genuine musical promise. Allan Hughes gave us some of his old favourites; the School Choir revived The Rhythm of Life' together with 'Buffalo Gals' and a selection from les Miserables'. The Chamber Choir sang 'Is you is or is you ain't my baby' while the Swing Band's 'South' and '0 when the Saints' were as lively as ever. The Monkees were in prominence in the Wind band's selection and everyone went home happy after another successful show.

sweetness but also passion. The Chamber Choir's excellent contribution was Durufle's perfect miniature Tu es Petrus' making structural use of the plainsong chant and building to an impressive climax. It was good again to have organ pieces played by David and Simon Jackson to add to the expertise of John Pennington's voluntaries and accompaniments. The quality of the Chamber Group's performance of The Arrival of the Queen of Sheba' before the service gave way to spontaneous applause.

Thank you to all the 'Friends of St Peter's' who contributed so much to the evening in aid of the Music Tour to the Italian Riviera.

As ever the Brass Group with their special hymn arrangements and fanfares added the final pointing to this special occasion.

BEST OF BANDS

MUSIC STAFF

At the Best of Bands on Thursday 29th June one of our School Bands, 'Meniscus', won the overall Best Live Band together with Best Cover Song. This same group, although slightly smaller in number then, won the same award of Best Band last year.

This year has been a happy one in the department. Joel Moors has covered some of the Lower Sixth teaching most successfully and it has been clearly evident that the pupils work approach and standards achieved have been very good indeed. The practical work of string teaching has been ably co-ordinated by Margaret Lamb and the wind and brass again effectively organised by Christopher Blood. John Pennington has also made a major contribution to the department and keeps a cool head during our hectic periods!

There was a very strong field of twelve York schools each entering two songs but 'Meniscus' was clearly the best in terms of slick and well choreographed presentation, tight precision in their playing and a clearly focused interplay between members of the group. Well done to Alex Brandon-Davies, Charles Strickland-Constable, Tom Wright, Oliver Brandon-Davies, Alex McEnaney and Robert Hall.

COMMEMORATION SERVICE Keeping everyone going until the end of term this year was harder than ever! AS Levels and the ever-increasing pressure of exam preparation seem to take their toll but, as ever, our pupils rise to the challenge of another largescale event. Stanford's Te Deum' was included partly to honour two very senior colleagues' retirement - John Bulcock and David Kirby both of whom will have been well used to Stanford's music being a familiar ingredient of Commemoration Services in the past. The choir gave an exciting performance of the Te Deum which was paired with Brahm's beautiful 'How lovely are thy dwellings' sung with

As the St Olave's section of the department moves to new quarters on the Lower Campus, we all face new challenges and new opportunities for performance areas. Joel Moors, our new Head of Music in St Olave's has already shown real enthusiasm for these shared opportunities and, I know, will develop further this most important musical area of the School Delia Wadsworth, one of our flute teachers, left us in the Summer Term after many years successful teaching and David Vaughan-West, our horn teacher, retired at the end of the Summer Term; Christine Hodson, the senior of our four cello teachers also left at the end of the Summer Term. Many pupils over the last eleven years will remember with gratitude her tireless work in teaching and supporting their progress, we wish all of them well in the future. Our team of Visiting Teachers are an excellent group and contribute so much to the successful music making in the school. A Wright

IB end of this year. Christine Hodson has left after many years doing wonderful work with many of the cellists in the school. She will be sadly missed.

STRING MUSIC Have you ever noticed that four out of the last six Head Girls at St Peter's have been string players - three of them viola players? Whether young Olavites should consider taking up the viola purely in order to further their ambitions later on in their school life is questionable, but certainly there are plenty of other good reasons for choosing this instrument. It is undeservedly the butt of many an orchestral joke, and in the wrong hands can be considered the 'shrinking violet' between the virtuosic violin and the charismatic cellos. However, the viola is capable of a most expressive mellow sound, has a wealth of repertoire, and is an instrument always in demand for chamber music: anyone with any expertise is considered to be quite a find. These days you can even start out on a specially modified small viola made from a violin with a hole drilled under the bridge. Yet - it really works! Admittedly I write from the totally biased position of having for many years earned my living playing the viola, and, of course, I believe that only the most intelligent/musical/sensitive players can cope with the strange clef and size of instrument So it is probably no coincidence that this year the Christmas Concert heard a performance of the Telemann Viola Concerto. This turned out to be quite a celebration of the healthy numbers of viola players in St Peter's with a different soloist for each movement: Katherine Downes was due to play the opening movement, but she was called away to a university interview, and her place was taken at only a few day's notice by Laura Heaps. Katherine was compensated for her disappointment in the Summer Concert, when she was given the opportunity to share the delights of Kodaly's Adagio with us. The other three movements were performed by Paul Wilson, Ruth Wainaina and David Jackson. The strings also gave a joyous rendition of Howard Blake's The Snowman': this suite was chosen after a long and fruitless search for string parts to Laura Heaps's request: 'A Winter Wonderland'.

That just about wraps up the year for the strings; all that remains is to congratulate Sophie Ottewell, Pipp Saul-Harrah and Sally McLaren for getting into the National Schools Symphony Orchestra and to extend many thanks to Fred Strickland-Constable for his help with the violins in the concerts throughout the year. M K Lamb

should now be referred to as Paul Wilson Cert GSMD(P), after he successfully passed his Guildhall Recital Certificate on the viola. As well as learning all their pieces for the Music Festival and the Easter Concert, Sally McLaren, Sophie Ottewell, Charlie StricklandConstable, Natalie Baldry, David Jackson, Paul Wilson, Daisy Cannons and Nick Devlin were kept hard at work during lunchtimes throughout the term preparing the Mendelssohn Octet for performance in a concert. It is written for double string quartet, is virtuosic in its demands, and was written when the composer was around the same age as some of our performers. They rose to the occasion admirably, producing some most exciting playing in this exhilarating and very complicated piece.

SWING BAND REPORT 2001 At the end of last year, the swing band lost a number of very good musicians, however the music produced this year was of an excellent standard with the Christmas concert being set as the benchmark for future performances. Several new members joined to help fill in the rhythm section, notably a double bass, an electric bass and electric guitar and also the introduction of a clarinet helped the band become more like a Dixieland Band.

After the end of term some of these intrepid musicians went over to the Hull Music Festival to compete on a different patch. The string quartet of Sally McLaren, Natalie Baldry, David Jackson and Nick Devlin won their class, and Sophie Ottewell and Daisy Cannons brought home armfuls of trophies for their solo performances.

On a smaller scale, we were able to put together two first rate quartets, each week playing through a selection of Haydn and Mozart quartets, and then performing a movement each in an evening concert.

The Summer Term is always fraught with problems with pupils disappearing off on study leave, and rather inconvenient public exams interrupting rehearsals; however we did manage to throw together an enthusiastic if rather optimistic performance of Saint-Saens' 'Carnival of the Animals' for the end of term Cabaret Concert. For the Commemoration service we played the 'Arrival of the Queen of Sheba' with oboists Simon Jackson and Ben Noble. Although from most points of view we can only be thankful when the weather is pleasant enough for the large main doors in the Minster to be left wide open, the result was that it was impossible to keep the music on the stands without the help of the front row of prize-winners pinning the paper to each stand. I am reassured that the audio effect was superior to the visual.

By the way, be careful if ever you have occasion to address an envelope to Paul Wilson: he

We have had to bid farewell to one of our longest serving visiting music teachers at the

This new set up allowed us to introduce new pieces to our repertoire, many of which were played at the numerous of concerts in which the band appeared. Mr Hughes from St Olave's continued to impress the audience when he sang at the Cabaret Concert with a smaller section from the group as backing. Unfortunately, we lose more talented musicians this year but I am sure with the same amount of enthusiasm as before and under the watchful eye of Mr Blood (?) we will continue to entertain people next year. S Austin

The Peterite 2000 - 2001

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Harriot Julian

Charles Delaney

Christopher Garnett

Joanna Sargeant

Laura Mclntyre

Harriet Miller

Melissa Moran

Joanna Sargeant

Laura Heaps

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members as well as the atmosphere of friendly comradeship. All that remains is to thank the accompanying staff, especially Mr Monteith, who kept us all in order and safe, Mr Blood who directed the bands, and Mr. Wright who kept us singing, for their endless patience and sense of humour. Without them, the tour would not have been the success that it was.

MUSIC TOUR TO NORTHERN ITALY In the early hours of the 11th July, the School Choir and Brass Group left for San Remo, Northern Italy, via Dijon, France. What lay ahead of us all were 27 hours of bus travel, a daunting journey! However, we still all left in high spirits. Surrounded by friends, the journey seemed to fly by although at times it resembled a scene from a horror film due to the extremely loud volume of the injourney movie. One would often wake up to the pained screams of characters being electrocuted in 'The Green Mile'.

J Iwamoto. as well as lots of fried fish for a certain member of the tour) and to test the local establishments. Under a backdrop of fireworks, the nights seemed brief. Too brief for some of the older members of the tour, who managed to miss the bus back to the hotel! The tour also made trips to Nice, a mere stone's throw away from San Remo, where the bulldog spirit really shone through after 'the lads', led by Mr Savage of St Olave's, played a volleyball match against some locals. It was a close run match, but the Peter's boys just weren't used to the sunny conditions.

After a total of 27 (or maybe more?!) hours on the coach, our touring party arrived to a warm San Remo evening. After settling into our rooms at the Hotel Panorama, we mostly frequented the hotel area as the town of San Remo was itself further than anybody wished to or was able to walk to after sitting in a cramped coach all day. The hotel had a large room where we could rehearse and a good bar for the senior pupils where there was plenty of free entertainment available, such as Robbie Williams impersonators and other musical acts that often carried on well into the night. Waking up to a beautiful view of the morning sun shining across the blue sea (well, blue-ish), it was true to say that the hotel lived up to its name. As San Remo is located on the north west coast of Italy, we enjoyed a week of constant sunshine. To the last day the Sixth Form male contingent of sun worshippers definitely took advantage of this: Rick Kissack, Dan Lloyd, James Taylor and led by Ben Taylor.

Our nights out in San Remo allowed us all to taste the local delicacies (Italian ice cream The Peterite 2000 - 2 0 0 I

Footnote

Before our first concert at Imperia, Mr Wright had kindly organised a visit to the 'world renowned' (Mr Wright's own words) Olive Museum. It was... fascinating to say the least, and the olives weren't bad either. Getting to the 'local' Water Park took longer than expected, but once there everyone would agree that it was well worth the wait..and the sunburn (Nick? Batten?) Also, nobody could fail to ignore the grievous bodily harm received by Mr Monteith from one of the water slides. The concerts at Imperia, Bordighera and Spotorno and the Mass at a Roman Catholic church in San Remo went extremely well and were very enjoyable although singing in the 30°C heat seemed quite difficult at the time. The Sixth Form girls were especially careful to avoid dehydration. Who will ever forget our grand entrance to the town of Spotorno where the choir and band marched to the concert venue behind the town Mayor's marching band, constantly being applauded and welcomed. All aspects of the 2001 St Peter's School Music Tour, cultural and musical, were a great success, due to the conduct of the tour

This was one of the very best musical tours that we have undertaken; each of the three concerts had an audience of over 500 and the service in San Remo for which we sang saw a packed church who clapped us as we processed out at the end. The pupils were an excellent group and the accompanying staff all enthusiastic, caring and committed to seeing that the pupils enjoyed themselves. Thank you to Nathan Savage, Paul Taylor, Elizabeth Ellis, Christopher Blood and to Eleanor and Maurice Monteith for all their time and help. A Wright

BARBERSHOP REPORT

ASSOCIATED BOARD OF THE ROW SCHOOLS OF MUSIC AND GUILDHALL SCHOOL OF MUSIC AND DRAMA RESULTS

It has been a strong year for the Barbershop, and a very enjoyable one too. Performances have been first class, not only in their musical content, but in the showmanship that the group have developed. What other group walks out on the audience and is cheered! Yes, that was the moment when singing Tootsie we left the Chapel singing and waving. Rehearsals have been a hoot too, very relaxed but at the same time devoting a lot of serious energy into making the Barbershop what it is. All who have passed through the realms of the Barbershop have been proud to have been a member and leave with fond memories. But it is not just the performances that make it. It's the piggyback races on the music school lawn, the socialising, the impromptu chorus here and there. The group also gave some extra time this year in helping out with St Olave's Carol Service. This illustrated their professionalism and ability to switch to more serious singing which is a credit to their skill and versatility. May 1 thank all the members for their hard work and for the pleasure and enjoyment they have given to numerous audiences throughout the year. It's been one to remember.

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The Peterite 2000 - 200I

THE BEGGAR'S OPERA - ST PETER'S SCHOOL DRAMA GROUP Autumn 2000 John Gay's "The Beggar's Opera" opened in London in January 1728, smashed all previous records for popularity in its first season, and was performed more often than any other play during the rest of the century. Its success lay in its originality, combining artistic satire (mocking the conventions of Italian Opera and using snatches of well-known popular tunes for its music), social satire (set among the poor and criminal underclass it exposed a venal and corrupt judicial system) and political satire (ridiculing politicians and the court). The problem for any producer is how to convey the spirit and the impact of the original show to a modern audience. Ian Lowe's solution was to give us, each night, two different versions. The first half was a reduced and restructured production of Gay's play, keeping much of the dialogue and many of the tunes and lyrics; the second half was a modern reworking, setting rewritten lyrics to well-known modern tunes and including contemporary social and political references. While purists might complain at the huge liberties taken with the original, the end product more than justified the means it worked, and worked triumphantly. The setting of the first half is Newgate Jail, with the cast as prisoners, brought on in chains by a cynical Dan Lloyd to enact the "opera" of their own lives. On one side of the

stage are the Peachums father (a smoothly hypocritical David Jackson), mother (a wonderfully vicious and hysterical Katherine Downes) and daughter Polly (Sarah Crompton as a romantically sweet and obnoxious spoilt brat) fighting over the latter's entanglement with the dashingly heartless Captain Macheath (Duncan Downes). On the other side of the stage (transposed from Act 3 and rewritten to allow for rapid cutting between the two families) are the Lockits - daughter Lucy, pregnant by Macheath, hard as nails yet abused and vulnerable (Louise Foody); her father (Simon Whiteley, bullying and materialistic); his tart, Jenny (a scornful, hating and self-loathing Maneka Braganza) who is persuaded to betray the not-so-gallant Captain whom she loves. Arrested among a motley assembly of thieves (the comically incompetent Paul Wilson and Simon Jackson) and prostitutes (Louise Horsley, Holly Hughes, Morag Lyle, Matilda Noble and Lucy Wales revealing unexpected talents for lewdness and debauchery!), Macheath is led off to prison. Rescue attempts by both the daughters fail as they come to blows and the Captain (spared in the original but not here) is hanged.

So much for the story, but what makes the show is the music, particularly the way dialogue merges into song, snatches of tune appearing and disappearing like thieves (or lovers) in the night. Andrew Wright, accompanying on (mainly harpsichord) keyboard, with on-stage recorder support from Holly Hughes (plus some most effective cast humming), brought the very best out of the fine voices. Some of the music is tricky - to perform it in character, with accents, keeping each word clear, while drinking/fighting/ seducing and to do so with such evident gusto and enjoyment made the whole performance memorable. The second half had to be an anti-climax, didn't it? Well, no actually. The same only different was the order of the day. The same story, only this time the cast are homeless, spivs, beggars and toms on the streets of London, performing street theatre to earn the price of a cup of tea from Sophia Heaton's Lady Bountiful. Different men (Ben Taylor as a criminally wheeler-dealing Peachum; Junya Iwamoto as an oozingly complacent, bent police inspector Lockit; Alan Crompton, breaking into both banks and bedrooms with total self-centredness, as Macheath); same girls - with Sarah, Louise, Katherine and Maneka all finding ways of making their characters contemporary, and hence emotionally timeless. The political references this time are to Blair and Hague, the cultural ones to Tarrantino, but the point is clearly made that Gay's expose of heartlessness, corruption and social injustice is not confined to any Age but is a commentary on human nature.

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Drama

And the music? Well, still mainly keyboard (piano), but this time with some supporting percussion (Joel Moors), one electronically reproduced piece (courtesy of Paul Wilson) and a whole range of on-stage, clapping, clicking and harmonizing, all under the direction of David Spencer. The first line of each lyric echoed its equivalent in the original but then tended to make its own cross-referencing use of the song from which, appropriately or deliberately inappropriately, its tune had been stolen (it may be some time before certain hymns can be used in Chapel again!). The singing, in both halves, was simply superb surely the strongest in any musical production the school has ever put on. Individual performances were excellent, from old stagers like Simon Whiteley, who has contributed so much to drama both on and off stage in recent years, to new young talent like Louise Foody and Sarah Crompton, who will be the mainstay of productions for many years to come. But this was, first and foremost, an ensemble production with the whole cast on stage all the time, and it was the involvement and commitment of everyone that made the evening so effective. The way that, as a unit, they controlled the mood of the audience, moving from broad comedy and caricature to intensely felt personal emotion; from the easy, feel-good laughter of one moment to a real bitterness at social injustice at the next, made this not just an enjoyable production, but a memorable one. John Gay would surely have recognized this treatment of his masterpiece, and approved.

MIDDLE SCHOOL PLAY-THE CRUCIBLE Arthur Miller's "The Crucible" seems an obvious choice for a middle school play: A good strong story, lots of parts (especially for girls), plenty of individual meaty roles plus opportunity for ensemble playing. It rarely works out like that. For one thing most of the girls' parts are very small - the play is actually (like the society) male centred: Proctor, Hale, Danforth, Parris dominate; then, for a great play, it is often clumsily written with characters introduced and abandoned on stage doing nothing; there is

also the key issue of age - this is a play about adults and children (or rather adults who treat adolescents as children), something almost impossible to communicate working within two year groups; and finally there is that vital ensemble moment of the girls' hysteria when a term's hard work collapses with the audience's giggles. There are perhaps more bad productions of this play going on in schools up and down the country than of any other. I came, therefore, to Maureen Hopkinson's production hoping not to be too embarrassed - I came away overwhelmed. They made the play work. Ultimately that is the only test of a fine production - however good the individual performances or the set or the lighting or the costumes are, if the play doesn't work you've not truly succeeded. From the very first moment the total conviction in all the playing, leads and minor roles alike, created an intensity of atmosphere that gripped the audience throughout. The major parts were all superbly played - Richard Kinneal's anxiously pacing Parris; Tobias Burckhardt's Hale, moving from complacent conviction to agonised self-doubt; Peter Townson's stage dominating Danforth; Ben Noble, in a performance that grew in stature and intensity throughout the evening until his final moment of anguished personal triumph as Proctor. His scenes with Elizabeth were particularly memorable, with Sarah Crompton creating a wonderfully complex character sympathetic, self-doubting and self-righteous all at once. Her stillness and control made an excellent contrast to the constant flashing eye movement of Louise Foody's sexually charged Abigail, controlling and manipulating all around her, particularly Rachael Saxon's frightened but well meaning Mary. In the end though it was the ensemble playing (of a cast of twenty-five, too many alas to mention all by name) rather than the individual performances that left the lasting impression. If a middle-school play

means getting lots of inexperienced young actors on the stage to give them a "go" at drama, then I still think "The Crucible" is not a good selection. If there is talent, commitment, stage-presence and a director with both infinite patience and skill then clearly it is an inspired choice. And the make or break scene - the girls' hysteria in the court? Simply terrifying. Not the hint of a laugh anywhere in the house. Wonderful!

MAUREEN HOPKINSON

During my time at St Peter's I have known several colleagues naTve enough to be talked into producing one middle school play, a couple sufficiently masochistic to have undertaken two, but only one person

with the enthusiasm, commitment and sheer bloody-mindedness to do six. Maureen Hopkinson has transformed the middle-school play from being an occasional training ground for aspiring actors into a regular event of real artistic, as well as educational, value. She has made the highest theatrical demands on her casts Marlowe, Brecht, Shakespeare, as well as modern plays by the deservedly famous (and deservedly obscure!) - and through her dedication (and blind faith) ensured their success. She has decided that "The Crucible" will be her last production - no more will rehearsals reverberate to the cry of "More Energy! More ENERGY!" On behalf of all the members of her impossibly large casts, of the audiences to whom she has given such pleasure and, not least, of myself, for having had someone else to share the agonies and ecstasies of play production with over the years, the very warmest thanks.

I M K Lowe

The Peterite 2000 - 2 0 0 1

I HATE YOU! 'Hate' is a very strong word, misused by many. Personally I prefer to use 'dislike', even though the majority of the time I don't mean that either. 'Hate' shows the disgust, detestation and, obviously, hatred that one feels and when people say, "I hate..." they usually don't mean it to this extent. But I mean every word when I say, "I hate you." I hate the way you always stab me in the back, the way you always manage to rip my dreams apart. I hate the way you always get what I want, that you know I want. I hate the way you parade it in front of me, I hate the look on your face as you do so. I hate the way you come up to tell me you've achieved something, expecting me to be glad for you. I hate the way you expect me to listen to every detail of your life yet you don't spare a thought to listen to me. I hate the way you turn things against me. The things I tell you in confidence always seem to become public knowledge. I hate the way you act friendly to me, then drop me when someone better comes along. I hate the look on your face if I scowl at you, the pathetic, innocent look which only makes me want to scowl harder. I hate the way you expect me to be there, to say the right things but where are you when I need you? I hate the way you hint at things, expecting me to praise you. I hate the way you insult my beliefs, the way you use, then discard, the things and people you know I care about. I hate the way you dampen the few moments of glory I have. I hate the way you scoff at my ideas yet come up with nothing better yourself. The way you always send me that sly look makes me feel sick. I hate the way you look at me, your eyes sliding up and down my figure, then cough in a condescending manner. I hate the way you always manage to nuzzle in on anything good that I've done and ruin it. I hate the way you take credit for my work. I hate the fact that I was the only person to speak to you once, and now you never have enough time for me in your busy social life. I hate the way you always expect me to follow you around. Well, here's some news - I am not a sheep, I don't enjoy trailing your every move. I hate the way you gloat over me if you beat me at something. I hate the way you think you're so clever. I hate the way you shake your head when you laugh. I hate the way you never repay the favours. I hate the way you pretend to be interested in something, then change your mind instantly. I hate the way you always expect me to do the same as you, yet get annoyed if I do better. I hate the way you lie to my face, I can tell when you do it. I can feel even more hatred rising within me when you do it. I hate it when you laugh if others insult me, yet it's unheard of for me to do the same. I hate the way you do that stupid walk, as if you're on the catwalk. I hate it when you don't leave your cutlery in the middle of the plate. I hate it when you look at me in disapproval, you seem to think I don't notice. I hate it when you tell me that I take you for granted. I hate the way you always wear your watch on the wrong wrist, the way it's always my watch you scratch. I hate the way you're never grateful towards me, yet I'm supposed to wait on you hand and foot. I hate the way you always seem to fit in, wherever you are. The way I'm always left standing alone. I hate the way you can casually talk to complete strangers. I hate the way you're so confident about everything you do. I hate the way you toss your hair back when you want to seem angry, the way it always stays neat. I hate the way you never look embarrassed. I hate the way no-one ever picks on you, you're never the victim. I hate the way you roll your eyes at me when you're talking to someone popular, as if you're hating every minute of it. I hate the way you seem to get on with people, you have something in common with almost everyone. The Peterite 2000 - 2 0 0 1

At this point you may think I'm just jealous. But you have to believe me when I say I am not. You don't see the looks people give you behind your back. You don't hear the snide comments they make about you. You see, I'm not jealous of you because I know things you don't. People trust me and tell me things, things about you. We've figured out who you are; a fake, a liar and someone who could never be called a true friend. Out of all this, the thing I hate most about you is this; I hate the way you don't realise how much contempt I have for you. The way you can't see that everyone else feels the same way. I hate you.

E Fishley (Jack Brittain Memorial Prize for Middle School Essay) /// Form

THE SAILOR'S LAST WISH If I should perish and fall into the sea, Honour my name, and do this for me. Scatter my ashes into the chilly sea And as I float on a crested wave I want no tears or grief for me, Or dutiful visits to my ocean grave. Don't bury me beneath the sodden ground: No cold imprisoned tomb for me Or headstone with an earthy mound, That's not the place I want to be. It's where the winds blow fresh and free That I know I will lie content, The seas I love my eternal cemetery. Tomorrow is another day, The past a distant world away. And the waves the only monument to me. If I should perish and fall into the sea, Honour my name and honour my plea. A Mak (John Crook Prize for Poetry) LVI

DROWNED The ship, slowly went down, with us on board, we looked to the sky, nothing Suddenly a noise Up in the deep blue sky, was a helicopter. We shouted for help. Nothing, we shouted once more. Nothing, we were gone. J Troughear /// Form

WHISTLING IN THE DARK I can remember the feeling as if it happened yesterday. The sheer helplessness I felt. My Father was a drunkard when I was a boy. Some nights he would come home and be totally out of his mind. My Mum hated him for it but stayed with him as he was the only source of income for our family. But somehow, even though he was drunk, without fail he came up to my room with 'the belt'. I knew when he was coming as he whistled under his breath. My room was dark and I could not see him enter. There was no point in screaming as my Mum would not try to help me as she knew he would have done something worse to her and me. The dread of him coming into the room was worse than the actual pain. It sounds stupid but it is true. He threatened to kill me if I told anyone. So when I went to school and the teachers asked how I got the marks all over my body, I replied that I had fallen down the stairs. The anger that was bubbling in me just made me want to die. One day I came back from school, I entered the house and noticed it was eerily quiet. The creaking floorboards amplified the stillness as I walked around trying to avoid my Mum. I found her in a corner of the kitchen. She was trembling and her eyes were brick red in colour. "He's gone!" she said, almost inaudibly. It took a moment for me to realise she was talking about my Dad. I did not know what to say. A thousand thoughts shot through my head: did it mean no more beating, no more drunkard in the house, no more misery? I know the answer was plain, yes, but at the time it wasn't. Somehow he was still in the house - his spirit - even though he was not dead. That feeling never left me while I was in the house so my Mum decided to make a fresh start somewhere else. She re-married and I had true loving parents. I forgot about the past - the endless fear and pain. I thrived at school and did well in all my major exams. Life could not have been better! It was time to go to university and I was greatly looking forward to it. An opportunity to meet new people and make new friends was now open to me. So, I went; Nottingham to be precise. It was exactly what I had expected yet not what I had expected at all. There was a buzzing atmosphere of keen people who were eager to learn. I kept in regular contact with my parents and I visited them regularly. But this only made worse what happened next. I was walking along a corridor going from one lecture to the other. I walked past my pigeon hole and I saw there was a note in it. It said, 'Go to the Principal's office immediately on reading this', therefore I did and on the way there I was delving deep into my thoughts trying to predict what the Principal was going to say. I arrived at the door to the office and made two sharp knocks on the door. I was instructed to enter and to sit down. "I'm afraid I have some bad new for you". I had not yet thought what it was about. "Your parents were in a car crash today and they died on impact. I'm very sorry. Do you want me to leave you?" My mind was blank. I hadn't thought of this. I did not reply but the Principal left anyway. I had been crushed in some way. They were my only reasons for living. I needed them; I needed them. Remembering the feeling still makes me weep today. Weeks past and I had taken time off work to come to terms with the news. The whole structure of my mind collapsed and I could not think straight. I felt no happiness at all, even when my friends tried to help. I had sunk into a 'black hole' to the point of no return. I felt as though I was being dragged down and I could not escape. I regularly walked around the city centre trying to take my mind off things. It was two days ago that I was sitting on a bench in a small square. People were walking past me carrying on with their busy productive lives. Then, suddenly, all the sound stopped and it was as if time slowed down. But then I could hear a faint sound - a distant echo of some long forgotten memory. Somebody was whistling under their breath. It was my Father, or at least it sounded like him. The darkness and agony of my childhood flooded back and the memories came as well.

I looked around trying to find him but he was nowhere. The sound around me started again but I could still hear the whistling. I had to find him! I felt my mind whizzing around and then I collapsed. The next thing I remember was waking up in my bed in the university campus. I don't know how I got back. The whistling had gone but the wake it has left behind had not and it would not It was as if hearing the whistling destroyed the happiness of the years without my Father. I recessed into a state of severe depression and am still in it now. The sound of the whistling comes back occasionally, seeming to pull me down deeper into my past. I cannot live with this. I know I will never recover from it and nothing can heal the scar that has been re-opened. Now my thoughts are on paper I can end my suffering. The pain and agony will go and I will be at peace. I bring my death on myself and nobody should blame themselves for it - save my Father. Goodbye! B Noble (Jack Brittain Memorial Prize for Middle School Essay) IV Form

THE OLD RUSTING TANK He sits on the tank, He stays there. He plays there now, He is often bored The old Soviet tank is now just a toy, for this very small young boy. These old rusting bolts are all that remains of this fallen Union. JKnox /// Form

R.A. F. Rank: Flight Commander Tag No: 384650 Climb in the cockpit. Start up the brand new engine. Zoom up the runway. Fly high in the air. You soar in the air so fast. You see something approach. The happiness ends. You see something approach. Locks you on target. It opens fire on you. The engines begin to burn. The rotors stop moving. A Nicholson /// Form

The Peterite 2000 - 2001

THE ROADTOTREBLINKA We were herded like sheep onto the platform, waiting to be put into the cattle wagons. We've been told that we were going to be relocated and frankly I was willing to believe it since anywhere was better than living in the Ghettos. For the two months that my family had been made to live there we had to share a room with eight other families. We had such a poor diet to live on that my mother was in a bad way and she was not holding up well. All we had with us were the clothes on our backs and a small bag containing some stale bread. The SS guards patrolled up and down the platform. Each move that they made looked as though it had been carefully orchestrated. The engineers were filling the train's boiler with water as the SS guard started to open the sliding door of the cattle wagons which we stood in front of. The door screeched like a Banshee as it opened. It sent a cold chill straight down my spine that filled me with terror but I soon dismissed this when I thought why we were getting on the train in the first place. The order was given for us to get onto the train. We did so until we thought it was full, but the soldiers managed to squeeze another fifteen or so people inside. As the door was shut the wagon filled with darkness. I was lucky to be near a gap it the side of the wagon which I could see a great deal from. We had not even set off for our new homes in Poland when some people started to complain about the cramped conditions and the lack of fresh air. I was one of the lucky ones because the gap that I was stood next too supplied me with a plentiful amount of air. We started to move after half an hour. We made our way though the branch lines until we reached what seemed to be the main line. Every now and again a troop train would pass us, but the main bulk of the trains on the line were supply trains. We stopped after about four hours and everybody thought that we had reached our destination. However I could see what was really happening. The steam engine had been uncoupled from the wagons and we had been left in a siding until it was convenient for us to carry on with our journey. As the days passed we were one of the lucky families that had something to eat. The other families just sat there on the floor of the wagon slowly starving to death. We were in that siding for another three days. The only drinking water that we had was some snow that was starting to defrost on the roof of the cattle wagon. After five days of being left in that siding we all felt the shunt of the steam engine as it hitched back up to the wagons. I was getting hungry but we had given the remaining bread to mother to try and build up some of her strength. She could not stand up and all she had to lie on was a thin woollen blanket that she had wrapped around her. One of the men in the wagon with us was a former doctor and his opinion was that unless that we got her out of the wagon then hypothermia and eventually frostbite would set in on her. We carried on down the main line until we branched off onto a long straight line. I could see farmers making gestures towards us that we were going to die but I was so cold I did not pay any attention to them. We passed under some sort of guard tower, which looked to be the entrance to some sort of prison complex. The train pulled up at a platform and the doors were unlocked and opened but nobody got out. We all wanted to get out of that damned wagon but none of use were brave enough to make the dash to freedom, or so it seemed. The few minutes that we were stood there felt like hours until this awkward moment was ended by a storm trooper who directed us off with his rifle.

The Peteritc 2000 - 2 0 0 1

Once we were all on the platform we were ushered into a large courtyard. We were addressed by a tall man dressed in a black trench coat. He said that we were at a disinfecting centre and after we had been cleaned up we would be sent on our way to our new homes In Poland. We were told to split up in two groups. Men, women and children and disabled. I was reluctant to leave my father but I knew that he could look after himself and I knew that mother needed me more. So we said our goodbyes and promised to see each other in as little time as possible. We spent the rest of the night out in the courtyard under the stars. It was bitterly cold and mother's condition was getting worse. The next morning we were told that we were going to be put to work until it was our turn to be showered. We were marched outside the main gates to a rock pile where we cracked rocks. This work seemed to take my mind off the fact that I was so hungry. Suddenly mother collapsed. One other as well as myself rushed to help her. This came to the attention of the guards so they came over and took my mother to the camp hospital where they said they would look after her. I missed my mum as the day went on but I knew that she was in the best place. In the early evening the area surrounding the camp came under heavy shelling, but it eventually stopped and I tried to get some sleep. The next morning I woke up and there where no guards to be seen anywhere. All the cars had gone, the machine gun nests stood empty they had gone, every single one of them. In theory we were free but the gates had been welded shut and surrounded by razor wire. We were trapped, left to slowly starve. Over the next couple of days the gunfire got steadily louder and louder. Until it seemed as though the bullets themselves were ricocheting off the wire fencing. That afternoon there was aloud crashing noise at the main gate a U.S. army bulldozer was beginning to clear the barbed wire away from the gate. When it had cleared a big enough hole through the gate a soldier popped his head around the corner with his rife at his shoulder. We all let out a great shout of joy. This seemed to startle the battle-hardened soldier. After this more soldiers flooded in to the courtyard. We were free. I started my search for my parents. I left the courtyard and entered another part of the camp. I saw the most terrible thing. A pile of dead bodies, which were all men. Then it suddenly hit me what had happened to my father. I ran as far as I could telling myself again and again that dad would have got out ok. I stopped next to a tree and then it hit me what I had actually seen. I was sick but because I had had nothing to eat for a number of days I just passed up a load of digestive juices which burnt the back of my mouth. I carried on my search for my mother. I entered a small building that I believed to be the medical centre. I searched for my mother. Until I found her. She was laid on a bed with a sheet covering her body from the neck down. I reached out for her hand, it was still warm but she was not moving. I removed the sheet and discovered her stomach had been operated on but the wound had just been left open. I fell to my knees. All I had left in the world had gone. I was left with nothing. T Fife V Form

Mr AW ELLIS-DAVIS BSc University College of North Wales Mr M HALL BSc Edinburgh MrNAMATKIN BSc Leeds MRRDTILDESLEY BSc Birmingham MSc York Mr D J WATKINSON BSc Sheffield Mrs M C WIKE 8Sc Loughborough

SENIOR COMMON ROOM 2000/2001 Head Master MrAFTROTMAN JP MA Bal I iol College Oxford

Modern Languages

Deputy Head Master Mr R C PERRY BEd. Glasgow Mid.

Mr C A HODSDON BA Lancaster, Head of Department MrsjBAINBRIDGE BA Durham MR MJ DUFFY BA Stirling PGCE Mr M J GRANT BA Manchester Polytechnic Mr D KIRBY MA Emmanuel College, Cambridge, Head of German Mr J W 6 SHAW BA Leeds

Stirling

Director of Studies Mr D J WATKtNSQN BSc Sheffield

Senior Chaplain

Music

The Revd J DALY MA Fitzwiltiam College Cambridge

Art Miss 6 TERRY 8A Falraouth School of Art; MA Birmingham College of Art, Head of Department Mr C W HALL MA Leeds Metropolitan Miss L BASS MA Caroberwell Art College Miss M 6RE6ERSEN 8A Camberwell Art College

Mr A P WRIGHT B Mus London LRAM, Head of Department MrJPENNINGTON BMus London MrCBlOOD ARCM Cert Aelv Study Royal College of Music London Mrs M K LAMB LRAM Royal College of Music, Head of String Studies

Physical Education and Games Mr M JOHNSTON BA Newcastle Mrs W M SHEPHERD CertEd Bedford College of Physical Education Mrs P A FLETCHER CertEd Coventry College of Education

Biology Mr MC LAWRENCE MA Selwyn College Cambridge, Head of Department MrMAMONTEITH BSc Newcastle Mr PJ STEPHEN BEd Durham Mr AT JAMES MSc (York) BSc (Bath)

Physics Mr D K MORRIS BSc Liverpool, Head of Department Mr MA EDWARDS BSc Durham Mr R H HUBBARD BSc Manchester MrAWROSERSON MA York

Careers Mr R H HUBBARD BSc Manchester, Head of Department

Religious Studies

Chemistry

The Revd J DALY MA Fitzwilliam College Cambridge Mrs S WATKINSON BA Nottingham

Mr P D NORTHRELD BSc Manchester CChem FRSC, Head of Department Mr I HLANCASTER BSc Birmingham Mr R G SHREAD BTech Bradford; MSc York; FVCM

Technology MrMDAWSON CertEd St John's College York, Head of Department Mr R WALLACE BSc Surrey

Classics

Librarian

Mr P TAYLOR BA Liverpool MA Liverpool, Head of Department Miss E ELLIS BA Corps Christ! College Oxford

MwAPedfey MA Newnham College Cambridge ALA

Economics/Business Studies

Archivist

Mr A SEVERN BA York, Head of Department Mr R W DOYLE BSc Cardiff MR M PAINTER BA York PGCE

• ; ' ' , ' • : i;:

English Mr R i BUICOCK MA St Peter's College Oxford, Head of Department Mrs S M GAIR MA York Mrs M HOPKINSON MA London Mr D J HUSHES BA York Mr I M K LQWE BA York Mr J A OWEN-8ARNEFT BA (Open); CertEd Borough Road College Middlesex

Geography Mr D M PATERSON BA Durham, Head of Department Miss A M LOWTHiR BA, Exeter MrsATOOBY-SMlTH BA Aberystwyth

Government and Politics

Mr P C TAYLOR BA Durham, Head of Department Mr R C PERRY BEd Glasgow M.Ed. Stirling Miss A LEWIS BA Durham

CHANGES TO THE SENIOR COMMON ROOM 2000/2001 Departures: Mr R J BULCOCK MA St. Peter's College Oxford Miss M 6REGERSEN BA Camberwell Art College Mr AT JAMES MSc (York) BSc (Bath) Mr D KIRBY MA Emmanuel College Cambridge Miss A M LOWTHER BA Exeter Major MA LODGE BA Lancaster

New Arrivals: Miss J CAWSEY MA Royal College of Art London Artist in residence

Miss S J HALL MSc Newcastle PGCE Geography MrsJMHOUGHTON BA Bath P6CE Dr R H HOCKENHULL iSc PhD London PGCE Biology

Information Technology

Mr D J SPENCER BSc Leeds, Head of Department

We gathered on a chilly evening towards the end of the summer term to mark the departure of several colleagues. David Kirby and John Bulcock retired with over seventy years of distinguished service between them; in addition to their teaching, both were day and boarding Housemasters, and both made an outstanding contribution in the extra-curricular sphere. At their presentation, it was also good to be able to acknowledge the contribution of their wives, Anna and Anne, to the school community over the years. Tributes to David and John appear separately.

MrsPGARBUTT BA Leeds PGCE History

Mr R C 6 DRY5DAUE MA St. Andrews, Head of Department Mr R C PERRY BEd Glasgow M.Ed. Stirling Miss A LEWIS 8A Durham

Mr M fi T JONES Cert Ed Brttton Hall College of Higher Education, Head of Department

There were several additions to the social calendar, including a quiz and a football match against Yarm School. The cricket match against recent Old Peterites produced an exciting finish, and the tennis players among us encountered a very strong school team!

Mr J V Mitchell Cert Ed

History

Mathematics

At the start of the year, we welcomed Anna Lewis (History and Politics) and Michael Painter (Business Studies and Economics). Al looms, to whom a tribute appears elsewhere, retired during the Christmas Term after many years of dedicated service to St Peter's; we welcome Stewart Howman as his replacement. We also said goodbye to Violet Addison, who for so many years looked after our catering needs: our best wishes go with Vi for a long and healthy retirement. During the course of the year, it was a great pleasure to congratulate the Wallace, Pennington, Spencer and Edwards families on the birth of Hal, Hannah, Eleanor and Harriet respectively.

Modern Languages

Miss A MOORE BA Nottingham PGCE Modern Languages Mr AM MURRAY MA Glasgow PGCE English Mrs L STARK BSc Leeds Chemistry

The Peterite 2000 - 2001

The departure of Arbell Lowther deprives the common room of one of its colourful characters. Arbell's contribution to St Peter's is acknowledged elsewhere in this publication; we wish her and Mark every happiness in Barcelona. Few of us will forget her touching speech that evening and her address at the Leavers' Service. Mark Lodge takes up a new appointment at Ampleforth College from September: we wish Mark, Jackie and Edward every happiness. We also said goodbye to Terry James, who has been helping in the Biology Department on a parttime basis. In a short time Terry made many friends at St Peter's and treated us to some typically entertaining thoughts on the evening of his presentation. Maya Gregersen, Artist in Residence, moves on to start a course in Art Therapy at Sheffield, but not until completing the expedition to Ecuador over the summer. Also among our leavers was Rob Jeffs, who very kindly agreed to return to the staff to provide cover for absence during the summer term. The summer term also saw the end of John and Ann Owen-Barnett's time in boarding. Their dedication to Linton over the years was acknowledged on the final day of term by many members of Linton, past and present. Our best wishes to Rob and Sian Doyle as they take on this key position.

DAVID AN DAMN A KIRBY David Kirby has been associated with St Peter's, as both pupil and teacher, for half a century. Rarely, if ever, has one individual given so much to a single institution, in that he succeeded in making a contribution to virtually all aspects of school life - sporting, academic, administrative and pastoral always with uniformly positive and productive outcomes, and always in his characteristic straightforward, unassuming manner. His personal achievements are hard to list, both at St Peter's and elsewhere. He was Head of School, five years in the 1st XI cricket, as well as 1st XI hockey and 1st XV rugby, Captain of Cambridge University cricket, Captain of Leicestershire. As a teacher at the school, David was Head of the German department and a teacher of French. He gained excellent results throughout his career, and many generations of Peterites have benefited from his tutelage; it is typical of him that the less able prosper in his classes. As Housemaster of Queen's and then the Rise, David set high standards and placed trust in the pupils in his care. No house had a greater spirit than the Rise. Firm but fair, he always had the respect of his charges. Finally, David's contribution to the sporting life of the school has been immense. Master in charge of cricket for many years, he organised the first cricket tours and was instrumental in setting up the six-school festival. It was recently calculated that he has dedicated over twelve thousand hours to cricket in the school. A fine squash player himself, it is often forgotten, given his accomplishments in cricket, that David coached the school team to national finals, with at least two players representing their country, and one becoming a full-time professional player. He also coached many successful rugby fifteens and was a formidable referee.

Finally, a separate tribute appears in this publication to John Mitchell. John died during the summer term after bearing several years of illness with great fortitude and good humour. Although for most of his career he was more closely associated with St Olave's, on his retirement from teaching he became firstly Librarian, then Archivist of St Peter's. He will be remembered with affection. P Taylor

The Peterite 2000 - 2 0 0 I

a love of the game, an appreciation of its spirit and complexities, and the ability to play it well. However, in addition to this, it should be said that gratitude will also be felt by his fellow members of staff, who over a nearly forty year period have come to see him as a kind and thoughtful man, a generous colleague, and most importantly,

It is also only fitting to note the role of Anna, David's wife, as the source of constant support of David throughout his time in the school. This was especially the case during their time in the Rise, when her influence on the shaping of a successful and happy house was invaluable, let alone her contribution throughout all his other teaching and sporting endeavours. There is no doubt that gratitude for David's time at St Peter's will be expressed by pupils to whom he taught languages and for whom he was a housemaster, whose lives he helped shape, whose respect he earned, and who are better men and women for having been in his care. Likewise, that gratitude will be expressed by the generations of cricketers he coached, in whom he instilled

the kind of moral and professional compass that all staff-rooms need if the school itself is to prosper. It would be hard to overstate David's influence on St Peter's in the time that he has been here, and fortunately he is not cutting all ties but will continue to be in charge of school cricket. Even if this were not the case, it is said that a person continues to be present in a place as long as the memory of their contribution and accomplishments are part of the collective consciousness, and for David Kirby at St Peter's, that will be a very long time indeed. M W Johnston

JOHN AND ANNE BULCOCK Appointed to St Peter's September 1966 from Bromsgrove School Head of English 1972-2001 Housemaster of Temple 1980-1984 Housemaster of the Manor 1984 - 1994 Officer Commanding CCF 1980 - 1991 The following words were spoken by Paddy Stephen on 21 June 2001 at the presentation for those leaving the Common Room. "When Peter asked me if I would say a few words on this occasion I felt really honoured. John has been a very special colleague both to me personally and to us all. He has done it all, from umpiring the 2nd XI in both hockey and cricket to taking thirteen trips to the Sahara, from Head of Department to Housemaster, from Commander of the CCF and shooting

coach to video cameraman for the 1st XV. John is one of the old type of school master who saw his work as a way of life.

Pupils and colleagues have hugely benefited from his sage words and real probity over the years. When John and Anne took over the Manor in 1984 after the house had suffered badly during a disastrous three-year interregnum I was assistant in Dronfield. I will never forget Barry Daniel's words at the time, The Berlin Wall of standards has just come down'. John and Anne managed to sort the house out and develop an outstanding house spirit that Liz and I were very lucky to inherit. His one piece of advice as we took over was, 'If they tell you that I used to allow them to do X, and why are you not doing the same? tell them that you have my telephone number and really think that you ought to check!' This was tested on our very first night and the shock on Jimmy Miles' face as I lifted the phone stays with me to this day. Liz and I would like to thank both John and Anne for their huge support over the last seven years.

taught: a recent Cambridge graduate writes about 'how much we had benefited from his teaching'. This ability to relate to his pupils was put fully into perspective when four of our very brightest leavers (Alistair, Charlotte, Ben and Doug) chose last Easter to organise with John a journey into the Sahara. From Oxford graduate, triple half-blue and Captain, to Head of Department and Housemaster, John has had a truly outstanding career. However I am sure that he would be the first to admit that over the past twenty years none of this would have been possible without the support and love of Anne. Anne was a huge part of the success of the Manor and has remained so supportive after leaving. Her understanding of the requirements of a place like this is total, and without it John and all of us would have lost out. We say goodbye to a tremendous colleague and a great friend." P J Stephen

However it is to English that I return to end this brief tour through John's career. He remains an outstanding teacher of English as both his results and the enthusiasm of his pupils bear witness. That John has always loved teaching English is obvious, and this enjoyment has rubbed off on many of those he

We wish her every success as she moves abroad to live in Barcelona. Coach loads on future choir tours will find, no doubt, a generous welcome when they stop off for tea and will be able to keep us up to date with her progress. D M Paterson

HATOOMS Al Tooms joined St Peter's School in 1978 as SSI to the CCF. At the time the thinking was that the CCF had but a little time to run. In reality, however, Al went on to be Contingent Commander until his retirement in October 2000 and the Contingent flourished, attracting quality cadets and officers.

ARBELL LOWTHER Arbell Lowther joined the Geography Department in January 1996 after a career that involved working for Merchant Ivory Films, being a partner in a set design company and three years teaching at Fyling Hall School. A cycle trip during her holidays from the north to the south of India during the monsoon was symptomatic of the determination and practical love of geography she brought to the job.

As Commander of the CCF John was tremendous, as all those who shared a summer camp with him will testify. His love of thunder flashes (JAOB in the woods at Sennybridge!), careering 4-ton lorries, huge smoke bombs and the officers' whiskey tastings - all bring back great memories. His success as Commander was documented in his final inspection report which described the contingent as being 'the strongest CCF in the North East of England'. That John has given of his best on the extracurricular programme throughout his time here indicates again his commitment to the pupils and their whole education. His trips to the Sahara were the highlight of many pupils' careers here. Certainly they were responsible for generating tremendous PR and recruiting more than one pupil to the school. For those who thought they were over, John's recent knee injury is evidence that they are alive again!

gotten particularly for those who arrived late! Her Hardworking and Extrovert personality made her a teacher who will be Remembered by staff and pupils in years to come!

Those familiar with mnemonics may well find the following of interest. Room C's high ceiling required a teacher with a Loud voice - a quality frequently remarked upon by those within and without the room. The Outstanding A Level results of the last few years reflected the hard work and drive Arbell put into her teaching as a part of the team. A Wide range of interests ranging from rugby, cross country, hockey, CCF, the Beverley 10k run, daily walks, drama and music marked her out as a member of staff willing to participate fully in the busy life of the school. In particular her contribution to the Pirates of Penzance will live long in the memory. It would be fair to say that at times she was known to be possibly more Temperamental than other staff. Some lessons were experiences not to be for-

Al's contribution the School extended beyond the CCF. In his other role as stationery supplier, staff and students could depend on him for their needs and it was in his stationery store that Al had time for everyone. Whether you wanted to share a joke or you needed a shoulder to cry on, Al would listen and laugh or sympathize or advise. That was one of his very special talents. Even after the sad loss of his dear Mary, Al carried on listening to others. Al was always keen on sport and particularly his soccer. He could not only talk a good game but he could play it too (with pupils and staff), and until recently was giving master classes in footwork. Latterly he took up golf - a real test of his patience - and this gave him more opportunity to spend time with his colleagues and friends. As a traveller Al's experience came from his period in the army, but during his time at St Peter's he was involved for many years driving a mini-bus to North Africa on John Bulcock's much chronicled expeditions to the Sahara. Al was an assistant in the Grove for a number of years and, though never a classroom teacher, was readily acknowledged as a member of the Senior Common Room. We will always remember him for his patience, friendship and wisdom, and all of us will want to wish him a happy and peaceful retirement. M J Grant The Peterite 2000 - 2001

QUEEN ANNE SCHOOL

THE ACQUISITION OF QUEEN ANNE SCHOOL

The purchase of Queen Anne School provided a tremendous opportunity for the School to re-shape the campus for St Peter's, St Olave's and Clifton Prep Schools. In the summer of my first year at St Peter's in 1996, I had the pleasure of welcoming to the School the then Professor of Architecture at the University of York, Professor Waddington. He had been very much involved in the restoration and re-configuration of the University site at King's Manor. At that stage, Clifton Prep School had only just been purchased and was still 'ring-fenced' from the whole operation and management of St Peter's and St Olave's. The question that we were to address was, given the constraints of our present buildings within a conservation area, how did the present, campus meet our current needs and anticipated needs for the future?

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A group comprising management of the Schools and Governors commissioned a firm of architects to prepare a site audit for us to help address that question. At that stage, Queen Anne School was still fully in operation and our thoughts were confined to making best use of our current space together with the planning of new buildings. After a long period of consultation, their proposal came up with a number of sensible solutions as well as genuine challenges for us for the future. Among the points that we were to address were: the need to find better accommodation for Clifton Prep School; the need for more classroom space for St Peter's and St Olave's; the need for better accommodation for Art in St Peter's and St Olave's; the need for more changing facilities; the need for more playing fields; the need to avoid excessive use of the dining hall at lunch time; the need for better accommodation for junior boarding and the need for better performance space for concerts or lectures. The Peterite 2000 - 2 0 0 I

In response, the School was able to move forward immediately in two areas. More classrooms were created in the top of the White House by moving the Sanatorium. A new junior boarding house for girls was built on to the existing house at Wentworth together with renovations of the existing house. Finally, a new classroom block was planned for St Peter's and planning permission sought for a new building next to the modern Science building. Outline plans were made for an Art and Design building with changing rooms on the ground floor to fill in the gap between the Chilman Building and the Sports Hall. Planning permission was refused on the new classroom block which was to house teaching for the English department, Classics department and Business Studies. Having overcome the disappointment of planning refusal, just as the contractors were about to begin re-drafting plans, the news came that the City of York Council was considering seriously the closure of Queen Anne School. On the 11th August 1999 (the day of the solar eclipse), a group of Governors together with some members of my management team were invited to visit Queen Anne School to see if we would be interested in making a bid. There were, obviously, other interested parties including other schools, higher education establishments, hospitals and building contractors. We were asked to submit our bid by the 7th January 2000. Bids were requested to be re-drawn by April 2000 following the listing of some buildings on the Queen Anne site and a long period of negotiation and consultation began. The site finally became our property at Easter 2001. A F Trotman

Old Peterites will already know of»the School's success in purchasing the site of the former Queen Anne School from the City of York Council in March of this year. Acquisition will permit the St Peter's campus to be extended towards the River Ouse and will broaden the School prospect as well as providing much needed extra space and the opportunity to expand those parts of the school which are currently very cramped. As a result, St Olave's will move onto the former Queen Anne site along with the St Peter's Art Department and the Biology Department while Clifton Prep School will replace St Olave's in the White House and the Chilman Building. Properties in the Avenue owned by the school will be sold off. Articles elsewhere will explain how the campus is to be reconfigured in time for the beginning of the new school year on 3rd September. The purpose of this brief article is to record the thanks of the School and everybody else associated with St Peter's for the tireless efforts of those governors most closely associated with the purchase, negotiations for which were both long drawn out and at times very time consuming. I don't believe that it would be an exaggeration to say that, were it not for the dedication, hard work and sheer professional competence of those governors most closely involved in the negotiations, the school might well have failed in its endeavour to purchase the site. While a number of governors were closely involved, two in particular made an overwhelming contribution and it is entirely appropriate to record the key involvement of Nicholas Shepherd and Richard Wood, both Old Peterites. We all owe them a great debt of gratitude. M Naylor Chairman of Governors

ctivites young cadet to convey his gratitude in writing.

ST PETER'S SCHOOL FOUNDATION

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'Securing the Future' The creation of a network - a focal point bringing together current parents, former parents, Old Peterites and well-wishers of the School. A group whose enthusiasm and support for the School will help maintain its growth and success and secure its future.' The Foundation will work for constant improvements and enhancement to St Peters, St Olave's and Clifton Prep School. The main areas to be considered are: •

Improvement and enhancement of facilities by the creation of a fund that will allow for timely investment in resources in all areas of the School.

•

The building of scholarship and bursary fund

A Development Office has been established on the ground floor of the recently renamed Denison House. Mrs Tory Gillingham has been appointed as the first Foundation Manager and since she took up her post in March a number of initiatives are already under way. A flyer giving outline details of the main aims and objectives of the Foundation has been sent to all current parents, new parents, leaving parents, Old Peterites, staff and governors. The response to the flyer has been very encouraging with replies received from all groups and from all over the world. Old Peterites have been asked to update us with their news and achievements since leaving the school - again there has been a tremendous response to these questionnaires. The Foundation now looks forward to announcing development projects that might attract Foundation support. In the meantime, Mrs Tory Gillingham, the Foundation Manager, will be very pleased to explain to you, in more detail, any aspect of the Foundation and its activities. Mrs Gillingham can be contacted on: 01904623213 Ext. 462 E-Mail: torygillingham@st-peters-school-foundation.co.uk

CCF REPORT 2000/01 Seul le premier pas coute The RAF section of the CCF has just returned from its summer camp at RAF Cosford. This is the RAF's main trade training station and its motto (quoted above) duly reflects much about the CCF and in particular during this year when this contingent has undergone considerable change. The fact that the Army

Ironically this was the last use we would get of Strensall prior to the rearranged Army Summer Camp. The outbreak of FMD forced us to rethink the Contingent Field Day which was carried out on the School grounds in the immediate vicinity of the rifle range. Shooting was also a victim of FMD this year. Sadly the unavailability of full-bore ranges and subsequent lack of practice meant that we were too ill prepared to send a team to Bisley. Nevertheless cadets of both sections were eventually able to take up arms on the ranges on their Summer Camps. In spite of lack of practice J/Cpl Chalmers confirmed his place as next year's captain of shooting by being awarded his RAF marksman's badge. At Strensall Cdt Fielder was awarded champion shot.

section has now returned from its camp at Strensall and not Wathgill is indicative of the initiatives that the Army has been forced to adopt to ensure that cadets could go on summer camp at all. Lt Col Al Tooms retired in October. Much has already been quoted about his efforts and commitment to the CCF during his 22 years at the school and I am very grateful for his wisdom and advice not only during the handover period but also throughout my association with the CCF. As SSI 2Lt S Howman was appointed and if ever the above motto was appropriate then here it most certainly is. He has worked tirelessly to reorganise both the fabric of the buildings and the syllabus of training and given inspiration to the cadets in what he has said and done. This kind of enthusiasm will ensure the continued success of the contingent at St Peter's. And what of the cadets? JUO Sam Brown was an example to all this year and his efforts were rewarded at Prizegiving. Under his guidance the training programmes were carried out effectively. He was at all times willing to go round and oversee the training of all cadets both Army and RAF. The recruit cadre quickly learned the new skills necessary to complete the first stage of their training. On 5 November six cadets were invited to attend the Festival of Remembrance at the Barbican Centre, York, in order to sell Union flags to those attending the evening. These were JUO Brown, Sgt Hazelrigg, Sgt Hudson, Cpl Leung, Cdt Noble and Cdt Peeroo. The Christmas term finished on a high note. On Sunday 3 December fifty-one cadets participated in Exercise Final Fling, a voluntary field training day at Strensall Training Area. Blessed with cold but sunny weather, training was given in field manoeuvres, map reading, signals, camp craft and field craft. In these wintry conditions the senior cadets had to work hard and learn quickly that the recruit cadets were going to lose interest rapidly if the delivery and execution of the tasks was not sharp and effective. It was a great day and nobody will forget Sgt Walker's role as Mr Too Much. School children are generally very good at offering their thanks for such activities but the impact of this Field Day encouraged one

During the Summer Term RAF cadets enjoyed the opportunity to fly in the Grob Tutor at RAF Church Fenton. There has been considerable achievement by RAF cadets this year. Under the instruction of Sgt Haigh, Cpl Hancock and Cpl Shrimpton cadets were entered for Pt 2 and Advanced Training tests. Some fare well and score very high marks and many do far better than they anticipate. This is the case with all CCF activities. Congratulations to Cdt Townsend on her efforts and achievement throughout the year and particularly to Cadets Burkhardt and Lewis who were nominated most improved cadet at their respective summer camps. There are many activities available, many of which are very different to anything that cadets have tried in the past. It can be a daunting prospect climbing into the cockpit of a two-seater aircraft or taking control of the L98 Cadet GP rifle. Ultimately there is a great deal to be gained from the CCF, but as so often is the case it is the first step which is the hardest. Seul le premier pas coute. Sqn Ldr M J Grant VR(T)

The Peterite 2000 - 2 0 0 I

COMMUNITY SERVICE REPORT 2000-2001 This year has seen change and innovation in the community service programme, as well as encouraging long standing commitments to flourish; the main message, though, has stayed the same: your time is a very important gift, and we encourage everyone to give a little bit of time and effort, however busy they might be.

The term got off to an excellent start with our contribution to the World's Biggest Coffee Morning for Macmillan Cancer Relief. The senior school team sold coffee, juice and homemade cakes during morning break, and everyone helped to make the event a success. We were very grateful for the donations of cakes from the kitchen staff, pupils and parents, and delighted that the Friends of St Peter's were able to help on the day. We raised over £200 in just 20 minutes and decided that we should aim even higher next September. As Christmas approached we waited to hear from our usual contact about how we could help with the Bosnian Orphanage Appeal. Sadly, visas and red tape prevented her from going this year, so we kept our efforts at a more local level and decided to donate Christmas gifts to elderly patients in York District Hospital. There was a frenzy of collecting, wrapping and packing so that just before Christmas we were able to deliver nearly 200 parcels to the nurses for Santa to hand out on Christmas Day. Judging by the wonderful letters which came in afterwards, the gifts were really well received. Christmas also saw the highlight of the Community Service calendar with the annual Christmas party for the local elderly. This year it was a fantastic success with a record number of guests from Fothergil, Guardian Court, and other local residential units. The Third and Fourth Year pupils decorated the Memorial Hall and filled take-home gift bags, and we all enjoyed tea, party games, and entertainment from a large number of pupils and staff. There

was an exciting bingo session with very special guest appearance from Miss Isabel Hall who kindly agreed to present the prizes. It is very difficult to say whether the hosts or the guests enjoyed themselves more, but we can be sure of a queue for tickets next year. February brought fund raising and a lot of fun from a new venture organised with great imagination and aplomb by Miss Lewis and Miss Bass. The whole school was invited to pay for the pleasure of sending a 'last Rolo' (anonymously of course), beautifully gift wrapped, to the person of their choice, on Valentine's Day. A great deal of money was raised and enormous effort went into the wrapping, delivery and secrecy surrounding the much-coveted chocolates. Red Nose Day in March proved to be even more popular than before. The entire campus voted to dress in peculiar clothes, wear weird undergarments over their trousers, and generally make a spectacle of themselves in aid of charity. Lunchtime saw the Senior School assembled for our very own version of 'Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?' with money represented by Smarties and pupils who were unsure of the answers needing to 'ask the Headmaster' instead of phoning a friend. We raised over £1,700 across the whole campus, and really enjoyed the day. We have of course kept up our usual, very much valued contacts. Despite the pressure of the new AS level curriculum, pupils have thrown themselves into volunteer work with special needs groups at Northfield School and the Wilberforce Home for the Handicapped Blind, helped with children's' creches and touch typing and swimming classes, run clubs for younger children and responded promptly to local appeals of all kinds. There was a super talent show organised by Nick Rusling and Callan Murray-Hocking in the Summer Term, with entries ranging from rock bands to ventriloquists - and an interesting group of singing vicars bearing a very close resemblance to certain members of staff. A substantial cheque was sent to SNAPPY to help fund special needs play provision in York. On the subject of SNAPPY, we are delighted to be able to welcome them for three weeks in the summer holidays this year, when they will use our buildings, grounds and facilities for their play schemes. We hope that this will be the first of many such initiatives. We have also made very interesting and valuable contacts this year with Minster Lions, thanks to Mr Gordon Harrison who has been the inspiration behind several pilot schemes and opportunities for our pupils. We are always ready to respond to the next challenge. We are always keen to encourage pupils to give time and energy. We are of course indebted to parents and friends for their support and we look forward to even more projects next year.

THE POLITICS SOCIETY It was a great honour this year to welcome Lord Hurd, the former Conservative Foreign Secretary, to address the Society, On a memorable evening in the School Chapel, Lord Hurd spoke openly about his career, took questions and spent considerable time chatting individually with pupils. He is clearly a gentleman who commands respect unlike many of the current generation who try to demand it. Equally impressive, however, was the ability of our pupils to talk to him maturely, seemingly unfazed by his career.

We also welcomed John Greenway, the Conservative MP for Ryedale. His address was typically robust. It is always enjoyable to listen to a politician with conviction; clearly the voters agreed on June 7th. A very different visitor addressed the Society in the Summer Term. Major Tim Warrington, Old Peterite, has led a Gurkha regiment in East Timor and Sierra Leone. His address in the new Lecture Theatre was extremely impressive; probably the most articulate and interesting in my time at the School.

I would like to thank not only our speakers for their time, but also our pupils for their input and interest. P C Taylor

J Bainbridge

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=RMIQUIZ Kr Morris, Physics epartment, invites ilutions to the Fermi uiz printed below.

14 9

To those who are unsure what I mean I strongly recommend a try. Despite the many blunderings and mishaps (mostly attributed to guess work) we got 3rd place overall, a fact recorded by the numerous pictures taken by Mr Morris at the scene.

102

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sing date, 1 March 2002. Excellent Book ken prize. Last year's winner = Christopher hrimpton. or each question give an answer to the neart power of 10. For example, if you decide the solution is 1000, since this is 103 you should give the answer as 3.

How many people were in The Beatles? If a mobile phone emits 2 W of radio waves (at a frequency of 2 GHz) how many photons go through your head when you use it? s-1 3. What mass of water would Olympic-sized swimming pool? kg

fill an

4. A galaxy containing 100 billion stars, each radiating 1026 W of visible light, is 20 million light years away. How many of the photons emitted by the galaxy arrive at the Earth each second? m-2

PHYSICS OLYMPICS 2000 York station about Sam. The careful planning seemed to have little influence upon the five members of the group who, despite the countless letters, managed to arrive over a halfhour period. After a 2_ hour train ride we arrived in a cold and rainy Liverpool in good spirits, mainly due to the 235 pages of light entertainment provided by FHM magazine. At the end of our hour long trek through Virgin Mega-Stores and the cathedrals we arrived in a hall containing over one hundred, not to put too fine a point on it, archetypal nerds; although initially surprised by the assortment of Olympiads they kept me greatly amused through the day's events.

|S. What is the water pressure at the bottom of the deepest ocean? atms ;

6. In a recent hailstorm, an amount of hail fell equivalent to a depth of 1cm over an area of 1 km2. What was the total mass of the hailstones? kg 7. How many neutrons are there in a neutron star? 8. How fast would an apple have to travel to have the same momentum as a "bullet train" locomotive travelling at full speed? m s-1 9. How many seconds are there until the next millennium? 10. If the daily energy intake of a person could be used to propel that person upwards, how high would they go?

m 11. How many electrons are there in your team? 12. By how much does the water flowing over Niagara Falls heat up if its potential energy is converted into thermal energy?

The objective was to complete a number of tasks in the best, longest or shortest time possible. A total score would then be determined, hence the winner. The first task was to estimate set periods of time using balls and a pole. We did reasonably well in this task but my lack of co-ordination was somewhat of a disadvantage. The second task involved building a pyramid out of paper and clips. Our paths parted at this point. I made a structure and the other three members made a separate one. When it came to measuring the volumes or lack of them mine was used since it measured above 4-paper thickness just. After the third task which again, unfortunately, required co-ordination, came the final task. Using a ruler, elastic bands, some weights and a pivot, we were to measure the up-thrust of helium-filled balloon. Despite hints from Mr Morris, we did not take the easy option of using a seesaw but constructed a device that had little use unless you wanted to fire a wooden ruler at someone with elastic bands (this may have been the initial intention). We soon gave up on this and entertained each other with the effects of our helium balloons.

The arrival back in York also saw the arrival of the best part of the day, due to a favourable overestimation on Mr Morris's part we were able to spend an amount in Pizza Hut probably equal to an entire weeks school canteen budget on an extortionate amount of food for the three remaining people in the group. Mr Morris was as confused as to how this occurred. All in all the day was a great deal of fun and an as yet unrivalled success, worth every minute of the time invested. W Gilbertson

THE DEBATING SOCIETY Home and away clashes with Queen Mary's, Baldersby, saw some impressive debating from St Peter's pupils. In the new Lecture Theatre Sarah Fishley and Joanne Simpson spoke with intelligence and emotion when arguing that This House would not make good parents. Sam Brown did a sterling job in the Chair. In the away debate the St Peter's team of Irene Burley and Joshua Tindell argued so persuasively that they would like to be famous that they won almost unanimously. For this performance, Joshua was awarded the Robin Shannon Prize for middle school public speak-

Eight members of the Lower Sixth Politics group participated in the regional Youth Parliament in the Leeds City Council Chambers. Throughout the day their level of debating was outstanding; their handling of exceptionally complicated European Union issues was superb. Well done to them all. Alan Mak, Tom Sutherland and this year's Secretary, Peter Start, debated in MAFF's Science Week competition. Proposing the motion that Scientific progress must not endanger morality, the trio came across a highly partisan audience. The experience will have done them good! Well done to all involved in this year's quality debating, and many thanks to Miss Lowther for her help and enthusiasm over the years. A final note regards Mr Darrell Buttery of Queen Mary's who retires this year. He has organised debates with St Peter's for many years; I very much hope we will see him return in the near future. P C Taylor

The Peterite 2000 - 2 0 0 I

News & Activifes_

BRITISH PHYSICS OLYMPIAD AND CHALLENGE COMPETITIONS 2001

MATHS CHALLENGES Sen/or School Ther were good results all round for our pupils in the National Maths Chellenges. Again, the Sixth form proved themselves by scoring well above the national average with 5 Gold, 6 Silver and 19 Bronze awards. Jonathan MacGregor came top with a score of 90 out of 125.

Middle School

Nationally, in the Olympiad, there were only 150 Gold and Silver Medallists followed by 150 Bronze Class 1 awards. In the Challenge there were 45 Gold, 120 Silver and 200 Bronze awards. Back Row: Matthew Suggit (Merit), Duncan Downes (Silver), Stephen Caley (Merit), Andrew Moroney (Bronze); Middle Row: Richard Francis (Merit), Laura Mclntyre (Bronze), Helen Hilderbrand (Silver), David Henderson (Bronze), Ben Ward (Merit).

The middle school faired well this year. The multiple choice paper was harder than usual and tested some of our best mathematicians. A record 94 pupils entered, achieving a haul of 16 Gold, 13 Silver and 28 Bronze awards. Jonathan Forsyth was top of his age group for the second year running with a score of 77. M Hall

Front Row: Matthew Maitland (Bronze 1), Claire Dalton (Bronze 11), Tom Garnett (Bronze 11), Andrew Roberts (Bronze 1), Steven Hancock (Bronze 1).

BEVERLEY I Ok REPORT

'lame' members of Staff.

Another great day was had at the Beverley 10k race held on Sunday May 14th. Several of our supposedly 'injured' runners took part in the popular 3k fun run, on a slightly varied course from last year due to the restrictions caused by the 'foot and mouth'. We also had a good under-8's participation provided by some of the Staff's children, a few of whom finished ahead of some of our

The School's entry in the 10k was more than impressive, with over 40 St Peter's School vests yet again dominating the applause. This year's chosen charity was 'Sargent Cancer Care for Children' who provided a good supportive role supplying the team with tee-shirts, and drinks during the race. A total of £1,000 was raised for them by sponsorship.

Yet again, we scooped the 'Corporate Team' prizes, finishing first in the men's category, and second in the women's category. The successful teams comprised: Susan Wilkinson Anna Clarke Antonia Hazelrigg

John Frank Joss Spilman Tom Garnet

John Frank also won the individual Boys U18 prize, and Susan Wilkinson won the Girls U18 prize. What started out in 2000 as just a means of putting some regular training to good use has turned into an annual event providing a fun day when pupils and staff alike line up together to prove their fitness prowess. We hope to attract as many runners from St Peter's School again next year, so get training! Mrs A Tooby-Smith

LIBRARY AND ARCHIVES The Alcuin Library

The Alcuin Library continues to grow, with more than 14,000 items now in stock. The new AS Level examinations and increased demands on the Lower Sixth timetable have been reflected in somewhat lower borrowing figures than we are used to since fewer pupils have sit-outs, but nevertheless the Library continues to be a popular place to work for those pupils and staff who value its quiet and (hopefully) scholarly atmosphere. As ever I have to thank many generous donors for their gifts to the library. Books have been received from the following Upper Sixth pupils: Stephanie Baker, Susan Chalmers, Jennifer Cogbill, Alexander Cowan, Claire Dalton, David Jackson, Simon Jackson, Bruno Les, Andrew Roberts, Robert Rowbottom, Nicholas Rusling, Jennie Scott, William Shoubridge, Trevor Smith, Tomas Thorpe, and Heather Williams: also from Arbell Lowther (staff), Mr and Mrs Haigh, Mr Christopher Rowe and Mr Michael Taylor (parents/friends of the school). We do thank all these donors most warmly for their generosity.

Archives John Mitchell's illness and death has been a source of great sadness to all who knew him (see accompanying Obituary). He continued working in his beloved Archives until shortly before he died, answering enquiries, acknowledging gifts, and sorting material. I am honoured to have been asked to carry on the work in this Department that he initiated and built up into a significant resource. John always kept excellent records of donors to the Archives but latterly found

even this task very difficult. According to his notes, gifts have been received from Richard Bough, Peter Chilman, Michael Kent, and Mrs Stuart Mudie (step-daughter of F F Weatherill). If there are others who donated items and whose names I have not mentioned here I apologise sincerely - given the unusual circumstances I hope you will make allowances for the deficiency. Please let me know who you are and I will amend our records. I know John would have wished me to acknowledge the huge amount of voluntary work done by Mrs Angela Sanderson. (Mrs Sanderson's increased duties down on the Lower Campus will make it extremely difficult for her to continue in this role, but I hope we shall still see something of her from time to time.)

A J M Red ley

JOHN V. MITCHELL 26th July 1927- 12th June 2001 John was a super Head of English and History at St Olave's. He had a passion for both the written word and for "old things". This combination of subjects was a way that he could combine the two! He taught with great sensitivity and enthusiasm. His teaching methods were not always what you might call conventional! There was always a good deal of drama in history and vice versa. The pupils loved him and absorbed the things he talked so passionately about with ease and enthusiasm. His lessons were certainly never dull. Many Olavites have passed through his classes and have used the knowledge that he imparted to them well into their later lives. He was a true gentleman and was well liked and respected amongst his colleagues. He was a teacher of "the old school", but was

happy to embrace new methods and ideas. He was a thoughtful and caring colleague. One who was greatly missed on his retirement. S J Fell I met John twenty years ago at my interview. He conducted me through a variety of "ordeals" - always there to make sure I was relaxed and at ease before the next hurdle. This typified John's attitude to anyone new. His primary aim was to make their passage through their initial weeks as comfortable as possible. My first term at St Olave's required me to teach History and English to J4. I knew next to nothing about the Stuart kings, but John's passion for the period soon began to rub off on me. Before long I was well into George Villiers, William Laud and Oliver Cromwell - all materials willingly supplied by John. Drama at St Olave's had a varied history. John had been involved in floats for the Lord Mayor's Parade and in 1984 decided to put on a production of "Oliver". At that time the school contained only boys, so parents were invited to audition and a number of young ladies were coerced from staff families, to provide the female interest. Rehearsals took place in the Memorial Hall from 6.30-8.30, after tea and prep, and often went on to 9 or 9.30 - John had to get each scene just right! Another vivid memory is of John teaching a group of boys to can-can for the production of "Orpheus in the Underworld". As always the boys were willing to be persuaded to participate enthusiastically. When John left St Olave's he was invited to take up the position of Librarian to the new Alcuin Library at St Peter's. This he thoroughly enjoyed, knowing where each reference book could be found - or was missing. Later still when it was decided that the School need a full-time Librarian, he became Archivist for St Peter's instead. Here he was able to indulge in what he enjoyed most - ferreting out historical information about St Peter's past. He clung to St .Peter's to the very end - the school had become his life. Farewell - John the Archivist. S E Morton When I took over from John as Librarian at St Peter's I was at first unnerved to discover that he would still be in school every day, ensconced in his "bunker" at the far end of the Library (under what had been the stage in drama centre days). I need not have worried - if I changed something he never criticised, if I wanted help or advice he gave it freely. To the end he was a valued colleague and much-loved friend. A J M Pedley The Peterite 2000 - 2001

CLASSICS TRIP TO GREECE 30 March-6 April 2001 For this trip twelve from St Peter's were joined by seventeen from Repton School. The outward flight was largely uneventful, and the cabin crew were very attentive (so much so that one of them took it upon himself to ask one of our younger members of staff - who could that be? - for proof of age!). We arrived at Athens in the early hours, only to find that Virgin had managed to leave two cases at Heathrow - not the most auspicious of starts, especially since one of the cases belonged to the author! The Hotel Odeon, while not the most luxurious establishment, provided the essentials for some welcome sleep before tackling the Agora and the magnificent Acropolis the next day. A night out in the Plaka was planned, the focal point of nightlife in Athens. Our destination proved elusive, however, as Athenian cab drivers were not as helpful as we had anticipated; even so, we managed to avoid the less salubrious establishment that the staff inadvertently stumbled upon! The hotel proved the better option: the bar staff there will long be remembered for their generosity. All who had not had a taste of the ouzo experience appreciated the National Archaeological Museum the following morning!

Our hotel at Delphi was very pleasant, and we enjoyed an excellent meal in a nearby restaurant. The following morning was spent climbing the steep slopes of the sanctuary. As no visit to Delphi is complete without an athletic event, some of the party obliged by competing in a one-stade The Peterite 2000 - 2 0 0 1

footrace. We got to our next hotel rather earlier than expected after a short ferry crossing to the Peloponnese. The reason soon became clear: the hotel turned out to be on the coast, a good hour away from Olympia. With its tennis courts, beach, pool and superb restaurant, we could only imagine what it would have been like in season. A disco was hastily arranged at a nearby village, and several old groovers seized the chance to strut their stuff on the dance floor. After spending the following morning at the sanctuary of Zeus, we enjoyed a scenic drive across to our base for the remainder of the trip - Tolon. We were lucky to be accommodated in the Hotel Minoa, one of Tolon's best. We visited Nauplion the next day, where those of us with heads for heights climbed the many steps to the Venetian fortress to enjoy a breath-taking view. The amazing acoustics of the theatre at Epidavros were put to the test later that day (we discovered why Mr Newman had had his head buried in the works of one of the Greek dramatists during the flight and on every coach journey up to that point!). That evening most of us visited the legendary Gorilla, reputedly the place to be in Tolon, and a few danced a bit too far into the night! Thursday presented us with glorious weather for our boat-barbecue, courtesy of Socrates himself, on a nearby island deserted except for our party. Some enjoyed a pre-lunch swim, while others preferred to work off their lunch by swimming back to the hotel when our boat stopped to let us dive. Few of us will forget the sight of Mr Owen-Barnett, the archetypal Englishman abroad, strolling along the beach and enjoying a paddle! Our visit to Mycenae en route to the airport the next day was a very damp affair but served as a reminder of how lucky we had been with the weather nearly all that week. Chaos at the new airport resulted in further problems with baggage (guess whose?), but these took nothing away from a most enjoyable trip. Its success was due in particular to the good relations between the two groups and to the staff from both schools: Mr Taylor, Miss Ellis, Mr and Mrs Owen-Barnett and especially Mr Newman, who organised the trip. Special thanks also to Thomas, who was such good fun throughout! B Taylor

CLARENDON HIGH I SCHOOL EXCHANGE 2001

I spent five weeks of my summer holiday at I Clarendon High School, East London, South 1 Africa. It may sound like a ludicrous idea to go to school during the holidays, but it was defi- I nitely worth it. Both my host families and the school were very hospitable. They arranged trips which gave me the opportunity to be a true tourist: I went to game parks, held a lion cub, stroked a cheetah, saw some whales, walked in the mountains and climbed through caves. I travelled as far as from Land's End to John O'Groats and back, a relatively small distance by South African terms. This gave rne an impression of the vast size and breathtaking scenery of the country.

I also experienced everyday life in East London. I wore the Clarendon uniform, which was a green blazer and short green dress, worn with a "girdle" as a belt round the waist, rather like a tail. I started to use South African slang and even learnt a few words of Afrikaans and Xhosa (pronounced with a tricky click). I met so many people during my stay and found all of them very friendly and welcoming. Something about being "the exchange student" (as I was introduced) gave me the opportunity to talk to anybody and everybody. As I met more people, I learnt more and more about South Africa. It is a complex society with a detailed history, which cannot be truly understood unless you have visited there. I found the different cultures within South Africa, and the differences between their cultures and ours, very interesting. South Africa lived up to its reputation as "Sunny South Africa", despite the fact that it was mid-Winter while I was there. I shall have to return someday soon to visit the great friends I made there and experience the rest that South Africa has to offer. H Hildebrand

I I

Foreign Trgivel

SELBORNE EXCHANGE 2001 Over the summer holidays I was lucky enough to spend five weeks attending school. This, though, was not normal school but Selborne College, East London, South Africa. Although not the most touristy area of South Africa, Eastern Cape offered some of the rugged beauty that I had expected from the sea, packed with wild life, to the hardest rugby pitches ever known to a soft 'pom' (slang for an Englishman). I played for the mighty 6th team, with every game ending in a crushing victory for Selborne including an 80 - 0 thrashing of their main rival school, Dale College, which was capped off by two superb tries for the wonderfully talented visiting lock. Rugby in South Africa, even at lowly school level, is not a game, it is a religion. Last season the 1st XV matches were televised but the T.V. company pulled out as there was too much fighting. This does not stop the first team getting sponsorship from MTIM, a major mobile phone network, and pulling crowds that not only fill a large grandstand but also surround the pitch about five deep. From the school that set Andre Vos on his illustrious career you would expect a high standard and this is certainly delivered combined with a size well above this season's Old Peterite XV. Despite the over-all size of Selborne's campus being similar to Peter's, there are over 600 boys. This leaves the class sizes large and the teachers for the most part with minimal control. The standard of work, thankfully, despite joining the equivalent of Lower Sixth towards the middle of the year, was below what was covered in the latter stages of the GCSE syllabus. During my time I joined maths, English, history, science and technical drawing classes as well as being periodically baffled by Afrikaans. Teaching styles do vary a good deal, leading to some highly entertaining and, on and off, educationally enhancing lessons. Staying in the boarding house or 'hostel' known as Norton House was an experience that has almost certainly scarred me for life. 'Not exactly in the luxurious end of the market' I feel is the phrase an estate agent would use to describe it. Despite this I was never bored, and I met literally hundreds of people who welcomed me into their lives as though I was and always had been part of the school. I have never met a more friendly and outgoing group of people; they organised me into doing just about everything that the school offered and quite a lot that it didn't - trips to game reserves where I fought with a fierce lion (cub), to the beach and the centre of the town as well as out into the deeper countryside to stay with boys from the school. In the end I was forced to turn down many generous offers of various trips due to a simple shortage of time. Despite many attempts to

lengthen my stay I was forced to return to the 'wet lands' long before I was ready. The South African sun, people, atmosphere and landscape made a huge impression upon me and I cannot wait to return and re-establish the hundreds of friendships that had to be cut short on my return. Thank You to all those who gave me this opportunity and good luck to those who are fortunate enough to follow me to Selborne in the future. D Downes

FRENCH EXCHANGE OCTOBER 2000 The week before Half Term break, 31 Peterites and Olavites set off on the French Exchange. It was a long, 13 hour journey but when we reached Selongey the weather made up for it. seven J5s, six third years and two fourth years

stepped off the coach and met their correspondents for the first time. Video evidence shows that the 'bise' was absent until the 3rd years started to meet their correspondents! The seniors left for their school in Brochon but Mr Hodsdon remained with us. We arrived just in time to attend their last lesson of the day, which, luckily for me, was English. In the lesson we did the opposite of the French pupils, translating English into French. The second day was a Wednesday, their day off school. My correspondent is in a local drama club and in the morning they had an hourlong session. Participating in the lesson was fun, but hard work. We spent the afternoon at the local sports centre, playing basketball and handball. Luckily there was another English student there, although neither of us understood the rules of handball. On Thursday we had our first outing, to the beautiful town of Beaune. Here we visited wine cellars, each containing hundreds of bottles. We visited the

Hospices de Beaune with its spectacular roof and walked around the town. This outing was with our French correspondents and the Peterites from Brochon. The next two days we spent at the school. We took part in some of the lessons, such as English, German and Maths. In others we sat at the back of the room and caught up on the work we were missing back home. At the end of Friday, the school gave us a reception, at which Sally Henderson, third year, read a lovely speech. They too had Saturday school although it finished at lunchtime. After school my family took me to Dijon. We saw a cultural arts museum and an exhibition on Dijon's history. On the Sunday, I attended a church service with my correspondent's family. It was quite different to the services I am used to. The next day, Monday, we had another outing, to Besancon. We walked around the spectacular ramparts of the Citadelle and visited the various attractions, including a zoo, inside the walls. Then we had an hour to look around the town, while the teachers went to a cafe for lunch! We know where they went because Mr Hodsdon had given us a map of the route we were to follow round the town centre and the cafe the teachers went in was indicated - "in case of emergency"! On Tuesday, the French remained at school while the English, from both Selongey and Brochon, enjoyed a full day's shopping at La Taison D'or. This is a large mall just outside Dijon. We returned back to school for the last lesson, which that week, due to the alternate timetable, was not English but French. Early the following morning we said "au revoir" to our newfound friends and departed for the long journey back.

My French has improved greatly since I reached Selongey but for many days after I was still mentally translating what people said to me. Thanks to Mr Hodsdon, Mrs Round and Mr Duffy for taking us on the trip. E Fishley Third Form

The Peterite 2 0 0 0 - 2 0 0 1

Foreign Tray; ECUADOR EXPEDITION A team of thirty-nine pupils and staff from St Peter's travelled to Ecuador in the summer for a month long expedition. Two years of planning and fundraising had been put into this trip. The team travelled in two separate groups, and below are accounts of the expedition written by the pupils:

After a night resting at the base we then headed out for more provisions, returning the next day to the refuge of the Volcano Cotopaxi. Morgan, our English speaking Swedish guide, lover of 'super Sven' and aka Captain Flasheart, arrived with the climbing kit. The group was split into two for safety, and made their summit bids on separate days. Standing at 5,897 metres, Cotopaxi is a sizeable 'hill'. Fifteen members of the team made the summit, a tremendous success in everyone's eyes.

Cotopaxi Group

name it! I don't think that any of the group will ever forget this experience. Everyone has their own individual memories of a diverse and developing culture, from wearing dodgy Ecuadorian football shirts, haggling for gifts, standing at the top of a big volcano, or just chilling out with the view.

Following a successful BBQ for parents and friends the night before, we travelled down to Heathrow for our flight to Quito, the capital of Ecuador. On our arrival in the city we moved into the Hostel Florencia - a bit different, but only two doors down from, the Reina Victoria Pub in Quito's 'new town'. The kit was organised and travel arrangements made here before we started out on our acclimatisation trek. This took place over four days at between 3,500 and 4,000 metres. Most people adjusted well, though it did take a while for you to realise that you couldn't run at this height, even if the guide, Jorge, could! Everyone was spurred on during the trek by some spectacular views of jagged mountains, open plains and sudden gorges. After the trek we rode in the back of pickup trucks, followed by a bus journey to the town of Latacunga for a well-earned shower. Plans were made here for food provisions for our mountain phase. We shopped in the local market where prices were favourable, but the quality of fruit and vegetables were not quite up to Tesco standards! We travelled by bus to the town of Manchachi on the foothills of the Cotopaxi National Park. After an overnight stay in a ranch we travelled to the Iliniza Norte car park, an eventful ride: when the track became steeper, the child holding our backpacks in place had to jump off the roof, run along beside and jump in to hold the truck in gear - all while going at 10 mph! In the busy refuge we had a decent evening meal

and them set off for the summit of Iliniza Norte at 6 am. The sub-zero temperatures tested most After 90 minutes we reached the 'Pass of Death' where we had to fix up ropes. The whole team then made the summit at 5,165 metres - a height record for most of us. The Peterite 2000 - 2001

It was all made possible by the hard work of the group leaders, especially Mike Hall and Simon Humphries, and by the generosity and support of our friends and parents. P Henwood

Ruminahui Group

Back to Quito, where the arrangements for the jungle trek took two days. Seven hours on a bus and another hour on dugout canoes took us to a jungle lodge where, apart from interesting food (rice and cockroaches) everyone enjoyed themselves. Highlights included swinging from vines and tasting fruits along the walks. Sadly, there was no sight of the 'small' 4-metre long anaconda in the area. A landslide halted our trip back to Quito, so we were forced to stay in a lavish no-star hotel for two nights. The landslide caused a huge tailback of trucks. We then had to travel the long way back to Quito. We stopped off in Banos, from where we glimpsed the Tungurahua volcano venting ash. All of this made us late for Tandayapa, a school where we were to do our project work - mainly painting walls. In the afternoons we played football with the kids, tried archery and were challenged to a football match on the village pitch by the parents - or as we found out, the local twenty-somethings with football boots. A 4 -1 score line to them wasn't bad considering our walking boots were a slight handicap - if not for tackling! Perhaps the most curious thing at Tandayapa was the bowling alley in the jungle, a proper lane and pins, but non-automated - bizarre is the optimum word! With two more days to kill before our return to the northern hemisphere, we decided to visit the famous Otovalo market to buy souvenirs - ponchos, hammocks, Stetsons, you

On the 3rd July, the intrepid backpackers from St Peter's arrived in Quito after a 16-hour long- haul flight. Tired and slightly disorientated we were greeted by Boz, the World Challenge representative for Ecuador. Driving through the city we caught our first glimpse of this new culture, and it became clear straight away that the next month was going to be a true adventure. The first few days were spent organising and planning for the activities ahead, beginning with our time spent in Tena: a jungle expedition and white-water rafting. For four days we experienced the jungle; sleeping in hammocks, befriending parrots, monkeys and racoons, as well as taking part in a range of activities. Our guide, Pepe, was to say the least 'outgoing', but more accurately could be described as 'insane1. His amazing routes through the jungle scaled remote waterfalls. Nourah and Katie showed their true skill by managing, to fall 10ft backwards off a waterfall and into a plunge pool. Gavin and Ben got fully into the adventure mode, brandishing their newly purchased and incredibly large machetes at any twig that crossed their path.

all very thankful for the hospitality the families showed us. We were made very welcome when we joined in a class on Thursday where a special programme had been created. The lesson included us being taught some Swedish (some phrases mor useful than others) and being told about a few Swedish national heroes, particular!! Sven Goran Eriksson. The rest of the da was spent at a museum and getting know Karlstad better.

It was also a most moving moment as Guy returned to his natural habitat when we saw him disappear through the undergrowth swinging on a vine! We also had the opportunity to swim in jungle lagoons, go scrambling through bat-filled caves, pan for gold, and float down the river in huge rubber inner tubes. The first set of cabins we stayed in put on a local-style party for us, with hot sugarcane liquor and local music. The sight of Chris leaping around in tights has scarred many of us for life. White-water rafting took place on Rob's birthday, floating down a tributary of the Amazon. He couldn't have asked for a better present and we all loved every minute of it. We only had four occasions when people went overboard, all from the same raft - coincidence? We stopped off at midday and visited a hidden jungle where we all 'helped' each other receive a natural mudpack treatment.

The last section of our expedition was spent in the volcano town of Bafios (which, since our return, has erupted!). A range of activities took place and the downhill part of the mountain biking met with much approval, but due to Woody's bike 'breaking', nearly the whole band of cyclists returned before the uphill stretch - most convenient! The rest of us partook in horse riding, certainly an interesting experience, galloping on roads on a westernsaddled horse, holding on with one hand and swinging your whip with the other. Our last night was spent out in Quito. The boys treated themselves to some local cuisine: Ecuadorian guinea pig! We danced the night away in the Salsa bar and other suitable venues. This has been an experience which will never be forgotten. It has had an impact on each of us in its own particular way. A big thank-you goes to Mike, Maya and Chris for making this expedition so successful.

Back in Quito, we completed our project work in a Quitchua family shelter, which involved redecorating the main hall with the aid of some Ecuadorian children who had the limited vocabulary of 'my darling, I love you', much to Lucy's distress. The artistic talents of Maya ensured that the painting was a great success. Our acclimatisation trek was in the Papallacta region - three days of hiking in the non-stop, freezing cold rain, in a bog. After this experience we travelled to the Cotopaxi National Park to attempt to climb the volcano Ruminahui (4,600 metres). The ascent was tough, but once at the summit the views were extremely rewarding. The way down involved scree running which was fantastic - Jo demonstrated the sit-on-your-bum-method whereas Sandy preferred the run and jump option. The nights that we camped at the base, under the shadow of Cotopaxi, were around the campfire where we managed to sing - mainly due to the vocal skills of Simon - the whole of 'Bohemian Rhapsody' and 'Jerusalem'. The delights of Maneka, Nourah and Nicky's cooking will also be eternally appreciated amongst the group. The month was already drawing to a close, but due to Eddy P's fantastic budget management we were left with extra funds to spend in the market town of Otovalo. Here the boys, headed by Mike and Joss, demonstrated their mass haggling and bulk buying skills to barter down the price of seven hammocks.

K Millar

SWEDISH EXCHANGE 2001 This being the first ever Swedish exchange, the group had no idea of what to expect when we touched down in Stockholm on a Monday night apart from IKEA and ABBAmania! On the following two days, the group were shown around Stockholm by Gull who had come from the school with which we were going to exchange later in the week. These two days were a real eyeopener in the case of Swedish culture, architecture, and unfortunately the Stockholm prices. Gull took us to all the main places of interest including some museums. But outside there was plenty of 'natural beauty' around to admire and Michael's affinity with Duplo brought us back to the same toy shop time and time again! On the Wednesday evening we set off on the three hour bus ride to Karlstad where we were to meet our new hosts, all of whom were girls. Everyone seemed to get along very well from the start and we are

The next day we visited a class that w doing the International Baccalaureate (I exams. The teacher used our visit to find out what we thought was a typical Swede and what they thought was a typical Englishman or woman. As a result we fou out that they thought the English were like Mr Bean, also that we were all ve posh, boring and that we drank copiou amounts of tea. Our suggestions of a typical Swede were met with some disagreements from the class, however after a quick showing of hands it was found out that over half the class did have blond hair and blue eyes and that two thirds of them drove Volvos. After the IB class we met up with the clas we had joined the day before and we drove to Dyvelsten to see a couple of museums, including a floating museum and a visit to a Skoghall Mill (paper mill). The highlight of the day was to visit the home of the Karlstad Wolves, the local ice-hockey tear We were luckily enough to meet the Captain, who is on the verge of joining th NHL in the USA and also the Russian International Sergei Fokin before watching them in a training session.

Saturday was spent with our hosts and Sunday morning we had to leave fo Stockholm. Everyone had got on so we with each other, it was a shame to leav but we were all keen to keep in touch. We would like to say a big thank-you to I Drysdale for his hard work in setting up th exchange, to our host families and to th school in Sweden for their effort in making us welcome. S Austin The Peterite 2000 - 2001

Foreign Travel

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SKI TRIP REPORT 2001 After a gruelling twenty-two hour coach journey, and several videos later, the members of the ski trip descended on the fortunate Hotel Des Neiges in Les Deux Alpes. Having settled into the hotel, we were let loose to sample the resort's nightlife and join in the New Year's Eve celebrations. We all rang in the New Year at the hotel, and whilst some of the words of Auld Lang Syne were lacking, the party spirit certainly wasn't. The next day, after a much appreciated early morning wake up call, we were ready to hit the slopes, and were placed in our teaching groups - Jo Simpson appeared to be very pleased with the outcome. The snow conditions weren't very good for much of the week. If it wasn't raining, the wind blew, effectively shutting parts of the resort. Everybody coped with this philosophically, grateful that at least there was always some snow, even if conditions were far from perfect.

lowed by hitting him on the head with a ski pole. An interesting teaching method - but apparently no more or less successfuI with Jonny than anything else. Mrs Watkinson amused her instructor Fred when the intermediate group tried snowblading, threatening violence if she continued to snowplough. (Pure fabrication! - SMW). Fred declared Ali Sargeant to be the 'King' of the group's snowbladers. The jumping of the boys in the advanced group was, at times, impressive, as were the resulting falls after the failed 360's or flips. Although there was considerable competition for the most impressive wipe out, Mr Monteith probably managed this on two counts. There was his Tom and Jerry attempt to ski up a rock immediately behind a 'Danger1 sign, resulting in his skis remaining on the rock whilst he fell backwards into the snow, and then whilst racing against Mr Hall, he managed to lose control (this supposes there was control!)and tumble half way down the mountain resulting in his goggles breaking and cutting his nose, leaving a significant quantity of blood on the slopes. As usual the beginners became quite accomplished by the end of the week, and the snowboarders progressed significantly. This is always a cause of admiration, as so much of their time is spent posing, sitting on the snow, it must take remarkable talent to improve at all.

We were all able to really enjoy the days of good snow, with those who consider themselves the more able skiers only too keen to show off their skills. Jonny Fort had a unique style of powder skiing, which mainly consisted of going straight down the slope, ending with an impressive wipe out. Manu, our instructor, didn't really know what to make of this (probably never having come across anyone quite like Jonny before), calling him "craa-zy", fol-

Les Deux Alpes provided sufficient entertainment in the evenings. The Fourth years went ice skating, hopefully improved their pool skills, and were joined by others tobogganing one evening. The fifth year girls mixed well with other years, and whilst friendships between Peterites and the other school in the hotel (from Wigan) never really developed, there were some interesting attempts to break the ice on the last evening. It was a shame that many people suffered from the flu bug over the course of the week, but hopefully Jonny enjoyed his delayed birthday, and special mention should also be made of Paul, one of the drivers, who did his best to join in with the group. All that remains to be said is 'thank you' to the accompanying staff, who helped to make the trip very successful and highly enjoyable.

FIRST WORLD WAR BATTLEFIELDS TRIP

2001 Day I Monday 09/04/01 By a quarter to seven the group seemed pretty much gathered, apart from those who had obviously chosen to arrive fashionably late. It would be unfair to abuse my position and tell you that Amanda and Louise Foody delayed our departure, so I won't, but nonetheless we shortly underwent an aircraft-style security procedure and parted on our way. Birchanger was our first stopping place, already three hours from home and another three hours away from the Channel Tunnel. Here, some stocked up on reading materials whilst others fulfilled the need to get some caffeine into their systems. Nonetheless, we were shortly on the road again. Once at the entrance to the Tunnel, we passed French customs with ease and before making the crossing to Calais, were given the opportunity to sift through the countless shops, restaurants and boutiques that so thoughtfully comprised the Cite Europe. For some this meant a brief visit to MacDonald's and to others the opportunity to indulge in some retail therapy, after enduring six hours of Mr Sargeant's music. The last leg of our journey involved a smooth crossing beneath the Channel and some one and a half hours due north in France. Having at last arrived in Lo by six o'clock we had a little time to unpack before poring over a much needed evening meal. The first realisation that this was in fact a history trip and not something that closely resembled a stag party, appeared this same evening as we set off in the coach to Ypres and the Menin Gate. I am sorry for my profound lack of inspiration, but the ceremony at the Menin Gate was the sort that provokes a certain speechlessness and encourages the sorts of emotions that are difficult to describe in any words. Afterwards, we had a little time to let our hair down, and traipse through the town square and the narrow streets of Ypres. Soon, however it was back to the hotel and for those who chose to do so, the opportunity to relax and prepare for an abnormally early awakening the following morning.

Day 2 Tuesday 10/04/01 After breakfast, we prepared our lunches and again set off to Ypres, this time to visit the brilliant 'In Flanders Field Museum'.

6 Aeons Our next destination was soon altered by a number of factors, namely pouring rain, an The P e t e n t e 2000 - 2 0 0 1

•oreiwn Travel incredible single-roomed museum was to be found. Then we went on to the Thiepval Memorial to the 75,000 British and South African soldiers missing at the Somme. The memorial itself was another stunning piece of architecture. By 12.40 we had reached Albert, a French town certainly no smaller than Harrogate, but with less life than my local village. Most cafes were closed but we found a huge signpost that pointed us towards McDonald's. Could we find it? Of course not - we were in France. Therefore, after entering an Italian restaurant and having a close shave with the customer relation skills of a French waiter everyone seemed quite glad to go.

unhealthy abundance of other tourists and, at Hill 60, a field of sheep that threatened to contract foot and mouth disease if we entered. Out of decency we didn't. So, after a number of changes to our itinerary we decided to visit the cemeteries of Belgium first. A short coach ride later and we found ourselves in Tyne Cot. Tyne Cot is the largest British War cemetery anywhere in the world, and was nursed to its usual state of perfection. If it showed us little else, it certainly illustrated the unfathomable scale of death that was encountered during these four years of war. Having passed hundreds of graves on our way to Tyne Cot, I was beginning to feel that Mr Drysdale had already achieved his aim in showing us how horrific the war was. Our next destination bore perhaps more significance to me than it did to anyone else. It was the Langemark cemetery, one of the very few graveyards for the German dead of World War I that still exist in Belgium; and I must say that after looking forward to coming here for the past half hour, I suddenly wanted to leave rather quickly. In comparison to being in an atmosphere that was not far from resembling an English country garden I suddenly found myself in the closest place to hell on Earth. I suppose the pit that contained some 66,000 dead Germans, the black gravestones and the eeriness of the place was perhaps a little too much. Little surprise then that we were off quite quickly to Hill 62, another of the unknown surprises that exist in the region. The museum was small and displayed mainly weapons that had been found on the premises over the last eight decades or so. Apart from a vast display of artefacts the museum also held an incredible collection of photographs, as well as a reconstructed network of trenches at the back. Hill 60 and 62 are among the few areas of land that have any calculable difference in altitude, whose strategic importance and proximity to Ypres therefore attracted significant Allied and German firepower. It changed hands no less than six times during the war.

out of bedroom windows, but it was quite important to allow us to be on the road quite early. Brugge was our last stopping point in Belgium, and provided a final opportunity to spend the last of our Belgian Francs; like most Belgian cities it was old, and the architecture stunning, but it was hard to find a good cafe. Next on the itinerary was Notre Dame de Lorrette, the biggest French cemetery with some 20,000 graves, and the last destination for the day was Vimy Ridge, a Canadian National Park that closely resembled a lunar landscape. The ridge itself bore huge strategic importance during the war and suffered huge bombardment at incredible loss of life. The hillside is rightly adorned with one of the most beautiful memorials that we would see on our trip, and was part of the famous 'Canada Weeping'. Unfortunately the tunnels were closed to us, but we were nonetheless able to visit the preserved trenches nearby. At six we arrived at our hotel in Arras and in the usual European manner were presented with a list of 'rules' by the hotel. Shortly, however, we settled down and had our supper at seven. The highlight of Arras was without a doubt the fair, though it was a pity that we could not see the town by ourselves due to some French yobs who were targeting tourists.

Beneath all this it was hard to forget that this would was really the last place at which we would stop. I felt quite sad that the trip was coming to an end but there was still the fair to go to.

Going to the fair, as we had done the previous night, seemed a very pleasant ending to our trip. So one can imagine the annoyance when we found that the best rides were closed, and that being at the receiving end of some pickpocketing really actually spoilt the evening. Anyway, they certainly knew a nice watch when they saw one.

Day 5 Friday 13/04/01 Day 4 Thursday 12/04/01

Day 3 Wednesday 11/04/01

This morning was a later than usual wake-up, and took us straight to the Newfoundland Memorial Park. The site was another Canadian National Park, and offered the opportunity to see some preserved trenches and a huge bronze caribou. Walking through no man's land at Beaumont Hamel and 'Y Ravine', it struck me how difficult it would be for Mr Drysdale to achieve his aim on this tour, to present to us the closest image of war as it was in 1914. Listening to the birds and seeing the blazing sun high in the sky, while walking past a tree around which some horrific massacres of British troops took place, made me realise the huge changes from that time.

A seven o'clock wake up might have been a little too early for those who chose to jump

Next the trip took us to the Ulster Tower memorial to the 36th Ulster Division, where an

Today was another long journey through France, and a crossing through the Channel Tunnel. Driving along in the coach there was plenty of time to think and I found it hard to say whether it was the looming start of a new term or the end of this trip, but I felt really quite sad about something. However, a brief stop at Birchanger service station in England made me happy to be on home soil again, spending familiar currency and not having to dodge punches from a French cashier every time I pay in a restaurant. At the end of our five days, we all certainly came away with something. Whatever it was, whether a fractured ankle or cultural enlightenment, the trip was a huge success and demands a big thank you for its organisers. Tobias Burckhardt

The Peterite 2000 - 2 0 0 1

CLIFTON Having been Housemistress of Clifton now for five years I am about to see the group of pupils leave who were my very first third form, and what a group they have been! A smaller year group than others, ten in total, but of these six have been monitors, another Head of Boats and another Captain of Fencing. They have been an absolute pleasure to work with being totally reliable, friendly and hardworking, setting an excellent example to the younger pupils in house. I could almost write individual reports here for each of them but instead will try to summarise their main achievements. Tom Qarnett, this year's Head of House, and Kate Hudson have both achieved the Duke of Edinburgh Gold Award (no mean feat bearing in mind their commitment to so many other things). Sandy Cowan maintained his high standard in athletics winning the North Yorkshire 800m title. Steven Hancock gained fencing grade 9, only the second Peterite in history to achieve this. I could go on but there are of course others in the House worthy of mention.

was later to be repeated in the junior netball and junior rounders. In the senior event we achieved 4th/7 but I commend all the girls who willingly took part here. This was quickly followed by girls' hockey. A commendable third place was achieved. Another successful House dinner rounded off the Christmas term. All pupils dressed smartly for the occasion, setting the scene. Christmas music was provided beforehand by Alex Woodrow and John Lewis. This leads me on to a major strength in the House this year - music. I have been hugely impressed by many of the performances I have been fortunate enough to experience. During a lunchtime concert I sat in awe as Alex played the piano; what talent! Another lunchtime saw the turn of Ralph Pelleymounter performing songs he had written. Ralph impressed us again in chapel later in the year performing his GCSE composition. In the school music competition both Alex Woodrow and Tom Wright were winners. Tom finished the year by being part of the band winning the 'Battle of the Bands' competition in York during the last week of the Summer term. Bad weather hampered sport early in the New Year but the Great Egg Race saw our pupils battling once again. Surprisingly it wasn't the skills of the Sixth Form that impressed me but the approach of John Lewis in the Fourth Form who carefully considered what he was doing and constructively influenced the others. Sadly, again, success was not to be ours, but an enjoyable evening was had by all taking part. A mention should be made of Andrew Hancock who has been chosen to play roller hockey for England. We all wish him well.

The year welcomed Mrs Watkinson as a new tutor in House, bringing with her years of experience in a girls' boarding house. However, being a mother of two boys it was clear that she could deal equally well with the boys! Thirteen new Third Formers joined us along with Nazeeha Hassan in the Fourth Form and Rob and Fay in the Lower Sixth. I was very sorry to see Hannah Smith move to a boarding house but was pleased to welcome Helena Sharp making a similar move in the opposite direction. So, in total we had sixty-six pupils. With the new AS system in place life in the Lower Sixth was markedly different from previous years. Many of this year's group had very few sit-outs and heavy timetables. The girls made the transition to Sixth Form study with ease but for the boys it appeared for some time to be an extension of their Fifth Form in terms of mature behaviour! ! It did improve however as the year progressed. (Only slightly, I'm simply being kind!) Interestingly strengths within a house vary from year to year according to the incoming pupils. Clifton' s reputation as a winner of inter-house sport has certainly changed recently. House sport has not been a resounding success in terms of winning this year but the spirit in which individuals have taken part has been excellent. There have also been some pleasing individual performances. We had a taste of things to come on November 22nd in the girls' cross-country. There were commendable performances in the junior event by Lara Turner (2nd) and Emma Mackenzie(13th) but our overall position was 7th/7! A first in my history as Housemistress but good for the spirit I am sure. This position

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Red Nose Day and T2001 saw Cliftonites entering superbly into the spirit of such events. The 'three amigos' in Rob Greetham, Tom Garnett and Guy Robinson serenaded us in lunch. All three performed superbly in the talent show. Rob and Guy performed 'Baker Street', an old favourite of mine, to a very high standard, to the amazement of many. Rob had kept his singing talents under wrap for so long. Tom Garnett's guitar playing is something that will remain with me forever. In the past his rendition of 'Cavatina' in the common room has impressed me and yet again in the Summer Concert he played to the high standard of a professional. The summer term, which seemed excessively busy this year, staged various inter-house events. Sports Day on the new Lower Campus was an enjoyable event. With ideal weather the pupils participated willingly and enthusiastically. There were pleasing performances by many pupils espe-