Welcome

After so much disruption in recent years, it is wonderful to introduce this latest edition of The Peterite, which looks back at a year packed with activity. Reading through the multitude of stories covering pupils’ achievements and experiences in the classroom, the sports pitches, on the stage and in their community, fills me with pride.

When I reflect on all we have done as a school, it prompts me to keep asking the simple questions, not just ‘what has happened?’ but ‘why?’ and ‘why do we choose to live our lives in community this way?’. A reasonable answer is that it happens to be fun and full of interest. A better answer is that it creates a rich and rounded experience which provides holistic development of pupils’ potential. A fundamental answer is that it sets up our pupils to make the most of all that lies ahead in life and to make a positive difference to their world.

When you consider all that is going on in the world today – war, geopolitical tension and instability, inflation and strikes not seen since the 1970s – there cannot be a higher duty for education than to equip the next generation with the skills and, crucially, values that will enable them to thrive and to show leadership in the years ahead. Skills such as those identified by the World Economic Forum’s Future of Jobs Report as being the most highly prized, including complex problem-solving, analytical thinking, creativity, social influence, emotional intelligence, resilience and an orientation towards service. Interestingly, the most recent report also highlights a shift since the pandemic from the desire to acquire technical skills in 2019 to a focus on mindfulness, gratitude and kindness.

Not that I want pupils to be always aware of the future at the expense of enjoying the here and now. School days should be happy, full of fun, and as far as possible, carefree and lived in the moment. Reading The Peterite reminds me of all the things which make St Peter’s such a sparky, joyful and happy place and I hope you will enjoy looking back on an exciting and action-packed year.

St Peter’s 2-8 Welcome

What a year we have had at St Peters 2-8! In September we welcomed the largest cohort of new starters in the school’s history, allowing us to share our inspiring teaching and learning with even more children, and a heartfelt thank you to staff and parents for all they do. I hope that you have had the chance to see our new classroom and music rooms which have already been in constant use.

Our classrooms continue to be exciting and innovative places. We have been using green screens to create films, code to manipulate robots, QR codes to complete challenges in the classroom and iPads to become authors, editing the most wonderful pieces of writing into commercial books.

As well as refreshing our curriculum content, we have continued to emphasise music with a plethora of individual lessons, concerts, and the long-awaited live return of Young Voices in Sheffield for Years 2 and 3.

It has been wonderful to return to a full programme of physical activity, a central part of the education at St Peter’s 2-8, with weekly swimming lessons, twice-weekly PE and the introduction of small-sided games and fixtures against other schools.

Our co-curricular programme continues to expand. Every day there are a number of activities, including dance, drama, sport, art, sign language, computing, film-making, baking and many more exciting ways to develop lifelong interests and hobbies for the children.

Children, staff and the whole school community have displayed incredible resilience and kindness. Staff commitment and positivity to prepare, persevere and deliver all they do in school is nothing short of astonishing and should be commended.

St Peter’s 8-13 Welcome

Finally, a year of business as usual! It was wonderful to finish the academic year with a summer term without Covid restrictions in place and things back to normal. It was great to see parents at concerts, performances and Sports Day, culminating in Speech Day in the Sports Hall with the whole school community. The York Minster choristers were also able to sing without any of the previous restrictions in place, allowing many of them the opportunity to do this for the first time. We were also able to restart our annual popular Italian ski trip for pupils and parents.

Our swimmers had much success at the first ever World School Swim Championships, winning 18 medals, on top of two individual national champions at the IAPS National Swimming Championships. There was further success with our sports teams in tournaments across all the main sports, however it the huge number of fixtures played at all levels, increasing participation, which was most pleasing.

It was a lovely surprise to open The Week magazine and see that we had been chosen as Great City Prep School in their Independent Schools Guide. Music continued to go from strength to strength, with increased numbers of children learning an instrument and playing in ensembles. We even had 147 pupils playing in a Baroque and Roll concert for parents. Walking around the school, the variety and quality of art displayed everywhere is truly remarkable.

St Peter’s 13-18 Welcome

It was an enormous relief to return to normal exams this year, and performances in A Levels and GCSEs were very strong. Congratulations to the Fifth Form and Upper Sixth who approached the return of a more normal exam season with diligence and a positive attitude.

Going outside the tramlines of the curriculum is at the heart of our approach, and the fostering of creativity and independent thinking is an integral aspect of our attitude to learning. We saw success in a new History of Art competition as well as in debating, public speaking and in several DT awards. I hope you enjoy reading about this and the very moving Makerspace Memorial Project in this edition of The Peterite. We continue to have a strong showing in the Royal Society of Chemistry’s Olympiad and had our highest ever placing in the British Mathematical Olympiad. Pupil-led publications such as Keystone and Peternomics go from strength to strength.

Music is thriving and we have all enjoyed the return of live performance, with highlights including the annual choral and orchestral concert as well as a real stand-out memory of the Duke Ellington Jazz Eucharist in York Minster.

In sport, we secured a full programme of fixtures with successes in cricket, netball, swimming, rowing, tennis and rugby. It must not be overlooked that on most Saturdays well over 230 pupils represent the senior school in sporting fixtures and that broad participation is just as important. This is also seen in over 150 pupils, over a quarter of the school, singing in the School Choir.

We continue to emphasise the importance of mental health, both in providing support and offering ways to promote positive mental health. Being busy, active and having a variety of interests is one of the ways to encourage the latter, and now that we have been able to return to normal practice it feels as though we are busier than ever. Please enjoy reading all about it.