SchoolFamily

Our pupils have enjoyed returning to their much-loved Houses this year. Our House system is at the heart of pastoral care at St Peter’s School, encouraging friendly competition and a sense of belonging. The whole school family has also been welcomed back to the St Peter’s School campus, bolstered and strengthened by the challenges we collectively faced over the last couple of years.

Wellbeing

Wellbeing is practised every day at St Peter’s, and this year there has been a renewed focus on the mental health and wellbeing of staff and pupils.

Children in Year 3 can choose to be Wellbeing Champions. Their role includes being friendly and spreading happiness and kindness throughout school, as well as noticing when other children are feeling sad or worried, and offering to help. Wellbeing Champions are also assigned to a class to deliver activities for our new initiative, Wellbeing Wednesdays.

We have also launched a new Mental Health and Wellbeing group for pupils from J3 to Upper Sixth, which meets for half-termly breakfast meetings.

Our dedicated Mental Health Team held a stall during break and lunchtime on 8 October for World Mental Health Day, to raise awareness and raise funds for York Mind with a cookie sale.

We also marked Children’s Mental Health Week as a whole school community in February. Pupils of all ages learnt about The Five Ways to Wellbeing and completed daily activities throughout the week. Pupils at St Peter’s 13-18 created a kindness wall, St Peter’s 2-8 pupils made kindness jars, and pupil ambassadors at St Peter’s 8-13 created a Growing Together wall. On the Friday the whole school enjoyed a charity non-uniform day inspired by the theme Dress to Express.

Introducing Ollee

Ollee is a digital friend for children aged 8-11. It helps them explore feelings around school, family, friends and the world, and share advice with a parent or trusted adult. Children can tell Ollee how they’re feeling and it will give them ideas about what to do. Together, parents and children can share Ollee’s advice and talk about feelings together through connected accounts.

Action Jackson

Our Speech Day speaker this year was Jackson Ogunyemi, usually referred to as Action Jackson because of his boundless energy and infectious enthusiasm. He is the UK’s unofficial Ambassador for Happiness and has written two books and released a music single.

World Mental Health Day

St Peter’s Mental Health Team held a stall during break and lunchtime in Reception to mark World Mental Health Day. Staff and pupils were invited to pop by and learn about mental health and inequality. The team shared free resources, and badges and cookies were available to buy. World Mental Health Day is observed on 10 October every year. The official theme for this year was ‘Mental Health in an Unequal World’, as set by the World Federation for Mental Health. The event was a great success and the stall raised £72.42! A donation was made to mental health charity York Mind.

One Kind Word

We joined together as a school community to mark Anti-Bullying Week in November. The theme was One Kind Word, and pupils across school focused on the importance of kindness and inclusion through PSHE lessons and assemblies. Pupils at St Peter’s 8-13 created a wall of kindness to inspire us all to act and speak kindly, and pupils aged 2-18 collaborated to create a special video where they shared their favourite kind word. All pupils were also encouraged to participate in our annual Odd Socks and Shoes Day to remind us that we are all different. Please view our kindness video on our YouTube channel at: https://youtu.be/lCs43icUXAI

International Day of Persons with Disabilities

Our school family focused on hidden disabilities to mark the International Day of Persons with Disabilities (IDWPD) in December. Pupils and staff engaged with a range of activities designed to raise awareness of often hidden disabilities including dyslexia, dyspraxia and autism, and organised a non-uniform day in aid of Mencap. Pupils at St Peter’s 8-13 had a special assembly and pupils at St Peter’s 13-18 developed their understanding in their Lessons for Life activities.

At the end of November, pupils at St Peter’s 2-8 enjoyed an assembly hosted by Commonwealth and Invictus Games Competitor, Sean Gaffney, followed by a morning of sports activities in the St Peter’s School Sports Hall.

HEALTHY INTER-HOUSE COMPETITION

St Peter’s 2-8 House Sing Children at St Peter’s 2-8 perfected their singing skills with the return of the popular House Singing competition on the final day of term. Classic Christmas songs were given a 2-8 twist, with lots of inventive lyrics and actions.

Inter-House Challenges

The annual inter-house STEM challenge returned to St Peter’s 13-18 with The Brunel Challenge. Houses each organised a team of four pupils with a mix of year groups to take part. Groups researched and planned, and were given an hour on the day, to complete the challenge. This year’s theme was Bridges. Teams had to construct a free-standing, single-span bridge for a Hot Wheels car, using wooden splints. The teams’ resources were limited, and points were scored for both the length and strength of the bridge. The most successful teams adopted a simpler, reinforced beam design, while other teams adopted ancient basket-weaving skills! The eventually winner was Queen’s, but congratulations to all who really entered into the spirit of the competition.

Tennis

We had a great afternoon of mixed-house tennis at the start of June with players from across the year groups representing their houses and displaying some excellent tennis skills. All pupils had a fantastic day, with a brilliant atmosphere and plenty of competitive spirit. Congratulations to Hope (Millie, Mitch, Ailsa, Will, Hannah and Harry) for finishing the afternoon as winners, beating Clifton 2-1 in the final. Well done to Temple and School who made the semi-finals, with Temple securing third place ahead of School (2-1).

Debating

Debating remains popular, with Inter-House competitions very well-supported along with St Peter’s variations of Just a Minute and The Unbelievable Truth.

Chess 8-13

The Inter-house Chess Competition started at the beginning of May. Congratulations to talented Elmet who combined clever strategy, tactics and instincts to win this year’s competition.

Boarding

Ready, Camera, Action!

Our boarders were keen to participate in a new film to share the joy of being a boarder with the rest of the world. Led by Josh, Rosie, Elena and William, a cast of boarding pupils showed admirable patience as their Houses were turned into film sets. Sometimes it took multiple takes to get the perfect shot but the waiting was worthwhile when we saw the finished film. From polished scripts to perfect delivery, slick scene changes to witty asides, it is a wonderful snapshot of boarding life at St Peter’s. The boarders enjoyed a ‘world premiere’ at their annual dinner, complete with popcorn and speeches, and the film has now been widely shared on the website and social media. A huge thanks to all the pupils and staff involved.

To watch the film, head to the boarding section of our website.