Our Community

St Peter’s School has been at the heart of York for almost 1,400 years and we are proud to support our local community. Each year we develop key partnerships with local organisations and raise money for local charities through pupil-led fundraising initiatives and campaigns.

European Day of Languages Bake Sale

To celebrate the 20th Anniversary of the European Day of Languages 2021, and to raise money for MacMillan Cancer Support, the Modern Foreign Language Department hosted a European and Language themed bake-off competition in September. Entry was open to all pupils at St Peter’s 13-18 and the best bakes received a prize. The bake sale raised £235 which will go towards supporting people living with cancer.

Public Lecture Series and York Literature Festival Returned

It has been wonderful to welcome a number of fascinating, high-profile speakers back to St Peter’s for our ever-popular Public Lecture Series. In October we enjoyed an engaging talk from Dr Erica McAlister about the wonderful world of flies, followed by an entertaining talk by historian Greg Jenner in November, who spoke about his new book ‘Ask a Historian – 50 Surprising Answers to Things You Always Wanted to Know’. In June 2022, esteemed author Tessa Dunlop discussed her book, Army Girls, with former WWII ATS Corporal and Driver Barbara Weatherill. Tessa’s book captures remarkable stories from the last surviving veterans who served in Britain’s female army, bringing to life a pivotal moment in British history.

We also hosted a series of well-attended events with York Literature Festival this year, the first time since 2019. The festival was cancelled in 2020 and 2021 due to Covid restrictions but returned in 2022 from March 18-27 with a fantastic programme of talks, six of which were hosted by St Peter’s School. High-calibre speakers included author Sarah Maine, Yorkshire Shepherdess Amanda Owen, journalists Jonathan Calvert and George Arbuthnott, activist and politician Magid Magid, author and journalist Simon Jenkins, and celebrated Scottish crime writer Val McDermid, to name a few.

Children’s Heart Surgery Fund Donation

Children from St Peter’s 2-8 made a special donation to the Children’s Heart Surgery Fund at Christmas. The children chose the charity after it was nominated by Sophie, whose cousin was helped by them. Sophie wanted to make a difference by donating gifts and toys to bring joy to the lives of children staying in the Leeds Congenital Heart Unit at Christmas. The children made bespoke gift bags with sweets and craft materials for children supported by the charity. Each gift bag also contained a special QR code, linked to a video made by the children at St Peter’s 2-8. In the videos, the children explained how to complete a simple craft activity using the materials provided in the gift bag. The St Peter’s 2-8 community also collected new toys for the fund. Sophie, her friends and the St Peter’s 2-8 House Captains delivered the gift bags and toys to Children’s Heart Surgery Fund’s offices in Leeds in early December.

Children’s Heart Foundation

In June, Lisa Williams from the Children’s Heart Foundation visited St Peter’s 2-8 with Katie Bear to receive a cheque from the school for £5500, all funds raised throughout the year. This charity was also proposed by Sophia in Year 3 after she found out about the charity through her cousin, who was supported by the Children’s Heart Foundation when he was going through surgery and who came to the assembly with his family.

Maths Masterclass

We welcomed Year 6 pupils from nine local primary schools to St Peter’s 8-13 on a Saturday in mid-March for our first Maths event in two years! The much anticipated annual 8-13 Maths Masterclass focused on two sequences. The pupils extended their knowledge on sequences such as Pascal’s Triangle and the Fibonacci Sequence. The children collaborated, developed their mathematical vocabulary, showed great resilience when challenged, and developed their predictions and problem-solving skills. Thank you to all who came; it was a great morning of fun investigation.

York ISSP

It was wonderful to have ISSP events in person again this year, after being online due to Covid. We hosted two events for Year 7 and 8 pupils across York to find out what ISSP is all about, and to debate the Greatest Breakthrough in History.

Many of our pupils logged into the wide variety of online ISSP lectures offered throughout the year, including one led by our very own Andy Parr. We continued to host GCSE classes in Latin and Astronomy for pupils from across the city, with consistently excellent take-up for the classes. The masterclasses were back in full swing again in March with pupils able to choose lessons in Classics, Textiles, Literary Criticism and Maths. A number of pupils and staff also took part in the ISSP Summer School held at Manor School at the end of July, which was well attended and another great success.

Clif-Fest!

In July, St Peter’s 2-8 enjoyed a Summer Fair, Clif-Fest. It was incredibly well attended and children had a wonderful time taking part in many activities including a birds of prey display, zorbing and a mass tug of war. Huge thanks to all who attended, and to the volunteers who ran the stalls, cooked on the BBQ, ran the bar and café and helped to set up and clear away. It was such a brilliant effort by all and a joyful day to remember.

Cross Keys Junior Choir

This year we launched a new community choir for children aged 6-12, in collaboration with York Minster, which is still going strong. The Cross Keys Junior Choir is free to attend and held in our Chapel on Saturday mornings, during term time. The choir is hosted by Holly Craven, Director of Music at St Peter’s 8-13. Over 30 children have joined the choir since it was launched in November 2021.

In June, the choir had its inaugural concert at the Lady Chapel in York Minster. Friends, family and visitors were treated to wonderful renditions of Benjamin Britten’s melancholy Old Abram Brown and the lively Pirate for a Day by Roger Emerson. The choir is a collaboration between St Peter’s 8-13 Music Department and York Minster. New members are very welcome with regular concerts both in our chapel and at York Minster.

8-13’s Kind Pupil Ambassadors

Pupil Ambassadors wrote welcome postcards to children coming to York through the York City of Sanctuary programme – which aims to settle those who find themselves unable to return to their country of origin – and supported the charity by collecting stationery and books to donate to children when they arrive.

8-13 Music Outreach

The 8-13 music department enjoyed taking two of our musical ensembles to Burton Green Primary School to play music and engage with pupils. After performing mini concerts, our friendly pupils then talked about their different musical instruments and demonstrated how to play them.