Newsletter 18

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I am writing this Newsletter introduction on the coach on the way back to school from the Young Voices 2023 Concert in Sheffield Arena. Our Year 2 and 3 children joined 5201 children from schools across the North to form part of the largest children’s choir.

The children sang a wide range of music from folk songs to pop medleys, and arrangements created by the Young Voice Musical director Craig Mcleish including Milligantics’, (arrangements of music to many Spike Milligan’s poems). When the children sang ‘Sing from your heart’ it was heart warming hearing that amount of children collaborating and sounding so beautiful. Andy Instone and Urban Strides who have performed in many arenas around the world, amazed us with their breath taking street dance routines and supporting many of the songs in the

concert. Beatbox Collective performed an incredible set, four people creating an unbelievable sound without any instruments or backing tracks. Anna Pheobe a violinist, dazzled us all with a tremendous contemporary performance which was thoroughly enjoyed by all. Towards the end of the concert the children had the opportunity to sing with Heather Small, where they sang Proud which will be released as a charity single later this year. The children sang their hearts out and danced all night long and all were tremendous ambassadors of our school.

My huge thanks to the parents who came to support the children, the staff who accompanied and supervised the children and Mrs Hayden who has put a tremendous amount of work in teaching the children the songs and all of the dance moves. What a brilliant and uplifting day!

This week we have celebrated Children’s Mental Health Week across 2-18. On Tuesday children across school were encouraged to write something that makes them feel happy onto a coloured strip of paper which was then made into a paperchain of connecting feelings that was hung in the atrium at school. Then on Wednesday Wellbeing Champions visited classrooms to encourage children to dance to their favourite songs. It was great fun and everyone was smiling as they joined in. The week ended with the Wellbeing Champions giving out cards to each pupil each had a

Newsletter No: 18

Friday 10th February 2023

DIARY FOR WEEK COMMENCING 6th February 2023

School Council

positive message written on it so the children could take some positivity home with them for half term. My thanks to Mrs Clarke for organising a fabulous week of wellbeing activities for the children.

This week reception have visited The National Railway Museum in York. They had a wonderful time learning all about rail transport and enjoyed visiting the many different trains and carriages. My thanks to the reception team for making these visits so much fun for the children and to the Facilities Assistants for transporting everyone throughout the week on the school minibuses.

I can’t believe it is already half term which means we are now halfway through the academic year! It doesn’t seem that long ago that the children were arriving at school for the first day of the academic year in September. What an extremely busy and enjoyable half term it has been, and my huge thanks for all the incredible work of our teachers, teaching assistants and support staff. Everyone has played a significant part in creating a wonderful place for the children to learn.

Next week I am joining the 8 -13 children on their ski trip to Italy, which I am sure will be great fun and full of adventures. I hope you have a relaxing half term break, and I shall look forward to seeing you all return to school on Monday 20th February for the second half of the Easter term. I look forward to hearing about the children’s adventures over the half term break.

With my best wishes

Year 1 Lexia

Year 1 Ball Skills

Year 2 & 3 European Culture

Year 2 Cricket*

Year 2IT

Year 3 & 3 Football*

Year 3 Cookery

Year 1 Football*

Year 2 STEM (cancelled)

Year 2 Tag Rugby

Year 3 Swimming

Year 3 Tennis*

Year 2 & 3 Dance Club*

1 Construction

Year 1 Football*

Year 1 Cricket

Year 2 & 3 Choir

Year 1 Board Games

Year 1 Tag Rugby

Year 2 Tennis*

Year 2 Art

Year 3 Netball

Year 3 Environment

Year 1 Wellbeing

Year 1 Street Dance*

Year 2 & 3 Football*

Year 3 Board Games

Year 2 & 3 Film

Notice Board

Music Award

• Tatiana (RC)

• Zoe (RP)

RECEPTION VALUE CHAMPIONS

• Taymour (RC)

• Agnes (RP)

• Toby (RJ)

RECEPTION LEARNING SUPERHEROES

• Oscar (RC)

• Zoe (RP)

• Everyone in (RJ)

DANCING AWARD : Jemima

• Ballet : Very High Merit

• Jazz : Distinction

• Tap : Very High Merit

SWIMMING AWARD : Bertie

YORK CITY BATHS CLUB

Notice Board

DIRECTOR OF SPORT

We are pleased to announce that Mr Chris McTurk has been appointed Director of Sport with effect from September 2023.

Mr McTurk is currently Assistant Director of Sport at Barnard Castle School with responsibilities across a range of sports and Academic PE. He is also a Housemaster and brings the experience of two stints as Acting Director of Sport.

The post attracted a strong field with several very able candidates under consideration. After an extensive process, the appointments panel were clear that Mr McTurk has the experience and skills to take forward our vision for sport at St Peter’s, building on very strong foundations.

We very much look forward to him joining St Peter’s and all that he will bring, working with an excellent team of colleagues, over the coming years.

One of our Sixth Form pupils is trying to raise money for The Turkey-Syria Appeal.

The funds will go toward urgent donations for British Red Cross to assist with their disaster appeal for aid in Syria and Turkey. Details are below.

If you would like to donate, please follow the justgiving link at the bottom of the page.

On Monday, Turkey and Syria were hit with two of the most devastating earthquakes (magnitude 7.8 and 7.6) seen in over 100 years. It is imperative that help be given to those who need it as soon as possible as there are still thousands injured, missing or stuck under debris of one of the thousands of collapsed buildings. In Turkey, temperatures are currently freezing and heavy snow falls every day; this runs the risk of many of those displaced freezing to death. By donating to British Red Cross, we, as a school, can save lives by providing urgent aid such as heaters, thermal blankets and emergency food for those who need it.

With many thanks for your support.

Turkey-Syria Earthquake Appeal justgiving.com

Notice Board SCHOOL COUNCIL

School Council were very lucky to receive a visit this week from Cllr Paula Widdowson who is the Executive Member for Environment and Climate Change on York City Council. She was able to tell us some very interesting facts about environmental issues in York. Tom Swales from Estates also joined us to hear what the school could do to improve our school's impact on the Environment.

We discovered, that, with regard to the treatment of waste and the care of the environment, York is an ‘A’ list city of which there are only 7 in the UK.

Paula told us what happens to our rubbish in York and what we can do to help the environment at school and at home. School Council members will share this information with their class after half term.

Thank you for visiting us Paula, it was so interesting and has given us lots of ideas to share with the rest of St Peter's.

Notice Board

MUSIC

WOW, what a fabulous end to a busy half term Year 2 and 3 had yesterday!

The children were amazing at the Young Voices concert, they really did the school proud singing their hearts out. After such a lot of hard work learning the songs it was great to see them in the final show!

We really enjoyed being able to watch all the action on stage, the BeatBox Collective with Anna Phoebe were amazing and singing Proud with Heather Small was such a highlight.

We all enjoyed watching the mummies and daddies dancing along with Andy Instone and the Urban Strides, there were some great moves!!!

Thank you so much to all the parents and family who were able to come along and support the children, they really loved having you in the Arena.

A special mention to Elio who was spotted by the Young Voices team, they were so impressed by his amazing singing and dancing that they gave him a programme signed by the whole company, including Heather Small! Fabulous work!

WHOLE SCHOOL CONCERT, Monday 27th February 2023.

2-8 Choir will be participating as well as some our Year 3 instumentalists.

Tickets are free and can be purchased via the following link:

https://www.universe.com/events/whole

MUSIC

MUSIC

MUSIC

PE

Throughout this half term, both Acorns and Conkers have been working hard on their fundamental skills. We have introduced games like 'tig' to develop an understanding of teamwork and competition. The children have responded exceptionally!

Skipping, galloping, and hopping play a key role in developing coordination and bodily control. We actively encourage children, at this age, to practice and perform as much as possible!

In Acorns, our PE lessons are based on exploration. The children have enjoyed experimenting with a variety of balls and equipment, using various parts of their body to control the ball. It is clear from the pictures that the children very much enjoy this!

PE has been thoroughly enjoyed this half term across Nursery and we are already looking forward to next half term!

PE

The sun has been shining this week which has been lovely, the Acorns have had another fun filled week and the children have continued to bring in their favourite stories from home which we have loved reading together.

We have had a Chinese story too which was very special.

Our adventures down into Forest school took us on a new route which led us into the perfect spot to retell the story of 'The Three Little Pigs. The children have loved the story and are getting good at 'huffing and puffing and blowing down the house.'

We built a house from straw, wood, and bricks and the forest was the perfect setting.

We have enjoyed playing outside on the big climbing equipment and the children are getting more confident each day.

We have had running races and have got faster and braver on the bikes.

We are looking forward to a visit from Dr Beach, Annie's Dad who is coming into school to tell the Acorns what it is like to be a doctor. Thank you so much!

For those of you going away, have a lovely holiday and a good break over half term.

C O N K E R S

Why do all grownups like doughnuts so much?

They always rave about the flavours, filings and such. They praise the glazes and savour the dough. Doughnuts are SO tasty…..we NOW get it and we NOW know!

What a way to end the term with a very special treat, a trip to the Kristy Kreme doughnut shop, to choose our own doughnuts to share! Delicious!

C O N K E R S

Reception

Love is in the air this week in Reception as we start to think about Valentine’s Day on the 14th. Look out in your children’s bags for a special Valentine’s surprise they have made for you.

In our focus skills sessions, we have been continuing to practise our woodwork skills and have been creating some cute wooden animals which will be coming home soon. Speaking of cute animals, we have been enjoying sharing the children’s pet photos with each other in our pet

gallery. Thank you for sending in your photos and we will continue to look at them, so don’t worry if you haven’t seen yours yet or want to send in a photo still.

Of course, the highlight of our week though has been our visit to the Railway Museum and our picnic lunch! Lots of trains to see and inspire us for our learning next term. Which was your favourite……… The Mallard, the Rocket or the Bullet?

Reception

Welcometothe1980'sandclubTropicanainYear1!

Year1havesteppedforwardsintimetothedecadeofthe1980'sandhavehad theBESTweekindiscoveringsomeincredibleartistsfromthisdecade.We havediscoveredanewgenreofPopmusicandhavelearnedaboutboththe QueenofPopMadonnaandthePrincessofPopKylieMinogue.Ithasbeen wonderfultoseethechildrencomparethedifferencesbetweenrockandpop musicandhoweithermusicmakesusfeelemotionally.Aswellaspopmusic, wehavedippedintothegenreofpowerballadsaswelookedatoneofthe greatestvoicesofalltime,theoneandonlyWhitneyHoustonandher incrediblesongs.

Aswellastheseincredibleartists,thechildrenhavelearntaboutGeorge Michaelasmocktail(ClubTropicana)stationhasarrivedinalltheclassesfor thechildrentodeveloptheirmeasuringskills,astheytasteandtryiconic, artist-inspiredmocktails!Theaccuratemeasuringandmixologyskillshave beensuperb!Iwonderifthechildrencanrememberanyoftherecipestomake themathome.

Alongsidethis,thechildrenhavebeendevelopingscientificskillsinprovision aswehavebeeninvestigatingthedifferentpitchesandvibrationsthattuning forkscanmakeindifferentcontextssuchasinwaterandjumpingrice!

ThankyoutoeveryonewhohasbeendoingLexiaathome!Thechildrenhave beensuperproudofthecertificatesthattheyhavebeenreceivingfortheir hardworkandeffort.The'LexiaMail'deliverytrulyexcitesthechildren!

Wishingyouallafantastichalfterm-keepyoureyeoutonEvidenceMefora halftermchallenge(ifyouwishtodoit!).

We started our week with a very exciting visit from Mr Carrotte, our very own parent, Polar Explorer! Mr Carrotte told us all about his recent expedition to the Antarctic! We were so amazed at the conditions he had to endure and he certainly had to show collaboration and resilience during his trip!

We then learnt about ‘Polar Preet’ and her recent solo record trip across Antarctica! It has certainly proved that girls most definitely can be explorers!

We then wrote to Mr Shackleton to persuade him to take Stella on his next expedition! Yesterday we had an absolute blast at Young Voices and are very proud of all the children! Happy half term everyone!

YEAR 3

This week we concluded our volcano learning and experimented in Science with different materials to facilitate the best eruptions for our creations! In our story this week, Tom met a man named Sergio who is part of the Uros tribe. We learnt that the Uros people live in houses built from reeds on the shores of Lake Titicaca and were forced there by the Incas who took over their land. This led to us exploring who the Incas were, where they lived and how they influenced life in South America.

Alongside our thematic learning, we very excitedly attended the Young Voices concert that we have be rehearsing so spectacularly for. Needless to say, it didn’t disappoint! Thank you to Mrs Hayden for all of the singing rehearsals and organisation that went into this special event.

In maths we moved onto measuring lengths and focussed specifically on estimating and measuring accurately. We looked at converting units of measure and the children enjoyed the challenge of working out perimeters of shape! We will continue to develop our knowledge of measure when we return to school.

YEAR 3

If you are looking for something to brighten your winter diary, we might have just the thin for you. Gather a couple of friends or block out some 'me time' and come along to The OP Collection where we will be on hand to make sure everyone feels welcome. In the first event of its kind for St Peter's School, Sarah J Thomas is collaborating with the Alumni Team and Old Peterite Entrepreneurs to offer a fun afternoon of lifestyle, wellbeing and fashion. With so many brilliant businesses to celebrate within the OP Community, this event is the perfect way to showcase just a handful. You can expect stalls from the likes of Clockface Beauty, Hearts Fashion and DogBox Boutique. Fashion show and styling tips with Sarah Thomas in collaboration with Fenwicks, refreshments from MoodyMare Patisserie, a premium raffle, and information sessions from wellbeing and lifestyle professionals. Follow the link below to book your tickets. With spaces limited for this exclusive event and Sarah's events already successful across the city, we recommend booking early to avoid disappointment. Tickets include a goody bag and refreshments from MoodyMare Patisserie, with proceeds supporting bursaries at St Peter’s School.

Please book tickets following the link:

The OP Collection | Calendar | St Peter's School

(stpetersyork.org.uk)