Commemoration

Commemoration Address Friday 5th July 2013

One lunch-time, during our family holiday in Italy last summer, we had a very interesting conversation. The topic was theological: a little serious for 30 degrees in the shade perhaps. But, there we were, the five of us, gathered round bowls of pasta and salad, discussing God. What does God look like? Does God sleep? Does God have friends? What is God’s name?

“God’s name is God”, says Ivo, with the characteristic certainty of a six year old boy. There is a moment of silence as we all consider the reflexive neatness of this comment. “No, it isn’t,” declares Tabitha, his older sister: “He’s got a real name”. All eyes turn to Tabitha’s end of the table. Even little Dora is interested. “Ok.” I say. “What is God’s real name?” Another pause; and then a coy smile creeps across her face. Ascertaining that she is in possession of ‘special knowledge’, Tabitha savours the moment.

“It’s Peter”, she says, with simple confidence. A mystified silence follows. “Oh... How do you know that God’s name is Peter?”. Another pause; another enigmatic smile; then the mystery is revealed: “When we’re in church, at the end of the prayers, we all say ‘Thanks, Peter God’.” First name Peter; second name God.

I shared that story with colleagues at the start of this academic year, reflecting that mistakes and misunderstandings, whether joyful or painful, are always fuel for learning. And schools, above all places, should allow youngsters time to make intellectual mistakes and space for growth. The spirit of enquiry feeds on failure. It’s a matter of mindset.

Over the past few years the teaching profession has been afflicted by a steady flow of high-minded but fundamentally

Commemoration 2013

meddlesome diktats and pronouncements from the Department of Education. The Secretary of State, Michael Gove, who may yet go on to become the Supreme Ruler of the Universe, is already a household name. Education is a hot topic.

Whilst school improvement is de facto a good thing, and many of Gove’s messages are spot-on, it is depressing to witness a growing tendency to make the demands of league tables and key performance indicators the major focus of any school. The result is an obsession with exam results and other outputs. Our colleagues in the state sector are bedevilled by these measures. Other institutions are similarly plagued by tabulations and systems that, however well-crafted and nobly intentioned, tend to oversimplify at best, and at worst mislead and demoralise.

That is not to say that mileposts should not be set, or that results don’t matter. Of course they do. Good exam results are permits to travel: the agreed currency of progression. We should rightly be proud that last year’s Upper Sixth pupils passed a quarter of their A level exams at A*; and it’s great that almost a third of our pupils achieved straight A*/A passes at GCSE last summer. With more than a 75% offer rate from Russell Group Universities this year, and nine pupils securing Oxbridge offers, we can hope for more excellent exam results for our current Upper Sixth. And it was a pleasure to present the St Peter’s Award, the school’s highest accolade, to Dan Spencer yesterday for his extraordinary achievements at national and international level in Maths and Physics.

But, it’s not all about A* grades and it’s certainly not all about statistics. We want all our pupils to exceed expectations, whatever their starting point. And, some of the most important outcomes of education are beyond measurement. How do you quantify happiness, well-being, confidence, tenacity, humility? What algorithm should we use to take the measure of a person’s character? When do you know your education has been a success?

It has been observed that education is what remains after one has forgotten what one learned in school. On the same Italian holiday last summer I got chatting with a gentleman who gradually worked out that I was a teacher. As the net of our conversation tightened, it turned out, remarkably, that he was a former St Peter’s parent. “Great school is that, Saint Peter’s” said the man. “Had a lad there once”. “Oh.” I said. “Did you? How old is he now?” “Michael?” he said. “He’d be 32.” Time for some informal market research: “So… How do you rate a St Peter’s education?” I asked. The man gave me a long Yorkshire look. “It’s a bit early to tell”.

Back in the 1980s Harvard University became concerned. They had mastered the craft of producing excellent, well qualified professionals. But they were embarrassed by the number of their graduates who were found guilty of serious white collar crimes. The leadership at Harvard asked themselves a question: why is that so many well educated people do bad things? They concluded that they were giving them virtually no preparation for how to apply their educations in a morally responsible manner. Harvard therefore decided that all their students would be required successfully to complete one of a selection of courses in moral philosophy before they could graduate. This was not a panacea, but it showed the right kind of thinking.

My father retired a few days ago after 20 years as a Head Master. Apparently, it’s unique that a father and son have served concurrently as headmasters of HMC schools. Headteachers, like policemen, are getting younger... In his final speech day a few weeks back, my father asked: “What is it that we [as Headmasters] treasure about the schools we run? Yes it’s nice if we win a few matches and pass a few exams, preferably at a higher level than last year, but I remain convinced that in a school the successes we enjoy are small and personal; they are about the individual development of individual children. So often, flicking through those dreary descriptions of schools, one comes across stuff about developing the unique qualities of individual children, and then one realises that the school believes these unique qualities are best expressed through a string of A stars at GCSE and a string of top grades at A level. In a good school we rejoice about the individual leaps made by individual children. We

rejoice that Adam has finally learnt the difference between a ruck and maul; that Annabel now knows the difference between a demi semi quaver and a stick insect. It’s the little personal triumphs which make us rejoice.”

Julian Stern, Professor of Education and Theology at York St John University, published a 2010 book called: ‘The Spirit of the School’. His work highlights the value and importance of spiritual education. This is more than lessons in religious studies (great subject though it is). More broadly, it is about the cultivation of individual character and virtue through shared values of community, friendship, learning and dialogue. Stern’s compelling suggestion is that the dominant contemporary educational culture has got things the wrong way round. Rather than focusing on outcomes, we should be focusing on school culture: the spirit of the school. Because, if we have a clear understanding of ‘spirit’, we get happier individuals and happier communities, where people are more caring of one another, more reflective about themselves – and better educated. As it happens, they also get better results. But, much more importantly, they become decent individuals.

At St Peter’s, we situate our values squarely on the groundwork of the Christian faith. Accrued wisdom guides how we seek to develop character in our youngsters and our Christian values intersect to form the grid map that guides our footsteps over the ancient ways. These values bind us strongly to York Minster and to the community of faith. As the General Synod gathers in York, I’m delighted that the Dean of York is with us today; we are grateful, as ever, to be celebrating this service of Commemoration here in The Minster.

So, is St Peter’s a school of spirit? I truly believe it is. If the achievements of our pupils and staff are an indicator, we have seen numerous signs of the spirit of the school this year.

The inspirational and moving production of Les Misérables springs readily to mind. The accomplished vocal and acting performances were born not just of a few weeks of strenuous rehearsal but years of good teaching and hard work on all parts. Not many school musical productions could boast an orchestra of such calibre, including quite so many members of the academic

staff. This was a gem of a production that rightly elicited standing ovations from its audiences, and will live long in the memory.

There were many other signs of the spirit of our school. Consider the vibrancy and community feeling of the pupil-led Community Action Talent Show (just one of the many events in our vital volunteering programme); the on-going flourishing of debating and creative writing; the stunning pupil Art; the stimulating menu of activities in the Lower Sixth Exploration Week; the colour and fun of Red Nose Day; the rare delight of a warm, sunny sports day; the marvellous concert in Leeds Town Hall; the Choir’s memorable evensong at St Paul’s Cathedral; the rededication of the Chapel by the Archbishop of York at the start of the year and the blessing last week of our remarkable icon of St Peter. These were all heartening signs of the spirit of the school.

Spirit is often most palpable in team activities. Our improved sports reporting via Twitter and the school website has chronicled an exceptional sporting year which the Peterite magazine will detail fully. The team performance of the year was surely that of the 1st XV, who completed the rugby season unbeaten in friendlies for the first time since the late 1970s. But it was not so much the victories as the manner in which they were achieved. This was perhaps epitomised in the match that saw St Peter’s race to a 24-0 lead only to see the opposition slowly whittle away that commanding position until the score was 24-24. It came to the last play of the game. A call was made to run it from lineout ball in our 22. After several phases, the ball reached the opponents’ 22 and, with some determined recycling of the ball and excellent running, the winning try was scored under the posts. This finale typified the spirit of the squad.

We are a school passionately committed to co-education, on equal terms. I asked the Head of Girls’ Sport for her highlight of the year, which was a characteristically busy Saturday afternoon this term. There were girls on the river rowing in the York spring regatta, twelve sets of girls’ tennis matches, and four rounders matches, as well as squash and swimming. We are rightly ambitious for girls’ sport, in terms of participation, the range of options available and the pursuit of excellence. Two of our girls rowed at Henley last week and we have a female cox down to the final two for the GB team role. The end of year Girls’ Sports Dinner resonated with shared enjoyment, achievement and ambition. I’m delighted too that our first ever co-educational sports tour, with girls’ hockey and boys’ rugby squads, leaves for South Africa in a matter of days, as well as our thoroughly co-ed music tour to New York.

Community engagement is both an expression of, and fuel for, the spirit of the school. Sir Michael Wilshaw, the Chief Inspector of Schools, last month challenged independent schools to end what he called their “splendid isolation” and work more with state schools. St Peter’s co-funds the York Independent State School Partnership, and we offer a free 2 year course in GCSE Latin to pupils from six state schools in York, as well as coaching rowing and opening up our CCF to state school pupils. Two weeks ago I was called to give evidence before the House of Commons Education Select Committee on school partnership and cooperation. It was a fascinating experience. That very same Wednesday, we hosted 35 schools for our Physics Olympics, launched the second cycle of free GCSE Latin to a gathering of 60 state school families, and welcomed the Principal and senior colleagues of Archbishop Sentamu Academy in Hull, with whom we are building partnership links. Whilst it is good that St Peter’s, and York as a whole, are seen as beacons of excellence in partnership working, there is much more to do in this spirit. Our pupils and staff benefit as much as the pupils and staff of our partner schools.

Turning to our staff, we are lucky to have such a gifted, committed and, as the Chairman mentioned, often long-serving teaching and support staff. I want to mention the achievement of Mr David Morris who won a national award from the Institute of Physics as well as an Ogden Trust Fellowship. He takes over as Head of Science from Mr Northfield, with a new brief to extend our public engagement work. Peter Northfield, who joined the school in 1987, has led the Chemistry and Science Departments with great skill. Legendary for his excellent teaching, concern for others and skilled diplomacy, Mr Northfield leaves St Peter’s with our warmest good wishes. Alex Knill and Anna Cowling move on to new Biology posts, and Jeremy Connor leaves us after three years to take up a post in the Classics Department at his native Brighton College; after five years, Claire Wright travels south to an exciting role as Head of French at Wellington College. John Owen-Barnett has done just about everything at the school in his 37 years at St Peter’s. A fine and charismatic teacher, tutor and housemaster, he has most recently been the school’s child protection officer, a role he has performed with great wisdom and care. Few teachers have such legendary presence, such luminosity of spirit - and of clothing! As he signs off from his 111th and final term at St Peter’s, we wish Mr O-B well for the future.

Looking to our future, we have ambitious plans. We need to keep improving. We will have a new Memorial Hall by mid-Autumn and new entrance to follow. We continue to review our curriculum, to offer ever more challenge and choice in the GCSE years. We’re working on a more holistic approach to personal and health education, to cultivate well-being and reflection, and help pupils manage the stresses of the ‘always on’ culture. We’re introducing a new course in Third Form on reading for pleasure & research and information skills. History of Art A level is available for the first time, and we are providing interview skills training for sixth form, including the opportunity for video playback analysis – terrifying but useful!

In our shared pursuit of excellence, I would like to express my on-going gratitude to the Board of Governors, in particular the Chairman and the Vice Chairmen, for their support and expertise, freely given to help guide and improve the school. I thank all members of my senior team for their excellent work this year – we have ‘serious fun’ running the school together. I add my thanks to our colleagues in the bursary, estates, domestic, catering, facilities assistants, matrons and nurses, grounds and maintenance staff and technicians. They are very much the spirit of the school.

And so, finally: to those for whom this is the day of transition from current pupil to Old Peterite, our Upper Sixth leavers. I hope sincerely that each individual character has been shaped positively by their time at the school. Our Head Girl, Laura, and Head Boy, Nick, along with their deputies and an excellent team of Monitors, have together led the school with a spirit of calm assurance and commitment. Many of our leavers today have been in the school from St Olave’s and plenty have travelled all the way from the Nursery at Clifton School. Seven of them spoke wonderfully at the Clifton School end of year review yesterday afternoon. It is the deepest privilege of teaching to watch children grow up into confident young adults. The class of 2013 is a very special bunch: bright, able, caring, fun, great participators who carry their talents lightly; a year group full of spirit.

The Archbishop of York, who is very much in our thoughts as he continues his recovery from cancer treatment, inspires us with his call to “seize the best of life; glory in the goodness of it; and then live it before God and humanity alike”. Accordingly, I say this to those of you who leave St Peter’s School today: be true to your character and to your education. Keep learning. Stay in touch with the community of St Peter’s. And, as you travel the ancient ways, carry with you the spirit of the school.

Mr L Winkley

Friends of St Peter’s

Boarders’ Teas and the New Parents’ evening traditionally mark the start of the FOSP calendar for the new academic year; it provides an excellent way to welcome new friends and spot any likely committee members. This year we were lucky enough to entice Julie Cranston to represent The Rise and she has been a great addition to our team, whose first task was to write our new constitution that we hope will pave the way to the future.

Our AGM at St Catherine’s was very kindly hosted by Mr and Mrs Winkley and saw Diana Widdicombe, our outstanding outgoing Chair, hand over the reins to me, leaving the committee in amazing shape with a fixed schedule of events, organisation an army would be proud of and a full bank account ready for distribution in our annual bids. Following the sad loss of the Best Friend of St Peter’s, Mrs Wendy Shepherd, Mrs Justine Williams nobly stepped into her shoes as staff rep. Mrs Williams launched our new bids system in the Autumn Term with a number of bids including a contribution for a wooden bench at Linton House, an infra-red camera for the Physics department, a headphone head set for the Music Department, money towards the production cost of The Keystone publication and kitchen equipment in support of Community Action and the Island charity.

Christmas Term was extremely busy with the Les Misérables production and Christmas concert. My huge and grateful thanks to all of the committee, and the Catering Department, who worked tirelessly over both these events to make them so successful. At this stage may I point out a wonderful advantage of being on the committee is that we get to watch such superb productions.

The start of the Easter Term heralds a regular Stargazing evening and this year’s event, organised by Kate Fordy, was magnificent. Despite the poor visibility, the evening was a roaring success with the Cosmodome, public lecture and a wonderful array of sciencerelated activities for all ages. Mr Morris provided a magnificent telescope as our main raffle prize, with Anne Barron on raffle duty. Anne, together with Jo Punnett, who has been an excellent Treasurer, also took over the organisation of the Leavers’ Ball and

managed to decorate the room and arrange the props before returning to the Ball as guests looking glamorous for such a very special evening.

Our planning for the annual Cabaret nights began in earnest after February half term and are a wonderful finale to the summer. This year’s evenings proved to be no exception, with half the committee in tears following the solo performances. Andy Elliott, who describes himself as “the token male on the committee” came to the rescue with his superb organisation of the Bar. Caron Guffogg stepped in at short notice to take over the raffle for the evening and did a marvellous job together with her husband Simon who acted as Official Photographer for the night. All committees have an unsung hero who just rolls up their sleeves and gets on with things - ours is Maggie Langford. She single-handedly bought the food and delivered all the Crispy Crème doughnuts for the cabaret evening, making several extra trips for even more doughnuts.

As previously mentioned, Diana has been a wonderful Chair taking the committee to a new level, leaving us organised, efficient, with a new constitution, new marketing information and banners. As a leader she has brought us all together from individual members to a group of friends. Diana is leaving the committee after her 4 year term but we will continue to use her razor sharp organisational skills on the Leavers’ Ball committee.

Sian Frazer

Mrs Anne Bulcock

17th October 1936 - 8th June 2013

We are sad to report the death of Anne Bulcock . With her husband John she took over the running of The Manor at a moment of crisis in 1984, leaving a happy and prosperous boarding house ten years later. The following is an extract from the Tribute to Anne which was written by her husband John and delivered by The Revd. Dr John Roden.

Anne and John were appointed to be in charge of The Manor with responsibility for 50 teenage boys. No empty nest syndrome for Anne! The Boarding House could never ever have achieved its warmth, respect and altruism without the presence of this wonderful housemaster’s wife. She was uniquely qualified for her new role: her own children had by the exigencies of the overseas postings been boarders themselves, and Anne knew exactly by her personal experience what were the essentials of the quality of the Care which the parents who had entrusted their sons to the boarding-house should rightly expect. Over the years The Manor became House of choice of many new entrants. Anne was totally involved, always able to listen to problems and to do her best, never frightened of tackling boy-ish naughtiness with aplomb her sense of humour, at those times when John’s was sorely tested, would carry the day. Two illustrations come to mind. Late one evening a noise two floors above, emanating from the Juniors’ sleeping area, caused her to climb the stairs and open a door well after lights-out time – to be shot in the face with a water pistol! She held out her hand for the weapon, tried to stop her laughter – and, importantly, never told John until he had had a night or two’s good rest. Recollecting the incident much later as an eighteen-year-old leaver, the young man concerned gave her a hug and said he thought his last day in the House had come those five years ago! The thirteen-yearold had discovered the humour, balance, real common sense and abiding qualities of the wife of his housemaster. Another incident kept from John for a cooling-down period was an investigation she made into the cellar of the House : the strange smell turned out to be a small vat of home-brewing beer, cunningly concealed in the least likely place to be searched – the Head of House’s trunk! No tedious investigation: just the pouring away of the beer which was replaced with a pint or two of cold tea! Boys will always be boys, and she handled them brilliantly – and they respected her hugely. Her ten years in The Manor contained some of her warmest memories.