The Peterite 2015-2016 by StPetersYork

The Peterite 2015-2016

St Peter’s School • York • YO30 6AB Tel: 01904 527300 • Fax: 01904 527302 Email: enquiries@stpetersyork.org.uk www.stpetersyork.org.uk

CONTENTS

The Peterite 2015-2016 Issue No. 433 Contents Commemoration

Salvete

Valete

House Reports

Visits & Exchanges

News, Events & Activities

Creative & Cultural

Sport

111

Leavers’ Destinations

167

The Peterite 2015-2016

Editorial

From the Head Master This Edition of The Peterite brings together the best and brightest moments of another wonderful year in the School’s long history. The vibrant spirit of the School comes through these pages. I hope that the love of learning and playing together, and the joy that comes from the deep sense of community at St Peter’s, speak loud and clear through the various sections of our flagship publication. Readers will sense the energy and enjoyment in the house reports and the remarkable range of pupil activity and achievement across the academic and co-curricular programme, as well as the tremendous commitment of our excellent teaching, pastoral and support staff. It is a compendium of a purposeful and dynamic year in the life of our community: another year of shared travel ‘over ancient ways’. Grateful thanks go to the pupils on the editorial team and to Mr Keith Wright for diligently steering this 2015-2016 edition to completion. They, like us, can now sit back and enjoy the reading …

Mr Leo Winkley

The Peterite 2015-2016

EDITORIAL

The Peterite

Editorial

The Governing Body all give their time freely to help ensure that the school continues to provide the teaching and environment for our pupils to thrive in all aspects of school life. The Peterite is an excellent publication for showcasing just what has been achieved over the last year and what rich and diverse opportunities St Peter’s pupils enjoy.

Once again the magazine has been produced with the aid of a large number of people, notably the contributors who faithfully record the year’s events and achievements, and in particular the pupil team of Peter Gray, Daniel Kondratiev, Polly Moss, Concetta Scrimshaw and Jessica Webster. The majority of the photographs – as they have been for many years – are the work of Mr David Morris, whose cameras capture the spirit of occasions as varied as sports fixtures on dreary November afternoons, talks by former cabinet ministers and the ‘house shout’ singing competition. The layout of the magazine is the work of Amanda Holmes of Hutton Peach Design Solutions: the distinctive visual style she brings to the pages has been developed and refined over 19 issues, but this will sadly be her last. To Amanda in particular, and to all those who have helped to produce the magazine, I offer my sincere thanks.

Whilst academic achievement has always been at the heart of our success and will remain so, The Peterite reminds us that there is so much more to school life. The happy and contented faces pictured throughout demonstrate so well how much enjoyment and fulfilment the school provides in ultimately preparing everyone for their life after school. As a governor it is very satisfying to read about the range of activities and I would like to congratulate the editorial team in providing such a comprehensive and uplifting testimony to all that is happening and the achievements of our pupils and staff over the last year. Mr William Woolley Chairman of Governors

Mr Keith Wright Editor, The Peterite

Heads of School

The School’s Governors: Mr W Woolley (Chairman) Dr D M Hayward (Vice Chair) Mr P B Hilling (Vice Chair) Mrs C Bailey Mr J E B Burdass The Revd Canon Dr C Collingwood Mr R D Harding Ms P Kaur Dr A Lees Professor M D Matravers Miss S L Palmer Mr A Taylor Mr S Town Mr P Widdicombe Heads of School 2015-16: Izzy Hedley and Josh Ramalingam

The Peterite 2015-2016

Commemoration 2016

Commemoration 2016: the Head Master’s address On a train journey back from London over half term, I was looking at the letters section of a national newspaper – the sort of thing you can do in holiday time. My eye, which has become conditioned to notice things that relate to education, fell upon a letter from a gentleman who wrote in from the pleasant North Yorkshire village of Coneythorpe: Sir – I was assisting my 16-year-old daughter with her homework when she received a text from Mum, which read: “What do you want from life?” This was an unexpected and profound question for an exam-sitting teenager. We debated various answers – wealth, fulfilment, love – all three. Five minutes later, she received a second message from Mum, blaming predictive text for auto-correcting her intended question: “What do you want from Lidl?”.

In October of this academic year, our Careers department, which plays a significant role in this preparation, received the Career Mark 6 Quality Award, making us one of only seven independent schools to hold this accreditation. Undoubtedly, one of the qualifying factors was our annual Careers Convention, which this year attracted 67 advisors, many of them Old Peterites, who offered expert guidance on an extensive range of future pathways.

A much more accessible question for an exam-sitting 16-yearold to tackle … but, what of that first, accidental question – the big one: what do you want from life? How might the pupils present answer that question? How might we adults respond? What answer would each of our 105 upper-sixth leavers give? Different ones, I hope: 105 individual responses from 105 individual young adults whose values, beliefs and hopes have been shaped and refined by their experiences at school.

Our largest ever cohort of A-Level candidates, the 2015 vintage, achieved an astonishing set of examination results, with a quarter of all exams passed at A*, and some wonderful individual triumphs. At GCSE, the current lower sixth cohort passed 40% of their exams at the highest grade. A special mention must go to the Mathematics department whose pupils achieved 77% A/A* at A-level and 61% A* at IGCSE with a 100% pass rate at this compulsory level – for the second consecutive year.

St Peter’s School started life as a very small boarding community. In many ways, we still operate from a boarding culture: the house structure; the emphasis on the co-curricular as well as the academic; the six-day week that allows our pupils to pursue multiple interests.

No wonder that 83 pupils continued with Maths in the sixth form! Whilst we all know that examination statistics do not tell you all you need to know about a person – or a yeargroup for that matter – the 2015 results were nonetheless very impressive indeed.

Our 21st-century all-round education has its roots in the Christian monastic community founded on this very site by St Paulinus in 627 AD: a community founded to seek out the answers to the biggest questions in life; questions whose answers may indeed be found within these ancient walls.

One of the many fine characteristics of academic life at St Peter’s is the unabashed enjoyment of shared intellectual curiosity. The St Peter’s Challenge competitions (our version of University Challenge) were hotly contested and well supported. Pupil-led magazines, such as Peternomics and Keystone (the arts and culture magazine) provide outlets for exploration and lively expression. Colleagues in Science and Design have delivered dynamic outreach sessions for the public, for feeder schools and for our own pre-prep pupils at Clifton School. The tenth St Peter’s School Physics Olympics competition for Year-8 pupils attracted 35 school teams from across the north. Our York Schools’ Science Quiz was well attended, as was our conference for 90 science technicians from almost 40 different schools.

As ever, we are deeply grateful to the Dean and to the Chapter of York Minster for allowing us to gather here to mark the passing of another year – the 1389th – in the school’s long history. Arthur Leach (in Fortnightly Review, November 1892) notably remarked that St Peter’s School is ‘older than the House of Commons, older than the universities, older than the Lord Mayoralty, older than the House of Lords, older even than the throne or nation itself.’ This year, the nation celebrated Her Majesty The Queen’s 90th birthday with street parties and the lighting of beacons across the land. A beacon herself – of dignity, integrity

and constancy in a changing world – the Queen has reigned during a period of unprecedented change. The profound responsibility of a school is to act as a beacon: to guide and prepare children as fully as possible for the changes and challenges of adult life. We do this by making school life rich and varied; by instilling values that endure for a lifetime; by preparing our pupils’ minds for action.

The Peterite 2015-2016

The English and Library departments gave us the Booker Prize Debate and a new creative writing competition. Debating has now extended beyond the mother tongue, with 33 schools

COMMEMORATION

gathering at St Peter’s for our North Eastern Schools’ Languages Debating Competition. Academic societies have flourished, including the Alcuin History Society and the pupil-initiated Medical Society. Exploration Week offered our lower sixth a smorgasbord of intellectual challenges and team-building exercises. During the course of the year, the Choir will have clocked up performances in St Paul’s Cathedral; Jesus College, Cambridge; Chartres Cathedral; Notre Dame in Paris; York Minster and Durham Cathedral – with Barcelona Cathedral and Westminster Abbey to come next year. Notable individual successes in music included Stephanie Frankland gaining a place to study undergraduate performance at the Royal College of Music and St Peter’s Award winner Max McLeish securing a seat in the ultra-selective National Youth Jazz Orchestra. Our vibrant Swing Band was one of only two school outfits in the country to achieve the Platinum Award in the National Concert Band Festival Final. The drama programme also gave us some memorable performances including a chilling centenary production of Arthur Miller’s The Crucible and a riotously inventive middle school play, The Odyssey. Talking of odysseys, our pupils have been engaged in a broad array of foreign trips and tours this year: with the music tour to France; a space camp in Florida; skiers in Switzerland; a girls’ hockey tour to Holland; rowers in Belgium; tennis players in Portugal; classicists in Rome and Pompeii; separate modern languages trips to Rouen and to Berlin – I’m getting exhausted just listing all these – a CCF camp; artists in Edinburgh and various Duke of Edinburgh’s Award expeditions. We continue to invest in girls’ sport to ensure that all abilities receive the best of coaching, encouraging top level performance, but above all, participation and life-long sport. We have increased our playing base to produce no fewer than eleven hockey teams and eleven netball teams across the age groups. The U14, U16 and U19 National Schools teams all won their respective York and District tournaments in both hockey and netball. Those six champion teams then represented the area in the county rounds of the National Schools’ competitions, with four teams making the regional finals – a first for our sportswomen. Special mention goes to the third XI hockey squad who enjoyed an unbeaten season – for the third consecutive year.

In rowing, at the Women’s Head of the River Race, the Girls’ First VIII moved up 50 places in this seven-kilometre race on the River Thames. At the Ghent International Regatta, St Peter’s crews collected two bronze, one silver and two gold medals. Our Girls’ fifth form quad made the top eight at Henley Women’s regatta, a landmark quarter-final appearance for the Boat Club. OP Adam Janes rowed in the Harvard Junior Varsity crew at Henley reaching the final of the Temple Challenge Cup. In boys’ sport, our hockey players were crowned U18 county champions; our U16 and U14 teams made the north finals and Freddy Heijbroek earned an England trial. Our first XI footballers enjoyed an unbeaten season and two trophy wins. Our tennis first VI also went unbeaten. A strong rugby season saw the school win over 80% of their fixtures at all levels, including a clean sweep of wins against local rivals Ampleforth College for the second year running. Sam Hudson captained the National Independent Schools First XV and was voted player of the tour to Argentina. Chris Wood, who scored his first senior century yesterday afternoon, is the first third-form pupil to play for the first XI cricket since Jonny Bairstow. It is always good to hear of the remarkable achievements of our former pupils. Our school can claim no fewer than four former pupils who are currently serving Members of Parliament. Of that quartet, two have visited the school this year to speak with pupils. Alan Mak MP, who was a bursary pupil at St Peter’s, became the first person of Chinese and East Asian origin to be elected to the House of Commons. Neil Carmichael MP, who was a boarder in the Manor, this year became Chair of the House of Commons Education Select Committee. With Guy Fawkes still ‘alive and kicking’ in the nation’s collective memory, it is good to be able to point to Old Peterites who are actively, but legitimately, engaged in political life. In their turn, our pupils have been politically active: the St Peter’s mock EU Referendum in May delivered a thumping 77% turnout. 31% of the pupils voted to leave the European Union. 69% wanted to remain. Sadly, the national turnout for 18-24 year olds is said to be a mere 36%. We sorely need the next generation to elevate the national discourse above its current level of grubby self-interest and ‘boo-hooray’ politics. Whatever our personal views on this most binary of votes – and whatever sense gradually emerges from the

The Peterite 2015-2016

COMMEMORATION EDITORIAL

current political upheaval – it is an inescapable truth that the young inherit the decisions of the old. How vital it is, then, that we educate our children be literate in politics, both national and local. As a school we benefit greatly from being part of our local community. Several colleagues contributed to the City of York Independent State School Partnership masterclasses attended by more than 200 youngsters. Mr Vann has taught GCSE Latin to 28 pupils from the city’s state schools. Our Community Action programme remains a cornerstone of school life. Mencap Day and Volunteering Week are now firm fixtures; and we responded to the December floods by providing volunteers to help City of York Council with environmental work. The ever-popular St Peter’s Public Lecture Series has been further enhanced through a burgeoning partnership with the York Festival of Ideas and the York Festival of Literature. A host of speakers have spoken at the School, including the Poet Laureate Carol Ann Duffy, Professor Steve Jones, Dame Margaret Drabble and Sir Vince Cable. Looking to the future, I am delighted that the Board of Governors has unanimously approved the Campus Masterplan. Phase One of this Capital Projects plan will deliver a new Modern Foreign Languages block and a new Mathematics block. Learning is, of course, our fundamental purpose; it is very exciting to be able to invest very significantly in providing the best of spaces for these core subjects which every pupil in the school studies for some or all of their time at the school. We have submitted plans to build a new boathouse. And there will be a new dining facility for Clifton School and Nursery, our pre-prep, where several of today’s leavers started their St Peter’s journey fifteen years ago. I’m very grateful to our Board of Governors, led expertly by Chairman Bill Woolley, for supporting this exciting building programme and for all their work this year. On a more personal note, it is a great privilege to become Chairman of the Boarding Schools’ Association, which represents over 500 state and independent boarding schools. I look forward to serving the boarding sector in the coming fifteen months and I hope that this role will also bring benefits to the school. Our guest of honour, Tony Little, has been Honorary President of the BSA during its Golden Jubilee year and I am very glad that he has joined us today.

The Peterite 2015-2016

As a former Head Master, Tony knows well that one of the foremost responsibilities of headship is to recruit the very best staff to teach and care for the children. In 23 years of teaching, I have not known a more collegiate or dedicated staff. I would like to express my heartfelt appreciation for the commitment of all my teaching colleagues, to the office and administration staff; the catering staff; the ICT support team; the matrons and nurses; the cleaners, facilities assistants, grounds and estates staff; and all who have worked so hard to inspire, support and look after our pupils this academic year. This year we say goodbye to four members of staff who have given generously to the school. Dr Jamie MacLeod has been leading our rowing for ten years, giving generously of his time and expertise. Mr John Armstrong retires from his post in the ICT support team, having also led expeditions to India and been a stalwart in the bass section of the Choral Society. In August, Mrs Penny Bollands retires from her role as Head of Careers and Higher Education. Since 2002, Penny has expertly guided many cohorts of Peterites to their next port of call. Finally, we say farewell to Mr John Darmody, who retires as Head of Art today, having inspired and directed our artists for fourteen years. In all, Mr Darmody has taught art for 43 years, with 34 of them as a head of department. A phenomenal record. His successor joins us from seven years as Head of Art at Tonbridge School and is well qualified to build on Mr Darmody’s magnificent legacy. The St Peter’s community this year mourned the passing of two significant individuals. Sir Donald Barron died in December at the age of 94. Sir Donald served as a governor from 1966 to 1978 and was then Vice-Chairman from 1978 to 1981. He was awarded a Fellowship of the School in 1991 for his exceptional service and commitment to St Peter’s. Sir Donald is survived by his wife Gillian, together with their three sons, who all attended St Peter’s, and their two daughters. We are deeply grateful for all Sir Donald did for St Peter’s and we wish the family comfort in their loss. Secondly, we heard that our oldest living Old Peterite, Allan Darton MBE, had died just two months short of his 100th birthday. Allan boarded at the school from the age of nine. He went on to enjoy a successful career in civil engineering, and no fewer than 72 years of happily married life. His fondest school memory was scoring the

COMMEMORATION

winning goal in a house hockey match in which the opposing team was captained by Norman Yardley. I was told by one of his care team that Allan wore his OP tie even in the final weeks of his life. This is a service of commemoration. As the nation marks the 100th anniversary of the Battle of the Somme, we remember those Peterites who gave their life for their country. Seven Old Peterites were killed in action during the Battle of the Somme. Robert Harpley; William Wilson; Harold Haworth; Peter Richards; Harold Windle; James Mortimer; and 2nd Lt Col Guy Reynolds, who was recommended for the Victoria Cross after losing his life in action on 18th November 1916, the final day of the Battle of the Somme. In all, 66 Peterites lost their lives in the Great War. Their names are recorded in the Roll of Honour in the ante-chapel. Their ultimate sacrifice is remembered each year at the school’s Service of Remembrance. We commemorate them now. A hundred years on, St Peter’s School exists in a very different world. But the core spirit of the school endures. With 570 pupils in the senior school next year, 250 of them in the sixth form, and a foundation population of around 1,150 girls and boys, ours is a flourishing 3-18 co-educational day and boarding community. As overall pupil numbers in northern independent schools have fallen, our numbers have grown. But we do not seek further expansion. As Head Master, I want to know something about every child in the school. That’s why I teach each class in the third form. We want to be large enough to be a vibrant community but small enough to ensure that each child feels that they are noticed and appreciated as an individual. I hope that our current success is because our school is understood to be a happy, thriving community, to which parents and children are drawn because of its warmth and diversity; a community with a clear identity in which children can feel valued and grow in confidence; a community in which children can show concern for others; a community which offers the very best teachers and resources to support, nurture and inspire each individual child to enjoy learning; a community which helps the young to work out where they want to go in life. Today, our leavers, the class of 2016, say farewell to their familiar lives at St Peter’s. I thank each and every of them for their unique contribution to our community. I wish them fulfilment, love, happiness – all three. I return to the question posed by our mis-texting mother from Coneythorpe. A question as simple as it is mysterious: what do you want from life? Today, our leavers will cross the threshold of the Minster’s great doors, and set out, over the ancient ways, to find their answers. Mr Leo Winkley Head Master

The Peterite 2015-2016

Salvete

Miss Lauren Crawley Miss Crawley is the newest Foreign Languages teacher at St Peter’s. Having grown up in Hull (‘I wish it was Barbados but I would like to mention it is actually the future City of Culture 2017!’) and attended South Holderness Technology College, Miss Crawley studied Modern Languages at the University of Newcastle upon Tyne. In between the terms at university during the summer, she had the somewhat strange job of working in a pea factory before spending time working in a hotel in rural Spain doing ‘pretty much everything’. When she isn’t teaching, Miss Crawley says she can likely be found in the gym, but she thoroughly enjoys travelling and especially dreams of visiting India. So far Miss Crawley has found St Peter’s to be very busy but focused and happy, stating she felt it was a ‘perfect fit’ for her when she came for her interview. We wholeheartedly wish her all the best and hope that she continues to enjoy her time here. Polly Moss, LVI

Miss Rebecca Jones Miss Jones is our newest member of the Classics department and has already made a name for herself with her enthusiasm for acting out epic poetry and Roman rituals. Having been educated at the King Henry VIII School in Coventry, Miss Jones studied Classics

The Peterite 2015-2016

at Newnham College, Cambridge, under the infamous Mary Beard. Prior to turning to teaching, Miss Jones had a job in advertising, working with everyone from international footballers to nappy companies. She now lives in York with her son Felix, named after a Roman dictator who ‘whilst a bit evil’, she has a lot of respect for! Miss Jones’ interests extend far beyond the classroom, however: she has a diploma in wine-tasting, is a qualified tennis coach, and has also studied operatic singing. She was attracted to the school because of its location and its thriving Classics department, where all pupils have some relationship with the Classical world during their time at the school. So far she is impressed with the genuine enthusiasm and sense of fun shown by the pupils. We hope she continues to enjoy life at Peter’s and we wish her all the best. Polly Moss, LVI

Mr Howard Bowden Mr Bowden was born in Sheffield but moved to Roundhay in north Leeds at the age of two. Describing himself as a proud Yorkshireman, he was one of last to take the eleven-plus exam in Leeds and attended Roundhay Grammar School, of which he has fond memories; he says, ‘I recommend keeping in touch with school buddies in later life.’ He then went to Trinity College, Cambridge to read Geography, but also found time to represent his college at tiddlywinks (he reports: ‘the sport has a rich lexicon, for example, scrunge – a shot in which a wink lands in the pot, but bounces out again’), rowed bow in an eight (very badly) and founded a cheesecake appreciation society (lemon is his favourite). Before becoming a teacher, Mr Bowden had jobs as varied as being a male model for publications including What Camera Weekly, and spent a particularly testing summer working as a server in a takeaway in a now-defunct holiday camp in Filey. Taking up the post in the Geography department at St Peter’s coincided with a plan to move to York, so all fell into place very neatly. His initial impression of the school is very positive: ‘the staff room in general and the Geography department

SALVETE

in particular are warmly welcoming and continue to be very supportive. The pupils are hardworking and respectful, and I really like the way that they look after each other.’ Away from school, Mr Bowden has a wife and three grown-up children; he is looking forward shortly to becoming a grandfather. The household is completed by their black labrador, Ollie. Having been brought up in Leeds, it comes as no surprise to hear that he is a long-suffering Leeds United fan. He is also an enthusiast for punk rock music, and keeps up with Pilates in an effort to remain young in body. His ‘party trick’ is to touch his nose with his tongue! We wish him all the best in his career here at St Peter’s.

from his time here, and the lovely surroundings. Despite the majority of his free time being taken up by looking after his two small boys (riding bikes is the next conquest), before adventuring to China, he managed to rescue and look after two exracing greyhounds, who could run 100m in eight seconds! Although claiming there is nothing unusual about himself, his father starred in Doctor Who. We wish Mr Battersby the very best in his career at St Peter’s, and hope he continues to have a truly enjoyable time here. Jess Webster, LVI

Editor

Mr Nikki Rohlfing Mr Hugo Battersby Mr Battersby joined St Peter’s in September 2015 and has already become a valued member of the school. Not only is he the most recent addition to the Economics and Business Studies department, but he also takes part in coaching second-team cricket. Having grown up near Pitlochry, Mr Battersby attended The Edinburgh Academy, then took a gap year to play rugby in New Zealand, before studying Economics at the University of York, because it is ‘practical’, ‘constantly changing’ and ‘exciting’. He was already well-known amongst the teachers before coming to St Peter’s since he spent two years after leaving university living in Linton and working under Mr Johnston. He loved the boarding community so much that he decided to continue living there whilst commuting to Hull every day for his teacher training course. However, having returned this year, he prefers to live off campus with his wife, Mrs Battersby and his two children, Theo and Magnus. Before coming to St Peter’s, amongst his former jobs he worked for a marquee company, which involved spending 20-hour days putting up marquees, and also spent three years as the head of sixth form at Dulwich College in Beijing, China. Upon being asked what he enjoys most here, Mr Battersby describes the ‘unforgettable’ tea that is served at 4 pm in the staff room, the lasting friendships he has already made with the staff

Mr Rohlfing grew up in Otley, West Yorkshire, where he attended Prince Henry’s Grammar School and later in Neckargemünd, Germany, where he attended Gymnasium Neckargemünd. After having studied for a BSc in Mathematics and Philosophy at Warwick University, he was self-employed for a number of years. His jobs were varied – from touring with bands and helping out at glittering events such as the Brit Awards, to the decidedly less glamorous task of cataloguing paraphernalia for the William Morris Gallery, to helping his father (who happens to be the owner of John Broadwood & Sons) restore grand pianos, it seems that Mr Rohlfing has had a colourful and interesting working life. He tells me he was attracted to St Peter’s as a result of its rich tapestry of history, as well as the opportunity to continue teaching sixth form, as many jobs did not offer this. He also wished to share his love of tennis, one of his main interests, with pupils, and as any Peterite knows, sport is very important at the school. His interests, besides mathematics and tennis, include playing the guitar. He is apparently also a distant relative of Hieronymus Carl Friedrich, Freiherr von Münchhausen, who is perhaps better known as his fictional counterpart Baron Munchausen, created by the German writer Rudolf Erich Raspe in his 1785 book Baron Munchausen’s Narrative of his Marvellous Travels and Campaigns in Russia. Concetta Scrimshaw, UVI

The Peterite 2015-2016

SALVETE

Mr Paul Cooper Mr Cooper grew up in Ipswich, and lived there until the age of 18. He then moved to Norwich and started work in technical sales for building management systems. After three years he decided to pursue a slightly different path and become a teacher. He gained a degree in Design and Technology at Sheffield University and started teaching straightaway in a small school in the Peak District. Soon after, his love for travel took him to Thailand, where he stayed for a year teaching in an international school in Bangkok. Having returned to Sheffield, for the following three years he worked at Buxton Community School. He then taught at West Island School in Hong Kong for five years before arriving at St Peter’s. Mr Cooper says his experiences in the two foreign cities were quite different. Thailand at the time was much less westernised than it is now and one really had to learn Thai to live there, as opposed to Hong Kong, where ‘if you try to speak Cantonese to locals’, he recalls, ‘many just talk back in English, since they are too busy.’ He enjoyed both nonetheless, highlighting that Bangkok was culturally very different to the UK, and that Hong Kong, whilst remaining a lively city, has many green areas and national parks. In his youth, Mr Cooper joined the Territorial Army, and was soon commissioned at Sandhurst. When he became a teacher, the two became too difficult to fit together, and he confesses he didn’t think he would put the uniform on again. At present, however, he enjoys being part of the CCF once more, here at St Peter’s. Outside school time he loves to travel to new destinations and is keen on surfing and diving. Daniel Kondratiev, LVI

Mrs Amy Wong Mrs Wong grew up in many places during her childhood, but her favourite was by far a quaint little farmhouse in rural North Lincolnshire. She attended a number of schools in that area, from small village institutions to monolithic comprehensives. After having gained a BA in English Literature and Creative Writing at the University of Hull, she completed a Graduate Certificate in Information Studies through Distance Learning with the Robert Gordon University, as well as an MSc in Library and Information Studies from the comfort of her own home! Before entering the

The Peterite 2015-2016

profession of librarianship, Mrs Wong worked at Waterstone’s, and she says that any job that involves being surrounded by books is interesting to her. She tells me she was attracted to St Peter’s because she sensed that the library was incredibly valuable to the school, which was indicative of its attitude as a whole: a fondness for and appreciation of literature are values that really resonate with Mrs Wong and mean a lot to her. Her hobbies and interests include (not surprisingly) reading. She says that she tries to set herself ‘challenges’ to ensure that she doesn’t get too ‘settled’, but she always get distracted when a favourite author releases something new. She also enjoys using technology and planning exciting adventures to far-flung locations. When asked whether she can impart any extraordinary facts about herself, she regrettably tells me that she is ‘rather dull’. She has travelled the length of Vietnam on the Reunification Express, eating many unusual and exotic dishes, as well as almost being charged by a lone bull on a tiny island (doesn’t sound very dull to me), but Mrs Wong insists that she is typically best at home on her sofa reading about the extraordinary lives of fictional characters. Concetta Scrimshaw, UVI

Mrs Frances Simon In Mrs Simon’s birthplace – Mill Hill, North West London – a lot of the streets were named after Shakespeare, as she remarks. She already had a passion for drama at a young age and won a place on a prestigious training course with the National Youth Theatre of Great Britain, where Helen Mirren, Ben Kingsley, Daniel Day-Lewis and Jude Law began their training. Following this she went on to train for three years at the Webber Douglas Academy in London, where she received a classical training in acting. Her first job after leaving drama school was working on a two-part drama with Tamsin Outhwaite and Simon Pegg for the BBC. She recalls that even though it was a very small role as a receptionist, she did receive first-class treatment: a chauffeur came to pick her up from her home and drove her to the BBC studios, and she even had her very own Winnebago. As a jobbing actor, she also attended the Arts Educational School and gained a BA at the City University. She worked on the radio as well as TV, but her bread and butter was

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theatre and a 10-month National Theatre tour finally brought her to York.

enjoyed the different dynamics of the culture and even learned Mandarin (although she modestly claims ‘just enough to get by’).

After arriving in York, Mrs Simon settled with Carey, her husband of 15 years. Her daughter Naomi is now nine years old and is kept busy as a Minster chorister: she is very musical and takes after her grandfather who was a composer of church music in Ghana. Eleven years ago in York Mrs Simon gave up her London agent and began coaching the LAMDA courses. Some of her students are keen to obtain professional work in the industry and so she also runs a boutique talent agency alongside coaching.

Mrs Battersby had visited York many times whilst living in Edinburgh and loved the city. Aside from spending the majority of her time entertaining her two young sons, Theo and Magnus, Mrs Battersby takes pleasure in continuing her own work as an artist at home. Although originally her degree was in jewellery, her speciality now is mixed-media painting, in the makeshift studio which she has created in her conservatory.

For Mrs Simon, one of the highlights of working at St Peter’s has been the zeal for fitness. She ran her first 10k this year and claims it is largely down to the fact of being around such a sporty community. Whilst saying that as a performer she was much fitter than she is now, she admits that it has been great to awaken that part of her life once again. Daniel Kondratiev, LVI

Mrs Hazel Battersby This year we are thrilled to welcome Mrs Battersby to St Peter’s, as the newest member of the Art department. Having grown up just outside Glasgow, in the west of Scotland, she went to school at Bearsden Academy. Remaining in Scotland, she studied Jewellery at the Glasgow School of Arts. Before coming to St Peter’s in September 2015, joining the staff at the same time as her husband, Mrs Battersby worked at Fettes College in Scotland (where she met Mr Battersby). She also travelled to China with her two sons, who are now four and five years old. Whilst being the Head of Art at Dulwich College in Beijing, China, for three years, she thoroughly

So far, Mrs Battersby believes the school to have a ‘beautiful campus’ and a ‘friendly atmosphere’, not to forget the lovely location. We wish her all the best in her role here at St Peter’s, and hope that she continues to love her time here. Jess Webster, LVI

Mrs Lynn Anderson Mrs Anderson grew up in Glasgow, Cambridge and Berkshire, where she attended the Holt School in Wokingham. She then returned to Scotland, gaining an MA in Religious Studies with Music from Edinburgh University. Prior to her arrival at St Peter’s, Mrs Anderson had a number of interesting and varied jobs, from teaching English in Romania and Japan to being a support worker in children’s homes in Edinburgh and The Philippines, and working as a music therapist in Bosnia for the charity War Child. Perhaps the most unusual work she has done was for a shopping mall in Australia, where she was paid to take children to the cinema. As she says, ‘marvellous job, but no one needs to see Finding Nemo 22 times.’ Mrs Anderson is married to Kevin, and has three children – Lily, Florence and Barney – and a recent addition, Dylan the cavapoo. She has lived in York for fifteen years, and so knew of the school’s excellent reputation, history and tradition. Her impression of the school is that it does the job of ‘nourishing’ the pupils very well (as she points out, the Latin root of the word ‘education’ means ‘to nourish’) – and she is not only talking about the food! Away from the school, Mrs Anderson enjoys playing the violin, both in orchestras and other ensembles, and is currently part of a York-based ceilidh band. She adores travelling and loves a good body pump class at the gym!

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Valete

Mr John Darmody When John asked me to say a few words at his farewell ‘do’, I felt hugely honoured. I pondered on our friendship and concluded that we get on because fundamentally we both hate the same things!! Especially Newcastle United. Remember that a true friend is someone who thinks that you are a good egg even though he knows that you are slightly cracked. We are saying farewell to John after fourteen years; but John is actually retiring from front-line teaching after 43 years, 34 of those as a head of department. From Jarrow to Gateshead, from St Bees to Fettes, and finally to St Peter’s. John has been not just a teacher of art, but also a real inspiration to his students and colleagues. As the great American Journalist Dan Rather once said, The dream begins with a teacher who believes in you, who tugs and pushes and leads you to the next plateau, sometimes poking you with a sharp stick called ‘truth’. John is always honest, does not suffer fools and displays an uncompromising attitude to excellence. He expects us all to deliver our best and feels that the pupils in his care should do the same. The following is a quote from his Valete from Fettes College: After an unbelievably energetic seven years John`s legacy is an Art department that is indisputably at the heart of life at Fettes. To say that art has flourished during his time here doesn’t begin to do justice to the change in mindset towards art that John`s passion for his subject has brought about as founder and chair of the Schools Aesthetics Committee. John took over our Art department with this same passion for excellence and traditional skills. From superb drawing skills to photography, from printing to ceramics, from painting to sculpture, the work is of tremendous standard. I can only quote ‘Morts’ [Mr Simon Mortimer] who kindly sent me his thoughts from afar on John as a head of department: The fact is it’s difficult to find a bad word to say about working with John. His subject knowledge and painting

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and drawing skills are amazing. I’ve never met anyone as dedicated to teaching art as John - he really wants his students to learn and to develop their skills, and he wants to instil in them his love of art. I’m sure John would go off on one at the mention of the buzz words ‘life-long learners’ but that’s what he’s making in his students. Everyone knows he works hard: extra sessions for exam students, life drawing classes, trips, constantly changing exhibitions and displays (all with the help, of course, of Louise). I know John would have liked to have done more at St Peter’s because he always saw the extra potential in each child, in each class and in the whole school in general. John remembers with great affection Malcolm Thyne, who as Headmaster of St Bees appointed him, and then head-hunted him, when he was head at Fettes. John described him as a man of great vision and compassion who truly loved education in its broadest sense: he was a man who would disagree with you and say so, but who never bore a grudge. John’s contribution to art teaching extends to the work he has done as Principal Moderator, National Coursework Advisor and Presenter for AQA. The work he has done here to promote ISSP and the Whitestone Gallery has been immense and has put St Peter’s at the forefront of Art in schools in the North of England. I think that the secret of John’s success lies in his being busy and having not one, but many interests in life. These include football, which he played semi-professionally in the northern leagues, playing against Chris Waddle and eventually refereeing Gazza as a rather tubby junior. Then of course there is his beloved Sunderland. I still remember John’s beaming smile as he walked towards chapel one Monday morning carrying aloft the Northern Echo with the ‘Sunderland 3 Newcastle 0’ result. His music has always played a huge part in his life – playing in several bands, with his very long hair as a trademark. He was drummer for the great 70s band Prefab Sprout but ended up teaching instead of following a rock star’s pathway!! As we all know he has set up our own school band with fellow rockers Harry, Mike, Nick and Andy. Perhaps stardom still beckons! Sport in the form of rugby also played a huge part in his life from St Bees onwards. He taught the previous England coach Stuart Lancaster at St Bees, where he also coached the U15s, and he was hugely important in helping our U16 side win the Preston Floodlit Cup six years ago. John also shared in the wonderful experience of travelling round the world from Hong Kong to the USA via New Zealand on the 2011 rugby tour; the group of lads we took could not under any circumstances have been described as ‘Angels’; however the Air New Zealand steward’s description of the group served to remind us all what great members of the community we can produce when they are trusted and given space to be themselves:

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‘the whole flight crew would like to give special thanks to the 50 boys from St Peter’s School in York, and we wish them the best of luck on their tour of New Zealand. They are the most polite and well behaved school party we have ever had.’

Mrs Penny Bollands

The younger members of this tour party went on to be unbeaten at first-, second- and third-team level in their upper sixth year. John was a huge part in the success of the second team that season, as was his son Charlie. He and I will treasure the memory of the last ten minutes of the QEGS game that season, in which Charlie and the rest of the team, supported from the touch line by all the first XV and their parents, held out to win a truly titanic game.

Penny joined St Peter’s in 2002 having worked in the HR department of an international corporation. Quickly building a reputation for thoroughness and professionalism, Penny has turned the Careers department into one of the finest in the country - St Peter’s being one of only seven independent schools to be awarded a Careers Mark. Contrary to popular belief, and her accent, she is not American!

The Peterite that year did justice to the tour and so much more of what we offer here at St Peter’s. John took the school magazine from a decent record of school life to a truly remarkable kaleidoscope of all the pupils’ achievements: with the aid of Dave Morris’s photos and the efforts of his editorial teams, John turned The Peterite into the best marketing tool the school has ever had. John has been a tremendous tutor in The Manor since he came to us. The great thing about John in this role is that he recognizes children make mistakes, and they always will. He also has the maturity and experience to realise that getting the boys to honestly face up to these mistakes and take responsibility for them is a much more effective educational approach than simply punishing them. I would like to end with the one thing that matters most to John: his family. John is devoted to Louise, Tim and Charlie and they are and always have been a great team. They share each others’ success and feel each others’ pain. Professionally Louise is so much more than an ‘art technician’: she is part of the glue that holds the Art department together and it was so good to see the whole department with Charlotte Chisholm, next year’s HOD, when she came to visit. Louise will play a huge part in making the change work. I had the great pleasure of coaching both Tim and Charlie rugby and teaching Tim for Biology. Both lads had great courage and John and Louise would watch them with great pride as they played for school or Pocklington RUFC, where John also coached. What always struck me was that they also watched everybody else’s sons play, and were as keen for them to succeed as they were for Tim or Charlie. To end, a quote from Ann Petherick, of the Kentmere House Gallery: John has brought out the talents of so many pupils by being an inspiring teacher and creating a department in which art can thrive and be enjoyed. I am keen to support the principle of showing the work of living professional artists in a school, bringing the worlds of art and education closer together. If only all Art departments had a John Darmody! Mr Paddy Stephen

If I were to write a UCAS reference about Penny, this is what it would say:

In the Careers department, Penny provides myriad opportunities for our pupils: careers conventions; work experience opportunities; talks by professional bodies; lectures and workshops by universities; trips to businesses to explore apprenticeships and school leaver schemes. The list could go on. Her knowledge of higher education and the UCAS process is second to none. As the Head of Politics writes: ‘anyone who has worked as a housemaster or sixth-form tutor knows how reliable and expert Penny’s advice on university applications is and greatly respects her for it. We all recognise that here in York, but what you may not know is that this reputation now crosses the Atlantic. When Penny and Pete accompanied the exchange to Washington two years ago, Bob Mathis and the Careers department at Walt Whitman High School seized their opportunity: a seminar for their students was quickly organised with Penny giving advice on their applications to Oxbridge.’ This reservoir of knowledge and expertise will be greatly missed next year. Quite simply, she is irreplaceable. But Penny also plays many crucial roles in the wider life of the school, many of which creep under the radar. She has been an outstanding tutor in Dronfield, able to build up strong relationships with her tutor groups. She has developed many of the PSHE resources that we tutors take for granted – resources that appear unfailingly in our pigeonholes on a Monday afternoon. She has organised planners for pupils and has proof-read The Peterite. With her husband, Pete, she frequently mans the front-of-house for evening events such as those that happened during the York Literary Festival. Penny has thrown the last fourteen years of her life into St Peter’s (along with the lives of Pete, and her daughters Emily and Mary, both OPs). And, notwithstanding the personalised number plates and increasingly vibrant hair colour, she has done so in a modest,

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VALETE

unassuming manner: consciously or not, we have all relied on her. Her belated gap-year with Pete – starting on Route 66 and ending, no doubt, at Easingwold Golf Club – is much deserved and a source of some envy. She leaves St Peter’s with the overwhelming support, goodwill and friendship of the Common Room and in the knowledge that we recommend her strongly and without reservation. Mr Richard Trevett

Dr Jamie McLeod Jamie has been Director of Rowing for ten years; during this time the standard of rowing and the opportunities available for our rowers have increased significantly. The school regularly competes in national competitions both here and abroad, with the Ghent International Regatta being a highlight in the sporting calendar. Competing at Henley and in London for the Thames Head races have involved stays at the Master Robert hotel, a convenient if not too salubrious hostelry underneath the flight path of Heathrow. Long gone are the days of sleeping on boathouse floors by the banks of the Thames. Trips to the big events in the south are now run like well-oiled machines, thanks to Jamie’s attention to detail both on and off the water. Closer to home we have developed links with the York rowing community and there’s always Ancholme International – a firm favourite and highlight of the rowing calendar. Competing at events both locally and further afield is a complicated operation that involves a good deal of planning and careful negotiation. Jamie has been superb at this, committed to work hours well beyond what is expected of him as a part-time member of staff. He has ensured that pupils, parents and staff are kept fully informed of what’s going on and has nurtured support from the parent body. As a result, we have a thriving parents’ support group as well as the Guy Fawkes Rowing Club. Under Jamie’s direction, a regular flow of pupils has represented England or Great Britain. This has been balanced against opportunity for all and thus, over the last few years, St Olave’s pupils have been given the chance to try rowing, during term-time and on the highly successful summer sculling camp. Jamie’s powers of persuasion are legendary: through stealth and hard negotiation we have the best fleet of boats ever, a towing vehicle – and the prospect of a new boathouse just around the

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corner. All this is very much testament to Jamie’s tenacity and reluctance to back down. The cyclical nature of rowing means that careers can be measured by competitions. Like most sports, fixtures happen at more or less the same time each year. It’s possible to compare and contrast results, teams and conditions from one year to the next. With this comes the great privilege of shared memories and experience. Rowing is of course no exception and whilst we may naturally gravitate towards the national and international events in Nottingham and the south, it’s the low-key, usually northern competitions that can prove particularly rich pickings for these shared experiences. Rowing on the Tyne at Newcastle, the Don at Doncaster, the Dee at Chester and of course the Ancholme at Brigg each have their own character that our rowers contribute to and benefit from. Jamie has taken this on board and our younger and perhaps less good rowers have benefitted as well as those who aspire to higher things both here and abroad. Jamie leaves the Boat Club in great shape. Best wishes to both Jamie and Joan and all the very best for their trip to Christchurch, New Zealand. Since they practically live on campus we’ll still see Jamie about the place in years to come! Jamie: thank you, to you and of course to Joan for all your support, direction and friendship over your years at St Peter’s. You leave the Boat Club in great shape and with an enviable reputation. Mr Chris Hall

Mrs Alex Newport Alex came to us in September 2009 as a full-time teacher of languages but, since the birth of her two daughters Stella and Thea, she has recently worked mainly as a part-time member of staff. In her role as a classroom teacher of French and German she taught at GCSE/IGCSE and A-level and her enthusiasm and energy were infectious both in the classroom and in the staffroom with her colleagues. She is an excellent linguist and is used to achieving outstanding results both at GCSE and A-level: last year’s sixth form French leavers achieved 85% at A*/A, which shows the impact that Alex had on their language learning. Alex is equally keen to inspire and motivate all different levels and abilities of children and has been an effective teacher in our department during her years here showing her creativity and imagination with lower ability sets where she worked hard to challenge underachievement and demanded that the pupils make every effort to do their best. Outside the classroom she is an organised and tremendously enthusiastic member of the common room who has an excellent rapport with both the pupils and her work colleagues. Indeed, as a part-time member of staff, who was not expected to fulfil the same requirements as her full time colleagues, she would often go beyond her expected duties in order to take part in the wider life of the school, allowing her to keep in contact with colleagues and to participate in various school gatherings such as academic extension and organised social events.

VALETE

Alex has been a conscientious and remarkably able employee, ready to face any challenge. She is an excellent teacher and an even better colleague and we are sad to see her go. She leaves us to take up a job-share post at Huntington School, where she will teach German with French for two days a week. This will then give her time to spend more time with her daughters Stella and Thea, and husband Rob. The school – and especially the department – will miss her dearly. Mr Mike Duffy

Mr John Armstrong John has been the stalwart of the IT team for over fourteen years. His personable nature has lent itself to his recent work in a more hands-on role supporting staff and pupils across the schools – this has undoubtedly played to John’s strengths, allowing his naturally friendly and good-humoured approach to flourish, to encourage the more reluctant IT-ers to engage and have a go. John’s support for and attendance at school events is frequently commented on; easy in company with a beguiling array of stories to tell, John has been to them all – and probably has the T-shirt, too. John’s support of young people extends beyond the school gates in his support to the Guiding movement where I am told he is known as ‘Badger’ – I’m not sure if this is because of his digging the loos on camps or if he is actually a honey badger, given his love of sweet things! His support to the pupils at Duke of Edinburgh events has also been long-standing and much valued by those running them and participating in them. John’s talents are more wide-ranging, though: he also has a note or two to share in the school’s Choral Society, patiently waiting for the practice sessions at the end of dark winter evenings on the support circuit. John has been a longstanding contributor to the school’s charity fundraisers and productions – I believe his alter ego is Chief Sitting Bull and his ‘Sunday best’ is a nun’s habit rather than his workday suit. John really is a bit of a Mr Benn-type character, and obviously has a larger share of the wardrobe than most husbands, containing, I have on good authority, an extensive array of outfits for all occasions. There is perhaps good reason for at least part of this wardrobe as John has a deep commitment in India where he has given long-term

support to an orphanage and women’s refuge. He’s taken several parties from school to visit, and given many pupils and staff life-long memories of amazing experiences they will never forget. Even in the face of natural disasters John has remained steadfast in his belief in people doing what they can for others and themselves. On one visit pupils and staff were caught-up in severe floods. John was unruffled by the turn of events, on the outside at least, and he was able through his cultural understanding and easy manner with the locals to arrange a way back to the airport when all appeared lost. His lack of visible anxiety gave confidence to others to help themselves and via impromptu hosts and helpers, the school’s own ‘Indiana Jones’ arranged the crossing of swollen rivers (after a full risk assessment of course!) and sleeping accommodation in villages by quickly gaining the trust and support of locals to assist the party’s progress. Even at the airport, faced with hundreds in a similar predicament, John amazingly got a check-in desk opened just for the St Peter’s party – not even Harrison Ford could manage that! John has been a real pleasure to work (and play) alongside, and we wish him well on this next step of life’s road. There might be a place in the school’s archives for him – although his exhibit number has not been released as yet! Mr Mark Christian

Miss Katharina Schaffer Katharina Schaffer joined us in September 2015 from the University of Regensburg, close to her home in the town of Ingolstadt, famous for the production of Audi cars. Her move from the south of Germany to the north of England proved to be a colder but very successful one as she soon made her mark on the school in a way that no other German assistant has. She was a fantastic classroom practitioner, she engaged in the sports programme, introducing Pilates as a games option, and she became a reliable resident in the junior boarding house. Her work ethic, her friendship and her willingness to embrace so many facets of life at St Peter’s will be sorely missed by everyone. She has returned to Germany to complete her studies before embarking on her training to be an English and PE teacher at a German grammar school. She has a natural gift for the teaching profession and a warm, natural personality to match. We wish her well on the next stage of her teaching career. Mrs Jenny Houghton

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House Reports

EDITORIAL

Clifton The 2015/16 season was a good one for Clifton house, with success on the sports fields as well as in the academic arena. We said goodbye to Miss Lambert, who goes to France to teach there, and Mr Wallace who after over twenty years of service to Clifton steps back to a solely DT role. We also said hello to both Mrs Pearson from the English department and Mr Battersby from the Economics department who re-joins the school after eleven years’ absence. Many Cliftonites held positions of authority this year. Sam Lodge was head of house as well as vice-captain of cricket with Tom Spearman as captain. Will Quinn represented the first teams in rugby, cricket, sevens and hockey, picking up an award in hockey. Steven Jones was captain of tennis, an unprecedented achievement for a lower sixth-former and now passes on the baton to Freddie Heijbroek, also of Clifton house. The year started with the commencement of the St Peter’s Challenge, an inter-house competition taking the format of University Challenge. Having lost key members to the side in recent years it was up to new lower sixth-formers Sophie Wilson and Gideon Wakelin to bolster the side captained by Sam Elliot. The team reached the semi-final before losing to eventual winners, Queen’s, but special mention must go to Jess Webster, Ed Turvill, Steven Jones and Ollie Hughes for stepping into the team when required. Next up for the Clifton quiz team was the science pub quiz and as reigning champions expectations were

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high. The team, led by Olivia Watts and Gideon Wakelin, stood up to those expectations and came out winners again, on to next year …

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Next for the house was the inter-house singing competition. With no lack of enthusiasm from front man Andy Hulmes the house’s rendition of Chelsea Dagger was always going to be an entertaining one, if not very tuneful. With only the top three houses being named in the presentation, we like to think we gained a very credible fourth out of ten houses. This was then followed by the Clifton house chapel, also run by Andy Hulmes and with three of

the house’s favourite hymns it was aptly named the Clifton Festival of Music. Special mention must also go to Rosie Stephens who opened the chapel with a brilliant performance on the flute.

to make this tell in the house cricket competition, going out in the first round. Nonetheless there is no need to dwell on this as there were many other successes for the house. In cross-country the senior boys came second and the junior boys first, an outstanding achievement for all who ran, especially David Lyon and Tom Spearman. The senior boys also came second in the inter-house sevens, losing in a tight final to the favourites, School. There was more success in inter-house football where we came out victors and also in the senior boys’ inter-house hockey where Clifton again claimed the top spot. This year the girls trumped the boys through some very impressive performances, with both junior and senior girls winning house cross-country. Special mentions must go to Hebe Turvill, Maddie Hunter and Eva Carlyle for finishing in the top ten. The juniors also came out on top in netball, but narrowly missed out on second place in the final of the rounders competition. Due to sports day being cancelled, the third and fourth form took to the track later in the term with fighting spirit, securing a wonderful overall victory. The senior girls encountered some tough opposition this year, narrowly losing against School house in the final of the inter-house hockey. A special mention must be made to Mia Morris who stepped in as goalie to expertly save Hannah Lawrence’s killer hits. The seniors also achieved a respectable third place in netball and went down fighting to gain second place in the rounders final. Overall, significant strength in depth, outstanding team-spirit and a drive and determination to do one’s best were consistently on display. All in all, 2015/16 was a great year for all Cliftonites. The friendly environment around the house continued and pupils from all years integrated. Final thanks go to Mr Snelling, Ms Pearson and all the other tutors for their hard work throughout the year and we look forward to whatever 2016/17 holds. Amelia Bell and Sam Elliot, UVI

On a sporting front Clifton impressed yet again. However, despite having eight first-XI players, including the captain, vice-captain and young player of the season Chris Wood, the juniors were unable

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HOUSE REPORTS

Dronfield It’s been a good year in Dronfield. Although the trophy cabinet may be a little empty, the house has been more than full of the team-spirit and passion that is essential in representing the house in competition and on a day-to-day basis. Togetherness is a very important ingredient in the life of a boarding house, and there has been plenty of it across the house this year. The main part of these house notes have been written by the girls in Dronfield. These are their words, with contributions from Zoe, Liv, Holly, Tiffany and Charlotte. Our upper sixth have been a great year-group. Min illustrated a Korean children’s book and has been our resident Masterchef, baking 18th birthday cakes for everyone. Olivia has been our mathematics genius and has never said a bad word about anyone. Issy ran the Beverley 10k with Pippa, and raised a bit for charity. We’re really proud of both – Head Girl (Issy) and Deputy Head Girl (Pippa). Alice has given us all great advice and support, and Tobi has been fiercely loyal to the house and the girls in it. Both did us proud in the final of the inter-house debating. Eleanor (captain of boats) has made Dronfield the liveliest place to be, and Clare was an absolute boss in house rounders, and has provided the glue that helps us all stick together. Dasha has offered the quiet word of support to others, and gave some language support to a Russian pupil at Clifton. When not on holiday Yan has enjoyed sharing her food on snapchat. Zoe has brought the strength and spirit to house events, and an energy and positivity in her role as head of house. Her glass is very much half full. Pippa and Zoe – best heads of house.

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The lower sixth have enjoyed a fantastic year. Emily, Anna, Yana, Naomi, Lily and Sunny joined us – and added so much to the house. We enjoyed getting stuck in to the inter-house events throughout the year. Nicole represented the school at swimming, and Edith directed her first school play, Eclipse. Abi added strength to our senior debating team and Emma added to the quality of the Barbieshop group this year. Vivian has given her time and energy to a number of volunteering opportunities, and Lily has taken on the challenge of the gold DofE. Sunny has combined her volunteering with York Schools Science Quiz and Physics Olympiad. Emily has tried lots of new things, and played tennis for the first time, and Yana has immersed herself in the creative side of St Peter’s with her art and singing. Liv has brought an energy and enthusiasm to the house sports competitions, also representing the school teams. Anna has been trying new sports and life drawing classes, and

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Naomi has shown herself to also be an accomplished illustrator of dragons. Congratulations to Emma Nelson on her appointment as Deputy Head Girl and to Anna Muirhead as the head of house for 2016/17. Whilst it has been an important year for the fifth form, with a focus on GCSEs, there is clearly a lighter side to life at this age. Whilst Lauren has been leaping out of wardrobes to scare Katy, Holly has been trying to convince her that yellow is green. Grace enjoyed the Dronfield post-GCSE BBQ, and Vita enjoyed the post-house dinner not-so-secret Santa. Ella’s Wagas birthday also deserves a mention. In amongst all the fun and games a quiet Saturday night in Dronfield was a favourite for Annabel. All have represented the school or house in various competitions this year, and individually have found challenges through the DofE scheme, creative arts and a variety of other extra-curricular activities. Sophie, Holly, Vita and Grace welcomed those who will be joining the lower sixth next academic year on the 16+ induction morning.

We say farewell to our lovely upper sixth and wish them every happiness as they move on from St Peter’s School. They take with them the good name of the school and Dronfield. We feel very proud that the Head Girl and Deputy Head Girl have both been Dronfield girls this year, and congratulate Issy and Pippa on their year. We also thank Pippa and Zoe for all their good work leading the house. We give particular thanks and good wishes to Mrs Bollands as she moves on to new and exciting things in her retirement. As tutor to the upper sixth in Dronfield for the past seven years she has always had a thoughtful and supportive word for all in her care. Dronfield has been a very happy house this year, and this has been due in no small to the incidental kind words and deeds from those who are a part of the house. The right word spoken at the right time can make all the difference. Mr Jon Whitehouse & the members of the house

Margo and Man Yi were welcomed to the fourth form at the start of the year. Shania achieved a distinction in her singing exam, and gave outstanding performances in The Tempest and Eclipse. Farah and Laura performed in the middle school play, The Odyssey. Bethany has played tennis for the school, and Tiffany was placed second for her age category in the Albert Moore Drawing Competition. Our third form have enjoyed a busy year of junior house sport, with Oenone, Carly and Charlotte also making the senior house hockey team. In addition, all three represented the school at hockey and netball, and made it to the North of England stage in both sports. They have brought plenty of enthusiasm and good humour to the house, as well as demonstrating a real commitment across their academic, sporting and creative activities.

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HOUSE REPORTS

Hope It has been a good year in Hope. House competitions have offered great opportunities for everyone to work together as a team. However, and more importantly, friendships have flourished and formed the foundations of the various successes around the house, led by Rosalind Tait and Jordon Wilkinson, who helped to organise house team and events as well as serving the house to the best of their ability. This year, whether it was rugby, hockey, tennis, netball or any other event, there has been no doubt that the house produced some of the greatest competitors, both on and off the field. It was therefore no surprise that we had another fantastic year of memories in and around the house. We may not have won all the events, but we always showed spirit, dedication and determination. The Christmas and Easter terms were notable for the sheer number of activities going on; senior pupils were kept busy with the debating and St Peter’s Challenge competitions. Sadly we did not win either of them, but there were great efforts from those involved. We’re still waiting for a cold winter, but at least this meant the sports fixtures went ahead as planned. There was a large turnout for the inter-house crosscountry competition, with many members of the house finishing in the top rankings in both the boys’ and girls’ categories. This year’s house chapel, led by our heads of house, with contributions from other members of the house, poignantly talked about nonconformity and the effects of it, raising some interesting issues from both inside and outside the school environment.

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One of our main triumphs this year has to be winning the interhouse singing competition, with everyone dancing along to Cee Lo Green’s Forget You. It was fantastically choreographed by Rosalind and we do have to say a big thank-you to Simmo and Ed for their solo performances. The winning streak extended to the girls’ house swimming for the fourth year in a row with Lucy Garnett leading the team to victory, Kat Bonner smashing Lucy’s record in the 50m backstroke and the team winning most of the events. The junior boys continued by coming first in the house hockey and cricket, and a close second in the rugby: well played lads! The junior girls also won the rounders event and came a close second in house netball – very well done to them! All other events were vigorously and enthusiastically played with everyone showing what it means to be at the heart of Hope: determination. Although we did not win other events we will always come back fighting, becoming stronger as we do, and never giving up! Be it music, drama or art, Hopefuls have always achieved highly in these areas, with various members showcasing their considerable talents in a variety of concerts, competitions and productions during the year. In DT and Art, Ilana goes on to study Fine Art at Edinburgh University, with Jordon studying Architecture at Sheffield Hallam, and other members of the house taking art and design grace us with their creative ability. In due course perhaps some of the art produced by Hopefuls can be showcased in the house, so that we can all see how outstanding their talents are.

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Our achievements as a house are mirrored by our even more impressive academic record. Not only have the upper sixth secured places at some of the top universities, but many also gained school prizes for their academic achievements, and prizes were also won in the middle school, across the full range of subjects. This academic excellence stems from the hard-working nature of all within the house: each person inspires the next to be the best they can possibly be. This is what shapes us as Hopefuls. Congratulations must go to Livi Whitehouse and Ed Bottomley for taking on the roles of heads of house for the coming year – we wish them the greatest of luck, and have every confidence that they will make an excellent team. In addition we wish all the best to the Golden Age of Captains bestowed on Hope this year; Joe Simpson (rugby), Ted Patmore (cricket), Ed Bottomley (football), Jack Coulthard (rowing), Phoebe Phillips (netball) and Rowan Tait

(tennis). Good luck to you all and have a fantastic year! We must extend continued and heartfelt thanks to the tutor team who are always so generous with their time and support of the house and without whom the house would not run as smoothly. We welcomed Miss Jones into the house this year, taking the third form under her wing, which she did brilliantly. And we also gave a big warm welcome back to Mr Shread who took on the upper sixth. We were all sad to say goodbye to Hope, where we had so many happy memories. We have grown into a tightly knit group as the years have gone by, making many friends for life. On behalf of the upper sixth I would just like to say a big thank you to everyone who made our five years in Hope the best they could ever be! Jordon Wilkinson, UVI

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Linton

Very early on at the start of September four new boys joined the house: Yeelok Chan, Freddy Dorling, Ethan Leigh-Howarth and Nick New, a couple of weeks later Ben Hobbs also joined the boys – completing the third form dormitory. Also four new boys – Niall Collinson, Matt Ramalingam, Sean Shao and Jerry Tam – joined the lower sixth and we also welcomed Charlie Rae who joined us from Clifton house. As usual the settling-in process did not take too long and by the first exeat everybody was familiar with the routines and the expectations. In August 2016 the fifth, lower and upper sixth received their results from their formal examinations. Special mention must go to the upper sixth: a staggering 19 A-levels were awarded at an A*/A grade – with only ten boys in the year the feat was particularly impressive. As I am writing this report it is currently examination season, and every boy in the house is either sitting external or internal examinations. There is a real sense of purpose amongst all the year groups, the public examination season now lasts for the majority of the summer term and I have been very impressed with not only the way in which the boys have settled down to their revision, but also in the support they have given each other during what could be a very tense time. The first inter-house sports event of the term was the cross country. The Linton boys are always the first house to arrive at the start of the race. They are a formidable bunch as, on mass, they make their way from St Peter’s Grove to the start on the colts’ pitches. They view the race as a team effort and work hard to secure a string of high places, encouraging each other as they race along the Ings. Will Newitt’s absence was noticeable! George Pindar ran an impressive race and he comfortably secured first place in his final house cross

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country event: he set a very quick pace from the start and overall the senior boys came third. In the junior race Ben Hobbs must be congratulated for coming third – we are hopeful that he will keep the Linton cross country flame burning throughout the next four years! Ben also must be congratulated on making it to the York and District team. House water polo, yet again, was a fantastic event. The Linton team used both their skill and their brains to outperform all the opposition – the YouTube footage put together by Sean was brilliant and will serve as a lasting memory of the event! The upper sixth in particular were thrilled to win the event in their last year at school. The third and fourth form had a particularly pleasing run in the house cricket and a special mention must go to James Alvarez for his batting. As the full sports day was cancelled because of wet weather, the third and fourth form competed in an athletics afternoon in late June. The boys did exceptionally well, with notable performances from Ben Hobbs (first in the 1500m), Henry Campbell (second in the 200m), Elliot Millman (third in the shot put), and Ethan Leigh-Howarth (third in the 800m). Overall the team achieved a very creditable third place. Special mention must also go to Alex Greenwood who was the losing finalist in the inter-house squash competition. House rugby saw all the boys play well in harsh conditions, and the seniors secured a great win against Hope, but unfortunately neither team progressed to the play-offs. Also during the Christmas term the St Peter’s Challenge took place, with four boys from the fifth and sixth forms. In every round we were fantastic and Chris Bower’s recall of unusual facts was outstanding. His general knowledge – clearly derived from reading

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The Times newspaper every day since third form – was exceptional! We breezed through to the final but unfortunately the team captain from Queen’s knew even more random facts than we did! My thanks go to the following boys who put themselves forward to be in the team: Chris Bower, Josh Ramalingam, Alastair Stent, Isaac Faithfull, Rory Winterburn and Spencer Ingall. The house debating competition took place in the Easter term and thank you to Niall and Joe who expertly organised the teams and ensured that the speeches were written and delivered. Niall, Chris, Freddy and Ben attended the inaugural school debating dinner. Freddy must be congratulated on receiving the prize for the most promising junior debater – well done!

Just before October half-term the inter-house singing competition took place. Love Story by Taylor Swift was chosen by the upper sixth. We were not placed in the top three by the judges, and it is fair to say that we were awful, but at least the audience found it very amusing! Luckily this was not a true reflection of our musical talent. George Pindar and Tom Collinson are highly regarded members of both the Chamber Choir and Barbershop. Tom also entertained the school at the Cabaret Concert at the end of term: his solo performance of The way you look tonight was incredible. He was joined by Josh who performed beautifully on the guitar. George won the senior music festival singing Sleep by Gurney and in the same competition Josh came first in the classical guitar section and Sam came first on the drums with Radio Active by Imagine Dragons. Nick New in the third form is the first pupil in the recent history of the school to learn the bagpipes. Luckily he doesn’t practise in the House!

To celebrate the 50th anniversary of the British Boarding Association Nick New, under the guidance of Jerry Tam, entered a bake-off competition held at St Olave’s School. His lemon tart was so good that he was awarded first place and progressed to the final held at Eton College. In the final Nick was against eight other bakers from all over the country; his triple layer sponge was awarded a very creditable silver place. I know this is just a snapshot of a year in the life of Linton house. I hope it has given you a glimpse of the many things the boys are involved in during the year. As I read through the reports at the end of term it is apparent just how busy all the boys are. It was a pleasure to see the following boys receive prizes at Commemoration on the last day of term: Sam Raper, Joe Raper, Josh Ramalingam, George Pindar and Nick New. I would like to thank all the boys for giving freely of their time and for always stepping in to represent the house. We always field lots of teams for the many events and competitions during the year, and I am very grateful. I would like to wish our leavers all the best as they depart and move onto the next stage of their lives. I sincerely hope that they look back at their five years in Linton with fond memories – I, for certain, will miss them. Many thanks to Sam Raper who has led the house this year with both integrity and commitment; his help has been invaluable. Jonathan Jaworski takes over the reins from Sam as he becomes head of house in September 2016. Congratulations also to Charlie Rae who has been selected to be a monitor – we wish him well in this role. Finally I would like, on behalf of the boys, to sincerely thank all the ladies who ensure that the house remains clean and tidy. Dawn, Georgina, Tracey and especially Matron work continually hard – at times under extremely demanding conditions – to keep the rooms orderly! Also I would like to thank Mr Smith for his help and support during the last three years and wish him well in his new role as a tutor in Clifton house. We welcome Mr Paterson as the new resident tutor from September 2016 and look forward to Mr Battersby joining the house as the new non-resident assistant. Mrs Justine Williams

Many members of the house have also been fully involved in a number of drama productions this year. George Ingall and Matthew Ramalingam were in The Crucible; Joe Raper and Elliot Millman took part in the Shakespeare Festival and the National Connection theatre production. Both boys were also in the middle school play The Odyssey. Joe played the lead role of Odysseus and Elliot designed the lighting and set. All the boys performed brilliantly and they must be congratulated on the commitment they show to their drama: the hours they put into rehearsing is immense.

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Queen’s As another year passes we wave goodbye to our upper sixth and welcome in our new third and lower sixth form members to the house. This year the house was ably led by Ellie Dobson and Ed Kettleborough, who helped to organise house teams and events and lead the Queen’s pupil body. Ably led by Ed ’The Knowledge’ Kettleborough, the house excelled at inter-house debating and the St Peter’s Challenge, winning both the senior and junior debating competitions, and the senior challenge event. It has been great to see so many pupils competing in this area, and hopefully this success will inspire future cohorts to take up the daunting challenge of flaunting their knowledge in public. There was a large turnout for the house cross-country competition, with Queen’s winning the senior boys’ competition and coming third in the junior girls’ category. The house singing competition was once again a triumph of enthusiasm, although placing remains elusive. Many students also took part in school productions this year, and house tutors have done an excellent job in helping their tutees balance their workloads. Towards the end of the Easter term the house dined in at school with much merriment.

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The summer began with the unfortunate cancellation of sports day because the weather conditions made the grass track unsafe. However, the event was run for junior pupils later in the term resulting in an excellent afternoon of sport, culminating in the girls’ team securing the inter-house athletics cup for the first time in the history of the house. Activities continued despite the obvious emphasis on, and absence caused by, exam season, with enthusiastic participation in house tennis, rounders and cricket competitions. And so we come to the end of another year of activity, and look forward with anticipation to what next year will bring under the new heads of house, Ellie Graham and Helen Ford. Mrs Cath Hempsall

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School At the time of writing this report for The Peterite, every year group is in the throes of either internal or external exams. It serves as a reminder that whilst the end-goal is very much focused on academia, a year in the life of School house pupils tells us that their experience here will always be of so much more than just academic success. This end-of-year report highlights the key headlines but can no way cover the huge array of personal success stories in all walks of life that our pupils have experienced this year, yet I will try and convey as much of the 2015-2016 year as I can. One of the early competitions bringing School house pupils together is the much-loved cross-country race, where praise must go to all who competed but special mention must be made of Alice Greswold, who won the senior girls’ competition and Maddy Bennison, who won the junior girls’ class. The Christmas term also included plenty of opportunity to develop different skills and a big ‘well done’ went to Rose Gabbertas, Lily Martin, Alice Jackson and Cassie Bythell who enjoyed mulled wine and mince pies as they won the Christmas literary quiz. Tom Hatfield, Sam Beighton and Jamie Dunsmore reached the semi-finals of junior debating whilst our ‘squad rotation policy’ for the senior St Peter’s Challenge competition allowed plenty of pupils to show off their general knowledge skills as Hannah Lawrence, Alice Greswold, Charlie Corner, Matt Ubhi, James Mahon, Izzy Cotter, Rose Gabbertas and George O’Neill ensured

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we reached the semi-finals. The house singing competition was led by Maddy Palmer, with Finlay Dawson, Ed Brook and Jess House accompanying. Delivering Baby by Justin Bieber, we demonstrated a range of singing, actions and rapping to finish in third place, the first time we have made the top three in recent times. A very special day was reserved for a windy Wednesday in December. Firstly in inter-house hockey the girls breezed through their group stages. Captained by Hannah and inspired by fellow midfielder Alice, we defeated Dronfield (1-0), Hope (4-0) and The Grove (2-0). The final was a tight affair but a wonderful slaloming dribble and neat finish by Hannah Lawrence proved to be the inspiration as we retained the trophy in a 2-1 victory and became house hockey champions 2015! On the same afternoon, the junior boys started strongly in house sevens. Captained by Zak Darbandi, strong forward play enabled the attacking trio of Jamie Dunsmore, Tom Hatfield and Sam Beighton to cut loose with some outstanding tries. This momentum was maintained all the way to the final where Will Guyer’s breakaway try led us to become junior house rugby champions 2015. On the senior pitches, our formidable squad came through the group stages unscathed before a hard-earned semi-final

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win set up a final against Clifton. Despite conceding the opening try, scores from Sam Hudson, David Bird and a length of the pitch solo run by Tom Robinson capped an outstanding performance and deserved victory. On a quite incredible afternoon of sport, we also became senior house rugby champions 2015. The Easter term saw more sporting success as our quartet of Alice Jackson, Jess House, Hannah Lawrence and Alice Greswold defeated The Rise in the final to become inter-house badminton champions 2016 and just a few days later Lucy Lawrence, Izzy Cotter, Hannah and Alice swept aside all before them to retain the house squash trophy– this was a rather good start to the term on the sporting front! The senior debaters also got off to a strong start as fifth-former James Mahon joined sixth-formers Alice Jackson and Lily Martin, eventually bowing out to finalists Dronfield, whilst opposing ‘This House would return cultural treasures to their place of origin.’ Meanwhile, no fewer than 16 School house pupils volunteered to take part in the annual Science Society ‘pub quiz’. As the weather (finally) started to improve, we enjoyed more fun out on the sports pitches. In the house netball tournament, the junior girls played

with great spirit but didn’t make the final stages. The senior girls, without any first VII players, displayed excellent teamwork and ability to go all the way to the final against The Grove, where we led at half-time before finally succumbing to their pressure and slick passing, finishing runners up, 6-4. Over the final weekend of the Easter term, we had twenty boys representing School house in junior hockey, senior hockey and senior football. Alas the afternoon did not produce any more trophies, but pupils enjoyed these inter-house competitions that were played out with excellent spirit and endeavour. There were also some very impressive results in house swimming with Amelia Blackburn, Maddy Bennison and Ellie Spencer recording some excellent victories in particular. The summer term brought us that little bit closer to exams, but before then we added the house tennis cup to our trophy cabinet with superb performances by pairs Alice and Maddy, Amelia and Izzy, Anabel and Ellie. The senior girls finished third in house rounders whilst the junior girls went one better to finish second in their tournament. On junior sports day, both the boys and girls finished in second place, and credit should go to every pupil who competed, with deserved accolades to the following who won their events: Jamie Dunsmore (100m), Sam Beighton (200m), Tom Robins (high jump) and Maddy Bennison (1500m). In our final house assembly of term I paid tribute to our wonderful team of staff in the house, from the cleaners who look after us all so well to our excellent tutor team who guide the pupils throughout the year. I also paid special tribute to Tom and Maddy who have been outstanding heads of house this year and I publicly thank them for all of their hard work. This has been a vintage year for School house and we say goodbye to a very strong upper sixth, but such is our strength in depth that we look forward to more success next year. Roll on September! Mr Ben White

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Temple When writing the annual house report I always try and link events in the small community of Temple with events going on in the big outside world. In both these contexts and for obvious reasons the words Leave and Remain come to mind. As we approach the end of the year thoughts turn to saying goodbye to those who are going to leave us and handing over responsibilities to those who will remain in the house. Our best wishes therefore go to Will Andrews and Julia Crowther who will take over the heads of house reins from Rohan Choudhury and Beth Bradley, who have done such a good job this year, ably assisted by their upper sixth team. Highlights of their

year include as usual the house singing competition where Temple’s rendition of The Vamps’ Somebody to You just missed out on the top spot, expertly orchestrated by Steph Frankland and charismatically conducted by Peter Gray. We have so much musical talent in the house but particular mention should be made of Lily Kirkby who won the overall junior music festival award on the harp and Steph Frankland who has been successful in gaining a place at the Royal College of Music in London. The one morning which will stick in everyone’s mind though was Temple House chapel which started

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serenely with Concetta Scrimshaw playing beautifully on the piano and finished with the whole of the school clapping along to the singing and guitar playing of Temple’s very own Ed Sheeran-in-themaking (minus the ginger hair), Jack McCartney. With a name like that it was almost inevitable which direction he would take in life.

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On the sports field we have once again had a number of second places, notably in the junior inter-house cricket, inter-house football and inter-house water polo competitions. Concetta Scrimshaw and Jack Mayfield also finished as runners-up in the inter-house cross country races. Sophie-Rose Haslam, Martha Horner and Amber Rose in the fifth form all had the opportunity to row for the county this year and Sophie went on to be part of the quad which raced at the Henley women’s regatta and was the first ever J16 squad to finish in the top eight at this event. These things are all very impressive and should be celebrated but what I appreciate the most are the contributions made by pupils who make up the numbers in events which perhaps don’t play to their strengths or take place on a cold, wet and windy day or at a time when they are particularly

busy. There have been several examples of this during the year and it does not go unnoticed. As the debate raged as to whether we should leave or remain in the EU, the strong tradition of debating continued in Temple this year, although we were unable to defend our crowns in both junior and senior events, despite reaching the semi-final stage. The junior St Peter’s Challenge team also reached the semi-finals and it was good to see some third-form girls involved in what has in the past tended to be an all-male team. The girls still have some work to do on the science front as our inter-house science quiz team were once again the ‘nearly men’, finishing second for the second successive year. I think I can say that this year has been a year with very little drama in the house which is always a good thing for me in particular. However, it has been good to see plenty of Temple pupils involved in drama outside the house, either through their GCSE drama studies or through the school play The Crucible and more recently the middle school play The Odyssey. We are all looking forward with anticipation to the production of Grease next year which should help to brighten the dark days of November when the Christmas holidays still seem a long way away. As well as some leavers we also had some joiners this year when we welcomed Mr Rohlfing and Miss Crawley into the house to tutor the fifth and fourth formers respectively. It is nice to have some youthful enthusiasm in the house (no disrespect to my other tutors intended) and I am very lucky that my whole team of tutors will remain in Temple next year. We finish the year with uncertainty about what the decision to leave the EU holds for us and we don’t know what next year will bring to the house and those of us who remain in it. Two things I can be sure of, however, are the support of my wonderful team and the daily rewards which working so closely with young people brings. Mrs Jenny Houghton

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The Grove

There is something neatly rhythmical to the school year and the comings and goings of various events and seasons can seem to pass with mechanical predictability. The outside observer, seeing the hamster-in-a-wheel nature of the cycle of the life of a day house might remark that the job of being in charge might be formulaic, even boring. However, such a spectator would miss out on the differences between years brought about by the individuals in each generation of pupils. The place is never the same twice and even the most predictable of events is rendered totally unique in the hands of a fresh cohort of Grovites. By their participation in day to day life and the activities that bring them together, every pupil has a chance to put their own stamp on house life and, while it is easy, even convenient, to focus on the successes and the spangly cups, it is those little moments of uniqueness which make a particular school year memorable.

We began the year by welcoming 18 new faces to the house and helping them to find their feet and grow used to our routines. Quickly they seemed to be settled into the busyness of the place and, before long, we faced the challenge of the house cross-country where the talents of the fleet of foot were on show, alongside those who ran more slowly but tried just as hard. The house singing event, which concluded the first half of the Christmas term, is now a very special institution. Our rendition of Walk the Moon’s Shut up and dance with me was great fun to both rehearse and perform. We may

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have been snubbed by the judges (again) but we all had a chance to recognise that few events bring the house together like a singsong and that there are endless smiles and laughs as the performance takes shape and the younger pupils are gradually cajoled into singing loud rather than worrying about being heard! The event was the first chance for the house leadership to take charge too and, in Millie Grant and George Doyle, we have enjoyed gentle and stylish stewardship of the house all year. Of all the thanks I have to offer, I am perhaps indebted to them the most. The Grove has been a cultural capital again with many of our number taking on important roles in the various dramatic productions across the year. Perhaps among the most notable was Marcus Thomson’s interpretation of John Proctor in The Crucible. Marcus battled to know his lines and to find the necessary confidence for such a pivotal part among more seasoned performers but eventually he delivered an authentic and convincing performance of a challenging role. In the junior ranks, Grove drama would appear to be in good health with a large number of our thirdand fourth-form pupils enjoying key roles (on and off the stage) in the middle school production of The Odyssey. I often remark to the assembled house that evenings spent watching such productions are remarkably uplifting and this could never have been truer than this year. We had cause to celebrate our retention (again) of the junior St Peter’s Challenge title with our team, ably led by Daniel Hicks, convincingly ‘out-quizzing’ School house in the final. This is genuinely a squad event and, aside from the four fast fingers on the buzzers in the final, there were a number of other players whose knowledge and enthusiasm put us there. Our house also seems richly stocked with able musicians and concerts across the year have seen Grovites playing and singing with great success. To highlight a few would seem invidious but, in Millie Grant, Xanthe Cook and Lucy Galloway, we say goodbye to mainstays of school choral and instrumental groups of various shapes and sizes. Well done girls and thank you!

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Inter-house sports events are keenly awaited and contested by those in red. Grovites’ collective willingness to fill the team lists is a measure of the enthusiasm to play but I think there is a broadlyheld sense that house sport is principally about involvement and enjoyment rather than results and trophies. That said, a little silverware is nice and this year saw us celebrate wins in the boys’ tennis event (where our fifth form players in the shape of Robbie Greenall and Seth Williams battled to an extremely tight win). In the senior girls’ netball the result in the final was more convincing despite trailing to School house midway through the match before a Millie Grant-led charge brought us home. The senior girls’ rounders produced another win which displayed the competitive and team spirit abundant among our girls. The final against our nearest neighbours simply couldn’t have been tighter and, despite rounders’ equivalent of extra time and ‘golden goals’, the teams were still inseparable and eventually some kind of countback (which I’m not sure I fully understood) gave us the trophy. Our upper-sixth boys have been great sportsmen too with well-earned reputations for excellence on the pitch (Ollie Fryer was captain of hockey, George Metcalfe played first XV rugby), on the courts (Oli Harvey has been captain of squash), in the saddle (Joe Waterhouse and Scott Simmonite-Buskin led the way with the newly inaugurated road cycling club) and on the river (where George Doyle, Henry Graham, George Snell and Stanley Schofield have been mainstays of a successful senior rowing squad).

The main purpose of a day house though does not make for exciting reading, flashy trophies or photogenic moments. Houses are mixtures of pupils of different ages, genders and interests and shared moments of togetherness are the most precious. Our house

dinner this year was a perfect example, with the whole house dressing up and spending the evening in civilised conversation before the much-awaited head of house speeches. There was even a bedtime story in the form of The Grovalo! As a community, we aim to support each other, share in successes and the pleasure of effort invested and occasionally commiserate together. The brief Saturday morning gatherings for house assemblies allow us to applaud those who have tried, those who have succeeded and particularly those who have done both. The meeting is brief but often contains moments of natural, mutual appreciation for merits earned, and for participation and achievement in a wealth of co-curricular spheres. The atmosphere we enjoy is, in no small part, established and maintained by our team of tutors in the house, whose generosity of spirit and time provides the pastoral ambiance of the place. Our pupils owe a great deal for this. Two of the team leave us at the end of this year and both will leave significant holes. In Mrs Lisa Middleton and Mrs Sarah McKie, The Grove has been blessed with caring, committed and reassuring tutors and, more than anyone, I will miss their humour and sage council. I wish them both well as they move to new positions within the school’s pastoral team. Mr Martin Lawrence

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The Manor Another year has passed in the life of the Manor. The year started on Saturday 5 September with the official opening of the new extension and refurbishment. It was an absolute delight to see so many former Manorites including one from the 1930s. The honours board in the entrance provided many a fond memory for those who returned. It was also great to see some of the more recent leavers at different points during the year. It provides affirmation of the wonderful times many have had boarding here as part of a community. There is no “I” in team, so to those who like to see their name mentioned … sorry!

Easter Term

Christmas Term

Music continues to flourish with many learning instruments and performing in various concerts and festivals through the year. The practice that goes into this is considerable and it is great to see so many putting the hours in.

Seven third-formers, two fourth-formers and three lower sixthformers joined us in September and they made a very good contribution to the house and the school across this year. Leo, our exchange student from Selborne in South Africa, also joined us for six weeks (after eventually resolving visa issues) and made the very most of the opportunities on offer. Term started with a really good first weekend. The boarders’ dinner on the Saturday night and the activities on the Sunday (paintballing or York Dungeon/boat trip) was a great way for all the boarders to get to know each other. The Manor house chapel fell early in this year’s calendar and the boys put an excellent effort into this, responding well to the guidance given. Oliver Newman showed his leadership in managing this and it was really good to have him as head of house. House cross-country was the year’s first sports event. We didn’t feature quite so strongly this year but the team still gave its all. At least we beat The Grove in the junior boys! One thing that has been great to see is just how many boys have attended the various public lectures throughout the year. It reflects the interest and enthusiasm that many have for going beyond the syllabus and it shows the benefits of living at the school. Indeed the facilities available to the boys are in demand with the gym, sports hall, tennis courts and various pitches used regularly on an evening. House singing was an excellent occasion once again with our version of Boulevard of Broken Dreams almost as good as the original?! The senior house challenge led to lots of preparation but sadly we couldn’t quite match the breadth of knowledge shown by one or two others elsewhere. House rugby is always a highlight, perhaps just as much for the design of the house shirt as for the occasion itself. Our teams put up another good show this year (even if I missed it laid up in bed). Unfortunately this also led to the postponement of the house dinner – though not for long!

Football continued to be a strong sport in house this term. A number of boys represented the school first and second XIs. Hopes were high for the house football competition, although we didn’t quite match the victory of last year. Our house hockey teams were less successful but it showed just how willing the boys were to play for the house and be part of the team. The house water polo competition is very popular and our team was a strong one losing only to the eventual winners. Senior house debating was well contested (if slightly underprepared for).

Summer term Our junior St Peter’s Challenge team competed well as too did our junior cricketers, who reached the plate semi-finals. The summer term tends to see fewer house events because of the presence of exams but it did give a chance for the juniors in the house to shine. The whole school sports day was sadly rained off, but the junior version of this for the third and fourth form was a terrific afternoon. It was good to see the team spirit on show and there were some impressive performances in different events too. Inevitably exams were a focus and I remain impressed by the determined focus that the boys show at this time. There is a real desire to do well and I was very impressed with what I saw – even Saturday nights saw many with heads in books working hard.

The People The upper sixth have proved really good fun in the time they have been with us over the last five years. To watch then grow from third-formers into young adults ready to move on to university or work is a real privilege. The other years in house are great to live with too; it is they who make boarding the special thing that it is. Dori and I are ably supported by a strong team of tutors and inhouse support staff. Mr Ray and Mr Robinson share the evening duties with me and Ms Pearson does some Sundays as well. Colette, our Matron, and the team of cleaners continue to keep the rooms looking remarkably clean and tidy; something that parents always pick up on positively. My final thanks always go to my family. Boarding is very much a team event and it is the fact they throw themselves into life here that makes it the pleasure that it is. It has been another excellent year. Mr Steve Gwilliam

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The Rise Christmas Term Most unusually, we had no third-formers this academic year. Our fourth form – Alexandria Johnston, Elizabeth Naylor, Ksenia Trubacheva and Isabel Chen, who joined us this year – have remained therefore the ‘youngest girls’ in the house, much to their frustration at times. Having helped their new room-mate Isabel through the newness of the first half-term and beyond, our ‘fab four’ have continued to go about their morning duties with staggering efficiency, bringing supplies for whole house all before morning call as they did the previous year. Their tenacity and reliability is to be commended as is their good humour and chat when they return. We also welcomed our new lower sixth pupils, Frederica Renwick, Olivia Surtees, Toni Salami, Tamsin Abbott, Cecilia Duan, Tiffany Tuhirman and Cressida Killick. The inter-house singing competition proved to be a particularly memorable and joyous occasion. Under Emily Lockett’s leadership and with Eve Bracken’s excellent conducting skills, the girls committed themselves to countless practices of O My Love by The Score. As usual the girls delivered an outstandingly unified and musical performance, smiling beautifully and enjoying themselves enormously. The school production of The Crucible was undoubtedly one of the highlights of the Christmas term for the whole school. Eve Bracken gave a memorable and at times frightening performance in one of the lead roles as Abigail Williams while Maddie Day, Charlotte Hollinrake and Grace Moody are also to be congratulated on their powerful portrayal of the villagers. Jodi Smith’s brilliance backstage contributed to the professional edge that was so frequently commented upon. The autumn concert continued the creative and cultural theme where we were treated to a wealth of musical talent. Jodi Smith, Emily McDonald, Isabel Chen, Alexandria Johnston, Cecilia Duan and Eve Bracken represented The Rise in the wind band and choir. One of the highlights of the end of term is always with our house dinner. Mystery boxes from Asos and Top Shop had been arriving for weeks and the girls did not disappoint in their chosen dresses which were tasteful and ever so glamorous. Our chosen leader,

Emily Lockett, delivered a memorable speech which displayed a sense of affection for the house, a knowledge of the pupils, and a witty reminder of the highs and lows of life in The Rise. As house parents we were very proud indeed of the way in which the girls interacted with their guests and a delightful evening was had by all. Remembering the house mantra, ‘it’s not the winning but the taking part’, the girls braced themselves for the formidable inter-house cross-country event. Although the conditions were far from perfect for the race, the girls all did brilliantly. They showed their usual gritty determination. Particular running stars on that day included Kitty Clapham, Grace Moody, Charlotte Hollinrake, Ksenia Trubacheva, Alexandria Johnston and Lily Naylor who have since been regular twilight figures running through York after prep. Toni Salami can be commended for taking part, although she had only arrived from Nigeria that day.

Easter Term The Rise girls remained buoyant in the face of the cold, dreich, beginning to the Easter term and they quickly set about settling themselves back into their routine and preparing themselves for fulfilling their New Year’s resolutions and negotiating the other challenges of the term. House Chapel was next. Under meticulously organised and encouraging leadership, the girls explored the very important topic of ‘kindness’ and how we can make a difference to someone’s life by performing the smallest acts of kindness. It was thought-provoking and imaginatively written and involved most of the girls in the house. Emily McDonald sang Riptide by Vance Joy with great feeling. Senior and junior house debating also took place this term, airing controversial issues such as whether marriage is an outdated institution or whether the sale of human organs should be legalised. Typically, our girls spoke with an impressive eloquence and, although they did not make the final rounds, they must certainly be

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HOUSE REPORTS

congratulated on a wonderful team effort. Well done to Cressida Killick, Tiffany Tuhirman and Wendy Wan in particular for their thorough preparation and excellent research. The girls showed great team effort, determination and willingness to participate in the inter-house netball, swimming and squash. Very well done to Grace Moody, Alexandria Johnston, Emily McDonald, Tamsin Abbott and Tiffany Tuhirman who swam valiantly on behalf of The Rise. Our rowers Tracy Yip, Maddie Day and Jodi Smith continued their excellent team efforts in the York regatta, the Schools’ Head of the River race in London, the schools’ competition at Yarm and a trip to Ghent. Later on, in the summer term, the girls were to participate in the York spring and summer regattas as well as the national schools regatta.

Summer Term Exams were at the forefront of everyone’s mind as we returned from the Easter break and it was not long before the house (particularly the TV lounge) became eerily quiet as many of the girls went home or shut themselves in their rooms and even in the laundry, away from all temptations. The sun shone brightly for the senior tennis and rounders competition and it was a real treat to be a spectator at an event where everyone showed such pride and enthusiasm. Well supported by the Rise girls and Tess the beagle, the girls gave the other houses a real run for their money finishing in third and second place respectively. At this point, I must mention the ‘fab four’ (fourth-formers Isabel, Ksenia, Lily and Alex). As the only juniors in the house, their generosity and loyalty to The Rise have made it possible to enter all of the junior house competitions. In the junior sports day they entered every event, meaning that they had to run or compete in several events each. The Rise came sixth overall in the competition, a fine achievement for such a small team, and the girls received a special mention at the awards ceremony.

pleasure getting to know them and their help, advice, good humour, chats and giggles have been invaluable to me throughout the year. Mr Gillies, Ellie and I will miss them all but hope that they will visit us whenever they can. We wish you every success and happiness in the future. We will also be saying early farewells to Jodi Smith who leaves St Peter’s to pursue the IB at Headington School, Oxford, and Christina Faeh who will resume her senior studies in Switzerland. Their sense of good fun and exemplary ways will be hugely missed in the house but we hope that they too will keep in touch. Special thanks must go to our brilliant head of house, Emily Lockett whose help, advice and good humour was much appreciated as was her support to new girls coming into the house. The Rise may be the smallest house, but it is packed full of really wonderful girls. As a housemistress, I am sincerely grateful for the respectful, kindly way you treat each other on a daily basis and how proud you are to be part of The Rise. I would like to take this opportunity to say a big thank-you to the other key members of the house, without whose help The Rise simply could not run and whose work we appreciate enormously. Thank you very much indeed therefore to our house tutors, Mrs Barnard, Mrs Robinson, Miss Wilson and Miss Lindley for their excellent work. We are also indebted to Lisa, Maggie and Jenny who keep the Rise ‘as clean as a sweetie’ every single day. Special thanks too go to our Matron, Jane, who truly is the lynchpin of the establishment and who does so much for us all. Her detective skills (when a precious item of clothing goes missing), organisation, friendliness, sense of fun and sewing skills are so appreciated by us all! We concluded a wonderful school year with the house barbecue and a trip to Flamingo Land. We wish those leaving us all the best and wholeheartedly encourage them to keep in touch. Mrs Dorothy Gillies

Many girls turned up to support Alexandria Johnston and Isabel Chen in The Odyssey. It was a most enjoyable night for all. Congratulations too, to Lily Naylor for her excellent work in makeup. As the term rushed on, it would soon be time to say goodbye to the upper sixth (Emily, Darja, Millie, Wendy, Tracy and Charlotte) as they began the next exciting chapter in their lives. It has been a real

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Visits and Exchanges Arran Field Trip 2016 Early on a Saturday morning we gathered at York station with our bags full to the brim ready for our long journey to Arran. However, we had a rough start because of major delays with trains which caused us to be rushing between platforms to get to our next train. We were eventually allowed to have our lunch on the ferry and finally it felt like we were almost there. On arriving at Brodick we loaded our bags and ourselves onto the bus, and finally after a long twisty bus ride we had arrived. The following day after a nice hot breakfast and a good sleep, we went for a trek up the hillside learning about the history of Arran and the wildlife (especially the midges!). In the afternoon out in the pouring rain we did fieldwork in different ecosystems. On return to the centre, dripping from head to toe, we discovered another school had arrived. We warned them of what Arran had to throw at them as if we were locals! Also, now that Mrs Tooby-Smith had arrived, the majority of the boys were up at the crack of dawn for a five-mile run before breakfast. However, all the girls naturally stayed snoring in their beds.

The next few days were spent discovering the island by walking around a glacial valley and visiting the rural communities of Arran whilst doing some data collection. We were even lucky enough to stop off at the Co-op to stock up on snacks and sweets! Early on the cold Wednesday morning, we got up to do our saltmarsh study. Despite having to get up extra early because of the tide timings, the boys still went for their 6 am run. Again, the girls showed no inclination to get up and join in. A basic breakfast set our mood for the whole day for the main investigation of the saltmarsh succession, although that all changed when Chris (our resident tutor) arrived with trays of fresh, hot bacon butties, which gave us the energy we needed to storm through our investigation. Luckily we were able to negotiate the afternoon off away from Beth (our main tutor) and the classroom because of our early

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VISITS AND EXCHANGES

start, and we headed down to the local whisky distillery. We had a tour, tasting and an education from Jenny Elliott, the local ‘whisky connoisseur’. As we waited at the centre for Mrs Tooby-Smith and Mr Hall, they finally came back carrying three bottles of whisky for the night! Or were they presents? Despite our negotiating skills we still had lessons after dinner, presenting and analysing our data. However, we were supplied with chocolate ‘energy’ bars from Mr Hall and an intense Pilates session from Mrs Tooby-Smith.

all the new friends we had made. We said our thanks to Beth and Greg before trekking the three miles back to the centre one last time, whilst doing the ‘midge dance’. Our final night in our common room was spent bonding as a group playing card games and getting very close and personal (Charlie Corner and Sam Appleby). This ended our trip to Arran perfectly, giving us a great start to the A-level course for next year. Once back in the classroom on Monday morning we realised we had actually left some of our beach data on the island – oh dear! We would like to say a big thank you to the teachers (Mrs ToobySmith, Mr Bowden, Mr Hall and Miss Schaffer) who gave up their time to make our amazing trip possible and worthwhile. Ella Day and Will Fryer, LVI

On our last day we left the centre full of enthusiasm knowing that we were just going to take a scenic hike along the west coast of the island. However, Beth surprised us with one last data collection session at Catacol Bay. We measured stone size and roundness up and along the pebbly beach up and along the shore. Once that was over, we set off on our six-mile hike to Blackwaterfoot. We stopped along the way to take field sketches, go cave walking, and even had an alien gravestone-building competition. Once we got back to the centre, we all had a quick shower before heading out on the local bus to the Catacol Bay Hotel for our final pub meal. At this point we reflected our time on the island, talking about the best bits and

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VISITS AND EXCHANGES

Pompeii and Rome 2015 Despite the unsociably early departure from St Peter’s, as we arrived at the airport excitement began to build. Upon arriving in Italy, we soon made our way to Herculaneum. The combination of brilliant weather and an ancient atmosphere led to much enjoyment as we explored the site, where we saw copious amounts of fascinating ruins which were the result of the eruption of 79AD: the skeletons in the boatsheds gave a particularly vivid idea of the human cost of the tragedy. Here and throughout the trip Mr Noy Scott, and the other teachers – Miss Jones, Mr Vann, Miss Matts and Miss Pearson – were full of knowledge surrounding the history of the places we visited. Having stayed in a bustling hotel in Sorrento, we took a ferry across the water to the island of Capri, where we had lots of fun by visiting the Villa Iovis, a place which required a lot of energy from the group as we had to trek along the rough path for quite some time. Despite our tiredness, we were often spurred on by Mr Noy Scott who insisted that walking was always the best way to get around. After an unforgettably vivid account of the imperial lifestyle on the island from Mr Vann, we returned to the town and were given time to go shopping and to purchase some souvenirs. When we arrived in Pompeii the next day, we spent most of the time exploring the large site of ruins and remains. Many of us hadn’t quite realised the grand scale of the merchant town, so visiting the place gave us all a better understanding of the Roman era. There were a number of us who were eager to see things such

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as the Forum and the famous houses of the Vetti and the Faun. The Forum was in much better condition than one would expect, as well as the amphitheatre and the theatre which both maintained a solid structure. That afternoon, after our failed attempt to reach Mount Vesuvius because of poor weather, we took a coach to Rome. The

VISITS AND EXCHANGES

group spent the afternoon and evening sightseeing in the beautiful city, visiting places such as the Pantheon, Piazza Navona and the Campus Martius. We were then given another chance to break away into smaller groups to make our own individual discoveries, including enjoying the delights of Italian ice cream! On day four we walked to the Roman Forum which still displayed many of the columns that had stood in ancient times. We also saw the Colosseum and took time walking around this magnificent monument.

In the afternoon we explored the Circus Maximus, the Palatine and Capitoline hills and the Imperial Fora. Many of the sites we visited that day were unforgettable. Finally, after much badgering by the students, Mr Noy Scott relented and let us take the metro to the Spanish Steps and the Trevi Fountain, which gave our feet a break. At the Spanish Steps, we all huddled together to listen to Miss Pearson detail the story of John Keats, an English poet who had lived in one of the houses next to the steps. Some of the group were fortunate enough to dance with a group of lively monks in the street for a religious festival, causing much fun and laughter. The last day was particularly symbolic as we went to St Peter’s Basilica, where we were able to witness the Pope give an address, which many would argue to be a once in a lifetime experience. We then walked past the River Tiber, where we saw iconic architecture such as the Bridge of Angels and the gloriously restored Ara Pacis. Our trip was sadly coming to end, and in the afternoon we drove to the airport and boarded the flight home. Having walked nearly 40 miles over the course of five days, it is safe to say we were exhausted; however, we had gained an invaluable experience and learned a lot about the past. Many thanks to the teachers, who organised the trip and contributed to making it an amazing excursion; we would recommend it to anyone who is thinking about going next time round. Annabel Fox and Katy Colthup (V)

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VISITS AND EXCHANGES

Duke of Edinburgh’s Award

We started the year with confirmation that 60 pupils at St Peter’s had successfully completed a DofE award in 2014/15, including ten recipients of the Gold award. This is a great achievement, and continues to build on the success of the award at St Peter’s year on year. 77 pupils started the Bronze award in September 2015, with 25 at Silver and 18 at Gold level. These 120 pupils have been involved in various activities this year, volunteering for charities and community projects, and learning new skills and physical activities as well as taking existing talents to a higher level. These elements of the Duke of Edinburgh’s award often require the individual to be autonomous and demonstrate that they can get involved outside the structure of the school programme. At Gold level participants have to join a residential project, spending at least five days and four nights away from home on a shared activity with people they’ve never met before. This year our pupils have completed a variety of courses including the RYA day skipper course and horse-riding courses, and have learned to fly light aircraft. Social time in the evenings is as much a part of the experience as the formal daytime activities.

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VISITS AND EXCHANGES

The expedition section of the award is organised by the school, and participants are taken through a training programme and a practice expedition before embarking on their qualifying expedition, which is externally assessed. The Bronze award this year stayed close to home with eleven groups walking out of school into the surrounding Vale of York. The Silver and Gold groups completed their practice expedition in the North Yorkshire Moors, and ventured slightly further north into the Pennines to complete their qualifying expedition.

For the expedition section of the award each team has to consider what their aim is, apart from simply completing the route they have planned. The results are presented through words, photos and video, and often give a little bit of an insight into the time that our pupils have been out in the hills with their team. Of the 120 who started an award this last year, all those who made it to the qualifying stage were successful in completing their expeditions.

The award is not necessarily completed in one year. There are currently 490 pupils at St Peter’s for whom a DofE award is work in progress. Completing the award is the responsibility of the participant, and the ability to finish what they started is in itself is a key learning experience of the DofE. A Duke of Edinburgh’s award is so much more than a ‘pat on the back’ for completing a programme of activities. It is recognition of a young person’s successful journey of self-discovery and development, recognised by employers and universities alike for the qualities young people have who’ve achieved a DofE award. Thank you to all the staff who have given their time this year to support the DofE programme , and to Mr Mike Hall and Mrs Cath Hempsall for masterminding the Silver and Gold expeditions respectively. Congratulations to all those who have completed awards this year, and to those working hard to complete in the near future. Mr Jon Whitehouse

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VISITS AND EXCHANGES

Girls’ Senior Hockey Tour to Holland Two senior girls’ hockey teams travelled to Holland over the October half-term to compete in matches against Dutch club sides, and to soak up the culture. The tour was packed with matches against local sides including Pijnacker, Rijswijk and Noordwijk, all of which were of an extremely high standard. Indeed even Mr Paterson’s RAMP warm-up at the start of the first training session in Noordwijk couldn’t have prepared either of the teams for the pace of their first game on tour. Perhaps when both teams were asked to line up to sing the national anthems we should have realised just how good the standard was going to be! The teams did claim one victory, a 4-2 win over Hisales. Despite the busy schedule there was time to visit Rotterdam with a full morning spent on a walking tour visiting the many sights of the city including Anne Frank’s house and the narrowest house ever built! Art students in particular enjoyed the morning spent visiting the Van Gogh museum, and a number commented on how useful this visit would be on their return to school too. Aside from the many cultural visits we also crammed in a lighthearted visit to Walibi World (Holland’s biggest theme park). The highlight of this had to be seeing a number of girls hoisted into the air in the human catapult!

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The trip was thoroughly enjoyed by all involved. Despite the tough opposition, both teams learned a huge amount throughout the trip, both technically and tactically. This was evident in the team play throughout the second half of the season in the senior hockey

teams. The hospitality at the clubs was, as always, fantastic, and a number of new friendships were forged along the way too. Overall, a fantastic experience for all involved! Mrs Emma Brough

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MFL visit to Berlin At the end of March Mrs Houghton and Mr Grant accompanied a group of six sixth-form pupils to Berlin to support the topic of the division and reunification of Germany studied at A-level. Language skills vital for the A-level were also promoted through immersion in German every morning at the Berlitz Zentrum Sprachschule, located on the historic Friedrichstraße. With our fantastic, knowledgeable tour guides, Barry and Matt, the history of the city was brought to life through visits to the remains of the Berlin Wall, the Brandenburg Gate, the Holocaust Memorial, the Story of Berlin Museum, the Olympic Stadium, the TV tower, the Reichstag and Checkpoint

Charlie. Free time activities included shopping on Berlin’s most famous shopping street, Ku’damm, and in KaDeWe (Kaufhaus des Westens), Berlin’s version of Harrods. These were all memorable experiences, although the one thing we cannot recall is how many Currywurst (Berlin’s speciality) were eaten, particularly by Niall Collinson. In the short time we were there we really only scratched the surface of what the city has to offer but everyone agreed they would return. Mrs Houghton, Abi Harrison, Chris Hall & Niall Collinson (LVI)

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VISITS AND EXCHANGES

Science and Religion Visit to London In June we ventured to London for the third-form’s annual science and religion trip. One of the aims of the trip is to show how many people feel that science and religion do not have to be mutually exclusive. Once again, our distinctive brown uniforms brilliantly contrasted against other school trips that insisted their pupils wore florescent jackets. It meant we could easily navigate the station and the underground together – it being obvious to which group we all belonged. The trip continues to be co-organised by a team of third-form pupils eager to show their creative and administrative skills. Valentina Cross, one of the committee members, writes: ‘This year’s science and religion trip was a great success. Instead of going only

to the Natural History Museum, pupils were lucky enough to experience the wonders of the Science Museum as well. These two museums helped us make fundamental connections between the two subjects and ensured that there was something for everybody. This trip’s goal is to remind students that science and religion are not totally different things and I believe that each pupil walked away from the day with greater understanding. I would like to thank Mr Bembridge and Mr Stephen for their hard work and dedication in organising this trip: we definitely couldn’t have done it without them.’ We were very impressed with the committee’s organisational skills and their enthusiasm. One of the great successes of the trip was that it prompted Mr Stephen to make his third ever Tweet. It’s worth investigating. Mr Christien Bembridge

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VISITS AND EXCHANGES

Politics Visit to London Sixth-form pupils spent an enjoyable day in the heart of political London, one day before the referendum. We arrived mid-morning, in time to walk along Whitehall and pose for photos with the mounted guards at Horse Guards on our way down to Parliament Square. Standing there, we could see the homes of the three branches of politics: the legislature in Parliament, the new Supreme Court based in the ancient Middlesex Guildhall and the executive in the Treasury: cue a quick politics lesson! On a brief visit to the Supreme Court various Peterites tried out the justices’ chairs for size before we stepped back in time – to the life of Winston Churchill as wartime Prime Minister, who spent much of the war living and working in underground rooms beneath the Treasury.

We then headed across to Parliament where our guide gave us an ‘access all areas’ tour allowing us to stand in the Commons and Lords Chambers and go through the voting lobbies. We ended our tour in Westminster Hall where Guy Fawkes OP was tried after the Gunpowder Plot of 1605. (The Parliamentary authorities had taken the precaution of putting today’s Peterites through airport-style security on arrival …). This was followed by a workshop on debating, culminating in a lively debate on lowering the voting age conducted along parliamentary lines in the new education centre. With time to relax in St James’ Park and shop in Covent Garden, as well as supper in Pizza Express, it made for a very enjoyable day. Mr Ben Fuller

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VISITS AND EXCHANGES

Music Tour: Barcelona 2016

Encouraged by the pleasant revelation of a warm summer morning, the tour party began their journey to Leeds Bradford airport on Monday 18 July in high spirits. The flight went smoothly and we arrived in Barcelona in the early evening before greeting our courier Marianne, enjoying a well-needed evening meal at the hotel and a good night’s sleep to prepare for the jam-packed week ahead. Tuesday dawned bright and brilliant, and we boarded the coach to begin our tour of the city and its rich array of attractions. We were treated to stunning views of the Olympic Stadium, the Venetian Towers, the Plaza de toros de las Arenas, and the Palau Nacional. After soaking up the bustling atmosphere on La Rambla after lunch, we began our first musical performance of the week in Santa Maria del Pi, which featured an intimate Catholic mass with the Chamber

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Choir in a small side-chapel followed by a concert from the Choir and Wind Band in the main nave of the church.

VISITS AND EXCHANGES

An undercurrent of excitement simmered on Wednesday as the Illa Fantasia water park beckoned. After a fast-paced morning of slipping and sliding, the tour party boarded the coach for Figueres. We enjoyed a whistle-stop tour of the Dali Museum, a quirky and unconventional building adorned with bread rolls and eggs (unfortunately inedible), followed by a wonderful evening concert in Sant Pere church, featuring the Choir and Wind Band, and a sparkling rendition of Fauré’s Pie Jesu from Fleur Booth.

The brakes were put on for Thursday, a chilled-out affair featuring an informal performance on an open-air stage (‘basically Glastonbury’) in Poble Espanyol, a microcosmic collection of buildings representing the fifteen districts of Spain. The concert was a hit, and spectators even began to dance to the music! We spent a blissful afternoon on Caldes d’Estrac beach, appreciating the sensory dichotomy of blazing sun and refreshing ocean, before being treated to a delicious meal and coastal views at a beachfront restaurant. We spent Friday morning relaxing at the hotel pool before catching the metro into the centre of Barcelona. After lunch, we arrived at Blanes church to perform an eclectic mix of sacred and secular music. This was arguably our best concert, featuring pieces from the Chamber, Tour and Clarinet Choirs, Wind and Swing Bands, virtuosic instrumental solos from Sam Lightwing and Rosie Stephens, and an ethereal soprano duet from Fleur Booth and Izzy Crook. We even received a heartening standing ovation to round off what had been a sensational musical treat. To finish the evening, we watched the dazzling beachfront fireworks.

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VISITS AND EXCHANGES

Our final full day in Barcelona was a busy one. The tour party split, with some going to visit the famous Camp Nou Stadium, and others visiting the Sagrada Familia church. I was in the latter group, and I was lucky enough to appreciate the organic architecture of the church, replete with its impressive array of religious statues and iconography. Afterwards, we began our last performance of the tour, a Catholic mass in the magnificent Gothicism of Barcelona Cathedral. Despite Mr M-K’s qualms about the language barrier, the mass ran without a hitch and was a truly atmospheric event. The dinner that followed was definitely the best of the week, as we finally got the chance to sample the Spanish culinary delight of paella!

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Sunday was a subdued day as we departed from the sunny climes of Barcelona, but not before panic-buying last-minute presents and/or finally giving into the urge to spend those last twenty Euros at Port Vell. It was a truly memorable week for all involved, and a fitting way for the upper sixth to end their musical careers at St Peter’s. Thanks to Mr and Mrs M-K, Mr Wright, Dr Harrison, Mrs Dawson, Mr Grant, Mr and Mrs Edwards, Miss Crawley and Mr Hall for looking after us and organising a fantastic trip, and to our courier, Marianne Sweinink-Harvard whose photographs illustrate this article. Concetta Scrimshaw, UVI

VISITS AND EXCHANGES

Ski Trip 2016, Davos, Switzerland Resilience is a popular word at present and the ski trip provided plenty of opportunity for our students to demonstrate that Peterites possess this quality in abundance! A long coach journey and some waiting around on the first day did not diminish appetites at all and, along with our ski instructors, all were ready for action on the first morning of skiing. We were fortunate to be using one of the best ski hire shops I have ever encountered and the quality of equipment received by the students was first-rate. The opportunity to ski with instructors whom we brought with us for the trip was arguably the best part of the skiing week. The skiing could be tailored exactly to each group’s needs and skiing could last as long as the students wished. It was a real advantage to be able to sit down each evening and plan the day ahead and ensure that each skier was in the right group and that the instructors could be given feedback on the days skiing. Ski days were full, leaving the accommodation around 8.45 am and returning around 5.00 pm. Davos/Klosters is spread across five mountains and it is a testament to its size that even our most accomplished skiers visited only three of these. The beginners made quick progress and it was great to see their confidence and competence grow through the week. The more experienced skiers made the most of Davos’ greatest asset, the super Paarsenn runs which drop down to Klosters and some explored the Madrisa area on the other side too. With modern GPS technology and ski apps some clocked up over 40km a day. The snow quality was excellent and, despite a little bit of poor visibility at times, the skiing was a real pleasure for all.

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VISITS AND EXCHANGES

After tea there were activities each night of the week. The Eau-La-La swimming pool provided great fun on two occasions – particularly the opportunity to run straight from the snow and dive into the outdoor pool! Bowling (some of which was particularly in need of improving) provided great fun too as did the ski show where the local ski schools demonstrated their skills one evening. The last evening was spent watching HC Davos Ice Hockey team – one of the best in Switzerland – at home in the excellent ice hockey arena. The match was a sell-out and our students blended in well, singing the local songs.

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The journey home wasn’t quite as smooth as the way out – a snapped snow chain delayed us by a couple of hours and the ferry crossing certainly wasn’t the smoothest. But we made it back on time, all in one piece and having had a great half-term ski break. I am not naturally inclined to return to the same resort each year, but the overall package was so good here it was an easy decision to return for February 2017. Mr Steve Gwilliam

VISITS AND EXCHANGES

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News, Events & Activities

The Alcuin Library It has been a year of change for the library with the arrival of a new Head of Library and Research and, perhaps less dramatically, a brand new carpet. Traditional library cards are no longer used, with pupils now logging in to borrow and renew their books. The library has subscribed to a digital audiobook service, supplementing the CD collection and has introduced a ‘literary lunch’ series where pupils and staff are invited to a lunch with a question-and-answer session with an author. The opportunity to book an appointment with the Librarian to discuss research skills has been a great success, particularly with EPQ pupils. This service is available to all pupils and is supported by the materials available on the VLE. Overall, it’s been a year of exciting developments which will continue next year.

National Poetry Day Competition 2016 We invited pupils to write poems that would explore the theme of light. Many entries were received, but the stand-out submission came from Alexander Coates (Grove).

Man Booker Shadowing, October 2016 This year’s Man Booker shortlist was full of marvels, and Mrs Lawrence’s A-level students were on fine form in their presentations on the books. The evening was full of impassioned speeches on the merits of each title, with Peter Gray almost winning us over to the complex merits of Satin Island by Tom McCarthy. Polly Moss’s spirited promotion of the actual prize-winner, A History of Seven Killings by Marlon James was just short of taking the St Peter’s award, with Isabel Hedley’s description of heart-wrenching sorrow clinching the victory for A Little Life by Yana Yanagihara. Thanks to the English department and the pupils for a very entertaining evening.

Christmas Literature Quiz The traditional Christmas literature quiz continued in fine form this year, with music, mince pies and mulled wine to wind down 2015. Five rounds quizzing the obscure and classic elements of literature tested everyone to the limit, including the staff team who fought bravely but could not match the expertise of the pupils. A closely-fought battle saw School house finally break the winning streak of previous champions Grove. The questions were delivered with great charisma by our quiz master, Ed Kettleborough, who took to the role perfectly.

World Book Day, March 2016 Tom Harper In honour of World Book Day, we were fortunate to be able to hold a Literary Lunch with special guest, Tom Harper, courtesy of Mrs Anderson. An invited audience from the Literary Society, Keystone, the library committee and staff book group gathered together to hear about Tom’s journey to publication: from entering a competition in his youth to the continued book deals thereafter, Tom was able to give us an insight into the experiences of an established author and the research required to write his adventurous thrillers.

Tanya Landman Carnegie-winning author Tanya Landman visited us for a day in March and provided lectures for our third-form pupils along with pupils from St Olave’s, and a creative writing workshop for selected fourth-form pupils. Tanya talked about how she became a writer, and discussed the issues faced in her Carnegie Prize-winning title The Buffalo Soldier. The creative writing workshop gave pupils the opportunity to start their own story, with the prompt of ‘the moments following a dramatic occurrence.’

Literary Lunch Lee Harrison With the launch of the ‘literary lunch’ series on World Book Day, we invited new author Lee Harrison for a lunch in the library with staff and pupils. Lee gave us a very entertaining guide to today’s publishing challenges, the benefits of working with a smaller press – such as being able to design your own book cover – and the commitment it has taken to become a published author. We look forward to reading Lee’s debut novel in September.

Duke of Edinburgh Award Congratulations to the pupils who volunteered in the library as part of achieving their Duke of Edinburgh awards.

Library Committee 2016 The library received great support from our library committee members over the past year, with particular enthusiasm for our Waterstones visit. Thank you all very much for your contributions. Mrs Amy Wong

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NEWS, EVENTS & ACTIVITIES

Debating Society The Debating Society has had a very successful year culminating in our inaugural debating dinner. While the changing political climate has inspired numerous debates, the society has enjoyed both topical and somewhat unconventional discussions on a variety of subjects, ranging from Donald Trump, to an independent Yorkshire with the first debate of the year being ‘This House would ban public nudity’. Our weekly debates have been both enlightening and entertaining, led by a strong group of sixth-form debaters with members of the junior society often stepping up to speak too, in front of an alwayssupportive crowd of pupils and teachers.

As well as weekly debates, the society held mock leadership elections for the Labour Party with Daniel Hicks emerging victorious representing Andy Burnham, with Jeremy Corbyn as runner-up represented by Alex Woodruff. Later in the year the society also held a mock US presidential election, with Peter Gray as Hillary Clinton in first place followed closely by Alice Jackson as John Kasich with Trump, Cruz and Sanders all behind, represented by Alex Woodruff, Niall Collinson and Ollie Williams respectively.

Our Christmas debate this year accurately represented both the political and satirical mix of the society in ‘This House believes that Father Christmas would make a better Prime Minister than David Cameron’. Fiercely contested with Ed Kettleborough, Gideon Wakelin and Leo Doolooa defending the PM, it was the proposition of Alice Jackson, Niall Collinson and Lily Martin who emerged victorious by a handful of votes. Debates in the spring term touched on many topics such as the issue of gender equality with the motion ‘This House would enforce gender quotas in parliament and all top jobs’. Continuing the political theme we debated lowering the voting age and whether Yorkshire should become an independent state.

A strong upper-sixth group will be sad to leave such an active society where members such as Concetta Scrimshaw, Rohan Choudhury, Alex Woodruff and Edward Kettleborough have been regular speakers, always providing strong argument and bringing new ideas to the debates. The society will no doubt flourish next year based on the contributions of some key lower sixth members this year, including Ollie Williams, Niall Collinson, Alice Jackson, Toby Johnson, Lily Martin and Charles Dunn. This leaves me to thank all those who have taken part in this year’s debates and those who have come to watch. But most importantly to Miss Pearson and Mr Fuller for making sure everything’s gone according to plan. Alex Woodruff Debating Society President

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NEWS, EVENTS & ACTIVITIES

Competitive and Senior House Debating As the first President of Competitive Debating I have been privileged to expand debating into the British Parliamentary format and debating Peterites from third form to upper sixth took on the challenge with aplomb; I am sure we have future champions in the making! George Bainbridge, from Warwick and Durham universities, proved an excellent coach. With the ever-positive Miss Pearson and Mr Fuller spurring us on we soon felt prepared to take on our first competition. We travelled to Lancaster University in November, ready to try and put our new skills into practice. The competition was, to be frank, a steep learning curve, and all expectations were thrown out of the window. We debated topics from the banning of private schools (cue awkward looks in our direction from other schools) to home schooling. There were some excellent performances, notably from fourth-formers Ewan Henworth and Alex Phillips, who beat me in their first ever competitive debate (they still won’t let me forget it), my co-president Alex Woodruff, and Lily Martin, who proved an excellent couple. Our second competition of the year took us to Nottingham, where we built on the experiences at Lancaster: teams from third form to the upper sixth achieved high-ranking places in their debates. Piyush Koorapaty and AJ Coates, our youngest pairing, took on far more experienced debaters and won. Once again, the fourth form performed exceptionally, and I reclaimed some face by defeating Ewan in the speaker rankings. Senior house debating was especially thrilling for me this year, as Queen’s claimed victory at long last, having been finalists in 2014 after suffering a disappointing group stage defeat to Clifton in 2015. The final saw the ugly head of the EU raise itself for debate, as Dronfield, represented by Alice Phillips, Tobi Adewale and Abi Harrison argued for Brexit whilst Queen’s, represented by Will Kimpson, Charles Barry and myself, argued to remain. The debate steered away from the clichés of the referendum, as Dronfield focused on economic opportunity and sovereignty whilst Queen’s fought the notion of the EU as a bureaucratic force for ill. It was a narrow victory for Queen’s in the end, as we fought off a barrage of Brexiteers in the audience, and took home the trophy. I must thank Mr Fuller and Miss Pearson for organising the competition, which is always a highlight of the annual house derby, and the many teachers who gave up their Thursday lunchtimes to judge the debates. I am sure our successors will see debating carry on growing to new heights. Ed Kettleborough President of Competitive Debating

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NEWS, EVENTS & ACTIVITIES

Mock Referendum votes Remain

The 2015 Mock General Election ignited political interest, so just a year later pupils were keen to be involved with the referendum and to debate the arguments. We hosted a debate in front of the whole school one morning with Kevin Hollinrake, MP for Thirsk and Malton, speaking for the Remain argument and Carl Chambers, regional Chair of Business for Britain speaking for the Brexit campaign. Mr Hollinrake spoke first and based his argument on the economic, trading and employment benefits of being in the EU, whereas Mr Chambers emphasised the undemocratic nature of the EU in contrast to our power as citizens within an independent UK. Pupils had discussed the referendum with their tutors earlier in the week and submitted questions. Debating president Alex Woodruff and Concetta Scrimshaw put a selection of these to the two speakers.

In our Mock Referendum pupils voted to remain in the EU by 69% to 31%. They voted on the question put to the country on June 23rd: ‘Should the United Kingdom remain a member of the European Union or leave the European Union?’ Only one house, The Grove, voted for Brexit. The turnout was high at 77%. Upper-sixth pupil and Returning Officer Concetta Scrimshaw said: ‘I’d expected Remain to win – but not by such a clear majority’. Mr Ben Fuller

Groups of students travelled to the ISSP debate at Bootham School and the BBC Radio York debate, where Cressy Killick was chosen to put her question on air. Mr Fuller was also much in demand at various points in the year to appear on Radio York to try to make sense of fast moving political events in the UK and USA for listeners.

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NEWS, EVENTS & ACTIVITIES

Public Lecture Series: Inspiration for All In its fifth year the public lecture series continued to expand both in the range and number of events. In the Christmas term Sir Anthony Seldon placed the first five years of David Cameron’s premiership in context with his lecture ‘Cameron at Ten’ after an earlier discussion seminar with pupils. Professor Angela Wright, holder of a personal chair in Romantic Literature at the University of Sheffield, spoke about Mary Shelley and the creation of her most famous work, Frankenstein, giving us an insight into the influences on her and her place in the Gothic movement. Wide-ranging discussion during her teatime seminar with pupils included how the 18th- and 19th -century use of the genre is echoed in modern series such as Twilight.

In the Easter term we were once again a major partner with the York Literature Festival with both St Peter’s and festival events hosted here over eight busy days before the Easter holiday. Writers Val McDermid, Tanya Landman and Dame Margaret Drabble spoke on consecutive nights. It was a particular pleasure to have Dame Margaret, once a pupil at The Mount, here in conversation with Mrs Lawrence giving us insights not only into her work but the changing role of women in literature and society over her busy and creative career. Professor Steve Jones of UCL and the BBC spoke about genetics and our environment in his talk, ‘Why Genetics Matters’, demonstrating the importance of both nature and nurture … and being very rude about the mistakes some people make! Political discussion was enlivened by Sir Vince Cable, in conversation with Mr Fuller, who spoke about his time in the coalition cabinet and future national and political prospects – as well as ballroom dancing, his secret skill. Francis Beckett and David Lough discussed the rather different characters and ambitions of Churchill, Attlee and Blair as reflected in their lives after the premiership and their personal attitudes to money. The audience’s attitude to the three of them was varied, to say the least. Novelist and comic writer John O’Farrell talked about his new book There’s Only Two David Beckhams [yes, the English Department told him it should be ‘are’] but also took us back to the world of Spitting Image for which he wrote scripts and provided voices. The Poet Laureate, Carol Ann Duffy closed our festival events with a varied, humorous and often poignant evening of poetry interspersed with music from John Sampson. During the school day the sixth form have continued to experience new outlooks from occasional visiting speakers as part of the Global Perspectives programme. Martin S Taylor made us think about suggestibility, peer pressure and manipulation as he tried some of his skills of ‘hypnosis without hypnotism’ on the pupils – an entertaining hour which was thoroughly enjoyed. Hektor Krome made his first visit to the school to talk about gap years and adventure: he was a fund of energy and anecdote and enthused us.

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NEWS, EVENTS & ACTIVITIES

John Levy returned to give us his overview of the Middle East and its importance to the whole world as a provider of resources and technological breakthroughs. Finally, Captain Ibrar Ali, formerly of the Yorkshire Regiment and now part of ‘Walking with the Wounded’ gave us a sense of the pride and commitment of our armed forces and the excitement of his work as an adventurer and fundraiser. He had recently trekked to the South Pole with a group including Prince Harry and brought along much of his survival gear for pupils to try. Our series of invitation lunches and teas brought prominent figures into school for pupils to enjoy informal discussion with them. Barry Brindley spoke about the work of the Zikomo Trust, which he founded, in Malawi and the opportunities for pupils to take part in work there in a holiday or gap year. It was a pleasure to welcome back two of our three serving Old Peterite Members of Parliament: Neil Carmichael (The Manor, 1974-1979) is now MP for Stroud and Chairman of the Education Select Committee and Alan Mak (Clifton 1997-2002) is the newly-elected MP for Havant. Rachael Maskell became York City’s MP at the May 2015 general election and made her first visit to St Peters in October; we look forward to the relationship developing. Phil Willis is now a peer having been MP for Harrogate for many years and he returned to visit the Willis Room in the Politics and Economics department and to meet pupils.

Estates, Catering, Marketing, the School Office and the monitors. I would like to thank all the staff in those areas for their help and in particular Sara Burns our Technical Director who has transformed our events and raised them to such a professional standard, David Morris who helps out front of house and takes amazing photos, Penny and Pete Bollands and Alison Fuller who were welcoming and helpful faces for our guests throughout a very busy Literature Festival.

I could not make the programme work without a lot of support from

Mr Ben Fuller

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EDITORIAL

Business Studies

This year there have been three events of note in the Business department. The first was the annual ICAEW Business and Accounting competition in February, the second was the BUSS4 Tutor2U revision conference in Leeds and the third was the visit to St Peter’s of entrepreneur, former economics teacher and Clifton Prep parent, Catherine Rigby. The annual ICAEW Business and Accounting competition took place at York Racecourse and involved six of our lower-sixth Business pupils: Paddy Hayes, Nathan Chapman, Tom Pycock, Tamsin Abbott, Joe Bates and Adam Freshwater. The team joined forces with a young accounting professional to work collaboratively during the afternoon to find solutions to a range of real-life problems faced by a fictional case-study business. The team had to suggest possible strategies the business could implement to regain and improve its market position. Once they had prepared their strategies the team then had to present them to a panel of senior accountants from across the North-East. The team acquitted themselves very well, underpinning their answers with an impressive knowledge of business concepts, good presentation and public speaking skills, and with humour and enthusiasm. The pupils enjoyed their day, made some useful business contacts and enhanced their ability to analyse and evaluate business situations; skills that will serve them well in their final A-level examinations. The annual BUS4 revision workshop took place at the Light Centre in Leeds in late March and was solely aimed at upper-sixth pupils who were about to sit the AQA BUSS4 A-level Business Studies module. The whole class of seven pupils attended the day and all found it extremely informative and helpful for their

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exam preparations. They each came away with detailed booklets providing a range of practice case-study questions, tips on exam technique and model solutions to previous exam questions. We were very lucky to have Catherine Rigby come into school just before the Easter holidays to discuss her newly-created business, Still and Heart, which specialises in hosting gin tasting evenings. Catherine started her business in August 2015 and prior to this she was an Economics and Business teacher at a school in York. She knew the exam syllabus our pupils were working through well and aimed her talk with precision at the different topics they would be studying during the A-level course. She initially discussed the history of gin and then described the recent exponential growth in demand for gin across the UK. She went to great lengths to describe the different ways new gin-making companies had differentiated their products to take advantage of the growing UK taste for gin, and also explained how she worked in partnership with gin-makers. She then outlined how her tasting events aimed primarily to increase gin brand awareness, whilst also increasing the general public’s perception and understanding of the gin industry in the UK. The forty pupils who attended the talk thoroughly enjoyed it and the St Peter’s Economics and Business department is very grateful to Catherine for her candid and honest account of how she took the gamble to resign from her job and start her own business. We hope she will come in and talk to the Business and Economics pupils and aspiring entrepreneurs again next year, and wish her the best of luck with her gin-tasting evenings! Mr Hugo Battersby

EDITORIAL

Modern Foreign Languages An Evening of Spanish Culture and Talks All fourth-form pupils studying Spanish collected for an evening of talks and Spanish culture. The evening kicked off with churros and chocolate before we welcomed two language students from York St John University. Abbey and Michelle gave a talk to our pupils about the reasons for studying languages and shared their experiences of living and studying abroad. We discussed the importance of languages in business and the asset of being able to speak additional languages in an environment where more than 60% of people in the UK only speak one language.

Once the question and answer session had finished the pupils were treated to a salsa class by Laucinda from Encuentro Latino, which was a fun way to relax and ‘bond’. The evening finished with a delicious spread of tapas such as Manchego cheese, chorizo, goat’s cheese and chicken croquettes, olive bread and a selection of pinchos (small snacks). These were all prepared by our very own tapas chef Lee and ably served by some of our upper-sixth pupils. Mrs Anna Robinson

German Theatre Visit In January a group of 30 fourth-form pupils studying German were invited to Queen Margaret’s School to watch a performance by Onatti Productions theatre company. The play, performed by German actors, was entitled Zwillinge (‘Twins’) and it proved to be an entertaining, funny and colourful afternoon because of the tricks played on the main character by identical twins who were, however, very different in personality. The play was completely in German but the use of visuals as well as the use of language which pupils were familiar with from their iGCSE course ensured that the pupils followed the storyline with ease. St Peter’s pupils entered into the spirit of the afternoon by going up on stage and getting involved in the play which combined comedy and topical themes with the ultimate aim of improving pupils’ comprehension skills. This is the second time we have been entertained by Onatti and it will certainly be something we do again next year.

Northern Eastern Schools’ MFL Debating Competition It was the second year for our North Eastern Schools’ Debating Competition at St Peter’s School and it was certainly bigger and bolder than last year. We have made, and will continue to make, efforts to improve the competition each year, learning from the valuable feedback from our visiting schools, in order to make the experience both enjoyable and enriching for all the participants. This year the big development was the change from debating in only one language, French, to extend it to all three languages – French, Spanish and German – to give more pupils the opportunity to participate in their chosen language. Other changes included switching the competition from a Saturday afternoon to a Wednesday, in order to allow more of the excellent state schools in our region to participate, clamping down on competitors reading from scripted notes in an effort to make the debates sound more spontaneous and enlisting the very welcome help of Angela O’Flaherty, an associate lecturer in French from the University of York, and her excellent Routes into Languages students to judge the debates with the help of St Peter’s staff. The participation of these final-year students provided fantastic impartial adjudicators for all of the debates. Seven schools attended for the German competition, eight for Spanish and eighteen for French. Once more, the standard of debating was excellent despite the difficulty of some of the motions. Some examples of debating topics were: ‘Women should stay at home and look after the children’, ‘Religion is a threat to social stability’, and ‘Private education creates an unjust society’. The unseen topic for the final was ‘We should limit foreign holidays’. Three different schools went away with the trophies for the three respective languages. Ripon won the Spanish competition, All Saints’ won the French and Bootham School triumphed in the German. St Peter’s are desperate to get one of these trophies in their grasp next year. The greatest satisfaction is seeing the development in confidence of these young learners during the course of the competition. They usually arrive full of nerves but they soon start surprising themselves and impressing their teachers through the language and the arguments that they are able to produce. The organisation of this competition is a huge but worthwhile undertaking as there are so many hidden benefits to be exploited not only for the confidence of the pupils but also for impending oral exams. We are hoping to attract more Spanish and German teams next year and that the competition will continue to go from strength to strength. Mr Mike Duffy

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NEWS, EVENTS & ACTIVITIES

Religious Studies and Philosophy Annual Philosophy Conference In November several schools from the North of England gathered for a sixthform Philosophy conference at St Peter’s School. Around 200 pupils engaged in debate and attended talks related to the conference theme of ‘Being and Nothingness’. The event explored questions such as: ‘Can something come out of nothing?’, ‘Can order and purpose develop by chance?’ and ‘Can an unlimited timeless God act in time?’ Challenging questions and ones that you might think would offer no rational answers. Nevertheless, the debate raged hard and several pupils offered their ideas with many clearly influenced by recent class discussions regarding Boethius and his Consolations of Philosophy. Dr Vardy has been one of the most influential writers in theology and philosophy in education for decades. Not only is he referenced in many A-level textbooks, but pupils get an opportunity to ask him questions personally. They are delighted to learn that they can quote him in their essays and for lower-sixth students it is often one of the first opportunities for them to see that philosophers continue to have an impact on the world around them.

Darwin’s Tree In January we welcomed Andrew Harrison who performed Mr Darwin’s Tree to the third form and some neighbouring ISSP schools. There was also an evening performance as part of the public lecture programme which was popular with the local community. The one-man show was commissioned in 2009 for the bicentenary of Charles Darwin’s birth and premiered in Westminster Abbey. This compelling 75 minute performance focused on the relationship between Darwin (an agnostic) and his wife Emma (a Christian) and touched on issues around science, faith, love and human destiny. It was a stunning monologue that explored the inner struggles that can occur when people find themselves torn in apparently opposing directions. It was definitely something that was clear in pupils’ minds as they prepared for the annual science and religion trip that would happen later on that year. Mr Christien Bembridge

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NEWS, EVENTS & ACTIVITIES

Exploration Week 2016 Once the external and internal exam season had finished, the lower sixth returned to Exploration Week 2016, a week of different learning experiences incorporating some university-style lectures, practical activities, careers guidance opportunities, public speaking exercises and team-building activities. The aim of the week, as always, is ‘no prep or formal lessons, just thinking talking and enjoying a range of intellectual and practical exploration.’

The week was designed to take the pupils away from exam specifications and to give them the opportunity to explore a smorgasbord of events. Staff-led seminars and practical sessions included Courtroom Drama, Cryptic Crosswords, Geometric Patterns, Code-breaking and Behavioural Economics. Staff expertise also saw pupils drawn into lectures and practical sessions on Stargazing, Philosophy, Advertising, and Restorative Justice amongst many others whilst external speakers added variety to the week with lectures and sessions on such diverse topics as Forensic Science, The Science of Chocolate and Pathways to Success.

There was also a day of public speaking and debating workshops led by the English Speaking Union; a UCAS preparation morning focusing on the application system, tips on personal statements and other insights into the process. The entire year-group also took part in a team-building day, focusing on aspects of leadership and teamwork in attempting to complete twenty-five different activities. On top of this, there were also sessions of a more practical nature, such as a Bike Maintenance and Flower Arranging. The lower sixth bought into the week’s experience with typical Peterite gusto and were commended for their approach to this excellent week. Mr Ben White

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NEWS, EVENTS & ACTIVITIES

United Kingdom Mathematics Trust Challenges 2015-2016 Senior Team Challenge Olivia Li, Cecilia Duan, Naomi Carey and Steven Jones competed in the regional final of the United Kingdom Mathematics Trust Senior Team Challenge at Fulford School in November. The competition tests mathematical, communication and teamwork skills, and students compete against teams from other schools and colleges from their region. 17 schools from the county were represented and the St Peter’s Team was placed seventh.

Jess Webster, Luke Dunsmore and Daniel Kondratiev sat the onehour Senior Kangaroo Challenge. Olivia Li was invited to take the British Mathematical Olympiad Paper. The BMO lasts three and a half hours and contains six complex and involved mathematical problems.

Year 10 Mathematics Feast Four fourth-form students made the short journey to Bootham School in March to compete in the Further Maths Support Programme Year 10 Maths Feast. The competition comprised several rounds, all requiring teamwork and a range of mathematical skills, including flexible approaches to problem solving. The St Peter’s team of Fergus Waterhouse, Owen Pudsey, Ilya Rzhezikov and Sam Beighton worked well together throughout a thoroughly enjoyable afternoon.

Senior Mathematics Challenge This challenge encourages mathematical reasoning, precision of thought, and fluency in using mathematical techniques. In November 49 St Peter’s sixth-form pupils took part: 15 received bronze awards, 17 gained silver, and gold certificates were awarded to Olivia Li, Joel Ngana, Charlotte Chong, Cecilia Duan, Naomi Carey, Steven Jones, Lily Wang, Jess Webster, Luke Dunsmore, Daniel Kondratiev and Jerry Tam.

Senior British Mathematical Olympiad and Kangaroo Because of their high marks in the UKMT Senior Maths Challenge, eight pupils were invited to take part in higher rounds of the competition. Cecilia Duan, Naomi Carey, Steven Jones, Lily Wang,

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Junior Team Challenge In April, Katie Bonner and Maddie Wylie, together with Olly Tomalin and Kingsley Luo from St Olave’s, competed with 27 other teams in the regional final of the UKMT Team Challenge, at the Mount School. There was a group competition, a crossnumber, a head-to-head and a relay race. They worked very hard during the day on these activities and finished third overall.

Intermediate Mathematics Challenge This challenge is targeted at the top third of pupils in English schools. The question papers are designed to make students think by using mathematical techniques to solve non-standard problems. In February, 77 St Peter’s middle-school pupils took part, with 19 pupils achieving a gold certificate, 29 a silver and 12 a bronze.

NEWS, EVENTS & ACTIVITIES

2.Paul Shepherd: Raising the Roof at Rio Mathematician and structural engineer Paul Shepherd explained why maths is vital in ensuring that events are a huge success, especially when it comes to building the roof. He talked about the design of a number of well-known stadium roofs including the Millennium Dome, Wembley Stadium and The World Cup Stadium in Rio de Janeiro explaining that behind the scenes the real heroes are the people who design and build the spectacular stadiums. 3. Ben Sparks: The Sacred Geometry of Chance

Intermediate British Mathematical Olympiad and Kangaroo David Lyon and Matthew Shawcross were invited to sit the United Kingdom Mathematics Trust Intermediate Maths Olympiad following their outstanding performance on the Intermediate Maths Challenge in February. This is a national competition and only the best mathematicians are able to cope with the very challenging questions. Around 1,600 students participated. Both David and Matthew performed very well and were each awarded a merit.

In his Nineties song Shape of My Heart, Sting sang about a gambler finding beauty in the ‘hidden laws’ of probability that govern poker. Mathematician and musician Ben Sparks dealt the cards to investigate, and uncovered some surprising hidden laws – then he went on to find what really makes ‘numbers dance’. He also showed why emotion, art and mathematics can go hand-in-hand despite the stereotypes.

Because of their excellent performances in the Maths Challenge, Jack Hargrave, Zaki Ward, Alex Liley, Jamie Dunsmore, Grayson Townend, Isabel Chen, Tom Hatfield, Marcus Taylor, Tom Raper, Andrew Liang, Piyush Koorapaty, Edward Hobson, Jake Akyol, Katie Bonner and Reuben Carter were invited to sit the European Kangaroo paper. The questions involved thought-provoking situations requiring the use of logic as well as mathematical understanding and pupils from over forty countries in Europe and beyond took part. Andrew Liang, Katie Bonner and Jack Hargrave were awarded certificates of merit for their excellent performances.

Maths Inspiration Lectures, West Yorkshire Playhouse Maths Inspiration is one of the largest maths enrichment programmes for teenagers in the UK. It’s a chance for pupils to experience the coutry’s most inspiring maths speakers live, in big venues, presenting mathematics in the context of exciting, realworld situations. In March a group of lower-sixth Further Maths students attended the Maths Inspiration Lectures at the West Yorkshire Playhouse. There were three talks: 1. Jennifer Rogers: Yeah, But Is It Significant? Sometimes these things happen just by chance. For example, you have just tossed a coin ten times and eight of them were heads, Queens Park Rangers win their first five games of the next Premiership season, in clinical trials for a new treatment for chronic headaches, 40% get better within 24 hours. As a statistician, Jennifer’s job involves deciding whether any differences she sees in data are likely to be just by chance, or whether they are ‘statistically significant’. She talked about how much evidence you would need before you can say that what you see is significant.

ISSP Masterclasses In November, 27 year-six pupils from seven primary schools across York attended two ISSP Mathematics masterclasses at St Peter’s delivered by Jenny Kinread and Lisa Middleton. The aim was to inspire pupils to think about mathematics more deeply and to engage them in activities beyond the curriculum. ‘An Introduction to Knot Theory’ dipped in to the world of mathematical knots (and unknots), considering the key questions of knot theory: ‘Is this knot an unknot?’ and ‘Are these two knots the same?’. To investigate these questions pupils made knots, with string, rope and themselves, drew knots, classified knots and coloured knots. They made insightful observations and discussed eloquently the similarities and differences between knots and also looked at how knot theory has applications in biochemistry and DNA research. A further session on codes and ciphers was run during the second half of the summer term. Mr David Spencer

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NEWS, EVENTS & ACTIVITIES

Community Action This year has been another successful year in Community Action and, as in previous years, good humour and commitment have played an important part, as well as a healthy dose of cake! From cake sales, to baking cakes and eating cakes at parties, it appears to have played a crucial role in the Community Action year.

to Esme Wright, Fleur Booth and Louise Gould who planned and hosted fundraising events in aid of Children in Need and SNAPPY. This latter organisation is for children with disabilities and the pupils volunteer at SNAPPY’s Saturday afternoon play sessions. Running a fundraising activity is in fact a large undertaking requiring a lot of planning and organisation on the day. They carried out all the tasks with dedication and efficiency and made a lot of money for charity as a result. Valentine’s Day also provided the school with an opportunity to raise money by buying sweets and chocolate that was delivered to the lucky recipients. The team in charge of producing these Valentine’s gifts did an effective job of making beautiful items and then selling them during lunchtimes to raise money for Arc Light, our local charity which supports homeless people in York.

The Community Action programme aims to involve pupils in fundraising and volunteering for a variety of charities. A large amount of money was raised this year from cake sales, both for Macmillan as well as two additional events organised by sixth-form pupils for causes close to their hearts. Many congratulations go

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If buying and eating cake and chocolates were not enough, the group of Monday volunteers hosted children from The Island for cookery sessions during the Easter term. The St Olave’s cookery room provided an excellent venue for the group who made fajitas and cookies in two separate sessions. Our pupils did a marvellous job of hosting our young visitors and putting them at ease so they could enjoy cooking. The children who attended had a lot of fun and we look forward to hosting similar sessions in the future. The Island is a charity with which St Peter’s has a close connection, and every year we host a Christmas party for the children and their mentors.

NEWS, EVENTS & ACTIVITIES

This year the theme for the party was fairy tales and pupils led some excellent games along that theme which they had devised and prepared earlier in the year. These entertained the children before they tucked in to a delicious tea and took home their goody bags. The Christmas party for the elderly was the annual highlight we have come to expect. We had a record number of visitors this year from homes for the elderly in our local area. Outstanding music was provided by ensembles led by Mr Miles-Kingston and Mr Wright reminding everyone that St Peter’s can be relied upon to put on an excellent show. The elderly visitors were once again entertained by Mr Hall’s bingo. He was ably assisted this year by Rosie McLeish and Clara Wright who ensured everything went smoothly. Some of the visitors at the Christmas party also attend the monthly afternoon teas held in school for Contact the Elderly. These occasions provide a good opportunity for elderly people who might otherwise be isolated and lonely to meet others for tea and

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NEWS, EVENTS & ACTIVITIES

cake. Tiffany Tuhirman has done an excellent job of hosting the visitors and being polite and engaging company throughout the year. Our elderly visitors also come once a week to Silver Surfers sessions to use the computers, skilfully aided by Melissa Cowans and Daria Belenkaya. These two pupils have been fantastic companionship for the Silver Surfers throughout their time in the sixth form and we wish them well with their future studies at university. The Community Action group went outside this year and braved the cold to do some environmental work in collaboration with York Council. A

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productive hour was spent clearing up after the floods along the river. In a similar vein the fifth form did their usual sterling effort at The Glen. Mr Noy Scott led the group in painting, gardening and constructing new play facilities for the children. At the start of a week of varied weather he rallied his troops (‘drizzle will not deter us … heavy rain might!’) and the fifth form proved that actually even heavy rain would not prevent them from leaving a lasting legacy for our neighbours at The Glen. Mencap Day was another roaring success. Each member of the third form spent the day helping the visitors with learning disabilities with the activities they had chosen. We are delighted to provide this day each year and look forward to its continued success in the future. The Community Action programme could not run without the hard work of the staff involved. Mrs Robinson, Miss Ullstein, Mrs Gillies and Miss Schaffer have provided an enjoyable team in which to work. We wish Miss Schaffer every success with her future teaching career in Germany. Mrs Laura Chapman

NEWS, EVENTS & ACTIVITIES

Young Enterprise 2015-16 Running throughout the academic year, our pupils found out what it was really like to set up and run a real business. Students made all the decisions about their company, from deciding on the company name and product to creating a business plan, managing the company finances, selling to the public at trade fairs, to ultimately winding up the company and paying their taxes. All this took place with the support of our volunteer business adviser Martin Goforth from Portakabin, who shared his wealth of business knowledge and expertise. Two teams took part in the Young Enterprise programme. Here is a brief summary of their year in business.

• Winners of the Young Enterprise York Area Finals 2016 • Award for Innovation & Entrepreneurship at the Young Enterprise North Yorkshire Finals 2016 • Attended the 2016 Young Enterprise National Trade Fair at Stratford-upon-Avon. • Sold over 1,000 products during our year in business. • Registered design with the intellectual property office.

Team Flip-it

Team TBH

Mission Statement:

Mission Statement: We provide a simple but high quality solution, to a real everyday problem. We want people to ‘never drop a book again’. Product: Our product is a text book holder (TBH), designed for use with an A4 ring binder. Students often tuck their text books inside their ring binders, and invariably the books slip out onto the ground when carried between lessons. The TBH solves this problem by holding the book securely in the ring binder. Made from polypropylene, the TBH can hold a variety of sizes and thickness of book, and comes in a choice of colours. The TBH ensures that you ‘never drop a book again.’ The Team: Cassie Bythell, Jack Coulthard, Charles Dunn, Helen Ford, Paddy Hayes, Frank Jiang, Jerry Tam, Liv Whitehouse, Sophie Wilson Our Achievements: • Winners of the Young Enterprise Wakefield Trade Fair 2016 • Award for Innovation at the Young Enterprise York Area Finals 2016

Our company aims to create a top quality product, a drinks coaster which can be personalised and flipped to have twice the amount of usage. We want to deliver a quality product to each and every one of our customers whilst generating successful revenue. The Product: Our product is a 10cm by 10cm beech wood coaster. We will sell them in batches of four. These come in three separate packs with four different patterns. They can also be personalised so that customers can have a choice of what they would like on their own coasters. The Team: Amelia Bell, Nathan Chapman, Luke Dunsmore, Sophie Gill, Vivian Mok, Matt Roberts, Sean Shao, Iva Sharp, Archie Stephenson, Jess Webster Our Achievements: • Winners of the Young Enterprise York Trade Fair 2016 • Award for Best Presentation at the Young Enterprise York Area Finals 2016 • Sold over 100 products during our year in business. • Attended the 2016 Wakefield Trade Fair Both teams this year have worked hard to run a successful business, and are congratulated on all that they have achieved. Mr Jon Whitehouse

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Science Department Trips and Outreach 2016 Ogden Trust York Schools Science Partnership We are now entering our fourth year of the Ogden Trust Schools Science (Physics) Partnership in York, with St Peter’s being the hub school. Canon Lee School, Fulford School, Archbishop Holgate’s School, The Joseph Rowntree School, Selby High School, Manor CE School and new this year, Bedale High School, work alongside the University of York’s Physics Department’s Outreach Officer/ Ogden Officer, Katherine Leech. The aim of the partnership is to enhance the delivery and uptake of physics by promoting the subject within the partnership schools, encouraging collaboration between them and giving their teachers access to the best support and professional development available. They aim to inspire young people to take physics further. This is an exciting initiative and we look forward to continuing to strengthen relationships over the coming years. The partnership schools were encouraged to attend the public lectures and contribute to the Stargazing Live Exhibition. We held the third York Schools’ Science Quiz and the Science Technicians’ Conference, and the Physics Olympics were also jointly attended events. The partnership has funded the purchase of physics equipment for the partnership schools and we hope that it will be able to continue to do this. We were also able to loan the demonstration cloud chamber out to Fulford School and to the university for its open days.

School Science Society Lunchtime Lecture In October the first of three lunchtime science lectures was held. This was organised by the newly-formed St Peter’s School Science Society, under the leadership of Olivia Watts and George Pindar. The visiting speaker was Professor David Jenkins from the University of York. Professor Jenkins is involved in research into experimental nuclear physics. His research programme is international with active

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experiments in CERN, Finland, France, Japan, South Africa and the USA. In addition, he is leading work connected to societal applications such as nuclear data for future fission and fusion reactors as well as the development of various radiation detectors for homeland security and oil and gas exploration. There was an audience of about 70 people including sixth formers and a good number of middle-school pupils. His talk was entitled ‘Cauldrons in the Cosmos’.

European Researchers’ Night To quote the European Union, Researchers’ Night is a ‘mega event’ taking place every year on a single September night in about 300 cities all over Europe. In 2014, The University of York was successful in winning a bid to host European Researchers’ Night in York, becoming one of five successful bids in the UK – and the only one in the north of England. The night, entitled Yornight, aimed to bring researchers to the general public and to increase awareness of research and innovation activities with a view to supporting the public recognition of researchers; creating

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Nuffield Research Placement Presentation Ceremony In late September the Nuffield/STEMNET award ceremony was held for the sixth-formers from local schools who had taken part in research placements in various institutions dealing with Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths. The body of work undertaken by the students in their research placements earns them a Gold Crest Award and the presentation of the certificates took place in the Yorkshire Museum in a special ceremony prior to one of the Yorkshire Philosophical Society’s series of lectures. The students displayed their posters and were quizzed by members of YPS before the lecture. The speaker, Professor Phil Manning, University of Manchester, presented Olivia Watts and Christian Brennan with their Nuffield Certificates and STEM Gold Crest Awards. During the summer of 2015 Olivia and Christian carried out their Nuffield projects at the University of York’s Biology and Physics Departments respectively. Olivia’s project took place at the Cancer Research Unit, where she performed mutational analysis on prostate

an understanding of the impact of researchers’ work on citizens’ daily lives, and encouraging young people to embark on research careers. As the St Peter’s contribution to Yornight in September we hosted a public lecture entitled ‘The Grand Challenge of Fusion Energy’ by Professor Howard Wilson, Director of York Plasma Institute, Department of Physics, University of York. In his talk, Professor Wilson described our progress towards holding the plasma fuel as well as examining the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor that will allow us to address the final scientific questions that will enable the construction of the first demonstration fusion power plant. Also as part of Yornight, Olivia Watts and Christian Brennan displayed their posters in the King’s Manor and spoke to members of the public about the research placements they had carried out over the Summer.

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cells and Christian’s project took place at the Astro-campus where he used the new radio telescope to measure the redshift of clouds of hydrogen gas to measure the rotation speed of the Milky Way at increasing distances from the Galactic Centre.

Life Saving Chemistry – From Medicine to Nanomedicine

On Wednesday 14 October, we were delighted to welcome Professor David Smith, Chemistry Department, University of York. In the last 150 years, the human lifespan has almost doubled. Professor Smith’s lecture outlined the crucial role in this achievement played by chemists, who have, using a range of different approaches, developed many effective medicines. Using illustrations, audience participation and demonstrations, his talk explored how drugs are discovered and led us to understand in chemical terms, what happens to drug molecules inside the human body and most importantly considered how the way in which chemical drugs interact with the biological patient may lead to the development of new types of drugs in the future.

Can Science Make a Cyclist Faster? On Wednesday 11 November we held our sixth Guy Fawkes Public Lecture, by Professor Tony Purnell, head of technical development for the Great Britain Cycling Team and Royal Academy of Engineering Visiting Professor at the University of Cambridge.

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Today’s sports are very professional and no stone is left unturned in the quest to go faster, higher, further. Professor Purnell provided an overview of how science and technology have contributed to the raw speed of all Olympic cycling disciplines. He showed that it’s not just about incremental gains, but also about avoiding increment losses. Materials technology, sports science, aerodynamics, friction engineering, physiology and nutrition all contribute although these have to been seen in context with the bigger picture that there are no silver bullets. Determination, hard work and a clear mind still dominate, not to mention a good deal of talent.

Sir Fred Hoyle Centenary Lectures On Thursday 19 November a small group of sixth formers travelled to Bingley Grammar School to attend this series of lectures celebrating the life and work of world-renowned scientist and

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GCSE Science Live At the start of December we took the whole of the fourth form to the GCSE Science Live event which took place at Leeds Town Hall. During the course of the day the pupils saw and heard five of Britain’s top scientists, all working at the cutting edge of their specialisms. The scientists were carefully chosen for their ability to communicate with students of this age in a direct and exciting way. The day was fast-moving, exciting, thought provoking and gave the students the chance to raise issues with the scientists and allowed cosmologist, Sir Fred Hoyle, former pupil of their school, who was born 100 years ago. Guest speakers were: Fred’s granddaughter, Cambridge mathematician Nicola Hoyle, Fred’s research partner, Professor Chandra Wickramsinghe, Dr John Baruch, Bradford University Robotic Telescope director and Professor David Jenkins, head of the Nuclear Astrophysics Group at the University of York. There was also an exhibition from Cambridge University. Sir Fred Hoyle was one of the most prominent scientists of the twentieth century and one of his groundbreaking achievements was the discovery of how carbon, the building block of life, and other elements were created in the stars. He was also a hugely successful populariser of science and astronomy and inspired a whole generation of young astronomers with his radio programmes and accompanying books. He famously invented the phrase ‘The Big Bang’. Our pupils were inspired to learn that Fred’s educational path was not an effortless road to the top, but that he had the determination to succeed and refused to be discouraged by the many setbacks he encountered on the way. ‘Hoyle’s enduring insights into stars, nucleo-synthesis, and the largescale universe rank among the greatest achievements on 20th-century astrophysics.’ Martin Rees, Astronomer Royal.

them to see that science really does offer solutions for many of the world’s great problems. Each pupil received a well-produced booklet with details about each scientist, the lectures and some general articles about studying science and working as scientists – as well as a number of pieces from an experienced chief examiner on success with Science GCSE. The scientists appearing throughout the day at Leeds were Professor Robert Winston, Professor Steve Jones, Dr Kate Lancaster, Dr Maggie Aderin-Pocock and Dr Simon Singh.

Stargazing Live 2016 Now in its sixth year, this year’s Stargazing Live event combined a Science Exhibition (including mobile planetarium and sun dome), telescope retailers and some hands on things to do, a lecture and an opportunity to look through a host of telescopes. The lecture, ‘The Birth of Solar Systems: a Turbulent Tale’, was delivered by Professor René Oudmaijer from the School of Physics and Astronomy at the University of Leeds. The event was run in conjunction with The University of York Physics Department and York Astronomical Society who once

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Challenge accompanied by Mr Morris and Mrs Miles-Kingston. The programme was organised by Helen Pollard from the Physics Teacher Network and was sponsored by the Institute of Physics, the Ogden Trust and ScienceGrrl. Our girls were competing against over thirty other school teams of four Fourth or Fifth Form girls. Tara Jones, Alice Whitaker, Hattie Doyle and Alex Johnston formed one of our teams with Georgina Edwards, Harriet Edwards, Rosie McLeish and Rebecca Dowson in the other.

again turned out in force with an amazing array of telescopes. Thanks to the Friends of St Peter’s who again ran a raffle and manned a food stall. Demand for the event was huge, with all tickets going. The event is a particular highlight of the school year and it was great to welcome people of all ages from across York and the region to make real observations of the night sky and to learn more about astrophysics. The enthusiasm it generated was infectious and we are already looking forward to next year’s event.

Nottingham University Heat Shield Challenge On Friday 15 January, eight Fourth Form girls travelled to The University of Nottingham Physics Department for a Heat Shield

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The day began with a short presentation to introduce the challenge, which was to design a heat shield for a space craft (such as the shuttle) returning to earth through the atmosphere. The Earth’s atmosphere contains particles of air and as an object falls, it interacts with these particles, creating friction. This friction causes the object to experience drag, or air resistance, which slows the object down to a safer entry speed. Although it causes drag, it also causes intense heat. With its broad lower surface facing the direction of flight, over 80% of the heating experienced during

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measured with the winning performance going to the bolt that was at the lowest temperature after the 10 minutes. In total three of the competing teams lasted for over 10 minutes, with our two teams surviving for about a minute and a half and two and half minutes, which proved to be creditable times. Under the fierce heat from the blow torch, the vast majority of the shields failed in under one minute.

re-entry is caused by compression of the air ahead of the hypersonic vehicle. The students were set a challenge of designing a heat shield which would last for four minutes – a time considered to be enough to bring any astronauts home alive without their craft burning up on re-entry. There then followed a couple of masterclasses on specific heat capacity and thermal conductivity to equip the students with the knowledge to approach the task. The students were given a bolt that had been glued onto a piece of wooden dowel that had to be protected from the heat from a blow torch and also three 8cm squares of metal, one copper gauze, one steel gauze and the other sheet aluminium. Using only these materials the shield had to be constructed and then supported from the bolt. The teams had about an hour and a half to design and construct, with one third of the marks available for the design, another third for the performance of the shield under test and the final third for a funding bid for the project. Everyone assembled in the lecture theatre and six teams came forward to the six test beds. The blow torches were lit and placed equidistant from the fronts of the shield and the timer was set to count down from 10 minutes. The times were recorded for the glue to melt and the bolt to fall off and if any were still intact after the 10 minutes the temperature at the bolt was

Despite not coming in the top three in the testing, our two teams put together some excellent design sheets and funding bids and did fantastically well to finish second and fifth overall on the day. Congratulations to all the girls for representing the school so well and I am sure that they will have enjoyed the experience of working in teams to complete the challenge so successfully.

Clinical Cardiology

On Tuesday 2 February we were delighted to welcome Dr Rob Crook to speak at the second of our lunch time science society lectures. Following lunch with several of our pupils Dr Crook who is a Consultant Cardiologist at York District hospital was introduced by Olivia Watts to the assembled audience of about 60 to 70 staff and pupils from all year groups. Dr Crook gave a really accessible lecture on the physiology of the heart, its control and the sort of diseases he deals with. From pigs’ valves to ECGs and pacemakers to arterial stents, from atrial fibrillation to CT scans and echocardiograms he gave a most informative and easy-tofollow tour of the heart. The lengthy question-and-answer session afterwards was testament to the interest he generated in both his profession and his speciality.

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Engineered in Your Imagination On Wednesday 10 February we welcomed Professor Danielle George, Associate Dean for Teaching and Learning in the Faculty of Engineering and Physical Sciences and Professor in the Microwave and Communications Systems research group at the University of Manchester. During her presentation, Professor George talked about ‘new rules of invention’, stressing how easy it is for people to customise and create their own possessions. The lecture also discussed the importance of a creative imagination, and the wide variety of resources available to create new items in the 21st century, such as 3D printers.

Green Chemistry A group of speakers including researchers from the Green Chemistry Centre at the University of York came and delivered not just one, but three talks to pupils as part of the Student Science Society lunchtime lecture series. Topics covered included not just an introduction to green chemistry and its importance, but also how cutting-edge research being performed at the university could potentially provide us with unusual, more environmentally friendly sources of valuable chemicals. There was also an interesting exploration of the more of the practical applications of green chemistry as well as where it could take us in the future, and some engaging questions were asked and thoroughly answered at the end.

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Blood, Sweat and Carbon – A Solar Challenge On Tuesday 1 March it was a pleasure to welcome back Old Peterite, Oliver Headlam-Morley, Team Principal of Durham University Electric Motorsport. In the lecture Oliver explored the team’s experiences in the 3,000 km World Solar Challenge in Australia, the engineering complexities involved in building the vehicle, and the team’s future ambitions. The car, which is made from a carbon-fibre monocoque, DUEM and was on display at the front of school before the lecture. It was fantastic to welcome Oliver back to St Peter’s and to meet DUEM and see the car they have built. The students do everything, including designing the car and approaching companies for sponsorship, which is very impressive. The lecture was thoroughly engaging and provided an excellent overview of the challenges they faced crossing the Australian Outback. We look forward to following their future endeavours. Oliver left St Peter’s in 2013. He currently studies General Engineering at Durham University and is in his third year. He is the

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team principal of Durham University Electric Motorsport and was part of the team who helped design, build and race the society’s current solar car in Australia.

Third York Schools’ Science Quiz On Monday 7 March nine schools from in and around York came together for the third York Schools’ Science Quiz. Nineteen school teams competed along with two teacher teams (put together from the teachers who brought the pupils along from the various

Open Competition: 1st

‘Creationists’ Fulford School

2 ‘Jerry and the Pacemakers’ St Peter’s School nd

3rd

‘Planck’ Archbishop Holgate’s School

I was delighted with the positive support from the schools of York and I hope that the competition continues to grow. Many of the questions were very demanding: the answers from the pupils were impressive and no doubt much science would have been learned on the evening. Congratulations to Fulford School and to Millthorpe school for their success.

Why Genetics Matters

schools) for the trophies and prizes. Each team consisted of two lower-sixth and two fifth-form pupils or four fifth-form pupils for those schools without sixth forms. The event took place as part of the York ISSP and also the York Schools Ogden Partnership, with a large thank you to the Royal Society of Chemistry and the Institute of Physics for some of the prizes, the Rotary Club of York Vikings for the water bottles and the Ogden Trust for the 8 GB memory sticks and Amazon voucher prizes. The quiz was put together and presented by Sarah McKie, Head of Biology at St Peter’s School, and consisted of Biology, Chemistry and Physics rounds alongside an Observation Challenge and a Hitting the Headlines round amongst others. At the end of the quiz the teams waited with bated breath for the results to be announced.

On Wednesday 16 March, Professor Steve Jones, Emeritus Professor of Genetics at UCL and one of the UK’s most respected scientists spoke about genetics and our environment as part of the York Literature Festival. Professor Jones is a world-leading scientist and it was fantastic to host him at St Peter’s. He illustrated through a wide variety of examples that both nature and nurture each play their own significant part and his clear account was delivered in a most entertaining manner.

Schools without Sixth Forms: 1st

‘Total Borons’ Millthorpe School

‘Millthorpayne’ Millthorpe School

‘Bullets’ Bedale High School

nd rd

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Our Future off Earth

On Monday 25 April we welcomed world-leading academic Professor Chris Impey, University Distinguished Professor of Astronomy and Associate Dean of the College of Science at the University of Arizona. ‘Our Future off Earth’ explored the space race and recent developments in the private sector that offer people the chance to pay for trips into space. The talk also looked ahead of this commercial activity as Professor Impey envisaged the human race’s future off-earth. We were very privileged to hear Professor Impey speak about cutting-edge developments in space travel. He was speaking at Gresham College while in the UK, and we were very thankful that he could join us in York. The lecture offered an incredible overview of current space travel and it will be very exciting to see what happens in the years to come. Chris Impey has over 180 refereed publications on observational cosmology, galaxies, and quasars, and his research has been supported by $20 million in NASA and NSF grants.

Transit of Mercury – Astronomical Event of the Year 2016 On Monday 9 May there was a transit of Mercury across the sun, when the planet mercury came between the Sun and the Earth and Mercury was seen as a small black dot moving across the face of the Sun. Transits of Mercury with respect to Earth are much more frequent

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than transits of Venus (last viewed on the school campus in May 2004), with about 13 or 14 per century, in part because Mercury is closer to the Sun and orbits it more rapidly. Transits of Mercury occur in May or November. The last three transits occurred in 1999, 2003 and 2006; the next will occur in 2016, there will be another in 2019, but then after that it won’t be until 2032 that the next one occurs. The transit started with first contact at 12.12 pm and lasted for 7.5 hours. We were delighted that York Astronomical Society chose St Peter’s as their centre for viewing the transit and their members arrived to set up from 10.30 onwards and stayed on site until about 4.30 in the afternoon. We were truly blessed with perfectly clear skies and many of the pupils and staff from across the whole school community took advantage of the ideal viewing conditions to gaze through the multitude of telescopes on display and also observe the live projections on the screens in the two gazebos. My thanks go to the members of York Astronomical Society for making this possible and for providing an unforgettable and for many once in a lifetime opportunity to experience this relatively rare event.

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Life is Astronomical

It was wonderful to be able to host Marek on his visit to York and the way in which he was able to engage pupils across the age range from six to 18 was hugely impressive. He more than lived up to his title of Public Astronomer and left with our pupils asking when he would be able to come back.

NE/NW Science Committee for Science

On Monday 6 June Dr Marek Kukula, Public Astronomer at the Royal Observatory, Greenwich, visited St Peter’s School to speak to pupils from all three schools. Dr Kukula was in York to speak as part of the Pint of Science Festival. He first spoke to the Clifton School and Nursery year-2 pupils about recent space missions and what it’s like to be a space scientist, before joining the Physics department and sixth-form pupils for lunch. Rounding off his visit to the School, Dr Kukula gave a lecture entitled ‘Life is Astronomical’ to J4 and

In May, for the seventh year running, St Peter’s hosted the North East North West Standing Committee for Science Technicians’ conference. This was attended by over 80 technicians largely from the leading independent schools across the North of England, and it continues to grow and provides a focal point for the technician community. There was a fantastic range of activities, exhibitions and workshops available throughout the day for the delegates, delivered by education consultants, university outreach officers and fellow technicians among others. Thanks to all of the St Peter’s technicians, especially Mark Robinson who led one of the most popular workshops, for helping to make the day such a big success. Each year Mark designs a piece of physics equipment that the physics delegates make and take home with them. This year each of the physics technicians put together a working model of an electric motor.

York Festival of Ideas 2016

J5 from St Olave’s School. In this talk, he explored exploding stars, extrasolar planets and supermassive black holes. However, he also pointed out that familiar surroundings are full of profound astronomical connections and everything from the water in your taps to the iron in your blood, your holiday suntan to the vagaries of the British weather; all have their origins far out in space. Dr Kukula told the pupils that to properly understand our own world, high art, and popular culture we need to explore the wider universe of which it is an integral part.

In June we hosted the launch event along with two public science lectures as part of the York Festival of Ideas. The Festival was launched in June 2011 by the University of York, with the aim of enhancing York’s reputation as a city of ideas and innovation. The Festival offers the highest calibre of public events to local, regional and visitor audiences and thereby demonstrates the transformative power of education. Now in its sixth year, the festival has grown rapidly, and we at St Peter’s were delighted to be able to play our part in it. More than 150 events took place across a thirteen-day period during the Festival.

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Three Minutes to Midnight

Maths on the Go

At the launch event for the Festival on Tuesday 7 June, a range of speakers contributed to ‘Three Minutes to Midnight’, a debate in which the findings of the Doomsday report, placing humanity’s closeness to catastrophe at ‘three minutes to midnight’, were explored.

On Friday 10 June, Rob Eastaway delivered a talk that focused on helping parents make the most of their time to practise maths problems with their children. ’Maths on the Go’ offered a range of tips and games that parents could try anywhere and at any time, whether in the car, at the shops or at the breakfast table. Rob Eastaway has written several bestselling books that connect maths with everyday life, he appears regularly on the radio and has given talks about maths across the UK to audiences of all ages.

A panel of world-class speakers, including Sivan Kartha, a member of the Bulletin’s Science and Security Board, The Economist’s Oliver Morton and Beyza Unal of Chatham House, discussed the biggest threats to humanity based on the ongoing threat of climate change, nuclear weapons and geopolitical tensions. The Doomsday Clock was created by the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists nearly 70 years ago as an annual measure of threats to humankind and every year, 20 board members of the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists meet to reassess our proximity to midnight.

Ripples from the Big Bang On Wednesday 8 June we welcomed Professor Jo Dunkley, Department of Astrophysics at Oxford University, and Fellow Exeter College.

Her talk explored faint microwave light and how this gives scientists clues about galaxies’ creations and what was happening at the time of the Big Bang. Professor Dunkley also spoke about space satellites and telescopes in the South Pole and in Chile that are used to study this light, and what we are learning from them about the beginning of the Universe. Professor Dunkley has been awarded the Maxwell Medal of the Institute of Physics, and the Fowler Prize of the Royal Astronomical Society and it was a privilege to hear some of the latest research from a world leader in this field.

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King’s Chester Physics Olympics Eight pupils from the third form travelled to Chester to take part in King’s School’s inaugural Physics Olympics. Amelia, Katie, Lily, Valentina, Adam, William, Piyush and Ben were split into two teams and undertook a variety of challenges during the day. These included rocket- and boat-building as well as designing the tallest straw tower with a light circuit. One of our teams won the Fermi Quiz event with the other finishing in second place.

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Schools Physicist of the Year Awards The Ogden Trust and the University of York held their Schools Physicist of the Year Award ceremony on June 27. The annual awards ceremony recognises the most promising year12 A-level and year-10 GCSE physics students in their region with each prize-winner receiving a book token to the value of £25. The students who had been nominated by their teachers for their outstanding effort and achievement, together with parents and teachers, were invited to the celebratory event, at which everyone was invited to venture inside the Cosmodome (an inflatable planetarium), investigate nuclear physics using Lego, and try out hands-on experiments in the Department of Physics’ teaching laboratories. This was followed by an awards presentation by the Head of Physics, Professor Sarah Thompson, and a keynote lecture by Dr Yvette Hancock: ‘Imagination – the key to creating the future using physics’. Yvette shared her inspirations for pursuing a career in physics and wowed the audience with descriptions of technological developments on the quantum scale. Cecilia Duan won the year-12 award with Rebecca Dowson and David Lyon being the year-10 award winners.

Liverpool University Physics Olympics Competition This competition began in 1991 and so next year will be celebrating its 25th anniversary. This was our 20th consecutive entry. We won the competition back in 2002 and I am delighted to say that we repeated that success this year with an outstanding performance over the six individual challenges. The competition attracts entries from some of the strongest academic schools in the north of England and a great deal of credit goes to our St Peter’s pupils who represented the school so well. The team visited Liverpool Roman Catholic Cathedral, learned to play bridge on the train and enjoyed a pizza meal on their return to York. Mr David Morris On Saturday 17 October, our team of Alister Nelson, George Pindar, Frank Jiang and I set off brutally early to go and compete as part of the somewhat optimistically named ‘Team Einstein’ against 31 other groups at the Liverpool University Physics Olympics. The event consisted of a series of five practical challenges, the first of which was called ‘mgh’, as it involved constructing the tallest tower possible using only four sheets

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of A4, some scissors and two metres of tape, whilst also trying to maximise the mass it could support. Other challenges included experimentally determining the distance between the tracks etched on to a CD mounted onto a moveable platform using a laser, ruler and board, and determining the oscillation periods of two oscillators relative to each other – something which would have been much easier without the ban on having any sort of timing device with us, and also if the oscillators hadn’t been in separate rooms two flights of stairs apart! However, one task was slightly more Olympics than physics, as the ‘rotor relay’ involved trying to pass a pen through our team and back as quickly as possible whilst spinning blindfolded. After some very uncoordinated practice attempts, we were relieved to move on to the final task, until we found out that we had to work out the exact location of a bollard by using the coordinates of a reference point nearby, using only an A4 sheet of paper as a tool for measuring distance. On top of this, throughout the day we had to tick on with a Fermi Quiz, which asked us to estimate the order of magnitude of various quantities. Some of our answers were complete guestimates, such as the number of neutrinos emitted by the sun every second, and we were therefore amazed to find that we had not only come first in this, but also the oscillator challenge, as well as achieving a second in estimating the track separation on a CD. These strong positions, along with a decent 9th in ‘mgh’, 12th in ‘rotor relay’ and an 18th in the location challenge, were enough to win us the whole competition by (in their words) ‘a landslide’, along with a trophy, mugs, gold medals, and what I am told are some very coveted Physics Olympics T-shirts. I would like to thank Mr Morris for the opportunity, as well as congratulating my teammates in giving St Peter’s only its second win in its considerable history of entering the competition. Well done! Olivia Watts (UVI)

Nuffield Research Placements 2016 Nuffield Research Placements provide over 1,000 students from across the country each year with the opportunity to work alongside professional scientists, technologists, engineers and mathematicians. This year Daniel Kondratiev and Frank Jiang carried out Nuffield projects at the University of York and Bangor University Physics Departments respectively. These placements give experience to the students that is not usually possible until beyond the second year of an undergraduate degree and we are very grateful to both universities for providing the opportunities to our sixth formers as they move from the lower sixth into their final year of study at school. Mr David Morris Daniel Kondratiev writes: The Nuffield placement was an excellent experience, and definitely one worth spending half of the summer holidays on. My project aim was creating software for taking low temperature magnetoresistance readings, and the result was greatly successful. Despite the scary name, in the end it was all about programming, although I did get my hands on some of the physical apparatus

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too. The scientific gist behind it is the following: magnetoresistance is when a material changes its electrical resistance because of a varying magnetic field – quite simple. This is useful in many areas, but we used it to measure how much unwanted defect there was in lab-grown nano-film: this is integral, for example, in spintronics – modern electronics. On the first day I met my mentoring professor (whom I then scarcely saw) and also a group of two PhD students and one postdoctoral researcher; I worked with them most of the time. I was given the task to learn Lab View, a programming language, and sent off to find study material myself. This felt like going on pilgrimage to reach enlightenment. After a few days, however, things started to feel more at ease, and most of the time I did spend fairly productively. The best part of the whole experience for me was working back-to-back with real researchers, seeing what it is like to pursue a scientific career. With all the laboratory facilities available, on one day I decided to spend some time and repair my headphones, and that was exactly the moment when Mr Morris paid me a visit (hence the photo you can see). The program I completed is now in use, so hopefully this contribution will help the research group in the near future. Daniel Kondratiev (LVI) Frank Jiang writes: I dedicated four weeks of my summer to a research project which aims to demonstrate and apply the photonics effect known as laser speckle. This unique experience has helped me to gain a huge amount of insight into the experimental and practical procedures of physics, which is crucial for the demonstration and verification of any theoretical concept.

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In the AS National Physics Competition Cecilia Duan and Jerry Tam received gold awards, Naomi Carey, Luke Dunsmore, Steven Jones and Daniel Kondratiev received silver awards, Frank Jiang a bronze I award, and Sunny Peng and Lily Wang bronze II awards with ten other students being commended.

Laser speckle is the random interference of highly coherent light as it passes through or reflects off a material with a rough surface, which allows for random refraction or reflection; hence my project’s aim was to use the effect’s sensitivity to the topography of a surface to create a key-lock system. During the process of designing my apparatus, I learned about and applied intricate electronic engineering knowledge in order to create a multichip-circuit to detect and measure the speckle, whilst keeping in mind the practical requirements of the system, such as the currents needed (controlled through buffer circuits and series resistors) and the sensitivity to the rate of change of intensity that is appropriate (controlled through smoothing capacitors). However, the technical aspect of the project I found most rewarding was the designing and faultfinding process of the logic control circuit using AND, NOR, NOT, and XOR logic gates as well as R-S and D flip flops (for the management and integration of the mechanical and sensory elements of the apparatus), especially when it all finally worked.

Front row: Sunny Peng, Jerry Tam, Cecilia Duan, Naomi Carey. Back row: Daniel Kondratiev, Luke Dunsmore, Steven Jones, Lily Wang, Frank Jiang. In the National Physics Challenge for GCSE students Jack Hargrave, Clare Hornby and Zaki Ward received silver awards, Marcus Brown and Tom Clarke received bronze I awards, and Rhys Collins, Annabel Ellis and James Mahon received bronze II awards.

Cambridge Senior Physics Challenge 2016 The Cambridge Senior Physics Challenge is a residential course for year-12 pupils run by the University of Cambridge that serves as an introduction to university-level physics for those considering pursuing physics as an undergraduate. Student places are awarded for commitment and ability in problem-solving on Isaac Physics during the year. Isaac Physics is a DfE project run from Cambridge University offering a wide range of free resources to teachers and to students in the 15-19 year age-range. Frank Jiang did wonderfully

Perhaps more importantly than providing a wealth of technical knowledge, the photonics program had the privilege of being immersed in the wisdom of its director, Dr Ray Davies, and thus heavily emphasized the importance of the correct philosophical approach of science. This was the unique environment and experience that shaped one of the most wonderful four weeks of my life, and I hope to return in the future and support the development of the program. Frank Jiang (LVI)

British Physics Olympiad Competition, AS Competition and Physics Challenge for GCSE Students In the British Physics Olympiad for year-13 pupils Christian Brennan, Frank Jiang, Jack Robins and Jerry Tam received commendations.

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non-existent as we discussed the derivation of Bohr’s Radius whilst playing table football, and argued about approximations made in a calculation for neutron diffraction over pizza. Everyone was eager to rise to the challenge and explore the captivating materials of the course. Such an environment was what I found most special about the Senior Physics Challenge. Frank Jiang (LVI)

St Peter’s Physics Olympics Competition 2016

well to be selected for one of the 30-40 prize places on the course, staying in Churchill College and also experiencing life at several other colleges. Mr David Morris

This was the tenth year of the competition and we again reached our capacity with an entry of 35 schools and indeed had several more on the reserve list. We were pleased to welcome a good number of new local schools alongside our regular participants from across the North of England. Each team consisted of four year-8 pupils and the teachers also competed alongside the pupils.

Frank writes: Learning quantum mechanics from a Fellow of the Royal Society in the famous Cavendish Laboratory was an incredible and unforgettable experience. Not only was it an opportunity to explore the intricate connections between the mathematics of QM and its physical implications, it was also a chance to work alongside likeminded people who also possess a deep-rooted curiosity for physics. During the three and a half days of fast-paced lectures by Professor Mark Warner, we covered the majority of the first 1.3 years of Cambridge’s quantum physics material. To cement the newly attained knowledge, we also engaged in constant problem-solving and group discussions that continued even long after the conclusion of a lecture, as we returned to our residence in Churchill College. Personally, I was most fascinated by the introduction and usage of high-powered mathematical theorems and techniques for examining problems in quantum physics. Such methods not only display the logical progression of the derivation for QM, but also represent versatile tools for analysing mathematical problems in many other fields. The atmosphere thoroughly immersed us in the subject for which we are passionate. The distinction between ‘work’ and ‘leisure’ became

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The day consists of six individual, mini egg-race type, events in which the pupils combine their physics and mathematical knowledge with teamwork and communication skills to work together to complete a task against the clock. The day is designed to be fun, but also challenging and stimulating and in the Olympic spirit it is a competition with winners of the six individual events and also gold, silver and bronze medallists. The pupils should come away having both enjoyed their experience and importantly also having learnt some new physics. Once again we received generous backing form the Institute of Physics, the Rotary Club of York Vikings, the Ogden Trust, Taylors

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of Harrogate and Nestlé. Sponsorship money has paid for the T-shirts, medals, trophy, water bottles, 8GB memory sticks and Uncle Albert Physics books that the pupils take away at the end of the day in their goodie bags. This year’s lab-based events included constructing a tower to support the greatest mass at the greatest height above a surface, calculating the mass of a teddy and finding the density of some smart putty, building a solar powered boat, controlling the temperature difference between two cups of water and using a ballista to aim balls at a target. There was also the usual Fermi Quiz in which the students have to make estimates of physical quantities to the nearest power of ten. One of the questions in this year’s quiz was: if all the human brains in the world population were placed together to form a sphere, what would the radius of the sphere be? (answer: 100 or 102 m). Winners of the Events: Temperature Control: Team Curie, King James’ School Potential Energy: Team Curie, King James’ School Turbocharged: Team Curie, King James’ School Target Practice: Team Tesla, Bedale High School Bear With It: Team Lawrence, King’s School, Chester Fermi Quiz: Team Curie, King James’ School Bronze Medal Winners: Team Meitner, St Olave’s School Silver Medal Winners: Team Lawrence, King’s School, Chester Gold Medal Winners: Team Curie, King James’ School The stand-out team on the day was King James’ School, Knaresborough, who won an incredible four out of six of the

events to run away as gold medallists. I would like to thank all my colleagues, the support staff and the dedicated sixth-form helpers who helped on the day to make this year’s event the biggest and best so far. In particular, Mark Robinson showed his willingness and expertise in the designing and making of much of the equipment for the games and Mark Edwards once more displayed his ‘wizardry’ on the computer in collating and presenting all the competition data. Clearly the competition could not happen without any of them. Mr David Morris

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Science Society Xmas Lecture: ‘Light Fantastic’ 1,000 years ago, an Arab named Al-Haytham produced a remarkable seven-volume treatise on the nature of light. Included in this work are accounts of scientific experiments and the use of the scientific method: techniques that predate the Western world by 600 years or so. To celebrate this anniversary, 2015 was named the International Year of Light in partnership with UNESCO. The St Peter’s Science department contributed their Christmas Lecture towards this celebration with a lecture called ‘Light Fantastic’. In their section, the Chemistry department performed a Cinderella/ Breaking Bad mash up. Mirrors were made in front of the audience’s eyes; slippers turned from glass to ordinary shoes and thermite reactions were used to break into safes. Mrs Greenhalgh showed some colourful flames, which demonstrate the intimate connection between light and electrons. The Physics department continued the theme of obtaining light from electrons whilst demonstrating phenomena such as emission spectra, fluorescence and phosphorescence. We were fortunate enough to borrow a large phosphorescent screen from Cambridge University and Mr Parr used it together with a violet laser, to demonstrate his Jedi moves. We have come a long way from Al-Haytham in understanding quite how strange light is. In particular we have to think of light as sometimes behaving like a wave and at other times as a particle. Light behaving as a wave explains colour effects such as iridescence whereas light behaving as a particle explains colour perception in

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the eye (as demonstrated by a full colour picture of a Mexicandancing Mr Winkley coming into view) and the photoelectric effect. We demonstrated the photoelectric effect using water pistols, air guns and a coconut shy. The photoelectric effect is the first process of photosynthesis which provides a fundamental link between light and life. The Biology department examined this process further by demonstrating the fluorescence of chlorophyll – green plant extract turns blood red at the flick of a switch. Some animals have learnt to produce their own light and Mr Mallard told us a story of the predator prey relationships in the black depths of the oceans. Finally we were given some extraordinary examples of optical illusions by Mr Lawrence, who showed how to produce colour from nowhere that produced gasps of amazement from the audience. The lecture ended with a tribute to the use of light as beacons, which was so essential to communication and our survival in the past. The pupils broke glow sticks up and down the tiered seating to make a link to the lecture in reverse as the beacon signal triggered a biological then physical and finally chemical process as the lit beacon was being observed. As ever, huge thanks should go to the science technicians for the hours they put in and the level of skill they show in helping us to put together this lecture. Thanks to all the science colleagues who took part. Mr Mark Edwards

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City of York Independent/State School Partnership (ISSP)

York’s Independent/State School Partnership is now in its tenth year and continues to be successful in offering opportunities for secondary-aged pupils of York outside the normal school curriculum. Staff and students from St Peter’s were heavily involved yet again this year in the plethora of events.

breakthrough events such as the discovery of fire through to the invention of numbers. The students then discussed these on their tables and were set various challenges and questions. The sound of the students deep in discussion and the sight of them engaged with each other was a wonderfully satisfying experience for all involved.

Mr Harry Vann continues to teach the ever-popular ISSP Latin course to 25 pupils from schools across York. This superb venture sees ISSP offer Latin GCSE to pupils whose schools do not deliver the subject themselves. Third-form pupils are selected from the eight state schools in the ISSP to take part in the course, during which they learn five years of Latin in just two years – and achieve a full GCSE qualification at the end of the fourth year.

March is always the busiest time of year for ISSP as it brings with it the annual ISSP Masterclass programme and this year ISSP created its most challenging and exciting programme yet. St Peter’s School hosted this event for the second year. This year the classes were held over three consecutive Saturday afternoons where the event sought to challenge interested and able pupils aged 13-18 from schools across York. The question addressed through this year’s Masterclasses was ‘What is the Future?’. Pupils were encouraged to explore this question in any way that interested them, whether they chose to follow a scientific, creative arts or humanities approach. They also examined the philosophy of the question, considering it from a range of different perspectives. Thank you to all staff involved at St Peter’s in making this such a successful event.

The Maths Excellence Club ran again this year and Mr Mike Hall joined the ISSP team, delivering classes for talented mathematicians. The students are stretched on mathematical problems that go beyond the national curriculum through a combination of meetings with maths teachers, a team of university student mentors and an online resource to let them keep in touch between meetings and to help develop thinking. October half term saw three pupils from St Peter’s joining 57 others from schools across York at the ISSP’s annual residential course in Brathay, Ambleside. Pupils were given the opportunity to study a variety of courses and take part in a number of gruelling outdoor activities. ISSP launched their very first ‘Breakthrough’ event in November this year – held here at St Peter’s School. The aim of the event was to attract students who had no previous link to ISSP courses and who might not have put themselves forward without encouragement. Teachers from a range of schools then gave mini-lectures on

We ended the year with an ISSP trip to Oxford where four pupils from St Peter’s joined 30 others. The trip involved an introduction to studying at Oxford from the staff and students of Mansfield College, with talks, question-and-answer sessions, mini-tutorials, a walking tour of the city and a tour of Christ Church. ISSP York goes from strength to strength each year and is invaluable in offering these great opportunities for our students, not only to develop their knowledge outside the classroom but also in inspiring and enthusing them with the love of learning. We look forward to whatever next year may bring! Mrs Ella Mallard§ (Head of Academic Extension)

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Academic Extension Scholars’ Dinner

The Arts

This year saw the first scholars’ dinner – an opportunity for all scholars across the five year groups to get together to socialise (and to take part in Mr Vann’s quiz!). This was a thoroughly enjoyable evening and we hope to make it a regular event.

6. Who wrote the play The Importance of Being Earnest?

Scholars’ Quiz: How many can you get?**

9. What is the name of the girl who falls in love with Tchaikovsky’s Nutcracker?

Vann’s Variety Round York History 1. With where is the City of York twinned (up to 3 correct answers)? 2. At which York venue has the World Snooker Championship been held four times? 3. Who was the King of Northumbria at the time that St Peter’s was founded? 4. Who converted him to Christianity? 5. What was the Roman name for York?

7. Who painted Guernica? 8. What is the name of the area of Paris in which you will find the Moulin Rouge?

10. Who wrote the comic song, Mrs Worthington? Sport 11. In which sport, of which the ETwA is the governing body in this country, do you attempt to squop your opponents’ squidgers? 12. We all know that one way to win a Sumo bout is to force your opponent out of the ring. What is the other? 13. What is the old-fashioned term for a rugby player who plays in the second row? 14. Which sport, which originated with the Native Americans of North America is known by the name it was given by the first Frenchman who saw it, which translates as ‘the stick’? 15. What sport is played by Aaron Rodgers, Tony Romo, Cam Newton and Peyton Manning?

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Mathematical Miscellany The answer to each of the next five questions is a number. Perform the sum in order to reach a final answer for which two bonus marks are available. 16. Take the number of players in a netball team 17. Multiply it by the number of operas Beethoven wrote 18. Add the number of Deathly Hallows there were 19. Multiply it by the number of continents 20. Divide it by the number of Narnia books C S Lewis wrote 21. Subtract the number of houses in St Peter’s 22. What do you get? ** Answers with Mr Vann!

National Challenge This year the National Schools’ Challenge competition took on a slightly different format with all schools playing the regional heats at the same time in one location. Our school team of Rebecca Dowson, Harriet Edwards, Alex Phillips, Daniel Hicks, Piyush Koorapaty and Alex Leahy (captain) travelled to Ripon Grammar School in December where they competed in many tightly fought matches and yet were narrowly beaten by the overall winners for our area. Well done to all involved. Sixth Form Academic Extension Trip to London In September Mrs Miles-Kingston took 15 sixth-form pupils on an academic extension trip to London. Pupils visited as many museums and galleries as time allowed, giving them the opportunity to extend their learning beyond the confines of their academic courses.

Challenge Competitions Senior Challenge The Christmas term saw the return of the Senior House Challenge. Yet again this proved a popular event and was well supported by students and staff. The final between Queen’s and Linton was won with a convincing win from Queen’s house, led by the super force that is Ed Kettleborough. Junior Challenge The Junior House Challenge competition was held in the summer term and saw many weeks of ‘quizzing fun’, with many houses entering different pupils each week to allow all to take part in the event. The final this year was between The Grove and School with the final results being The Grove 410 to School 210. Well done to The Grove who hold on to the Junior cup for the third year in a row.

Third and Fourth Form Academic Extension Trip to Cambridge On Tuesday 1 March 17 pupils from the third and fourth forms visited Cambridge. The day trip managed to squeeze in tours of the Fitzwilliam Museum, Peterhouse and Christ’s College, meetings with OPs and Dr Andrew Spencer (admissions tutor at Christ’s College), browsing time at Heffer’s Bookshop and finally Evensong at Jesus College. Mrs Ella Mallard (Head of Academic Extension)

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Creative & Cultural

Drama THE TEMPEST Fourteen pupils performed a 30-minute version of The Tempest at the Victoria Hall Theatre in Halifax on October 16. Their play was presented alongside the work of three other schools. This is the fourth year that St Peter’s have taken part in the Shakespeare Schools Festival and it is an excellent opportunity to get experience of working in a professional theatre, meet people in the industry and see three other shortened plays. Elliot Millman designed the lighting and operated the desk himself at the theatre. ‘Congratulations to the cast and crew of St Peter’s School on their wonderful performance of The Tempest. This was an accomplished and original production, and I’d like to highlight a few key elements which really stood out for me. Firstly, I was so impressed by the storytelling in this production. This was a filmic, humorous and detailed retelling of this story, with so many fantastic moments to enjoy. From Ferdinand (Peter Konstantynov) and Miranda’s (Ella Huckvale) sweetly choreographed and elegantly performed duets, to Caliban’s (Ewan Henworth) brilliant vocal choices as he emerged from the bin, and ‘Prospera’ (Holly Drake) and Ariel’s (Milly Gray) intriguing power struggles, the company created a rich and vivid world. The acting in this production was excellent – committed, thoughtful and showing a real engagement with Shakespeare’s words. I would also like to applaud this company for their work as an ensemble. They worked brilliantly as a team, supporting each other on stage. I loved the shipwreck, orchestrated by Ariel – a great ensemble moment which shifted perspectives quickly!

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I would like to applaud this cast for the touches of comedy which they brought to the story too – I liked the confusion of those discovering the island! I would also especially like to commend this cast on their hard work, enthusiasm and concentration on performance day. They were very professional, and also very positive, and particularly supportive of their fellow performing schools too. They were bold and energetic onstage and connected with the audience so that those watching could enjoy your wonderful retelling of this story. This show was contemporary, vibrant and original. A huge congratulations to all the cast and crew who made it happen. I hope to see St Peter’s School in the Festival again in 2016.’ Freddie Machin, Shakespeare Schools Festival Venue Director

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ECLIPSE Eclipse by Simon Armitage was written for National Theatre Connections. This is a nationwide festival which gives young people the experience of engaging with new writing and performing in a professional theatre. St Peter’s performed their version of Eclipse at the West Yorkshire Playhouse in Leeds on April 29. Eclipse begins as six friends (Felix Fraser-Krauss, Ewan Henworth, Freddie Cowman-Sharpe, Rosie McLeish, Shania Wong, Elliot Millman) are interviewed by police over the disappearance of Lucy Lime (Farah Mackenzie du Lieu.) The group of six meet beneath the cliffs on a Cornish beach to watch a total eclipse of the sun. There they meet a stranger, Lucy Lime, who mysteriously disappears in the darkness.

Edith Norvor was the assistant director, Joe Raper was the lighting designer and Mathis Piquiot was the on-stage sound designer. ‘A clear and imaginative production of the play, rising to the challenges of its poetic text and making some bold staging decisions. The characters’ eccentricities were brought vividly to life and the audience was drawn in to the strange world they inhabit. Each performer has evidently put effort into identifying with their character and there is not a weak link in the ensemble. The cast demonstrated considerable skill in delivering such complex text with such clarity of storytelling.’ Matthew Evans, National Theatre Director

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THE CRUCIBLE Set in the oppressive religious community of Salem, Massachusetts in 1692, The Crucible is arguably Arthur Miller’s most famous play. This damning indictment of the dangers of moralistic mass hysteria was brought to life by a cast of exceptional talent and commitment. All worked extremely hard to bring this challenging work to the stage, but particular praise is due to Eve Bracken, as teenage temptress Abigail Williams, Toby Johnston as her uncle, the cowardly Reverend Parris, and Jack Hargrave as the ruthless judge, Danforth. Pitted against them in the battle for Salem’s soul were George O’Neill, as well-intentioned zealot Reverend Hale and Amelia Bell as long-suffering housewife Elizabeth. Marcus Thomson played her husband, the everyman hero, John Proctor, in a portrayal we thought remarkable

for any actor, let alone a 16-year-old studying for his GCSEs at the same time, so congratulations to him. This especially multi-faceted, pathos-ridden and poignant role was the jewel in the crown of an electrifying performance by the entire cast and crew.

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THE ODYSSEY This year’s middle school production was The Odyssey. This version of the play was reworked by playwright Hattie Naylor and the epic journey was condensed into one and a half hours on stage. The cast and crew of 39 made this an energetic, vibrant and colourful performance. The traverse staging captured the sense of journey, with a boat at one end complete with billowing sail and the constant reminder of Odysseus’ home, Ithaca, where Penelope, played by Rachael Hartley, patiently waited. Odysseus was played with maturity, authority and good humour by Joe Raper. His encounters along the way were presented to the audience by larger-than-life characters, for example the cheese-eating Cyclops played by Ollie Coulthard and crew, and the mysterious and calculating Circe by Farah Mackenzie du Lieu. Meanwhile on Mount Olympus, Zeus was played powerfully and inventively by Felix Fraser-Krauss. This production had three fates who knitted their way through the action – these were Vicky Amsden, Anna Geddes and Ellie Spencer – omnipresent and narrating the long journey to the audience. The eclectic live music from talented musician and singer Rosie McLeish underscored the production beautifully.

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AS-level ADULT CHILD/DEAD CHILD Adult Child/Dead Child by Claire Dowie was originally written as one long monologue. It begins with a child who feels unloved. Growing up they are twisted by the world as they see it and feel unable to be understood by people. As a teenager the protagonist gets in trouble at home and school and when she leaves home suffers from mental illness – with a positive ending. As we see the main character predominantly at three different ages in her life – aged eight, as a teenager and as a young adult – the monologue was split accordingly. Christina Faeh was expressive and childlike as she told the audience about her defining childhood experiences, Edith Norvor embodied the angry teenager with sincerity and tension and Yana Martirosova found the instability and vulnerability as she took us forward into the hospital and bedsit. The protagonist is not even given a name and with no specific character, stage directions or set ideas the text offered the group freedom. They worked tightly together as an ensemble, making excellent use of physicality to illustrate the stories and keeping a compelling pace. The protagonist addresses the text directly to the audience and therefore the piece was performed in traverse to allow the actors to connect more intimately. The studio was transformed by a set which represented a child’s playground, linking to the title Adult Child/Dead Child as she carries her childhood with her throughout.

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GOD OF CARNAGE God of Carnage by Yasmina Reza is a modern-day twist on the comedy of manners. It had its premiere in 2006, and has enjoyed productions all around the world, in a variety of different languages. It was also made into a motion picture, Carnage, directed by Roman Polanski. The play is a scathing examination of contemporary urban haut-bourgeois society; this play exposes the fragility of the ‘veneer of civilisation’. Vee and Michael Farnham (Eve Bracken and Matthew Ramalingam) invite Anne and Alec Radley (Amelia Bell and Toby Johnston) round to their house ‘in the spirit of cooperation’ to discuss a playground fight between their sons. However, the two couples degenerate into childish bickering and bitter infighting. The audience was invited round too, with ‘ringside seats’ in the living room for the series of angry remonstrations. Realism was key and the Memorial Hall stage was dressed with furniture and props to immerse the audience fully in the action of the play.

Amelia as Anne was initially reserved, showing polite interest in the coffee-table books and apologising often, but after a glass of wine or two she grew bolder eventually throwing her husband’s phone into a jug of water. Toby as Alec had spent a large proportion of his time on the phone, loudly discussing his business with disregard for those around him, but as his phone was taken his confident strides and overbearing presence was lost as he sat crumpled on the floor in horror. Eve as Vee on the surface was a gracious and welcoming hostess sincerely trying to resolve the situation, but however dealt blows in her subtext to the others around her, including her husband. Matthew as Michael tried to keep everybody calm, but after he was accused of murdering the hamster took to the whisky and retaliated. The sophisticated performances by the four actors made God of Carnage an entertaining rollercoaster to watch. We may laugh at the antics of these well-heeled urbanites, but to what extent does this performance hold a mirror up to our own selves?

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GCSE MAN UP

The exam board asked GCSE pupils to respond to the stimulus of ‘consequences’. Each group created a unique and imaginative take on this stimulus:

Using research and real life and physical theatre to explore the consequences of having less stigma surrounding mental health

THE LANGUAGE OF THE UNHEARD Using verbatim text, physical theatre and projection to explore the consequences of police shooting a man & giving no answers. Marcus Dobson, Amber Enoch, Spencer Ingall

EVERY MOMENT COUNTS Using storytelling from different perspectives to explore the consequences of losing memories.

Nathan Goyea, Jack Hargrave, Charlotte Hollinrake, Jodi Smith

THE LUMP A brave piece with poignant moments exploring the consequences of breast cancer. Maddie Hunter, Peter Konstantynov, Lydia Palmer

SPARKS’ WORLD FAMOUS CIRCUS

Rebecca Green, Ella Huckvale, Amber Rose, Lauren Moir

The dramatization of a real life story when an elephant was hanged in 1916 in Tennessee exploring the consequences of working with wild animals

THE LOST HOUR Using multi-role-playing and two contrasting worlds to explore the consequences of not taking the medication you need.

Charles Barry, Lucy Butters, Maddie Day, Will Farr

TEECHERS

Tom Cowans, Martha Horner, Tom Lister

EVER AFTER Blending well-known fictional love stories with real life to explore the consequences of falling in love. Kitty Clapham, Holly Drake, Oscar Hales, Marcus Thomson

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A comedy with multi-role-playing exploring the consequences of leaving school. Max Auty, Charlie Hudson, Ollie Hughes Miss Helen Lindley

CREATIVE & CULTURAL

Art at St Peter’s

A selection from the 2015-16 Annual Exhibition of pupils’ Art

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Music Instrumental and Singing Examinations 2015-2016 The pupils have produced another excellent set of results in their instrumental and singing examinations over the course of this year. We congratulate the following on achieving the highest grade: Grade 8 Beth Hartley Johnny Lau Zoe Stone Eve Adcock Tom Collinson Steph Frankland Jessica House Georgia Legg Concetta Scrimshaw Isabella Crook Felicity Edwards Daniel Kondratiev Sam Lightwing Jack McCartney Jack McCartney Helena Reeds Concetta Scrimshaw Sam Stanford

Saxophone Flute Flute Singing Singing Flute Piano Recorder Piano Singing Harp Piano Singing Singing Violin Singing Singing Clarinet

Merit Merit Merit Merit Merit Merit Distinction Distinction Distinction Distinction Distinction Distinction Distinction Distinction Distinction

In addition to these Grade 8 results, the following two pupils achieved diplomas during the year. These are outstanding achievements for secondary school pupils: Stephanie Frankland Max McLeish

ATCL DipABRSM

Clarinet Performance Trombone Performance

Autumn Concert This was a very good start to the academic year. The Chapel Choir had prepared the Magnificat in F by Wood, a work written for double choir in eight parts, and they sang this with warmth and confidence. There were a number of assured solo performances, with a beautiful unaccompanied Bach Gigue played by Max McLeish on the cello and an impressive account of the third movement

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of Crussell’s Clarinet Concerto performed by Steph Frankland. Concetta Scrimshaw and Tom Collinson also performed solo songs, producing some lovely sounds. In between these solo items, our smaller chamber groups played a wide variety of repertoire, including a Spanish Romance played by the Guitar Group, Puccini’s Crisantemi performed by the Senior String Quartet and the virtuosic Ludwigstanz by Butterworth from our Clarinet Choir. The Chamber Choir were on superb form, with a particularly fine performance of Tippett’s arrangement of Steal Away and the Barbershop and Swing Band closed the evening with some enjoyable items that were warmly received by the audience of around 150 present.

Durham Evensong The Chapel Choir travelled to the beautiful cathedral in Durham on Monday 16 November to sing Evensong. It is always an atmospheric place to visit and the acoustics of the building are very supportive to singing. The choir performed an ambitious programme, including Wood’s evening canticles in F, written for the choir of King’s College, Cambridge. The anthem was Bullock’s Give us the wings of faith, which helped to mark St Margaret’s Day, and the choir sang this with real assurance and enjoyment. I was grateful to my colleague Keith Wright for his playing. The organ in the cathedral is one of the finest instruments in the country and it was a joy for the choir to sing with such a colourful and rich accompaniment throughout the service.

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majestic surroundings of the Minster to celebrate Christmas and to continue the long historical link between our two institutions.

Christmas Concert 2015

Carol Service The service began this year with a beautiful solo verse of Once in Royal David’s City and the choirs and brass ensemble supported the congregation fully in joyful hymn singing throughout. The lessons were read clearly by pupils, staff and governors and the three choirs sang a wide range of carols, from the Chamber Choir’s

nimble account of Ding, Dong Merrily on High to the School Choir’s Still, Still, Still, sung in German. The Chapel Choir’s performance of Bethlehem Down by Peter Warlock was a particular highlight. We marked the passing of David Willcocks, who was for many years organist of King’s College, Cambridge, by singing a number of his arrangements during the service. It is always a privilege to be in the

The Wind Band provided a festive opening to the show this year with Themes from The Snowman by Howard Blake in a wellcrafted arrangement that was performed with lots of dynamic variation. The String Orchestra then played three movements from Grieg’s Holberg Suite, with some lovely solo moments and musical phrasing from the ensemble throughout. Fleur Booth and Izzy Crook produced exquisite singing in their Flower Duet by Delibes,

exchanging parts over the two nights, and the choir closed the first half with Andrew Carter’s joyful arrangement of Angelus ad Virginem. The second half moved into cabaret format with a strong lead from the Swing Band and polished and enjoyable performances from the Barbieshop, Barbershop and Chamber Choir. Millie Grant and Jack McCartney delighted the audience with a characterful rendition of Baby it’s cold outside and Rosalind Tait’s singing of Losing my mind by Sondheim provided a wonderfully still and

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It was a hugely enjoyable and valuable evening, bringing together the whole family of St Peter’s to make music in a packed Memorial Hall.

Senior Music Festival We heard nearly 100 performances this year in the rounds and this was such a positive indication of the enthusiasm and commitment that the fifth and sixth form have for their music-making. The final was adjudicated by Gareth Green, a senior examiner for the Associated Board and a former Director of Music at QEGS, Wakefield. There were enjoyable and high-quality performances throughout the evening and the winners of the various categories were as follows:

engaging contrast to the swing items. Our School Choir of 165 students then finished the show with a really warm performance of a medley from Oliver. My sincere thanks go to all the staff and students who participated in the performances and to those who supported them.

Whole Foundation Concert We staged the first of what we hope will now be an annual Whole Foundation Concert on Thursday 11 February. This involved choirs and instrumental ensembles from all three schools. The evening began with a warm, lively performance of two songs from the choir of Clifton Pre-Prep School and this was followed by some accomplished playing by the St Olave’s School String Orchestra and Jazz Band. The St Olave’s Chapel Choir were in fine form with two contrasting songs and we finished the first half with a joint performance of You’ve got a friend in me accompanied by the St Peter’s Swing Band! In the second half, various ensembles from St Peter’s performed a wide range of music from Haydn to Herbie Hancock.

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Boys’ Singing: George Pindar Woodwind: Steph Frankland Girls’ Singing: Isabella Crook Guitar: Joshua Ramalingam Drum Kit: Samuel Raper Brass: Max McLeish Strings: Max McLeish Piano: Max McLeish The overall winner of the Senior Music Festival Prize was Max McLeish for a virtuosic performance of Pryor’s Fantastic Polka on the trombone.

Evensong at Jesus College, Cambridge On Tuesday 1 March the Chapel Choir travelled down to Cambridge for a joint Evensong service with the internationally renowned choir of Jesus College. Their choral scholars met our pupils for tea and showed them around the college before a joint rehearsal in the chapel, led by their Director of Music, Mark Williams. The service was a great success, with a fabulous sound from the two choirs throughout. The repertoire was challenging, with Kenneth Leighton’s Responses, Francis Jackson’s Evening Service in G and Stanford’s beautiful motet Beati quorum via. Director of Music, Paul Miles-Kingston said: ‘It was a great privilege to be with the Jesus College choir for this service and I was delighted to be able to direct the canticles

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composed by former Minster organist Francis Jackson, which brought a little of York with us. Our pupils were really warmly received and had a wonderful experience.’

Minster Concert 2016 This year we began with a special commission from Dr Richard Shephard, who had kindly re-scored five movements of his Music from the Millennium Mystery Plays for our Wind Band. This première performance was directed by Iain Harrison and gave us a special start to the concert, as well as linking into the Minster’s overall theme for their events this year. There were four contrasting movements for the full band, which numbers 65 pupils this year, as well as an atmospheric chamber movement with solo parts for clarinet and bassoon, which were played beautifully by Steph Frankland and Peter Gray. Our Deputy Head Boy, Max McLeish, then played Albrechtsberger’s Concerto for Alto Trombone, supported by an orchestra made up of pupils, old Peterites, academic and music staff under the direction of Keith Wright. Max produced a very well controlled performance, full of musical maturity and flair and this was rightly acknowledged by a very warm reception from the audience at the end. To finish the School Choir and Choral Society sang Haydn’s well-

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crafted setting of the Stabat Mater with orchestra and a quartet of soloists featuring two members of our singing teaching staff, Paul Gameson and Wendy Goodson. The choir responded so well to the technical demands of the choral writing and delivered a polished performance.

We were one of only two bands in our class to achieve the Platinum Award at the National Finals, placing our band amongst the very best in the country for this year and this recognition is so welldeserved for a group of pupils who worked incredibly hard to produce a very fine performance.

Junior Music Festival Final This was an enjoyable evening of music-making with an appreciative audience of parents, friends and staff. We had heard 94 performances in the rounds over four days and 26 were put through to the final. Our adjudicator this year was Dr Alasdair Jamieson, a teaching fellow at Durham University and conductor of both York Opera and York Symphony Orchestra. The winners of the categories were as follows: Girls’ Singing: Rosie McLeish, with Ellie Miles-Kingston highly

National Concert Band Festival Our Swing Band were awarded a Platinum Award in the Senior School Big Band class at the national final of the National Concert Band Festival this year. This is the highest award available in the largest concert band festival in the UK. Only seven senior school big bands progressed through to the national finals, which took place at the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester on Saturday 9 April. The Swing Band played with great control and musicality throughout and received warm praise from adjudicator Pete Churchill, who is Professor of Jazz Composition at the Royal Academy of Music: ‘I just love this band. This is great ensemble playing with evidence of serious rehearsal and attention to detail. This really feels like a band ‘played in’, all serving the music.’

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commended Piano: Eleanor Spencer Brass: Harriet Edwards and Elfreda Cowman-Sharpe were joint winners Drum Kit: Sam Gowland Harp: Lily Kirkby Guitar: Adam Dalton Woodwind: Ellie Miles-Kingston, with Grace Freshwater highly commended Boys’ Singing: Mathis Piquiot, with Daniel Hicks highly commended Strings: Rosie McLeish, with Daniel Hicks highly commended The winner of the Junior Music Festival Prize for the outstanding performance of the evening went to Lily Kirkby for her lyrical performance of Pistache by Andrès on the harp.

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Cabaret It was a fun and varied show this year, providing an emotional farewell for our upper-sixth leavers. The Swing Band provided the backbone for much of the performance, continuing with the fine form that carried them to such success in the National Concert Band Festival this year. The soloists all sang and played with maturity and poise and really engaged with the audience. There were some excellent sets from the Barbieshop, Barbershop, Chamber Choir, Little Big Band and String Orchestra with a wide range of music on offer. The School Choir’s medley from Grease was a particular highlight, with the enjoyment clear on the faces of all the singers. It was one to remember and a great credit to all the pupils who took part. Mr Paul Miles-Kingston

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Creative Writing The English Department: out and about What a great year it’s been! The department rings with the sound of voices as junior debating takes up residence here, St Peter’s Challenge gathers clusters of pupils to Q5 and Q6 and lunchtimes are punctuated by Mr Vann’s dulcet tones asking bizarre questions … We started the year by getting out and about, firstly to Leeds and the West Yorkshire Playhouse to see a claustrophobic 1930s-style Richard III; this look at the political intrigue of the play was reinvigorated later in the year with a visit to the live stream version of

Ian McKellen’s iconic portrayal of Shakespeare’s arch-villain and we were lucky enough to catch a few of the live Q and A sessions from the South Bank with Ian/Gandalf himself (the personalities seem pretty interchangeable, according to the sixth form!). Live streaming to the City Screen in York is something we think should be taken full advantage of: we trooped back down the road, clutching our school packed lunches to watch the brilliant Benedict Cumberbatch portrayal of Hamlet and then back again for our younger pupils to see the much acclaimed version of Arthur Miller’s A View from the Bridge with Mark Strong in the lead role. A hugely exciting Friday night out for the fifth form, post-trial exams, to see the National Theatre version of An Inspector Calls, with over seventy pupils and many staff on board, underscored how invigorating seeing a live performance can be. It was the set in this production which was a fertile area for discussion and although some of our six-foot-andover boys struggled with the restricted seating area, spending much

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of the performance with their chins on their knees, it was a grand night out! The upper sixth also got their chance to let their hair down with a visit to Haworth, where they made full and disturbing use of the dressing-up box whilst also appreciating the absolute best in academic lecturing from the education officer resident there. In-house, we also made our own fun. Kicking the year off in a literary sense was the Man Booker Prize debate. Absolutely gifted (thanks to the magic Mrs Wong) with the chance to visit Birmingham City Library and take part in a Q and A with shortlisted authors Tom McCarthy (Satin Island) and Sunjeev Sahota (The Year of the Runaways), our upper sixth were temporarily privy to how a great writing mind works. Whilst this was a fairly opaque experience in the case of Tom McCarthy (‘You wouldn’t want to be at a party with him,’ said Peter somewhat tartly as we got back on the bus …), our pupils asked searching, pithy questions about the books they’d read and were answered thoughtfully by writers who always seem to appreciate the fact that people under the age of twenty read their books. The debate itself, delivered by Izzy Hedley, Ed Kettleborough, Peter Gray, Beth Bradley, Concetta Scrimshaw and Polly Moss, saw each pupil argue for a book on the Man Booker shortlist, seconded by a member of staff from the English Department. Izzy won the St Peter’s debate, with her emotional plea for A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara; Polly’s book by Marlon James (A Brief History of Seven Killings) won the actual prize, which was announced the following evening. World Book Day celebrations keep everyone moving forwards with our reading crusade: this year, the challenge was ‘Iconic Books in Interesting Places’. Here are some of the results: enough said!

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We also went down to York Castle Museum, newly refurbished, to have a look at an exhibition publicised enthusiastically by Jane Garvey on Radio 4, entitled Shaping the Body. This gave us a fascinating insight into the way that bodies – both male and female – have been ‘shaped’ by clothing (sometimes unbelievably cruelly). Studying Victorian literature, it’s necessary to understand just why characters keep on refusing food at parties and swoon at the slightest agitation. It’s not the plotline: it’s the corsets! Fashion made its first appearance in the smaller sibling of our in-house magazine, Keystone; Rose Gabbertas’ superb article on the Bowes Museum’s Yves St. Laurent: Style is Eternal exhibition was itself a stylish piece of writing and was accompanied by pieces from Alice Jackson, Jess Webster, Peter Gray, Esme Wright, Polly Moss and Wendy Wan. Keystone 2016 took style to new heights with the most beautiful front cover (a pretty collaborative effort, with thanks to Mr Hall for the camera) and articles as diverse as The Rise of the Rock Duo, The Demonization of Food, Keystone’s Café Crawl, The Return of Game of Thrones (with the encyclopaedic knowledge of Polly Moss) and two fascinating looks at film – subtitled

and Chinese. The voice of Keystone is a strident, cultured, funny and democratic one: long may it live and prosper! Creative Writing Time for a sample of pen to paper both in and out of the classroom: some super vignettes this year and more entries for the Creative Writing Competition than ever before. The theme this year, set cannily by Mr Robinson, was Grim and Grey with a Silver Lining. Results were as follows: 3rd form 1st Reuben Carter 2nd Nick Gill Highly Commended: Will Guyer 4th & 5th form 1st Clara Wright 2nd Rebecca Dowson Highly Commended: James de Planta 6th form 1st Mel Cowans 2nd Concetta Scrimshaw Highly Commended: Niall Collinson Poetry 1st Rosie McLeish. nd 2 Angus Wilson Highly Commended: Georgie Lawrence

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Below is just a sample of the quality of some outstanding writing.

Fourth Form Winner: Clara Wright I shut my eyes and enter the maze that has now become my mind. Desperately searching for something I recognise, I can pass hundreds of memories without knowing whose they are or where they come from. I am in a room full of people yet I feel isolated because I cannot identify my mother or sister or son or husband – if I even have these relations. I am trapped in no man’s land, neither here nor there. We are defined by our memories, by the people we love and the moments we share together. Our minds gather snippets of our lives without us knowing, stealing moments which knit together a cornucopia of smells and tastes, sounds and sights. But mine is broken, the wool has unravelled, and the walls have crumbled. I am lost in my own mind. Minutes turn to hours and hours to days and suddenly a whole week has passed, it would seem. Maybe no time has passed at all; I am simply running circles in this hollow mind that is my own. A whole week of sitting in my faded pink chair in the corner of a room in a part of a house that is not my own. Perhaps I had a life once. It is autumn; I know so because there is a tree outside the window. Today the leaves are a rich auburn colour, much like how I imagine my hair to have been. I have to imagine in case I get stranded without anything to hold on to and end up being swallowed by a sea of confusion. I watch the leaves tumble from their ancient branches, slipping away from the tree’s grasp, like memories falling from my mind, collecting in a decaying mass just out of reach. They left me one by one at first, just little things but then they started getting bigger and faces left me and the room full of family and friends became a swarm of perfect strangers. So I stopped trying to run after them. I stopped trying to collect the tiny jigsaw pieces that made up my mind because no matter how hard I tried to hold up my world I was doing it alone. A man has come to sit with me, he is wearing a green jumper and his shoes have flecks of mud splattered on them. He is looking at me intently, like he is waiting for me to perform a magic trick. His kind eyes, framed by inquisitive eyebrows, sparkle expectantly. He speaks softly with a refined and rich voice asking me about the weather and what I have been doing since he last saw me. Of course I correct him because he is nameless to me and we have never met before. In my mind I have never met anyone before. I tell him that he must be mistaken but as I speak he drops my gaze and reaches into a pocket and produces a photograph. I hold a fragment of someone’s life, just a single moment captured forever; a picture of a young woman holding her child. The man tells me that I am the woman and he is the child so I shut my eyes and enter the maze. This labyrinth I am caught in, forever trying to prevent my escape, a web of lies I am entangled in. But as I run hopelessly searching for memories I pass a boy, a boy with kind eyes that sparkle expectantly. His name is Teddy and I remember. Somehow in amongst the mess and confusion I have found my son, my darling boy.

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I know a moment so precious as this will not come by often, I know that for every memory I find I have lost thousands, but I have found my son. I am in a room full of people who don’t matter anymore because I have all I need.

Overall Winner: Mel Cowans, winner of the Skrentny Creative Writing Prize Akilah was dead. She not only knew this because she could see her body, but she could see that it was definitely dead because it was actually just half a body. Her parka was ripped and bloodied, torn apart at the fabric as her legs were torn from her torso. It was a strange sensation, observing one’s form after death, and Akilah noticed the frailty and tininess of her frame in comparison to the other bodies lying strewn in the sand. Akilah looked down at her corpse, and God stooped next to her as they shared a contemplative silence. “Am I dead?” “Yes.” Akilah was eight. She did not have to comprehend death as an inevitable concept at her age, because her parents had decided that such ugly aspects of life should not yet possess any relevance to a child. But now it did, and she understood why her parents had avoided the subject as she gazed into the milky eyes of her twisted corpse. Glancing at the old man beside her, Akilah wondered just how a merciful God could allow such unfairness. She hadn’t disobeyed Him, she tried her best to pray with her mother even when she found it hard to sit still, and even through Ramadan she had fasted so devotedly that she had evoked the praises of various family members. She hoped they would be alright without her. A brief moment of fear flitted through her as she realised that the small aspects of her short life that she had come to cherish were no longer a reality. It wasn’t fair. None of this was fair, actually. “Did I live a good life?” she asked suddenly, breaking her gaze away from her shattered carcass and gazing up at God with her childish, fearful brown eyes. God did not answer. The air smelled like the smoke that coiled itself around them, infused with the stench of charred flesh and smouldering steel. The red dust of the road swirled in the lashing desert winds and stuck to the faces of the dead like a mask of crumbing clay, their lifeless eyes assaulted with grit and dirt. The two figures stood alone, and time ceased to exist. Finally, God stretched out his hand for Akilah to take. Akilah took it but did not move. “Did I live a good life?” she asked again, more resolute than before, hoping that a definite answer from God would provide her with a sense of validation – of reassurance that her short life was not insignificant. “Not especially,” said God sadly, twisting his head to stare in the opposite direction, out along the wide dirt road that stretched far across the desert to the shimmering horizon. Another silence

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between them ensued, denser still than the first, the only sound the shrill whipping of the wind over the shallow sand dunes. They walked along the road, hand in hand as the sun began to set. They left no footprints, the dust undisturbed by their steps. “Where are we going?” Akilah asked, examining the old man’s face as he turned towards her. His eyes were dark where galaxies had once swirled within them, his skin creased with the burden of eternity. How lucky I am, thought the child, to stare into the face of God. God pointed, his thin, crooked body shuddering with the effort as they walked. The sunset blazed with such intensity that Akilah could not stand to look at it. She gripped God’s hand tighter. “Is that heaven?” she asked. “I do not know,” he replied wearily. “But why not?” she cried, her voice shrill as the wind that howled around them. “You’re God!” “And what is God without a kingdom?” God bowed his head. His hooded eyes fixed on the sunset as they drew closer to it. “What good is a shepherd when robbed of his flock?” “But we pray to you … we celebrate Ramadan … are we not your flock?” Akilah protested angrily. God turned to her, his face twisted with rage. “Humanity has surpassed God.” He spat, his voice thunderous. “Humanity, in all your pride and your folly and your glory – humanity has surpassed the need for God. Through war, corruption, sacrilege and the desecration of the Earth that I entrusted you to protect, Man has injured the spirit of God far more deeply than the ostentatious prayers of the “righteous” are able to heal. Yet it is my love for Man that shall be my undoing, not solely the depravity of Man itself – for my children’s undeserved survival, I have sacrificed everything.” God paused, his eyes sweeping the landscape and brimming with tears. He sighed. “And thus, this world is dying – and with it its creator.” “Are you to be judged, then? Like us?” Akilah asked. “What is there to be judged, child? Without God, what shall distinguish right from wrong?” God motioned around him at the dusty plateau that encircled them. “As you examined your corpse, I examine mine.” The child laid a hand on the old man’s arm. “Then our fate awaits us.” said Akilah. God looked at her, a soft expression spreading across his face, nodded and stepped forward. Akilah followed, gripping his hand and glancing behind her at the distant lumps of bodies lying halfburied in the blood-soaked sand. She shook her head and bid the world farewell, vaguely wondering how and when her body would be discovered, and by whom. She decided it didn’t really matter.

The lights of the city glistened in the far distance, and the wind swirled around them, sand spiralling as if with a life of its own as they stepped into the sunset with hearts of pure hope. It was peaceful, she supposed – the aftermath of chaos.

Poetry Prize Winner: Rosie McLeish What is a Woman? What is a woman? Who is she that sits quiescently upon the begrimed seat, awaiting the bus that shall take her away, I know not where? Who shivers, yet, through maternal tenacity, has enveloped her companion in her own coat, her extremities growing as blue from the chill as the remainder of her form, from the ramification of months of torment and disregard? What is a woman, base in her afore sentiment; a disgrace to her sex? What is a man? Who is he, seething in the comfort of his own newly deserted abode, cursing the audacity of life to have given him such misfortune in situation? Who, apoplectic and intoxicated, both by liquor and the grief he is yet to feel, in lack of the absent woman and child, turns his fury instead to his possessions, sent with force against the memory drenched walls? What is a man, proud, cruel, yet none deliberate, hitherto never understanding his short comings? What is a boy? Who is he, confused and cold, uncomprehending in the sight of his broken mother? Who, though too young to fathom, still observes her dolour, and squeezes his clammy hand on hers, showing already more profound maturity than he had ever learnt from his father? Is he, in his juvenile innocence, a superior man than any other, or is he merely oblivious of the evils of the world, and just as susceptible to them, so that when his time comes, his incorruptibility too is broken; will he then follow his father’s footsteps? What is a narrator? Who am I, sitting beside this woman and child, clinging to one another, as a drowning sailor to a rock? Who am I, scratching notes as the rain lashes against the glass, that I may judge the contingency of this pair as I choose, whose unnoticed and unlauded bravery under these bleak skies shall never cease to pursue me, of how the grit determination slowly begins to soften, and as the rain subsides, the boy turns to see the approaching bus, excitedly returns to his mother, whose eyes shine with hope renewed for their awaiting future. And some further highlights: National Poetry Day saw the third form produce some pretty great poetry concerned with the theme

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of Light with Mr Robinson’s groups taking a particularly visual approach. A J Coates’ poem won our first competition of the year:

Night to Day The stars’ stunning sparkle takes breath away They perform a blinding dance that saves life in every way. They are always lurching: even when out of sight As the night goes on, they emit more light. Comets whizz by, leaving beams of blazing light Fuming through the sky, unimaginable flight Fading faster than has ever been seen Darting from one side to next, leaving smouldering beams. But as night fades and the sun starts to rise The light of the stunning stars starts to die Finally the sun fills up, lightening the sky.

younger pupils and one of the highlights of the year has to be Miss Pearson’s lower-sixth dioramas of Ibsen’s suffocating domestic drama A Doll’s House. Serious fun, as always!

Creativity and a visual impact hasn’t just been limited to our

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Mrs Jo Lawrence

Sport

SPORT

Rugby

First XV After a successful, unbeaten tour to Canada the first XV settled back into the regular school season with a rude awakening. The first match away to Woodhouse Grove proved to be a tough encounter, with St Peter’s going down 36-5. The message was to knuckle down and work hard. Our local derby against Ampleforth started to show what this team were capable of. A strong defensive display made us difficult to break down with tries coming later in the game to give us a 40-19 victory. The winning run continued against Hymers away with a comfortable 65-5 victory. The team was becoming settled and players were becoming comfortable in their roles and effective within the team . The back row of Sam Hudson, Joe Simpson and Grayson Maguire was extremely effective at the breakdown and continuously causing problems for defences with powerful carries. Our next home game against QEGS was a brave performance with some major positives. QEGS were very strong and we went down 20-10. There were excellent

performances from the forward pack including Josh Ramalingam, Jakob Esler , Alex Taylor and Sam Lodge. The game away at Pocklington was a tough encounter but again excellent defence gave us the win, 19-8. Our final match before half term was against Harrogate Grammar School in the cup and we came away with a 61-0 win. After half-term we travelled to Barnard Castle, where a spirited performance saw us go down 27-11. RGS Newcastle followed and against an excellent side we pulled through for a tremendous 13-8 victory. Halfbacks Charlie Bellingall and Will Quinn were now really controlling our attacking play. Next, two rounds of the cup saw us beat Ermysted’s Grammar School 34-16 and then again beat Ampleforth 30-0. The two centres, Will Fordy and Tom Robinson, were consistent in both defence and attack with Dougie Whiter always solid at full back. The two wings, Angus Barrick and Will Fryer, were also consistently good.

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Away at Durham we produced some of our best rugby to win 32-17 with a superb performance. This was followed by a mid-week trip up to RGS Newcastle for the round six NatWest Cup match. At this time Charlie Corner stepped up to play loose head prop. This helped secure the scrum and gave us a much more solid set-piece. This was surely the highlight of the season with one of the best defensive displays from a St Peter’s first XV. Final score was victory 28-20 to put us into the last 16 of the tournament. The final match of the season after a brutal two weeks was against Bradford and again we had an outstanding win, 24-21. This team had learnt how to win. Our last 16 match was against QEGS who on the day were just too strong and went on to reach the final. This was an outstanding season, with the team winning ten matches and losing four. The team was captained by Sam Hudson who led by example and as an individual played some outstanding rugby. He went on to play for the national independent schools’ team and was named Player of the Tour to Argentina. This is not to undermine the nature of this group as a team: both year groups bonded well and they played for each other. They worked hard on the training pitch and were keen to improve. In the tough games they showed real character, particularly in defence and achieved some truly remarkable wins. I wish the upper sixth well and hope that the lower sixth can emulate them next season. The squad was: C Corner*, S Lodge*, A Taylor*, J Ramalingam**, J Esler*, G Davis*, A Stent, C Bellingall*, W Quinn*, T Robinson**, W Fordy*, A Barrick, W Fryer, E Bottomley, D Whiter*, C Rae, J Hanly, A Ingham, W Kimpson *full colours **cap

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Representative honours: Sam Hudson: Independent Schools’ National Lambs Team Charlie Rae and Will Fordy: Yorkshire Carnegie Junior Development Squad

Second XV September 2015 saw the start of another rugby campaign with a new group of players of unknown ability and a new assistant coach in Toby Atkin. With only three coaching sessions before the first game we had quickly to establish the season’s aims and objectives. In doing so, we introduced our coaching philosophy: ‘to create an open and honest environment that allows the players to challenge themselves and others to be the best they can be as players and as people. Within this environment will be a support network that allows continued development.’ During the season all players were given equal opportunity to progress and be challenged to improve their skills with game understanding in order to represent a higher team. Our focus for all the players and the team was on individual and team performance and not solely on the results. Players were always given an opportunity to input opinion and reflect on the squad and their own individual performance at practice and after matches. During the season every opportunity was taken to promote players upwards and we successfully elevated Ted Patmore, Angus Barrick,

SPORT

Alex Ingham, James Hanley and Will Fryer up to the school first XV, and all acquitted themselves very well when the opportunity to play arose. These selections gave equal opportunity to third XV players also to play up and discussion always took place with the coaches to ensure we managed the playing time and positions to meet the season’s philosophy . The season’s results overall shows six wins and three losses, but more importantly, at the season’s review, we were able to encourage players to take more control of their own performances in order to build teamwork, spirit and co-operation to meet the agreed goals and objectives. A big thank-you to all the players, coaches and parents for another successful rugby season. Mr Colin Clark

Third XV At the beginning of the season, we were still enjoying the rewards of the impressive season that the third XV had last year. A very large group of boys came together to play in the second and third teams. The sheer number of players might have allowed us to put out a fourth XV at its peak. Both the second and third teams trained very well together and helped each other to warm up during the season. The coaches who helped us improve our game over the course of this season, Colin Clark, Toby, Harry Vann and Ben White, created the relationship between the two teams. When one team needed help improving their game in certain areas, the other team almost always helped to improve it. The link between the two teams was clearly shown by the huge number of players who played in both the second and third teams during the year. The third team this year was a squad with a large number of lowersixth boys and only a few select upper-sixth rugby players with past third XV experience. Matt Coe, Joe Waterhouse, Andy Hulmes, Joël Ngana and Oli Newman played with great heart for ‘the club’ throughout the year and their commitment was faultless. Matt

Dickson also played a blinder on his one game back from injury and we wish him a speedy recovery. Players such as Alex Taylor, Ben Megginson, Dan Jones and Rohan Choudhury all started the season in their beloved third team but managed to push themselves up the school teams and cement key roles in the seconds. Ben Megginson even managed to become second-team captain in the middle of the season. Throughout the year, the forwards worked hard on perfecting their game. Along with George Ingall, Tom Pycock, George O’Neill and Joe Waterhouse, we attempted to improve our patterns of attack and the way we defended as a team. Our lineouts were very good compared with many other teams we played. Players such as Joe Bates, Sam Stanford, Ravin Dhesi, Oli Williams, Ethan Thubron, Ian Ho, Ben Maher, Charles Dunn Titan, Li, Sam Lightwing, Niall Collinson, Matt Coe, Tom Vesey, Oli Newman and a special loan player from the Springboks in Leo Doolooa made this one of best forward packs the third XV has ever seen. This, paired with the new lower-sixth backs, brought an attacking flair and incredible fun factor to our game. Backs such as Tom Hawksworth, Felix van der Borgh and Angus Barrick played exceptionally well in our team and managed to go on and play in the second team with Angus Barrick

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playing a large number of games in the firsts. Others such as George O’Neill, Will Andrews, Edmund Meredith Clark (Jonah), Andy Hulmes, Joe Waterhouse, Joël Ngana and Ed Brook made up the rest of the back line which played the majority of the season. During the season, the team played in many amazing matches. Two victories against Ampleforth and hard-fought victories against QEGS and Woodhouse Grove showed our quality. Despite losing twice to Scarborough College’s first team, we remained unbeaten against all the third teams that we played. Hawky’s multiple incredible stepping tries and Waterhouse’s windmill try will remain the squad’s and coaches’ favourite moments for a very long time. Finally, I would just like to say thank you to Mr White and Mr Vann for yet another great season and I hope that the thirds manage to have another good season next year. Oli Newman, UVI Results Woodhouse Grove

(A)

Won

17-7

Ampleforth

(H)

Won

17-7

Scarborough College

(H)

Lost

17-19

QEGS

(H) Won 34-5

Ampleforth

(A) Won 26-5

Barnard Castle

(H)

Won

62-10

RGS Newcastle

(H)

Won

31-0

Fyling Hall

(H)

Won

32-0

Scarborough College

(A)

Lost

15-35

Under-16s ‘A school without sport is in danger of deteriorating into a medieval study hall.’ Vince Lombardi It was a feature of the short Christmas term and the extra exeat that we were only able to play eight matches during the ‘season’. Despite this the boys trained very hard, starting in July and ending in early December. The lads worked hard at their skills and on their understanding of different scenarios, they learned new defensive patterns and attacking options and gained the confidence to

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employ these in games. Their communication with each other improved as did their decision-making and willingness to push themselves; but most of all they enjoyed playing as a unit, as a team and not as a group of individuals. As the great French open side, Jean-Pierre Rives said: ‘The whole point of rugby is that it is, first and foremost, a state of mind, a spirit.’ The lads embraced this spirit and grew into a formidable unit both in attack and defence. The lads only lost one game, at the end of the first week of term, in torrential rain, against a very good under-17 Argentinian touring side, 7-6, with a winning penalty bouncing the wrong way off the post in the dying minute of the game! The remaining matches were played on our normal circuit and produced some excellent performances – none more so than the titanic match with Durham School. This was a game played between two very good and committed teams who took no prisoners on the pitch. It all came down to a wonderful ten minutes at the end of the game when Durham, who were in the lead, defended superbly and we ground out position on the field, made the right decisions and eventually scored the winning try with the very last play of the game. This sort of game reveals the character of the players: we were not found wanting, and neither were they! Tempers did boil for a brief moment but were soon gone and the memory of Ben Raubitschek sneaking over will remain with the team for a long time. All the players developed because they worked hard and deserve

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credit for this. The normal front row of Angus, Charlie and Tom were very effective all season in the tight and showed great improvement in attack and defence around the fringes. As they became fitter we were able to move the ball wider and stretch defences more. Our locks were Harrison, James, Rory and Henry who gave us real go forward in both tight and loose. Their decisionmaking and ability to change the point of attack was excellent and led to a number of outstanding tries from turnover ball during the season. They were just as effective in defence where their linespeed was crucial. Our back row chosen from Kev, Henry, Marcus, James, Nathan and Adam was utterly crucial to the success of the side. Kev and at times Adam had to do stints in the front row when injury demanded and James and Henry also worked hard in the second row as circumstances demanded. They led from the front, tackling and turning over ball regularly. They had the pace and hands to allow us to attack wide and also the grunt to take on a great deal of carrying near the breakdown. Our half-backs of Jack, Alex and Charlie developed into a fine combination with Charlie filling in the number 10 role during Alex`s periods of injury. Jack played throughout the season at number 9, driving the forwards and directing the backs. Both number 10s developed their games during the season and became strong decision-makers in both attack and defence. They became more confident attacking the line and also developed a good attacking kicking game as well as a sound defensive one. Our centres were Max, Harry, Nathan and James, all of whom had good defensive qualities and developed their attacking play during the season. Max and James were more direct with Harry having something of the ‘Guscott’ about him, and Nathan all sidesteps and attacking intent. The main criticism of the backs at the start of the season was a lack of communication and this certainly did improve and will be essential in the senior sides next year. The back three settled down following injury to be chosen from Spencer, Theo, Charlie and Ben, with Matt stepping in when required. These lads learned a great deal about keeping their width in defence and counterattacking from kicks and turnover ball. All have a real future in the senior sides in the coming seasons. The B team trained with the A team and learned much the same lessons and improved in the same measure. They committed no less to the physical side of the game and only lost to the full Giggleswick A team where there was a mismatch in size but not heart. Max, Marcus and Zaki were the stalwart front row with Feifei, Oscar,

Chris and Harry locking the scrum and providing us with good lineout ball all season. The back row was excellent with Chucky, Oli, Ben and Will playing with great intensity and commitment. Ed and Seth shared the number 9 berth and brought control and greater communication as the season progressed. Ralph developed into a fine number 10 with Ed and Peter proving our most potent combination in the centres. We were very fortunate to have the pace of Matt, Ben and Marcus in the back three; Jack, Lucca and Max all played their part during the season in different positions in the backs. This side has had an exceptional run through the school winning all their B-team games. They have very good skills and a real desire to improve. I would like to thank Jack and Ben for their captaincy this season and Adam and Oli for the way they led their respective packs. The lads all improved and were a pleasure to coach. Massive thanks must also go to George, Eddie and Gareth for all their time, effort and expertise in coaching the teams this year. I very much hope that these lads choose to continue with their rugby both in the senior sides and at club level as they will find friendship and a brotherhood in the game well after they have left school. ‘Rugby gave me a confidence. I was quite shy and relatively timid, but it gave me the confidence to be a little bit more out-going and back myself a bit more.’ Brian O’Driscoll

Under-16 Sevens The season was devastated by the weather. In the end we played terribly at Pocklington and superbly at Rosslyn Park. However we still went out at the group stage losing by a single score to the eventual winners, Brighton College. One misplaced pass and it was them and not us going through. In between the Pocklington and Rosslyn Park tournaments we trained hard to learn from the mistakes made. This training was evident in our first two excellent wins in London. With just a bit more game-time I am sure we would have beaten Brighton. ‘You don’t learn to walk by following rules. You learn by doing, and by falling over.’ Richard Branson Mr Paddy Stephen

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Under-15s Squad: B Lodge (Captain), A Pollard, I Watson, A Harrison, H Campbell, T Flanders-Abidakun, J Steenberg, , Z Darbandi, M Taylor, G McGill, F Adcock, N Danso-Appiah, H Booth, S Beighton, T Hatfield, T Uren, B Baker, B Poskitt, J Mayfield, G Townend I thoroughly enjoyed teaching the under-15 rugby squad this year and feel that the whole squad came on leaps and bounds during the season. They have started to learn to play a more adult brand of rugby and are able to adapt their game to suit different opposition and conditions. There were a few low points at the start of the season, when the squad needed to learn to bond together and have faith in each other’s abilities. They had quite a soft underbelly and fell off tackles too easily and were not fully committed in the contact elements of the game. The best thing about this bunch of boys is that they learn quickly and give you their full attention and desire to improve during the training week. This proved to be the case and gradually week by week they started to up their performances and began to produce a succession of pleasing results. I remember the first away game at local rivals, Pocklington, where the boys certainly were not fully up for the game – this was probably the lowest point of the season. They made a succession of poor decisions and basic errors during the game and allowed the Pocklington back row to dominate the breakdowns. So when we faced them a few weeks later during the NatWest Cup run we knew we had a few things to put right. It proved the character of these boys as they certainly improved their individual skills and team cohesion during training and put together a great performance to comfortably turn around the result. They had a couple of very narrow defeats to very good teams and this is certainly nothing to be ashamed of. I believe that they can turn around these results in the future as they even up more in the size department and continue to develop confidence in their own games. The pack competed very well throughout the year. In particular Alex Harrison and Isaac Watson continually put in shuddering hits on the field of play. I was very pleased with the attacking shape that Albert Pollard and Zac Darbandi were able to offer during matches too and during the season it was pleasing to see their continuing influence on the team. We also had a new addition in Tayo Flanders-Abidakum: he was very raw in terms of his rugby-playing experience, but was very dynamic on the field and developed with every game. The other second row position varied a lot throughout the term with Barnaby Baker, Henry Campbell and Grayson Townend all capable and committed to the cause. Tom Uren also made great strides this year and admirably supported the front row in every game. One of my candidates for most improved player of the year would be blindside flanker, Jamie Steenberg: certainly not confident in his own ability, but often the man who came up from the ruck holding

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the ball! His ability to effect turnovers became legendary. The back row was completed by Ben Lodge the captain who gave Braveheart performances every week and gave the team a leader to follow. Ben Poskitt played scrum half for a lot of the season and I am sure that as he grows he will prove to be a very dependable number 9, but in the Nat West games we tended to go with Marcus Taylor. The combination of him and Gabby McGill at number 10 certainly gave us an axis of quick thinking games players. They were able to up the tempo of games and by the end of the season were playing the pitch exceptionally well with their kicking game and width of passing. In the centre were Harry Booth and Nana, both very strong runners that were able to get us over the gain line. Nana has exceptional late feet that are able to bamboozle many defences and Harry’s long ranging limbs enable him to affect excellent offloads in the tackle. My man of the season would be Tom Hatfield. He consistently upped his game every week and improved by learning and copying on the field. Generally playing full back or centre, he did appear at number 10 too. He has excellent games awareness, but for me he really shone at Barnard Castle away, on a typical Barnard Castle day. In howling winds and rain Tom’s defence was outstanding. He was ushered off the field bleeding by a worried ref after inflicting a large hit on their centre, and then got frustrated with me taking time to stop the blood flowing as he wanted to get back out there and make another hit, not the actions of a onceupon-a-time footballer! Fred Adcock, Sam Beighton and Barney Baker ably filled the wing spots. Fred has excellent agility and fast feet that get him out of trouble and Sam is also developing his long ranging style, becoming more secure with the ball in hand and also making more confident tackles. As ever Barney was as reliable on the wing as he was in the second row. Our NatWest run was cut short by St Ambrose, unluckily losing by a point. I think the boys should take massive heart and pride from their performances this year and again, if they can continue to develop as they have done this year, they will be a force to be reckoned with in the sixth form. An absolute pleasure to coach, I enjoyed every week. Mr Nathan Savage

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Under-14s As can be seen from the statistics this was a magnificent season for the players, both in attack and – equally importantly – in defence. The first match of the season against Woodhouse Grove set the tone with a comfortable 54-6 win. This was quickly followed by a 42-7 win over Ampleforth. The players began to develop their game working on offloading and continuity; this requires excellent support play and all came together against an unbeaten QEGS team in a wonderful 54-0 win away from home. All players were unselfish with the ball, shifting the point of attack and causing the opposition real problems. Hymers struggled against the wide game and were also soundly beaten 54-0. Pocklington played with determination and did not allow us to penetrate the centre field. Again it was moving the ball wide and back that disrupted their game, and we won 44-0. Barnard Castle was a similar story with a 48-5 win. The team worked hard on developing some structure off second- and third-phase possession. RGS Newcastle away proved a tougher challenge. The team started brilliantly and took a convincing early lead, but RGS came back with some direct driving play. This was perhaps the most pleasing period of play all season as we defended resolutely, maintaining our line. The sign of a really good side is that it defends with enthusiasm and each player trusts those around them. This team has that in them. The final result was an excellent 27-0 win. The final game of the season was a comfortable 34-0 win over Durham.

In the forwards prop Ethan Leigh-Howarth ran with determination, improving his offloading as the season progressed. Nick Gill hooked the ball well and his throwing-in was consistent. Will Taylor, tighthead, scrummaged well and ran with tenacity, gaining many yards. Harry Jones, second row, played with the mobility of a back row, gaining many turnovers. Isaac Giannini, second row, was technically sound always doing the correct action, ensuring the team played well. Oli Pettigrew showed running skills from the engineroom. Blindside Benjie Wilson, always vocal and driving the team forward, also showed good attacking skills. Joe Bates at openside played right on the line, stealing ball and disrupting opposition play at all times. Will Guyer, back row, was always technically good and as he grows this will stand him in good stead. Number eight Ed Westmoreland is an excellent distributer and runner, linking play between backs and forwards with ease.

Will Quinn at full back enters the line with pace. He is devastating in broken play and causes many problems for the opposition. George Stephens’ ability to play in both centre and the back three meant that rolling subs did not disturb the flow of play. Laurie Carlyle, wing, was the most improved player for the season, never missing tackles and showing good pace. Curran Maguire played with physicality and might well transfer to the forwards as he progresses. Archie Wilson, wing, was elusive and finished well. Outside centre Tom Robins was solid in defence and broke the gain line well. Matty Lodge at inside centre is very elusive and easily spots a gap allowing those around him to flourish. Chris Wood, fly half, reads the game well. He has a prodigious boot, which he uses sensibly. His passing off both hands is excellent. Ed Ramsden, scrum half, gives good service to both right and left and developed his box-kick and attacking play.

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The team has a good structure to their game and perhaps most pleasing was their eagerness to develop this further. I really enjoyed coaching the group and hope they continue to enjoy their rugby. The season’s statistics are: PLAYED 8 | WON 8 | POINTS FOR 357 | POINTS AGAINST 18.

The squad: B Quinn, A Wilson, T Robins, M Lodge, L Carlyle, G Stephens, C Wood, E Ramsden, E Leigh-Howarth, N Gill, W Taylor, H Jones, C Maguire, I Giannini, B Wilson, J Bates, E Westmoreland, W Guyer, O Pettigrew, C Fell Mr Mike Johnston

Under-14Bs The 2015 season was a very successful one at under-14B level with another talented and committed group of boys finding their rugby feet at St Peter’s with a stylish and dominant season of play. That their only defeat came at the hands of a school A team says much for the abilities and commitment of this cohort. The other telling statistic is the points tally. Racking up scores which averaged more than 45 per game correctly conveys the open and attacking rugby played by the team and which was often too fast and accurate for their opponents. Their stingy rate of concession (which averaged just six points per game and included five complete shut-outs in nine outings) points to the group’s determination and courage which extended right to the end of games long-since decided. It is hard to highlight particular games which stand out in the memory such was the consistency of play. More praiseworthy was the way in which the group developed a confidence and fluidity in their ball retention and, especially towards the end of the season, managed to starve opponents of both possession and opportunity. Individual

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skill levels are particularly high in this group and, with the World Cup unfolding during the season, it was often a challenge to curb the confidence of those trying to recreate the ‘high tariff’ skills seen from the world’s best. That said, it did help lead to an expansive and ambitious approach to the play. It can be easy to view this age group as at the bottom of the heap in terms of school rugby but the boys themselves would be sensible to remind themselves that every year the school first XV has a good number of key players who began their careers in the under-14Bs. Results: Ampleforth W 69-5 Hull Collegiate

20-35

Hymers W 57-0 QEGS Wakefield

64-0

Manor

22-7

Pocklington W 52-0 Barnard Castle

51-0

RGS Newcastle

60-0

Durham W 24-7 The squad: E Akyol, G Black, C Blackburn, J Bramley, J Connolly, A Dalton, M Enoch, C Farrington, C Fell, E Findlay, I Giannini, W Guyer, B Hall, J Hanson, T Harpin, E Hobson, A Holloway, S Johnson, I Kennedy, C Ledden, T Lindley, C Maguire, T Matthews, W Middleton, E Morrison, O Pettigrew, C Prince, E Roberts, A Wilson, J Wood Mr Martin Lawrence

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Sevens This was a very disjointed sevens season, with many tournaments cancelled because of the poor weather. All teams, however, performed well. The under-14s played two tournaments, Durham and St Peter’s. They reached the semi-finals in both and showed improvement throughout. The under-15s also played two tournaments, Bradford and Ampleforth, playing some good sevens and progressing through the group stages. They missed out in the semi- finals in both competitions. The under-16s played extremely well at Rosslyn Park but were unfortunately knocked out by the eventual winners. The first VII played three competitions and won the Plate at Durham and Ampleforth. At Rosslyn Park they won the group with wins over Marlborough College and St Peter’s, Gloucester. They progressed into the group quarter-finals and were eventually knocked out by St Paul’s. This was an excellent achievement in a national tournament. Well done to all our sevens players! Mr Steve Williams

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Girls’ Hockey This season was a particularly prosperous one for girls’ hockey at St Peter’s, with participation in the seniors up significantly on previous years. For the first time we were able to field five senior hockey teams, a real testament to the breadth and depth of talent across the school and the commitment shown by the girls. The third team achieved their third successive unbeaten season, despite a number of their matches being against second teams. In the National Schools’ competition, all age-groups qualified for the county rounds of the competition, and the under-18 and under-14 squads both reached the North finals. Further to this, the first team also won the under-18 North-East independent schools’ hockey league. Across all age groups, 68% of matches were either won or drawn. This was particularly pleasing given that a number of junior B teams played against A teams for the first time this season. There were also a number of additional stronger fixtures added to the programme for the A teams including GSAL. I would like to take this opportunity to thank all of those girls who have trained and played for any of the hockey teams this season. They all showed real determination and commitment to improving throughout the season, and it is great to see girls’ hockey at St Peter’s thriving. I know that all of the coaching staff have thoroughly enjoyed working with such highly motivated and positive individuals.

First XI The first XI had a busy start to their season with over 30 girls attending pre-season training and a large squad of 16 competing in the annual pre-season tournament at Rugby School and the OPs’ match. This programme was particularly valuable given the large number of new fifth-formers who would come into the team this year.

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The first match of the season provided an insight into how tough some of this season’s matches might be. The pace of the game proved, at times, a little too daunting for some of the new players into the squad. However, it would be fair to say that the 5-0 loss to a strong GSAL team (who went on to compete in the national finals), was not a fair reflection of the team’s performance overall. Despite this heavy loss, the girls re-grouped in training and focused hard on improving their tactical application during games. The team improved quickly, and this was largely a testament to their commitment and effort in both training and matches. They beat Queen Margaret’s, Ashville, Ampleforth and RGS Newcastle convincingly and were extremely unlucky to draw with Giggleswick in a match where the St Peter’s team did everything but put the ball in the goal!

As the season progressed unit play throughout the team improved hugely, with all the girls working extremely well together to move the ball around the pitch effectively. The only match that the girls lost in the second half of the season was against Worksop College. Worksop fielded an extremely strong side, and despite some excellent defensive play, and impressive

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goalkeeping, St Peter’s were unable to stop them scoring twice in the first 20 minutes of the game. The girls were a real credit to themselves throughout the season. The highlight by far was their first game in the North under-18 finals competition. Having already won the under-18 North-East independent schools’ hockey league, the team played Stockport Grammar School, who won the national finals last year. Despite the pace and level of the game being far higher than anything many of the girls had experienced before, they worked tirelessly to stick to their ‘game plan’ and absorb the huge amounts of pressure Stockport applied. The movement from the forwards was decisive and led to St Peter’s creating a number of chances which they were unlucky not capitalise on. Despite conceding two goals late in the game, this match epitomised the drive and passion to improve shown throughout the girls’ first XI squad this season. It has been a pleasure to coach such a committed and entertaining group of girls. I would like to thank all those who have been involved in the squad this season for their continued hard work and wish those moving on to pastures new all the very best for the future!

Results: GSAL Lost 0-5 Queen Margaret’s

Won

3-0

Ashville Won 9-0 Giggleswick Drew 1-1 Ampleforth

Won

1-0

RGS Newcastle

Won

3-1

Hymers

Won

3-1

Worksop

Lost

1-2

Sedbergh

Won

2-0

Pocklington

Won

5-0

Second XI The second XI had another successful season, losing just one match, against Bradford Grammar School’s first XI. The team worked hard throughout the season to improve their patience when

The following girls represented the team this year: I Bartlett, A Bell, E Caley, I Cotter, E Grant, A Greswold, E Hartley, C Hollinrake, M Hunter, H Lawrence (captain), L Lawrence, L Lovisetto, P Phillips, E Proctor, K Robinson, J Webster, S Wilson

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defending and speed when moving the ball out from defence. The improvements they made in their defending was impressive, and as a result they conceded just ten goals all season. Up front, the forwards focused on getting their shots off early and on target. They did this particularly well against Worksop College where they dominated the game and placed the goalkeeper under a huge amount of pressure for the duration of the game! It was fantastic to see such a young team develop together as the season progressed, and a pleasure to coach such a determined and motivated group too! Mrs Emma Brough

The following girls represented the team this year: A Blackburn, A Connelly-Bosson, V Brook, O Calvert, A Clapham, K Clapham, I Cotter, A Craig, E Dobson, J Elliott, H Ford, R Green, J House (captain), C Killick, E Lockett, L Moss, E Nelson Results:

Such a fantastic season and credit to all those involved: well done!

GSAL Won 3-0 Queen Margaret’s

Won

2-1

Barnard Castle

Drew

1-1

Giggleswick Won 5-2 Bradford

apply tactical and technical principles at crucial times. The team played with intensity and a tireless work-ethic to establish areas of fluid hockey and did this with competitive intent throughout the season. They stuck to principles and worked as a team to help maintain consistency under pressure, resulting in some impressive performances beating both GSAL’s second XI and Ashville’s second XI 6-0.

Lost

0-2

Ampleforth Won 2-0

Miss Stephanie Wilson The following girls represented the team this year: A Chan, J Crowther, H Ford, A Gilman, S Green, P Hall, E Huckvale, L Leedham, L Moir, N Moir, G Moody, M Morris, E Nelson, P Simpson, M Palmer

Hymers Won 3-0

Results:

Worksop Won 5-0

GSAL Won 6-0

Sedbergh Drew 1-1

Ashville Won 6-0

Pocklington Drew 3-3

Giggleswick Won 9-0 Bradford Won 1-0

Third XI

Hymers Won 3-0

The third team had another impressive unbeaten season, demonstrating the high level of talent being produced across the board at St Peter’s.

GSAL second XI

Won

3-0

Sedbergh

Won

4-0

The strength and depth shown as a team was very evident in their impressive wins against many second teams this season. A real sense of commitment and dedication continually focused the girls in developing their game, particularly in their ability to

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Pocklington Won 2-0

Fourth and Fifth XI The fourth and fifth teams both had a fantastic season, and it was brilliant to see so many girls choosing hockey – enough to create

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a fifth team for the first time. With only two losses, the fourth XI maintained the high standards they set from their first match of the season and vastly improved their play throughout the term. They focused particularly on using the entire width of the pitch and passing on the ball quickly. The fifth XI finished on a brilliant high, beating Queen Margaret’s 3-0: a super result. All the girls should be credited for their consistently enthusiastic and positive behaviour, turning up to training and matches with the right attitude to play and learn. The teams were a pleasure to coach this term and they should be proud of all that they achieved.

Under-15s This was a good season for the individual and tactical development of the teams. Time in training focused specifically on positional awareness and developing an understanding of multi-faceted play. To achieve this, the squad learned to rotate on and off the pitch, switching positions regularly to develop their understanding of the game as a whole. In turn, this helped to develop their strategic understanding of the game, which will be an important stage of their development as they progress to the senior pace of play next year.

A huge ‘well done’ goes to all the girls who were involved this year: L Aspinall, M Bletcher, E Booth, V Brook, C Bythell, E Carlyle, A Ellis, A Enoch, H Drake, A Fox, R Gabbertas, S Gill, C Harris, A Headlam-Morley, I Hedley, T James, E Kelly, I Matthews, L Moir, N Moir, L Palmer, E Richardson, G Richardson, Z Stone Miss Alicia Matts Results: Queen Margaret’s

Won

1-0

Sedbergh Drew 3-3

Individually, great strides were made too. Grace Freshwater controlled play in the centre with great composure and vision and Ellie Spencer developed her receiving skills to combine with the speed she achieved driving down the line. These were only two of the many effective combinations that helped to link the pitch with flow and pace. By the end of the season for both the A and B squads, work was at a premium. Highlights for the As included a 2-0 win against Queen Margaret’s and a 4-0 win over Hymers. The B team played a number of opposition ‘A’ sides, including Worksop (lost 0-2), Ashville (lost 1-3) and Ripon (drew 1-1). Good results, and an excellent effort against tougher teams. A 2-1 victory against Sedbergh was their highlight, and they showed terrific team spirit.

Barnard Castle

Drew

1-1

Mrs Helen Barnard

Ampleforth third XI

Lost

0-2

The following girls represented the under-15A team this season:

Ampleforth third XI

Drew

1-1

M Bennison, H Bilton, I Bulinski, I Eaden, J Fraser, G Freshwater (captain), J Heijbroek, Z Johnson, T Jones, G Lawrence, E Naylor, E Spencer

Yarm Won 2-0 Pocklington Lost 1-2

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Under-15A results: Queen Margaret’s

Won

2-0

GSAL Lost 1-4 Hill House

Lost

0-2

Ripon Lost 2-4 Ampleforth Drew 1-1 RGS Newcastle

Lost

4-5

Hymers Won 4-0 Sedbergh Lost 3-4 Pocklington Lost 3-4 The following girls represented the under-15B team this season: F Cowman-Sharpe, S Benaddi, L Bent, I Brown, F Chapman, T Cheung, H Coleman, R Dowson, G Edwards, B Jackson, O Kimpson, F Mackenzie, A Webster, A Whitaker Under-15B results: Queen Margaret’s

Drew

1-1

Worksop Lost 0-2 Ashville Lost 1-3 Ripon Drew 0-0 Yarm Lost 0-9 GSAL Lost 0-2 Sedbergh Won 2-1 Pocklington Lost 0-1

Under-14s The under-14s had a fantastic hockey season and I was particularly impressed by the way in which they adapted to the eleven-a-side game. All the girls who opted for hockey represented the school: the standard was high and lots of girls were in competition for places. The work-rate from all the players was outstanding and as the season progressed, both the A and B team squads became formidable teams, putting many of the opposition schools under a huge amount of pressure. The season started off with a number of particularly tough matches: the victory over Queen Margaret’s, after just one training

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session, epitomised the effort and sheer grit of the under-14 teams. They were suddenly transported onto a full-sized pitch, playing in positions that were new to them and with girls they had only met the week before! Towards the end of the season the win against Sedbergh showed just how far they had progressed, both teams played exciting, skilful and fast-paced hockey to secure the victories. It has been a pleasure to see 31 girls represent the under-14 teams this season: in every session Mr Lancaster and I were continually impressed with the effort and commitment they showed to their hockey. Importantly they had a great deal of fun and learned lots of new skills as well as understanding how we play the full-sided game at St Peter’s. A particularly memorable day was the journey to Giggleswick at the end of September; unfortunately the road to the school was closed which resulted in a detour to the world’s oldest sweet shop, followed by a walk along the River Aire at Gargrave! The A team however, later on in the season, met the Giggleswick team in the county championships that was held in Harrogate – it was a great game and we did well to achieve a win against them.

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The A team had a fantastic run in the national schools’ competition and reached the North final having convincingly won the area, county and North-East rounds. As the competition progressed there was very little difference between the teams – in knock-out competitions the pressure to score goals is huge and because of some tactical substitutions by the teams from the North-West area we came third in our draw! Mrs Justine Williams

Queen Margaret’s

Won

3-1

Yarm Lost 0-3 Hymers Lost 0-4 GSAL Lost 0-1 Sedbergh Lost 0-1

Under-14A results: Won

2-1

GSAL Lost 1-2 Lost

0-2

Ampleforth Won 3-0 RGS Newcastle

Under-14B results:

Ampleforth Lost 0-4

L Williams (capt), F McDonald-Wilson, A Blackburn, B Barker, C Calvert, S Bone, C Jackson, M Wylie, J Davis, R Padgett, M Smith, O Hedley, E Race, G Chamberlain

Hill House

I Harrison (captain), P Brown, M O’Neill, V Cross, L Betts, R Hartley, H Turvill, E Miles-Kingston, L Buch, M Akhurst, V Amsden, G Legg, A Horner, A Sharp, A Shaw, A Gray

Ashville Drew 1-1

The following girls represented the A team this season:

Queen Margaret’s

The following girls represented the B team this season:

Lost

0-1

Hymers Won 4-0 Sedbergh Won 2-0 Pocklington Won 7-0

Pocklington Won 3-0

Inter-House Hockey Another closely contested inter-house hockey competition saw the final standing as below: 1st School 2nd Clifton 3rd The Rise 4 Dronfield

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Boys’ Hockey

The school has enjoyed a hugely successful season. The first XI was unbeaten and are County and North-East champions. The under16s reached the North finals. The under-16Bs were unbeaten; the under-15s were unbeaten in schools fixtures and were county semifinalists. The under-14s reached the North finals, were County and North-East champions, and are also unbeaten in schools’ fixtures.

Will Kimpson played brilliantly at left half, having to play there because of an injury. He made the position look easy. Captain Ollie Fryer was tireless and led by example keeping the ball and threatening the opposition goal. Alex Martin was always calm and assured in defence, as was his partner Sam Hudson, who never lost the ball. Matty Roberts grew in stature during the day realising the benefit of a strong clearing strike. Will Quinn was always a threat up front stretching the defence and showing good touch. Tom Robinson and Freddie Greswold were tireless in midfield, closing down the opposition. Sam Elliot spearheaded the attack with growing confidence and skill as the term progressed and showed his awareness in front of goal. Max Courtis, a fifth-former, grew in confidence and showed good carrying skills. Will Andrews was unflappable in defence and his passing improved throughout the day. Sam Lodge in goal was at times not needed but showed great concentration when called upon. All-in-all a most enjoyable and successful day. It was a pleasure to be associated with the boys.

First XI

This standard of play was reproduced in all school fixtures. The highlights being a 6-4 win over a strong Styx side and a 3-1 win over the Pandas. The squad has worked hard all season and has always given of their best. I would like to thank Anthony Bull for his coaching and umpiring this season. He will be missed. I wish the ‘senior pros’ who leave us good luck and hope they continue to enjoy playing sport, which is what, after all, it’s all about.

The first XI are to be congratulated on winning the county tournament. The team played exceptionally well throughout the day and conceded only one goal in five games. Freddie Heijbroek dominated the midfield throughout the day and was the man of the match in the final against a very strong QEGS Wakefield team.

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Over one hundred and twenty players have represented the school. Thank you to all who have played, coached, and supported this season. Mr Mike Johnston

Second XI

The squad: O Fryer (captain), S Hudson, T Robinson, W Quinn, W Kimpson, S Lodge, F Greswold, J Bird, F Heijbroek, A Martin, W Andrews, S Elliot, M Roberts, M Courtis First XI caps are awarded to Ollie Fryer, Freddie Heijbroek, Sam Hudson and Alex Martin. The Stick is awarded to Will Quinn

Despite the terrible weather we were able to play a good number of our matches and to train a great deal with the first XI. The experience of playing against such a tremendous side was good for the seconds, even if it was a bit daunting at times. It was pleasure to coach the team and also to have the opportunity of watching the senior side develop to such an extent. This certainly brought on the lads and they responded in matches very well themselves. We tend to play other schools’ first XIs and so the standard required of us is greater: this is excellent as it allows the lads to develop and to realize their potential even if they are not in the first team.

The Mark Burn Trophy for most improved player goes to Sam Elliot The Pandas Cup for middle school player of the season: Ollie Hughes The Mondial Shield for senior inter-house hockey: Clifton The Hubbard Cup for junior inter-house hockey: Hope

We were lucky to have two lads, Freddie Greswold and Joe Waterhouse, who came to us in our hour of need before the first away game against Hymers’ first XI. They stayed with us and Freddie progressed to gain his first XI colours. Joe captained the side and gave it its drive and vigour in midfield. At Hymers we also discovered we had two good goalkeepers, Adam and Niall; one of them also proved rather good as a forward scoring a hat-trick in the game and claiming two more goals during

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From the outset the under-16As focused on developing their tactical and technical understanding as a group. This was hugely evident towards the end of the season when they beat a strong Egglescliffe side 3-2 (having learned how to defend drag-flicked short corners effectively!!) in the North-East play-off, to qualify for the North hockey finals. This match summed up the team’s positive and determined attitude as they applied all that they had practised successfully in the game. The defensive unit controlled the game whilst the attackers made effective leads that allowed St Peter’s to

the season! Our back four made great progress with Matt, Tom, Gideon and Joe developing good transition from defence into attack. Wills Fordy and Fryer provided us with considerable pace and grit in midfield with Ed making the left side of the diamond his. Alex and James provided us with outlets from midfield into attack. The lads listened and learned a great deal about how and when to press, when to drop off and play a half-court press, about how to switch play and to move swiftly from defence into attack. They all worked hard at their individual skills and understanding of the game and I hope enjoyed the season as much as I did. They scored some great goals and played with real enthusiasm, heart and a sense of humour. They played because they wanted to and developed into a fine team. I thank them for their efforts and especially Joe for his captaincy. They all have a future in club hockey if they choose to play it when they leave us. ‘Do you know what my favorite part of the game is? The opportunity to play.’ Mike Singletary Mr Paddy Stephen

Under-16As The under-16As were a pleasure to coach this season. Despite lacking a little defensive organisation the team started their season strongly with a well-deserved win against Pocklington’s second team. Unfortunately, a number of their matches were then cancelled early in the season because of the poor weather. Despite this the team worked hard in training and were disappointed to lose 2-5 in their next game to Egglescliffe. This was a match in which they competed with the opposition in open play, but struggled to contain their talented drag-flicker at short corners! As the team began to focus on moving the ball around the pitch at pace during games, and transferring the ball effectively to relieve pressure, their results went from strength to strength. They subsequently beat Scarborough, Yarm and Pocklington (again) convincingly.

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score two deflected goals in the first half. Unfortunately the North finals proved a step too far for the team, who despite competing well were beaten by some high-quality teams including Thirsk and Sedbergh. I would like to take the opportunity to thank the boys for their efforts throughout the season, and hope that they will continue to play hockey into the future! The following boys represented the under-16As this season: O Hughes, M Thomson, C Higginbottom, A Liley, M Taylor, M Courtis, S Williams, H Contreras, A Brown, B Raubitschek, R Greenall, J Williams, M Ubhi, J Black, H Barker, P Konstantinov Mrs Emma Brough

Under-16Bs The under-16Bs had a fantastic unbeaten season in which they produced some impressive performances. This was particularly pleasing given that the majority of their matches were against under-16A team opposition. In their first match against Ashville the B team was a little off the pace in the opening minutes and conceded an early goal. Ashville moved the ball around well, and the St Peter’s team struggled defensively to control some skilful forwards. Despite this, following the half-time break they began to control the game a little more effectively, focusing on their positional play which improved vastly in the second half. The game ended 2-2. The team was enthusiastic and motivated both in training and matches, and as a result they made huge improvements in the first

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half of the season. In matches versus Ampleforth, Hymers and RGS Newcastle the team focused particularly well on their movement up front and their out-letting of the ball from defence to midfield. It was fantastic towards the end of the second half of the season to see the backline controlling and communicating so well with the rest of the field. This was particularly evident in their final match against Scarborough College. This was a mixed A and B team, however those B-team players involved demonstrated the improvements they had made both in technical skill and tactical understanding and put it into practice effectively. Those players made a significant contribution in this game, which was won convincingly. It was a pleasure to coach such a motivated and committed group of boys this season. The following boys represented the team this season: J Amsden, M Boswell, B Chamberlain, L Faithfull, M Hopkins, C Hudson, S Ingall, J Lawrence, F Rawnsley, H Sharp, R Sinclair, C Smith, E Turvill, R Winterburn Results: Ashville College

drew

2-2

Ampleforth College

won

2-1

Hymers College

won

6-0

RGS Newcastle

won

5-0

Scarborough College

won

4-2

Mr Nick Longster

Under-15As This was a fabulous season for the under-15s, one in which they wholeheartedly excelled and established themselves, both as a team and as individuals. Picking up from where they left off as under-14s some concentrated early season preparation and quality time on

the Astroturf saw the season get off to a flying start, dominating in every area of the game in what was supposed to be a tough fixture against Worksop. Some outstanding attacking play and moments of solo genius saw the boys come away with a 7-2 victory: the benchmark and standards had been set high. We came crashing down to earth in our next fixture against a very strong and able Egglescliffe side on a chilly night under lights. It was safe to say that we were beaten by the stronger side: we had the players and ability to compete but lacked some fundamentals from the previous week. I think it was safe to say that better structure and understanding of specific roles seemed to be the lessons we could take away with us. The simple mantra of ‘do your job’ was the message and mentality that we took moving forward for the rest of the season. Some focused time in practice working on ensuring each member of the squad knew his role and also the role of the players around him saw our game structure and understanding soar. With this came time, composure and confidence on the ball; skills improved, ball transfers got faster and movements off the ball became more natural and better understood. The hard work paid off: there were outstanding and clinical wins against strong sides from Ampleforth,

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Harrogate Grammar and Barnard Castle with a goal tally of 21 for and one against, with players doing their jobs and working hard for the players next to them. The county finals day proved slightly disappointing for a side with such ability – playing some very good hockey for most of the day it seemed ours to win. However, some silly mistakes and breakdowns in communication gave away crucial goals in the semi-final. We lost our structure and couldn’t find the killer instinct early enough to rescue ourselves. It has been a pleasure to have coached all the boys this term: they have been great value and superb ambassadors for the school. I must thank all them for their tireless efforts throughout the season – they worked hard at developing their skills and understanding. This group of players have a bright future ahead of them and I look forward to seeing them progress, some of them into the first team next season. Well done boys, a fantastic season and one you should be proud of. My sincere thanks to Mr Legg for his professional guidance throughout the season and for the time and effort he invested in the boys and their development. Mr Gareth Sharp

Under-15Bs This was a successful season for the team. Eight of the matches were against opposition A teams and this should be taken into account when looking at the results. Albert Pollard and Alex Harrison shared the goalkeeping duties, both showing good promise and dominating their ‘D’. In front of them a defence of Benjie Denison, Oli Head, Freddie Stothard and Ilya Rzheznikov developed into a solid unit, the latter earning promotion to the A team squad. The midfield of Fergus Waterhouse, Joe Raper and Henry Campbell worked tirelessly in defence and turned ball over into attack. Ben Poskitt played in the pocket along with Josh Harrison. The attack of Zak Darbandi, Zac Buttle and Freddie Adcock threatened at all times and scored freely. The team started the season slowly but showed improvement in the latter half; they played with spirit and for each other, and their enjoyment was plain to see. They were a pleasure to coach. The squad: F Adcock, Z Buttle, H Campbell, B Denison, T Flanders-Abidakun, A Harrison, J Harrison, O Head, J Pham, M Piquiot, A Pollard, B Poskitt, J Raper, I Rzheznikov, F Stothard, F Waterhouse, W Zaman Results: PLAYED 10 | WON 4 | DREW 2 | LOST 4 GOALS FOR 18 | GOALS AGAINST 13

Mr Hugo Battersby

Under-14Bs St Peter’s under-14Bs playing Pocklington’s A-team at home on the Hubbard started really well with Jo Bates opening the scoring from close range following a short corner. This was quickly followed by a short-corner strike from Isaac Giannini. St Peter’s were moving the ball round really well and added a third after fifteen minutes, through Isaac. With a squad of fifteen players the team rotated really well. It was 3-0 at half time. The second half was similar to the first, but Pocklington did come back and score a goal. St Peter’s could have added to their tally with two great strikes just going wide from Matthew Roberts and Joe Bates, but we came out winners, 3-1. Against Worksop College, St Peter’s started well with a goal from Joe Bates after two minutes, and they continued to dominate, with Joe completing his hat-trick and further goals from Will Guyer and Matthew Roberts (two each) and Jake Akyol, who scored with the last hit of the game to complete a comfortable 8-0 win. Against Thirsk, the team had a hard time, losing 7-1. After defending well for ten minutes St Peter’s missed a couple of chances before Thirsk took the lead, and they increased this to 2-0 at half time. Will Taylor in goal made several fine saves and Charles Blackburn and George Black moved to play twin centre halves which allowed the team to move forward with more purpose. However, Thirsk increased their lead to 4-0 before a ball from Charles Blackburn found Benji Wilson through on goal, only for his shot to be saved, but Laurence Carlyle followed up to score. Three late goals from Thirsk took the edge off the good second-half performance. This was followed by a very disappointing draw against Ampleforth at York St John’s University. St Peter’s boys dominated the game but could not score against a resolute Ampleforth defence. A very hard match at RGS Newcastle came next, with a good first half performance – Cai Farrington scoring the opening goal after four minutes and St Peter’s holding on to the lead until half-time. RGS came out in the second half with all guns blazing and scored four goals without reply, until in the final minute Isaac Giannini scored a great individual goal. Against a Hymers A-team, the side played really well, winning 2-0 with Tom Robbins and Laurie Carlyle scoring. Ben Hall and Jake Akyol were solid in defence. Ashville College were a tougher proposition: St Peter’s soon found themselves a couple of goals down, and at half-time it was 4-0. Ben Hall came into the defence to stem the flow of goals, and the much more even second half was drawn 2-2: Ashville increased their lead to 6-0 before Tom Lindley and Tom Robbins pulled goals back. The final match of the season was away at Pocklington and St Peter’s took an early lead, only to concede late in the second half for a 1-1 draw. Over 30 boys played in the seven matches and most of them had chance to play in different positions with a number progressing up into the A-team. Mr Robert Maltby

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Netball The standard of netball being played across the senior and junior programme is of an exceptional level. There is a real sense of performance matched by participation as we field five senior teams. The fixture list has continued to develop and the competition has become stronger. The use of strength and conditioning sessions has helped injury prevention and core stability to add another element to the netball programme this year. This season has seen the under-14, under-15As and Bs, under-16 and under-19 National Schools’ teams again win their respective York and District area tournaments to go on and represent the area in the county tournament. Such a tremendous achievement considering all were played out of the netball season. The under-14 and under-19 teams followed this success by reaching the regional finals: this was the first time that two age-groups have qualified together and the experience gained was invaluable. The competition was strong and a great indication of the next level, which our teams are striving to reach.

First VII The first VII had another extremely successful season showing a high level of tactical knowledge and understanding. They won ten out of their twelve matches, and only narrowly missed out to very experienced GSAL and Sedbergh sides, renowned for netball scholarships.

approach allowed us to turn over a lot of centre passes and take them to goal. This season the first VII have played with intensity and a tireless work ethic to produce some exceptional performances. A drive, determination and focus shown during training to work hard on fitness levels and consistency under pressure this year has been exceptional. Some of the highlights this season have been beating Ashville 37-33 in an end-to-end battle. The two sides were evenly matched throughout the whole game; however our ball-speed through court, particularly letting the first ball go, helped the pace of our game and gave us the upper hand at the end of each quarter. After demonstrating some impressive passages of play throughout, we found our shooting form to take the advantage during the final few minutes securing a well-earned win against a disciplined opposition. We had another comprehensive victory against Hymers, a team that has previously managed to get the upper hand. Straight line and lateral balls helped to deny the cross-court option which was vital in keeping possession from the outset. Our quick transitions from attack to defence and communication helped keep the ball in our half as we created a zone defence, essentially pushing the opposition high and wide to create the lifted ball. The final score ended 35-29 in what was a challenging but well-fought game. Special mention must go to Millie Grant who captained the team. Millie brought a motivational and driven approach to training and matches. The strength and depth on display by the first VII is a privilege to watch and has shown great promise for the future.

The girls showed great maturity in their approach to trying out new ideas this season, relentlessly sticking to the through-court defensive principles in order to apply pressure as a unit rather than as individuals at crucial times, being most evident during set plays. Their ability to work cohesively as a team this season has ensured we have capitalised on our opposition’s error rate regularly; ultimately turning ball over and successfully putting out four consistent quarters which stick to the game plan.

Second VII

This season has seen the girls work hard to master the ‘line out’ off a centre pass in defence. They worked as a unit to zone-mark the space instead of marking specific players, and this dynamic

This has been a terrific season for the second VII – outstanding in many ways. Training alongside the first-team squad, the seconds focused on key principles of play in both attack and defence.

The squad: P Phillips, M Bletcher, R Green, J Webster, K Robinson, E Grant, J Elliot, M James

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The squad: X Cook, M Palmer, L Aspinal, E Proctor, A Blackburn, A Bell, E Brierley, S Wilson, E Booth, O Calvert

Third and Fourth VIIs

Releasing the ball early, or ‘let it go,’ was an often-heard mantra, alongside pass ahead. Key to such fast play was timing and retaining balance on the court. As the season progressed, the players learned to read off one another well, constantly seeking options down the court first. The team was ably led by Annabelle Blackburn and she captained them to the first win of the season against Hull Collegiate firsts, 12-11. They followed this through with two victories, against Ampleforth and Giggleswick, in a triangular match on the opening weekend of the season. At this early stage, the co-operation of the team as a unit was beginning to take shape and became a defining feature. An exceptional victory over GSAL’s seconds the following week, galvanised their potential further. Overall out of eleven fixtures, the team won nine and of the two they lost, both were to A-team opposition: Woodhouse Grove and RGS Newcastle. To cap their outstanding form, the girls took part in the secondteam Queen Margaret’s invitational tournament at the close of the season on March 18. They were unbeaten all afternoon, with victories over Sedbergh, Hymers, Silcoates, Worksop, Yarm, Pocklington and Barnard Castle, to win the whole event. A tremendous season for all, and a huge ‘thank you’ to our outgoing upper-sixth players, Xanthe Cook and Maddie Palmer, who have played with great commitment, humour and passion over the years.

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This has been a great netball season for both the third and fourth netball teams. There has been some fantastic, fast-paced game play and lots of brilliant, closely contested matches. The season started well: the thirds recorded very convincing wins against Hull Collegiate, Ampleforth and Worksop. During this time both teams were working hard in training and a match against each other proved incredibly competitive and close. Some of the main focuses were on driving on an angle to receive a straight-line ball, and trying out different ways to be successful at receiving a ball. This paid off well for the fourth team as they recorded a comfortable 42-6 win in their first match of the season against Worksop. After the success of the first few matches, training was upped a notch. The focus was on fitness and more technical aspects of the game. Each training session had a hard fitness element that all committed to and this was one of our main strengths in matches against other schools. The hard work and determination of the third team saw them beat Woodhouse Grove’s second team 30-8. During this match the girls displayed great movement, ball placement and shooting. However, once again, the fourths held the thirds to a draw: this really showed the strength and depth of our teams! Consistency during match play was an area that needed some work and development during the season: throughout every training session and match the line ‘straight-line ball’ could be heard many times. This discipline, hard work and consistency are what gave us the edge over other teams. Our passages of play and focus on straight-line balls paid dividends against Barnard Castle and Ashville, with both the third and fourth teams recording comfortable wins. The defensive players from both teams were superb at sticking to the tactics; this kept both Barnard Castle teams in single figures. Coming up against RGS Newcastle was a hard game for both that required putting into practice everything we had been working on. The fourth team put on a consistent and technically brilliant performance against RGS Newcastle’s second/ third team, beating them by just one goal. We then started to have a greater focus on some set-play pieces in training and applied

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these principles brilliantly during matches against Pocklington, Queen Margaret’s and Bradford Grammar. Once again these convincing wins from both teams really demonstrated the hard work, commitment and consistency of all in the teams. For the last match of the season against Hymers, both teams knew this would be a challenge! The girls were determined to finish the season as they started … with a win. Both teams displayed ranges of movement, consistency in straightline balls and ball placement, fantastic circle and team defence, brilliant through-court support and some phenomenal shooting. Therefore, despite it being a closelycontested and physical match, both teams had the edge over Hymers and gained fully deserved wins! What a brilliant season – well done to all of you! The following girls represented the third and fourth teams: A Craig, L Moss, E Hartley, H Ford, E Adcock, R Tait, A Chan, E Lockett, L Dabbs, V Brook, L Leedham, G Richardson, A Gilman, E Nelson, L Galloway

Under-15s The under-15s had a terrific season this year, marked by the determination and application of the girls to work on all aspects of their game. More clement weather than last season meant a full complement of matches were played, with improvement made throughout, especially in spatial awareness and match play. The highlight was both A and B teams winning the York and District competition against strong opposition, and despite playing in some difficult conditions in fading light. The willingness of the girls to train and work on their fitness in all sessions was a real credit to their pluck and hopefully they have many more successful years playing netball at St Peter’s.

netball which meant that we were easily able to field three very competitive teams. At times finding other schools with such breadth of players proved rather challenging and meant our C team often had to play other schools’ B or even A teams. This tested the girls but also gave them the opportunity to improve their match play. Probably the most notable win for the C team was against Worksop College where the shooters managed to score a goal in nearly every minute of the game! The effort and commitment of the girls was admirable, as was the way in which they conducted themselves in each training and match situation. The B team also had some exciting and hard-fought matches. The nail-biting draw against Central Newcastle High was a particularly hard game for the girls: it was physical and well matched so the victory could have gone to either side. Because of injuries the B team became somewhat depleted with a number of girls moving up

Mrs Cath Hempsall

Under-14s As is now customary for the under-14 netball team, the season started early on in September. Despite this being the hockey term, selection for the A team had to be made because of the timings of the national schools’ championships which started at the end of the month. Training was held during any available free time and Miss Wilson had only a couple of weeks to prepare the girls for the York and District round of the national competition. A number of the girls had played together before and with a couple of new faces the team worked, and trained, extremely hard. Pleasingly the majority of the third-form girls had chosen to play

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to play in the A team. The A team had a very successful season and after winning the York and District round of the national schools’ competition progressed to the county round. In securing a victory in the county round they, along with the under-19 team, made it to the regional round. The regional round is a highly-competitive round-robin event and the standard of every game is exceptionally high. The under-14s must be congratulated on their performance in the competition: they most certainly took a lot out of the experience and let’s hope they can continue to build on their success as they progress through the school. In the school fixtures they enjoyed some tough and challenging matches, but unfortunately at times were short because of a number of injuries, and players were asked to swap positions and to move teams. The way in which the girls dealt with these changes was admirable and every girl stepped up to what was at times a rather formidable challenge. This was particularly evident in the game against Sedbergh, where, without any reserves, each girl had to work extremely hard: there was most certainly no room for errors. Throughout the season I was particularly impressed with the way in which the third-form netballers conducted themselves: they continually displayed grit, courage, dedication and fantastic teamwork, and were a real pleasure to work with. The following girls represented the A team: J Davies, G Chamberlain, L Williams, C Calvert (captain), A Blackburn, M Wylie , V Cross, K Bonner, B Barker, P Brown, O Hedley, H Turvill The following girls represented the B team: O Hedley, I Harrison, S Bone, B Barker, F McDonald-Wilson, M Smith, E Race, V Amsden, B Barker, P Brown, H Turvill, C Jackson, V Cross, A Gray

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The following girls represented the C team: C Jackson, M O’Neill, A Horner, A Shaw, M Sharp, L Gath, R Hartley, E Miles-Kingston, J Brimmell, M Sharp, L Buch, G Legg, R Padgett, M Akhurst, C McKelvie Inter-house netball results: Junior 1st Clifton 2nd Hope 3rd Queen’s 4th Temple Senior 1st The Grove 2nd School 3rd Queen’s 4th Temple

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Cricket

First XI ‘Coming together is a beginning. Keeping together is progress. Working together is success.’ Henry Ford This season was always going to be one of reconstruction after the mass exodus of several influential and experienced players from last year’s XI. What became very clear through the winter sessions was that the young pool of talent and ability on show was both auspicious and very exciting. As with any developing group of players we knew that they might have to take a few setbacks, see some rough moments, make mistakes and fail, but as long as we adapted, learned from our errors, and expanded our games we would grow and make progress as a team. The season began with our annual three days of pre-season with Cheltenham College. To say it was a rather damp three days would be an understatement – but between the heavy showers we were able get some precious time out in the middle and tried to do our best to put our skills to the test in challenging conditions. On our return and as the school season got underway we managed to gain more invaluable time in the middle in a tight, confidence-boosting win against a strong Retiring Captain’s XI. Solid, determined and hard-fought victories against Bradford and the Yorkshire Gents saw the promise and the potential of all the encouraging signs that were evident from the winter. Rain and even snow plagued the early part of the summer and

made the start of the season very tough to get any quality practice time or even game time; with four games washed out without a ball being bowled. Rather like the weather the season became inconsistent and unpredictable: never able to get a steady run at training sessions or able to string two games together in row, we lost focus and some of the direction of what we wanted to achieve. Exam pressures and time commitments fuelled this erratic and unpredictable period of the season. However, it was not all doom and gloom like the rain clouds: some great performances and displays of what the side was capable of saw exceptional wins against Ampleforth, Denstone, GSAL, Hymers and the MCC, and the tightest and most thrilling of finishes against Woodhouse Grove was a pleasure to watch, but all too often these victories were followed by ill-fated and shock defeats with collapses reminiscent of many an England side in the 90s – those against Worksop in the T20, Pocklington, Durham, Trent and the OP’s highlighting our vulnerability, lack of experience and naivety when situations became challenging. So many times our skills got us into positions to make the game ours, and to hammer home the advantage, but instead we just expected things to happen. ‘Things don’t just happen, people make them happen.’ Zig Ziglar Looking ahead, I have no doubt that for those boys with two, three

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or four years left in the side they will absorb some crucial cricketing and life lessons from this summer and go more assertively into their cricket, knowing that with determined hard work and a real desire to want to win, success is inevitable. Everything they have learned this summer will enhance their abilities both as individuals and as a team. ‘When you fail you learn from the mistakes you made and it should motivate you to work even harder, whether as a group or as an individual.’ Natalie Gulbis

The Players Tom Spearman captained the XI with poise, budding maturity and a well-founded understanding of the game; he led the spin quartet from the front with his notable leg-spin and added some more than useful runs in the middle order. A stand-out fielder, both close to the bat and in the deep. Harry Contreras continued to show his class on a number of occasions throughout the summer, especially given his putrid start to the season. Growing in confidence and understanding of his role, he developed a good relationship with his opening partner. Plenty of work to be done in the winter, in order to further enhance and fulfil his potential at the top of the order and play the big innings he is capable of.

game. Grew immensely into his role of leading the attack with the new ball, showing pace and bounce. Shrewd and intelligent.

Chris Wood: what a sensational summer! As a third-former in his debut season he took things in his stride with confidence, maturity and humility beyond his years; a huge appetite to bat for long periods of time and a hunger to score runs that is most admirable. Topped the batting and bowling stats for the season and becomes the first third-former to score a century for the first XI in over 60 years.

Tom Gill is full of enthusiasm for the game. He set the tone for us as fielding unit: energetic and lively. A tenacious and busy middleorder batsman and a more than useful go-to man with his offspinners.

Ted Patmore enjoyed a very solid summer in all three dimensions of the game. He remains one of the best fielders on the circuit and on his day, without doubt one of the best batsmen around. Ted will lead the XI next summer with his strong understanding of the game, flair and vivacity. Sam Lodge enjoyed some long overdue success with both bat and ball. Played some very eye-catching knocks and deserved more from his season considering the amount of hard work he put into his

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Cameron Burdass has his own style and way of playing but again showed real promise and class with the bat in the middle order. Promotion up the order next season should see him convert the many good starts into game-changing innings.

Alex Liley improved immeasurably over the course of the summer with the gloves. Took some sharp catches and stumpings and will only get better. A student of the game and an intelligent middleorder batsman who played his part in some vital partnerships – a bright future ahead. James Black From left-arm seam, to left-arm orthodox in six months: had to go through some steep learning-curves but was rewarded for his efforts in the end with some worthy spells of bowling during the summer. Will only get better with time and self-assurance; potential game changer if he works hard this winter. Self-confessed best number eleven around!

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Will Quinn is a brilliant lower-order impact player and one of the safest pair of hands around; a really good team man to have in the dressing room. Sam Elliot really impressed with ball and improved greatly as the season progressed and he found some confidence. Gained a yard or two of pace and with time and work through the winter months he could prove to be a real handful going into next season. More than handy lower-order batsman with a taste for big hitting. Alex Martin A superb pair of hands and a more than useful utility player. One of the best reverse-sweepers around. Felix van der Borgh yet again showed promise with ball. However, injury held him back for most of the season. Hard work in the gym and some determination to succeed should allow him to reach his potential in his final year. Jack Amsden came late into the side off the back of some very solid performances for the second XI. A ‘moneyball’ pick that always seems to produce the goods. Concentrated and determined hard work on his specific skills through the winter will enrich his abilities to really kick on next year. My many thanks … To all the boys for their huge efforts and hard work throughout the year and especially through the busy and tricky periods of the exam season; they were first-rate company on away trips and superb ambassadors for St Peter’s cricket the length and breadth of the country. To our ground-staff George, Andy and Sheldon who worked tirelessly all year to prepare very good schoolboy cricket pitches for us to practise and play on, week-in, week-out.

Averages (First XI averages do not include HMC T20 fixtures)

Batting

Innings

Runs Not out

Best

Average

C Wood

493

109*

32.8

H Contreras

403

25.1

E Patmore

337

22.4

S Lodge

326

20.3

A Liley

280

T Spearman

230

15.3

C Burdass

247

59*

22.4

J Amsden

18.5

T Gill

8.8

W Quinn

7.1

S Elliot

9.6

J Black

10*

13.5

J Williams

A Martin

B Lodge

2.6

Also batted: F Van der Borgh 0*, 4*; J Simpson 20; M Lodge 10

Bowling

Overs

Runs Wickets

Best

Average

C Wood

140

411

5-36

11.10

E Patmore

120

384

3-18

16.69

T Spearman

122.2

542

2-17

28.52

S Lodge

306

4-39

A special mention must go to Ken Featherston, who after 50 years as an umpire, 20 of them for St Peter’s, finally hangs up his ‘finger’. Ken will be sadly missed in the middle, but we hope to see him as often as he can, supporting the boys from the other side of boundary.

J Black

256

3-20

H Contreras

168

2-10

15.27

J Amsden

3-16

11.25

C Burdass

123

And finally, to our leaving players, you will be missed next summer: thank you for your acquaintance, aspirations and aptitude. I wish you all the very best of luck and good wishes for the future. Thank you, gentlemen!

T Gill

3.2

1-0

F Van der Borgh 5.1

1-7

J Williams

To David Foster who has put in a huge amount of time and energy into cricket across the whole school, but especially with the first team. All the boys have benefited from his knowledge, input and professional manner.

‘When you leave school, finally you’ll find that life is a game, sometimes serious, sometimes fun, but a game that must be played with true team spirit.’ Shelagh Delaney

The following have represented the first XI this season: +* T Spearman (captain) +* S Lodge, *E Patmore, *C Burdass, *H Contreras, #T Gill, #W Quinn, A Martin, J Black, S Elliot, A Liley, C Wood, J Amsden, J Williams, J Simpson, B Lodge, M Lodge, F van der Borgh +cap *colours #half colours

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Results overall: PLAYED 17 | WON 9 | DRAWN 1 | LOST 7 ABANDONED 4 | WIN RATIO: 55.88%

Mr Gareth Sharp

Bradford won the toss and opted to bat and in their allotted overs they achieved a formidable score of 155. Ralph Sinclair took a hat-trick of wickets and Charlie Hudson and Jack Amsden also produced some strong figures and a wicket each. Whilst I was worried about how we would fare against an organised and talented opposition, the team stayed upbeat and despite some cheap early wickets we managed to beat their score in the 31st over. Special credit in this game must go to George O’Neill for his knock of 39, Charlie Hudson for his 33 and Jack Amsden for his 22. We were off to a good start and I was incredibly impressed by the spirit emerging in this young squad: the team was entirely made up of lower sixth and fifth-form pupils. The second game of the season was against Ampleforth away. After a rather drawn-out bus trip we won the toss and made them bat. Playing 30 overs this time, they scored a very respectable 125 all out and credit must go to Jack Amsden with three wickets for 17 runs in five overs, Ben Raubitschek with two wickets for 22 in four overs and Joe Simpson with two wickets for no runs in three balls. Charlie Hudson, Ralph Sinclair and Jack Williams also helped our cause with a wicket each and some excellent figures. On a hard wicket, with excellent views and the sun shining we set off to beat their score and we did so with ease. Marcus Thomson opened with a very useful 15 and Jack Amsden and Will Fordy brought victory home with fantastic knocks of 40 and 38 respectively.

Second XI It has been another successful season for the second XI, playing six games, winning five and losing one. Despite the usual disruption caused by external exams the squad remained close-knit and determined to secure some excellent results. The season began with a 35-over game away against Bradford Grammar School. It was a rather overcast day with showers threatening to disrupt play throughout the afternoon, but the team remained motivated and pulled off a very impressive victory.

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Up third was Durham and we had been pre-warned that they might be bringing a weaker squad because some of their players were preparing for external exams the following week. We, however, put out a full-strength side, won the toss and asked them to bat. We enjoyed a very successful hour or so in the field. Playing on a good first XI track at St Peter’s, Durham had no answer to our strong bowling attack and we worked through their batsmen for a total of 49 runs in 23 overs. Credit for superb bowling should go to Felix Van der Borgh with three wickets for three runs off three overs, Jack Amsden for his outstanding five wickets for five runs off five overs and Jack Williams with his two wickets for two runs off four overs. Having shaken up the batting order slightly from the previous week we set to work beating their score and, despite some overly

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defensive play on our part, we managed to knock off 50 runs in 14.5 overs, Oliver Hughes scoring 12, George O’Neill scoring 14 and Ralph Sinclair completing the innings with a well-timed 16 runs. Up next was Woodhouse Grove at St Peter’s and having seen the elaborate warm-up their side were completing on the outfield and the fact that all of their players were wearing matching shirts and trousers, I was instantly concerned that we might be up against it. We followed our usual plan, winning the toss and asking them to bat and we were given a bit of a wake-up call by their organised and talented batting line-up. Their top four batsmen began accumulating runs at a worrying rate and I think we did very well to hold them to 115 all out in 27 overs. Jack Williams helped us out enormously with three wickets for two runs off four overs; Jack Amsden added two wickets for eight runs off five overs and Joe Simpson, Charlie Rae, Ben Raubitschek and Charlie Hudson took a wicket each to help us on our way. After a rather shaky start to our batting, with three of our wickets falling for five runs, we were wonderfully rescued by our remaining batsmen Jack Amsden putting on a patient 39, Joe Simpson dispatching a further 20 and Charlie Hudson and Charlie Rae adding twelve and nine respectively. Despite my early nerves the second XI side once again came through with all guns blazing and I must take my hat off at this point to Jack Amsden who, following some superb bowling and batting performances for the second XI, was rightly promoted to the first XI. Our fifth game of the season was against Hymers away on a gloriously sunny day. Hymers’ coach wasn’t particularly optimistic about his side’s chances and his doubts were rightly compounded as we threw them into bat and held them to 47 in 30 overs. It must be said that we were also far from full strength and I would like to thank James Hanly, Ed Turvill, Rory Winterburn, Sam Wordsworth (all fourth form) and the mighty George Ingall for stepping into the fray at late notice. They all performed wonderfully and their presence and commitment in the field was unquestionable. I would also like to thank George O’Neill who took over the captaincy of the team. Against Hymers the one frustrating aspect of our fielding performance lay with our complete inability to dispose of their opening batsman. Nicknamed ‘The Wall’ he threw us a couple of

chances but eventually held his own, lasting the distance and batting out 30 overs for a patient and important ten runs! However, Ed Turvill improved spirits by taking a well-deserved two wickets for six runs in three overs. After tea we reversed our batting order and this time George O’Neill and Charlie Hudson really shone. Charlie hit a free-flowing 21 and George accompanied him with a well-timed 20 to seal victory. We were on a roll and team spirt was high. As it turned out, because of poor weather, we would only have one fixture left, a tough one against Pocklington. The St Peter’s second XI that faced Pocklington was not a fullstrength side. George O’Neill won the toss and followed our usual strategy by putting them in to bat. Unfortunately, we really battled to get their opening batsman who was in a rich vein of form and quickly notched up 39 runs. He was backed up by a wagging tail and after 30 overs they had put up 147 runs for nine wickets, a total I thought from the outset we would struggle to chase. Bowling credit must, however, go to Alex Ingham who took a superb three wickets for 23 runs off six overs, Felix Van der Borgh who took two wickets for 16 runs off six overs and Jack Williams who did his very best to clear out the tail end by taking two wickets for 22 runs off five overs. After tea we had a quick strategy meeting in the changing room and judging from the mood I had higher hopes that we might be on for victory. These hopes were quickly dashed, however, as our top five struggled to get to grips with some excellent Pocklington seam bowling. We were soon up against it! In the face of defeat it was, however, pleasing to see George O’Neill dig in at the crease and bat in a very patient manner for his 23 runs in 17 overs. Jack Williams and Felix Van der Borgh also had good knocks, adding 15 and 16 respectively. We lasted for 22 overs against a very tight and well-drilled Pocklington eleven and courageously battled to a total of 104 all out. Whilst we didn’t achieve an unbeaten season I was very pleased with the attitude of the players in the second XI this season. There are some extremely talented sportsmen in this squad and I have no doubt that many will be moved up to train with the first XI next year. I would like to say a special thank you to Joe Simpson and George O’Neill for jointly captaining the side this year and I have been particularly impressed with their organisational abilities, their motivational talents and their undying competitive spirit. I look forward to an equally successful and rewarding summer in 2017.

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The squad: J Amsden, W Fordy, C Hudson, O Hughes, G Ingall (vice-captain), A Ingham, G O’Neill, C Rae, B Raubitschek, J Simpson (captain), R Sinclair, M Thomson, M Ubhi, F Van der Borgh, and J Williams Mr Hugo Battersby

Under-15 and Development Cricket ‘The principle is competing against yourself. It’s about self-improvement, about being better than you were the day before.’ Steve Young This is incredibly important in cricket as it remains the most individual of team sports: only you can bat, take the catch or bowl the ball. That there was so much improvement in the lads shows that they worked very hard at their skills and became better than they were the day before. In all, fifteen lads represented the A-team this year and in total 21 (under-16, under-15 and under-14 lads) the development team. The season began before term started with a mini-tour to Cheltenham College for the development side. It proved very clearly that our bowling would be a success, that batting needed to be worked on and that our fielding could be very good indeed, but not consistently so. The old adage that catches win matches was never as clear as in our very narrow defeat in the 50-over game. Remarkably, we played this whole game despite the terrible weather of the previous days and months. The T20 the next day was ruined by the weather but it proved clearly that we had real variation in our bowling attack, from medium pace to quality spin, and if the right fielders were in the right positions, catches would be taken. As the under-15 season took over we started on a very damp Wightman Field; huge credit must go to the groundstaff who managed to get this game played despite standing water still on areas of the outfield. An excellent 31 from Sam Wordsworth and an excellent 89 from Gabby McGill saw us post 183. Some very tight bowling and fielding, including Isaac Watson’s wonderful catch in the gully in the first over off Oli Coulthard, set the tone and saw us home by over 100 runs. Typical of the season to follow, all who bowled took wickets: Jack Farrington (two), Harry Booth (three), Oli Coulthard (two), and Freddie Bateman and Owen Pudsey one each. Only two players who played A-team cricket during this

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season did not take a wicket: Ben Lodge and Ben Poskitt – who were our wicketkeepers! The leading bowlers were Owen Pudsey (12 wickets), Sam Wordsworth (15), Oli Coulthard (17) and Freddie Bateman (20). The consistency of our bowling was a feature of the season as was the improvement in both ground-fielding and catching. At the start of the season Gabby McGill was in tremendous form with the bat, scoring 181 runs in three innings before he had to have a planned operation on his feet. This not only deprived us of a super bowler and a batsman in great form but also an outstanding fielder. We would feel his loss as the national T20 got into its later stages, and certainly missing both Gabby and Ben Lodge for the North Yorkshire final did not help our cause in a very tight but lowscoring game. Ben top-scored with 429 runs, making a wonderful 110 alongside Chris Wood who made 52 not out in the same T20. Both lads gave themselves time to get in and played properly so that in the dying overs they were able to cash in. Sadly this was not always the case and too often our batsmen got in and then got out, or failed to give themselves the chance to settle by feeling they had to play shots too early. This is one of the key priorities for this side next season, so that when they move to the senior sides and to club cricket they have developed the concentration and edge to win games in their ‘top two inches’ and not just through physical prowess. Our leading batsmen during the season were Ben Lodge (429), Will Morrison (275), Oli Coulthard (261), Gabby McGill (181) and Sam Wordsworth (109). The purpose of the development side is to give more players access to a more demanding form of the game, so that the move up to senior cricket is not as great. All the lads who had this opportunity made the most of it and I hope enjoyed the experiences they had against Cheltenham and North Yorkshire, and at the festival. Despite all this, the reason we play sport is for enjoyment and the moment the pressure of results starts to remove this love of the game we are missing the point. Winning is important but there are so many other facets to this game and one of the most important is in enjoying the success of others in your team. I was particularly impressed by all the lads in this respect as they took movement between sides as normal and wanted others to do well as well as themselves. It is important for us as coaches to remember that these boys mature and develop at different rates and that it is our job to recognise this and ensure that all get opportunities to shine.

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‘The price of success is hard work, dedication to the job at hand, and the determination that whether we win or lose, we have applied the best of ourselves to the task at hand.’ Vince Lombardi The under-15 squad (*A team; +development squad): I Watson*+, O Pudsey*+, B Poskitt*, B Lodge*+, N DansoAppiah*+, W Morrison*+, J Mayfield*+, F Waterhouse*, O Coulthard*+, Z Darbandi*, J Farrington*, S Wordsworth*+, F Bateman*+, G McGill*+, A Harrison, A Pollard, F Adcock*, O Head, H Booth*, J Alvarez, Z Buttle, W Zaman, G Barker, F Stothard, M Piquiot, B Denison, A Phillips, P Livings, T Flanders-Abidakun, J Pham Additional development squad: R Sinclair, E Thompson, J Amsden, I Gianini, J Wood, C Wood, J Bates, M Lodge, E Ramsden, J Bramley, M Roberts

Under-15Bs An excellent season for the under-15B cricket team: played seven, won six, with one draw because of rain. Most wickets (ten in total) were taken by Zach Buttle, who was also top scorer: he achieved 183 runs in the season, notching up a maximum of 47 on two occasions. He also took a truly magical catch at square leg, diving forward with his right hand – a real champagne moment from this true all-rounder. Paddy Livings was the next highest scorer on 79 and also took five wickets in the season. Ben Poskitt started off the season keeping for the Bs before moving up to the A team; Albert Pollard stepped in, having to learn a lot very quickly: he put in a huge effort and really developed in this position. Freddie Adcock earned himself a few matches with the A team after taking five wickets for no runs bowling at Read School. Fergus Waterhouse bowled a very consistent line and had one of the best economy rates for the bowlers (26) taking five wickets in the season. Freddie Stothard’s leg-spin improved during the season and he took three wickets in all. Alex Harrison, also leg-spinning, took two wickets in two overs against Scarborough and really improved, getting through his bowling action more smoothly. George Barker really improved his batting technique during the season, scoring 28 in total. Harry Booth played with power and increasing control as the season progressed.

Joe Pham listened to coaching advice and worked incredibly hard to improve. His left-arm medium pace was very economical (36) and shows lots of potential for the future. Mathis Piquiot was another left-arm bowler who can swing the ball and improved a lot over the season. Benji Denison bowled with great rhythm and has true potential as a front line bowler. James Alvarez worked hard with both bat and ball and took some great catches during the season. Alex Phillips was an economical bowler and an energetic and encouraging member of the team. Tayo Flanders-Abidakun learned to bowl from scratch this year and to his credit, has developed into a useful left arm medium-pacer. Wasim Zaman really enjoyed his cricket, playing and practising with a smile on his face. Oliver Head did a great job in captaining the side for the majority of the side’s six victories. He took five wickets himself and his best score was 28 not out in the rain-affected match at Denstone College. Well done to all who appeared for the under-15Bs this season. The 2016 team are a formidable bowling outfit who give the captain lots of options in the field. Batting was always the area that these boys needed to work on the most and consequently this was where the greatest lessons were to be learned this year. The boys played with terrific spirit and it was great to see their efforts in training converted into pleasing results on the pitch. Mr Parr and I would like to thank all the squad for their tremendous efforts during the season and to congratulate them on the progress and success they have had; and in particular our captains Ben Lodge, Will Morrison and Oli Head. ‘Success is no accident. It is hard work, perseverance, learning, studying, sacrifice and most of all, love of what you are doing or learning to do.’ Pele

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Under-14s The first match of the season against QEGS Wakefield fell foul of the weather. The following week the team travelled to Bradford Grammar School. Losing the toss we were inserted and proceeded to dominate their bowling. Matty Lodge scored a magnificent century (105) which included six sixes and thirteen fours. He used his feet to both spin and pace and did not let any of the bowlers settle. He was supported by Josh Wood (35) and Matty Roberts (38 not out). St Peter’s amassed a huge 264, and Bradford were dismissed for 143 in a good all-round bowling performance: James Bramley (5-0-20-3), Isaac Giannini (6-0-39-2), Josh Wood (3-0-132). An excellent start to the season, winning by 121 runs. In the next match, the toss was again lost and Ampleforth decided to field. Matty Lodge scored a quickfire 66, and Isaac Giannini (36) and Joe Bates (30) contributed to a good total of 180. Ampleforth (63) struggled against the pace of Joe Bates (4-1-14-4) and the spin of James Bramley (3-1-10-2) and Ed Ramsden (4 -0-1-2). St Peter’s won by 117 runs. Next, Durham won the toss and elected to bat. On a very difficult wicket they scored 122 for two with one player making a very good 81 (although we dropped him twice). Joe Bates bowled well (5-1-81) and was ably supported by the other bowlers. However we did not bowl at the stumps enough. Matty Roberts scored a very good 31 and George Stephens 21 but we were bowled out for 107, the Durham bowlers showing the benefit of accuracy. Woodhouse Grove arrived fresh from a win in the Taverners’ Cup and were full of confidence. They elected to field, and Matty Roberts (25) and Matty Lodge (55) laid the foundations with Ed Ramsden (17 not out) and Isaac Giannini (30 not out) accelerating well at the end as we scored 158. Woodhouse struggled in reply to 58 all out, Will Middleton (4-0-7-2) and James Bramley (5-1-6-3) doing the damage. Hymers elected to bat and were soon in trouble, losing a wicket to Joe Bates’ pace in the opening over. Wickets fell regularly: Will Middleton (6-1-4-2) troubled the openers with his left-arm swing and Isaac Giannini (6- 0-15-5) bowled well on a drying wicket, his off-spin turning prodigiously. He also took a magnificent diving catch at cover Josh Wood captained the team well with sensible bowling changes according to conditions. The fields set were correct, not always the case at under-14 level. James Bramley’s orthodox left-arm spin caused problem and Hymers were all out for 38. Matty Roberts and George Stephens opened the innings and knocked the runs off in six overs for a comprehensive victory. Pocklington won the toss and batted, scoring 71 all out with one batsman making 53. This was not a good fielding display as we dropped him four times. The bowling was accurate, led by Josh Wood (43-1-11-4) and Benedict Quinn (3-0-7-2). Josh Wood (34 not out) and George Stephens (20 not out) knocked off the runs for a ten-wicket win. Denstone chose to field and bowled well on a difficult track: Matty

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Lodge (51) concentrated well and held the innings together as St Peter’s totalled 136-9. In response Denstone struggled to 96 all out, the left-arm swing of Will Middleton (6-2-9-5) causing the damage. A good finish to the season. It has been a pleasure coach the squad who have been enthusiastic and eager to listen at all times. Well done. Mr Mike Johnston

Under-14Bs Despite a weather-affected season, the under-14Bs produced some fantastic cricket to register a number of impressive results. The opening game saw us pitted against Scarborough College: we won the toss and opted to bowl first, a decision that was vindicated as a good opening spell saw Guyer pick up two early wickets that saw the visitors reeling at 0-2. Farrington, Ledden, Quinn and Pettigrew were all among the wickets as Scarborough closed on 112. In reply, some generally composed batting (interspersed with a couple of farcical run-outs) saw St Peter’s record a six-wicket victory, Taylor in particular looking imperious in compiling 43*. Another home game followed against Ampleforth, who reached 57 all out after losing the toss and being put in to bat. Fell and Matthews guided us to a seven-wicket win inside ten overs with 25* and 18* respectively. Midweek, St Peter’s made the short trip down the road for a local derby against Bootham. Some cavalier batting in the first innings saw us post a sub-par 96, with only Taylor (25) making any sort of meaningful contribution. In reply, the old adage ‘catches win matches’ rang true when the Peter’s fielders put down no fewer than five chances as Bootham capitalised to win by two wickets. Next up was an away trip to Durham, where an inconsistent batting surface contributed to a low-scoring but nevertheless enthralling encounter. Durham posted 69, but a steady fall of wickets in the Peter’s innings saw us struggling at 55-9, before the powerful striking of Hall (18*) saw us get over the line to win by the narrowest of margins. Unfortunately, the subsequent trip to Woodhouse Grove fell victim to the inclement weather. A trip to Hymers ensued. Black continued his 100% record with the toss and yet again opted to bowl first, a choice justified by the seam bowling attack as they dismantled the Hymers batting order for just 64, Farrington excelling with 4-14. A comfortable run-chase saw us reach 67-3 in just eleven overs. In the last game of the term, the boys made the long trip to Staffordshire where they played Denstone College: batting first, a fine opening stand by Black and Guyer paved the way for Farrington to produce the fireworks, amassing 47* in an imposing total of 180. In reply, the home side were on the ropes at 121-8 before the game, perhaps predictably, succumbed to the rain and ended in a draw. The final results read: played 6, won 4, drew 1 and lost 1. Well done to all involved. Mr Toby Atkin

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Rounders The first two weeks of the rounders term saw us playing, at one time or another, in sunshine, hail, snow and torrential rain. Most notably, the game against Ampleforth – which started in blazing sunshine – had to be abandoned as a freak hailstorm descended on the teams!

Results Pocklington

Won

14-9

Hill House

Won

28-15

Queen Margaret’s

Won

26-17

Bootham

Won

28-15

Scarborough College

Lost

20-21

Pocklington

Lost

16-11

As is usual for senior rounders, the availability of players was hampered by external examination schedules, and sadly a number of schools were this year unable to field a senior rounders team because of a lack of players; luckily this has never been a problem for the St Peter’s team. The second game of the season was against Hill House: with accurate batting and steadily improving fielding the girls secured their first victory of the season. The match against the Scarborough College first team was a very exciting game: losing by just one run in the final innings was upsetting for the girls, but their spirits soon rose as we stopped on the way home for an ice cream! I’d like to take the opportunity to thank captain Millie Clapham for her help this season: with so many girls absent from school the task of checking availability is particularly onerous for senior summer term sports! Can I also thank the lower sixth girls who kindly stepped in to play when needed! The following girls represented the senior rounders team: M Clapham (captain), E Lockitt, L Moss, O Calvert, C Hollinrake, K Robinson, V Brook, O Calvert, K Clapham, E Proctor, M Hunter, E Booth, L Lovisetto, T Abbott, A Gilman, S Gill, E Nelson, L Leedham, E Bracken, T Marshall, M Morris, I Cotter, F Renwick, C Faeh

Under-15A The under-15 girls’ rounders teams worked with commitment and enthusiasm this season. The season got off to a positive start with the girls beating a strong Scarborough College side 20-10.5 in a game which they controlled from the outset. Despite some static fielding at times, the girls worked hard as a team, communicating particularly well in the field to produce their first win of the season. Unfortunately, the following game versus Ampleforth had to be cancelled mid-game because of torrential rain, and this was to be the case for a number of the matches this season. Despite this, the girls continued to focus well in training, improving the accuracy of their batting in particular. Their last game, against Pocklington, was to be their best of the season. With some dynamic fielding the

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team held the score to 4.5 rounders all at half-time. Despite some well-placed and tactical batting in the second innings the team were unlucky to lose the game by just half a rounder. The game reflected the pleasing progress the team made during the season and was a positive reflection of their effort and motivation throughout.

skills too. Their batting was particularly pleasing, with players hitting the ball much more consistently than in previous matches. It has been a pleasure to coach the team this season!

The following girls represented the team during the season: S Benaddi, M Bennison, H Bilton, I Brown, I Bulinski, F Chapman, E Cowans, I Eaden, J Fraser, A Webster, A Whitaker Results: Scarborough College

won

20-10.5

Queen Margaret’s

won

12-10

Sedbergh

lost

5.5-7

Barnard Castle

won

9.5-2.5

Pocklington

lost

10-10.5

Cundall

won

16-12

Under-14/15s mixed Once again, the under-14/15 mixed team have thoroughly enjoyed competing in rounders matches this season. Their positivity and effort throughout the season has been a testament to the group, and they should be extremely proud of all that they achieved in both training and matches. Unfortunately, because of the weather, a number of the matches did have to be cancelled, but the girls remained motivated in training. The team’s best match of the season was against a strong Sedbergh side. Despite some strong batting by Sedbergh, the girls fielded well and showed some excellent fielding

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The following girls represented the team during the season: V Amsden, S Barry, E Blackburn, L Buch, T Cheung, V Cross, R Dowson, R Hartley, C Jackson, E Kimpson, E Miles-Kingston Results: Scarborough College

lost

15-10.5

Ampleforth

won

11-7.5

Sedbergh

lost

9-13.5

Pocklington

won

10-6

Bootham

lost

10-12

Mrs Emma Brough

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The following girls represented the team during the season: K Bonner, C Calvert, V Cross, E Gray, I Harrison, R Hartley, O Hedley, A Horner, R Padgett, E Race, M Smith, H Turvill Results:

Under-14As The under-14s have had a successful season. Unfortunately, the weather was against us this term, with many fixtures having to be cancelled. However, the girls were still able to train well and put in some exceptional performances across the teams. During the first match of the season the A-team put on a convincing show against Scarborough College, winning 23-10, but the mixed team narrowly lost out to Pocklington. From the first few matches of the season it was apparent that the teams needed to work on their batting skills and fielding techniques. After a few weeks of training hard, teams were confident and able to gel together. The under-14s particularly worked hard on getting the extra runners out on a bat and looking to get others out after they had taken a catch.

Scarborough College

won

23-10

Cundall Manor

lost

10.5-12

Queen Margaret’s

lost

18.5-24.5

Barnard Castle

lost

5.5-15.5

Sedbergh

won

9-7.5

Pocklington

won

8.5-7

Inter-house rounders results: Junior: 1st 2nd 3rd 4th

Hope School Clifton Queen’s

1st 2nd 3rd 4th

The Grove Clifton School Dronfield

Senior:

Cambridge Cup This is awarded to the house which accumulates the most points during the year in the girls’ inter-house events.

The training paid off and the under-14s were able to perform well to give a brilliant team performance that was efficient, confident and full of teamwork against both Sedbergh and Barnard Castle. All the under-14 teams finished off the season on a high, recording fantastic wins against Pocklington.

1st

School

45 points

2nd

Hope

32 points

3rd

Clifton

26 points

4th

The Grove

18 points

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Football

The first fixture of the season saw the first XI play the inaugural football match against the Old Peterites. The firsts dominated proceedings, particularly in the second half, but a certain England goalkeeper meant the game finished 0-0 before Will Huffer made several key penalty saves to allow the Old Boys to win the penalty shoot-out. This match was followed by the St Peter’s seven-aside tournament, where, in the plate competition, St Peter’s C team finished third whilst the B team, requiring only a point in their final game, claimed a 3-3 draw with Bootham to win the plate by one point. In the main cup competition, St Peter’s A team played some fantastic, clinical football to defeat Ampleforth (3-1), Bootham (2-0), Barnard Castle (4-0) and Woodhouse Grove (3-1) to go unbeaten and win the tournament.

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In eleven-a-side matches, Woodhouse Grove were early opponents and the second XI, despite a well taken goal from Ed Brook, went down 3-1 against a well-organised side. Meanwhile, the firsts made a blistering start and were 3-0 up inside the first twenty minutes with some slick interplay and clinical finishing. Tom Hawksworth (twice) and Ted Patmore got their names on the scoresheet before Tom Hawksworth completed his hat-trick as the game finished 4-2 to St Peter’s. Travelling the short distance to Bootham, the first XI found themselves 2-0 down but they rallied strongly, and goals from Tom Hawksworth and Joel Ngana meant a good game finished 2-2. Another away fixture to RGS Newcastle followed, where the second XI conceded late goals to go down 3-0. The first XI led 1-0 at half-time, with Dan Jones opening the scoring, before an improved display in the second half saw St Peter’s take a 3-1 win with goals from Tom Hawksworth and Angus Barrick. Our next opponents were Yarm School and the second XI were convincing in a 5-0 victory whilst the first XI proved to be too strong for their opponents and came away with a 3-0 win, the goals coming from Joel Ngana, Tom Hawksworth and Cameron Burdass.

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Barnard Castle 6-0, whilst the second XI (having lost 3-2 just a few weeks earlier), produced a remarkable turnaround to defeat Fulneck firsts 5-1. On 12 March we had a record 38 sixth-formers out representing the school against Ampleforth: the third XI drew 3-3, the seconds won 5-1, and the first XI recorded a 6-2 win, which meant the firsts went unbeaten over the ten-game season for the first time in their history.

The first XI’s last game of half-term saw them take on Ampleforth, and their expansive play created a number of chances. Joel Ngana was the main beneficiary, scoring twice, before Tom Spearman finished expertly to earn St Peter’s a deserved 3-1 victory. The second XI meanwhile took on Fulneck’s first team. St Peter’s took the lead through Charlie Rae, and Tom Gill scored a well-taken volley, but three excellent strikes meant that Fulneck took the honours, 3-2.

The first XI finished the season at the Hull Collegiate eight-a-side competition, where 1-0 victories over Bootham and Fulneck and 3-0 victories over Ampleforth and Woodhouse Grove put us in the driving seat for group qualification. However, a 1-0 loss to Hull Collegiate meant we were relying on other teams to put us through to the final. Fortunately a Bootham victory over Hull (with the St Peter’s boys cheering on Bootham) meant we made it to the final, where we defeated Scarborough College 1-0 to become Hull eighta-side champions 2016 – a terrific way to end a terrific season. At the end of term, the inter-house football competition was played out as Clifton staged a remarkable comeback in the final against Temple, trailing 3-1 at half-time but eventually winning 4-3 to become inter-house football champions for 2016. The football awards night reflected on such an excellent season and trophies were awarded to Dan Jones (manager’s award), Andy Hulmes (player of the year), Ted Patmore (the players’ player), Joel Ngana (most improved player), Tom Hawksworth (first XI top goalscorer) and Cameron Burdass (goal of the season). Mr Ben White

After the half-term break, we travelled to GSAL where the seconds were involved in an entertaining 3-3 draw whilst the first XI defended heroically to keep out a very strong Leeds team and pick up a 0-0 draw. Two wins followed as the firsts edged a 1-0 victory over RGS Newcastle and the seconds earned a 3-1 win. The first XI then played some of their best football of the season to defeat

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Girls’ Swimming It was a frustrating season for the girls’ swimming team this year, as five matches were cancelled, leaving only five complete matches. Of those, two matches were won and three lost, albeit only by a matter of a few points. Alongside this, the squad had a fresh set of challenges as several girls were ruled out through injury quite early on in the term. Somehow though, and often at the eleventh hour, we always managed to get a team together and this didn’t stop the girls who did swim from stepping up to the mark and doing whatever was asked of them. Results: Queen Margaret’s

(H)

Lost

69-87

Pocklington

(A)

Won

113-125

Harrogate Ladies

(H)

Lost

84-90

Harrogate Ladies

(A)

Won

78-81

Bootham mixed team

(H)

Lost

81-99

The following girls represented the school: Under-14s: Sophie Bone, Katie Bonner, Jasmine Brimmell, Charlotte Calvert, Rachel Padgett, Molly Smith, Maddie Wylie Under-15s: Sarah Avery, Maddie Bennison, Georgie Lawrence, Eleanor Spencer, Shania Wong Seniors (* full colours awarded, ** full colours re-awarded): Katarina Bonner*, Holly Drake, Lucy Garnett**, Sophie Green, Abi Harrison, Lauren Moir, Nicole Moir**, Katherine Spencer**, Lydia Theos*, Tracy Yip The Fowler Cup, awarded for the best performance in swimming, was presented to Lucy Garnett.

Bath and Otter Cup Following the successful trip in 2012, the senior girls travelled to London to the Aquatics Centre in the Olympic Park for the Bath and Otter Cup. This is an invitational national relays championship where the competition is between the country’s leading independent schools. The girls came an impressive seventh in the medley relay Dunelm final and eighth in the free relay Aldenham final, knocking a massive five seconds off the school’s previous time, and recording their best results to date. Undoubtedly this was down to a combination of the maturity and experience of both Lucy Garnett and Kat Bonner alongside the sheer determination and effort shown by Nicole Moir, Katherine Spencer and Lydia Theos.

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Inter-house swimming For the fourth year running Hope were still a force to be reckoned with in the pool, winning the inter-house match once again. Always a great event, this year there were three new records set: two from Kat Bonner and the other from Maddy Bletcher. It is certainly worth mentioning that this year’s team captain Lucy Garnett won ten out of a possible eleven individual events during her time at the school, including winning the hardest event of all, the open individual medley every year for the past four years. 1st

Hope

134pts

2nd

Grove

94pts

3rd

School

85pts

4th

Clifton

83pts

Once again I would like to finish off by thanking all the girls for their support of the team, and particular thanks must go to Lucy for the commitment she has shown to school swimming throughout her time here. Her outward appearance of being cool, calm and collected belies her determination and focus in the water once she has left that block. St Peter’s have been lucky to have had such an accomplished competitor on their side. Mrs Karen Burdass

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Girls’ Tennis

Seniors Girls’ tennis is thriving at St Peter’s. An excellent coaching team is in place and participation levels are at an all-time high. As with all our teams we offer great strength in depth and have again fielded four senior girls’ teams and possess the same capability in the two junior age groups. This year’s squad has been ably captained by Daria Lapika and her competitive edge, alongside her creative game, set a high standard for the team. Our coaching has targeted the serve and return, but the overall goal has been to build confidence around the net. Throughout the season there has been a marked improvement in this area, with attacking volleys now featuring in all game play. Following preseason, the first challenge was against Worksop and Hymers. The first VI were understandably nervous, but once they managed to find rhythm on their groundstrokes, they were soon able to assess their opposition’s strength and weaknesses to exploit

weak areas. The match was clinched 5-4; the seconds were too strong, winning 6-0, and the thirds and fourths both had success against our second visiting team, Hymers. A promising start. The following week, the seniors were tested against Queen Margaret’s in a match of the highest standard. The result came down to the final rubber with the majority of the games clinched at deuce. The first VI were narrowly defeated 4-5, whilst the second VI won 5-4, the thirds won 6-3 and the fourth team won 5-4. Our second strongest fixture proved testing against Ampleforth the following week, but focused training and being match-tight saw key points converted into match points, reversing the score line 5-4 in favour of St Peter’s firsts. This was equalled by the second-team victory 7-2 and the third IV, who won 4-0. The first team finished runners up in the Aegon League, losing to only one school during the season. The current squad is a young team with lots of promise for the future and we look forward to seeing them develop.

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The senior girls commenced their Eton campaign on the Sunday morning and were faced with a tough draw. Pheobe and Ellie had the wonderful opportunity of playing Millfield’s first pair in the opening match of their box league. Millfield firsts were seeded three in the tournament, and in true St Peter’s style we fought hard and at least won one game! How amazing to pitch up against some of the best junior girls in the country. Although there were few wins for either pair in the Loveband Trophy, we moved on to play in the plate competition. We met some familiar faces which ensured that the matches were still tough but friendly. Phoebe and Ellie narrowly missed out on qualifying for the knockout stages, losing to St Mary’s 4-6. As always it was a thoroughly enjoyable few days and a pleasure for the girls and boys to represent St Peter’s at such a prestigious and highly regarded tournament. The following girls represented the school: Phoebe Phillips, Ellie Caley, Maddie Bletcher and Rowan Tait. The strength in depth within senior tennis continues to be evident, with the second, third and fourth teams remaining unbeaten all season. A layered coaching structure with a team of five coaches, including former ATP player Marius Barnard and Mark Hamilton, has ensured great continuity for training, with shared principles throughout. A fantastic season, girls, really well done! The following girls represented the senior teams during the season: Daria Lapika (captain), Ellie Caley, Phoebe Phillips, Tara Jones, Rosalind Tait, Rowan Tait, Helen Ford, Maddie Bletcher, Julia Crowther, Millie Grant, Maddie Palmer, Annabelle Blackburn, Alice Greswold, Annabel Ellis, Phoebe Hall

Eton After an early start and a long journey down to leafy Eton, a quick turnaround was required by our under-15 girls. The format was the usual round-robin, with St Peter’s facing some of the northern circuit schools, and also some new faces from the south of England. We competed well at this stage with Tara and Josie winning two matches and Grace and Georgie winning one match. Both pairs then qualified for the plate competition, where they narrowly missed out on going through to the next knockout stage as they were runners-up in their groups.

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St Peter’s Girls’ Junior Tennis Festival: Wednesday 22nd June For the first time ever we organised our own junior tennis festival played on the twenty-two tennis courts on site. Eight schools were represented: Ampleforth, Ashville, Bradford Grammar School, Newcastle High, RGS Newcastle, Pocklington, Sedbergh and St Peter’s. The schools’ under-14 and under-15 teams consisted of three pairs playing in a round-robin format. The standard of play across both age groups was very high, and we saw some close sudden-death deuce matches and excellent fair play. St Peter’s won the under-14 competition and narrowly missed out on the double, finishing runners-up to a very strong RGS Newcastle team in the under-15 category.

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stage, losing to a strong Queen Margaret’s team, 2-4. Sixteen girls represented the teams during the summer, enabling maximum participation and giving the players invaluable match play. They all improved over the season and worked hard in the matches and also at the Friday practice sessions. We need to develop our net play and be more confident and positive when at the net. That will come, along with consistency. They are all a real pleasure to coach and their enthusiasm and desire is always apparent. I would like to congratulate Tara Jones on winning the Shepherd Cup in 2016 and her high standard of play was reflected in her selection for first team duties in some of the matches. Tara was well supported by Josie as a partner and Grace Freshwater, Lily Naylor, Ellie Spencer and Georgie Lawrence in the A-team matches. Overall it was a good season and I wish the squad a promising future at senior team level in 2017 as they enter the fifth year at school. Well done all! Results: U15A v RGS Newcastle

(home)

5-4

U15B v RGS Newcastle

(home)

5-4

U15A v Worksop College (away)

8-1

Overall, a fantastic day of tennis with 96 girls competing, so giving the opportunity for maximum participation!! The festival was nicely rounded off with the presentations, followed by strawberries and cream, a nice Wimbledon touch to the day. Well done all!

U15B v Worksop College (away)

8-1

U15A v Ampleforth

(away)

6-0

U15B v Ampleforth

(away)

6-0

Our teams were represented by:

U15A v Pocklington

(away)

7-2

Under-14: K Bonner, L Williams, L Gath, A Blackburn, P Brown and M Ford

U15B v Pocklington

(away)

7-2

U15A v Ryedale

(away)

5-1 (Aegon League)

U15A v Hymers

(home)

4-5

U15A v Pocklington

(home)

5-1 (Aegon League)

U15A v Yarm

(home)

8-0

U15A v Queen Margaret’s (home)

2-4 (Aegon League)

U15B v Queen Margaret’s (home)

3-3

Under-15: T Jones, J Heijbroek, G Freshwater, E Naylor, G Lawrence and E Spencer

Under-15s It has once again been a very enjoyable and successful term of tennis for our under-15 squad. They only suffered one defeat in the three pair matches, going down to Hymer’s 4-5. In the Aegon League, they narrowly missed out on qualifying for the knockout

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The following girls represented the under-15 teams: Tara Jones, Josefien Heijbroek, Grace Freshwater, Georgia Lawrence, Ellie Spencer, Lily Naylor, Georgina Edwards, Alex Johnston, Bethany Jackson, Shania Wong, Ella Meere, Erin Esler, Hannah Coleman, Izzy Brown, Harriet Doyle, Olivia Thew

Under-14s In a wet and dreary summer term weather-wise, our enthusiasm for tennis was at an all-time high with 16 girls playing across the matches. It was also a very successful year as the under-14s picked up silverware, winning both the York and District Junior Tennis League and also our St Peter’s Junior Tennis Festival. What a great achievement which reflected their good standard of play along with hard work and commitment. Katie Bonner, Lily Williams, LeahGrace Gath and Amelia Blackburn soon emerged as the top two pairs. They were well supported in the three pair matches and at the festival by Polly Brown, Sophie Bone and Megan Ford. The fixture list was strong but we won the majority of our matches and all the squad were given the opportunity to play at some point in the season. The under-14s are a lovely squad to work with and we have some very talented tennis players. As they progress through the school in years to come and if they can also play outside school at a tennis club, their future looks very good. I am delighted with the amount of participation and effort made throughout. It has been one of our most successful terms of tennis at this level for some years: well done! The following girls represented the teams: K Bonner, L Williams, L-G Gath, A Blackburn, P Brown, S Bone, M Ford, V Amsden, B Barker, G Chamberlain, J Davis, C Calvert, O Hedley, M Smith, A Sharp, F McDonald-Wilson

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Results: U14A v RGS Newcastle

(home)

3-6

U14B v RGS Newcastle

(home)

3-6

U14A v Worksop

(away)

7-2

U14A Chapman Cup (away) 1st pair overall 5th 2nd pair overall 3rd U14A v Ampleforth

(away)

4-1

U14A v Pocklington

(away)

8-1

U14B v Pocklington

(away)

9-0

U14B v The Mount

(home)

5-1 (league)

U14A v Hymers

(home)

6-3

U14A v Pocklington

(away)

5-1 (league)

U14B v Pocklington

(away)

6-0 (league)

U14A v Bootham

(home)

5-1 (league)

U14A v Yarm

(home)

8-0

U14A v Queen Margaret’s (home)

4-2 (league)

U14B v Queen Margaret’s (home)

1-5 (league)

U14A/B v Bradford GS

8-1

(home)

Inter-house tennis: 1st

School

2nd

The Rise

3rd

Queen’s and Hope

Mrs Margaret Whitehead

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Boys’ Tennis and James Hanson defeated Hymers 1 and Kingwood 1 before losing to Whitgift 1 and Stamford 1, managing a second place in their group to make it through to the final stages of the tournament. Unfortunately, both then came across some clearly able tennis players and lost. However, this still puts them both in the top 32 teams of the 95 that entered the competition, which is an excellent result when considering the incredibly high standard seen at the tournament. Both pairs can be very proud of the tennis they played.

First Team The National Independent Schools’ Tennis Championships, Eton College The first IV faced a difficult first-round match against Ewell Castle from Surrey, the first pair of Robbie Greenall and Steven Jones losing by two sets to love and the second pair of Freddie Heijbroek and Sam Tsui winning by the same margin. Unfortunately in the deciding doubles the school went down by six games to two in the Youll Cup. In the Clark Trophy the school defeated Nottingham High School at first pair, 6 -2, 6-2 and at second pair, 6-0, 6-1. The first IV’s next match ended in defeat against Stamford School by the narrowest of margins, the first pair winning by 4-6, 6-2, 10-3 in the tie-break, the second pair losing by 6-2, 1-6, 4-10, also in a tie-break. This produced a deciding set where we had to choose a player from each pair to play a final set of doubles: the school went down by four games to six. The under-15 boys were this year’s most successful St Peter’s team. The top pair of Barney Baker and Marcus Taylor won their round-robin group in the Thomas Bowl, knocking out the 16th seed of the tournament and defeating Culford 2, Nottingham 2, Yarm 2, Kingswood 2 and RGS Newcastle 1. Our second pair of Tom Harpin

The first team finished the season with a winning record of five wins out of five inter-school matches played. They also defeated the men’s second VIs from Rowntree Park, York Tennis Club and Poppleton Tennis Club, the only defeats during the regular season coming against the second VI from York University and the Old Peterites. The school team finished with an 80% winning record in their ten matches. They also competed in the York and District men’s floodlit league and out of the twelve teams which competed, finished runners-up, on games difference, to the Wigginton first team who play in the first division of the York leagues during the summer – a fantastic achievement!

Second Team The second VI tennis season got off to a rather slow start but had certainly picked up speed by the end of the year. Although the weather was fairly kind to the tennis programme, it still took a while to heat up the performances on the court, as we lost our first two matches. Fortunately we managed to pick up speed, and won the final four ties. All the players who represented the school this year played steadily, managing to keep the flag flying for most of the season, and battling to win around 66% of their matches.

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We lost our two matches by the narrowest of margins – against Silcoates and Bradford – and had one tight match against Worksop, followed by three commanding performances, against Pocklington, Ampleforth and Hymers. All the members of this squad are keen tennis players and have made impressive progress this season. I have enjoyed working with them and seeing the improvements in their games over the course of the summer term. I wish them all success in the future as they move into their final year and through the upper ranks of tennis in the school.

wonderful exhibition of brutal hitting, and Mr Rohlfing emerged the victor after an hour and a half on court, 6-3, 7-5. Colours: Colours are awarded for the first time to Barney Baker, Marcus Taylor, Freddie Heijbroek and Sam Tsui. Colours are re-awarded to Robbie Greenall and Steven Jones. The captain of boys’ tennis for 2017 is Freddie Heijbroek. Mr Bob Shread

The following boys represented the team this season: E Brook, C Corner, C Dunn, L Dunsmore, W Fryer, J Guyer, J Hanly, T Hawksworth, F Jiang, G Maguire, W Newitt, T Pycock, T Tam. Mr Mike Duffy

Alcuin Cup The Alcuin Cup again attracted a big entry this year, of 45 pupils. There were some great matches along the way, particularly in the semi-finals. However, the final was contested between last year’s winner in Robbie Greenall and a new sixth-former, Sam Tsui. The match itself was a high-class affair with powerful hitting from the back of the court and some wonderful touch play near the net. However, the greater power and control of Sam Tsui told in the end in a score of 6-4, 6-2. In an innovative follow-up to the Alcuin Cup, the winner was invited to take on Mr Rohlfing, and the event – on the last Wednesday of term – attracted a good deal of interest, with a crowd of over 90 by the end. Sam Tsui and Mr Rohlfing gave the spectators a

Under-15s and under-14s As a new member of staff, I have been impressed with the ability and achievement shown by the squad this year. We had hardly time to prepare before launching into the first match against RGS, three days into the term. Despite the surprise hailstorm halfway through the fixture, the boys completed a 5-4 win. They only got stronger as during the season the pairs gelled more, showing their strength in doubles, and their ability to work as a team, completing many 9-0 victories. At the end there was also the chance to play a new format against a local tennis club, which saw the side struggle to remember how to play singles, and despite trailing 4-2, completed the doubles very impressively to win 5-4 overall. This ensured that the under-15 squad completed the year unbeaten in all school fixtures. St Peters also entered the under-15 school AEGON competition for the first time, involving four pupils playing singles and doubles. Once again, our under-15s proved too strong for the opposition, winning the group stages against Ampleforth, Bootham and Pocklington.

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This competition will continue with the more regional and national knock-out stages in September. This summer’s AEGON team were Ed Hobson, Marcus Taylor, Barney Baker (captain), and Tom Harpin.

It was also fantastic to see that every member of the larger squad of under-14 and under-15 players had the opportunity to represent the school in a fixture, with positive outcomes, showing the strength in depth of the tennis squad this year.

Under-14 and Under-15 Pre-Eton Tennis Tournament In June St Peter’s hosted the first ever pre-Eton invitation tennis tournament. The tournament included Bradford Grammar, RGS Newcastle and Sedbergh schools, and involved twelve of our best under-14 and under-15 pupils, who each played six matches against the other schools in three round-robin groups. Our pupils played some fantastic tennis during the day, ensuring key clashes went our way. In particular, the pairings of Marcus Taylor and Barney ,Baker and Sam Beighton and Tom Hatfield managed to win all six matches in their respective groups.

The under-14s won 75% of their fixtures this year, which is excellent when considering their best players were often ‘stolen’ for the under-15 fixtures. Strong results included beating Ampleforth with third pair Luke Race and James Connolley battling out a three-set match to ensure the team ended the day without a loss. Towards the end of the season they hit an unbeaten streak, which showed the excellent progress they made as a group.

St Peter’s won two of the groups and came second in the last group. This led to a ‘championship win’ for the school, ensuring a comprehensive result as overall winners of the whole tournament. Mr Nikki Rohlfing

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Badminton It is my great pleasure to announce that this year has seen something of a renaissance for badminton in the school. This has been principally down to Mrs Barnard’s encouragement, which took the form of a brand spanking new set of rackets and shuttlecocks (feathered, obviously) for us to bend out of shape. Aside from our new fancy equipment, we had a plethora of new inductees walk through our doors in early September and although they have not yet reached our unashamedly enthusiastic (read ‘verging on sad’) level of play, they can now be bothered scoring, so true progress has been made.

Playing badminton isn’t easy: aside from the incredibly fast play (always on Wednesdays and rarely on Saturdays), we have to put up with people smirking and saying it most definitely is easy. You can come and find us at 2 pm sharp if you’ve got a point to prove. For now though, the Badminton Crew wishes you all the best. Alice Jackson, LVI

Once Miss Jones had passed her minibus driving test, (congratulations from all of us, by the way) we were soon off to take on various teams. By various, I do only mean three, but the point stands. We had convincing wins against Ampleforth College, Bootham School and Harrogate Ladies’ College, characterised by particularly fantastic singles play from Matthew Fok and consistently determined doubles play from Misses Spencer, Jackson, Watts and Moss. Thanks must go to Mr Edwards, Mrs Barnard, Mrs Lawrence and Miss Jones for their continued coaching and encouragement throughout the year.

Squash The first squash team were unbeaten in the York and District adult league this season apart from just one match, when we couldn’t field a full team, which is an extremely impressive performance and the best a team has ever done since the girls’ squash team joined the adult league. The team was consistently made up of Hannah Lawrence, Alice Greswold, Livi Whitehouse, Izzy Cotter and Julia Crowther and this was an extremely strong group. Determined, gritty and emotional at times, this team was probably one of the strongest that I have coached in my twelve years at St Peter’s. Hannah and Alice only lost one match in the local league all season. The team improved phenomenally from September and every player should be given credit for their enthusiasm both in training and in matches. A special thank-you to both Hannah and Alice who are

talented sportswomen and, although they are committed to other sports, never failed to put 100% into the training and matches even when they had played a hockey match in the afternoon before a squash match! A team to be proud of, and a credit to St Peter’s School. Results: played 16 | won 12 | lost 4 Louise Moss Inter-house squash result: 1st

School

Hope

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Temple The Rise

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Beverley 10k very creditable effort. Quickest of all the girls, finishing fourth in her age group on the day was Lily Naylor in 48:49 – the first of many distancerunning successes for her.

32 runners from St Peter’s took part in the Beverley 10k race on May 8th this year, just one week after the Tour de Yorkshire cycling race had visited the town. The total number of entrants for Beverley has expanded over the 15 years that the school has taken part in the event, and this year just over 1,850 completed the course. The team from St Peter’s represented a real cross-section in terms of pupils, staff and friends of the school. As is often the case, the weekend of the Beverley 10k also marked the beginning of the first seriously warm weather of the year. The start area, by the Minster, was crammed with a record number of competitors, already sweating in the East Riding sunshine. The race followed its usual route, snaking through the town, around the Westwood and finished at the top of Toll Gavel. The first few kilometres seemed really busy, gradually thinning out along the course, and the race was very well supported by hundreds of well-wishers who lined the route. The conditions were very hot and testing for all who took part and it was a great achievement for all who managed to complete the course. This year there were more girls running than we have had in several years. The core of which were the fourth-form girls Alexandria Johnson, Eleanor Spencer, Lily Naylor and Georgina Lawrence. I know that these girls had been inspired by seeing their older friends taking part in previous years, amongst them Lauren Moir, Pippa Simpson and Izzy Hedley, who were running again this year. For the youngest pupils taking part this was a really fine achievement and a

For most of the boys, this was not their first 10k at Beverley and it is pleasing to see them come back for more. First and second home for St Peter’s were Max Mcleish and Joshua Ramalingam, followed by Matthew Fok, Will Kimpson, Toby Johnson and Sam Lightwing. Toby and Sam were the fourth- and fifth-placed under-18s. Max, being the first finisher for St Peter’s in superb time of 43:11, was presented with the Tooby cup for long distance running in the next assembly. The effort required to finish this hot and gruelling event, took its toll on all who ran. The great encouragement received from the crowds and the beautiful setting of the final few kilometres made for quite an emotional finish to the race for some. Happily, everyone from school was well prepared, completed the course and recovered quickly. For their efforts in the morning, runners were rewarded with a barbecue and ice-cream back at school on the Grove lawn. Well deserved it was too! Congratulations to everyone who took part at Beverley this year. It was an excellent day with lots of impressive individual performances and personal achievements. This year we were raising money for the Chapel Charity, Mercy Ships; well done to all those who raised sponsorship for this cause. My thanks go to Jed Holden and the event organisers, Paddy and everyone who helped on the day, those who took part, and to Mr Morris for taking lots of excellent photos. Mr Andy Parr

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Athletics Sadly, once again this year, the school’s sports day had to be cancelled because of very wet weather and a track that had not recovered from being under water for two months. As the GCSE exams now start in early May, our sports day has to be moved in order to accommodate this – hence the unpredictable weather. The junior boys and girls participated in the Track and Field Cup. There were a number of notable performances despite our athletes being unable to have practised on a track, but it was great to use the new athletics stadium at the University of York. Lily Naylor and Maddie Bennison must also be congratulated on representing the York and district athletics team. Both girls, following on from their cross-country success in the Christmas term, participated in middle distance events. In the penultimate week of term we held a third- and fourth-form inter-house athletics competition. Luckily the weather was kind to us and the rain remained in the wings throughout the duration of the competition. It was a great afternoon with the boys and girls encouraging one another and a display of healthy rivalry between the houses! Congratulations to The Rise: with only

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four girls able to compete in eleven events they did extremely well. It was a great display of commitment and teamwork: well done!

Girls’ results:

Boys’ results:

1st

Queen’s

1st

Clifton

Special mention must go to Tom Robins (third form) who broke the high jump record which had stood for 25 years! He jumped an impressive 1.75m.

2nd

School

2nd

School

3rd

Clifton

3rd

Linton

4th

Hope

4th

Hope

5th

Dronfield

5th

The Manor

6th

The Rise

6th

Queen’s

7th

Temple

7th

Grove

8th

The Grove

8th

Temple

Mrs Justine Williams

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St Peter’s School Boat Club

The endurance and resolution of the rowers was tested and not found wanting this year, a year when, because of river flooding, we lost 60 water sessions, equivalent to over one whole term off the river. In addition dangerous river conditions in the north meant seven events were cancelled. In spite of this, and the challenges of insufficient indoor training facilities, through a lot of hard work the Boat Club had some great results in big events from Easter until after summer term finished. Highlights of the year were: • St Peter’s achieved a sixth and a third place at the British Indoor Rowing Championships in the Olympic velodrome. • The girls’ first VIII moved up 50 places in the women’s Head of the River race against 350 senior women’s crews from the UK and Europe. • Ghent International Regatta: two bronze, one silver and two gold medals were won by both genders, and age groups from fourth to sixth form. • Two fifth-form girls’ quads made the top six at the National Schools’ Regatta at Dorney Lake, Eton. • Henley Women’s Regatta: the girls’ fifth-form quad made the top eight out of 24 UK and American crews, another first for St Peter’s. • The fourth-form boys’ squad won two bronze, one silver and one gold medal at the Peterborough Junior Championships. • Top-ten finishing places for two girls at the National Championships, another first.

York Autumn Sculls: 15 September Over 100 crews entered this new 4.5km head race on our own waters. The Boat Club had a successful day’s racing with the sun out and the river calm. Although rusty from the summer break there were several notable performances: we had two third, seven second places and two winners. 2nd places: Women’s J16 quad

Jodi Smith, Lydia Theos, Lucy Butters, Sophie Haslam

Women’s J18 quad

Maddie Day, Pippa Simpson, Martha Horner, Eleanor Ingram

J15 quad scull

Ewan Henworth, Harrison Smith, Elliot Millman, Sam Gowland, Maddie Day

J16 quad scull

Alex Jefferson, Charles Barry, Jack Hargrave, Max Hateley, cox: Freddie Jagger

J18 quad scull

Jack Coulthard, Stan Schofield, Jack Robins, George Snell

Women’s J16 single

Lydia Theos

Women’s novice single Eleanor Ingram Winners:

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J16 single scull

Ed Johnson

J17 single scull

Jack Coulthard

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Ancholme Head, Brigg: 11 October The annual pilgrimage to Brigg was a very successful day. Pitted against 165 club crews all the St Peter’s crew performed well, stepped up their performances from their last event three weeks previously and were complemented on their behaviour and sportsmanship by the event’s senior umpire, which was lovely to hear. The crews, from fourth form upwards, achieved four fourth, five third and eleven second places. There were eight wins, split exactly between genders and each age group achieved at least one win. In addition the women’s J16 quad was the fastest women’s crew on the river, a great achievement at their age.

long and challenging Boat Race course against over 400 UK and northern European crews, including Olympic and World champions. With a strong wind whipping up waves and intermittent rain lashing down, the crews rowed and steered very well on the very difficult Championship Course. In this 20-minute race the boys’ quad scull (Rob Croft, Jack Coulthard, George Snell, Stan Schofield) moved up over 30 places to come an excellent 122nd overall, 22nd in their division, getting closer to crews they have raced before in this season. The boys’ coxed four (Peter Gray, Henry Graham, Ollie Millman, Josh Ramalingam, Jack Robins) raced well to came 22nd in the tough J18 coxed fours division. The fifth-form girls’ quad (Jodi Smith, Lydia Theos, Kat Bonner, Sophie Haslam), racing two years above their age-group in the J18 division, climbed 70 places to finish 22nd, beating eleven other quads in their event and over 50 other women’s crews overall, a great achievement given their age.

British Rowing Indoor Championships: 12 December

Winners: J15 girls’ quad

Ella McLaughlin, Hattie Doyle, Alex Johnson,

Eve Gilbert, Ella Meere

J15 boys’ single

Elliot Millman

J16 boys’ single

Ed Johnson

Novice four

Peter Gray, George Snell, Henry Graham,

Oli Millman, Ed Johnson

Women’s novice quad Amber Rose, Maddie Day, Martha Horner, Lucy Butters Men’s novice quad

Jack Coulthard, Stan Schofield, Jack Robins, Rob Croft

Women’s novice single Kat Bonner Women’s J16 quad

Jodi Smith, Lydia Theos, Kat Bonner, Sophie Haslam

Half term Portugal Camp As a new venture we took group of eight fifth-form rowers to Figueira da Foz between Porto and Lisbon. The weather was warm and we were able to train both in the large estuary and on a purpose-built rowing course just 15 minutes away. Over the week we got a lot of mileage in single, double and quad sculls interspersed with sea swims and delicious local ice creams.

St Peter’s rowers set two sizzling new school records at the British Rowing Indoor Championships held in the London Olympic velodrome. 1,300 people raced including the current World Champions, the Great British VIII. Racing went on for eight hours. Lydia Theos, in only in her fourth term of rowing, approached her race very maturely, stayed within her plan that she knew and had practised. Most of her competitors raced off very quickly. Lydia was in 16th place after two minutes but then, as others faded she gradually moved up until her last two explosive minutes when she stormed through her rapidly fading opposition, ending in a superb sixth place. This is a huge achievement after such a short time in the sport. Then Elliot Millman, having seen Lydia race, resisted the temptation to race off as quickly as he could. He stuck to his plan and again was well down the pecking order, lying 13th with three minutes to go. However, he was keeping to his pace whilst others started to regret their over-ambitious starts. With two minutes to go he upped his game dramatically, started to unleash his maximum effort and rapidly overtook his fading competitors. He ended up with third in the country, a very well-deserved bronze medal and a promising start to his career.

Four Schools’ Head, Yarm: 23 January The New Year arrived and the new term continued with flooding that had begun in early November. So an opportunity to race, even with no water practice, was most welcome. As in previous years Yarm, Durham School and George Watson’s, Edinburgh provided good competition for us. Although St Peter’s rowers looked very under-rehearsed technically, it provided a useful stimulus and there were some promising results. Second places were gained by the J18

Fours’ Head, London: 5 November Little did we know when we raced here that, because of adverse water conditions, it was to be our last open race before February half-term, three and a half months away. Three crews raced the

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girls’ and boys’ VIIIs, J18 quad and girls’ J16 single scull. There were great wins from the girls’ J16 quad, double and single and J15 quad, the boys’ J15 VIII, and J16 quad scull. The fastest three boats in relation to age and gender were the J16 girls’ quad, J15 boys’ VIII and J16 girls’ double scull.

English Indoor Rowing Championships: 31 January Lydia Theos raced in the English Indoor Rowing Championships in Manchester. She raced a tremendous race, used her brain as well as her improved fitness, secured a personal best performance and ended in fourth place, only two seconds away from a bronze medal. This was a great performance, stepping up from her sixth place at the British Championships in December.

South Yorkshire Head: 13 February We had a successful day at the South Yorkshire Head at the beginning of the half-term holidays, our first open race since early November 2015. Racing twice over the twisting 4km course against the strong stream and nearly 200 entries, all our crews performed well. We recorded six second places and two winners: good, considering how little time we had rowed in the last three months. Second places: Women’s J16 four

Jodi Smith, Martha Horner, Sophie Haslam,

Maddie Day, Tiffany Tuhirman

Women’s novice quad

Jodi Smith, Martha Horner, Sophie Haslam, Tiffany Tuhirman, Maddie Day

Women’s J16 single

Kat Bonner

Women’s novice single

Lydia Theos

Novice quad scull

James Smith, Tom Raper, Grayson Townend, Sam Gowland, Harrison Smith

J18 quad scull

Stan Schofield, Ollie Millman, Jack Coulthard, Rob Croft

Winners:

Trent Head, Nottingham, 28 February: Six St. Peter’s crews raced at Trent Head, a race that included several outstanding British crews like Eton and Cambridge University’s Boat Race crew. Second places went to the girls’ J16 quad scull, who were 17th out of 55 crews, and the senior girls’ Novice quad scull, two of whom only started rowing this year, a great achievement for them. The J15 boys’ VIII was placed an outstanding fourth out of ten novice men’s crews – all the other crews either senior club or university crews. They ended seventh in a race of 55 crews, a very promising start to their season. Over the longer 6km course the senior boys’ quad scull came fourth and the senior boys’ four seventh in the senior men’s event. Also in that event the J16 boys raced very well against top opposition to finish tenth. Although tired from their first race the girls’ VIII came a good second over the longer course, beating nine senior women’s crews. Girls’ J16 quad Girls’ Novice quad

Jodi Smith, Lydia Theos, Sophie Haslam, Amber Rose Eleanor Ingram, Abi Harrison, Tiffany Tuhirman, Tracy Yip

Boys’ novice VIII

James Smith, George Snell, Grayson Townend, Jack Robins, Tom Raper, Kieran Whyte, Pierre Herrenschmidt, Sam Gowland, Harrison Smith

Boys’ J18 quad

Stan Schofield, Jack Robins, Jack Coulthard, Rob Croft

Intermediate 2 quad

George Doyle, Ollie Millman, Jack Schofield, Chris Wright

Boys’ novice four

Peter Gray, Ed Johnson, Ollie Millman, Josh Ramalingam, George Snell

Women’s novice double

Kat Bonner, Lydia Theos

Boys’ J16 four

Charles Barry, Sam Gowland, Alex Jefferson, Zaki Ward, Ellie Pyrah

Girls’ J16 VIII

Lucy Butters, Martha Horner, Emily McDonald, Maddie Day, Lydia Theos, Jodi Smith, Sophie Haslam, Amber Rose, Eleanor Ingram

Great Britain Long Distance Trials: 20-21 February In spite of so little water practice Lydia Theos and Kat Bonner were keen to race in these two long distance trials in the J16 category. They had already passed the 5km ergometer test so were in the top 40 in the country. On day one, a 5km time trial in single sculls, the girls did very well to come 29th and 30th respectively into a moderate headwind. It was a great learning experience for them, both discovering the course and also to standard of the other girls.

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Day two was the same 20-minute course in double sculls. With the experience of Saturday’s race behind them the girls were delighted to make 10th place, a considerable step up from the previous day and in the company of some excellent crews. Altogether they performed well and learnt a lot about the GB trialling system.

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Women’s Head of the River Race, London: 5 March In this tremendous annual race, 320 club and university eights from all over the UK and Europe race the full 7km of the Boat

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Race course. The crew raced into a strong headwind. Maddie Day steered a superb course, overtaking several crews, encouraging and pushing the girls on over the whole course, a great first coxing achievement on this difficult river. The girls pulled up 54 places from their position last year, no mean feat, ending in 176th place. The crew: Jodi Smith, Martha Horner, Emily McDonald, Eleanor Ingram, Lydia Theos, Kat Bonner, Sophie Haslam, Amber Rose, cox: Maddie Day.

The Schools’ Head of the River Race, London: 17 March This year 380 eights and fours came from all over the UK, Ireland, Italy, Hungary and the USA to race. On a lovely sunny day the senior boys’ quad was first off (Stan Schofield, Ollie Millman, Jack Coulthard and Jack Robins). They steered a great course on this complex river and ended in 22nd place, good considering they had illness in the crew and a late substitute. The J16 boys’ quad followed (Zaki Ward, Alex Jefferson, Ed Johnson and Charles Barry) holding off many stronger crews for a good distance down the course, ending with a great tenth place in their category.

groups so their performances were particularly special. After two days’ training the first regatta day had a blustery cross-headwind making conditions slow and challenging. As the wind rose this made conditions worse later in the afternoon. Our results were: JW16 doubles: 5th

Kat Bonner, Lydia Theos

JW16 quad: 4th

Sophie Haslam, Kat Bonner, Lydia Theos, Amber Rose

J16 four: 5th

Sam Gowland, Pierre Herrenschmidt, Elliot Millman, Tom Raper, Harrison Smith

J18 single: 30th

Jack Coulthard

Gold medal:

Men’s Under 23 quad scull: Jack Robins, Rob Croft, Stan Schofield, Jack Coulthard

On the second day, although tired from the first regatta day, there was a big improvement in most performances. The wind was calmer in the morning but got up later to a strong and gusty head wind making conditions difficult and times slow. The fours’ and doubles’ performances stepped up relative to the Saturday races, showing that race experience overcame fatigue.

Soon after the J15 boys’ eight (Tom Hulmes, Isaac Watson, Grayson Townend, Tom Raper, Pierre Herrenschmidt, Sam Gowland, James Smith, Kieran Whyte, cox: Daniel Hicks) steamed down the river coming past Barnes Bridge with three eights side by side. They pushed all the way to the finish ending a very credible eleventh in illustrious company. They beat a considerable number of crews in their own and in older age groups. The girls’ J16 VIII followed a further 100 places behind (Lucy Butters, Martha Horner, Jodi Smith, Maddie Day, Lydia Theos, Kat Bonner, Sophie Haslam, Amber Rose, cox: Eleanor Ingram). They had some very good crews behind them and worked well to hold them off for much of the course. At the end there were four crews in line crossing the finish. They recorded an excellent tenth place in their category. Finally came the senior boys’ coxed four (Peter Gray, George Doyle, Henry Graham, Josh Ramalingam and George Snell). Although they had to have a last-minute substitution because of illness they fitted together well and had a spirited race ending with a solid eleventh place. Considering the prolonged flooding on the Ouse these results were very promising and showed a great depth of spirit and determination.

Ghent Rowing Camp and International Regatta: 6-11 April 25 rowers went on the annual senior rowing camp to Ghent, Belgium. Two days of intense training were followed by the International Regatta which combines with the Belgian National Championships. With nine countries and 1,500 crews racing the standard was, as usual, very high. Over the two days of the regatta our crews raced 2,000 metres, the full international distance, between four and seven times. It was very intense racing and some of the events had huge entries – the J18 boys’ single sculls had 90 taking part! Several of our crews were racing in older age

The top results were: Gold medal

Lightweight Men’s quad scull: Jack Robins, Henry Graham, Jack Coulthard, Stan Schofield

Silver medal

Men’s U23 quad scull: Rob Croft, Z aki Ward, Ed Johnson, George Doyle

Bronze medal

Girls’ J16 quad scull: Jodi Smith, Kat Bonner, Lydia Theos, Amber Rose

Bronze medal

Boys’ J16 coxed four: James Smith, Kieran Whyte,

Pierre Herrenschmidt, Elliot Millman, Grayson Townend

J16 single

7th/30 (Ed Johnson)

My thanks go to all the coaches who supported this trip so tirelessly and to Mr Lawrence who stepped in at the last minute and was a tremendous help and support to coaches and rowers alike. And of course to the many parents whose vocal support from the bank was very much appreciated.

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Junior Inter-regional Regatta: 23 April 18 rowers were selected to represent Yorkshire in the Junior Interregional Championships raced on the Nottingham international rowing course in difficult windy conditions. The fifth-form boys’ quad came a good eleventh overall with the fourth-form boys’ four coming eighth in their final, both good results considering how little rowing time they had had this year. The fifth-form girls’ four had a solid but uninspired race in their heat then won their B final convincingly to take a well-earned seventh place. After a break of only ten minutes they were back in the eight to race another final. Here they were behind the Northern Region crew until the last minute when a very well timed and executed burst took them over a length clear which again made them B final winners and seventh overall. As a bonus the event held a national T-shirt design competition which was won by Lydia Theos, who raced in both the eight and the four. J16 girls’ eight

Lucy Butters, Martha Horner, Jodi Smith, Maddie Day, Lydia Theos, Kat Bonner, Sophie Haslam, Amber Rose, cox: Charles Barry

J16 girls’ four

Sophie Haslam, Kat Bonner, Lydia Theos, Amber Rose

J16 boys’ quad

Charles Barry, Alex Jefferson, Ed Johnson, Zaki Ward

J15 boys’ four

Grayson Townend, Kieran Whyte, Pierre Herrenschmidt, Sam Gowland, Daniel Hicks

York Spring Regatta: 30 April This was a very successful day in spite of the very variable weather conditions. The third-form squads put up very good performances in their first-ever regatta in quad sculls even though they had had such little time on the river this year. The fourth-form boys, racing against much older club and university opposition, showed great determination and lost narrowly in their fours and eight. Elliot Millman won the J15 single scull. The fifth and sixth form raced well, recording wins in the men’s intermediate double scull (Jack Coulthard, Stan Schofield) and J18 mixed VIIIs (Josh Ramalingam, Tracy Yip, George Doyle, Oliver Millman, Lydia Theos, Tiffany Tuhirman, Cecilia Duan, Maddie Day, Henry Graham). Eleanor

Ingram is to be particularly congratulated on winning novice events twice in the same day, a rare achievement. After a very tough single sculls final where came through to win after being behind at threequarter distance, she won novice double sculls with Pippa Simpson.

Nottingham City Regatta: 14 May With exams already upon us a small group went to Nottingham, a good pre-National Schools’ Regatta testing ground. The senior boys’ quad raced first in the J18 category where they had an average race and failed to qualify for the final. However, later in the day they found their speed and came a very creditable second in the men’s intermediate 2 event. The fourth-form boys’ eight raced in the open novice event and prospered in the heats making it directly to the final. In the final they could not find the same pace and ended sixth against predominantly university opposition. Elliot Millman raced in the novice single sculls and after a good race was just edged out of the final, again by university opposition.

Tees Regatta: 21 May A small group of third and fourth formers raced at Tees Regatta, Stockton. Although none made the finals they had some great racing in singles, double and quads. Given the huge amount of water time lost this year in their early critical rowing years the results were very good.

National Schools’ Regatta, Dorney Lake, Eton: 28-29 May This year the regatta moved from Nottingham to the Olympic course at Dorney Lake. Because of this and exams we sadly had only four crews competing. Over 4,000 junior rowers raced over the weekend, watched by over 10,000 spectators. The fourth-form boys’ eight was first away with a time trial over 1750 metres to decide the semi-final placings. In the time-trial they were eleventh which put them in the top 21, so straight into the semi-finals. They qualified for the C final, where after a very close and tough race, they were placed tenth in their category. Considering the 60 water outings lost over winter this was a very encouraging result for them and something for them to build on for next year. The crew: James Smith, Tom Hulmes, Tom Raper, Elliot Millman, Grayson Townend, Sam Gowland, Pierre Herrenschmidt, Kieran Whyte, Daniel Hicks. The senior boys’ quad scull had a huge entry, with 43 crews in their event. Their time trial went well, and they finished in 22nd position. The crews were so close that ten seconds covered fourteen crews at this stage. Their placing put them into the D final where they ended in seventh position. The crew: Stan Schofield, Rob Croft, Jack Coulthard, Jack Robins The fifth-form girls’ quads set a new school record by both making their respective A (top) finals. The second quad had a great final, racing hard all the way against really good crews. A solid start and a series of really big ‘pushes’ saw them leading the Headington

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second crew at halfway. From there they continued to push ahead and ended in an excellent fifth place, not far behind some very fast crews and a first for St Peter’s. The crew: Jodi Smith, Martha Horner, Lucy Butters, Maddie Day. The first quad came seventh out of 23 crews in the time-trial with very tight time placings, which put them straight into the semi-finals. In the semi-final they were lying towards the end of the pack of crews at halfway. From there their excellent fitness began to tell and they pushed right up into fourth position. In the final they raced another intelligent race and, although last at half way, they raced the last four minutes so hard they ended in a very close sixth place, catching the crews ahead and finishing only five seconds off a bronze medal. The crew: Sophie Haslam, Katarina Bonner, Lydia Theos, Amber Rose. St Peter’s had not had a girls’ J16 quad in an A final nationally before and certainly not two. These four crews are to be congratulated on the hard work they have put in over the whole year.

ready to race in the quarter-final, up against a very good crew from Globe Rowing Club, National Schools’ Regatta bronze medallists. The quad went off hard and held Globe for some time. Gradually the Globe crew drew ahead. St Peter’s threw everything they had at them and in the end lost by around eight seconds in a very well fought contest. The girls said it was their best race of the year. This fifth-form girls’ squad has trained hard and improved all year. They thoroughly deserve to have made this big step up at Henley, the country’s biggest women’s regatta. The crew: Jodi Smith (bow), Katarina Bonner (2), Lydia Theos (3), Sophie Haslam (stroke).

York Summer Regatta: 19 June Normally one of our busiest regattas our entry was severely depleted because of DoE, CCF, exams and other activities. Having said that, there was some good racing. Pierre Herrenschmidt won the quarter-final then lost in the semi-final of the J15 single scull and Peter Gray did the same in the novice singles. Finalists included Lucy Butters and Charles Barry in the mixed double sculls, Abi Harrison in the J18 singles, and Jack Coulthard by only one length in the J18 single sculls. In the IM2 single Jack won by over two lengths.

Durham Regatta: 11 June The senior boys’ quad scull (Jack Coulthard, Jack Robins, Stan Schofield and Rob Croft) had a very tough regatta. After four races they made the final of the senior men’s quad sculls where after a battle all the way down the course they were given a verdict of a dead heat. From there both crews went straight back to the start and raced again. This time the St Peter’s crew stormed off the start, took a lead and slowly lengthened that lead all the way down the course to win by over a boat’s length. A great end to a tough day’s racing.

Henley Women’s Regatta: 17-19 June The J16 girls’ quadruple scull opened a new chapter in St Peter’s rowing. Their event, the J16 quad sculls, had 24 entries of the very best from the UK and America, including all the National Schools’ finalists. The girls saw Henley at its most beautiful, the beauty belying the extreme toughness and ferocity of the racing on this magical stretch of the Thames. Their first race was a 1500-metre time-trial from which only eight of the 24 crews would make the quarter-finals. St Peter’s has never made the quarter-final in this event. In the last race on Friday evening, the crew set off at a terrific pace, steered very straight and executed their best row ever. 23 other crews piled down the course after them at intervals of 30 seconds. There was then a long wait until the results came out. The suspense increased as results are announced in alphabetical order, so St Peter’s was way down the list. Their delight at making the top eight was hard to suppress. After a good night’s sleep the crew was

Peterborough Junior Championships: 25 June Our junior rowers enjoyed a very successful day’s racing at the prestigious Peterborough Junior Championships, on the purposebuilt four-lane 1,000-metre rowing lake. Most events required success in heats and semis to gain a place in the finals. The J15 girls (Ella McLaughlin and Zosia Johnson) showed great determination, putting out a strong performance against some experienced doubles. They narrowly missed out on the chance to race again, finishing fourth in their heat. The J14 boys had stiff opposition and dug deep in many of their races. The J14B coxed quads (Ethan McKinney, Adam Dalton, Stephen Johnson, Patrick Renwick, cox: Freddie Dorling; and Toby Greenwood, Nick New, Yeelok Chan, Steven Li, cox: AJ Coates) raced well but could not quite keep up with the pace of the other crews. Freddie Dorling and AJ Coates raced their double scull, joining Guy Jenkins and Joe Johnson in the semi-finals. Despite a valiant effort neither crew could secure a place in the final. Unfortunately the third double of Andrew Liang and Max Allard felt the wrath of the race umpire after straying from their allotted lane and, although several lengths ahead, were disqualified. The third-form boys saved the best until last. The Octuple of Joe Johnson, Andrew Liang, Max Allard, Adam Dalton, Stephen Johnson, Ethan McKinney, Patrick Renwick and Nick New, coxed by AJ Coates, secured a well-deserved place in the final. The

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final was a well contested race but it slipped away from them after the halfway point and they finished in fourth place. The J15 boys raced in smaller boats at Peterborough. By lunchtime five of their six boats had won their heats and one boat was placed second, so all six boats qualified for the finals. In the finals, fourth places were gained by the two double sculls of Tom Hulmes/James Smith and Sam Gowland/Kieran Whyte; bronze medals were won by Elliot Millman (who sculled an exceptional race in his single, fighting hard all the way to the line against some top scullers) and Kieran Whyte, Tom Raper, Will Foster, Harrison Smith and Sam Gowland in a tremendous top-class quad scull race; silver medals went to the quad scull of Pierre Herrenschmidt, Grayson Townend, Tom Hulmes, James Smith and Dan Hicks in a very close race immediately after their doubles, and gold was won by the double scull of Pierre Herrenschmidt and Grayson Townend who were dominant, winning their medal well ahead of the rest of the field.

Great Britain National Rowing Championships: 16-17 July After the end of term at the National Rowing Championships Sophie Haslam and Katarina Bonner raced in a double scull and Katarina in a single aswell, a tall order to race in two events against the country’s best. Katarina raced 32 other scullers in the initial time-trial, coming eleventh into a very strong headwind, putting her straight into the top semi-finals. Only a few hours later she and Sophie Haslam were in action in their double scull. The headwind had become a lot stronger and the course was very rough. With little practice they sculled well together in the difficult conditions and came ninth out of 31 crews, putting them into the top semi-finals. The second day was always going be difficult, with the top twelve crews nationally in each category and particularly for Katarina who had four races to row, two of them very close together. The singles semi-finals were hotly contested and Katarina ended in fifth place after a really good race. Within an hour she was back in action with Sophie in the double and again after a great race they also finished in fifth. The two B finals at least had a few hours between them, which allowed a little rest. The single was first where Katarina sculled a very shrewd race. Aware that the conditions were slow and this was her third 2,000 metre race of the day she set off well and stayed with the other girls until half way. From there she mounted a series of bursts, gradually edging ahead and ended in an excellent third place, within five seconds of the winner. After a short rest the girls faced their last race of the day. The double set off at a strong and sustainable pace. At half way they were fifth, a good six seconds behind third place. However, a superb sprint for the last two minutes of the race saw them end in fourth place, just a few feet behind the third-placed crew. For a crew that had only had two practice outings this was a great achievement, better than either rower had expected and a great comment on their fitness, determination and ability to row together at very short notice. Both these results are great achievements when set against the context of the country’s best. These girls and their squad have worked hard all year which has set new standards for St Peter’s J16 girls. This was an outstanding and well-deserved end to their season.

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Thank You … The coaches are an experienced, hard-working and fun team, delighted to work in weathers fair or foul. The performance of our rowers owes a lot to them. A very special thank you to them all: Messrs Chris Wright, Chris Hall, Mike Hall, Ian Doyle, Harry Vann, Joe Foss, Ciaran Longmore, Ben Turvill, Mss Belinda Dryden, Stephanie Wilson, Julie McLeish, Anne Homa, Lisa Worthington, Biddy Harris, Ida Sjoberg. The Captains, Eleanor Ingram, Jack Robins, Tracy Yip and Oliver Millman deserve great praise for leading from the front, performing their duties well, showing the younger ones what the Boat Club is about, and passing on their enthusiasm for the sport. A huge ‘Thank you’ also goes to the Boat Club Supporters, who have again done a great amount to support the rowers, the club and me. I am tremendously grateful for what they do, whether providing hot tea on freezing days at York events or organising the annual Dinner Dance and Quiz Night. Also a big ‘thank you’ to Keith Stimson and Sara who catered so well for us at the Nationals Schools’ Regatta at Dorney Lake. To Jon Whitmore (OP) who is still helping us keep our fleet afloat. We all appreciate his work tremendously and could not survive without him. And finally a personal ‘thank you’ to everyone: coaches, Jon, captains, parents, support and teaching staff who have given me huge help, support and encouragement for the last ten years. I wish you all well and will follow your progress in the coming year from New Zealand. Rowing Colours Half Colours: Philippa Simpson, Tracy Yip Full Colours: Eleanor Ingram, Katarina Bonner, Lucy Butters, Madeleine Day, Sophie Haslam, Martha Horner, Amber Rose, Jodi Smith, Lydia Theos, Jack Coulthard, Robert Croft, Henry Graham, Jack Robins, Stanley Schofield, George Doyle, Peter Gray, Oliver Millman, Joshua Ramalingam, George Snell. Dr Jamie MacLeod

Leavers’ Destinations 2016

LEAVERS’ DESTINATIONS

Eve Adcock

Durham University

Anthropology

Victoria Adewale

LSE

Law (Bachelor of Laws) Painting

Ilana Bartlett

University of Edinburgh

Louis Battles

Lancaster University

Business Studies (Industry)

Daria Belenkaya

University of Warwick

Management

Charles Bellingall

University of Birmingham

Classical Literature and Civilisation

David Bird

Newcastle University

Business Management

Benjamin Bond

Gap year

Sophie Booth

Gap year

Christian Bower

Aberystwyth University

History

Bethan Bradley

University of Stirling

Philosophy

Christian Brennan

University of Bath

Physics with Astrophysics with Study Year Abroad.

Joshua Burton

Newcastle University

Politics and Economics

Cheuk Lam Chong

University of Hong Kong

Pharmacy Modern Languages (4 years)

Rohan Choudhury

UCL

Amelia Clapham

Harper Adams University

Agri-Business

Matthew Coe

University of Birmingham

Biological Sciences

Thomas Collinson

Gap year

Edward Contreras

Durham University

Xanthe Cook

Goldsmiths, University of London

Design

Melissa Cowans

Royal Holloway, University of London

Ancient and Medieval History

Robert Croft

University of Sheffield

Medicine

Harry Dickson

Newcastle University

Economics and Business Management

Matthew Dickson

KPMG 360 programme

Biological Sciences

Eleanor Dobson

Imperial College

George Doyle

Loughborough University

Biomedical Engineering Aeronautical Engineering

Robert Duncan

Royal Holloway, University of London

Politics

Frederick Eaden

Gap year

Jakob Esler

Gap year

Lap Fok

Imperial College

William Fox

Erasmus University Rotterdam

Aeronautical Engineering Economics and Business Economics

Stephanie Frankland

Royal College of Music, London

Performance/saxophone

Oliver Fryer

University of Bath

Sport and Exercise Science (with study abroad/industry/combined)

Lucy Galloway

University of Nottingham

Architecture

Lucy Garnett

Newcastle University

Mechanical Engineering

Tom Gill

Gap year

Henry Graham

University of Liverpool

Business Economics with a Year in Industry

Emilia Grant

University of Bath

Politics and International Relations

Peter Gray

LSE

Management

Alexander Greenwood

University of Southampton

History

Alice Greswold

University of Bristol

Classics

Frederick Greswold

Newcastle University

Economics and Business Management

Clare Harris

Newcastle University

Economics

Oliver Harvey

Oxford Brookes University

Architecture

Antonia Headlam-Morley

University of Sheffield

Architecture

Isobel Hedley

University of Cambridge

Classics

Daniel Hopwood-Robinson

Gap year

Jessica House

Bangor University

Marine Biology/Oceanography

Sam Hudson

Loughborough University

Banking Finance and Management Economics with Management Science

Andrew Hulmes

University of Edinburgh

George Humphreys

Gap year

Eleanor Ingram

Newcastle University

Biology

The Peterite 2015-2016

167

LEAVERS’ DESTINATIONS

168

Daniel Jones

Northumbria University

Automotive Engineering

Edward Kettleborough

University of Warwick

History

William Kimpson

University of Sheffield

Medicine

Tze Kwok

University of Warwick

International Management (including year abroad)

Darja Lapika

Lancaster University

Accounting and Finance (Industry)

Cheuk Lau

Loughborough University

Commercial Management and Quantity Surveying

Hannah Lawrence

University of Edinburgh

Veterinary Medicine

Cera Ledden

Gap year

Seung Min Lee

Imperial College

Biomedical Science

Xinyang Li

University of Oxford (Jesus)

Mathematics and Statistics

Sophie Lloyd

Sheffield Hallam University

Sport and Exercise Science

Emily Lockett

University of Lincoln

Sport and Exercise Science

Samuel Lodge

Nottingham Trent

Business

Jack McCartney

University of Manchester

Music

Max McLeish

University of Cambridge (Pembroke)

Music

Ben Megginson

Newcastle University

Farm Business Management

George Metcalfe

Northumbria University

Real Estate

Oliver Millman

Gap year

Alister Nelson

Lancaster University

Engineering (Mechanical)

Oliver Newman

University of Nottingham

Politics and International Relations

Joel Ngana Matondo

Southampton

Electrical and Electronic Engineering

Madeleine Palmer

King’s College, London

English Language and Linguistics

Alice Phillips

King’s College, London

International Relations

George Pindar

Imperial College

Chemical Engineering

Michael Qiu

University of Warwick

Economics

William Quinn

University of Edinburgh

Engineering

Joshua Ramalingam

University of Nottingham

Medicine

Samuel Raper

UCL

Economics with a Year Abroad

Jack Robins

University of Cambridge (St Catharine’s)

Medicine

Thomas Robinson

Northumbria University

Business Management

Stanley Schofield

University of Manchester

Medicine

Concetta Scrimshaw

Durham University

Law

Lap Shum

University of Essex

Accounting & Finance

Scott Simmonite-Buskin

Nottingham Trent University

Economics with Business Medicine

Philippa Simpson

University of Nottingham

George Snell

Gap year

Thomas Spearman

Gap year

Alastair Stent

Newcastle University

Accounting and Finance (with Placement)

Zoe Stone

Newcastle University

Modern Languages

Rosalind Tait

University of Bristol

French and Spanish (4 years)

Henry Tannahill

University of Manchester

Chemical Engineering

Alexander H Taylor

University of Bristol

Economics and Management

Alexander J Taylor

Gap year

Laura Taylor

University of Bristol

Law

George Thompson

University of Leeds

Economics and Finance

Wensi Wan

King’s College, London

Philosophy and Spanish (with year abroad)

Joseph Waterhouse

University of Reading

Real Estate

Olivia Watts

University of Manchester

Chemistry

Douglas Whiter

University of Sheffield

Biomedical Science (3 years)

Jordon Wilkinson

Sheffield Hallam University

Architecture

Alexander Woodruff

Newcastle University

Law

Wing Yip

University of Sheffield

Biomedical Science (3 years)

Eleanor Ziegler

University of St Andrews

Medicine

The Peterite 2015-2016

St Peter’s School • York • YO30 6AB Tel: 01904 527300 • Fax: 01904 527302 Email: enquiries@stpetersyork.org.uk www.stpetersyork.org.uk

The Peterite 2015-2016

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