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

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.

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. 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.

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

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

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.

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. 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

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.

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.

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

Mr Ben Fuller

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 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

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.

session had finished the pupils were delicious spread of tapas such as Manchego cheese, chorizo,

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

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

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

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

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.

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, 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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

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

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.

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 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.

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.

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

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 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

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.

Team TBH

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 • 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

Mission Statement:

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

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 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

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. 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

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. 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

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. 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

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

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 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.

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

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 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.

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.

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. 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

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

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.

Schools without Sixth Forms:

1st ‘Total Borons’ Millthorpe School 2nd ‘Millthorpayne’ Millthorpe School 3rd ‘Bullets’ Bedale High School

Open Competition:

1st ‘Creationists’ Fulford School 2nd ‘Jerry and the Pacemakers’ St Peter’s School 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

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.

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 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.

Life is Astronomical

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

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. 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

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

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.

Three Minutes to Midnight

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.

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. at

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. Maths on the Go

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.

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.

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

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 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.

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.

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. 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.

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

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

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 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

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.

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

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

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 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

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.

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.

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 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.

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.

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)

Academic Extension

Scholars’ Dinner

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.

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

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? The Arts 6. Who wrote the play The Importance of Being Earnest? 7. Who painted Guernica? 8. What is the name of the area of Paris in which you will find the

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

Nutcracker? 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?

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!

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.

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.

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)