73 minute read
News, Events & Activities
Beverley 10k run
This year there was a record number of 1,500 starters for the Beverley 10k race. Scorching temperatures made conditions for running uncomfortable, and this, combined with a technical route, really made for a challenging race for all, from novices to elite runners. However, all of the mighty St Peter’s runners dug deep, did themselves proud, and completed the distance.
Mr Morris has been to every one of the Beverley 10k events over the years, always in a couple of good positions to take great photos which appear in school publications. It is a real boost to see him just before the first climb when runners are looking fresh and energetic, and then again in the market square near the finish (where the condition of the runners can be variable). All our thanks go to Mr Morris for his support of the race over the years, particularly in this, his retirement year. We secretly hope that he will be in the usual spot next year.
In terms of results, of the 40 runners from St Peter’s there was a high number of notable individual performances. Charles Barry was the first to finish for St Peter’s, in a superb time of 37:40, winning the under-18 category on the day. Well done also to Stephen Johnson, Tom Tam, Ethan McKinney, Kieran Whyte and Ben Hobbs, who filled the places from second to sixth, and all finished in under 41 minutes – a great team effort from St Peter’s. Quickest of the girls, finishing third in her age-group, was Lucy Lawrence in 48:52, closely followed by Lily Naylor in fourth.
There were many other satisfying personal achievements on the day amongst the pupils, staff and friends of the school who took part. For some pupils, this was their first competitive 10k and a huge milestone in their running careers. Some of the St Peter’s team had not run for years, but the Beverley event had represented a goal in returning to running. Several runners have really caught the running bug and have signed up for further distance events, which is great to hear. In all a terrific effort was made by all who took part at Beverley in May.
We returned to school for the traditional barbecue and icecreams on the Clifton lawn, as compensation for the morning’s exertion. The runners concluded the day with a real sense of pride in taking part, despite the tiredness and sore legs.
Thank you to all the pupils, staff and friends of the school that supported the event, again to Mr Morris for his support and photography, to Paddy and Chris Hall for their support and driving skills. This year we were collecting sponsorship money for the Martin House Children’s Hospice and at the time of writing the total raised stands at £600 with hopefully more to come.
Mr Andy Parr
City of York Independent State School Partnership
The City of York’s Independent State School Partnership (ISSP) continues to be successful in offering opportunities for secondaryaged 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 continued to teach the ever-popular ISSP Latin course to 30 pupils from schools across York. This superb venture sees ISSP offer Latin GCSE to pupils whose schools do not deliver the subject themselves. Year-nine pupils are selected from the eight state schools in the ISSP to take part in the two-year course, during which they learn five years’ worth of Latin – and achieve a full GCSE qualification at the end of the second year. This role will be taken up by Miss Caron Downes next year.
The Maths Excellence Club ran again this year 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 pupils from St Peter’s joining 60 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 continued their very successful 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 minilectures on breakthrough events such as the discovery of fire and the invention of numbers. The students then discussed these on their tables and were set various challenges and questions.
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 again this year with classes 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 Beauty?’ 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. Thank you to all staff involved at St Peter’s in making this such a successful event.
ISSP York improves each year and is valuable in offering great opportunities to our students, not only to develop their knowledge outside the classroom but also in inspiring and enthusing them with the love of learning. This year also saw Johnathan Taylor, York ISSP’s co-founder, receive an MBE for his work and we look forward to next year where we will also host GCSE Astronomy classes and an inter-schools art exhibition. ISSP York just continues to grow and go from strength to strength.
Mrs Ella Mallard Head of Academic Extension
Combined Cadet Force
2016-17 was an outstanding year for the Combined Cadet Force. Almost 30 fourth-form cadets, completing their first full year with the contingent, took part in a packed year of activities with older pupils and staff. Army cadets completed three overnight exercises, and the RAF section flourished, with 17 cadets in total, and two days of flying training at Linton-on-Ouse.
The highlight of the year was the annual camp, this year at Crowborough, and attended by both Army and RAF cadets. Twenty-nine pupils and four staff made the five-hour journey for the week-long camp.
The first day of training involved four military skills activities at Pippingford Park (the inspiration for the Hundred Acre Wood in the Winnie-the-Pooh stories): a platoon attack, assaulting enemy positions; a bushcraft stand, studying ways of igniting fire and building beacons, and creating emergency stretchers for casualties; stalking a sniper position; and a final stand learning how to stage vehicle check points and carry out searches – and deal with armed and dangerous drivers.
Tuesday was a very busy day of adventure training, featuring orienteering, mountain biking, assault boats and canoes and kayaks, while Wednesday involved an outstanding range package, including Laser Quest, the 25m outdoor range, firing .22 on the indoor range, shotguns, archery, paintballing and finishing with training on the obstacle course.
Competition day on Thursday stretched the cadets on their military knowledge, fitness, survival, shooting, teamwork and military skills, before an overnight exercise – including an ambush by the enemy, and a return attack on the enemy position – put those skills to the test in the field.
The final presentation on Friday saw St Peter’s take the top slot in the timed march, the mountain biking, and survival skills, and come fourth overall out of thirteen schools – an outstanding achievement.
Lt Hannah Hamilton
Community Action
This year has seen Community Action pupils involved in a wide variety of fundraising and volunteering projects, some of which are regular features in the St Peter’s calendar and others which they have been involved in for the first time. In all situations our pupils prove themselves to have the qualities that make an excellent volunteer. They are reliable, positive and superb at making
others feel welcome. The Community Action staff are continually delighted with the dedication and enthusiasm of pupils in all year groups. As they stood in York city centre one afternoon to do a charity fundraising collection for Barnardo’s they showed the resilience and positive outlook needed to persuade people to part with their money! After an informative session with a member of Barnardo’s staff they had a greater awareness of the importance of Barnardos’ work and how the money they raised is used. Pupils also showed good humour when carrying out environmental work in collaboration with York City Council. An area in Clifton was prepared for children from a primary school in York to plant shrubs in to make a local public space more pleasant for local residents. Different skills are required for this type of work – physical strength and resilience!
Comic Relief 2017 brought the usual varied selection of fancy dress outfits, with the addition of some staff dogs to add to the mix. Everyone was in good spirits and the Chaplain gave a fitting reminder at the start of the day that the main purpose of the day was to raise money for a very worthy and important cause.
The usual events in the Community Action calendar were a success as ever. Our pupils provided a cheerful welcome and enjoyable party games for the children from The Island, a local charity which mentors and supports young people. The ‘Under the Sea’ theme this year provided ample opportunity for themed games, facepainting and the design of invitations.
Mencap Day proved another success and annually makes a big impression on pupils as they help visitors with learning disabilities enjoy a variety of activities on school premises. As ever, it was a really successful and enjoyable day with pupils helping and guiding the visitors in cycling, drumming, basketball and other activities. As our pupils progress into adulthood our hope for them is that they carry an enlightened and positive view of people with disabilities, which benefits society as a whole. While the third form were
helping the visitors with learning disabilities, a happy band of fifthform volunteers were renewing and refreshing The Glen, a local respite centre for children with severe disabilities. The efforts our fifth form make there make a huge difference to the quality of life for the residents and they leave the outdoor space looking tidy, vibrant and welcoming, despite working in some very inclement weather.
Mention should also be made of our sixth form pupils who regularly visit charity shops, York Explore Library and SNAPPY play centre on Saturday afternoons. These placements require a high level of maturity, reliability and thinking on one’s feet. This year’s volunteers have shown all of these qualities. Congratulations to sign language pupils who successfully completed the Introduction to British Sign Language course. In achieving this they gained an awareness of issues surrounding deafness as well as a means of communicating to a wider range of people.
My thanks go to Mrs Robinson, Mrs Gillies and Mrs Middleton who continually help and support our pupils to gain these varied experiences. Community Action helps to ensure pupils are outward looking, with a willingness to proactively help others and support causes close to their hearts. Pupils gain a wide experience of different types of volunteering and fundraising, preparing them for making a contribution as they enter adult life. The upper sixth who participated heavily in Community Action this year were generous with their time and skills. We wish them all the best with their university studies, as well as all future volunteering they may do. They certainly have a lot to offer.
Mrs Laura Chapman
Debating
Senior Debating Society
Once again the Senior Debating Society has had an extremely successful year whilst the ever-changing political climate has provided much stimulus for discussion and debate – it is strange to think that we thought this time last year that the shock result from the EU Referendum in June would be the pinnacle of political uncertainty.
Our weekly debates have ranged widely from ‘This House would make sports teams responsible for the actions of their fans’ to ‘This House believes that freedom of speech outweighs the right not to be offended’ and ‘This House Believes that torture in war is justified’. The unwavering support of both staff and students in attending our debates really acts as the heart and soul of the society, and I applaud their contribution.
In the Easter Term teams competed in the senior house competition. The motion for the final between The Rise and Linton, in the week of the budget, was ‘This House believes that governments should provide a guaranteed, universal, basic income’. After some discussion the judges awarded the prize to Linton.
Our second debating dinner was a wonderful evening. We welcomed teachers and students to participate in the ‘dinner debate’, which this year stemmed from ‘the answer to life, the universe and everything is 42’. This motion allowed for much scope, taken up by the proposition of the Reverend Daniel Jones, Mr Vann and Mrs Hempsall. However, the students speaking in opposition were also inventive, consisting of Louise Gould, Alice Jackson and Dan Hicks. We also had the pleasure of welcoming back previous Society Presidents Jonathan Fry OP, Alex Woodruff OP and Ed Kettleborough OP for the unveiling of our new society honours board. The current upper sixth will be sad to leave and I’m grateful to Toby Johnston, Alice Jackson, Oliver Williams, Alistair Dodds, Louise Gould, Charles Dunn and Niall Collinson for their significant contribution to the society, whilst the hard work of vice-presidents Cressy Killick, Gideon Wakelin and Frank Jiang has been invaluable.
Finally, I thank Mr Fuller and Miss Pearson for their tireless and continuous support and organisation throughout the year. I wish the society all the best for the future under their watchful gaze.
Elizabeth Martin, UVI Debating Society President 2016-17
Junior Debating
I know we say this every year but this year the standard of junior house debating was higher than ever. Motions tackled topics from selfie sticks, to vaccination, to adopting an official world language. The final, between Hope and School, was a tough one: ‘This House Believes that, after meeting their basic needs, individuals have a moral responsibility to donate their wealth towards poverty alleviation’. It seemed that the Hope house proposition, all third formers, would be squished in an instant by the seasoned School house crew of Jamie Dunsmore, Tom Hatfield and Sam Beighton. In fact, the third-formers (Henry Butters, Jennie Durham and Kitty Black) rose to the occasion, firing quick and pithy points of information and delivering their own material with precision and clarity. In the end, judges Mrs Mallard, Mr Vann and Mr Bateman felt that the slick combination of School house’s team edged them into the top spot.
The junior society’s core fourth-form contingent debated well during the year and kept the life and soul of the junior society alive. House debating brought a wave of interest from the thirds and I think we will start next year strongly with a talented batch of third-form speakers moving into the fourth form, the senior society gaining an experienced group from the fourths.
Miss Laura Pearson
Public Speaking
If there’s one thing that Peterites are good at, it’s talking! It has been impressive to see a range of excellent speakers participating in this year’s speaking competitions and we hope to see even more participants in the future!
In the senior public speaking competition the Head Master, Mrs Lawrence and the Chaplain judged what was a very fine afternoon of speeches. Toby Johnston spoke on the environment, Alice Jackson (who wowed us with her dinner debate speech) took a feminist line and spoke on film. Charles Dunn, a regular at the lectern, was awarded a highly commended prize along with Marton Busa in his debut speech on bilingualism. In the end, the judges awarded the Senior Public Speaking plate to Georgina Edwards of the fifth form. So good was the speech, that she was asked to deliver it again in chapel so the whole school could hear her valuable insights on the unexpected benefits of failure. The rapturous applause at the end was testament to her excellent presentation and content.
In the junior competition Phoebe Stephenson harnessed the power of the flower and spoke on why we should be a bit more like the hippies to win ‘highly commended’. In total contrast, Iris Greaney challenged the audience with well-researched arguments in favour of the death penalty. There was certainly a lot of food for thought from both speakers. The winner of the competition was Jennie Durham with a personal and emotive exploration of dyslexia and the myths that surround it. Jennie drew the audience into her speech with a well-structured combination of research and stories from her own experience.
In a joint initiative between the Debating Society and the English department an expanded dramatic reading competition was held for the juniors. Students were asked to select 600 words of a favourite text and present it in a clear, dynamic and engaging way. Mrs Wright, who brought her expertise in drama to the judging, commented on the high standard of presentation and the confidence displayed by all of the speakers. Beth Wheelhouse delivered a thought-provoking passage as Joan of Arc. She used her voice very well and was highly commended on the day for her moving interpretation of the text. Also highly commended was Kitty Black, whose passage from Junk was delivered with animation and humour. Kitty’s piece thoroughly entertained the audience and showed that she could command a room very well. The winner of the competition was Jennie Durham. Jennie read a favourite passage from Winnie-the-Pooh, bringing life to the piece with a range of character voices.
A big ‘thank you’ to the judges who gave up their time and spoke so helpfully about each participant. We hope to enter some interschool fixtures in the future and to expand the scope of individual speaking opportunities.
Miss Laura Pearson
Duke of Edinburgh’s Award
In September 2016 pupils in the third form were able to start their DofE Bronze award, and 50 chose to take up the opportunity to start a range of DofE accredited skills, physical activities and volunteering opportunities.
In order to relieve a little bit of pressure around the time of GCSE examinations for those working towards their Silver award, the opportunity now exists to start the Silver award in the fourth form. The timescales for each section of the award are such that a pupil should be able to complete their Silver activities by the end of the first term of the fifth form. In September 2016, 99 pupils in the fourth and fifth form started working towards their Silver award.
Achieving your Gold Award is a significant challenge. It shows that you have the skills, determination and mentality to really succeed. 41 pupils in the sixth form have been working towards their Gold award in the last year.
For many of those taking part it is the expedition that provides the greatest challenge and satisfaction. A practice expedition is followed up with a qualifying expedition, observed by a DofE accredited assessor.
Ten expeditions have been completed this year by 19 teams, with the generous support of many St Peter’s staff. Silver and Gold teams have ventured to the Yorkshire Dales, North Yorkshire Moors, and North Pennines, whilst the Bronze teams have explored the footpaths and bridleways a little closer to York.
One team completed their expedition on two wheels, and plans are underway to take to the water next year!
Mr Jon Whitehouse
Library
The library continues to shape around the needs of the pupils, and this year saw a very exciting development with the introduction of twenty tablets, each with a detachable keyboard and mouse. The flexibility of these devices has allowed pupils to use them in all areas of the library, rather than restricting them to the upstairs area. This was a great benefit during busy revision times and pupils excelled themselves in taking responsible care of the equipment. Ten desktop PCs remain in the library for those still attached to the more traditional set-up, providing the pupils with additional IT access when classes are held in the library. The Library Committee has also been adjusted so we now have a representative from each house from the third and fourth form alongside the representative for the fifth and sixth form.
In prize and competition news, National Poetry Day was celebrated with a poetry competition open to all year groups with a theme of ‘Messages.’ Daisy Gilbert’s (third form, Temple) atmospheric gothic poem won an Amazon voucher for her standout efforts. The always-impressive Man Booker evening was a heated contest this year with the introduction of a prize for the champion of the St Peter’s winner: copies of the complete shortlist. Esme Wright (upper sixth, Temple) won decisively with her spirited and convincing comments on Do Not Say We Have Nothing by Madeline Thien. This year also saw the introduction of shadowing the CILIP Carnegie Medal by selected fourth form pupils with the winners each receiving copies of the shortlist. Grove house scooped the Christmas Quiz, returning the house to their previous winning streak. Each team member won a Christmas stocking filled with Christmas treats and, of course, the coveted trophy. Jack Hargrave (lower sixth, Hope) excelled as quizmaster and our huge thanks go to him for such enthusiastic delivery.
World Book Day was celebrated in fine style with a ‘book spine poetry’ competition: pupils writing poems or short stories using only book titles, stacking the books accordingly and taking a photo. The winners were Tansi Marshall (upper sixth, The Grove) and Joseph Simpson (upper sixth, Hope) with their great joint effort and Hannah Aubrey (School) leading the pack for the third form using an impressive eleven titles! The third form also received a visit from Guardian Children’s Fiction Prize 2016 Winner, Alex Wheatle, who told us of his transformative experience with reading and how books helped to shape him into the writer he is. Alex had lunch with pupils and delivered a creative writing workshop to selected fourthform pupils.
The end of the academic year saw the twentieth anniversary of the publication of Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, and the library held a party to celebrate. No detail was overlooked, with the library adorned in flying owls carrying invitations to Hogwarts, flying keys, Butterbeer, Sorting Hat cupcakes and of course, tabletop Quidditch. A Goblet of Fire raffle was held with lots of prizes going to pupils in every Hogwarts House.
My thanks, as ever, to the sterling efforts of the remarkable Library Committee this year, whose enthusiasm and commitment has known no bounds.
Mrs Amy Wong
Exploration Week 2016
With exams completed and the academic year drawing to its conclusion, our lower-sixth pupils were free to enjoy something a little different – Exploration Week 2017.
Exploration Week introduces the pupils to a range of enlightening subjects and practical tasks, designed to complement all they have learned during their penultimate year at St Peter’s. Essential UCAS and careers advice takes centre-stage as pupils begin to think about life after school, with workshops and talks focusing on personal statements, public speaking, creating an online brand and an introduction to university-style learning.
The week provides opportunities for staff to offer their own expertise on a wide array of topics, with sessions focusing on codebreaking, rat dissection, bike maintenance, stargazing, psychology, contemporary art, sports nutrition, flower arranging, survivalist cooking and even magic.
The centrepiece of the week was a team-building day for the entire year, in which pupils are required to work together in small teams
to complete a series of fun challenges – a particularly popular task is passing a baton to teammates over an ever-widening gap, which often results in some complicated human pyramids. Exploration Week 2017 gave opportunities for pupils to do exactly what it says on the tin – explore – way beyond the boundaries of their usual timetable at St Peter’s and, as ever, they took on the challenge with typical Peterite gusto!
Mr Ben White
Public Lecture Series
Lecturers and visitors challenge, inspire and entertain
Our programme of public lectures, sixth-form lectures and informal lunches continues to bring a diverse range of outside speakers with great experiences, new ideas and different (and often witty) perspectives on life into school. We’re pleased that our evening public lectures are well supported by so many in the wider St Peter’s community and from the city and beyond: all are welcome, so if you haven’t already been along, do please join us!
In the Christmas term we welcomed the classicist Peter Jones, formerly of the University of Newcastle and a prolific author and columnist, who entertained us with new insights into the links between Latin and English and the Romans’ way of life and ours. In October the Shepherd Hall was packed to hear author Bernard Cornwell in conversation with the BBC’s Elly Fiorentini, talking about his life as a journalist and writer and the research needed to bring his Sharpe novels authentically alive. Chris Mullin returned to talk about his work as an MP, campaigner and diarist on publication of his autobiography, Hinterland. In a year of political maelstroms he brought a voice of calm and perception through his experience and anecdotes.
In the spring we hosted seven events over two weeks as part of the York Literature Festival. Gervase Phinn connected warmly with his audience as he regaled us with stories of Yorkshire and education. Beautiful photos and Dan Cruickshank’s irrepressible enthusiasm took us through A History of the World in 100 Buildings. Ann Widdecombe spoke about life as an MP and minister, and her reinvention as a writer, broadcaster and Strictly Come Dancing contestant. We brought science to the Festival with Professor Jeff Forshaw returning with his Guide to the Cosmos. The Rev Richard Coles was in conversation with Ben Fuller. As a former member of the Communards, now a broadcaster and Church of England parish priest, Richard had much to talk about. The BBC’s Jonathan Dimbleby gave an illustrated talk
on the Battle of the Atlantic and explained why victory there was so central to winning World War Two. We closed with a wonderful evening with the Yorkshire Rows, the four intrepid Yorkshire mothers who last year became the oldest all-female crew to row the Atlantic. Janette Benaddi, Helen Butters, Frances Davies and Niki Doeg published their story, Four Mums in a Boat, during the Festival, and the TV and film rights have already been optioned.
Our summer term programme brought two speakers from different sides of the world. Sir Ron Cooke, long-time York resident, spoke about the work of the York Civic Trust to improve the cityscape whilst Steve Biddulph visited from Tasmania. The Memorial Hall was packed for two consecutive nights as Steve imparted a lifetime’s insight into the tasks of Raising Boys and Raising Girls.
The year’s final lecture, in partnership with the Festival of Ideas, marked the 500th anniversary of the Protestant Reformation with Peter Stanford speaking about Martin Luther and his legacy today.
We had three excellent sixth-form lectures during the year. Our first was from the ever-enthusiastic Mike Hurst who gave his talk on the history of popular music, brought to life through his guitar. Carolyn Hodgson brought her experiences as a TV presenter to the needs of sixth formers trying to make a good first impression in the world of work or at interview – and went on to work with small groups during the term in the upper-sixth Global Perspectives programme. Gordon Tait OP, Professor of Sociology and Philosophy at Queensland University of Technology in Brisbane, Australia, made us think anew about the importance of different forms of study and ways of thinking, and introduced us to academic disciplines new to most sixth formers but which they might study at university – whilst being hugely entertaining and irreverent. We welcomed Julian Sturdy MP (York Outer) to lunch to talk to students about his work and answer questions from students about issues facing York and the country after Brexit. Having recently had visits from two OP MPs, Neil Carmichael and Alan Mak, we were delighted to complete the set with a visit from John Healey (School house,1976-1978, MP for Wentworth and Dearne), the Shadow Secretary of State for Housing and Planning. Mr Healey spoke powerfully in Chapel about the opportunities given to him and all Peterites through being at the school and what we can all do to serve others in our life after school, and then met Politics students to answer questions.
Once again I have hugely valued the support and professionalism of all those in Estates, Catering, Housekeeping, IT, Marketing and the school office who have helped me enormously. This year’s monitors and heads of school have been great ambassadors as they welcomed our audience guests, assisted by a number of colleagues. In particular I would like to thank Sara Burns for her technical wizardry and professionalism, Sue Jenks who has run the box office with great efficiency for a number of years and David Morris who helped out front of house and took amazing photos – and will be much missed on retirement.
Mr Ben Fuller
St Peter’s School Mock Election 2017017
St Peter’s has a fine tradition of holding mock elections, with a lively campaign in 2015 featuring strong student candidates for all the main parties and a mock EU referendum in 2016.
Theresa May called the 2017 election for Thursday 8 June which was a difficult date for a mock election, coming in the middle of exams. This called for a slimmed-down campaign. Three members of staff made the case for the three main parties standing in York Central at an assembly and all those students in school on the day were able to vote.
Our mock election turnout was high at 88% with a Conservative victory in all but one of the school groups or constituencies voting. Meanwhile, many in the upper sixth enjoyed the opportunity to vote, for real, for the first time. When the results for York Central were declared Rachael Maskell, first elected as MP in 2015, saw her majority soar from under 7,000 to over 18,000.
Mr Ben Fuller
National Schools’ Challenge
This year saw the St Peter’s Challenge team crowned regional champions for a second time.
After their preliminary match, our very impressive team of George O’Neill (captain), Dan Hicks, Piyush Koorapaty and AJ Coates came through a very tense semi-final against Ampleforth, a match decided in the very last minute by a single set of questions. In the final, they defeated Barnard Castle as a result of their knowledge of Flanders and Swann, international currencies and Formula 1, but decidedly not English literature: apparently, ‘Murder in ... Grimsby’ is a title still available ...
It should be noted that the other St Peter’s team of Cosmo Forbes (captain), Jamie Dunsmore, Josh Glyn and Ethan McKinney came through the ‘triad’ round with very hard-fought wins, against Bradford Grammar School (310 points to 280) and against Ripon Grammar (350 points to 150). In their semi-final, they lost by a single question to the Barnard Castle team whom the A-team defeated in the final.
This victory in the regional championship meant that St Peter’s progressed to the inter-regional final, missing out on victory by the finest of margins.
This match was fought against Manchester Grammar School and the team (now including Cosmo Forbes) was impressive once again with their knowledge of music, literature and politics – excelling particularly in a round on the middle names of American presidents!
They came up against an impressive Manchester Grammar School team in the final, and after a hard-fought contest, were beaten 570-510.
My thanks to all involved and I very much look forward to next year…
Mrs Ella Mallard
Senior Team Challenge
Luke Dunsmore, Jerry Tam, Jack Hargrave and Demi Xin competed in the regional final of the United Kingdom Mathematics Trust Senior Team Challenge, at Fulford School. The competition tests mathematical, communication and teamwork skills, and students compete against teams from other schools and colleges from their region. 22 schools from the county were represented and the St Peter’s team was placed fourth.
Senior Mathematics Challenge
This challenge encourages mathematical reasoning, precision of thought, and fluency in using mathematical techniques. In November forty-six St Peter’s sixth-form students took part: nine received bronze awards, sixteen gained silver, and gold certificates were awarded to Jerry Tam, Cecilia Duan, Luke Dunsmore, Lily Wang, Thomas Tam, Sam Lightwing, Steven Jones, Frank Jiang, Jack Hargrave, Demi Xin, Schephay Dong, Cecilia Zhang and Clare Hornby.
Senior British Mathematical olympiad and Kangaroo
Because of their high marks in the UKMT Senior Maths Challenge eleven students were invited to take part in higher rounds of the competition. Cecilia Duan, Luke Dunsmore, Lily Wang, Thomas Tam, Sam Lightwing, Steven Jones, Demi Xin, Schephay Dong, Jack Hargrave and Cecilia Zhang sat the one-hour Senior Kangaroo Challenge. Jerry Tam 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.
British Informatics olympiad 2016
Jerry Tam and Luke Dunsmore competed in this three-hour computer programming competition which involves solving problems against the clock, using nothing more than pen, paper and a computer. year 10 Mathematics Feast
Four fourth-form students made the short journey to Bootham School to compete in the Further Maths Support Programme Year 10 Maths Feast. The competition consisted of several rounds, all requiring teamwork and a range of mathematical skills, including flexible approaches to problem-solving. The St Peter’s team of Laurie Carlyle, Matthew Shawcross, Lily Williams and Maddie Wylie worked well together throughout a thoroughly enjoyable afternoon.
Junior Team Challenge
In the summer term, Matthew Ng and Tommy Hudson together with Harry Tsang and Hugo Lange from St Olave’s, competed in the regional final of the UKMT Team Challenge, at the Mount School, alongside 27 other school teams. 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 fourth 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, 49 St Peter’s middle-school students took part, with 26 pupils achieving a gold certificate, ten a silver and ten a bronze.
Following his excellent performance in the Intermediate Mathematical Challenge, Francis Zhang was invited to the 45th UKMT National Mathematics Summer School at St Anne’s College, Oxford which took place in August.
Jamie Dunsmore, Matthew Ng, Matthew Shawcross and Francis Zhang 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.
As a result of their excellent performances in the Maths Challenge, Iris Greaney, Andrew Hanson, Oliver Tomalin, Katie Bonner, Maddie Wylie, Man Yi Lee, David Lyon, James Hanson, Ksenia Trubacheva, Isabel Chen, Amelie Lam, Barney Baker, Tom Hatfield, Lily Williams, Alex Harrison, Laurie Carlyle, Ilya Rzheznikov, Morgan Enoch, Ben Hobbs and Amelia Gray 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.
Mr David Spencer
Maths Inspiration Lectures
Maths Inspiration is one of the largest maths enrichment programmes for teenagers in the UK. It’s a chance for pupils to experience the UK’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 pupilsattended the Maths Inspiration Lectures at the West Yorkshire Playhouse. There were three talks:
1. Coralie Colmez: Maths on Trial
Coralie examined some of the mistakes that have been made by people trying to use maths as evidence in court by looking at cases in which the sums were wrong and the accused were innocent.
2. David Acheson: Mathematics, Magic and the Electric Guitar
Dr David Acheson looked at a number of exciting ideas including the mathematics involved in the vibrations of strings. His talk was inspiring and all appreciated his excellent guitar playing.
3. Colin Wright: Patterns, Predictions and Juggling
In this highly entertaining talk, Colin Wright showed how spotting patterns can help in a surprising number of situations, including the invention of new juggling tricks, and that patterns aren’t always as predictable as they seem.
Mr David Spencer
Northern Eastern Schools’ Modern Foreign Languages Debating Competition
Grammar School at Leeds, Wednesday 8 February 2017
This was the third year of the North Eastern Schools’ MFL Debating Competition and it is encouraging to see that the popularity of this competition continues to grow. This year we changed the venue in order to share the experience of running the competition and in an attempt to draw in more schools from the north-east. There were debates in three languages: French, Spanish and German, to give more pupils the opportunity to participate in their chosen language.
Eight teams attended for the German competition, twelve for Spanish and fifteen for French. The standard of debating was excellent despite the difficulty of some of the motions: ‘It would be better for young people to study using the internet than go to school’, ‘We should close our borders to immigrants’ and ‘It is more difficult being a parent nowadays than in the past’. The unseen motion for the final was that ‘Money brings happiness’.
The debates offer students a brilliant opportunity to practise their languages in an intense but supportive atmosphere – excellent training for those who must sit advanced level oral exams each summer. We entered two teams this year: the French team of Jess Webster and Ellie Brierley debated well but narrowly lost out to RGS Newcastle (the eventual winners) and the Spanish team of Gaby Richardson and Alice Jackson came first in the Spanish debates, beating GSAL in a tense final.
The greatest satisfaction from a teaching point of view is seeing the development in confidence of these young learners during the day of 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. We would like to thank all students who participated on the day and their teachers who helped them prepare for the debates.
Mr Mike Duffy
Scholars’ Trip: GR8escape
St Peter’s scholars enjoyed a scholars’ trip to York’s famous ‘escape rooms’, where they were locked in themed rooms and given just one hour to escape. To do so they had to complete a variety of challenges and puzzles, testing both brains and teamwork. This was a thoroughly enjoyable evening. Our most successful team was our sixth form (Steven Jones, Luke Dunsmore, Jack Hargrave, Clare Hornby and Chloe Wong) who were the only team to escape – with 53 seconds to spare! In doing so they became only the 59th team to have managed it from over 250 teams to have tried.
Science Department Trips and Outreach
ogden Trust york Schools Science Partnership
We are now entering our fifth year of the Ogden Trust Schools Science (Physics) Partnership in York, with St Peter’s being the hub school. Vale of York Academy, Fulford School, Archbishop Holgate’s School, The Joseph Rowntree School, Manor CE School and (as of next year) The Mount School, work alongside the University of York 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 fourth York Schools Science Quiz, and the eighth Science Technicians’ Conference and the eleventh 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 the university for their open days.
Nuffield research Placement Presentation Ceremony
In early October 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 on Explosives: the past, present and future by Prof Jackie Akhavan, head of the Centre for Defence Chemistry, Cranfield University, who presented Daniel Kondratiev and Frank Jiang with their Nuffield Certificates and STEM Gold Crest Awards. During the summer of 2016 Daniel and Frank carried out their Nuffield projects at the universities of York and Bangor respectively. Daniel’s project aim was to create software for taking low temperature magnetoresistance readings and Frank’s project aim was to demonstrate and apply the photonics effect known as laser speckle.
Science Public Lecture Programme
On Wednesday 21 September Professor Cobb of the University of Manchester delivered a talk entitled The Brave New World of CRISPR Gene Editing, in which he discussed the controversial process and its potential implications in the worlds of medicine, biology and even international politics.
On Wednesday 12 October, in a lecture entitled ESA’s Big Year in Space Science 2016 Professor Mark McCaughrean, Senior Science Advisor at the European Space Agency, brought his audience up to date with the latest findings from a year which has really pushed the frontiers of space exploration. Some of the most fascinating results presented included those from the celebrated Rosetta spacecraft, which only completed its mission at the end of September, whilst the lecture also looked forward to the ExoMars-2016 mission, which was set to land on the Red Planet later the same month. On Wednesday 9 November, we were delighted to welcome Professor Martin Elliott for the Guy Fawkes Lecture. In his lecture entitled Formula 1 May be Good for your Health Professor Elliott, who was until July 2015 Medical Director at The Great Ormond Street Hospital, explained how the principles used by Formula One teams to improve performance are being put to use across the world in life-saving heart surgery. Professor Elliott, now Professor of Paediatric Cardiothoracic Surgery at University College London, described how the sport’s principles of teamwork, innovation and excellence, alongside the relentless pursuit of safety, have influenced his essential work and that of doctors and surgeons around the world, but also stressed that the medical profession could still learn much more from other industries.
On Friday 13 January this year’s Stargazing Live event (now in its seventh year) combined a science exhibition (including mobile planetarium and sun dome), telescope retailers and some handson things to do, a lecture and an opportunity to look through a host of telescopes. The lecture, The Beauty and Science of Nebulae,
was delivered by Professor Carolin Crawford of the University of Cambridge who showcased a series of spectacular astronomical images, explaining how a nebula – a frequently vivid collection of interstellar clouds and dust – is formed, and what we’re actually looking at when observing the phenomenon. The event was run in conjunction with the University of York’s 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.
On Wednesday 15 February a former St Peter’s pupil returned after 42 years: Mike Ferguson (School, 1975), Regius Professor of Life
Sciences at the University of Dundee, delivered a lecture entitled What are the Boffins doing about Infectious Diseases?, detailing what scientists like himself are doing to tackle diseases such as Malaria, African Sleeping Sickness and Tuberculosis, which is still prevalent in some regions of the world. Professor Ferguson’s own significant contribution to this has been the establishment of the Drug Discovery Unit at the University of Dundee, at which 95 scientists dedicate their time to creating new and safer medicines for infectious diseases and tackling the spread of drug-resistant infections that aren’t prioritised by the pharmaceutical industry.
On Wednesday 1 March we welcomed Professor Kevin Shakesheff to deliver a lecture entitled Growing and Regenerating Human Tissue: A New Frontier in Medicine. Professor Shakesheff, of the University of Nottingham, discussed the future of medical science, focusing on his work in regenerating human tissue and its utility in treating illnesses ranging from cancer to blindness – a relatively recent and highly exciting new development in medicine. The audience quizzed the speaker on a range of topics, including the commercial viability of cell regeneration as an available treatment, the potential applications of the process in plant life, and even the possibility of creating a whole human being with the technique.
On Wednesday 22 March Professor Jeff Forshaw from Manchester University took the York Literature Festival back in time – all the way to the moments leading up to the Big Bang. Professor Forshaw, who has collaborated with Brian Cox on his new book Universal: A Guide to the Cosmos, explained how science has progressed to such a point that physicists can now study how the universe was behaving at the exact moment the Big Bang took place. Professor Forshaw detailed how the Higgs Boson particle, discovered in the Large Hadron Collider in 2012, has enabled a whole new way of thinking about the past, present, and indeed future of our universe.
On Friday 19 May worldrenowned theoretical physicist Professor Lisa Randall, of Harvard University, enlightened the audience on the unlikely connection between two spectacular phenomena. Discussing the theory behind her new book, Dark Matter and the Dinosaurs: The Astounding Interconnectedness of the Universe, Professor Randall explained the role of dark matter in the origins of the universe, its role in our solar system and the process by which scientists explore new concepts and theories. Professor Randall elaborated on the idea that dark matter could in fact be responsible for the meteor the size of a city descending from space to wipe out the dinosaurs sixty-six million years ago, before concluding her lecture with the surprising connections to be found between science and art – something she has explored through writing a libretto for Hypermusic: A Projective Opera in Seven Planes and co-curating an art exhibit for the Los Angeles Arts Association. It was a wonderful experience to be able to welcome a physicist of Professor Randall’s standing to St Peter’s. She is a leading expert on the mysterious subject of dark matter and her theory of how it may have led to the extinction of the dinosaurs was truly fascinating. She was an inspiration to the next generation of young scientists.
In June we hosted two 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 seventh 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.
On Friday 9 June Professor Freemont from Imperial College gave a lecture entitled Synthetic Biology – Designing the Future in which he examined the ongoing debate about scientists ‘playing God’, as they develop new ways of reprogramming cell behaviour. This ‘new era of
biotechnology’ has been brought about largely as it is now cheaper than ever to read and write DNA. Professor Freemont asserts that there is no better time for governments to invest in a sustainable bioeconomy, as the applications of such engineering could be endless, revolutionising numerous industries, including energy, food, manufacturing, medicine and security. The audience quizzed the speaker on the potential pitfalls and unforeseen hazards of this revolution, considering whether there was potential for weaponising the technology, or even if cloning and the ability to artificially design people was a real possibility.
Three days later on Monday 12 June medical doctor Beth Healey spoke on the subject of White Space. Dr Healey has recently returned from a year-long mission to Antarctica, the earth’s southernmost continent, where she has been examining the effects of this extreme environment on the overwinter crew at the Concordia research station. She explained how the crew could expect to go more than 100 days without a glimpse of sunlight, and that temperatures at Concordia would rarely creep above minus 80 degrees Farenheit. Understandably, this takes a significant toll on the team of scientists who work there during the winter months. The station, nicknamed ‘White Mars’, due to its inaccessibility, altitude and low light levels, is designed to mimic conditions on the red planet, allowing Dr Healey to examine the physiological and psychological effects of monotony, confinement and isolation on the thirteen crew members. Her findings cast doubt on Mars’ viability as a refuge for humanity, and Dr Healey argues that this is all the more reason for us to take better care of the planet we currently call home. Eighth ogden A2 Physics Symposium, The university of Durham: The ogden Centre for Fundamental Physics
At the start of September Samuel Stanford won a place at this symposium which has the object of allowing students to sample physics as it is taught and demonstrated to first-year undergraduates at Durham and to encourage them to apply to study the subject at degree level, whether at Durham or elsewhere.
My visit to the physics symposium at Durham University was a fantastic opportunity to understand what it would be like to study Physics at Durham and gave me the experience of being a residential student at university. The lectures covered a range of topics, from learning how to slow down atoms with lasers to deriving E=mc2. The educational content was fascinating, and I felt very privileged to receive a hands-on lecture from a group of PhD students about using computers and virtual reality to explore the beginnings of the universe. I participated in a formal dinner at St Aidan’s College, and I enjoyed staying in Van Mildert College. The activities run in the evenings by the hosts were fun and socially engaging, and I particularly enjoyed the quiz on the second evening. I would highly recommend this event to anyone thinking of applying for a science-based degree at university.
Sam Stanford, UVI
Bloodhound race for the Line Competition
BLOODHOUND SSC is the fastest car ever designed, with a top speed of 1,050 mph. It will begin its supersonic run programme in 2017, targeting 800 mph. 500 data channels on the car will tell Bloodhound engineers and school students how the design of the car is performing as it gets increasingly fast over 30 runs on the Hakskeen Pan in South Africa. The BLOODHOUND Project is using this 1,000 mph world land speed record attempt to inspire the next generation to enjoy, explore and get involved in science, technology, engineering and mathematics. In support of this project is a Race for The Line Bloodhound Micro:bit Model Rocket Car Competition for 7-16 year olds. The goal of the competition is simple: the fastest car through the timing gate, set so cars enter it at the 15-metre mark, with a functioning micro:bit on board able to gather acceleration data and upload it into the leader board, wins! St Peter’s School in York has put itself forward as the STEM Hub for the York area and was host to a teacher training session for ten teachers from York and from further afield, led by the BLOODHOUND SSC support team. At this, pupils and teachers at the school have been learning all about the science behind the 1,000 mph car and building their own miniature prototypes. Everyone tested their cars on the School’s tennis courts, hitting speeds in excess of 50 mph. All schools from the area were invited to register for their free allocation of foam model rocket kits and could then attend the Hub race day in April 2017. To be involved with such a ground-breaking project is hugely exciting for everybody at the school. It’s great to see pupils engaging with the STEM subjects in such an interactive and dynamic way. The UK is in need of future engineers and what better way to inspire pupils down this career path.
A-level Science Live
At the end of November our lower sixth Physics pupils attended the A-level Science Live event in Manchester, to hear what some of the country’s most eminent physicists have to say about the universe’s big questions. The event encourages young scientists from across the country to engage with top physicists, including the author and star of multiple documentaries, Professor Jim Al-Khalili. Professor Al-Khalili invited pupils to consider one of life’s great questions: do we live in a deterministic universe? Other discussions focused on particle physics, fluid dynamics and the mysteries of gravity, and Professor Lucie Green, from the BBC’s Stargazing Live, offered an insight into the sun and the next generation of spacecraft that are going to be going ever closer to its surface to measure the Coronal Mass Discharges. The other speakers were Dr Helen Czerski,
Dr Tom Whyntie and Dr Michael Brooks. Alongside hearing the distinguished speakers, pupils also got to grips with the fine detail of their A-level curriculum, with help from an experienced chief examiner. Engaging with these renowned scientists, each working at the cutting edge of their respective field, will have given our pupils plenty of food for thought about pursuing careers or further education in physics. All of the speakers were hugely passionate and were chosen for their great communication skills. Being able to couple this enthusiasm with an insight into what A-level examiners are looking for will no doubt prove invaluable for our pupils in their studies and beyond.
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 and 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 to 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 during the day at Leeds were Professor Lord Robert Winston, Professor Dave Cliff, Dr Jamie Gallagher, Dr Ben Garrod and Professor Lucie Green.
york Astronomical Society Student Presentations
On Friday 20 January five of our upper-sixth physicists gave short presentations to the members of York Astronomical Society at one of their bi-monthly members’ meetings. The students chose and researched their own topics and spoke for 12-15 minutes each, taking questions from the floor at the end. About 20 of their friends from St Peter’s went along to support them and helped to make up an audience of about 60 people. Cecilia Duan spoke on The Colonisation of Mars, Daniel Kondratiev on From Gagarin to 2017: a Brief History of Russian Cosmonautics, Jerry Tam on The Limit of Space Travel, Frank Jiang on Intermediate Black Holes and ULXs Starter Pack and Sam Stanford on Computers in Space. We were delighted and honoured to get the invitation from our friends at York Astronomical Society and all of our pupils more than rose to the challenge. They spoke with confidence and it was clear that a lot of preparation had gone in to their talks. They even managed to
add a little humour along the way and their efforts were warmly recognised by everyone present. This was the first time that we had done something like this and I was very proud of our pupils and the way in which they represented themselves and St Peter’s. We hope to be able to repeat the experience with some of next year’s upper sixth.
Fourth york Schools Science Quiz
On Monday 6 March twelve schools from in and around York came together for the fourth York Schools Science Quiz. Twentyfour school teams competed along with four 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 schools represented were The Joseph Rowntree School, Archbishop Holgate’s School, Fulford School, The Mount School, Manor CE Academy, Millthorpe School, Bootham School and St Peter’s School from within York, and Bedale High School, Harrogate Ladies’ College, Pudsey Grangefield School and Archbishop Sentamu Academy from outside the city. The event took place as part of the York ISSP and also the York Schools Ogden Partnership, with a large thank you to the Rotary Club of York Vikings for the water bottles and the Ogden Trust for the 8GB memory sticks and Amazon Voucher prizes. Each member of the winning teams won £20 Amazon vouchers.
The quiz was put together and presented by Mr Andy Parr, from St Peter’s School Physics department, 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 ‘Geeky Gooks’ Bedale High School
2nd ‘The Lab Rats’ Millthorpe School
3rd ‘Team’ Manor Academy
open competition:
1st ‘Bootham B’ Bootham School
2nd ‘S=T/P’ St Peter’s School
3rd ‘Jo Rovers’ Joseph Rowntree School
I was delighted with the positive support from the schools of York, with this year’s event being the biggest so far, and I hope that the competition will continue to grow. Many of the schools that were unable to take part this year have indicated that they will come on board next year. A good number of the questions were very demanding, and the answers from the pupils were impressive: no doubt much science would have been learned on the evening. Congratulations to Bootham School and to Bedale High School for their success.
In May, for the eighth year running, St Peter’s hosted the North East North West Standing Committee for Science Technicians’ conference. This was attended by over 90 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 for helping to make the day such a big success, particularly Mark Robinson, who again led one of the most popular workshops entitled Don’t Believe Your Eyes! which contained a miscellany of illusions and ‘magic’.
King’s Chester Physics olympics
On Tuesday 20 June eight of our third formers took part in the second King’s School Chester Physics Olympics Competition. After an early start and lengthy minibus journey, during which we practised some Fermi Quiz questions, we arrived at our destination and organised ourselves into two teams of four. Team Heisenberg consisted of Hannah Aubrey, Jodie Leon, Andy Hanson and Tommy Hudson, whilst Team Watt featured Jenny Durham, Poppy Steenberg, Ben Dunsmore and Oscar Hawes. During the course of the day the teams tackled five practical challenges, including constructing a solar-powered boat, making an electromagnet, firing a rocket at a target, building a boat out of plasticine and plotting a calibration graph to find an unknown mass. Alongside these was the Fermi Quiz which requires estimates of quantities to be made to the nearest power of ten. Both of our teams focused well in all of the tasks, recording consistently competitive values, giving them the chance of being successful. We were all delighted when Team Heisenberg were announced as Silver Medal winners, followed by Team Watt as the Gold Medal winners.
The first challenge of the Physics Olympics was having to get to school by 7 am. This was because it was being hosted at The King’s School Chester. The stakes were raised this year as King’s had won the Year 8 Physics Olympics at St Peter’s the previous week. There were two teams from our school (Watt and Heisenberg) competing against 22 other teams from a range of different schools. In the competition, there were five challenges as well as a Fermi Quiz. The Fermi Quiz involved estimating (and quite a bit of guessing) which all the teams had to complete throughout the day. For instance, we had to work out how much the global sea level would rise when an oil tanker was placed in it.
The first activity for us involved trying to make the biggest temperature difference from some water. By splitting the water into two beakers, we attempted to keep one warm whilst cooling the other one down.
This was our most successful event (we came second). After this, our second challenge was to create a catamaran. This involved designing a boat from two water bottles acting as hulls, and a propeller. In the end, we posted quite a good time but this was after some high-pressure, last-minute changes to the design and some confusion over which way the propeller spins. My favourite event came next which was designing a rocket to get as close to a flag as possible. We could affect the trajectory of the rocket by altering the pressure, angle and direction of the launcher. After unsuccessfully trying to find the mass of plasticine with springs, we moved onto the final challenge. This required us to induce an electromagnetic force from a piece of metal in order to pick up as many paper clips as possible.
Although we all wanted the winning t-shirts, we had reconciled ourselves to a middle-of-the-table finish. Surprisingly, the St Peter’s Heisenberg team were read out as the runners-up. Even more surprisingly, St Peter’s Watt team were the overall winners. Even though we didn’t win any events, we were consistently high. This concluded an enjoyable and interesting day. Thank you to Mr Morris for a great trip!
Ben Dunsmore, III
School Physicist of the year awards
The Ogden Trust and the University of York held their School Physicist of the Year Award ceremony on June 27. The annual awards ceremony recognises the most promising A-level and GCSE physics students in their region with each prizewinner 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 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 Laurence Wilson on salt lakes, Malaria, and Molecular Motors. Schephay Dong won the Year 12 award with Maisy O’Neill and Andrew Liang being the Year 10 award winners.
Liverpool university Physics olympics Competition
Two teams of four of our upper-sixth physicists have taken part in the Liverpool University Physics Olympics Competition, which this year was celebrating its 25th anniversary. The teams competed against a total of 35 schools from across the North of England in six separate challenges throughout the day. These included determining the density of a ‘fly’ by timing its descent through a viscous liquid, releasing a car from a sloping track at the right height for the car to jump a gap and land on a target and communicating by code the identity of four elements between one pair of team members
and the second pair of team members with only an empty can of Pringles crisps to work with! The teams also had to find the area within the outer perimeter of a symbol suspended high on the side of a building and identify five absorption lines in the spectrum of a star. Both of our teams came first equal in one of the games, but it was team Barkla that also went on to come out on top in the Fermi Quiz and amass enough points to make them the overall winners of the competition. The Fermi Quiz had a theme of silver with one of the questions being: what is the potential energy due to the electrostatic repulsion between all of the protons in a silver nucleus? The winning team consisted of Daniel Kondratiev, Cecilia Duan, Sean Shao and Steven Jones and they are to be congratulated on this tremendous achievement in what was a very competitive field.
Mr David Morris
The Liverpool Physics Olympics was a great event to attend, and I am certain that all the eight pupils who represented our school, including myself, had a very enjoyable day. On behalf of all of us, I would like to thank Mr Morris for all the effort he put into taking us there.
On the day, we met early in the morning when it was still dark and chilly to take the two-hour bus journey to Liverpool. Following a sleepy start, whilst still on the minibus, we began looking at previous years’ Fermi Quizzes, trying to cram in as many useful facts as we could in the time left: the average atomic radius, planet distances, and even equations we have not studied yet. Some of these were crucial to the questions we got! During the time we had in Liverpool before the scheduled start, we visited the Metropolitan Cathedral – an immense and fascinating masterpiece of architecture!
The Olympics took place at the University of Liverpool. There was a total of five events to complete alongside a Fermi Quiz, where we had to estimate the order of magnitude of various physical quantities. Some events were slightly more straightforward, but they all required intense collective thinking from the whole team due to strictly limited time and resources. The pressure was high since we had hardly any time to rest between challenges. During lunch, we were rushing to complete the Fermi Quiz, cross-checking each answer multiple times and trying to recall all the physical constants we couldn’t remember.
Finally, it was the time for the awards ceremony. Anticipation and nervousness were almost palpable in the air. Soon, it was over with all the winners announced. Our team was proud to have achieved the first place in the whole event, although it was a great surprise at the time. Returning to York, we were all exhausted after such a brimming day. Although Mr Morris objected to the idea of celebrating by drinking champagne from the Winners’ Cup, we all had a pleasant meal to conclude the experience.
Daniel Kondratiev, UVI
British Physics olympiad A2 Competition
In the British Physics Olympiad for Year 13 students Cecilia Duan received a Gold Award, Frank Jiang, Daniel Kondratiev and Luke Dunsmore (not in picture) received Silver Awards, Gideon Wakelin and Jerry Tam Bronze I Awards and Samuel Stanford a Bronze II Award.
Front row: Frank Jiang, Cecilia Duan, Jerry Tam; Back row: Daniel Kondratiev, Samuel Stanford, Gideon Wakelin
British Physics olympiad AS Competition
In the AS National Physics Competition for Year 12 students Schephay Dong and James Mahon received Silver Awards, Zaki Ward, Marcus Brown and Ben Chamberlain received Bronze I Awards, and Matt Ubhi a Bronze II award. Schephay also received an Emerald Award Certificate for outstanding performance at Isaac Physics.
Front row: James Mahon, Schephay Dong, Matt Ubhi; Back row: Zaki Ward, Marcus Brown, Ben Chamberlain St Peter’s Physics olympics Competition 2017
140 pupils from across York and the north of England travelled to St Peter’s School, York, for an annual physics competition. The competition, now in its eleventh year, brings together teams of Year 8 children who compete across a variety of challenges including a Fermi Quiz, constructing the highest tower and building the fastest solar-powered boat. The standout team on the day was Team Gamow from King’s School Chester, who finished in the top ten teams in each of the six separate challenges to run away as Gold Medallists, with Cundall Manor School second and Bradford Grammar School third.
Winners
This Way and That: Team Röntgen, The Grammar School at Leeds Highlight: Team Chadwick, Bradford Grammar School Solar So Good: Team Weber, Millthorpe School Mind Over Matter: Team Thomson, Cundall Manor School Hippopotomas: Team Kelvin, St Olave’s School Fermi Quiz: Team Becquerel, The Holy Family Catholic High School
5th
4th
3rd Team Kepler, Beverley Grammar School Team Dirac, St Aidan’s Church of England High School Team Chadwick, Bradford Grammar School
2nd Team Thomson, Cundall Manor School
1st Team Gamow, King’s School Chester
the region. To finish the tasks required focused team work and the pupils were stretched throughout the day. Everyone competed with enthusiasm and it was a pleasure to see so many budding young physicists rising to the challenges and enjoying themselves along the way: they were a credit to their teachers and schools. I would like to thank all of 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, Mr Robinson showed his willingness and expertise in the designing and making of much of the equipment for the games and Mr 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.
The event is sponsored by the Ogden Trust, the Institute of Physics, the Rotary Club of York Vikings, Nestle and Taylors of Harrogate. Science Society Christmas Lecture: Medicine through the ages
The Science Department’s Christmas Lecture 2016 covered the topic of Medicine through the ages. We saw how the application of science has enabled medicine to develop from hacking off limbs very quickly on the battlefield to very precise targeting of individual sections of DNA today. Coupled with medicine’s ever-increasing power, is the rise of medical ethics and the pupils were sent away with the idea that their generation will be faced with some very difficult decisions regarding the application of our rapidly gaining knowledge.
Mrs McKie and Mrs Hall enjoyed imparting the gory details about battlefield barbers: ‘treating the war wounded was one of the main tasks of the barber-surgeon, as well as extracting teeth, performing enemas, selling medicines, performing surgery and, of course, cutting hair.’ The battlefield was the ideal place for the inquisitive anatomical scientist. The anatomists had a problem during times of peace or when there were a lack of public executions, however – hence the development of professional grave-robbers. Much of medical treatment, such as bloodletting and trepanning, was based on superstition or incorrect understanding of concepts such as the four humours, although some traditional apothecarial remedies do have some scientific basis. Mr Mallard then introduced the development of the scientific method to furthering medicine (if not the development of medical ethics) by talking us through Jenner’s work with vaccinations.
Chemistry took on the challenge of sampling traditional remedies when Mr Smith chewed on willow bark. We realised that it really doesn’t taste too good. This was the origin of aspirin and we were taken on a journey through its development from a fairly unpalatable substance to the drug with minimal side effects that we know today. The sixth-formers filmed how aspirin can be made
in the lab although sensitive information was left out just in case anyone wanted to emulate Walter White. An ongoing issue in medicine today is the onset of infection and it was made clear how the use and development of mundane materials such as soap and iodine have had such a huge impact on successful prognoses.
After a quiz where we had to identify the possible use of some fairly gruesome pieces of equipment (anyone fancy a cowpat poultice or a haemorrhoid clamp?) it was the turn of Physics to talk about imaging techniques. We were lucky enough to borrow some state-of-the-art ultrasound equipment which has only recently been introduced in hospitals. Some basic A-level Physics combined with very fast computing power is leading to a revolution in diagnoses of conditions such as liver disease without the need for invasive biopsies. Mr Parr also demonstrated that he was very much a living person by showing the Doppler Effect image of his carotid arteries. Another piece of equipment that was kindly loaned to us was a box that surgeons use to train for keyhole surgery. Two members of the
audience competed and struggled to place one sugar cube on top of the other whilst we all watched via a webcam. When we realised that proper medical students are expected to cut the heads off jelly babies and then sew them back together, the skill of surgeons was very much appreciated.
Targeted treatment was the final topic of the lecture. The increasing precision of radiotherapy was introduced by Mr Bateman and then Mr Stephen outlined the amazing development of nanobots and CRISPR where we are able to cut out precise sections of DNA and replace them. Watch out for a future Nobel Prize! Soon we will have the power for people to donate their genes as well as their organs. We have come a very long way from the barbers!
A huge amount of work goes into the Christmas lecture and my thanks go to all the staff involved – particularly Mr Gant, Mr Gill and Mr Robinson, our fantastic lab technicians, and Mr Morris for procuring the loaned equipment.
Mr Mark Edwards
St Peter’s Challenge
Senior Competition Junior Competition
In the summer term it was the turn of the third and fourth form to display their talents in the junior competition. Once again we witnessed some superb matches, displaying our wonderful house spirit and the breadth of our pupils’ knowledge.
The semi-finals and final were much anticipated (as we had to wait until exploration week and exam week to conclude the competition). The final was played out in the last week of term on a very hot Tuesday lunchtime. We saw very impressive teams from School and Queen’s houses battle it out in the final with the final score reading: School 330 points, and Queen’s 260.
The interest and participation in this competition is a credit to the school, as all houses managed to get a large number of their third and fourth forms involved (many teams swapped players each week to allow many students to participate). It not only displays a great house spirit but also shows off the diverse (and numerous) talents of our pupils.
The Christmas term saw the welcome return of the ever-popular St Peter’s Challenge competition. Each week pairs of houses competed against each other, answering an array of general knowledge questions. The competition saw great house spirit and many impressive displays of knowledge and quick buzzer skills.
The final of the senior inter-house challenge was contested by two exceptionally able teams, from The Grove and School houses. The teams – made up of Matthew Roberts, Polly Moss, Zaki Ward and Daniel Hicks for The Grove, and George O’Neill, Rose Gabbertas, Cosmo Forbes and Jamie Dunsmore for School – provided an absolutely nail-biting match, in which School prevailed by the narrowest of margins, 400 points to 350.
The Grove demonstrated a huge breadth of knowledge, from the name of the composer of the Monty Python theme tune and the foundations of Mormonism, to the Romanov dynasty, and this was met by the School team’s knowledge of Roman months, the value of Scrabble letters and cake. Enormous thanks must go to Mr Vann who gave up a great deal of his time to help with the Challenge competition. Especial congratulations to the two teams in the final, who not only provided the closest but also the highest quality final that there has ever been in the competition.
Staff versus Monitors
The end of term brought with it the entertainment that is the Staff versus Monitors match. The monitors put up a very strong team, but they were defeated 390-170 by the staff ‘dream team’ of Miss Jones, Mr Grant, Mr Gwilliam and Mr Vann. Thank you to all involved – and a special thanks to Mr Lawrence for writing the questions.
Mrs Ella Mallard
