Valete
Miss Tereza Hercigová Tereza joined us at the start of this academic year as part of the HMC teacher exchange from the Czech Republic. She threw herself into the life of the school from the beginning: her main responsibilities were teaching ICT as part of the RLR programme but her mathematical skills were soon recognised and she was happy to teach lessons in the Maths Department here and also help out in St Olave’s. Her enthusiasm for the subject shines through in her lessons and she loves the challenge of explaining unfamiliar topics to children of all ages. Around school she has been a constant presence in the co-curricular programme: as a keen runner she has helped with the cross-country options all year and ran her first half-marathon in March. She has been a regular at staff swimming sessions in the early mornings, put orienteering back on the map in St Peter’s(!) and has accompanied DofE Bronze and Gold expeditions. I believe she will even take the experience of sleeping in an old shower-block on Strensall Common back to the Czech Republic with her. Keen to experience as much of the country as possible during her time here Tereza and her fiancé Tomas have travelled widely during the school holidays to Ireland and Scotland. She probably needed to get as far away from school as possible to try and get over the shock of appearing in the staff contribution to the House Sing! Although Tereza does not have fixed plans when she gets back home she does of course have one very important event to plan: her wedding in October. I think I speak for all of us when I say that we have all enjoyed working with Tereza as she has cheerfully fitted in with all the eccentricities of both St Peter’s and Yorkshire and we wish her well for the future. Mrs Jane Dawson
Mr Johannes Hoffman Johannes Hoffman grew up in the south of Germany, in Bavaria, where he went to school and was first introduced to English. He gained degrees in English Literature, Philosophy, German, and German as a Foreign Language, which led him to teach German to students in South
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The Peterite 2013-2014
Africa before moving to England, and to St Peter’s, where for the past year he has been helping our pupils to learn the language from a native speaker. Johannes is passionate about sport, enjoying a variety from skydiving to tennis, paragliding and football. He is well-travelled, and has had many adventures – even getting his only pair of shoes stolen in Spain, and having to make his way home to Germany barefoot! There are many pupils that have benefitted from Johannes’ knowledge and skill with languages, and I am sure there will continue to be more in years to come. Bethan Bradley (V)
Mrs Maggie Smales The Drama Department was thrilled to welcome Mrs Smales to the teaching team this year. Having been born in South Africa and then moving to England, where she attended eight different schools all over the country, she completed her degree in Drama at Bretton Hall College, the same College as Miss Lindley, the current Head of the Drama Department. Since then Mrs Smales has been teaching for most of her career as well as becoming a wife and mother in her family life. During this academic year, Mrs Smales has contributed to the school productions as a co-director for As You Like It, The Wardrobe and London Below, as well as designing and then creating many fantastic costumes from scratch. Sewing is one of Mrs Smales’ skills and hobbies: she even made it to the interview stages for the BBC2 show The Great British Sewing Bee. The department is very grateful for the talent and all the hard work she put into making these costumes, some of which are on display in the Drama studio.
