Salvete
helps out with the senior girls’ hockey teams and even has time to be an assistant in Wentworth Boarding House. Miss Matts grew up in Northamptonshire, coming from a farming family, and was educated at Rugby School, Warwickshire. She originally wanted to become a mounted police officer and it wasn’t until studying History of Art at Edinburgh University that she realised her love of it. After experimenting in a wide range of interesting jobs during her student years, including telesales (which to her dismay did not include being on the television and actually only involved selling cavity wall insulation), legal secretary and matron of a sixth-form boys’ house, she was drawn to St Peter’s because she loved the whole rounded approach which was similar in nature to her own school, and found the city of York to be extremely inviting. So far it has lived up to her expectations with what she believes to be the ‘friendliest staff room’ that she has yet been part of. In her spare time, Miss Matts’ three great loves in life are art, her dog (Talisker, a Scottish husky), and ‘being outdoors’. She leads an active life, being in the process of swimming the entire length of the River Thames (on sunny days of course) and has recently joined the school staff squash team. Known for her good whistling and accent talents, perhaps she will even take part in the dramatic aspects! With an ‘optimistic outlook’, it is clear that Miss Matts has rapidly become entwined in the school life here and we wish her all the very best in her career at St Peter’s. Jessica Webster, V
Mr Camron Miller This year we were thrilled to welcome Mr Miller to the school, teaching in the English and Classics departments as well as being involved with the Drama department (notably directing one of the middle school plays, Lord of the Flies, which was as superbly unsettling as one could have wished). Mr Miller grew up in St Bees on the Cumbrian coast and at 17 he joined an exchange run by the English-Speaking Union to Lawrenceville in the USA. He studied for a degree in English Literature and Classics (with the former sparking a passion for reading and a ‘never-ending quest’ to read his way through the canon of English literature, from
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The Peterite 2014-2015
Chaucer to the present). From there, Mr Miller went on to train as a teacher at Oxford, followed by a variety of jobs including working in London for a management consultancy, teaching English as a foreign language and even a role at a nuclear engineering firm (which he claims was ‘boring and scary in equal measure’). Mr Miller also likes to travel: when forced to pick his ‘funkiest’ destination, he chose Tijuana in Mexico, describing it as an ‘insane, lawless, party town’ which was an interesting experience! Drawn to the school by an admiration of its ethos and the value placed on friendship, Mr Miller has found his first year to be ‘very good’ and comments that ‘the location is perfect, the food is delicious and the children are acceptable!’ Whether he is inspiring us in the classroom or cracking us up with his American accent in play rehearsals, on behalf of the pupils I’d say that Mr Miller is an amazing addition to the teaching staff: we are lucky to have him, and we hope that he has a truly enjoyable time here at St Peter’s. Peter Gray, LVI
Mrs Emma Greenhalgh Mrs Greenhalgh is the newest member of the Chemistry department as well as the school’s newest rugby coach. Having grown up in Boston Spa and attending school there, she attended St John Fisher’s and St Aidan’s Associated Sixth Form (‘a rather long winded name!’) where she discovered a passion for science. She then went on to study Biochemistry at the University at Nottingham. Despite her scientific background, Mrs Greenhalgh lived for some time in Japan and worked as an English Language teacher.
