June 2009

Dear Parents

Those of you who attended the PFA Easter Bingo know what an excellent evening of family entertainment was provided. There was an abundance of prizes and I am grateful to all parents who contributed towards the success of the evening either by helping or donating prizes. Indeed in some case doing both.

Now we need your support with one of the major fund raising activities of the year for our PFA. The Fete Committee of the Association has been working very hard to plan our Annual Fete which is on Saturday 4 July beginning at 1.30pm. We now require your help and support.

On Tuesday 23rd June you will receive a book of raffle tickets which I hope you will sell and the draw will take place at the Fete. We also require helpers for the Fete itself. We need parents prepared to man stalls and assist with the clear up at the end of the day.

Please indicate on the attached reply slip whether or not you are willing to assist the PFA by helping on the afternoon of the Fete? If you do indicate you are prepared to assist you will receive a phone call from one of the Fete Committee giving you details of where we would like your assistance. I hope a number o f you will offer support as unless we can man the stalls the Fete will not be t he success it has been over recent years.

At the Fete we will, also, have our new and second hand uniform sale and there will be a number of side shows. The second hand uniform stall is always a popular attraction and donations of clean uniform that is in good condition would be much appreciated. Please feel free to send these into Reception as soon as possible. We will have Wimbledon on the big screen in the Hall and the usual excellent refreshments will be available. It promises to be a super afternoon of entertainment for all and we hope you and your family will come and take the opportunity to see our new parking facilities but, more fundamentally, our new Vocational Pavilion and Training School area. These are fantastic additions to the school and the Fete Day will give you the opportunity to see them at their best.

In preparation for the day we would also welcome donations for our bottle stall. The bottle stall is a very important fund raiser on the day and it does depend on the number of bottles we have available. Could you please consider donating a bottle of wine, soft drink etc. so that our bottle stall can be the bumper success it has been over recent years?

I hope I can count on your support on this day as the PFA Fete Committee and, indeed, the Committee in general, deserve all our support for the work they do for the school.

STAFFING

Few are not aware of the desperate sadness which hit our school when Mr Maurice Layhe died. Those of you who have sons and daughters who study Economics or Business Studies will also appreciate Maurice had been away from school since Christmas because of illness. We were extremely fortunate to gain the services of Mr Malcolm Taylor. A very experienced business studies and economics teacher and lecturer. Malcolm has done an excellent job for the students ensuring that their work did not suffer following the sadness of Maurice. Malcolm will be leaving us this Friday and I would like to publicly thank him for the work he has put into helping our students not only continue the excellent work the other departmental staff did with them but also help the department through what has been a deeply traumatic experience. Malcolm has travelled a significant distance each day to help us out and in expressing my gratitude to him I believe I am representing the views of all students he has taught and those of Mr John Poole-Jones and Mr Tom Wiffen the two permanent staff in the department.

Mr Brian Henry

Once again Mr Brian Henry assisted us when Mrs Sam Copcutt commenced maternity leave. Brian agreed to help us with the final revision for year 11 and I am grateful to him for once again stepping into the breach to assist the students of our school.

WELCOME

I have great pleasure in welcoming to the school Mrs Nicola Bostock-Hayes our new Head of RE. Nicola has been with us since Easter and has been getting to know the school, the department and the students. I am sure Nicola will be a major asset to the school and this term she has been working alongside Peter McMahon, the Acting Head of Department, so that she could familiarise herself with the workings of the school. I am grateful to Peter for the work he has done this year in holding the reins of the department whilst we were seeking a new head of department. Peter did not wish to continue in the role and did not apply for the post but I am sure he, together with other members of the department, will be determined that the determination for the department pushes forward under the leadership of Nicola.

CONGRATULATIONS TO

Daniel Robertson and Chris Thomas have beaten all comers from Gloucestershire in the KS3 section of the Jaguar Maths in Motion Competition and now move to the semi-final stage. The students compete using and applying a wide range of mathematical skills and techniques to prepare a virtual formula one car for a race. They have to consider all the variables with which a real formula one racing team would be confronted. Good luck to the pair of them and thanks to Mrs Thomas for all her support.

Alex Hoyle, Year 11. Alex has been accepted onto a Football League Scholarship at Bristol Rovers. He has signed a 2 year contract to further his football and also continue his studies. Well done Alex and best of luck for the future.

DELIGHTFUL MATHS NEWS

On the 30th of April 113 Year 7 and Year 8 students took their annual Maths Challenge.

It is a great accolade for these students and the whole of St. Peter’s High School that 51 students received Gold, Silver or Bronze awards. That is 45% of the students who took the Challenge!

From Year 7:
Silver: Kim Jones, Matt Robertson, Josh Gittins, Ryan Bird, Kate Marciniak, Freya Sheer Hardwick.

Bronze: Annie Davies, Fran Stansfield, Harry Stansfield, Aidan Watson, Anna Cookson, Sally Beard, Henry Morris, Laurence Padfield, Eddie Murphy, Dominic Jones, Jack Sysum, Liam Gittins, Bethan Doel, Katie McKeown, Thomas Baker, Amy Walker, Ben Johnson, Joe Williams, Beth Hemming, Jake Morris, Niall Macklin, Ryan Barrett


From Year 8:
Gold: Dan Robertson (Best in School), Patrick Davie, Sinead Dangerfield

Silver: Alex Simpson, Jem Winter, Chris Thomas, Nicholas Kowal, Rachel Douglas Phillip, Michael Puddicombe, William Murphy, Tobias Sheer Hardwick, Henry Simmonds, Beth Walsh, Yolanda Chicomba

Bronze: Catherine Glanville, Ellie Joseph, Georgia Wood, Katie Taylor, Eilish Fletcher, Oliver Smith, Elliott Hopson, William English, Danielle McNulty

MORE SUCCESS

Many congratulations to all our students who took part in the County Athletics Championships. Particular congratulations to Bonnetta Williams who will be representing the County in the Shot Putt. It is once again pleasing to see our students showing their prowess across so many areas.

In keeping with the above comment the School has received two more awards, this time from the Specialist Schools & Academies Trust.

One award was for our high performance in achieving 60% or more 5+ A* to C GCSE passes last year to include English and maths. We actually achieved 64% which put us at the top end of performance in the Specialist Schools. We also received a special certificate congratulating us on being a high performing specialist school. This again emphasises the quality of the teaching in the school and fully supports the Ofsted judgment of the school being an outstanding educational establishment. Congratulations are due to all staff and students who contributed to the wonderful GCSE performance last year. We are hopeful that this year’s year group will match or even better that performance.

STUDENTS WHO ARE FEELING UNWELL IN SCHOOL

Please note that students who are feeling unwell must get permission from their HOY or pastoral staff if they wish to go home. They must not phone parents until they have this permission.

LIBRARY NEWS:

Year 9 had an exciting visit from Alan Gibbons organised by the Library team and English department. He spoke brilliantly to all Year 9s and they really enjoyed hearing his tales. We hope they will be inspired to pick up one of his many excellent books. A group of selected Year 9s got the chance to be involved in his writing workshop which produced some truly scary stories. Entries are currently being judged.

At the beginning of term, Year 8s will get their turn. Performance poet Andrew Fusek Peters will perform some of the poems from his book, ‘Poems with Attitude’. If we are lucky he may juggle, play the didgeridoo and read some of his most recent poems. We hope that the Year 8 students in the writing workshop will be inspired to write some equally lively poetry.

THE FIRE SERVICE

A member of the Fire Service was in school recently and asked if we would advertise their free Home Fire Safety Check. If anyone would like to access this service and get smoke alarms free of charge, they can contact the fire service on 0800 180 4140.

YEAR 8 ALTON CASTLE RETREAT 2009

On the 24th – 26th April, we went to Alton Castle Catholic Youth Retreat Centre in Staffordshire with other Year 8 students and Mr McDonald, Fr Kevin and Miss Olewicz. It has to be one of the most fun, exciting, adventurous retreats we’ve ever been on and we’ve got the bruises to prove it! As part of the retreat we went mountain biking, trekking and the new adventure course! These activities consisted mainly of mud, losing shoes, falling over and not being able to get up in the morning.

The team there were the most magnificent, hilarious, heart-warming group of people in the universe (except for our own teachers of course!) and they can cook one mean apple crumble. Oh yes, we all got paid a large amount of money to tell you that Mr McDonald is a super talented bike rider, he found the adventure course “well easy” and he could trek with his eyes closed.

So, where’s the retreat bit you’re wondering? Well, during each activity we had a break in the middle of it to reflect and meditate. We would make the time to listen to all the sounds around us whilst being told a story. By the end of it we all felt so calm and peaceful that we found it hard to stay awake! Even the ducks came over to be part of it; that was until a dog sniffed around. All the activities were great fun but never skin deep. They all had a deeper meaning to touch your heart and soul. We celebrated Mass each day and learnt some brilliant new songs. There was even some great drumming being played Hannah, one of the team members. Our favourite song was grace at meal times sung to the theme from the Adam’s Family…I wonder if they used it?

Finally, we would just like to thank Alton Castle very much for such a spiritual and heart-felt retreat. Also, we would like to thank Mr McDonald, Fr Kevin and Miss Olewicz who shared the retreat with us. They were truly inspirational and it wouldn’t have been the same without them! Thank you very very much!

By Leah Smith 8I, Lauren Cairns 8I, Ely Seymour 8L and Beth Smith 8R

SIXTH FORM SCHOOL TRANSPORT

If you are intending to apply to Gloucestershire County Council for a bus pass for your child your application needs to be with them by beginning of July 2009 to ensure your pass is ready for September 2009. Further details can be found on the school website in the 'parents' section or www.gloucestershire.gov.uk.

CAPTIVATING COCKROACHES! YEAR 7 ICT ZOO VISIT

The sun shone brightly for the second year in a row, as Year Seven bowled off to Bristol on June 3rd and 4th to find out about the major role that ICT plays in the Zoological Gardens.

The visit also provided many important insights into conservation, in preparation for the students’ ‘Fragile Earth’ project when they enter Year 8.

The Education team at the Zoo provided an outstanding, highly interactive seminar, where friendly Madagascan hissing cockroaches, exquisite Egyptian tortoises and exotic snakes were handled by the children. The worksheets they completed, and the photos and video footage taken, will provide the basis for further ICT work on databases and multimedia projects.

The students were model ambassadors for the school, and took part in the seminars with great enthusiasm – well done, Year 7!

Conclusion

Many parents know that traditionally we have a superb Mass to celebrate our Patron’s Feast at the end of June. This has been on the Feast of St Peter and St Paul on 29 June. As this is a Monday this year it is difficult for us to organise the logistics and we have therefore transferred the celebration to Friday 3 July. This is the Mass where we celebrate our year and we follow the Mass by making awards across a whole range of school life. It usually is a great day and one we all look forward to. This year the occasion will be added to by Bishop Declan, Bishop of Clifton, honouring us with his presence to celebrate the Mass and be present at the Awards Ceremony. This is a great honour for the school and we very much look forward to welcoming our Bishop so that he can see the developments the school has made since his last visit. If any parents would like to be present at the mass you will be very welcome. If you wish to attend please be in the Entrance Hall no later than 9.45am and we will be extremely happy to accommodate you for what will be I am sure a memorable experience. Mass will be followed by a lunch break and our awards ceremony will begin at approximately 12.45pm.

I look forward to seeing many of you at the Fete on 4 July.

With all best wishes,

Yours sincerely





Lawrence Montagu
Headteacher

Newsletter 5 May 09

Dear Parents

Last week we had school masses for the intention of our public examination students. Within the next two weeks Year 11 and Year 12 will be leaving us as their public examinations begin. Year 13 will be leaving on the last Friday of the half term. I want to assure parents and students in public exam years that they will remain in the prayers of the school throughout the exam period. Equally, when they are on study leave if they have any problems with their revision they should ring the school and arrange to see the appropriate member of staff when they are next in. No staff will refuse such a request and we will be only too delighted to help. As always the intention is for us to work together for the success of your son/daughter.

What is of paramount importance is that when our young people are on study leave they work a full school day on revision. The advantage they have and something which will help them be mentally and physically alert when they are in the exam hall is that they will not need to work in the evening. They should, however, keep the discipline of getting up and commencing work no later than 9.30am and with appropriate breaks during the day finishing at 4.00pm. They should not develop the bad habit of believing it is a holiday and staying in bed until mid-morning. Doing their best in examinations is all about mental discipline and the discipline during revision is a vital component of success in examinations. Between now and study leave our Year 12 and Year 13 students should be doing 3 to 3_ hours revision each night and 4 hours on Saturday or Sunday over the weekend. If they have Friday night off they should be doing both Saturday and Sunday. Year 11 should be doing 2_ hours a night with the same arrangements for the weekend as Years 12 and 13.

I repeat a message I have tried to give to your sons and daughters and indeed yourselves. The next break they have from work is the day after their last exam. Then, in the case of Year 11 and Year 13, they can enjoy a well deserved long break from academic rigour. Year 12 students will, of course, return for the commencement of year 13 study but they will have the opportunity to have a break between their last exam and returning to school.

BUILDINGS

Tomorrow i.e. 6 May, will be the official opening of our two new buildings. They are a fantastic addition to the resources of the school which will further enhance the opportunities we can offer your sons and daughters. The Rosemary Steele Training Centre which will house our EAL and some of our RE teaching as well as our training of present and future teachers is named after a lady who has given so much to St Peter’s. Many of you will remember Rosemary; all her children came to the School and she served St Peter’s as a Governor for 22 years. In addition she was an integral member of our PFA and helped the school out of a very difficult situation serving as Chaplain for 3 years. It is a delight to name one of our buildings after Rosemary as nobody could have done more to support and promote the development of St Peter’s into the school we have at present. It is so important that all of us who are associated with the success of St Peter’s as it is today never forget the contribution those people who founded the school and developed it have made to the status and national acclaim the school enjoys today. Rosemary is one of those people and it is right and fitting that her memory will forever be enshrined in the history of St Peter’s with our Training Centre named after her.

The Vocational Pavilion provided with funding from the Learning & Skills Council is a vital ingredient for the future of our school. One of the areas Ofsted suggested we must continue to develop is our 14 – 19 curriculum. That specifically is in the area of vocational courses and our Vocational Pavilion will contribute towards meeting this need by providing incredible opportunities for students who wish to develop careers in leisure, sport, catering and hospitality. It will also have a significant part to play in our extended school activities by offering the opportunity for our wider community to develop qualifications and interests for their own benefit and hopefully in some cases for the benefit of the communities where they live. I am sure you will delighted with both new buildings when you see them and once again appreciate that St Peter’s will not stand still, rest on its laurels or become complacent. Our Governors will simply not allow the education we offer our young people to stand still. We will always be striving to improve what we offer so that it meets the needs of our young people in the middle of this century.

BUILDING FUND

As always our new buildings come with a price to the Governors and attached to this newsletter is the building fund envelope for this term. Once again I remind you that we ask you if you are financially able to consider contributing £10 per student to our building fund up to a maximum of £20 per family. If you already donate by Standing Order or you contributed an annual contribution in September, simply return the envelope marked with ‘Annual’ or ‘Standing Order’. If you are unable to contribute or cannot contribute the suggested amount we fully understand and any support will be gratefully received.

NB. Whether the envelope contains money or not it must be returned to form tutors no later than Wednesday 13 May. The return of the envelope to form tutors avoids any abuse of the system and is a protection for all.

INVIGILATORS

We are still short of invigilators for our exam period. Even if you can only offer a few days this could be very useful to us. If you would like to learn more about what being an invigilator entails or sign up to join the team for the forthcoming exam period please ring our Exam Officer, Ruth Cameron, on 509230. Ruth will give you details of the requirements and the rate of remuneration.

CONGRATULATIONS

• To our 1STXV who did so well in reaching the final of the Daily Mail at Twickenham. The boys lost to Truro College but getting to the final and playing the way they did on the day was a tremendous accolade to them and to their coaches, Dave Pointon and Stuart Crabb. It also provided a fantastic day out for the 800 supporters we took to Twickenham. When you visit the new pavilion you will see some great photographs of the day on display courtesy of Mr Peake. For medical reasons I was not able to be at Twickenham and although it was a great personal sadness I was kept fully informed with regular messages from our Chair of Governors, Jim Stenson. In fairness it appears that the best team won on the day. In congratulating Truro one could debate for many hours whether or not they should have been in the competition but the facts are they were allowed to enter, entered and with their vast resources available and the physicality of their team deserved to win the final. This does not detract from the performance of our boys. Yes, we could highlight missed tackles which cost us the all important tries when the sheer physicality of Truro appeared to tempt some of our boys to tackle high instead of going low. However, this would be nit-picking and diminish what was a great performance by our lads to reach the final and perform the way they did. It is also worth noting that in the last two years in the Daily Mail Schools competition we have only been beaten once and never by a school side. I am sure even Truro would accept that they are as close to a school as St Peter’s is to being a kindergarten!

I regret to have to inform you that the dispute with the RFU concerning our status and boys being allowed to represent us in the Daily Mail is no nearer to resolution.

However, we will continue to try to develop the best teams we can so that St Peter’s continues to be one of the top rugby schools in the country. The refusal of the RFU and sadly the Daily Mail who sponsor this excellent competition, to rationally consider the context of St Peter’s and its sixth form centre status within the education system of Gloucestershire, is disappointing. This, however, must not and will not be used as an excuse by us for underachievement. We must offer the very best education to the young people who come to St Peter’s Sixth Form Centre for the all round education we offer including specific development in their areas of excellence.

• To our Year 7 soccer team who have performed fantastically to reach the final of the County Cup competition.

• To Emily Jenkin Year 11 & Francyne Hardy Year 10 are both involved in the Gloucester Young Volunteers Project through their swimming club, Gloucester City. This includes giving up their free time to help at the club, poolside, coaching and helping with younger swimmers. Last week (22nd-26th April) they both were part of the Presentations Team at the European Synchronised Swimming Championships at GL1 Leisure Centre, in addition to their daily training sessions. 14 Countries took part all looking for an Olympic qualification.

• To all our swimmers who represented us so superbly in the Gloucester Swimming Gala. As you know as yet we cannot offer swimming as part of the school curriculum but many of our students swim for clubs outside and commit to an arduous training schedule. I am grateful for them representing us so well in this important gala.

• To our Year 9 boys who won the county Rugby League - Yes, RUGBY LEAGUE festival.

Please continue to keep our public examination students in your thoughts and prayers.

Yours sincerely




Lawrence Montagu
Headteacher

LATE NOTICE

Following our Ofsted, HMI will be visiting the School on the afternoon of Friday 15 May. They would like to discuss with groups of staff, students and parents, their perspective of the new inspection regime. I require a group of 10—12 parents from approximately 2.00—3.00pm. If you feel you could contribute to these discussions I will be grateful if you contact my PA, Mrs Jan Hill on 509217 and give her your name and contact details.

Tuesday 31st March 2009

Dear Parents

I hope you have now had time to read the full Ofsted Report on our website. I trust you will recognise why I was so effusive about our students and staff of the school. Mr Johns has recently represented me at an Ofsted debriefing session and for a school such as ours, to receive a ‘no notice’ inspection and attain ‘Outstanding’, puts us in a very, very elite category nationally. I would like to pay tribute to my Senior Vice Principal, Philip Rush (who has been running the school recently in my enforced absence) and to Vice Principal, Nick Johns, responsible for Self-Evaluation. They, together with our Data for Learning Manager, Helen Stenson, had us in an excellent position for a ‘no notice’ inspection and their key roles in the school were merely emphasised by this process.

There are very few state schools that would be able to gain an ‘Outstanding’ Ofsted, produce the calibre of music and performance we saw at ‘The Night of the Musicals’ in aid of our Lourdes Group and compete at the highest national level in two major sports - our senior tennis mixed doubles team who came runners up in the national finals at Bolton and our boys at Twickenham tomorrow, who will be supported by nearly 600 staff and students. The lads have done fantastically to get to this stage. What a great finish to the season and a great year for our school it would be if they could cap it by winning the trophy once more!

It has been a great year so far. But, regardless of the result tomorrow, let us simply remember that the success of our school is the success of our students and it simply highlights what Ofsted found on their two-day visit be a common feature of St Peter’s for 190 days of the year. Quite simply, staff and students work together to the best of their ability for the success or our young people, whether it be during curriculum time, in our extended school or in encouraging students with their out of school activities. Long may it continue to be so!

REVISION

All our students in Yrs 11, 12 and 13 should now have their own personalised revision programme. It should begin on the 2nd April but should highlight how their studies are going to progress between now and their last exam. There is no shortcut to this. There next holiday is the day after their last exam. The time has come for what we call in sport “the hard yards”. It is this that leads to the kind of success our sporting teams have enjoyed. It is not the glamour of the competition that makes you successful, it is the lonely gym work, the hours of team practice spent in all weathers at all hours of the day and evening and the discipline that all this develops in the team. It is the same with revision: it is a very personalised approach to work but the discipline of it will give the mental toughness to handle the examinations.

My recommendations are therefore as follows:

Year 11
6 days a week during term time, 2 hours of revision a night.
During the Easter and Whit holidays, 3 hours of revision, 6 days a week.

Years 12 & 13
During term time 18 hours of personalised revision, 6 days a week.
During Easter and Whit holidays to work a full school day of 5 hours revision.

With all year groups my advice is that during the holiday, revision is started early in the day so that it can be finished by late afternoon leaving the evening available for rest, relaxation and hobbies. I would therefore suggest that revision should commence no later than 9.30am and finish no later than 3.30pm with suitable breaks during the day, in the case of Yr 11, 15 minutes every hour and Yrs 12 and 13, half an hour every 2 hours. Students who dedicate themselves to this programme will be successful. All students have now been given revision schedules by their subject teachers and the personal revision will be complemented by a full revision programme in class, kicking in immediately after the Easter holiday if it hasn’t already commenced.

Year 10
Yr 10 have half GCSE exams in subjects such as RE and ICT together with science modules. It is therefore necessary that they too give time to revision during the Easter break. For this year group, my advice is that they should undertake 12 hours of revision each week and then when we return to school after the break they should commit to 10 hours personal revision between the beginning of term and taking the exam.

HOLIDAY

The School will close for the Easter holiday at 3.40pm on Friday 3 April. We will return at 9.00am on Monday 20 April.

NATIONAL AWARD

On the 2nd April Mr Johns will be representing us in London to receive a special national award. It is being given by the Specialist Schools & Academy Trust to those specialist schools who last year achieved more than 10% above target expectations in value-added performance at GCSE. I remind you that value-added is what students acquired over and above what was expected of them when they entered the school at age eleven. When maths and English was included in the 5 or more A* to C GCSE percentage St Peter’s was 12% above expectation and this was considered to be significant and indicative of a highly performing school. Mr Johns will therefore be presented with a plaque to commemorate this performance at a national dinner in London.

CONGRATULATIONS

You are well aware that I always love to see the success of St Peter’s students. I also take great delight in seeing the success of our staff whether it be the potential of younger staff coming to fruition as they progress along their career path and promotion ladder or individual excellence. I am delighted to inform you that Mrs Joy Sullivan, our Training Manager, and for many years a superb English teacher, has gained a doctorate in English. Thus in the future you will see a Dr Joy Sullivan on our staff! Many congratulations to Joy on proving her own intellectual ability to go alongside an excellence in her chosen profession.

SO CLOSE FOR ST PETER’S AT NATIONAL TENNIS FINALS IN BOLTON

This past weekend, St Peter’s was just one match away from picking up a first mixed doubles national tennis title in Bolton. The team of Oliver Duffy, Lara Surman, Kris Smith and Beth Webb played some sublime tennis to win their group having beaten Ellesmere College, St Albans School and Boston High School along the way.

Kris Smith and Beth Webb won four matches out of four on the first day to ensure St Peter’s was in a good position to progress through to the final. The Ellesmere encounter however, was a tense affair, as the sides were locked at two rubbers a piece after all four rubbers had been played, which meant that the match went to a deciding ‘first to 10 points match tie-break’. Oliver Duffy and Beth Webb teamed up to secure the victory winning the tie-break by 10 points to 8 having trailed for much of the decider.

In the final, St Peter’s faced a very strong Worthing College side that had progressed through the group stage having conceded just 1 rubber in 3 matches. After the first two rubbers, the tie was locked at 1 rubber each - with Oliver Duffy and Beth Webb producing a fine 6-2 victory from 2-0 down for St. Peter’s. At one stage in the second round of matches St. Peter’s were up 4-3 in one rubber and down 4-3 in the other and it looked like going to another deciding match tie-break. However, Worthing managed to come through both rubbers by 6 games to 4 to claim the title.

St Peter’s coaches Keiran Montagu, Nick Dill and Helen McHugh were disappointed not to return to the school with the title but are optimistic about the school’s chances of winning national titles in the coming years.

Reading Workshop

In November, 60 of our Year 7 pupils were invited to join Reading Workshop. The aim was to improve their reading speed, accuracy and understanding. Over the last 10 weeks they have all been reading avidly on a regular basis and for many they have discovered for the first time the pleasure of reading a book.

Following retesting, I am delighted to say that of the 60 who joined Reading Workshop the vast majority improved their reading age; for some by as much as 2 or 3 years!

This is a wonderful success and our congratulations go to all these pupils, and to their reading partners who have worked so hard to keep the reading going. Their success was celebrated in an assembly where our librarian Mrs Butler awarded prizes to all those who had gained their gold certificate and to the most improved boy and girl.

Well done everyone! Now keep on reading!!

Invigilators Required

Would you like to earn some extra cash during May/June 09?

We are looking for Examination Invigilators. Your role will be to oversee and supervise examinations and to ensure that guidelines and regulations for the integrity and security of the examination papers and procedures are followed during examination sessions.

You will be required to help set up exam rooms, ensure candidates receive the correct papers, record attendance, collect in scripts and ensure regulations are adhered to.

Full training is provided!
All successful applicants will need to be CRB checked.

If you are interested in finding out more information please contact: Mrs Cameron on 01452 509230
or
Email: exams@st-petershigh.gloucs.sch.uk

Catering Department News

Firstly I would like to introduce myself formally to all of our pupil’s parents & carers.

I am Mrs Max Markey and I took over as catering manager from Mrs Margaret Turner in December 2008 when Margaret retired, taking on a team of 7 staff who are utterly brilliant at their roles.

I have worked within the catering industry for a substantial time and I am thoroughly enjoying myself!!!

I thought I would take this opportunity, following this week’s press coverage, to set minds at rest.

Here at St Peters we have already adopted healthy eating within the kitchen for some time, including holding healthy school status. Your children have been eating healthily & nutritionally within the new government guidelines for some time, with local fresh fruit & vegetables (mostly organic), locally sourced fresh meat & fish products and healthy drinks which contain no less than 5% added sugar.

Everything we cook in the kitchen is freshly made with the above products to a very high standard. We are aware & also able to cater for all dietary needs including diabetes, coeliac, low fat etc.
Please feel free to contact me with any queries at all I will endeavour to assist you.

Thanks

Max Markey
Catering Manager

Conclusion

During the Easter holidays a group of our students will be on an excursion to Italy. This is always a highly successful experience and once again we hope that the students and staff enjoy visiting that beautiful country.

In addition, our Lourdes Group will leave on Easter Sunday for a week working with children with disabilities in Lourdes. This group has been an example to the whole school over the last twelve months of how you work to assist other people. They have given an enormous amount of their own time to fund raising and they have assisted the school in so many ways. You see them at parents’ evenings and you see them at performances providing refreshments, all to raise money for the pilgrimage. They are a truly incredible group of young people and in Father Kevin, Trish Tedstone and Vin Kilty they have staff and associate staff who set an example of service to others which is a living statement to the mission of our school.


By the end of term all your sons and daughters will have had the opportunity for reconciliation services and services in preparation for Easter. Easter is the most important feast in the Church’s year. For us Christians it is also the feast day which gives us hope that this tenuous life we have on earth will not be the end when it is over but merely a gateway into eternal happiness in God’s presence if we have attempted to live our lives in keeping with the Gospel message, i.e. love God and love your neighbour as yourself. In this day and age loving one’s neighbour as oneself can appear to be an impossible dream because of the terrorism and violence that is all too evident around our world. We must never forget these are very, very small numbers of people. What is important is that all of us realise most men and women in the world want to follow the message of Christ. They do not want conflict, violence and suffering and want to live in harmony with their fellow man. Christ died at Easter, not for one race or one set of people but for the world and it is the vast majority of good people in the world who will win eventually the battle against terrorism, violence and harassment of any kind.

It is worth recalling that just as Christ died on the cross for the salvation of mankind, so many people have their own personal crosses to carry. As I said earlier in the newsletter, it has been a fantastic period for St Peter’s of great success for our students and staff. We must also remember that it has also been a time of great sadness. The tragic death of Mr Maurice Layhe; the continuing hospitalisation of one of our year 8 students with a very serious medical condition; the students in our school who have lost parents; the families in our school who are suffering from family break up and, of course, many people connected with our school who are undergoing serious medical treatment – in this we include and continue to pray for Father Frank Cama who had he been well, would have been at this year’s reconciliation services as he always is. These personal crosses people are asked to bear replicate the suffering of Christ on the cross at his crucifixion. This, of course, was followed two days later by his resurrection from the dead and the hope that it gives all of us who believe that through our suffering, even if it leads to death on earth, there is a future that can be brighter for eternity. That gateway into eternity will, I believe, be available to all people who throughout their lives have tried to bring peace and harmony to their homes, their school, their society. We have many examples of where this takes place within our school and where people give unstintingly of their own time e.g. as previously mentioned the magnificent Lourdes Group, and all the other work that goes on to support other people in many different ways. Ofsted is important to our School; success in everything we do is important to our School, but what is immeasurable and at the very heart of our school is that Christian message of love and respect for each other and supporting those who for any reason are less fortunate or having a difficult time in their lives. This your sons and daughters do superbly, accompanied by the staff and you should be very proud of how they really do live out, on a daily basis, the message of our Christianity. We are not perfect, we make mistakes and we will always continue to do so when people need support or help both individually and as a community it can be found within our school.

I hope you and your families enjoy the time you are able to have together during the two-week Easter break. I hope as a family you will attend the Easter services, particularly Good Friday and Easter Sunday in your own churches and even our students who have to work during the Easter for exams, organise themselves and plan it so that they are able to enjoy quality time for the late afternoon and evening of each day.

17th March 2009

Dear Parents

OFSTED
My thanks to the many of you who returned the OFSTED questionnaire at such very short notice! Your sons and daughters will have told you that the short notice was because St Peter’s had been subjected to one of a very, very small number of NO NOTICE OFSTED INSPECTIONS. I believe there are no more than a handful of schools in the country that have had the experience we had whereby the Inspectors arrived at the School at 8.15am on the Wednesday morning and by 9.30am were in our classes. This no notice inspection is part of a pilot inspection regime which will be implemented across the country next year. Apart from the possibility of no notice inspections such as we received, the new inspection regime is far more rigorous than the old, with a concentration on classroom performance and an in-depth inspection of data related to the performance of individual students and groups of students in the school. In this we were greatly served by our Data for Learning Manager, Helen Stenson, and the work she has done with our departments over the last two years. The new regime also quite rightly places great emphasis on the views of young people with regard to the education they are receiving and many of your sons and daughters were spoken with by the inspectors. I am delighted to say the students the inspectors spoke to as a group or individually were exemplary and totally and utterly supportive of what the school is trying to do.

The report is now on the school website. If you would like a hard copy please complete the reply slip. Below I pick out a few sentences which I hope will give you a real sense of pride in your school and in your sons and daughters:-

• St Peter’s students are mature, friendly and polite. They are very positive about their school and eager to take advantage of the many opportunities that it provides.

• Two of the most striking things about the school are students’ exemplary behaviour in lessons and their excellent attitudes to learning.

• In essence the findings of the inspectors reflected the views of the parents.

• Leaders monitor all aspects of the school’s work very closely, and track and analyse students’ achievements carefully.

• Leaders at all levels have a powerful commitment to equality and work hard to ensure that no group is “left behind”. They look very closely to ensure that what the school does meets everyone’s needs.

• This is a school with ambition and drive.

• Considerable progress has been made in dealing with the key issues raised at the last inspection.

• Marking and assessment have improved appreciably.

• The Sixth Form has made significant strides forward.

• Students achieve well.

• The proportion of students gaining 5 or more top GCSE grades including English and Maths – 65% in 2008 – is impressive.

• Students feel very safe in school.

• The large majority of lessons are at least good and many are excellent.

• The school sets challenging targets for students and monitors progress against them vigorously.

• Despite the schools size everyone is known as an individual.

• The way in which the school cares for and supports students is an important strength.

• St Peter’s does much to promote community cohesion.

• Promoting equality and tackling discrimination are seen as important priorities.

• Governors play a strong role. They are knowledgeable about the school and they are able and willing to challenge leaders when they need to.

The above, albeit a sample of the report, emphasises the overall rating the inspectors gave to the school. That is, St Peter’s continues to be an OUTSTANDING SCHOOL. This is a tremendous credit to your sons and daughters, the governors and the teaching and support staff of our school. In the report the inspectors mention the excellent relationships between students and staff and it is this that is the bedrock of the success of our school. I have commented many times how fortunate I am to lead a school with such brilliant young people and such a highly professional, gifted teaching and support staff. This report merely emphasises that and I remind you that this is the third time in succession that we have received an ‘Outstanding’ rating.

Why I hope you take pride in this is not just that we are “outstanding” but we have achieved this on this occasion without any notice. What that means is that the inspectors saw what your son or daughter receives 190 days of the year. There was no opportunity for us to put on a showpiece and I personally feel that this is a far better reflection for you of what goes on in the school on a day to day basis. Our school is about what your sons and daughters receive as their daily diet of education. Yes, the report has suggested certain areas where we can move from “very good” to “outstanding”. We accept that and just as we did at the last inspection, we will ensure that that happens, because we will not become complacent. Only the very best possible in every aspect of the education we offer to your sons and daughters is acceptable.

In the new inspection regime there are 29 grades, plus attendance, which the inspectors look at rigorously and then apply one of four criteria to what they have seen. Those criteria match the rating: outstanding, good, satisfactory or inadequate. St Peter’s received 20 grades 1’s, i.e. outstanding, and 9 grade 2’s, i.e. nothing less than good. When you read the report you will also see that those rated “good” would have been rated “very good” if there had been such a category. It really is, therefore, a staggering performance and I hope that you, the Catholic Community and indeed Gloucestershire, are immensely proud to have a school of such calibre. A school which can be inspected without notice and still come out with such a fantastic grading is truly special. We have already received congratulations from the County Council, from the Diocese and from other people who have heard about our quite unique inspection and the magnificent outcome. That is fantastic but what is most important is it emphasises what St Peter’s is all about – that we are endeavouring to give the best possible opportunities in life to your sons and daughters on a daily basis. I hope you feel that the faith you put in us by entrusting to us the education of your sons and daughters has been fully vindicated. My thanks, once again, for your support and the excellence of the young people and staff of St Peter’s.

The three ‘Outstanding’ inspections is such an achievement that it calls for a special celebration. For the main school there will be a non-uniform day on the last day of term i.e. 3 April. In addition, all students in the school will receive a special free lunch of burger and chips or an alternative of their choice. The days for these will be:

Yr 7 26 March
Yr 8 27 March
Yr 9 30 March
Yr 10 31 March
Yr 11 2 April
Sixth Form 3 April

Students on free meals will be able to spend their free meals money at break time on the day they have a free lunch. I think it very important that we recognise what a contribution the students have made to the image and reputation of the school and I hope you agree with the decision outlined above.

MAURICE LAYHE

Receiving an excellent OFSTED report pales into insignificance when one considers the tragic death of a man of the calibre of Maurice Layhe and the effect of that on his family. I thought long and hard about putting this under the inspection report, but my view is that the inspection report merely reflects what is at the heart of St Peter’s. St Peter’s is all about mutual support and that support is never better than when any members of our community are in need. Mrs Stephanie Layhe has asked me to express her sincere gratitude to the extended community of St Peter’s for all the messages of condolence she, Gregory and Harriet have received at this most devastating time of their lives. I am sure you will continue to keep the family in your prayers over the months ahead.

PFA EASTER BINGO

I remind you that the Easter Bingo is on Friday, 27th March. Tickets are now available to be ordered. They are 50p and include refreshment of a hot cross bun and tea. There will not be a bar on this occasion but you are welcome to bring your own drink if you wish. There will be a tuck shop and I stress that this is a family night where seasonal prizes are on offer. Once again, if you are able to donate a prize for the Bingo, it will be greatly received.

I hope we can make this a success. As you know we had to cancel the Family Supper due to lack of support but I hope that the Easter Bingo will be well attended. It will commence at 7.30pm and be over by 10pm, so even younger members of the family can enjoy the evening. Please order your tickets as soon as possible on the attached reply slip.

DAILY MAIL NATIONAL UNDER 18 SEMI-FINAL

What a fantastic effort from our 1stXV to beat St Peter’s, York 27:25 in the Daily Mail semi-final. Once again our 1stXV showed their character as they had at Wellington and against Worcester. Not at their best they produced a second half performance much better than the first and it was necessary against a very well organised, well coached and skilful St Peter’s, York team. In reality the game should not have been as close as it was as it was the weakest performance our lads had put in in the Daily Mail this year and the York side scored two late tries to make the scores very close. However, the reality is we won the game whilst not being at our best and now a very hard game in the final against Truro College awaits. Truro College is similar to Worcester College and Filton College. It is an Academy for Southwest rugby and has some 4,300 students. Their team comprises players from all over Devon and Cornwall as well as from abroad. Once again one can ask how such a team can be construed as a school team but we have rehearsed this argument often and apparently the rules permit these teams to play this year. Our boys, simply, have to deliver the same performance as they did against Worcester and Wellington School. It will be a cracking final and we should take an immense pride in what our 1stXV have achieved and congratulate not just them but their coaches Dave Pointon and Stuart Crabb.

I am now faced with what to do on Wednesday 1 April when the Final takes place at 3.30pm at Twickenham. In order to help me with that decision could you please agree with your son or daughter whether or not you would like them to attend the Final at Twickenham? I will need to know the answer by Friday of this week so that I can make a decision about who can go to the game on April 1st. I would also like to accommodate parents who wish to go so if you could also give your son or daughter an indication of whether or not you would like to be included in our possible numbers that will be helpful. The cost of a seat on the coach will be approximately £10. If in present circumstances this is difficult for you financially, but your child would like to attend, please contact his/her head of year immediately. The coaches will leave the school at approximately 10.00am and we will return at approximately 8.00pm. Once I have had an indication of how many students and staff would like to attend the game I will contact you again next week with arrangements and request payment for seats. I should add that when the coaches arrive at Twickenham there will be other games being played before the Grand Final and there will be the opportunity for people to look at the magnificent Twickenham Stadium.

I hope we can get tremendous support for the boys as they deserve it. It is a fantastic achievement and we now need to do all we can to lift them so that they produce their “A” game at the Final. If they are able to do this they will be a very difficult side to beat.

CONGRATULATIONS

• To Lisa Daley who has been selected to trial for the West of England Hockey at U17.
• To Chloe O’Donoghue who has been selected for the U15 County Hockey, despite being a year young.
• To Sophie O’Donoghue having won the West of England Tumbling competition in gymnastics in her age group. She now goes on to the national championships.

Well done to the above girls and we hope that they continue to progress in their sports.

PERFORMING ARTS - Forthcoming attractions

TUESDAY 31 MARCH 2009 IN THE DRAMA THEATRE

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory performed by Years 7 and 8

IMMUNISATIONS

The booster immunisations against polio, diphtheria and tetanus will take place on Tuesday, 28th April. Those students who are due for immunisation should have already received their immunisation consent forms which must be signed by a parent/guardian and returned to Reception. Students who do not have a signed consent form will not be immunised.

POLO SHIRTS
Students can wear the St Peter’s polo shirts commencing Monday, 20th April. Polo shirts are available directly from the National Schoolwear Centre, 99 Northgate Street, Gloucester; 20 Merrywalks Shopping Centre, Stroud and The Famous, High Street, Cheltenham.

Conclusion

This Newsletter contains some superb news and also highlights when life is not so good for certain families in our school. It is the way we deal with the success and the difficulties that makes our school so different. We love being successful and we take a price in it but when an individual or a family needs our support it is there in abundance. Long may it continue to be the case!

Yours sincerely




Lawrence Montagu
Headteacher

Maurice Layhe

4 March 2009

Dear Parents

Many of you will have been made aware by your sons or daughters that we have had a death in the teaching staff of the school. Mr Maurice Layhe was our Head of Economics & Business and died unexpectedly on Tuesday afternoon.

Some of you will be aware that Maurice suffered for over ten years with a chronic disability. Indeed, it would have been easy for him to retire from teaching on health grounds, but he loved teaching, and working with young people so much that he was constantly fighting the pain barrier to continue in the job he loved. With hindsight it makes the quality of teaching he delivered all the more laudable when you know that often he had to lie on the floor at lunchtimes to gain relief to enable him to teach in the afternoon. This chronic condition resulted in him having to have two operations just before Christmas. One appeared to have gone well whilst the other resulted in him being in even more pain, which led to his untimely and unexpected death.

There are many former students of St Peter’s in terrific careers in the world of business, finance and economics. Many of them have indicated over the years how grateful they were to Maurice Layhe and his department for the teaching they received which enabled them to progress to universities and then into jobs all over the world. Maurice was a Liverpudlian but one who gave that fine city a good reputation. He was not the stereotypical Liverpudlian – brash and turning everything into a joke! He was calm, considered, always worth listening to and with a laconic sense of humour which exhibited tremendous wit. Although not overtly religious he was a man who epitomised everything St Peter’s stands for. In many ways he was a true Christian in every sense, a terrific colleague and friend to many.

You are aware that his wife, Stephanie, leads our outstanding English Department and that they have two children in the School, Harriet in Year 13 and Greg in Year 10. The thoughts and prayers of our whole community go out to Stephanie and her family at this most devastating of times. The community of St Peter’s and its astonishing support have seen a number of us through our darkest hours. I am sure that this support will now be available to Stephanie, Harriet and Greg and I would ask you all to remember them in your prayers. Also, thank God for the gift of Maurice Layhe and what he did for so many young people in over twenty years working in our school.

Yours sincerely




Lawrence Montagu
Headteacher

3 March 2009

Dear Parents

You may or may not be aware that the school 1STXV beat Worcester Sixth Form College 9:7 in the quarterfinal of the Daily Mail on the last day of term. It was a phenomenal performance from the boys, full of talent, guts and exhibiting real character. The playing conditions were not ideal but our boys territorially, dominated the game and I am sure every single one of them was absolutely shattered at the end of what was a physically demanding and emotionally draining game. We were not helped by losing our play-maker and international fly half ten minutes into the game through injury. It would have thrown many sides but not this 1STXV who once again showed the determination to succeed which had been all too evident at Wellington School in the last game.

We are now in the semi-finals which will be played at the Rugby Union’s Centre in Coventry. Strangely we will be playing another St Peter’s namely, St Peter’s from York. It is a large independent school with a very strong rugby tradition and having beaten St Benedict’s, Ealing in London in the last round it is going to provide yet another tough challenge for the men of our 1STXV. I am sure, however, that they will rise to the occasion yet again, particularly if we can have as many supporters as possible at Coventry.

NB. The semi-final will be at 11.00am on Saturday 14 March. Coaches will be leaving the school at 8.00am and return no later than 3.15pm. To book a place on the coach will be £9 and we would welcome students, parents, friends – basically, whoever wants to support our boys in their effort to reach Twickenham.

Obviously we cannot finance half coaches going so the coaches will be filled on the first come first served basis and if you would like to reserve a seat simply complete the attached reply slip, return it with the appropriate amount of money and you will have a place. We will return your ticket for the coach together with which coach you are on i.e. A, B or C.

Please do all you can to support our boys who have had a fabulous season and are a credit to themselves, to our school and to their excellent coaches, Dave Pointon and Stuart Crabb. The final will be at Twickenham on 1 April, which is a school day. That could be a problem in itself, but that will be a problem I will be delighted to face if we can get the support to encourage our boys to play the way they have in recent matches and really be at their best at Coventry. If you do not want to travel on the school coaches we will provide details of how to get to the Rugby Centre in Coventry for independent travellers. I remind you that you can leave your cars parked on the school site if you take the coaches and there is every possibility that if you are a Gloucester season ticket holder you will be back in time for the Gloucester v Wasps match. Two matches in one day plus the possibility of an international in the evening on television – what more could you ask if you are a rugby fan! Fundamentally, if you are a fan of St Peter’s please make the effort to support our boys.

CONGRATULATIONS

Whilst congratulating our rugby team above, we must not forget that they are not the only successes in our school.

• On the weekend of 21/22 March our U18 mixed doubles tennis team will be in the national finals at Bolton. They have done tremendously well to reach this stage where the last 8 schools in the country will be fighting it out for the championship. There will be two groups of four and the winners of each group will play in the final on the Sunday. What a great effort to be in the final stages of national competitions in two sports. If anyone would like to support the team in Bolton please contact us and the teams coach Keiran will give you details of how to reach the tennis centre. Needless to say I hope to be in Bolton as, indeed, I hope to be at Coventry.

• To one of our head students, Anna Newman. Anna is not only a great head student but she is also a fantastic Irish Dancer. This was confirmed over the half term holiday when she achieved the magnificent first place to win a Gold Medal in the World Championships in one section and a Bronze Medal in another. Incredible to be actually the best in the World!!

• In my last newsletter I mentioned one of our students who had had the most appalling letter from Birmingham Medical School. What I failed to state is that although Birmingham operated in a manner which almost beggars belief; Tony has, in actual fact, received offers from other medical schools and will undoubtedly achieve the grades asked and commence training for Medicine in October.

BUILDING FUND

Attached to this short newsletter is the building fund envelope for this half term. I fully understand that many families are finding life difficult financially at present. Please, therefore, do not feel in any way pressured to contribute if you are struggling because of employment difficulties at this time. Simply return the envelope as all must be returned to avoid abuse. If you are able to contribute, I remind you that we ask for £10 per student per term, if possible, up to a maximum of £20 per family to help with our commitments to the buildings you can see progressing in the school. You will be able to visit the new buildings in the not too distant future. I am sure your sons and daughters will report to you what a significant enhancement of our facilities the two new buildings will be.

Once again I emphasise that if you contribute monthly by Standing Order or have paid a one off yearly contribution, I am most grateful for your support of our building fund. In either case simply return the envelope and if you wish to write on the outside that you contribute by Standing Order that is fine.

I must have all building fund envelopes back within two weeks so that we do not have to constantly be reminding students that they must be returned whether they contain a donation or not. Once again my thanks for your ongoing support of what we are trying to offer your sons and daughters and I emphasise any contribution you can make in these difficult times will be appreciated.

PFA

The next PFA function will be Friday 27 March in the School Hall. That is the Easter Bingo and as always, a popular event. The students will be given details of ticket price nearer to the event, but please book it in your diary as it is usually a super family night with appropriate seasonal prizes on offer. If you are unable to attend but would like to contribute and donate an Easter Egg or a bottle of wine your donations will be gratefully received. Similarly, if you have any contact with businesses who may be prepared to contribute seasonal prizes please let us know and we will be delighted to approach the company.

I look forward to seeing you supporting us over the next month or so, which promises to be very busy and we hope very successful for our school.

Yours sincerely




Lawrence Montagu
Headteacher

EMERGENCY CLOSURES

Because of the difficulties with local radio experienced last week, we have now decided that not only will local radio be informed, but in future any difficulties with buses running will be on the home page of the school website. Details will be on the school website before 7.15am. If you do not have computer access it will still be on the radio. For those who can access us electronically that will be the definitive statement as to whether we are closed, open or have problems with individual buses.

I hope this will help avoid the confusion of last week.

Newsletter February 2009

Dear Parents

I am delighted to inform you that our new building work is coming on really well. One of the buildings should be handed over to us by mid-February and the other by the end of the month. I am sure when you have the chance to see what additional facilities these buildings offer you will understand why we are excited about the developments we envisage at St Peter’s using these new facilities. It is most gratifying that the Learning & Skills Council has supported our move towards more vocational courses and the buildings will also assist our extended school work.

I will inform you of when the buildings will be officially opened and offer you the opportunity to see around the new facility once we know when we can bring the rooms on stream for student use.

NEW DAY

The arrangements for the new day have gone exceptionally well and we will be evaluating the initiative during the summer term. If you have any comments please let me have them at your convenience so that I can pass them on to our Innovations Group who will be carrying out the evaluation. Equally, your sons and daughters will be asked to give a view on whether or not they feel they are benefitting from this time. It is too early to make an assessment, but the early indications are that it will be a significant addition to what we offer our young people. It is obviously an additional amount of extra work for form tutors and I am immensely grateful to the staff for the manner in which they have approached this extra responsibility.

PERSONAL LIFE

As with all people I am sure you appreciate that the staff of the school are entitled to a personal life similar to all of you enjoy, distinct from your working environment. Most of our young people respect this and it is always a delight when out and about in the county you come across students who acknowledge you and are very mature in ensuring that they do not in any way embarrass you. That speaks volumes of the relation between staff and students in our school. We do, however, have one or two students who have posted pictures or comments about staff on websites such as Face Book. I am particularly anxious that photographs are not published. I am sure you will appreciate how such material can be doctored, using modern technology, to offer offensive images from quite innocent, original photographs. I really feel that the personal life of the staff must be respected in the same way as we would hope to respect the personal life of your family. I emphasise it is only a very small number of young people who may be tempted to publish material about staff on these social websites. Please ensure your son or daughter does not indulge in this activity as material can be abused to a degree that it becomes offensive to the person concerned.

OXBRIDGE

I am delighted to inform you that one of our upper sixth, Lawrence Wilcox, has been accepted for Hertford College, Oxford to read French and Law. This is an outstanding performance by Lawrence and we congratulate him and his family on this great accolade. What makes it even more impressive is that there were only two places to read French and Law at this college and Lawrence was successful in acquiring one of them. A truly staggering performance! We also offer congratulations to the other four students who went for Oxbridge and acquitted themselves so well. It is an indictment against our country that once again I have received letters from Oxford and Cambridge colleges saying how they have had to turn down young people of great calibre because, bluntly, they have too many very able young people applying. It is an absolute nonsense that the university system does not meet the needs of the twenty-first century and is still stuck in the early years of the last century in terms of its yearly structure and admissions policies.

Equally, I have recently written to Birmingham Medical School as another one of our outstanding young students was rejected on the basis that he ONLY HAD SIX A* AND NOT THE SEVEN THEY REQUIRE AT GCSE for entry to Medicine. They are simply looking for excuses to reject high calibre young people. At least Oxford and Cambridge interviewed people before rejecting them, whereas this medical school had this arbitrary cut off. I have expressed my outrage at such an arbitrary method of evaluating people’s ability to be good doctors.

400 CLUB

Many thanks to those parents who replied for information on the 400 Club. We are sorry information has been a little delayed in getting to you but application forms will be with you in the near future if you have not already received them. Once again my thanks for your support of this important PFA fund raising activity.

CONGRATULATIONS

• To Jake Bailes and Owen Westall (both in year 8) who did a stunning job of representing St Peters High School in a Rotary Chef 'cook-off' competition, held at Gloucestershire college on Tuesday 20th January. They had to produce a three course meal in the space of 2 hours, battling against students from Chosen Hill and Brockworth School.

After much eating and discussion by the judges, it was decided a year 11 student from Chosen Hill produced the best dishes on the night. However, both Jake and Owen's efforts have not gone unnoticed. I have no doubt that they will continue to represent St Peters in future cooking competitions!!!

Well done boys!!

Also, many thanks to Miss Harris who guided the boys through to this county stage.

• To our 1STXV rugby squad. They beat Bishop Wordsworth School from Salisbury 25 : 12 in the last sixteen and we now progress to play Worcester Sixth Form College which is the academy for Worcestershire Premiership Rugby Club and it is quite interesting that although St Peter’s is not allowed to play its full side, in the last 8 of the competition there are three premiership academy centres. The rules of the competition really are quite bizarre i.e. sixth form colleges and colleges of further education can play students from all over the world and we cannot play boys from Gloucester! However, having said that Worcester Sixth Form College is probably the toughest draw we could have had and the only advantage is we are at home. It will be a very hard game for the boys. In pre-season Worcester, who had been training during the summer, beat us comfortably, but I think St Peter’s is a different proposition now. I believe if we win this one we could get to Twickenham, so as much support as possible is what we require. The game will take place on Wednesday 11 February with kick off at 3.30pm. As we did in the game against Bishop Wordsworth, there will be collection for Prostate Cancer Research at the gate. We raised £150 from the last 16 game so I am hoping we can at least double this for the last 8. I hope with such notice many of you will be able to get time off work and support the boys, as our home support could be crucial in what will be a very close match, and I am assuming Worcester will bring a large number of supporters down the M5.

To our U18 mixed doubles tennis squad of: Lara Surman, Bethany Webb, Oliver Duffy and Kris Smith. Magnificently they have won through to the national finals of the U18 schools mixed doubles competition. They recently beat Idsall School from Shropshire to get to the finals. They won through the area and regional parts of the competition. It really is a tremendous credit to both the players and their coach. Tennis really is becoming another centre of excellence in St Peter’s. How dare anybody suggest that we are only a rugby school! Students excel in so many different areas of life and it does them a great injustice if we do not recognise the width of talent we have in our school and the quality of staff we have to help students attain such levels of excellence.

EXTRA-CURRICULAR

Can I encourage all parents to emphasise the advantages your sons and daughters gain from being involved in the extra-curricular life of the school. It is particularly important that the younger members of the school develop the habit of joining extra curricular activities, as it will help them in so many different ways. No young person in the school should only be involved in their curriculum time. There are so many options available that there is something for everyone if he or she is prepared to give the time. The only exception to that would be for students who are heavily involved in an area of excellence outside the school and gain the additional enhancement to their education through this route. It always saddens me when young people with so much potential do not maximise it and this is more often seen in the extra-curricular life than in the curriculum time.

HOLIDAY

I remind you that the school will close for the half term on Friday 13 February at 3.45pm and will re-open on Monday 23 February at 9.00am. Once again can I ask you to ensure that your sons and daughters are in school for 9.00am prompt if they are not using school transport? We still have a tendency for young people to let earlier buses, (i.e. 8.15am) go and try to crowd on the later ones, (i.e. 8.30). When this is full the only option is to wait for the 8.45am which makes them late for school. This applies to both Gloucester and Cheltenham, although the timings may be different, the same scenario occurs. It is wiser to go for the earlier bus when our young people will be able to travel in comfort and be in plenty of time for the start of school.

POLO SHIRTS

Polo shirts for Years 7 to 11 can be worn instead of blazer, shirt and tie at the start of Term 5, commencing on Monday, 20th April. The polo shirts are available from The Famous, High Street, Cheltenham (order forms will be handed out to students in a few weeks). These order forms should be returned directly to the Famous, who will then notify you when your order is ready (payment can be made on collection). Alternatively, directly from National Schoolwear Centre, Northgate Street, Gloucester and Merrywalks Shopping Centre, Stroud.

PARKING

Despite numerous requests from myself and the chair of governors, we are still receiving complaints about parking in the vicinity of the school. Residents are having their driveways blocked and some parents are even using the forecourt of the local garage to collect their children and thus obstructing the business of the premises. I emphasise that this is unnecessary as your sons and daughters can be collected from our main car park in school at 3.55pm and this will be safer for all concerned. It will also mean that the generally harmonious relationships we have with the local community will be maintained.

Please support my request on this issue and I must warn you that the police have informed me that they will be taking action against people who obstruct access to properties or who trespass.

ILLNESS

If a child falls ill during the school day, they must see their Head of Year and gain permission to leave. The school will contact their parent/guardian!

In the event that their HOY is not available, they can see any other HOY or member of the Pastoral Team for permission.

We would like parents to work with us in ensuring the safety and well being of pupils by not collecting students who phone or text them by mobile phone or any other means.

AUTHORISED ABSENCE FOR APPOINTMENTS

Parents/guardians should provide a note explaining the nature of the appointment and the time they wish to collect their son/daughter from school.

Pupils must bring the letter to their HOY or another member of the Pastoral team to collect an authorised absence pass.

This ensures the safety of their child and gives the students proof of permission should they be challenged by the police or the Educational Welfare service.

We would expect parents to return their child to school if the appointment is early in the school day.

WORK EXPERIENCE 9-13TH NOVEMBER 2009

It is only a few weeks since we were congratulating the year 11’s on the successful completion of their work experience and we shall shortly be publishing a list of those who have been nominated for awards for their performance. However we have now launched the programme for 2009 and the current year 10’s. In the current competitive job market the skills our young people develop during the work experience programme will be more important than ever in helping them get full and part time jobs in the future.

If you are the parent or carer of a year 10 you should have received an information pack from school with details about this year’s programme. Hopefully you will have read this through with your child. Just to remind you, the ‘Choices’ form enclosed in the pack should be returned to tutors by 9th February.

The organisation of work experience placements for over 200 pupils is by necessity a team effort. Thank you for your help and support. It will be really important this year that all year 10’s keep their tutors up to date with their progress throughout the process. Can I ask for your encouragement to make sure this happens?

Finally, we are anticipating that it may be particularly difficult to find appropriate placements this year given the economic climate and the pressures on local businesses. It may require several attempts to secure an appropriate placement. If any school parents thinks their workplace may be able to offer a placement for one of our students I would be especially pleased to make contact with you and can be reached on my direct line 01452 509227.

Helen Airdrie
Head of Careers

LIBRARY NEWS:

The two libraries are collecting Free Books tokens from The Times - we would be delighted if students could drop these off at either the Main Library or Sixth-form Library.

Upcoming events: Alan Gibbons, a fantastic author, will be visiting year 9 in March.

SATS

As you know, the government responded to criticism of the accuracy and the efficiency of the key stage 3 ‘Sats’ by cancelling them. This decision has an impact on the curriculum in year 9 in the core subjects of English, mathematics and science. For parents’ information, we give you a current picture here of how work programmes have been affected and how planning is afoot to make further improvements.

ENGLISH

Following the abolition of the SATs, we plan to tailor our units of work in Year 9 towards preparing students more effectively for GCSE. Rather than studying a select number of extracts from the Shakespeare play ‘Much Ado About Nothing, we now have the opportunity to study a wider range of scenes, with a view to improving students’ understanding of Shakespearean language and drama. Our Year 9 students are currently exploring the ways the text works as a performance and delivering presentations to be assessed as part of their speaking and listening work. By working collaboratively in groups, with a speaking and listening focus, we feel students will be better prepared for the speaking and listening Shakespeare coursework in Year 10.

Added to this, we intend to introduce a new unit of work shortly after half term on Accent and Dialect. This will allow students to extend the skills they have acquired in speaking and listening earlier in the key stage, and will also support them in making the transition to GCSE. The unit will improve students’ understanding of how we use language to communicate in a way that shapes our identity. Students will also be given the opportunity to investigate language change and consider the difference between spoken and written language.

In terms of assessment, we will continue to provide students with a teacher assessment National Curriculum level at the end of each unit of work. Students will also be given an overall teacher assessment level at the end of the key stage, which we will use to inform setting for GCSE.

MATHEMATICS

The present Year 9 will continue with the existing scheme of work. Assessment will take place in May with internal papers written by the department. These will be used to confirm the National Curriculum level the pupil has achieved at the end of Key Stage 3. All pupils should aim to gain one and a half to two levels over the three years in KS3. This assessment will also be used to help place the pupil in the correct set for the start of their GCSE course. The higher the standard the pupil achieves at this time, the better prepared they will be to tackle the GCSE course and consequently, the higher the grade they are likely to achieve in the final exam in Yr 11.

The new Curriculum 2008 is being phased in at present, and has has already started with the present Year 7. Pupils' progress will be assessed in a variety of ways including class work/homework tasks and written assessments. These results, along with the professional judgement of the teachers will be used to monitor the progress of each child and to give an impression of the National Curriculum level they are working at that time.

SCIENCE

The science department has responded with an imaginative plan to give students a head start on their GCSE exams.

In previous years, the inconvenient placement of the KS3 tests (early May) left us with enough time only to complete a small section of GCSE work, so small in fact that it couldn't be examined until the January of year 10 when more work had been completed. This year, we are starting a core science GCSE unit after the February half term and will be looking to complete three units (B2, C2 & P2). With these units completed, students will have the opportunity to sit this part of their core GCSE exam at the end of year 9 on the morning of the 17th June 2009. It is our hope that the students will respond to the challenge of sitting exams that have real value to their future and that GCSE work will give the second half of year 9 a real focus.

In the period of time after the exam (approx 4 weeks) we will completing a data analysis exercise which makes up one part of the core science coursework; another opportunity to ease the workload for years 10 and 11.

Students will hear more about this plan at an assembly on February 11th.

Into the future (current Yr 7 and 8), we are looking to use the newly gained flexibility in year 9 to further promote science GCSEs and give more students access to triple award science (i.e. separate GCSEs in biology, chemistry & physics). We are currently looking at the details of these plans to ensure all students receive a science entitlement in keeping with their ability and aptitude, and we will be in contact again after Easter to explain the new scheme of work.

Chosen Hill Languages Event

The first day back after Christmas saw 40 year 10 students along with some Year 12 students attend a Languages Promotion Event at Chosen Hill School. We were invited to attend talks from the Assistant Head of Languages at GCHQ, who stressed the importance of foreign languages in today’s global economy, as well as in the world of espionage. By far the most enjoyable part of the day was the “Speed Dating”, where students had 5-minute taster sessions in 10 foreign languages including Mandarin, Arabic, Russian, Farsi and Italian. The students thoroughly enjoyed themselves, and many would have liked longer to learn more languages. Without a doubt, the phrase everyone remembered was the one that sounded like “Yellow Blue Vase” – read on to the end of the page to find out what this means in Russian!

Yellow Blue Vase = I love you in Russian

Conclusion

When the school returns after half term the Wednesday of that week will be Ash Wednesday. This is the start of Lent and as always we will be offering your sons and daughters the opportunity to receive Ashes. We will also be encouraging them to do a little extra during the Lenten period, particularly for other people. Our charities work for CAFOD will be further emphasised and individual forms will be supporting local charities. There is the tradition of giving up something we enjoy for Lent and donating the money to charity. We will be trying to persuade your sons and daughters to give a little, particularly to the CAFOD charity, but we fully understand the present economic climate is making life difficult for many of our families.

As always in Lent I try to ask our students to do something extra which we really find difficult. This is in the area of relationships. I encourage all of us to consider that Lent is an excellent time to offer that additional support to people who may be needier than ourselves. That does not have to be financial support it can be time, consideration or, indeed, simply supporting people when they are on the receiving end of discrimination or harassment. In many ways giving money to charity is far easier than taking this kind of action where we are giving ourselves and risk making ourselves unpopular with those who want us to join them in giving another person a bad time. It is so important that we take every opportunity to emphasise to our young people that the strength to stand out against discrimination or harassment is one of the biggest challenges we face, but so important to the future of our society.

Our Chaplain, Mandy Baker and Father Kevin Hennessey provided Christmas services prior to breaking up in December. The students behaved and received these services in an exemplary manner and I am hopeful we will have the same experience for the start of Lent on Ash Wednesday. We really are fortunate to have a chaplain of the calibre of Mandy Baker and a priest with the commitment of Father Kevin.

Message from the Chaplain
Did you know that a typical child laughs 400 times a day, while the average adult manages only 15? So I was delighted when I was asking some students in Year 9 to think of a theme for their Form Mass, that without hesitation they said JOY! The Mass that was celebrated with 9M and 9L was a moving and joyful occasion. Students were asked to write down something that gave them joy and something that they were thankful for, these were then offered during the Offertory. I was touched to read how many of them had written ‘family’, ‘friends’, ‘when I see others smiling’. We are living in a time of financial difficulty, and yet it is also a time to take stock of the things that really matter and rejoice in them. J John a well known Christian speaker once said we should be thankful for.........
....the taxes we pay because it means we are employed.
....the clothes that fit a little too tight because it means we have enough to eat.
....a lawn that needs mowing, windows that need cleaning and gutters that need fixing because it means we have a home.
....the car parking space we find at the far end of the car park because it means we are capable of walking.
....our heating bill because it means we are warm.
....the person behind us in church who sings off key because it means that we can hear.
....the piles of laundry and ironing because it means our loved ones are nearby.
....the alarm that goes off in the early morning hours because it means that we are alive. As St Paul says in his letter to the Philippians 4:4-7 “I want you to be happy, always happy in the Lord; I repeat, what I want is your happiness. There is no need to worry; but if there is anything you need, pray for it, asking God for it with prayer and thanksgiving, and that peace of God which is so much greater than we can understand, will guard your hearts and your thoughts, in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:4-7). So I pray as we continue our school year that we will experience the joy of knowing the Lord and allow that joy to shine out in all the experiences of our lives.
Mandy Baker
Lay Chaplain


I hope you and your families enjoy the half term break. For our year 11 students their mock examinations were immensely encouraging. If they work with us during revision many of them will achieve outstanding success. For parents of students in year 11 I am marking the 1st April as the day when their personal revision starts. Revision may start in subjects before that time, but it is from the 1st April that your sons and daughters should be really committed to their own personal revision programmes. From mid-March they should be working with tutors or senior staff on compiling their revision schedules. If they get their revision right they really could produce a superb GCSE performance. Similarly, with year 13 and year 12. The results could be as good as the school has ever achieved but it will require a serious commitment to revision from 1st April and throughout the Easter holiday until each and every student’s last exam finishes.

Yours sincerely



Lawrence Montagu
Headteacher

Interested in teacher training?

Information Evening
For Prospective Trainee Secondary School Teachers
Gloucestershire Initial Teacher Education Partnership

On Thursday, 5th March 2009
Starting at 6.00p.m.

Room CE102
University of Gloucestershire
Francis Close Hall Campus
Swindon Road
Cheltenham
GL50 4AZ

All welcome.
Places for 2009/10 still available for Modern Foreign Languages, Maths, Science, Design and Technology, ICT, RE, Music, Geography and Business Education
To register your interest, please contact Gill Hickman
ghickman@st-petershigh.gloucs.sch.uk – 01452 509208
www.gitep.co.uk

Christmas Newsletter December 2008

Dear Parents

MARGARET TURNER
It is with sadness that I have to inform you of the departure from St Peter’s of Mrs Margaret Turner our Catering Manager. Many of you are aware that Margaret has done a fantastic job in implementing government policy on Healthy Schools and, indeed, offering a super range of food choices at very competitive prices for students. She has also contributed to the school’s development by providing advice and guidance on healthy lifestyles for students. Margaret has always been supportive of the school whenever we have had parents’ functions, special occasions or visitors to the school. She always provided excellent refreshments and has been ever willing to give of her own time and expertise. She will be greatly missed by all at the school.

Margaret is retiring from work to spend more time with her husband as they really enjoy travelling. It is for the best of reasons that she is finishing and in thanking her most sincerely for all she has done for St Peter’s we wish her and her husband a very healthy, long and happy retirement.

JUDY SALISBURY
Another of our unsung heroes leaving us at Christmas is our Cleaning Supervisor, Mrs Judy Salisbury. Many of you have commented on the way St Peter’s is kept and the cleanliness of the school whenever you visit. That is in no small way due to the work of Judy and her team. She is the most fantastic leader. Like Margaret Turner, she is always prepared to get her hands dirty and lead by example. Whenever there is extra work to be done, or additional work due to functions, Judy and her Assistant, Pam, always ensure that the school looks at its best. This was typified recently when there was a problem with the new building and dust was spread in the Sports Hall. Judy and Pam came in and rectified the situation. This has been the story of her years at St Peter’s. She has been the most loyal and supportive member of staff for 16 years. We will miss her enormously, but in thanking her for all she has done for St Peter’s students and staff over the years; we wish her every health and happiness in the years ahead. I sincerely hope she will be able to enjoy the retirement she has worked so hard to earn.

SISTER CELESTINE, CINDERFORD

Many of you may have seen in The Citizen that one of our contributory primary school heads, Sister Celestine, is leaving after 40 years of dedicated service to St Anthony’s School, Cinderford. This is an enormous loss to Catholic education and particularly Catholic education in the Forest of Dean. It is quite tragic that a person as successful and committed as Sister Celestine is being forced to retire by her Order, when she felt she could go on for some years yet. Obviously the politics of religious orders are similar to the politics of ordinary families and unless you are actually a member of that order or that family you do not know the whole story. I can only comment from my perspective of working with Sister Celestine for 24 years. She has always been an immense supporter of St Peter’s High School and the young people we have had from St Anthony’s have always adapted highly successfully to the ethos of St Peter’s because of the way Sister Celestine ran St Anthony’s. She is also heavily involved in the parish community and I am hoping that she will be allowed to at least remain in Cinderford and continue the excellence of her work for the parish.

On behalf of all connected with St Peter’s High School I hope that Sister Celestine will get over the bitter disappointment of having to leave the job she loves and will continue to be such an important part of the local community of Cinderford. Also, continuing to be an important influence on the progression of young Catholic children so that they are encouraged to attend their Catholic secondary school which is St Peter’s High School.

REVISION

Over the Christmas holiday most of the students will be able to have a well earned rest as it has been a long hard term. There are, however, some of our students who have coursework deadlines in January or are taking external examination modules. For these young people they cannot have a total break. They must be sensible and embark on three hours revision a day. That should not, however, be for the whole of the holiday. My advice is that from the school closing they take a week off and commence their daily revision on 27 December. They should then have New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day off before resuming their revision until the school re-opens. In this way they will get the necessary work done to do themselves justice in their exam modules or to achieve the best possible coursework marks.

If the students do not take the advice given above they will undoubtedly underperform. Students with coursework deadlines in January or module exams simply cannot afford to take the full two and a bit week’s holiday.

PERFORMING ARTS UPDATE

A big congratulations to the cast of The School for Scandal for a truly outstanding performance. The play, a challenging 18th century comedy of manners, was brought to life by senior students from years 11, 12 and 13.

The department would also like to congratulate Dan Breeze, Amy Edwards, Francesca Hanley, Tara Kaliszewski and Eileen Padfield from Year 11 for getting their Bronze medal in the LAMDA exam earlier in October. Ellie McCloskey, Gaby Mendes, Rosie Orchard, Leuan Poole, Rashana Smith, Shameka Smith in year 9 and Jake Beltran in year 8 all achieved either level 4 or 5 in LAMDA. This was a demanding exam and a new challenge for drama students at St Peter's.

Mrs Haywood (Head of Performing Arts)

PANTOMIME – PETER PAN

I am sure those of you who are aficionados of our pantomime and attended this year’s show, will join with me in claiming it was the best yet. The individual acting and singing performances of the students were outstanding. Yes, that might even stretch to the more mature student who, as chief of our sixth form, decided he would take the title into the pantomime, including the full headdress of an Indian chief!! Also superb were our musicians who played for each of the seven shows and the Musical Director, Josh Crunden, deserves particular credit for the musical arrangements.

It really was a great show and I am sure that our primary schools who had the privilege of seeing it during the day will be inspired to not only come to our school but also to appear in the pantomime when they reach sixth form. That is what it is all about, younger students in the school being inspired by the excellence of our older students and in turn wanting to be part of the sixth form activities in the future. The script and production by John Mitchell was excellent, and he was ably supported by young people on the lights and backstage. As always our Lourdes Group were terrific with providing refreshments. Everything about the show emphasised what St Peter’s is about, working together to allow young people to exhibit their excellence.

The same plaudits as above must be applied to the cast of ‘A School for Scandal’. This show was performed the week before the pantomime and played to full houses. It was a particularly difficult production as not only is it a difficult use of English, but being set in a different era the students had to really ‘dig into’ the culture of the time, in order to exhibit the nuances and comedy of the production. This they did superbly and again great credit must go to our Head of Performing Arts and Director of the production, Helen Haywood, together with fantastic support from Elaine Farrell, Gemma Skryme and Sarah Roche. Again, the production allowed the students to exhibit their excellence and unleashed their potential rather than what sometimes happens with school productions, where the direction is so tight that the potential of the young people is constrained. What makes St Peter’s a place where young people can develop their level of excellence is that our staff are not afraid to take risks and in taking those risks they push our students to deliver the highest possible quality of performance.

It really was a joy to see the outstanding ability of so many of our sixth form in the two productions outlined above. Two very different pieces but both at a level of excellence which would have graced the professional stage.

FAMILY SUPPER

Unfortunately the PFA Family Supper could not go ahead. We simply had not sold enough tickets to make the evening the occasion that it has been in the past. You need a certain number in the hall to create the atmosphere for people to have a very enjoyable evening. I am bewildered as to why we sold so few tickets for this function but it would have been wrong to go ahead and ask people to pay for an event which we knew in advance would not be of the same standard as we have had in previous years. It really is very distressing that we cannot get as much support for our functions as we used to from parents and friends. It is particularly distressing for the hardworking members of the PFA Committee and those helpers who regularly support our functions.

Although we had to cancel the event this year, we will be planning to hold it again next year. I hope that parents will try to ensure that they plan to support this event for Christmas 2009. People who did buy tickets for the event should have already had their money returned to them but if you have not, please ask your son or daughter to take the tickets to reception and a full refund will be offered.

The raffle that should have taken place on the night will take place this Thursday during Christmas Lunch. Winners will be notified before the end of term. My thanks to those who bought the raffle tickets and supporting the PFA in this way.

PFA

Many thanks to David Miles our Chairman who, at the AGM, agreed to served for another year. David does a sterling job and we are so grateful to him. The same applies to John Jones who has agreed to be our Fete Chair, a task that he has carried out superbly for a number of years. Jayne Harris has decide that work commitments mean she has had to give up the Treasurer’s role and I am grateful to Governor, Helen Hunt, for agreeing to take on this task.

Pat Baker has been Secretary of the Association for a number of years. Her youngest child left the school some eight or nine years ago, but Pat has continued to serve the PFA in a sterling manner. As you are aware Pat is the wife of our former chairman, Peter Baker who, over recent years, has had a terrible run of bad health. I would ask that you keep Pat and Peter in your prayers as Peter is still suffering health wise.

I must express my sincere gratitude to all members of the PFA Committee. They not only attend PFA meetings once a month but they attend all our functions. Last year the Association raised over £11,000 for the school and in the financial climate we have to exist, this is vitally important resources for the ongoing quality of your child’s education.

WELLINGTON V ST PETER’S

What an incredible relationship we are developing with Wellington College. Last week we had two enthralling games in the Daily Mail last 32.

At U15 level we entertained Wellington and finished 12:12. Under the rules of the competition Wellington went forward as they were the away side. If was a fantastic game, played in great spirit and a credit to schoolboy rugby. You can gather how exciting the game was when I report that Wellington equalised with 3 minutes remaining and then, with the last kick of the game, we had a penalty which would have won it for us had we kicked it. Unfortunately it was not to be, and Wellington duly progress to the last 16. We wish them well in the future.

The day after the U15 match our 1stXV travelled to Wellington College. The atmosphere for the game was by all accounts quite electric. Tremendous support from both sides, but of course Wellington outnumbering the St Peter’s contingent by a considerable number. It appears that Wellington College are as talented musically as they are with rugby, as there was a non-stop cacophony of noise from a variety of musical instruments including drums. Once again the game was played in tremendous spirit and on this occasion with Wellington having led 5:3 at half time, we kicked the winning penalty in the second half so that we progress as 6:5 winners. I must report that the reception we received at Wellington was first class. The hospitality for our team and the manner in which the game was played was a tribute to schoolboy rugby. My thanks go to Wellington College for that reception and I am sure in the years ahead we will meet each other regularly.

I cannot express sufficiently how proud I am of our 1stXV. Wellington College is one of the top rugby schools in the country and to go there, hold your discipline, produce your best and eventually win the game, is an enormous tribute to our 1stXV and their coaches Dave Pointon and Stuart Crabb. Not only is this a proud day for St Peter’s, but it is also a proud day for comprehensive education, because it emphasises that in all spheres of education the top comprehensives in the country are capable of producing a level of excellence that is comparable with any school.

Our next game in the last sixteen will be at home, and I will give you more details when we know about the arrangements. As we did last year with the home games, I would hope to have a collection at the gate for Prostate Cancer Research. As I said last year, the facts are that sadly approximately four or five of our 1stXV squad may suffer with prostate problems in their later life. Hopefully, as with breast cancer, research and medical advances will mean those young men who in later life do have such problems, will face an even brighter picture that is the case for sufferers today. I think it highly appropriate, therefore, that we have a collection for that research in remaining home games, if we stay in the competition.

NEW BUILDINGS

I have had the privilege of entering the shells of our two new buildings. They are simply fantastic. They are going to be an enormous asset to the education we can offer and I am most grateful to the Learning & Skills Council for the Vocational Pavilion. Also, to the Governors for the faith they put in us in allowing us to add a Catering and Hospitality classroom to that building. In addition the money the Governors’ have spent on our new Training School, EAL and classroom Block will also be well justified when you see it. It is further evidence of our determination to keep St Peter’s at the forefront of educational progress.

STAFF

Mr Maurice Layhe, Head of Economics, is having an operation this week. He will be out of school for a significant period but I am grateful to Mr John Poole-Jones and Mr Tom Wiffen for agreeing to change their timetables and undertake additional responsibilities to ensure that Maurice’s exam classes do not suffer. In addition we have been extremely fortunate to acquire the service of Mr Malcolm Taylor to assist John and Tom with Business Studies and Economics. Malcolm is a former parent of the school, former lecturer in business at the University of Gloucestershire and has run his own small businesses as well as being a consultant to many firms. With that sort of experience he will be a major asset to our students. We are very fortunate and grateful that he accepted my request for help at what is a particularly demanding time for working with exam classes. I am sure the students will realise Malcolm’s ability both as a teacher and as a person and will appreciate they have not been disadvantaged in any way by Maurice’s absence. This, of course, will be a great relief to Maurice as he does not have to worry about his job at school and can concentrate on making a full recovery from his operation. We wish him well and a speedy recovery despite the fact that Christmas might be a rather sedentary experience for him this year!!

HOLIDAY

Buses will leave the School at 2.00pm on Friday 19 December and students will not be required back in school until 9.00am on Tuesday 6 January 2009. If any parents would prefer their children to remain in school until 3.30pm so that you can collect them at the normal time, please let me know and I will make suitable arrangements. The only change to the bus arrangement will be that the City Centre bus will not be running and students for the City Centre will have to get buses from the bus stops on Stroud Road. Also, Colefordian bus users, i.e. for the Forest of Dean, will have to leave school prior to the last assembly at 1.30pm. These will be the only students allowed to leave prior to the 2.00 o’clock finish.

ENTERPRISE WEEK COMPETITION WINNER

Congratulations to Dewi Elliott of 8A who won the St Peter’s Enterprise Week competition. Dewi came up with the original idea of using his chocolate fountain for Children In Need. He brought it into school before the event to get organised, set it up and helped raise £25 on the day.

ROTARY CHEF

On 25th November a cooking competition was held within St Peters school to find the best chef! Over 40 students applied, ranging from years 7 to 12. The aim was to prepare and cook a two-course healthy meal, costing no more than £7. Students had 1 1/2 hours to undertake this activity and were judged by 3 judges, ranging from a top local chef to a journalist from the local Citizen paper.

The two successful winners were Owen Westall 8R and Jake Bailes 8M, who will now go onto compete against the winners from Chosen Hill and Brockworth school. If they are successful in beating the competition, they will then go on to compete with other students from the region, and then nationally, to be crowned the Rotary Chef of 2008 to 2009.

Good luck boys, you have all of St Peters backing you!!!

Miss Harris

YEAR 5 & 6 GIFTED AND TALENTED SPORTS ACADEMY

On the 13th November thirty six Year 5 and 6 pupils from eight Primary Schools attended the first G&T Sports Academy afternoon. The session consisted of fitness testing, team relays, mentoring and invasion games. A’ Level pupils helped staff to deliver the sessions. Parents arrived in the afternoon for a presentation of certificates and a montage of photographic evidence collected by Nick Dill. Pupils and parents commented on a fantastic experience and are thoroughly looking forward to the next session in the Spring term.

GIVING TREE

Throughout Advent we have had a Christmas tree in our Entrance Hall. This has had labels on indicating goods which the homeless need for Christmas. I am most grateful to parents, students and staff who have already taken a label, bought the gift and returned it wrapped in Christmas paper so that someone’s Christmas will be made that little bit happier. There are only a few days remaining but you still have time to assist in this excellent charity if you feel so inclined. I am very grateful to Governors Margaret Barnsley and Del Morgan for organising the Giving Tree. I must also acknowledge Mr and Mrs Hyett at Pound Farm who contributed the tree for the charity. The generosity we receive from so many people in supporting the work of the school is truly outstanding.

Conclusion

All students have had the opportunity to attend reconciliation services with their year groups. Also, they will have had the opportunity to attend a Christmas service prior to the end of term. The whole purpose of this is so that we can emphasise to our young people the true meaning of Christmas. There is no doubt that in the western world materialism has taken over to a degree where all of us can get the wrong impression of what Christmas is all about. Perhaps if we stop to contemplate what is going on in Zimbabwe; what is going on in Somalia and what is going on in the African Congo, as well as the horrendous terrorist attacks which are all too prevalent throughout the world, we can start to appreciate how important the real Christmas message is to all mankind.

This year many families will find Christmas a real challenge because of the economic situation. Sadly, some of our families have had the awful experience of having breadwinners made redundant. Some are in a position where their houses are at risk because mortgage repayments cannot be maintained. I would ask you to keep all these members of our community who are struggling in your prayers and thoughts over the festive period. I will be trying to stress to our young people to have concern for their family, realise the circumstances their families are in and not put added pressure on parents by making unrealistic demands. Even if you are in a job at present and your mortgage appears not to be a problem, the uncertainty of the economic situation means that there is real concern in a bigpercentage of society, let alone our community, about the prospects for 2009. Therefore, making our young people aware that what is important at Christmas and the real message of the celebration is going to be the major theme of my end of term assembly.

We should consider why God allowed his Son to be born, have a short life and then suffer an appalling death. He wanted to emphasise that the purpose for mankind must be living in harmony and living in peace, but sadly not everyone will accept that. There will be violence, there will be abuse and there will be hardship, but that is not a reason for us to give up hope of bringing peace and harmony to our world. All the religions of the world should be intent on bringing people together. Yes, basic principles may be different, but surely if religion is about anything, it is about encouraging people to respect each other and live in peace and harmony. Anyone who supports violence in the name of religion, regardless of that religion, is, in my opinion, the worst type of hypocrite. No religion that I know of wants to inflict pain, death and suffering on other members of mankind. That is why my message to the young people will be, really consider the true message of Christmas. Jesus died on the cross at the time of Easter, but that was the end of a journey during which he, too, had bee mocked, abused and finally, put to death. We were never promised that the world would be perfect, but Jesus’ example and his message at Christmas, is that we must all have as an aim to bring peace to our homes, to our schools, to the society we live in and to the world at large.

That peace comes not so much by word but by what people see us do in our relationships with other members of the human race. Gender, age, race, able bodied or physically disabled, it is irrelevant. It is treating people with dignity and respect which is an example we can all set. Remember in Northern Ireland nobody thought peace could be attained because the evil few wanted to keep a conflict flourishing for evil intent and used religious bigotry as an excuse for criminal activity. In the end the voice of the vast majority of sensible, God fearing, mature people prevailed. If we give up evil will win. If we do not encourage our young people to think about the true meaning of Christmas and the reason we celebrate it, our societies in the future will be even more violent and aggressive.

Perhaps the economic circumstances of this year can do us all a favour. They could make us all think about the purpose of life and how Christmas gives us a meaning to our lives. If, that is, we are prepared to understand and follow the Chistmas message throughout 2009 but, more fundamentally, throughout our lives.

I wish you and your family a very enjoyable, peaceful Christmas together and I pray that 2009 will be a happy and healthy year for our whole school community.

Yours sincerely




Lawrence Montagu
Headteacher

Newsletter 25 November 2008

Dear Parents

There are a number of Christmas functions in the near future and I want to give you the opportunity to book tickets.

PANTOMIME – PETER PAN

On 3rd, 4th and 5th December we have our annual pantomime. For new parents’ information, this is produced by our sixth form students and is shown to our primary schools in the morning and open to our students, parents and friends at evening performances. The evening performance will be from 7.00pm; and the pantomime this year is PETER PAN – obviously the St Peter’s version!! This is always tremendous fun and a great way to forget the economic gloom which is all too prevalent at present. This light relief will put you in good heart for Christmas even if, sadly, for many families connected with our school, Christmas will be a difficult time due to job loses and generally having to tighten the family financial belt.

Tickets can be ordered from Reception by simply asking your son or daughter to go to Reception, pay the money and the tickets will be available. They will be on a first come first served basis, as our numbers are restricted in the Drama Theatre for health and safety reasons. Tickets are Adults £3 and children under 14 £2.

400 CLUB RAFFLE

The 400 Club raffle will be drawn at the Family Supper, so do make sure you have returned your tickets in good time.

The draw for the 400 Club will also take place, with the chance to win cash prizes of £125, £75, £50 and £25.

FIREWORKS DISPLAY

Many, many thanks to those of you who braved the weather to support the PFAs Firework Display. Despite the weather most of the fireworks went off and the display was yet again excellent value for money. The only problem was we all got totally drenched! I am enormously grateful to the staff, governors and friends who contributed to putting the event on. It was devotion to duty over and above what could have been expected because of the appalling weather.

As always the event was marked with the humour which always surrounds these major events. I thought it was a little unfair, however, for a colleague to comment that, “We know occasionally some of the head’s decisions can appear wet, but he has never looked as wet as he did on Saturday night!” In all seriousness, everyone, including Jan Bogduikiewiez who supplied the fireworks, deserves immense credit for the function running. Those people who supported us also deserve a pat on the back for being so loyal to the school.

Due to the weather the PFA did not make as much money as normal. Indeed, only £200 was made, but it was a credit to all that we actually broke even. With similar weather the previous Saturday a much publicised major event in Gloucester City actually lost a significant amount of money. I must also pay tribute to the people who did not get wet but worked throughout the night to provide the excellent refreshments, i.e. Margaret Turner and her helpers in the kitchen.

You will have all received raffle tickets for the PFA’s Christmas Raffle. In view of the fact that the Fireworks Display did not make the money we normally make, the PFA will be struggling to match the finances it has been able to provide for the school over recent years. With this in mind I implore you to try and sell the raffle tickets so that the hardworking PFA Committee continue to be provided with the resources to assist your sons and daughters where the school thinks appropriate. Please have all raffle tickets back no later than Wednesday 11 December. If you are unable to sell the raffle tickets the Lotteries Act requires that we account for all unsold tickets and, therefore, these tickets must be returned to the school.

PFA AGM

The PFA Committee needs further support. The AGM of the Parents & Friends Association will take place on Monday 1 December at 7.30pm. If you would like to attend please arrive in the Entrance Hall at 7.25pm and you will be shown to where the meeting will take place. It is important that we have more members prepared to work on the committee, i.e. meeting once a month and assistance with functions during the year when possible. If you feel you would like to support the school in this way please attend the AGM when we will also be electing officers for the following year.

CHRISTMAS LUNCH

Thursday December 18th

Price £2.50

Tickets from Catering Staff, from Dec 8th

Roast Turkey with Cranberry sauce, Sausage & bacon, Stuffing & Gravy
Or
Festive Cheese & Vegetable Pasties

Brussels Sprouts
Carrots
Roast potatoes

Christmas Pudding
Or
Apple & Mincemeat Pie
Custard

CONGRATULATIONS

o To both the 1stXV (U18’s) and U15’s are making excellent progress through the Daily Mail Cup competitions in the early local county rounds.

Our 1stXV rugby squad continue to progress in the Daily Mail despite having the totally unjust imposition of not being able to play their full side. This continuing saga with the RFU is really making us question whether, because of equal opportunities, we can remain in the competition. I think it will be a decision which the Governors’ consider based on the views of the 1stXV squad. It is reprehensible for a national association to insist that young men or women who actually attend a school designated as having a sixth form centre cannot represent that establishment in a national competition. The solution is very simple if the RFU were not so concerned about protecting independent schools. The solution is that no school can play players from outside the county boundaries in which the school is located. The only possible exemption to allow some flexibility for Independent Schools is that they could be allowed three such players. The solution is so simple and what saddens me is that the national newspaper which sponsors the event, i.e. the Daily Mail, will not impose any pressure on the RFU to resolve this totally unjust approach to the young men of St Peter’s 1stXV squad. Despite these issues the team has recently played Chosen Hill and Crypt Grammar School in the competition. With a team complying with what is being imposed on us, games have had to be stopped with a significant amount of time remaining owing to the fact that we were 50 points ahead.

The U15’s beat Sir Thomas Rich’s comfortably 36:0 in the last round (3rd) and now face a strong Clifton College team away in the 4th round. The 1stXV have won the first three rounds very comfortably by large margins, against Chosen Hill, Sir Thomas Rich’s and the last round 50:0 against Crypt, which was stopped a full 20 minutes early due to a 50 point differential. The 1stXV now face Wycliffe College at home in the 4th round.

The rules of the competition are that once 50 points is reached the game ceases. This is a sensible rule as nobody wants to see a school team totally demoralised. The RFU seems oblivious to the paradox that this is a rule to protect demoralisation yet, extremely talented rugby players are being prevented from playing in the competition by unjust laws that are being applied to our 1stXV.

o To the following who have represented the County (Gloucestershire) in the county championship rugby U/18 matches this season:

Callum Kerr, Dan Cox, Michael Wilcox (captain), Joe Hart, Liam Wilkinson, Levi Smith, Tom Emery and Alex Bailey (as a replacement). Hopefully a few will go on to the South-West team and eventually England. I’m sure we have a couple who could achieve and certainly deserve that honour this season.

o To our 1stXI soccer team who, in the National Schools’ Football Cup, came back from 3:1 down to draw level and then win on penalties against Evesham High School. A fantastic performance by the boys and we look forward to seeing them in their next game. Thankfully the Football Association does not operate the same injustices as the RFU and we can play our full side in this national soccer competition.

o To our U18 mixed doubles tennis players. Lara Surman, Kristofer Smith, Oliver Duffy and Beth Webb. In the regional stage of the national competition they beat Pate’s Grammar School and Overbrook School from Oxford. A terrific performance!!

To 6 of our art students who sent off designs for the "Doodle for Google" Competition at the end of last year. They were asked to present a design for the Google website showing their understanding of what "My Community" meant to them. We have just received a certificate for Amia Thomas who was chosen as a regional finalist. Amia has done incredibly well to achieve this, as the competition was open to all school pupils (primary and secondary) in the UK.

HOLY SOULS BOX

I remind parents about our Holy Souls box which operates throughout November. Already we have had a large number of requests to remember dead relatives and friends in our daily Angelus. The response to the two minute silence when we had our Remembrance Day radio assembly was also a great credit to our students.

CHILDREN IN NEED

The day was absolutely fantastic! As usual the sixth form dressed in a multiplicity of costumes, many of which risked the student concerned suffering hypothermia or collapsing with heat stroke. There were some fantastic costumes and I am immensely grateful to the sixth form for all they brought to the school on the day and the cost they must have gone to, to obtain the costumes they did. It was great to see how the younger students were talking about sixth form costumes and you could almost sense them thinking what they are going to do when they are in the sixth form. All classes contributed and we had a variety of ‘Athons’, different challenges going on all week and then on the day itself there were many different activities from waxing of legs; shaving of heads; selling onion bhajis’; our fantastic sixth form group playing and raising £150; to Mr Fullerton having sponges thrown at him – as if we haven’t had enough soakings!! In addition, our maintenance manager was kidnapped and my tannoy was hijacked. This cost £200 to get everything back in working order!! All-in-all it was a great day and we raised £4,500. A truly fantastic effort from all concerned and the whole school should be proud of this contribution to making life better for many young people.

The whole day culminated in our Stars in their Eyes Final. This was a terrific event exhibiting the outstanding talent which exists in performing arts amongst our students. This event raised over £800 and was won by ‘The Bee Gees’ i.e. Liam Monnier, Josh McNulty and Dan Oakes. I must congratulate all the finalists as those of us who have seen many Stars in their Eyes finals believe that the quality of performance this year was the best ever and it was very difficult to decide who should win. .

The total amount the school raised from ‘Children In Need’ and ‘Stars in their Eyes’ was £5,000.

ACCOLADES FOR 2007/08

o We now have nationally verified data for the performance our students at GCSE in the summer of 2008. The information merely confirms how outstandingly well the students achieved last year.

o The improvement the students made from entering St Peter’s to achieving their GCSEs meant that when the criteria of 5 or more A* to C passes to include English and Maths is considered the school was in the top 10% of schools nationally. Equally, the performance of boys of all abilities was significantly above national expectations. The number of grades attained at A* and A was also significantly above expectations for both boys and girls.

o In data published by Gloucestershire Local Authority, six of our departments were in the top ten in their subject area, with Design Technology, Art and Modern Foreign Languages being ranked 3rd, English Literature and History being 4th and Mathematics 5th. This is a magnificent performance when one considers there are seven grammar schools in the Authority as well as five or six other outstanding comprehensives – in all, 38 schools.

The above merely emphasises what is available to all our students if they work with us and do the work we request of them. If they do this they will be highly successful and I hope our current year 11 and, indeed, all years in the school, 7 – 10, are inspired to perform at the same level. It is great to think our departments are rated so highly, but what is most important is it reflects that our young people have achieved excellent results. As I always say, that is what the school is here for, our students.

WELL DONE YEAR 11!

Work Experience week 2008 is now over and a huge thank you needs go to all those who helped make it such a valuable week for our year 11’s. We have heard so many positive reports of their experiences from both employers and the students themselves. The week takes considerable resource to set up but is certainly worth it when our students return to school with increased maturity, confidence and focus. Thank you to all year 11 parents for your help and support of the students throughout the week and to Tutors for their support too. Thank you especially to all the employers, many of whom are current or past St Peter’s parents or past St Peter’s students, without your generosity placements would be even more difficult to find. Thank you to Sharon Johnson whose tireless administrative support helped the week to happen but the greatest applause should go to the Year 11 pupils themselves. Almost without exception they conducted themselves in an exemplary fashion, polite, motivated and enthusiastic whatever they were doing. They are a credit to St Peter’s.

Helen Airdrie
Head of Careers

FREE SCHOOL TRANSPORT FOR LOW INCOME FAMILIES – A MAJOR CHANGE

Please note the criteria for low income families qualifying for free school transport:

• If the student is Catholic, lives between 2 and 15 miles from school and has free school meals

OR

• The Student is Catholic, lives between 2 and 15 miles from school and family receives maximum working tax credit

If you require any further information regarding this or wish to apply for free school transport, please contact Gloucestershire County Council on 01452 425387.

MATHS NEWS

On November 10th, four able and willing mathematicians, Will Stafford (Yr13), Gemma Colucci (Yr12), Sophie Morgan (Yr12) and Stuart Watson (Yr11), accompanied by Mr. Odantzis competed against a great number of secondary schools in the area, amongst which were all the grammar schools and some private ones too, including the host school, Wycliffe College.

Our students went in totally unprepared and just for the sheer fun of displaying their mathematical prowess against that of students from other schools. They still managed to finish in about middle rank. Very well done to them!

INVIGILATORS REQUIRED

Would you like to earn some extra cash during May/June 09?

We are looking for Examination Invigilators. Your role will be to oversee and supervise examinations and to ensure that guidelines and regulations for the integrity and security of the examination papers and procedures are followed during examination sessions.

You will be required to help set up exam rooms, ensure candidates receive the correct papers, record attendance, collect in scripts and ensure regulations are adhered to.

Full training is provided!
All successful applicants will need to be CRB checked.

If you are interested in finding out more information please contact: Mrs Cameron on 01452 509230
or
Email: exams@st-petershigh.gloucs.sch.uk

SLIGHT CHANGE FROM JANUARY ‘09

One of the issues we have faced at St Peter’s over recent years is how to encourage our students to become more independent learners. We have, therefore, to try and encourage this development throughout the school. From January ’09 we will have, therefore, a period each day for working on different projects related to Citizenship and Personal Study. This will be interspersed with assemblies on a regular basis leaving our existing form period to undertake the essential work on personal and social education which is difficult to fit in to our present curriculum. The purpose of the change, however, is to help the students come to terms with the need for and the demands of independent and private study.

The change will in effect be quite small. Quite simply, it will be a period from 9.00 to 9.30am each day when the work of developing private study will take place. The length of time for all other lessons will remain as present at 55 minutes and the morning break will be slightly extended so that students who have activities during lunchtime can get their main food during morning break which will be 11.25 – 11.55am. Lunch will be reduced to about 50 minutes and the end of day will be at 3.35pm and not 3.30pm. This should mean that no students are adversely affected on their journey home or coming to school. There is no issue with our bus companies, as quite often now buses do not leave until 3.40pm.

Proposed daily timetable from January ‘09

Study Period 9.00 — 9.30
Period 1 9.30 — 10.25
Period 2 10.30 — 11.25
Break 11.25 — 11.55
Period 3 11.55 — 12.50
Lunch 12.50 — 1.40
Period 4 1.40 — 2.35
Period 5 2.40 — 3.35


Obviously this change will be evaluated throughout the year, but we do feel it could be in the long term interests of all our students. It does, however, emphasise that all students must be on premises by 9.00am and we will be taking a particularly strong line with those who deliberately get later buses knowing they will be late for school.

URGENT NOTICE TO ALL PARENTS

Could you please advise us as soon as possible of any changes to your contact details in case we need to contact you in an emergency?

EMERGENCY CLOSURE PROCEDURE
As the winter months approach I remind all parents that if there is an issue with individual buses or the school has to close for the day a notice will be on Severn Sound Radio and Radio Gloucestershire before 7.15am.

You can also check on the following website: http://www.gloucestershire.gov.uk/closedschools/.

If for any reason buses have to be called early and the school finishes prior to the normal time, again messages will go out on Severn Sound Radio and Radio Gloucestershire. It will also be included on the website above.

LATE MATHS NEWS

In early November, 17 sixth form students sat the Senior Maths Challenge.

Of those, Will Stafford, Y13, achieved a gold award. Tom Betley and Anthony Hanks, both Y13, achieved a bronze award.

Jo Blackburn, Gemma Colucci and Sophie Waite, all in Y12 achieved bronze awards.

Very well done to these students and also all those who participated and who manage to enjoy their subject through the Senior Maths Challenge.

I look forward to seeing many of you at our Christmas functions.

Yours sincerely


Lawrence Montagu
Headteacher

21 October 2008

Dear Parents
PFA Fireworks evening
On Saturday 8 November the PFA will be holding their annual firework event. It will be from 6.00pm – 9.00pm; with side shows in the Sports Barn and refreshments in the main Hall. This is always an excellent evening and super value for families. The cost of entry will be £2 per adult, e.g. over 11 years of age, and £1 for children. It is payment on the gate. Parking will be on the site; and we hope as always to have a fine crowd for what is always a super display. In addition, we will also welcome any donations for the bottle stall. If you have bottles you can donate please send them in with your son/daughter as soon as possible.

CLAW BACK

Further to my recent correspondence concerning the Local Authority’s attempt to try and claw back money from St Peter’s. We have formally appealed against the decision and suggested to the Local Authority that reconsideration of criteria should take place owing to what appeared to us to be questionable legality in the initial request for a refund. We are assured that new criteria will come out with us having the opportunity to resubmit our case for not having to undergo any repayment of funds. I will obviously keep you informed of how this is progressing, but at this stage if we cannot reach agreement we are prepared to consider formal legal action.

BUILDING FUND

My thanks to those of you who contributed to our recent building fund request. Your support is greatly appreciated. I commented to the student body, however, at my dismay over a fact that one form had returned 18 envelopes. That is 18 out of 29! Many of these, obviously, had not even been taken home, but simply taken off the letter and returned. This is deeply regrettable, as I emphasised to students that what we are planning is not only facilities for them, but for their brothers and sisters or even their own children in the future. Regrettably, the form I am referring to was in Year 8, i.e. at least another four years in the school and most of them another six. It was exactly the same with the raffle tickets for the Fete, when an abnormally high number were returned, i.e. did not even make it home. I would happily receive any suggestions you have to avoid this situation. The building fund is absolutely essential if we are to continue to offer the facilities our students have become accustomed to over recent years.

RFU

Those of you who were in the school last year know we had a quite incredibly unjust ruling from the RFU on our 1stXV. In fact our 1stXV beat the eventual winners of the Daily Mail tournament, Wellington School, only to be denied that success by the most questionable of behaviour by Rugby Union officials at an official hearing. Regrettably, despite last year’s ruling by the Appeal Panel that the situation should be worked on between RFU officials and St Peter’s to resolve the issue, we are still in dispute with the RFU. Our 1stXV this year shows great promise, having recently lost very narrowly to Colston’s School, Bristol 17 : 15 in a friendly match. We won our first Daily Mail Match 60 : 0 against Chosen Hill with a team which was very much a squad team rather than an outright 1stXV!! If it had not been for our dealings with RFU officials last year I would have started with “unbelievably” to my next piece of information, but one does learn from previous experiences!

When we were playing at Chosen Hill we were informed that Chosen Hill had been approached by an RFU official from Herefordshire who acting on a request from one of the officials involved in last year’s dispute with St Peter’s, was seeking a team sheet of ours which we should have presented to Chosen Hill. This, of course, implies that the RFU is questioning the integrity of not only St Peter’s but Gloucestershire Rugby Union officials. If anybody should have asked us for a team sheet it should have been Gloucestershire officials. This was compounded by the Herefordshire official telling Chosen Hill that he had permission from our Director of Rugby, David Pointon. This was totally untrue. It really is almost beyond belief that a national body would go to such lengths to try and prevent talented rugby players from showing their ability at the highest level. Obviously if this situation continues the Governors will have to reconsider our involvement in the competition. None of us is allowed to deny the status of the school as a sixth form centre simply because of the irrational behaviour of a body that should be promoting the best in schoolboy sport and not going to extraordinary lengths to hinder it with respect to one school.

PARENTS OF YEAR 11 STUDENTS

It has been brought to my attention that Cirencester College is using DFCS league tables for sixth forms from January 2008 to publicise their college. These league tables are obviously in the public domain, but the purpose of this publicity is to try and highlight the performance of Cirencester in comparison to other post-16 establishments, including St Peter’s. I regret that the College has decided to do this, as the information, as presented, is obviously totally misleading. Post-16 average point scores are dependent on so many different variables. Not least of which is how many vocational qualifications are included in comparison to straight A-levels.

St Peter’s has always prided itself on never chasing league table position at the expense of giving young people the opportunity to study A-level courses. With this open policy our sixth form will never be at the top of a straight points table for post-16 performance. As always, my strong advice to parents considering post-16 education is to look at our publicised result sheets, which is on our Website, and you will see the performance of our individual departments for all young people they teach. This is the criteria we use and by far the most important, I would suggest, when young people are considering where to do their A-level studies. Our subject by subject performance will compare very favourably with any open sixth form in the country and these statistics, on a subject to subject basis, are far easier to understand than average point scores which, I repeat, can be “massaged” depending on courses, how many subjects are taken and a whole other range of variables.

WORK EXPERIENCE 10-14TH NOVEMBER

The culmination of many hours work is drawing completion as our students head off on work experience, for the majority 10-14th November this year. Organising individual placements for 240 students is a complex task and we’d like to thank you as parents for your cooperation and help during this process. Particular thanks go to those parents whose company or work place is hosting a St Peter’s student. We truly appreciate the investment of time and money this represents.

Could we ask however that you continue to support your child throughout placement week? Work experience can be a very mixed experience. Whilst we have tried to ensure that each student has a placement which reflects their interests, geographical and health and safety restrictions mean that this is not always 100% possible. The most important learning to take place in work experience is actually common to virtually every placement. Learning the importance of punctuality, of working with and relating to adults not previously known to the student, problem solving, showing enthusiasm and interest, learning to be a flexible, reliable and pleasant employee are important skills. Students will be able to develop these transferable skills wherever they may be going. Gaining an insight into a possible future career is an added benefit.

However to make the most of the placement your child will need your support. Most placement employers are well experienced in managing work experience students and in the majority of cases the feedback on Monday evening will be really positive. However the first day in a new job can be a tough experience. It takes a while to settle in. Please encourage your child to be resilient, another valuable transferable skill! After all it’s only five days.

Your child will be completing a work experience booklet during the week as a way to consolidate their learning. This will include important details about health and safety during their work placement but will also help them to reflect on the skills they are learning. Again your support and encouragement would be appreciated.

As usual all students on placement within the school catchment area will be visited by a member of staff at some point during the week. This provides an opportunity to check on progress, provide support and encouragement and provides valuable feedback on placement experiences for future years. I look forward to the feedback from both students and staff and wish all our students a successful work experience.

Finally, we are always keen to build a database of possible work experience placements for future years. If you are able to offer a placement for a student next year I would be delighted to hear from you.

Helen Airdrie
Head of Careers

ATTENDANCE MATTERS!

If your child is absent

Please call the school on the first day of absence. Once the student returns please send a letter in to school to explain the absence.

Where any absences are not explained they are assumed to be unauthorised. We are required to notify the Education Welfare Service of all unauthorised absences, and continual absence may result in a Penalty Notice being issued.

Should you wish to take your child out of school during term time please complete a Leave of Absence form (available from reception) and return it to the student’s Head of Year for consideration.

Punctuality
Punctuality is essential and an important life skill. Please ensure your child arrives at school on time and encourage them to be on time throughout the day. The first five minutes of a lesson can be the most important.

Parental support is essential for reinforcing the expectations of the school and we thank you for your continued support.

BUS INFORMATION

If a student loses their bus pass, they should immediately see Mrs Snell in the bus office who may be able to provide a letter authorizing them to travel and will also provide them with details on how to obtain a replacement pass. Bus drivers do have the right to refuse travel to any student who cannot provide a current bus pass.

The school website www.st-petershigh.gloucs.sch.uk has a section specially dedicated to School Buses. Here you will find a Frequently Asked Questions section, the most up to date timetable and helpful contact details.

HOLIDAY

The half term holiday commences on Friday 24 October and the students do not return until Wednesday 5 November. This provides a long break for the students and I hope you and your family are able to enjoy some quality time together during the nine day break.

My only plea for students during the holiday is for year 11 students to be sensible in establishing a period of time for work if they have coursework to complete or are facing module exams in November.

EXTENDED SCHOOL ACTIVITIES

It is super to see so many people involved in our extended school activities. Particularly the Thursday nights which have been dedicated from 4.00pm to 9.00pm for such activities. I remind you that a full list of these activities is on our website and if any of you, your sons or daughters or, indeed, your friends, would like to take part simply follow the procedure or contact Keiran for more information. To emphasise the quality of the courses and to show the range available we had a gentleman attend the first evening for DIY. He had not got the message that this course could not run due to lack of numbers but having arrived he was persuaded to try our cookery class and subsequently he signed up for the full course! The cookery would appear to be a must for our young men who may be leaving home in the near future and may be for some of us older ones who do not do as much as we should!!

SPORTING NEWS

• National Schools’ Ski Finals, Rossendale, October 11th/12th
Having convincingly won the regional qualifier and the U19 age group title at Gloucester earlier in the term, our ski team of James Mozol (15 years), James Davies (13 years), Hayden Wilkinson (12 years), and Christiaan Marment (11 years) travelled north to compete in the English Schools finals and the Open Championship in the hope that they could qualify as one of the top 10 boys’ teams and so go on to compete later in November at the British Championships to be held in Edinburgh. Despite their young ages, the age groupings having been changed by ESSKIA this year to ‘Yr 11 and above’ as opposed to ‘U16 on September 1st’, they skied themselves into 6th place in the largest competing group on the Saturday and a very creditable 7th in the Open Championships securing a place at The British Championships. For such young skiers these were extremely impressive performances both as a team and individuals: James Mozol placed 6th in the country, James Davies 9th.

In two year’s time this team could well become the English Schools’ U19 National winners!

• Hockey
Congratulations to Chloe O’Donoghue (U15) and Lisa Daley (U17) who have been chosen to play for the County hockey teams.

• MotoX
Congratulations to Liam Wright, Year 10, who won the International MotoX Championships which recently took place in Jersey. Liam was competing against 40 international riders, some of whom travelled to Jersey from as far afield as Italy. Liam was one of the youngest competitors in his group competing for this trophy.

LIBRARY NEWS:

The library team took a group of year 7 pupils to the Cheltenham Literature Festival on Wednesday 15 October to see Bernard Ashley. He is a writer who used to be a head teacher and we are hoping he will inspire pupils’ ideas and writing.

Year 7 will be receiving a book each as part of the government scheme ‘Booked Up’ which also ran last year. Parents of year 7 should have seen the leaflet with the selection of books and the order has been made so we are eagerly awaiting their arrival.

We have invited a local author and illustrator Shoo Rayner to speak to year 7 in November. This is a fantastic opportunity for the whole year group.

Extreme Readers is taking place again – it has been on Monday or Wednesday lunchtimes so year 7s should look and listen out for notices.

100% Words, the sixth-form book group, will have its first meeting after half term on Thursday 6 November. The next three books are: ‘The Uncommon Reader’ by Alan Bennett, 'Christmas Carol' by Charles Dickens and ‘Shadow of the Wind’ by Carlos Ruiz although the order of reading may change slightly.

YEAR 7 READING WORKSHOP

Just a reminder that the Reading Workshop is on Wed 5th November at 7pm and repeated on Thursday 6th November at 9.15.am. This is a real opportunity for the invited year 7 pupils to improve their reading speed and accuracy. We are looking forward to meeting you and your son/daughter.
Margaret White SENCO

TOMATO SOUP APPEAL

During Advent Mrs Kefford and her form 8R will be serving tomato soup lunches in aid to raise money for the ward that one of their class mates, Stephanie Stewart, is on. With this in mind it would be appreciated if parents would consider donating tins of tomato soup towards this appeal. All donated tins of soup can be taken directly to Mrs Kefford in T4.

STARS IN THEIR EYES GRAND FINAL

FRIDAY 14TH NOVEMBER
7.30pm Main Hall
Tickets are £3 each
This is always a sell out so get your tickets early!!

COMING SOON…

A Comedy of Manners by Richard Brinsley Sheridan
The School for Scandal
A comedy in 5 Acts performed by Senior Students of this Establishment
- 20th and 21st November 2008

ART NEWS

The Art Department enjoyed a very busy end of term last July! On July 3rd & 4th we were delighted to host the renown artist Chila Kumari Burman for two days residential. This was very kindly supported by our local branch of NADFAS (National Association for Fine & Decorative Arts) based in Painswick under the auspices of Mrs Joan Davies. Some of you may remember the successful Art Angels project from some years ago; Joan arranged for us to have financial support to bring Chila into school.

Chila was born in Liverpool of Indian parents and uses much of her childhood memories and cultural inheritance from the Punjab to inform her work which is bright and bold, often featuring portraiture of herself, her family and Indian gods. Her work is highly collectable and has been bought by Richard Branson amongst others, who actually 'paid' Chila with two first class air tickets to any Virgin destination. Chila is much in demand all over the world so it was a real privilege to have her work with our students. Do have a look at her website www.chila-kumari-burman.co.uk.

To support our Year 8 Curriculum where we look at the work of a range of cultures Chila led two days of workshops based on Indian dancing figures which were then decorated with photocopies of the students' own photographs. These group efforts were then worked into with a range of media which very much complemented Chila's own style where she uses text, various papers and glitter pens to complete. Chila was enormously complimentary of the students' work. On the Thursday evening she gave a presentation to our Sixth Form artists on her work and the journey she had made from her art students days in Leeds and at the Slade to the successful artist she is today. Many of her 'inside' comments on the art world and some well known personalities were illuminating and entertaining.

We would very much like to thank Chila for all her work and wish her luck in her future ventures; and to thank Joan and NADFAS for their on-going support for us and Gloucestershire schools.

The term's success continued with a wonderful Art Show on July 10th where we were supported by some magnificent musicians who busked outside the Art Rooms and raised in excess of £60 towards Cafod funds. Many of our exam students exhibited their work and a number were the recipients of our first ' Oscars meets the Turner Prize ' in receiving awards for great performances over the year.

As usual there are more great events planned for this year - trips to New York and Paris, exhibitions of work, classes in the Extended School and hopefully another artist in residence. Please check the newsletter for details.

CHILDREN IN NEED AUCTION

On Friday 7 November the Head Students will be holding an auction in aid of Children In Need for staff and students. Can any parents donate items from their companies or from home that we could sell in the auction? For example, driving lessons, iPods or phones, sports memorabilia, hampers, taxi rides, or anything that you think would sell. Donations can be given to the Head Students or left at reception before half term or in the morning during half term.

Many thanks.
Aimie Moore, Anna Newman, Helly Smith, Kate Millak

Message from our Chaplain

Many thanks to those of you who gave me prayer petitions to take to Lourdes – all were prayed for and delivered safely to the Grotto.

The pilgrimage was a tremendous experience for me. I was particularly touched by the peace of the Grotto. Our Lady appeared 150 years ago to Bernadette in Massabielle, the little rubbish dump outside of the small village of Lourdes. Apparently, I learnt afterwards, that pigs too sheltered in the cave area.
I was overwhelmed by the fact that Our Lady should choose such an insignificant place to reveal herself to a poor and humble young girl.
We should also remember that when we feel ‘invisible’, neglected and treated as ‘rubbish’ by others, that God sees us as precious and valuable and loved and is with us in all of our good and difficult times. As we struggle in these unsettling and difficult financial times we should never forget the love that God has for each and everyone of us is constant and unchanging Jeremiah 31:3-4 The Lord says "I have loved you with an everlasting love; I have drawn you with loving-kindness. I will build you up again and you will be rebuilt.”
St Bernadette’s life was not easy but her life was grounded in her faith in the everlasting love and goodness of God and in her trials she allowed that light of faith to shine.
I lit a candle in the Grotto for all of you, your families and your
intentions and I pray that we too will allow the light of Christ to
shine out in our lives.

Conclusion

When the school returns after the half term we will be in the month of November. It is the month of the Holy Souls, when in the Catholic Church we are asked to remember loved ones and friends who have died. Our religion emphasises that when we die we may have to spend a period of time away from God’s presence paying for mistakes we have made during our earthly life. This period of time can be reduced by the prayers of people still on earth. There will, therefore, be a Holy Souls box in Reception and the names placed in this box by your sons and daughters will be prayed for each day at Angelus and then placed on the Altar to be remembered in Masses during November. If you would like anyone remembered please do not hesitate to send their names in with your son or daughter and I assure you they will be prayed for.

During November we will also be remembering those former students and staff who have died. Some of these people have died at a tragically young age and it is very difficult to explain why it has happened. That is beyond me and I will not be attempting an explanation. What I will be saying to your sons and daughters is because our life on earth is on such a fine thread and none of us know the time or place when it will end, it is absolute nonsense to use the precious time we have to make other people unhappy or unable to enjoy the life God has given us. The only possible lesson we can learn from losing loved ones or other people at a particularly young age is to make the most of the life we have got; using the talents the good Lord has given us and be determined to leave the world a better place for us being here.

It is unreal for us to pretend we can love every person we meet in terms of liking them or wanting to befriend them. What is not unreal is to ensure that we do not deliberately hurt any other person. If the death of people close to us or we simply know brings that message home to us then perhaps some good has come out of their death, even if we cannot explain why the Lord has decided to take them. That is not something we will ever be able to answer in this life but in believing that eternal happiness in God’s presence is what we should all be striving for it is reassuring to know that we can help our departed loved ones with prayer. Hopefully, to enter God’s presence for eternity.

I hope you have a very enjoyable half term with your sons and daughters.

Yours sincerely





Lawrence Montagu
Headteacher

September 2008

Dear Parents

Thank you to those who responded to the Chairman’s letter by issuing a Standing Order to your bank for your contribution to our building fund. In reality we had very few who returned a Standing Order form, but I am really grateful to those who did. We are now at the stage where we ask you to consider your first contribution to our building fund. If you have a Standing Order you need take no further action apart from returning the envelope.

For those parents who are able to contribute, I remind you that we ask you to consider a contribution of £10 per student per term with a maximum of £20 for any one family. I stress that this is a request and any contribution will be gratefully accepted. Or, indeed, if financial circumstances mean you are struggling at present, we will fully understand if you cannot contribute.

NB. All parents, whether contributing or not, should return the building fund envelope to your child’s form tutor so that the temptation to abuse the scheme by any student is minimalised.

I am sure your sons and daughters have told you that since the beginning of term there has been a certain amount of disruption. This is entirely related to our two new buildings – one a vocational pavilion, sponsored by the Learning & Skills Council, which will include a classroom dedicated to catering and for which we will be paying. The other is a classroom and training block which we are paying for in its entirety. The total cost of the building programme will be over 1.5 million pounds. I am sure you appreciate, therefore, that any contribution to our building fund will be gratefully accepted. As I have indicated before, the only guaranteed building money we have is £170,000 a year, which is called Formula Capital, but to release that money our governors must guarantee we can provide 10% i.e. £17,000. The building contributions, on an annual basis, are therefore vital when you consider we generally have to provide 10% of all new build. That is why we ask you to consider making a contribution. Without it we could not continue to move St Peter’s forward in the manner we have over recent years.

PARKING

It is with deep regret that despite the requests of the Chairman and myself, some parents continue to cause difficulties for the school in relation to the local community. Since the start of term I have had three very strong letters from residents in close proximity to the school. These complain about the unfairness of having access denied to their property at the end of our school day. I have repeatedly reminded those parents who collect their sons and daughters that it should not take place until 3.55pm and, then, in the main school car park. Anything else is risking tragedy! With buses moving and an additional three to four hundred students moving as cyclists and pedestrians, cars also trying to move at that time are a major hazard. I emphasise it will be too late for us to be sorry if a major incident occurs and a young person is seriously injured or worse.

NB. Once again, therefore, I ask those parents collecting children at the end of the school day to arrange to meet them in the main school car park at 3.55pm and not before.

I must also warn you that local people are in contact with the police asking them to take fixed penalty action for obstruction.

Please co-operate with us by ensuring your child is safe and other children are, also, not put at risk.

EXTENDED SCHOOL

Our extended school activities will be beginning in the very near future, with many of them on a Thursday night. There is a full list of what we offer on our website www.st-petershigh.gloucs.sch.uk. It ranges from personal fitness, vocational courses for enjoyment or courses to improve your academic qualifications. Please look at these opportunities and avail yourself, your friends and your children, of them.

If any parents are free on a Wednesday afternoon and would like to undertake a vocational course in woodwork or learn Mandarin as a foreign language, please contact Keiran on 07886357419 and he will give you details.

If any of you have businesses or work in establishments where you require accommodation for courses or ongoing training, the school’s facilities may be the answer you are looking for. If you would like to learn more about this please contact the school and leave a message for Keiran or Helen, our extended school staff, to contact you. They will be happy to talk to you on the phone or visit your place of work to discuss what is available.

The Governors are very committed to ensuring that wherever possible our facilities are used to enhance the learning opportunities for the community at large. If you have any suggestions as to what you would like to see offered in our extended school activities, once again, Keiran and Helen would like to hear from you.

PFA HELP

New parents may not be aware that our PFA committee works incredibly hard to provide additional resources and support for the education of your sons and daughters. If any new parents are interested in joining this committee please contact David Miles, Chair, on 01453 827160. He will let you know what the commitment is. It is basically a meeting once a month with support and help at PFA functions throughout the year when you are available. The PFA has four or five major fund-raising events in the year, but they also have the ongoing 400 Club Draw. This is a draw that takes place five times a year. The cost is £2 a month or £24 a year to be a member of the 400 Club. It saddens me a little that this very hardworking group of people struggle to get 400 members; indeed, it is only approximately 200 at present. If you feel you are able to support the PFA in this way, particularly if you are unable to support as many functions during the year as you would like, please complete the attached return slip and we will send you an application form to become a member.

MESSAGE FROM OUR CHAPLAIN

Welcome back to all at the beginning of this new school year. This is the Year of St Paul and I reminded the students at their first assemblies of the year of the words of St Paul from his letter to the Ephesians 2: “We are God's work of art, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God has prepared for us to do.”

Each one of us is created by a God who lovingly shapes us as a potter moulds and shapes the clay into a beautiful unique being. You have been given a special task to perform in this world which has been given to no other, and which cannot be completed by another. As a school founded on the values of Jesus expressed in the Gospels, I pray that as a school community we will allow our God given giftedness to shine out in all that we do and say. I pray that God’s Holy Spirit will guide us in our decision making and inspire us to put our gifts at the service of others.

At the beginning of October I will be going on a short pilgrimage to Lourdes in France which is celebrating its 150th Jubilee of the appearances of Our Lady to Bernadette a 14 year old peasant girl.

Lourdes is a world famous centre for Christian pilgrims, and an important place of healing. It is usual that those who go on pilgrimage take with them special prayer requests or intentions from people who cannot go on the pilgrimage. I would be delighted to take any requests you may have for prayers for loved ones, those who are sick, or anything that you would like prayers for. These can be brought into school in a sealed envelop and left at reception or in the Chapel marked ‘Prayer Intentions for Lourdes’. Please know that you and your families will be especially remembered in my prayers.
Mandy Baker
Chaplain

NEWSLETTERS

Last year, in order to reduce the considerable costs involved in producing newsletters, we posted them on the school’s website and only sent out hard copies to those parents who requested them. We have decided to continue this again this year and would appreciate it if parents could indicate on the attached reply slip if they require a hard copy?

Conclusion

I hope your children gave you the message of thanks I asked them to convey to you at the assemblies at the beginning of term. The appearance of our young people when we resumed was superb. I am only too well aware of how much this costs and that is why I asked the students to thank you for going to the expense and trouble to portray such a marvellous image of our school to the people of Gloucestershire. In turn, the students have settled extremely well. I have been particularly impressed with the maturity with which they have handled the limited space resulting from the building work and the quite atrocious weather we have had at the start of term. Their response to my request to accept personal responsibility and to support what we are trying to do over the difficult months of the building project have been terrifically impressive.

Last Thursday we had the first Masses of the year. At this Mass it was emphasised that as a community we will undoubtedly enjoy successes and upsets during the year. The emphasis of the Mass was that whatever happens, we as a community should support each other to enjoy what goes well and equally importantly to support individuals when they are in need. That is something St Peter’s does incredibly well and we wish to continue. Despite the resounding success of our exam students, as highlighted in Mr Stenson’s letter to you, what continues to be at the heart of St Peter’s is the relationship between people and the emphasis on the respect and dignity all people are entitled to receive.

I hope we are able to continue to move the school forward over the next twelve months for no purpose other than to ensure that your sons and daughters are given maximum opportunity to exhibit and develop the enormous potential they have in so many aspects of their life.

Yours sincerely





Lawrence Montagu
Headteacher

Newsletter 15th July 2008

Dear Parents

Thank you to those who supported the PFA Annual Fete. Many of you attended and I am grateful for your support. John Jones, together with our Chair, Dave Miles, and the whole PFA Fete Committee worked so hard to organise the day. I am most grateful to these people for the time and effort they put into working for our students. Equally, my gratitude goes to one of my Vice Principals, Tina Parsloe, who is the major link with the Fete Committee and organised all liaison from the school side. Many parents, governors, staff and friends gave all afternoon to manning stalls. Without these people the Fete simply could not run; and others provided fantastic service with the second hand uniform sale especially those parents who very kindly washed and ironed the second hand uniform so that it would be ready to sell at the Fete. I must also offer my thanks to Margaret Turner and her ladies and other helpers who were in the kitchen all afternoon. They worked non-stop and the refreshments were as always first rate.

The Fete was a great example of many people coming together to work for and support the students of the School. It is always a day when humour is much in abundance and never more so that in the tug-of-war. My thanks to Keiran for the organisation of this; but I am afraid the parents’ objection to the senior steward, concerning the pull against the staff, has been rejected!! The senior steward had seen nothing underhand about the senior steward adding his considerable ‘scouse’ bulk to the staff side when it appeared that they might be in danger of being beaten!! The fact that students joined in on both sides at this stage also meant that the culmination pull of the tug-of-war must in all justice be declared an honourable draw!! Great fun and simply typifies the Fete. I would also like to commend the excellent Irish Dance Team that provided entertainment in the Refreshment Hall and our school music group who played throughout the afternoon – both groups exhibiting considerable talent.

The fact that most of the Fete was indoors due to the uncertainty with the weather did not spoil the occasion. In fact the much forecast torrential rain did not really start until we had finished clearing up. One can only put this down to one of the bonuses of us being a Catholic school!!!

One area of disappointment for me was the response to the Raffle. A £5 book of raffle tickets was given to every student in years 7 – 10. The proceeds from the Raffle were no more than £1,200. I am sure you can do the maths but it means that only about 20% of the raffle tickets were sold and students returned the rest. I am convinced that the reason for this is many were not even given to you and this is a real indictment of many of our students. They are happy to accept the facilities we offer and delight at the ever increasing opportunities offered by equipment and buildings the PFA help to provide. When we ask them to try and sell a £5 book of raffle tickets i.e. ten raffle tickets, many of them do not even give you the book nor try to sell them, they simply returned the tickets. It is very, very rare for me to be disappointed at the vast majority of our young people. However, in the case of raffle tickets it is apparent that the vast majority of them did not accept their responsibility to the school now and in the future. That is immensely disheartening for the many people who spend hours of their own time working to provide equipment and facilities for students to enhance their life opportunities.

I am not sure what the final figure for the Fete is as I compile this newsletter. I will confirm it in the new academic year. It looks as though it will be £3,500. Once again my thanks to all who contributed to this terrific effort, including those people from the school who set up on the Friday, our maintenance and PE staff who assisted in getting the school right after the event and all the workers involved in putting such a function together.

STAFFING

As always at this time of the year we say goodbye and thank you to a number of staff.

Retirement
Sue Goble – Sue, who as you know was formerly Deputy Head of the School and over the last two years has been responsible for our Student Support Services is retiring from teaching. She is taking up a new role as Director of an SMG Orders Retreat House at Roehampton in London. As many of you know Sue was the most superb deputy for our school for 22 years but, more fundamentally, was also an excellent teacher in her own right. She was considered to be amongst the best in the country at how to develop and improve teaching and learning in schools and her own practice exemplified this. She is a totally committed Christian and wishes to end her working life outside schools working with a religious order she has a close affinity with. We shall miss her enormously at St Peter’s, not just for the work she does as a teacher but for the enthusiasm, commitment and living example of a Christian approach to living which she exhibits every day. It is totally right and fitting that at our end of year Mass Sue was presented with a Papal Blessing by Father Bernard Massey, Dean of Gloucester and a member of our Governing Body. In thanking Sue for all she has done to help St Peter’s achieve the standard of education it now delivers we wish her every health, happiness and success in her new life.

Margaret Joseph – Margaret stepped down from being Vice Principal responsible for key stage 4 two years ago. Since that time she has been working part-time in the English Department where she has continued to offer an outstanding quality of teaching to students taking both A-Level and GCSE English. Margaret is another example of a senior member of the school who teaches at an outstanding level. Her commitment to the young people of St Peter’s in both her role as Head of Key Stage 4 and generally around the school was exemplary. She has always had the best interests of St Peter’s at heart; she is another member of staff who has committed the majority of their working lives to ensuring that the students of St Peter’s receive the best possible education. In thanking Margaret sincerely for all she has done for our school over the years we wish her health and happiness in the years ahead as she adjusts to being able to use all her time for her own life rather than having to consider the world of work.

Caroline Hislam – Caroline is another member of staff who stepped down two years ago to take on part-time work. Formerly Head of ICT Caroline played a major role in developing St Peter’s ICT to a level where we could apply for specialist school status. When Caroline first took over ICT the Department had a few BBC machines and that shows you how far we have come when you see the ICT facilities the students enjoy now in our school. Caroline played a major part in that development and we thank her most sincerely for the contribution she has made to bringing St Peter’s education to a level where it is now at the forefront of using technology to enhance learning. Again, Caroline is retiring totally to spend more time with her family, including her grandchildren, and gardening. She will also be spending more time supporting the career of her husband, artist Pete Hoida. She already maintains his website (www.petehoida.co.uk) and has recently taken a training course in digital photography, specialising in photographs of painting. I thank Caroline for all she did for our school and wish her health and happiness in the years ahead.

At the Mass on the 27 June Councillor Joan Nash, lead councillor for education in the county, presented Sue Goble, Margaret Joseph and Caroline Hislam with long service awards on behalf of Gloucestershire County Council. All these ladies have been in the Authority over 25 years and I was delighted to see their service to Gloucestershire young people recognised by the County Council.

Sheila Miklausic – Many of you know Sheila to be a very good teacher of geography but I suspect a small number of you know her to be even more an outstanding person who has literally helped young lives to be transformed in our school. Over recent years Sheila has been responsible for our English, as a second language, students, which incorporate all students moving from abroad who do not have English as a main language. Some of these young people have been deeply scarred by the traumatic experiences they have witnessed such as their family being massacred and, therefore, have come to this country as asylum seeker and refugee children. Sheila, supported by Debbie Lange and her team of other helpers in St Peter’s, together with the Authority’s language support team, has been simply outstanding in everything she has done to help these young people. She has given countless hours of her own time, made them welcome in her own home and fought tooth and nail with the bureaucracy of authority to ensure these disadvantaged young people did not have their disadvantage prolonged because of bureaucratic ineptitude. She also fought within our school to ensure that the entitlement of these young people was always met by the school and the resourcing for them was at the highest possible level. She is an incredibly committed woman whose whole life is testimony to her Christianity. Not just for her work as a teacher in the school but as a person Sheila will be missed enormously by all of us. Sheila is retiring from work to spend more time with her husband and we wish her every health and happiness in the years ahead. I am sure so many of the students she assisted in transforming their lives will keep in touch despite the fact that she is no longer in St Peter’s.

Staff Leaving

Caroline Rush, our Sixth Form Librarian, is leaving us at the end of this term to spend more time with her family. Caroline has been a super influence in the sixth form. A chartered librarian, who uses her intellectual ability to assist sixth form students to the maximum, Caroline has helped countless young people because of the in-depth knowledge she has of source material across a whole range of subjects. She has also played a major part in the development of our sixth form library and independent study area. Her knowledge of ICT has enabled her to help many students with the presentation of their work whilst her expertise in audio-visual equipment has assisted the whole school on many occasions. Although employed as a librarian her work has gone across many areas of school life and we will find it very difficult to replace this expertise in our school. We wish Caroline health and happiness in the years ahead and I have deliberately not included her in staff retiring as she may well decide in the future she misses us too much!! I am delighted to say that although she is leaving us on a daily basis, she will continue to work for us on a consultancy basis to maintain and develop the school website.

Elaine Wilkins – Elaine is a fine teacher of English and Media. She has been with us since training for teaching and has acquired rapid promotion in our school, which reflects her ability. Latterly Elaine has been responsible for 14 – 19 English and has contributed to the excellence of our English Department both within the county and nationally. Elaine is leaving us to move to the South Coast for personal reasons. In thanking her for all she has done for the students of our school we wish her health, happiness and success in the years ahead.

Justin Lewis – I have commented many times over the last couple of years about the resounding success of our Music Department. The quality of the music in the school is now at a higher level than at any time in my career at St Peter’s. That is in no small way due to excellence of our Director of Music, Catherine Perfect, ably assisted by Justin Lewis. Catherine is leaving us on maternity leave at the end of term, but will be back in February 2009. Justin is sadly leaving us to take up a post in another local school. In thanking him for all that he has helped St Peter’s Music Department achieve, we hope that he finds what he is looking for in his new post.

Sally Wills – Sally has left us on maternity leave and will be returning at Easter 2009. She has been replaced for the year by Lesley Hunt.

Dermott McLaughlin – Dermott has been a part of the rapidly developing ICT Department in the school. It is no surprise to us that he has moved on quickly and he has gained a Head of Faculty position in Swindon. We wish Dermott every happiness and success in his new role, which I am sure he will enjoy.

Annette Smith – Annette was covering the maternity leave of Mrs Durrant. During the year Mrs Smith has worked unstintingly not just in curriculum time but in her own time to assist the development of students in technology. In thanking Mrs Smith for all she has done over the last twelve months, we wish her happiness and success in her future career.

Christine Bennett – Christine is leaving our Maths Department. Chris has worked with us since qualifying as a teacher and recently took up part-time work following a deep personal tragedy. She has now decided that travelling the distance she does to St Peter’s is no longer viable and we fully understand this. Chris has contributed significantly to the development of our Maths Department and she has been an integral part of the success we have enjoyed in recent years. We wish her every health and happiness both in her professional and personal life in the future and thank her for all she has done for the students of St Peter’s during her time with us.

GTPs

The GTP Training Programme is coming to an end for this year and we offer our congratulations to our GTPs: Martin Peake, Lucy Comens, Patrick Caldwell, Vicky Keyte and Becky Bird. They have all passed their training year with Lucy and Martin remaining at St Peter’s in permanent posts whilst the others are moving off to positions in other schools throughout the country. We wish them all well in their future careers and hope that those leaving us have enjoyed the experience of training in our school. Martin McDermott will remain in training until December when he will join the permanent staff.

Teaching Assistants

The following teaching assistants are leaving us and I would like to thank them for the work they have done in ensuring that those young people who initially have difficulty in our school are helped to achieve at their maximum level. We wish them well in the future:

Gareth Lyne – Gareth will be remaining at the school but as a trainee teacher for twelve months.
Stephen Base – Stephen is leaving to start his PGCE in English.
James Summers – James is leaving to return to the business world.

Joining Us

I am delighted to welcome Roger Smith as our new Custodian and member of our maintenance team. Roger will be living on site in our caretaker’s house and we are delighted to have him join the community of St Peter’s. He is a parent of the school and his wife works as one of our excellent catering staff. He, therefore, already has a deep commitment to the school and I hope he thoroughly enjoys contributing to the development of St Peter’s. Roger will be joined by Geoff Wrightson who at present is our security custodian in the evening. Geoff’s hours are being extended and both men will work together with our senior maintenance officer, Brian Guest, to continue to keep the site up to scratch.

A very warm welcome to Helen Airdrie who joins us to be responsible for Careers education in the school. Helen is replacing Mrs Gill Stott who has done a fantastic job for us as Head of Careers. Gill also had the job of teaching geography more or less fulltime. Gill has now asked to return to her geography teaching as a part-time teacher and the Governors made the decision to bring in a support member of staff to run the Careers. We are delighted to have a person of the calibre of Helen and we look forward to seeing our careers education develop even more under her guidance.

TRAINING SCHOOL REPORT

This year we have supported seven successful main placement trainees on the Graduate Teacher programme and one on second placement; plus ten PGCE trainees on main and second placements. Mr. M. Peake, Ms. L. Comens, Ms. R. Holton and Mr. M. McDermott will continue to work at St. Peter’s in the new academic year in ICT, Maths, English and PE; and Dr. S. Manning-Benson will rejoin the Science department ; Ms. R. Bird is to teach PE at Backwell School, Dr. P. Caldwell will be teaching Science at Ripon Grammar School, Mrs. V. Keyte will teach D&T at Ribston High School, and Ms. Charlotte Heal, who finished training in December 2007 will be taking up a post at St. Rose’s School, following two terms at Kingshill School. Former PGCE trainee Ms. F. Bhaiyat is now a member of St. Peter’s History Department; Ms. J. Nash is to teach Art at John Cabot School, Ms. R. Lane is to teach Art in Didcot; Ms. C. Bullas is to teach Science at Broadlands School, Keynsham. Mr. C. Yeates is to teach Maths at Tewkesbury School and Ms. S. Cannings, Maths at Cleeve School. Ms. G. Baber will be teaching PE at Beaudesert Park School in Stroud and Mr. S. Wait is to complete his training in Geography at Beaufort School.

In addition, a large number of potential trainees have been given short placements, including five completing block placements Student Associate Scheme and 2 Returning Teachers have had placements in the MFL and English departments.

A huge thank you is due to the unsung heroes, the mentors and other members of staff, who have given tireless support and expert assistance in helping so many potential teachers achieve or work towards Qualified Teacher Status. Heads of Department must also be thanked for their support in facilitating short placements: every department in the school has played a part in training and/or helping many former pupils and members of the community gain necessary school experience, before taking up a teacher training course or returning to the profession.

We have delivered training to nine Teaching Assistants from various schools in the county, in order to improve their subject knowledge in mathematics, so as to support the development, learning and progress of young people within the mathematics departments of their schools. As a consequence, pupils on the border of level 4/5, 5/6 at KS3, or D/C at GCSE will be assisted in improving their performance in the subject.

This year we have also worked with the PAL department to review the roles and career development of the PAL team. This has resulted in some joint training carried out by the Training Manager and the SENCO and improved career development structures for members of the PAL team. Another research project studied students’ perceptions of additional adults in the classroom in Gloucestershire schools and provided data on pupils’ views of support workers and training teachers. In addition two members of the training school team have successfully completed their training as TLA leaders: the Teacher Learning Academy has initiated a Professional Development programme enabling teachers to pursue different levels of research and receive accreditation up to Masters level. This scheme is currently being piloted with staff at St. Peter’s.

We look forward to working with a new cohort of trainees in the Autumn term and are still recruiting for the Graduate Teacher Programme in Maths and Science. If you would like any further information about teacher training at St. Peter’s please see the Training School website at http://www.st-peterstraining.ukschool.com or contact Mrs. M. Daniels on 01452 509225.

CONGRATULATIONS

To Molly Price one of our Yr 9 young ladies who took part in the U14 National Netball Clubs’ Competition and contributed to her club winning this national competition.

To our U13 Tennis Team who became county champions. Tennis in the school is making tremendous headway and congratulations to Elliott Hopson, Liam Britton-Jeal, Jake Hayward, Charlie Ferrett and Will English.

To the Yr 8 students who recently produced an excellent drama performance based around the theme of ‘Bullying’. It really was superbly presented and acted. My thanks to Miss Lisa-Marie Saunders who wrote and directed the play and to all the students who acted so excellently in the production.

To Head of Art, Sarah McHale. Sarah has been selected to work part-time with the University of Gloucestershire next year developing in-service training opportunities for teachers in the county. This is a great accolade to Sarah and the Governors were pleased to support her in this career development opportunity. She will continue to be Head of Art and teach exam art in our school.

AWARDS CEREMONY

I have pleasure in listing below the students who received awards at our Awards Ceremony on 27 June. This was part of our Patron’s Mass and was a fantastic occasion. I mentioned previously that Councillor Joan Nash was present and she presented the Molly Gravells Award whilst our Chair of Governors, Jim Stenson, presented the Governors’ Awards.

• The David Watts Cup for Science – Katie Heath (Y13), Blazej Rybinski (Y13), Elizabeth Harris (Y13), Laura Gummer (Y13); Commendation for Effort – Dan Marques (Y11), Emma Cook (Y11), Sarah Dix, Rebecca Lee (Y11)
• The Trendgrey Trophy for ICT – Rowan Willoughby (Y7), Luke Williams (Y8), Hanna Findlay (Y9), Yolanda Day (Y10)
• The Trendgrey Trophy for Maths – Blazej Rybinski (Y13)
• The Molly Gravells Community Award – Daniel Young (Y11) who cared for his granddad who died of cancer and also takes care of his Nan; Jodie Augustus (Y10) and Yolanda Day (10M) for buddying system to integrate new foreign nationals into our school, they gave up lunchtimes
• The Clarkson Evans Trophy for Vocational Education – Daniel Young (Y11) – Mention prizes: Russell Fernandez; Raphy Mendoza and Anna Warwick
• The Boyce Trophy for Endeavour – Claudio Baldari (Y8)
• The Heinemann Linguist Trophy – Sacha Fullerton (Y12), Gemma Colucci (Y11)
• The Peter Baker Award for History – Raphaela Mendoza (Y11), Hannah Cormican (Y13)
• The Moss Construction Trophy for the Outstanding Sports Person of the Year – Stefan Hawley (Y13)
• The Governors’ Award for Drama – Catherine Searle (Y12)
• The Governors’ Award for Music – Dan Ryan (Y11)
• The Governors’ Award for Geography – Alice Boydell (Y8)
• The Governors’ Award for English – Laura Gummer (Y13)
• The Governors’ Award for Technology – Megan Gittins (Y11), Daniel Marques (Y11), Alex McRae (Y12), Lizzie Hewlett (Y12)
• The Governors’ Award for Art – Charlotte Smart (Y11), Highly Commended: Darnell White (Y12), Esther Metcalf (Y9)
• The Anna McGurk Bursary Awards – Leah Brooke (Y9) and Jason Gower (Y12)
• The London Academy of Music & Dramatic Arts (LAMDA) – Catherine Searle (Y12) Silver; Harriet Layhe (Y12) Bronze; Anna Newman (Y12) Bronze
• The Randall & Payne Award for Enterprise & Achievement – Scott Hanlon
• The University Gloucestershire Business School – Sarah Chesney

In addition to the school giving awards we also received some back from members of our community. As has become customary our England Rugby Internationals from last year, Shaun Knight, Danny Wright and Reuben Haile presented the school with one of their England U18 rugby shirts. Reuben has represented England at U16 age group as well as U18 a year young. Danny and Shaun are already training for next season and on contract to Gloucester Rugby Club in their senior academy squad.

A REMINDER THAT:

Tonight tomorrow night and Thursday night ‘Jesus Christ Super Star’ is being produced in the school. Thursday night is a sell out but you may still be able to get tickets for tonight or Wednesday if you contact the school as a matter of urgency. It promises to be another excellent production from our Performing Arts Department.


Jesus Christ Superstar by Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd-Webber - An Amateur Production by arrangement with the Really Useful Company.

DRAMA UPDATE

Congratulations to all our students who participated in the many drama productions this year. We saw a classical production of A Midsummer Night's Dream in November, an exam performance of The Importance of Being Earnest and many exciting and original devised pieces presented to examiners in 2008. The Year 10 Drama students produced work of an excellent quality in their interpretation of Shakespeare's The Taming of the Shrew and Goldoni's A Servant to Two Masters in July and it was good to see them so well supported by a full house!
The department would also like to thank the performers in Jesus Christ Superstar for their maturity and sensitivity when working on the show. We are also indebted to the students, staff and parents who support us behind the scenes.
Next year, we will be building on the LAMDA success of our sixth form students - at Bronze and Silver levels. Younger students will sit the exam in October, taking on different levels, and we wish them every success.
We look forward to seeing many of you at future productions. Look out for Sheridan's sharp (and very funny!) comedy of manners - The School for Scandal - in November 2008.

OLD VIDEOS

One of our former students has developed a business whereby old cinema films and such like are brought up to date by being rerecorded onto DVD. If you are interested in this service Joe Banyard’s email address is: joe_banyard@yahoo.co.uk or his Website address is www.joebanyard.tv. I stress we are not recommending this service we are purely informing you that it is a business one of our former students is trying to establish if you wish to check it out.

HOLIDAY COVER

I reiterate that during the summer vacation the school will be open from 9.00am until 12.30pm each day if you need to contact us. A member of the senior team will be on call each day and if you need us for any reason simply contact Reception. If you leave a message the senior member of staff on call will get back to you within 24 hours if they are not actually on premises at the time. I stress that this is an emergency service and the school will be operating more normally once A-level results are out from 14 August.

HOLIDAYS

The School will close at 2.00pm on Friday 18 July. If any parents have difficulty with this and would prefer their children to remain in school until the normal time of 3.30pm please let me know and I will make suitable arrangements.

The School re-opens for new Yr 7 and sixth form students on 2nd September at 9.00am. Buses will run normally on this day.

The whole school returns at 9.00am on Wednesday 3rd September for what will be a normal school day.

CHAIRMAN’S LETTER

As has become necessary over recent years, our Chair of Governors, Jim Stenson, will write to each family at the end of August. The letter will be posted to you so that we are sure you receive it. It will contain details of our extended schools programme for next term and the parents’ calendar of events for the new academic year.

CRESTED SWEATERS

As you may be aware, the uniform requirements change slightly for Key Stage 4, Years 10 and 11. Instead of wearing the blazer, students are requested to purchase a sweater with the school crest/badge on the front.

We have arranged for these sweaters to be made available on the ‘high street’ rather than having to be ordered through school, which we hope will make the buying of them more convenient for you.

The outfitters that will be stocking the sweaters are as follows:

National Schoolwear Centre, Northgate St, Gloucester. Telephone: 01452 413339

National Schoolwear Centre, Merrywalks, Stroud. Telephone 01453 751133

The Famous of Cheltenham, High St, Cheltenham. Telephone 01242 516306

ALTON CASTLE RETREAT

On Monday the 9th June 2008, 15 lucky students from St Peters High School started on their journey to Alton Castle. We made this journey in our mini bus, it was a bit cramped due to our amount of luggage, but we still had fun. We had a stop on a service station on route. We arrived at Alton at about 12, and started to settle in. We were welcomed by a song and a game, and then went on to do our first activity; crate climbing, in the beautiful sunshine. We had to work as team to stack crates to reach the message on the top of the bridge. Several students attempted to reach the top but they unfortunately failed, so Mr McDonald tried to show us how to do it, but he also failed miserably by falling off the crates and ending up on the floor. After this we went to our rooms for next three days and started to get more comfy, and become more settled in. We then met the students from the school in Birmingham, and had our tea with them. In the evening we got all mixed up and put into groups. We then did a range of fun activities with them. These included silly games like speaking without showing your teeth. Later on in the evening, we had a night prayer with a chance to share/say a prayer. This was also a chance to reflect on the day and express our feelings. It was a lovely experience.

Day Two:

This was the day when we did the most activities and got to know each other more. We were back in our groups, and did climbing, survival, cycling and trekking. Mr McDonald again had a fall, this time off his bike. After lunch we had a break to start preparing for Mass. This meant putting on our nicer clothes and winding down. We had tea after our break, and then we went to practice the songs we sang at Mass. The Mass was wonderful, the whole Alton Community coming to celebrate. We had a quiz night, which the teachers got disqualified from for being to noisy. You wouldn’t have thought we were the kids! We had our last night prayer later on, and again reflecting on the day and shared our thoughts.

Day Three; Final Day:

In the morning we had a meeting about what we were going to do on our last day. Then we had our final activity, as some people didn’t get a chance to complete them the day before. We had our last lunch together, and sang our last Adam’s Family Prayer. We had our final meeting, and spoke about what we had enjoyed on the retreat, and if we felt it had changed us some how. We said our goodbyes and gave our thanks, and then set back off to Gloucester.


Overall, we felt that the retreat was a faboulous experience, and we are thankful for the opportunity to go. It was thoroughly enjoyable and we feel that we learnt things about ourselves, that we may have not known before. We over came some of fears as well through out the experience. Furthermore we saw our teachers; Mr McDonald and Miss Olewicz, in a different light. Finally we would just like to thank Mr Rumsey, Mr McDonald and Miss Olewicz, for the whole adventure.


ByAlice Jones&ChloeMckelvey

Conclusion

I am sure your sons and daughters told you about our end of year Mass to celebrate the Feast of our Patron St Peter and also to give out our awards for the year. It was on 27 June and celebrated by Father Bernard Massey a member of our Governing Body and Dean of Gloucester. Father Bernard emphasised the “awesome nature” of God’s love for all of us but he went on to stress the awesome talent of every member of the congregation at Mass. That congregation comprised the whole student and staff body together with many governors, parents, friends and dignitaries. Father Bernard made the point very strongly that nobody should underestimate the power of God in our lives if we welcome him into our every day existence. He also emphasised that if we allow this to happen we will make the most of the talents and abilities we have. He encouraged all our students to look at the glass being half full instead of half empty and to be determined to maximise their God given talents and abilities.

The awards emphasised a whole range of talents and abilities in our school. That, however, was the tip of the iceberg. It never ceases to amaze me how true the terminology of “awesome talent” really is when related to our student body. Whether it is in sport, art, drama, academic life, charity work or simply the quality of the person our young people in St Peter’s are staggeringly talented and gifted. It is this that we see everyday which encourages the staff to give so much of their time and expertise to the students of the school. It has been another year where the dedication of the staff and the achievements of our young people have made it a privilege to be associated with St Peter’s. I think we simply need reminding every so often that the best way to give thanks to God for giving us the talents he has is to use them to the maximum. This happens day in and day out with so many students and staff. That is why our school is truly an “awesome” place. The Mass and ceremony was very long and yet the student behaviour was exemplary. I am sure you as parents would have been very proud of them and found it a privilege to be celebrating Mass and achievements with them.

I hope that the summer holiday enables you and your family to spend quality time together which will enrich your family life. I hope the young people accept their responsibility to ensure that their being at home does not add to the burdens of your everyday life. Whether you are able to get away for a break or spend the holiday at home, I sincerely hope the added time together with your children is uplifting and enjoyable.

Please keep in your prayers over the holiday the families of the three young, former students, whose funerals took place recently: Emily, Andrew and Gemma were taken from us at a time when life should have been at its best. Also, please continue to remember a Yr 7 young lady who is seriously ill in Bristol Children’s Hospital.

Thanking you once again for the support you have offered both me personally and St Peter’s during the last academic year. Assuring you that we will all come back energised and determined to continue to offer your young people every opportunity to develop and exhibit the awesome talent they possess.

Yours sincerely



Lawrence Montagu
Headteacher