Where have the last seven weeks gone?  The time since the early days of September has really flown by, and so much has been achieved by the pupils and staff at St Peter’s school that it is wonder to think how it all gets fitted in!

This last week has been no exception, and I am getting used to the fact that primary school pupils just never stop!  So, in the last 6 days, Year 2 pupils walked to Waterlooville to undertake History field work, Years 3 and 4 walked to The Church of the Sacred Heart of Jesus and St Peter the Apostle to celebrate Mass, all the children in Years 1 to 6 had an assembly with representatives of the NSPCC, with pupils in Years 5 and 6 following these up with a dedicated hour long workshop per class, some pupils from Year 1 went with Mrs Evans to take part in a Tri-Golf festival at Horndean Technology College, and a selection of pupils from Year 2 were taken by Mrs Spicer to a football Festival at Southdowns College.  How the whole school then had enough energy to embrace the brilliant activities of 6C day I do not know, but congratulations go to the children in Year R who began the 6C day by joining in their first whole school assembly.  The pupils have certainly deserved a well earned half term rest, and I must thank all of the staff who work in any capacity at St Peter’s for making so many wonderful opportunities available to the children every single day.

I mentioned in the October Newsletter http://www.stpeterswaterlooville.co.uk/index.php/letters/newsletters/995-newsletter-october-2016/file that the school community said farewell to Mrs Diane Price after over decade of service.  I am delighted to be able to inform you that Mrs Patricia Pelling will be taking up post as the Pastoral Leader and Parent Support Worker from Monday 31st October 2016.  Mrs Pelling has a career history based in primary education and educational psychology, and will bring to the role a great range of very strong skills and attributes.  In due course she will make arrangements to introduce herself to the members of St Peter’s community, and I am sure that she will be extended the same warm welcome that I myself enjoyed in September.

I do hope that all the children and their families are able to take the opportunity of the half term break to have a well earned rest and spend some quality time in each others company, and are ready return to school at 8:50 am on Tuesday 1st November.

Enjoy the holiday!

Mr R Cunningham

Headteacher

Another busy week has flown by at St Peter’s, and autumn now seems to be encroaching upon us.

The children amazed me this week with just how well they conducted themselves for our fire drill on Thursday.  Our new site manager Mr Chapman was very impressed with how silent, sensible and well behaved the children were as they evacuated the buildings in two minutes flat and were gathered in alphabetical class lines on the field just four minutes after the test alarm sounded.  Well done to everyone!

Deacon Mark from Sacred Heart and St Peter the Apostle joined Year 2 to celebrate a wonderful liturgy on the topic of Creation, and it was great to see a hall packed with children’s extended families.  I know that it is not easy for parents and carers to attend events during the working day when professional and other family commitments need to be met, so please do not forget the many other ways that you already support your children in these activities by practicing their readings, preparing props or costumes and asking about how it went at the end of the day.  We can’t always be everywhere we are needed, but I know that your children and our school really benefit from your on-going support in a range of ways.

Onto more serious matters, I am mindful of a worrying new ‘craze’ that has migrated to these shores from America around people dressing as clowns to scare others.  The link below is designed to reassure you and your children that the distasteful acts are taken seriously by the authorities, and anything which may take place which upsets your children should be immediately reported.

https://www.hampshirealert.co.uk/da/157595/Statement_on_clown_craze.html

Furthermore, the internet has been the vehicle for spreading the clown ‘craze’, and the link below takes you to two films from a project completed at the Spring Arts Centre in Havant in September.  The films are pitched at Key Stages 1 and 2, and give a useful stimulus to age appropriate discussions with your children about staying safe on-line.  I also think that the Key Stage 2 film has a look about it that makes it appropriate for students in Years 7 and 8, so if you have older children they too could watch and discuss.

http://thespring.co.uk/news/keeping-safe-online-schools-project

Mr Austin will run an e-safety workshop at 2:30pm on Thursday 10th November for parents and carers, and another will follow shortly afterwards at a late afternoon / early evening time (see comments above on the pressures of combining work commitments and school events!).  More details of these will be shared in the newsletter and via parent mail.

With my best wishes for a restful weekend

Mr R Cunningham

Headteacher

This week has seen the pupils of St Peter’s go the extra mile to ‘Brighten up the Harvest’ as part of the year’s CAFOD harvest fundraising campaign.

The children dressed up brightly on Thursday to raise money for CAFOD and bring a wave of red, white and blue colour throughout the school, combining fundraising with our American theme day when they enjoyed some state-side treats served in the canteen.  The pupils were delighted with an indulgent lunch and a great selection of donuts for a very special treat, so my thanks go to Mrs Gray and her team for working so hard to serve such a lunch to the children.  The bright clothing raised over £360 for CAFOD, so thank you to the parents and carers who funded this across the school.

The fundraising continued on Friday with a Year 5 cake sale (motivated in part by the masses of goodies left over from the recent Runway’s End trip!) taking place under the sharp supervision of Mrs Edge, Mrs Moore and Miss Rayson, raising over £130.  To balance out the calories, not that children count them!, pupils in Year 6 ran afternoon outdoor activities and challenges that children in other year groups could take part in, and Mrs Turner’s and Miss Stapley’s classes raised over £100.  Well done to all of the children who took part.

To make sure that the children knew exactly what they were raising all the money for, we were lucky enough to have an assembly presented to the children by Patrick and Isobel Flynn representing CAFOD.  With the aid of garden tools, an overflowing vegetable trug and a box of worms, Patrick and Isobel helped the children to understand the importance of supporting our sisters and brothers in Bolivia as part of this autumn’s CAFOD harvest campaign.  http://cafod.org.uk/

Not to be left behind, and thanks to the efforts of Mrs Luter, the staff at St Peter’s have also raised over £80 for Macmillan nurses through the coffee (and cake!) mornings, which in truth lasted over 5 days in the staff room!

So, in the space of just a week, St Peter’s has raised over £670 for good causes in the UK and abroad; a true demonstration of faith, compassion and commitment towards those in need.  Thank you to all who contributed in any way to these campaigns.

Mr R Cunningham

Headteacher