Well done this week to lots of pupils who have flown the flag for St Peter’s in the most wonderful of ways. On Saturday 18 November, 43 pupils from the school choir performed at Oaklands to raise the curtain on their Christmas Craft Fayre. They made a wonderful impression with a superb range of festive carols and songs, and I must particularly thank the choir leader Miss Hill as well as the families who brought their children along to take part.

During the week, Years 5 and 6 celebrated Mass at Sacred Heart and St Peter the Apostle. The pupils in Year 6 rocked the church with the liveliest rendition of Salve Regina that you will ever hear outside of a stage performance of Sister Act, and Year 5 impressed Monsignor Jeremy with their knowledge of the Angelus. It is not often one says this, sadly, but this really was a ‘fun’ Mass in which to participate. My thanks go to the volunteers who helped the children walk to church, and especially the Year 5 and 6 staff who prepared the children so well for the celebration.

Finally, a public thanks to all of the teaching staff here at St Peter’s for their work over two nights this week for Parents’ Evenings. It was great to see such high parent attendance, representing the shared commitment we all have to the children’s learning and progress.

Mr R Cunningham

Headteacher

There has been plenty going on this week in all year groups at St Peter’s. Pupils from Years 5 and 6 had presentations and workshops with members of the Fire and Rescue service looking at personal safety, and Year 6 pupils then extended their work with the emergency services by taking part in a Junior Citizenship morning at Fort Purbrook.

On Tuesday morning we hosted the last of our open morning events for prospective pupils starting in September 2018. It was lovely to see so many new families visiting the school, all of whom were bowled over by their pupil guides and the work that children were doing in all of the classes. We have one more open event, on Monday 20^th November between 6:00pm and 7:00pm, for parents who wish to see the school environment or have a conversation with a member of the Senior Leadership Team about their child starting school in the next academic year.

The contrast to these very young children was shown in our current Year R pupils celebrating their first liturgy in the school hall on Monday. They were wonderful at speaking clearly, singing loudly and praying earnestly, all after such a short time in school. There is no doubt that the Reception children are now fully fledged members of the St Peter’s community.

Finally, well done to Daniel in class 3LS and Poppy in 3H, both of whom wrote wonderful pieces of persuasive writing trying to convince me to buy a woolly mammoth to help control unruly children! Their reward was to each receive a toy woolly mammoth to name and serve as a class mascot.

Mr R Cunningham

Headteacher

The school hall hosted two very different events today, which represented the diversity of experience that children have here at St Peter’s. Friday 10 November started with Mr Crozier leading a whole school assembly on Remembrance. Knowing that so many of our children who are in uniformed clubs outside of school, such as the Cubs and Brownies, will be taking part in Remembrance Parades this weekend, the assembly was a great chance for the pupils to be reminded of the historic origins of our national acts of Remembrance. Other children will doubtless pause before sports matches they are playing in at the weekend, whilst church services in our area will have some form of dedication to the fallen. At school, we will complete our tribute to the Glorious Dead, as is written on the Cenotaph in Whitehall, with a whole school service of Remembrance and worship on Monday 13 November.

Then, in stark contrast, we had a return visit from The 2 Steves, authors Steve Barlow and Steve Skidmore. Thanks to arrangements made by the wonderful school librarian Mrs D, The 2 Steves worked with a range of children to bring storytelling and madcap adventures to life. I would strongly recommend a visit to their website for anyone looking to buy early Christmas presents which children will love reading on Boxing Day morning, just when you need peace and quiet the most!

Mr R Cunningham

Headteacher

Welcome back to school for the second half of the autumn term.

The children have done exceptionally well at making a hard working start after their October break. Distractions like the clocks changing, any Halloween activities or the prospect of firework displays have not put the children off their learning in the classroom, so well done to them all.

As usual, we need to turn our attention to appropriate clothing as autumn takes hold and prepares us for winter. Please make sure that the children all have a named coat to wear to school, with hats or gloves as appropriate when the weather gets colder. Of particular importance is to make sure that children have something bright or reflective on their bag or outdoor clothing for when the school run starts to get darker later in the term.

Finally, don’t stop reading here. Take a look at the class blogs for a taste of what the children have been learning recently, as well as our subject and family liaison blogs. These are a quick and easy way to keep up with all of the educational activities the children are undertaking each week in school.

Mr R Cunningham

Headteacher