Pupils at St Peter’s have been marking the 100^th birthday of Sir David Attenborough with a nature-inspired art competition.  Children from Year R to Year 6 submitted drawings, paintings and models of animals or of Sir David himself, as well as nature photos that they had taken themselves.  The competition entries were displayed in the school hall during the week, and Friday afternoon saw the pupils taking part in a live-link assembly which brought thousands of primary school pupils together across the UK and globally to celebrate the naturalist’s life, legacy, and commitment to protecting the planet. At the end of the celebrations winning entries were announced and prizes went to the successful artists.  Thanks go to Mrs Pearson for organising this activity.

Mr R Cunningham
Executive Headteacher

Please remember in your prayers over the coming two months pupils and students at St Peter’s and Oaklands who will be undertaking various different forms of public and national assessments.  Students aged 16 and 18 tend to grab the headlines in the August results, but don’t forget about Year 6 SATs, Year 4 multiplication tables tests, and Year 1 phonics screening tests.  Equally, exams such as GCSEs and A-Levels may have the higher profile, but young people aged between 16 and 18 take a wide variety of different courses assessments to test their learning, check their understanding and exercise their recall.  All of the different types of assessment are designed to give young people the best opportunities in the next stages of their lives, whether that is for further learning and study, an apprenticeship or entering directly into the workplace.  The pupils and students in our schools work incredibly hard, guided by teachers and a wide range of learning support and auxiliary staff – they all would appreciate your prayers as the academic year enters its final furlong. 

Mr R Cunningham
Executive Headteacher

It been a long, wet winter followed by a cold, damp spring, but evidence keeps popping up in St Peter’s that we are finally in something of a spring that could even foretell the arrival of summer. Some pupils have started top brave shorts and summer dresses as school uniform, we had one lunchtime play on the school field last week (which was rained off in the end!) and this week another display of floral beauty in the school.

We also had that annual spring event of the national school place offer day for Reception Year, and I am pleased to say that St Peter’s Early Years classes will be full to the brim next September. We look forward to welcoming our next generation of children, parents and carers to the St Peter’s family over the coming months.

Mr R Cunningham
Executive Headteacher

St Peter’s is delighted to announce that we have achieved the Silver Artsmark Award. This is a great achievement for our school and a wonderful recognition of the strength and breadth of our arts provision.  The assessors’ feedback highlighted how the arts at St Peter’s have moved from enrichment to true entitlement – becoming increasingly central to our curriculum and to pupils’ wider experience of school. They recognised the growth in extra-curricular opportunities, improvements in curriculum design and progression, increased staff confidence and the positive impact on pupil wellbeing, engagement and expression. It is also particularly pleasing that our inclusive approach to the arts and the therapeutic use of art, music and storytelling were noted so positively. 

Special thanks to Mrs Pearson, who led this project with dedication and determination. The process of gathering evidence, reflecting on practice and compiling the report required an enormous amount of time and care.  This recognition is a celebration of the work that all colleagues do to create a vibrant arts culture at St Peter’s. From art, music, choir, performance and storytelling through to creative curriculum opportunities and enrichment activities. Every class teacher, support staff member and leader plays a part in ensuring that creativity thrives across our school.  Well done to them all for their continued commitment to placing the arts as an important part of our pupils’ experience.

And, to accompany this happy news, a happy picture from the first day of the summer term.

Mr R Cunningham
Executive Headteacher

Well done to the pupils of St Peter’s who collected over 300 Easter Eggs to donate to Stella Maris.  The charity visits seafarers in the ports of Portsmouth and Southampton to offer those far from home an Easter chocolate gift along with religious artefacts to support them in their faith.  Current global conflicts have added even more risk to the work of seafarers in certain global waterways, so our support and prayers are needed more than ever for the seafarers who keep our supermarket shelves stocked and our consumer items in supply.

Thank you to all the families and staff who donated Easter Eggs for this great cause.

Mr R Cunningham
Executive Headteacher

Pupils from St Peter’s went to the Catholic Cathedral of St John the Evangelist on 12 March to attend a special Mass where relics of St Carlo Acutis were on display. Schools from all over our Diocese attended to venerate the relics of this young, modern and inspirational Italian saint who lived from 1991 to 2006 and was canonised by Pope Leo XIV in September 2025, making him the first millennial to become a Catholic saint.

Mr R Cunningham
Executive Headteacher

What a wonderful display by the staff at St Peter’s to celebrate World Book Day 2026.

The pupils all had a great day of book-based fun, in a school where reading is always at the heart of the curriculum. Well done and thank you to everyone who took part.

Mr R Cunningham
Executive Headteacher

Spring is here! After what has seemed like endless rain in 2026, how lovely to see signs of spring at St Peter’s.

Could you and your children help with our Easter appeal 2026?

Mr R Cunningham
Executive Headteacher

It was a pleasure to tour Chinese students around St Peter’s in the week before the half-term break. In the second week of January I was fortunate enough to visit schools and colleges in China with the Havant Federation of Schools, and in February Oaklands hosted a reciprocal visit of students.

The students pictured here attended a full range of lessons at Oaklands, watched a performance of the school show Oliver!, and also had the chance to find out about primary school education in England with a visit to St Peter’s.

Thanks go to Mrs Over at Oaklands who organised the exchanges.

Mr R Cunningham
Executive Headteacher

Christmas seems like a long time ago, but having worked our way through January it is time to reflect on the month of February as a moment of calm before Lent begins. As we settle into February, I continue to be proud of the warmth, enthusiasm, and faith-filled spirit our children bring to school each day. This month offers us a welcome pause before the season of Lent begins—a chance to reflect on God’s goodness and prepare our hearts for the journey ahead. In school we will be exploring themes of kindness, prayer, and service, and I encourage families to join us in these small but meaningful acts of love.  This year Ash Wednesday falls in half term, so we will not be able to do a service in school to mark this solemn day.  When return for the second half of the spring term however, through RE lessons and Celebrations of the Word the pupils will be learning about repentance, renewal, and God’s love. 

In the six weeks that we have been back at school since Christmas, the pupils have shown excellent commitment to their learning and school life.  The Times Tables Rock Stars relaunch day was a great event to promote the learning of maths at home, and the visit of former RAF Senior Aircraftman and Invictus Games competitor Luke Delahunty provided activity, enthusiasm and inspiration for our pupils.

Our school site, and especially the carpark, remains a busy place at the start and end of each day.  It is important therefore to follow a few simple steps to keep everyone safe:

• Please do not allow your children to walk across car parks without adult supervision – if dropping off at breakfast club adults are expected to accompany their children right up to the entrance door.
• Please do not allow children to ride bikes or scooters on the school grounds – our pedestrian paths are narrow with moving traffic alongside them, and we do not want bikes or scooters wobbling into oncoming vehicles.
• Please stick to the site speed limit of 5 miles per hour.
• Please do not leave children to wait without supervision outside the school gates before 8:30am when the playgrounds are opened.
• Please only use the reserved disabled parking space if you hold a proper blue badge.  After Easter we hope to be able to provide additional disabled parking pays and we would expect drivers to follow the same rules in school as they would in public in respecting the importance of these vital spaces.

Abiding by these simple practices will makes the school site safe for all users, and make the start and end of each school day less stressful for everyone.

I hope that you are all able to enjoy a restful half term break, not forgetting the St Peter’s Inset day on Friday 13th February.  We look forward to welcoming all the children back to school for the start of spring term 2 at the usual time of 8:45am on Monday 23rd February.

Mr R Cunningham
Executive Headteacher