Over this last week of term, St Peter’s pupils have marked Jesus’ road to Calvary and Passion.  Staged over 3 days, pupils watched 3 Passion Plays depicting the Last Supper (pictured), Judas’ betrayal, and Christ’s Crucifixion.  Classes from Years 5 and 6 performed, and we were able to invite families in to watch each Passion Play over the course of the week.

This week the pupils at St Peter’s have been immersed in multi-cultural learning through our annual Diversity Week.  Children of different ages throughout the school have done deep learning on Judaism, Hinduism, Islam and Sikhism, all of which was brought to live by rich artefact boxes of worship items related to each faith provided by Hampshire Resources.  In addition, this year we were lucky enough to have workshops delivered by Rabbi Zvi from the Jewish Community of Berkshire Education branch.  Rabbi Zvi did live video link workshops for Years 5 and 6 on Monday, and then on Tuesday visited the school in person to work with Years 2 to 4.  The workshops included the use of religious items central to the Jewish faith, and had a particular relevance in helping the pupils to understand Jesus’ lifestyle as we approach the time of Passover.  Art lessons included the creation of Rangoli, prayer mats and turbans to name but a few.  Great thanks go to Miss Honeywell, RE Lead, for making these wonderful learning opportunities available to our pupils.

Year 1 pupils exploring items from the Jewish tradition.

Mr R Cunningham
Headteacher

When we collected items to help Ukrainian refugees, we channelled the items you gave to school through Stella’s Voice, a charity with a collection depot in Havant.

As you will see below, Stella’s Voice were one of a number of organizations that have been able to get assistance through to those fleeing the war, in this case to Ukrainians who have sought refuge in Moldova.

Thank you all once again for your generosity, and we will continue to be a conduit for donations if more arrive in school.

Mr R Cunningham
Headteacher

Mr R Cunningham
Headteacher

It is no exaggeration to say that in appealing for essential items to aid those fleeing from war in Ukraine, donations flooded in from the St Peter’s community. Under the direction of Mrs Pearson, the generous contributions were sorted into various labelled boxes by pupil volunteers.  Boxes and bags were then loaded onto the minibus and delivered to the charity Stella’s Voice in Havant, https://stellasvoice.org.uk/ ,  from where they will make their way to those refugees fleeing Ukraine.

As one would expect, St Peter’s children and their families were extremely generous.  However, it is worth noting that as well as donations from our school community we had several donations from members of the wider community who have no direct links to our school but heard that we were collecting. This is a true testament to word of mouth and to the power of community solidarity that reaches out to those in need.

Thank you to everyone for the contributions to this cause, and please continue to pray for peace, reconciliation and justice in eastern Europe.

Mr R Cunningham
Headteacher

Ever and All Loving God,

As we follow news of the mad progression to war,
we pray and we plead for a change of hearts and minds, for de-escalation,
and for dialogue instead of bombardment, violence and aggression against innocent people.

All peoples are Your children. And Your children find themselves on both sides of the current confrontation.  Ukrainian and Russian families will suffer the loss of brothers and sisters, mothers and fathers, husbands and wives, children and grandparents, homes, neighbourhoods, and ways of life.

But You are a God of peace and love, not war and bloodshed. Though the things that make for peace may be hidden from the eyes of those driving the march to war, we pray that those eyes may be opened and that peace may yet prevail.

We pray also that the world may never look away, that we always remember the situation in Ukraine is real. It kills, maims, and destroys and will generate more deaths and more injured, more tears and pain, more fears and hatred.

We make this desperate prayer secure in Your love, through Jesus, our Lord, Amen.

Mr R Cunningham
Headteacher

Pupils in Years 5 and 6 had a great combined event this week when they were lucky enough to receive an author visit from Polly Ho-Yen.  Polly used to be a primary school teacher who would get up early before work to pen stories (I don’t know where she found the energy!), and is now a full-time author.  After a general presentation, Polly then did writing workshops with each class in Years 5 and 6.  Pupils in Years 5 and 6 have studied Polly’s book Boy in the Tower, ‘a fable of fear and hope, loneliness and friendship’, and were able to get signed copies at the end of the day.

Mr R Cunningham
Headteacher

Please keep the St Peter’s school community in your prayers over the coming weeks of winter … and spring.

Mr R Cunningham
Headteacher

St Peter’s takes its commitment to teaching pupils about cyber-safety very seriously.  In November, pupils from our Cyber Ambassadors scheme prepared and presented to classes information on how to protect personal details and be conscious of their digital footprint when using resources on-line.  The power of this message came from the fact that the pupils, whilst supported by adults in the school, researched their own resources to use in the presentation.  This meant that the content was relevant to what interests children when using the internet for playing games and watching videos on-line.

This week, we built upon this education with presentations for year groups from Lee Hayward, who works as a cyber-safety consultant to local schools.  The focus of his presentation was twofold; firstly helping the children to spot the signs and dangers of fake social media content, and secondly to be wary of befriending individuals on-line who may play the same games or visit the same sites on the internet.  The importance of keeping on-line safety education up to date is that the virtual world is constantly changing itself, meaning that we will continue to bring in support and advice to help our pupils become responsible and safe citizens of the internet world.

Mr R Cunningham
Headteacher