St Peter’s reached the end of the autumn term 2020 still working hard to maintain the traditions of Christmas.  This week the children in Year 2 celebrated a Christmas liturgy, and pupils from Key Stage 2 joined forces to produce an on-line version of our usual Christmas carol service.  Meanwhile, having watched a CAFOD Christmas Assembly that was shared nationwide, our pupils produced their own candles with messages of hope to show the optimism that can be had, even in 2020, when we look to the Light of the World in Jesus Christ.  A display of their work is shown here.

In other news, we did uphold 2 other essential festive traditions in St Peter’s.  Performing to just one year group at a time with the classes seated separately, 2 actors from the Treehouse Theatre Company were able to stage a pantomime for all of our children.  The Elves and the Shoemaker, staged 7 times in 2 days, proved a wonderful end of term treat.  And thankfully, over 2 days (madly the same 2 days as the panto!) Mrs Gray and the amazing catering team laid on Christmas lunch with all the trimmings and a lot of cake for the children.

Thank you for all of the support and prayers for the pupils and staff of St Peter’s over 2020 – we wish you all a happy and holy Christmas, and look forward to a successful and prosperous 2021 at school and in the community.

Mr R Cunningham
Headteacher

The special celebrations of Advent are now well underway in school.  The Year 1 pupils, pictured below, performed their wonderful Nativity play which, as is the fashion and necessity this year, will be shared by video to families in due course.

All the pupils in school watched a special Light of Hope assembly from CAFOD this week, and were inspired to produce works of art showing candles with words of hope written on them.  These will be used to make an in-school display, as well as sharing some for display with local community groups.

Three children received special awards for having their Christmas card designs chosen to be used as the official school and parish cards this year.  Well done to Liberty and Marta in Year 6 and Phoebe in Year 4 for their winning designs.  Thank you as ever to Mrs Pearson for organising the art work, and thank you to all of you who were able to purchase your child’s Christmas designs and raise money for the Friends of St Peter’s.

Please remember in your prayers this week 9 pupils from St Peter’s who will be making their First Holy Communion at St Edmund’s Parish in Horndean.  It will be quirky to celebrate a First Holy Communion Mass in during Advent rather than the height of summer, a bit like a winter wedding I guess, but it will be a special day for all of the families involved none the less.

The festive feel will continue next week with Christmas lunches on Monday and Tuesday (thank you Mrs Gray and the catering team as always), a Year 2 Advent Liturgy, and the production of the Key Stage 2 Christmas Service for broadcast on You Tube by the end of term.

Mr R Cunningham
Headteacher

It was a delight to be able to watch our Year R pupils perform their Nativity play this week, all be it under different circumstances this year.  The children did 2 performances, and for each we were able to invite one other year group to be the audience.  It was strange to see the Year R children performing on the stage at one end of the hall, and pupils from Year 1 and then Year 3 seated at the opposite end of the hall with a 6m gulf between performers and audience, but the show must go on.  The second show was recorded, and that will be available for Year R parents to view on-line in due course.  Thanks go as ever to the staff who prepared the Nativity play and the families who provided costumes, and of course well done to the children of the Reception classes for staging such a heart warming show.

The week ended with STEM day for the children, so check out class blogs for images and reports of the Science and Technology investigations that the pupils undertook.

And finally, thank you for all the cans of food that came into school for Christmas jumper day NEXT Friday 11th December – we will continue to take donations over the course of next week and add them to the Christmas tree after an appropriate time.

Mr R Cunningham
Headteacher

The Southern Health NHS Foundation Trust have forwarded the following link via Hampshire County Council.  This COVID video is for families of Primary aged school children, and the children themselves, which they have asked to be signposted to parents and carers.

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLhD910OQRr6YG5r8kPSGtBOmntkTfZqR1

Mr R Cunningham
Headteacher

Things went a little bit technicolour this week at St Peter’s.  On Monday 16th November, as part of a national anti-bullying initiative, pupils and staff took part in the annual national ‘odd socks day’.  This launched a two-week period in which teaching and learning at St Peter’s stresses even more than usual the fact that bullying has not place in our school, our communities or our lives.  Inclusion and equality are key elements in all that we do at the school, and pupils are regularly made aware that diversity makes us stronger together, rather than setting us apart from one another.

The following day, pupils in Year 4 had their ‘Heads Up for Guide Dogs’ day.  This was a deep learning day on the training and work of assistance dogs for those with restricted or no sight, and to mark the even children wore bright head gear or even (temporarily!) coloured their hair in return for a financial donation.  The year group managed to raise over £40:00 to fund the training of a guide dog in the future.  Well done to all of the pupils who took part in these initiatives, and thank you to the staff for organising and taking part.  My personal thanks also goes to Kiwi Parade Gloss for the shine on my shoes!

Mr R Cunningham
Headteacher

During their RE lessons recently, pupils in Year 3 have been thinking about what they would take with them were Jesus to appear before them and ask them to follow Him.  One pupil decided they would pick up their house keys so that they could always return home if they wanted.  However, the child did then go on to explain to me how those who followed Jesus when He was here on earth left everything in order to take up His path, realising that they needed nothing to answer the call of the Lord.  This week Year 1 celebrated their autumn Liturgy in ever more peculiar circumstances, as under the latest lockdown rules the school is sealed off even to parish priests and lay chaplains.  The pupils led a beautiful liturgy on November and the month of Holy Souls, presenting their views of heaven which included clouds, rainbows and an awful lot of pets and animals.  We held in our prayers all those loved ones who, whilst not in heaven, still feel far away from us during this latest period of Covid-induced separation.

Meanwhile, all pupils in the school observed a 2 minute silence at 11:00am on 11th November in honour of the fallen.

Year 2 marked the remembrance event in the prayer garden at the centre of the school.

Please don’t forget to share our promotional video with any families you know who may be looking for a school place in Reception Year in September 2020:  https://youtu.be/VcBQmkaKxm4   Families of children aged 5 and above are also welcome to contact the school on 023 9226 2599 should they wish to join our waiting list for additional school places when they arise.

Mr R Cunningham
Headteacher

Pupils in Year 5 this week have been able to make a contribution to the local community in the form of a window display for the annual season of remembrance.  Following a request from Co-Operative Funeral Care in Cowplain, Mrs Pearson arranged for the children in Year 5 to use their art lesson to produces images on the theme of remembrance.  A selection of their work now forms the window display for the Co-Operative Funeral Care in Cowplain, and we thank them for the poppy pin badges that were given to each Year 5 pupil.  An equivalent display is also on show in the windows of the Unity Building here at St Peter’s, which you will be able to see when you access the school site.  This Sunday will see a very different format of the annual acts of remembrance across the country and the world, and in school on Wednesday 11^th November we will hold a two-minute silence in honour of the fallen.  The following prayer will be used with the pupils:

We entrust to you, eternal God,
those times when we can see only shadows
and lose sight of the hope to come;
the times when suffering seems so senseless,
life so fragile, war so unstoppable and death so permanent.
Bless us with the assurance that you are in all things,
the tragic and the beautiful,
the nightmare and the dream,
the light and the darkness.
This we ask in the name of Jesus Christ
the peace of the world, today, tomorrow and forever.
Amen.

Mr R Cunningham
Headteacher

Hampshire County Council has asked us to share the following important public health message with you all:

Coronavirus infections are continuing to rise, and Hampshire is on ‘Medium’ COVID alert level.

We need your help to stop the spread of the virus, so please continue following national public health guidance this half term.

Remember ‘hands, face, space’ and the Rule of 6: which means no large gatherings indoors or outdoors.

Let’s all work together to Keep Hampshire Safe.

Mr R Cunningham

Headteacher

Thank you to all families who have been able to order Christmas items from their child’s drawings this week.  The Friends of St Peter’s usually does so much to help raise extra funds for the school, and next week would normally have seen the Monster Ball parties for children on the Friday before the half-term break.  Alas, that and our children’s Christmas parties will need to be cancelled, but the Friends of St Peter’s continue with their efforts through the Christmas picture orders.  There is also a growing stock of nearly new uniform for sale at very accessible prices – information and contact details are available on the website via https://www.stpeterswaterlooville.co.uk/index.php/parents/friends-association

Thanks must also go to our Art teacher Mrs Pearson who taught the lessons in which the festive images were produced, and who has coordinated the project in school.

Congratulations to former St Peter’s pupil Mason Mount, who scored for England last Sunday night.  Mason was at St Peter’s between 2003 and 2010, and is now a regular starter for Chelsea.  His winning goal at Wembley Stadium in the UEFA Nations League secured a 2-1 win over the top ranked team in world football, Belgium.

Mr R Cunningham
Headteacher

Over the two weekends of 3^rd and 10^th October, a selection of pupils from St Peter’s made their First Holy Communion.  Please keep in your prayers Aimee, Kieron, Connie, Teddy, Harriet, Thomas, Luca, Brayden, Jonah, Sophie, Georgia, Sophia, Lola, William, Edie, George and Harrison.  They were joined by children from other schools for whom we also pray.  It was a delight to share Mass with these children and celebrate with their families; the young ladies looking simply splendid and the chaps looking very smart indeed.

In school during the month of September, RE lessons for pupils have had two themes.  Firstly, the children discussed what they could do to live out the school mission statement of ‘Walking hand in hand with God to make our world a better place’.  Next, pupils have studied the creation story, ranging from ordering the days of creation by the youngest children to pupils in Year 6 considering how they can be responsible stewards of God’s creation in the twenty first century.

Thank you to St Peter’s colleagues who raised £107.73 for Macmillan nurses on Friday 2nd October in donations for cakes during the inset day.

If you know of any families who are looking for a school place for Reception in September 2020, please direct them to contact the admission secretary Mrs Pope  to provide their own contact details to join our mailing list for updates on the application process via 02392 262599 or adminoffice@stpeterswaterlooville.hants.sch.uk

Mr R Cunningham
Headteacher