This week saw the start of Lent, with St Peter’s pupils taking part in an Ash Wednesday service.  Our Lenten theme for this year comes from the Old Testament book of Joel (2:12) ‘Yet even now, declares the Lord, return to me with all your heart’.

With Easter being a moveable feast, Ash Wednesday does not always fall on a school day; in 2018 Ash Wednesday was during the spring half term break. It was a wonderful occasion, therefore, to bring pupils from Years 2 to 6 together on the afternoon of Wednesday 6^th March to share in a simple service of worship and reflection. Along with wonderful singing by the children, and readings and prayers led by Year 5 pupils, the classes listened to our lay chaplain Miss Keogh explain how God worries for each one of us, eternally keen for us to turn to him in trust, faith and worship.

The children in Years 1 and Reception had special classroom visits from Miss Keogh. She explained to the groups the meaning of Ash Wednesday, and was amazed at the amount of knowledge and understanding the children had on the event. Each child and adult in the school received ashes on their foreheads as a sign of penitence and humility.

Mr R Cunningham

Headteacher

Progress on the new building continues apace.  Over half term, the walls were insulated and lined, then the brick slip was added to give a better external aesthetic.  We are still a good 2 weeks away from completion, but the suspended ceiling has been installed and internal electrical works are now underway.

To mark the patron saint day of each nation in the United Kingdom, we traditionally fly national flags on relevant date.  It was with some regret, however, that after last Saturday’s rugby result I had to hoist the Welsh dragon in our central courtyard to honour St David’s Day on 1st March.  Still, “Iechyd da!” to all proud Welsh men and women.

Friday 1st March 2019

Looking back to this time last year, though, the school courtyard had a very different look as the so-called Beast from the East was ravaging the country.

Friday 2nd March 2018

Mr R Cunningham

Headteacher

There was great excitement on Tuesday this week as a new building was installed at St Peter’s.  The project has been many years in the planning and fundraising, but at long last (with final delays caused by the snow that never came and the high winds that certainly did!) the building has arrived.  During the day each class spent time on the playground to watch the units being craned in from lorries and carefully positioned in place.

Over the next 4 weeks the building will be fitted out and brick clad, and will provide the school with an additional indoor open learning space, teacher office space and a kitchenette for pupils to do cooking.  This project is the result of a lot of much appreciated fundraising by families and the Friends of St Peter’s, and has been realised through the visions and commitment of the school governors, the financial support of the Diocese and the excellent project management of the school business manager Mrs Kate Philips.  Thank you to all families who changed their travel plans and means of accessing the site on the day to allow us not to worry about crane work and lorry movement.

A well-deserved half term rest now beckons for us all!

Mr R Cunningham
Headteacher

Dear Parents and Carers

On Tuesday 12th February 2019 we will aim, once again, to take delivery of our new building.  This will involve a crane being on site all day, a series of articulated lorries accessing the site during the day, and a fleet of contractor vehicles arriving as well.  All of this vehicle and plant traffic will take up a lot of our car parking space throughout the whole of Tuesday 12th February 2019.

Because of this, with the exception of vehicles which have a St Peter’s pass for those drivers or pupils with limited mobility or additional needs, there will be no parking spaces on site for parents and carers to leave their cars and drop their children into the south playground in the morning.

For children being dropped off for Breakfast Club or additional provision from 8:00am, car drivers are asked to use the one way route and drop-off walkway alongside the north playground.  Extra staff will be on hand to welcome and direct the children into school.

The one way route to the drop-off walkway that runs by the north playground will be opened 10 minutes earlier on the Tuesday only, at 8:20am, to help ease a possible increase in vehicle use for that option.  For that Tuesday only, additional staff will be on duty in the north playground to welcome any extra children who would normally wait in the south playground with parents or carers but who instead will be dropped off to the north playground.  Any families that are able to car share and so reduce the number of cars coming into St Peter’s in the morning would be greatly appreciated.

Families who would rather stay with their children on the south playground but normally do this by parking on site are asked to allow plenty of time to be able to park off-site and walk onto St Peter’s grounds.  The timing for the south playground gate will remain between 8:30am and 8:50am as normal.

St Peter’s staff have been asked to car share, use alternative means of transport, park off-site and even offer up their local driveways for colleagues in an effort to reduce the vehicle presence on site as much as possible during the building delivery day.

Collection at 3:15pm will be as normal on foot for all families, with the exception of vehicles which have a St Peter’s pass for those drivers or pupils with limited mobility or additional need.

Families collecting from after-school care at 3:45pm and 4:15pm, and any clubs from 4:00pm onwards, will need to park off site to access and exit St Peter’s on foot.

I know that these changes will have an impact on families’ travel arrangements for Tuesday 12th February 2019, but any possible inconvenience will be long forgotten when the pupils get to enjoy the additional space and facilities that the new building will provide from March 2019 onwards.

Mr R Cunningham
Headteacher

During the week at St Peter’s, the children have welcomed special guests to enhance their learning.

The youngest pupils in the school played host to Fr Jeremy from the Church of the Sacred Heart and St Peter the Apostle.  As part of the RE curriculum, Fr Jeremy brought vestments and chalices into school to explain to the children their significance in Mass.  Rather bravely, Fr Jeremy also took questions from the 4 and 5 year old pupils, which ranged from the perceptive to the perplexing!  Thank you Fr Jeremy for helping the children with their learning.

Meanwhile, we had canine company for a recent assembly at St Peter’s.

Havant Borough Council’s Animal Welfare Service team deliver an assembly to help children to learn how to approach dogs with care and caution when out in public, and what to do if they felt worried by a stray dog they may meet outdoors.  Natalie and Jaz from the Borough Council brought along Darcy and Zak as fine doggy models, and many children had the chance for a quick pat of the dogs at the end of the assembly.  Thank you to our local authority for providing the outreach education work.

And that brings to an end a week where we were expecting a new building and lots of snow, neither of which arrived!  Thank you all for your patience and efforts in keeping up to date via parent mail and the school website, we will pass information about the new delivery date for the building as soon as we have it confirmed.

Mr R Cunningham
Headteacher

Dear Parents and Carers,

We continue to monitor the weather forecast. As at 3 pm on Thursday 31st January, we do not plan to close the school on Friday 1st February.

Please make sure that your child comes to school dressed for a cold winter’s day. We recommend wellington boots or stout shoes as well as a warm coat to travel to and from school and for break and lunchtime.

We will keep you informed of any changes.

Mr R Cunningham
Headteacher

Dear Parents and Carers,

We are carefully monitoring the weather reports this week. Our aim is always to keep the school open whenever possible but the safety of pupils and staff is our priority.

If a decision is made that it is unsafe to open the school for any reason (e.g. snow, boiler breakdown etc.), we will endeavour to advise parents and carers by 7.15 am. Information will be communicated:

1. By email/text on the Scopay communications tool.
2. On the front page of the school website: www.stpeterswaterlooville.co.uk
3. On local Radio Stations (BBC Radio Solent and Wave 105 are the most reliable for this; other stations include Heart South Coast and The Breeze).
4. On the Hampshire County Council Website: www.hants.gov.uk/schoolclosuresEarly afternoon closures:

   If the situation arises that we have to close the school early in the day to ensure that children and staff can get home safely, we will let you know by email/text and also post it on the school website. If your work takes you far from home, please have a contingency plan for someone else to collect your child and advise the school of this arrangement should an early closure be needed.

   Mr R Cunningham
   Headteacher

Dear Parents and Carers

The delivery of our new building has been cancelled for Friday 1st February 2019.

The company providing the building, Portakabin Refurbished Ltd, is based in Yorkshire.  This is where the building has been fitted out ready for installation. 

Portakabin have made this decision based on the forecast of poor weather moving across the country overnight, and difficult weather conditions in the north and north west of England, which could make motorway transport of a modular building even more challenging than usual.

Thank you for your help in planning for reduced traffic this Friday.  We will communicate with Portakabin today to rearrange delivery.  We will then let you know as soon as possible when we need to request from you, once again, your kind efforts to limit the number of cars coming onto the school site.

Mr R Cunningham
Headteacher

Dear Parents and Carers

On Friday 1st February 2019 we will take delivery of our new building.  This will involve a crane being on site all day, a series of articulated lorries accessing the site during the day, and a fleet of contractor vehicles arriving as well.  All of this vehicle and plant traffic will take up a lot of our car parking space throughout the whole of Friday 1st February.

Because of this, with the exception of vehicles which have a St Peter’s pass for those drivers or pupils with limited mobility or additional needs, there will be no parking spaces on site for parents and carers to leave their cars and drop their children into the south playground in the morning.

For children being dropped off for Breakfast Club or additional provision from 8:00am, car drivers are asked to use the one way route and drop-off walkway alongside the north playground. Extra staff will be on hand to welcome and direct the children into school.

The one way route to the drop-off walkway that runs by the north playground will be opened 10 minutes earlier on that day, at 8:20am, to help ease a possible increase in vehicle use for that option.  For that Friday only, additional staff will be on duty in the north playground to welcome any extra children who would normally wait in the south playground with parents or carers but who instead will be dropped off to the north playground.  Any families that are able to car share and so reduce the number of cars coming into St Peter’s in the morning would be greatly appreciated.

Families who would rather stay with their children on the south playground but normally do this by parking on site are asked to allow plenty of time to be able to park off-site and walk onto St Peter’s grounds.  The timing for the south playground gate will remain between 8:30am and 8:50am as normal.

St Peter’s staff have been asked to car share, use alternative means of transport, park off-site and even offer up their local driveways for colleagues in an effort to reduce the vehicle presence on site as much as possible during the building delivery day.

Collection at 3:15pm will be as normal on foot for all families, with the exception of vehicles which have a St Peter’s pass for those drivers or pupils with limited mobility or additional need.

Families collecting from after-school care at 3:45pm and 4:15pm, and Hip-Hop Club at 4:00pm will need to park off site and access an exit St Peter’s on foot.

I know that these changes will have an impact on families’ travel arrangements for the day, but any possible inconvenience will be long forgotten when the pupils get to enjoy the additional space and facilities that the new building will provide from March 2019 onwards.

Mr R Cunningham

Headteacher

Year 5 added to their school experience this week as class 5CW went to Waterlooville Horizon Leisure Centre to begin their swimming lessons. An objective of the National Curriculum is for children to be able to swim 25m by the time they finish the primary phase of their education, and St Peter’s commits to this with lessons for the pupils in the spring term of Year 5.  Making use of trained swimming teachers at the leisure centre, each Year 5 class will have swimming lessons over several weeks to improve their techniques or hit a personal distance goal in the water.  I know that swimming is a popular past time, and the pools in Waterlooville and Havant are very popular with our pupils after school, at weekends and during holiday times.  It was great to note that when I was in the pool last weekend churning out the lengths during my own son’s lesson, I counted 10 other St Peter’s pupils in the water with families or attending lessons – not bad for 9:30am on a cold Saturday morning!

Mr R Cunningham

Headteacher