Year 5 went back in time this week with a superb World War II theme day on Thursday. Arriving in period costume, the Year 5 pupils made sure that they had their gas masks and identity cards with them at all times throughout the day. The Golden Key celebration assembly for Key Stage 2 gathered to the Dad’s Army them tune, and was dismissed to the sound of Run, Rabbit, Run. I even had a chance to revisit my former career as a history teacher and tell the Year 5s about my link to the Second War. My grandfather Sub-Lt T Cunningham served in the RNVR, and is buried in the smallest Commonwealth War Graves cemetery in the world on Ocracoke Island, North Carolina following the sinking of HMS Bedfordshire on 11^th May 1942 when struck by a torpedo from the German submarine U-558. For lunch, still in the Blitz spirit, it was corned beef hash all round, and massive thanks to Mrs Gray who prepared and served lunch in period and patriotic costume. The Year 5 blog will have further tales of the day and photos aplenty. Thank you to the year 5 staff team who put such hard work into preparing the day for the pupils.

We had our first year group Liturgy of the school year on Tuesday, celebrated by pupils in Year 2. It was, as ever, lovely to welcome several generations of families into the school to worship with the pupils and get a taste of their learning in RE.

Mr R Cunningham

Headteacher

Two weeks into the autumn term, we can now say that the 2018 new school year has officially started at St Peter’s as we celebrated our New Beginnings School Mass on Tuesday 18^th September.  Pupils from Years 1 to 6 joined together in worship as Fr Jeremy celebrated Mass, and we were lucky enough to welcome some parishioners from Sacred Heart and St Peter the Apostle as well.  During Mass, staff and governors made an open commitment to reflect the wonder and awe of God’s creation in their teaching, prayer and work in the school.  The pupils themselves promised to be disciples of Jesus, bringing God’s love to St Peter’s school, to their families and to their friends.  Oaklands’ Chaplain Miss Keogh led the music and singing at the Mass, and we are looking forward to working with her this year as we develop our praise and worship as a school community.

Reception Year pupils are still finding their feet during their part time induction period – this week they were to be seen exploring the school wearing their specially made ‘listening ears’!  They start full time on Monday 24^th September, so do please keep them and their families in your prayers over the coming week.

Well done to the pupils in Year 3 who have blazed a trail with the first off-site trips of the year.  They visited Butser Ancient Farm to learn about Stone Age life, and my thanks go to the staff and family volunteers who made this trip happen.

Mr R Cunningham

Headteacher

We have reached the end of the first full school week, and the pupils have returned to school exceptionally well. Having had successful transition days in July, we were able to settle straight down to hard work on the first day of term last week after whole school worship, and that spirit has continued throughout this week. I have had cause to show several visitors around the school in the first 9 days of term, and without fail each of them has commented on how industrious and focussed our pupils are. It is great to see that even after 6 weeks of holidays, the children know what is expected of them in terms of work, behaviour and effort.

All of this will, in time, serve as a great example to our newest arrivals. The new intake of Reception children began their 2 week induction process on Monday of this week, and they have taken to Primary School like ducklings to water. This is due in no small part to the skill and dedication of our Early Years staff team. Having spent last week clocking up the miles on home visits, Mrs Jonas, Mrs Light, Mrs White, Mrs King, Mrs Graham, Mrs Aquilina and Miss Ingleby have created a wonderful and welcoming environment for our youngest learners. On behalf of the Year R families, I express my thanks and admiration for the great work they do in the Early Years area.

Mr R Cunningham

Headteacher

Welcome back to the new school term at St Peter’s; 2018-2019 promises to be another exciting year for pupils, families and staff alike.

During this week I have hosted assemblies for each year group in the school. My message to each pupil was a simple one, that by making just small changes to how we work and learn we can produce amazing results, and that every individual is in fact much stronger than they may think. Using only balsa wood, split pins and empty egg shells, the children were shown two demonstrations about how simple changes to a basic shape can make big improvements, and in the right way even a delicate egg shell has the strength to bear a mighty weight. Ask you children about these demonstrations, and talk with them about the lessons they have learnt to take into this new school year.

Mr R Cunningham

Headteacher

St Peter’s Year 6 class of 2018 really have stolen the show in their last week at the school.  Well done to all the pupils for putting on a wonderful production of Annie in the penultimate week of term.  Further great news was to come with the publication of the Year 6 SATs results, in which our current cohort performed exceptionally well, as detailed in the table below.  We finished the school year by celebrating a very special Mass with Fr Jeremy to mark the end of St Peter’s for Year 6, followed by a cream tea provided by the Friends of St Peter’s.

On behalf of all the staff at St Peter’s, thank you for all of the good wishes, cards and gifts that have come into the school over the past several days.  Our assembly on the last day of term gave us a chance to give our best wishes to departing staff, and celebrate many of the key achievements of the year.  Award winners are pictured below.

May I wish all of you a happy, restful and safe summer holiday, and we look forward to welcoming the children back to school on Tuesday 4 September at the usual start time of 8:50am.

Mr R Cunningham

Headteacher

Olympic Values Award – Callum, Year 6

Key Stage 1 “6C” Award – Johan, Year 2

Mrs Daley’s Reading Award – Jeffrey, Year 6

Sportswoman of the Year – Kaitlyn, Year 6

Sportsman of the Year – Lee, Year 6

Key Stage 2 “6C” Award – Hannah, Year 6

Sports Day House Shield winners – St John’s House, represented by Sophie and Tori, Year 6

On Tuesday this week we received the final report of our Section 48 Validation, a process by which faith schools are assessed on the quality of their RE teaching and the spiritual and moral ethos of the school.

The opening line of the report sets the tone for the whole document,

St Peter’s is a school where the whole community explicitly strive to “walk hand in hand with God”.  The mission statement, which is known and understood by all in the school community, plays a central part in the life of the school.

I must thank and praise all of the school staff who work so hard each day in educating the children in school. The full report can be read via the link below, and is worthy of sharing with friends and family to spread the word of what St Peter’s is all about.

https://www.stpeterswaterlooville.co.uk/index.php/key-information/reports/1656-section-48-validation-report/file

Needless to say, I am exceptionally proud of the St Peter’s pupils, who are the greatest ambassadors of good behaviour and positive learning that a school could hope to have.

Mr R Cunningham

Headteacher

A scorching hot week has come to a wonderful end at St Peter’s. The children behaved impeccably in welcoming Fr Daniel Agber from St Edmund’s parish in Horndean to celebrate his first mass at the school. What better occasion for this than in celebration of the feast of Saints Peter and Paul? Fr Daniel enthused the pupils with a rousing homily, and all of this was done beneath 14 wonderful mosaics on the life of Christ that the pupils have produced over the course of the school year. The children most certainly deserved their ice cream treat at the end of mass.

During the week, the pupils were exceptional ambassadors for the St Peter’s community during our Section 48 Validation, and when the final report is released I will share that with families in a range of media.

As I write this, the tireless volunteers of the Friends of St Peter’s are setting up for what will no doubt be another wonderful St Peter’s Fest. This annual fund raiser is a great event, and helps to provide the school with the financial bonuses it needs to go the extra mile for our pupils.

And finally, the estate agent Fry and Kent’s Waterlooville branch is bursting at the seams with model houses made by our pupils. These models are on display for several weeks, so do call in to admire the children’s craft skills, and thanks to Mrs Pearson for coordinating this project.

Mr R Cunningham

Headteacher

On Thursday I took six pupils from Year 6 to St John’s Cathedral in Portsmouth. Each year there is a Diocesan Schools Mass, an occasion for the Bishop to celebrate Mass with staff and pupils from across the Diocese. It was a joyous occasion, and the special dedication of the Mass was our sister Diocese of Bamenda in Cameroon. Each school was asked to submit a prayer or blessing for the schools of Bamenda, which are currently closed due to domestic civil unrest. Some pupils from St Peter’s composed the following:

Our prayer for the schools in Bamenda

We pray together to God our Father in heaven that every child in Bamenda will be able to go safely to school every day. We pray that all children can learn, play and grow up in safe, happy schools.

Whichever school you go to, you are our brothers and sisters.

Whichever school year you are in, you are our brothers and sisters.

Whichever country you live in, you have a right to go to school.

Lord, in your mercy, hear our prayer.

Amen

All of the prayers and blessings submitted by the Portsmouth Diocese schools will be taken to Bamenda and shared with the schools there when the situation is safe enough to reopen the schools.

Many thanks to all who supported our wonderful Sports Day on Wednesday, and of course our thanks go to Miss Fleming for organising such a great event.

On Wednesday 27th June, a Section 48 Validation will take place at St Peter’s, so I would ask you to keep the pupils and staff of St Peter’s in your prayers over the coming week.

Mr R Cunningham

Headteacher

A very exciting time for pupils in Years 6 and 4 this week, as both year groups had off site visits which had added real enrichment to their learning.

Year 6 went to Westminster for a visit on Thursday. Having been captivated by the campaign against plastics as part of an English topic, and writing to Mrs May in the process, the pupils suggested a trip to the Houses of Parliament. This led on nicely from the recent visit to school by our local MP Alan Mak, who himself took time to welcome our pupils to his place of work. The pupils took place in a government workshop, and witnessed both the lower and upper Houses of Parliament in session. Many thanks to the Year 6 team of staff who organised this trip.

Year 4 stayed closer to home on Friday, and instead covered a distance over time rather than space. The pupils went to visit the Mary Rose exhibition hall in the Historic Dockyard. This is now a truly awe inspiring visit, one guaranteed to send chills up the spine as you walk amongst the artefacts in the heart of the vessel. The pupils’ workshop was called ‘Henry’s Heroes’, and looked at the different experience of a range of crew members on board the vessel on its ill-fated last voyage. Thank you to the staff and helpers who made this memorable trip possible.

Mr R Cunningham

Headteacher

I had a really exciting day today! I got to sit in the front of a real ambulance, and was allowed to switch on the lights and work the sirens. It was the full ‘Blues and Twos’ as we say in the trade. Then I got to go up and down on the ambulance tailgate. It was great, a real dream come true.

Well, okay, the truth behind my fun experience stretches a bit wider. St Peter’s was lucky enough to have a visit from a team of 4 paramedics and first responders, who spoke during assembly about their roles in helping people who find themselves in emergency situations. After a great interactive assembly with the team who are more used to delivering people to QA than taking part in Q&A, children from different year groups got the opportunity to tour four vehicles that were stationed in the north playground, pictured below. The paramedics and response staff gave great demonstrations, and the pupils learnt a lot about the vehicles and their equipment. Thank you to all the staff who helped to make this possible. For those year groups that did not get to visit the medical vehicles, we have a fire engine on site later in the month, and they will get to tour this instead. After I’ve done the lights, sirens and sprayed the fire hose of course!

Mr R Cunningham

Headteacher