The parish church of The Sacred Heart and St Peter the Apostle was filled with 370 children and over 40 staff as pupils from Years 1 to 6 celebrated the St Peter’s School Advent Service this week.  Music, scripture and acting brought the story of Advent to life for the children, and Fr Jeremy and Fr James led a reflection using a tea spoon! 

As we move ahead through Advent, St Peter’s Catholic Primary School warmly invites everyone in our local community  to our Carol Service at the Church of The Sacred Heart and St Peter the Apostle on Tuesday 12th December 2023.  The Carol Service begins at 6:30pm, is open to everyone even if they do not have a family child at St Peter’s, and will last for approximately 1 hour. 

This celebration will move the story on from the Annunciation and the Visitation to take us closer to the celebration of the birth of Christ.

We look forward to seeing you there.

Mr R Cunningham
Headteacher

Now, I know we are not even in Advent yet, but the pupils at St Peter’s have been busy collecting items of goodwill to send to children around the world in areas of conflict and hardship.  Bringing together essentials and treats, from toiletries to toys, we filled over 50 shoeboxes to give to The Samaritan’s Purse “Operation Christmas Child”. 

Pictured with me here are Clementine and Noah from Year 1, the year group that has been behind this whole-school initiative.  Because these care packages will be travelling many miles across the world, they needed to be packed and sent away in good time for delivery by Christmas.  (I got to the end of this piece with only mentioning the word Christmas twice in November!)

Mr R Cunningham
Headteacher

Pupils at St Peter’s have been donating money to this year’s Royal British Legion Poppy Appeal.

This is always well-supported in school, with the 2022 collection amounting to £435 – that’s a pound per pupil in honour and remembrance of the fallen.

Pictured here are Michael and Sebastian in Year 3 proudly wearing their poppies in front of the library display at the heart of St Peter’s.

Mr R Cunningham
Headteacher

It’s all out and about overnight at St Peter’s at the moment, as a range of pupils embark on residential visits.  The Year 5 classes are each spending 2 nights at the Sustainability Centre in Clanfield. As part of this trip, they learn about sustainable farming, water and energy use, and take part in a range of outdoor games, challenges and activities.  The pupils in Year 5, meanwhile, have spent a whole week away at Fairthorne Manor in Botley, an outward bounds centre run by the YMCA provides children with challenging activities to stretch mind and body.  These include climbing, abseiling, kayaking, paddle boarding, orienteering and, of course, a final night camp fire and singalong!

None of these trips are possible without the great commitment and support given by staff who spend time away from their own families and homes to give children these overnight experiences lasting between 3 and 5 days. That is why these trips are also planned to take place in the run-up to a half-term break, allowing time for people to catch up on sleep and lough through the muddy laundry that the children inevitable bring home with them.

Mr R Cunningham
Headteacher

We’ve had a flurry of fundraising recently, which the St Peter’s community showing its usual generosity.  The pupils raised £330 for CAFOD on 6 October with their “Wear it Bright” non-uniform day, and on that same afternoon a team of Year 6 children raised £194 for the Rowans Hospice with a cake sale.  Not to be left out, the St Peter’s staff used our recent Inset day on 29 September to have our annual Macmillan Cancer Support coffee morning, raising £99 in donations for cakes and treats that colleagues brought in.

In the coming days, the Royal British Legion will launch its annual Poppy Appeal.  By coincidence this week, we received a thank you card from the local RBL branch for the £435 that St Peter’s pupils raised during the 2022 Poppy Appeal.

Even with tough financial times faced by many in our communities, such support for a variety of causes is greatly appreciated, and a testament to the generosity of the St Peter’s families, pupils and staff.

Thank you all very much

Mr R Cunningham
Headteacher

Our Year 4 classes had a wonderful trip to Gunwharf and Old Portsmouth for a combined History and Geography deep learning day.

Great activities were undertaken inspecting vessels at the Historic Dockyard …

… testing compass skills on Spice Island …

… and stepping back in time at the Garrison Church.

Thank you to the staff and volunteers who made these trips happen.

Mr R Cunningham
Headteacher

It was a great pleasure this week to welcome Fr Andrew Wagstaff to St Peter’s to celebrate our first Mass of the year with pupils from Years 1 to 6.

Fr Andrew is the parish priest at St Colman’s and St Paul’s Church in Cosham, and through his homily set the pupils up for the coming year by reminder us of Jesus’ two greatest commandments; “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind, and love your neighbour as yourself”.

As part of the offertory, children from each year group brought up items to reflect and represent what they have been working on in class so far this term.

Mr R Cunningham
Headteacher

It’s now all systems go at St Peter’s as we round off the second week of the autumn term.  The pupils in Year R have moved from stay and play and half-day sessions to completing whole days in ‘big school’.  They have all done very well, and I look forward to meeting them as they rapidly become valued members of the St Peter’s community.  Extra-curricular activities are well underway, with football on a Wednesday afternoon, Performance on a Thursday afternoon and Bounce Fit on a Tuesday afternoon to name but three activities.  Over the coming week more staff-led extra-curricular clubs will become available as colleagues complete welcome meetings and offer children lunchtime or after schools enrichment opportunities.  Small group music lessons have begun again, with recorder, keyboard, flute and guitar being ever popular, and Hampshire’s ‘Rock to the Beat’ club running on a Monday after school.  Any families interested in their child taking up instrument tuition should contact the school office for details.

And all of these activities take place around a busy school day with a packed curriculum and vibrant break and lunch times – is it any wonder our children come home exhausted and hungry at the end of each day!

Mr R Cunningham
Headteacher

Welcome back to all the pupils and families of St Peter’s for the start of the school year 2023-2024.

A special welcome goes to those who are joining us from other schools, and to our new intake of Early Years children who are starting in Reception.

In this coming year, we will be having a special focus on our school vision, “Walking hand in hand with God to make our world a better place”, and how that is central to the behaviours that we see in our Learning Circle.  Special assemblies each fortnight will focus on each of the Learning Circle behaviours across the school year, with a chance to celebrate how well the children are able to live out our school vision through demonstrating these behaviours.

Our school vision extends to a full mission statement,

“Walking hand in hand with God, loving Him, loving ourselves and loving each other, doing our best with the gifts he gave us to make our world a better place”.

I look forward to the children developing their God-given gifts in this coming school year, and working together as a community to take St Peter’s from strength to strength.

Mr R Cunningham
Headteacher