Our Covid Diary

THE SCHOOL YEAR

Our Covid Diary

As we embark upon our final, full-term at St Peter’s it brings a comforting nostalgia to reminisce over our latest memories formed here. As always, school life has been fast-paced and filled with a variety of opportunities to involve ourselves in, therefore bringing us plenty to share with you.

A popular controversy, emerging as a result of Covid restrictions separating the year groups, was the notorious “Tent” situated outside the Pascal building. Here, the Sixth Form was rehomed in a marquee, divided to effectively create a large common room for each year. The Lower Sixth half was furnished with blue carpet, an assortment of sofas (courtesy of Mrs Mallard), and the exciting addition of a coffee machine. Although our biscuits often conveniently went missing as the tent became too messy, to our relief the much-loved coffee machine remained, featuring the likes of espressos, flat whites, and hot chocolates. Inevitably, the Tent became filled with a variety of ball games, equipment ranging from tennis balls to oranges, with a favourite being the creatively named orange ball. This created a lively atmosphere and, to the Senior Leadership Team’s delight, a fair bit of noise. Although it had its ups and downs, mostly referring to the supposed heating in the winter months, the tent became a space that allowed us to interact all together as a year group, thus creating a strong bond that we have taken into our final year at St Peter’s. Moving out of the Tent signified to us a move back to normality; one that we all looked forward to. Arising from this was a widespread appreciation for what previously we had considered routine. Now, we were once again able to gather in the chapel as a school, as opposed to in year groups bubbles, enjoying a much-missed St Peter’s tradition of belting out ‘Jerusalem’. The small things of returning to our Houses, bustling past younger years as we hurried to classrooms across campus, and even the chaos of the Monkey Cage have brought us a renewed gratitude for the simple things. Throughout the last year, sport has been one of the most affected co-curricular opportunities, with intermittent lockdowns and the cancellation of many external fixtures. The Sports Department has had to adapt: we spent the majority of training sessions divided into year groups waiting for the time we could again play both with one another and against other schools. As restrictions eased, our extensive fixture list was able to resume once again with the bus journeys feeling even longer than before, especially travelling to our termly Sedbergh matches! Amidst the overload of matches a highlight for us has been the high-quality cricket from both the boys and girls during the previous summer term, which we all enjoyed watching from the pavilion with our ice pops, weather permitting! Aside from matches, training again with a variety of year groups has enabled skills to be shared and new bonds to be created throughout the school community. Yet, whilst external fixtures were at a halt, the depth and breadth of House events allowed us all to show our team camaraderie and House spirit. To our delight, cross country was postponed, however, we have been able to participate in many other events such as rugby, hockey, volleyball, badminton, debating, and House challenge. These provided everyone in the House the opportunity to get involved and build connections with one another, especially important for the new pupils in a time where it was difficult to have physical connections. In the midst of the lockdowns, music continued to thrive, as a vital part of life at St Peter’s. Through a computer screen, we were invited to take part in the 6-2-7 online concerts, where we could record a solo performance to be included in the online concert. These were enveloped with an air of excitement due to the secrecy surrounding who would be featured. The concerts brought a great sense of joy to the tedious days of lockdown, creating something to look forward to and work towards for both pupils and staff. Our terms lacked the usual live performances, carol services and choral events in the Minster, leaving a gap in the school community that highlighted to us the importance of music at Peter’s as it provides a chance to unify both staff and pupils, musical or not: whether it be listening to the angelic singing of the Chapel Choir or attempting to cover our ears listening to the entire school rendering ‘I vow thee to my country’, a favourite among our year group. Notably, we are still eagerly awaiting House singing with its superior song selections, tuneful notes, and even better dance moves that all Peterites are sure to have experienced. Alongside this, many exciting events lie ahead in the musical calendar such as the Chapel Choir’s Evensong in Edinburgh Cathedral and the Duke Ellington Eucharist, and of course, the much anticipated Cabaret Concert that no doubt will be, for us, a musical highlight. As is tradition, a selection of Upper Sixth pupils will once again take to the stage to perform a solo with the much-loved swing band (and Mr MK) as a final farewell.

This year also saw the long-awaited return of the school production. Heading across the channel, pupils of all year groups brought to life our rendition of Victor Hugo’s ‘Les Misérables’. Unencumbered by the restrictions of the previous year, the cast and crew enjoyed weekly Tuesday and Thursday rehearsals in which we all learned the classic musical numbers and routines and, for a lucky few, the opportunity to add a fairly haphazard version of the waltz to their repertoire. Many Upper Sixth were involved in the production both on and behind the scenes. Under the direction of Mr Leary, the cast were once again lucky enough to work alongside Mr MK, Mr Spencer, and Ms Burns, who were all able to bring the very best out of everyone and make it an extremely enjoyable few months of production. Not only was the performance a hit under the spotlight, but a huge amount of work was also put into the production by the tireless stage crew, who were able to turn the Mem Hall into a very convincing revolutionary France. Despite their rather strange pre-show ritual of, actually quite disturbingly, devouring a stick of celery, they put in a huge amount of work and the cast and audience couldn’t have been more grateful for their tremendous efforts.

Thus, despite the many challenges that the last 12 months have brought, this has been a year full of joy and friendships that will last with us after our time at St Peter’s.

Heads of School - Lucy and Toby Deputy Heads of School - Ellie and Will