In This Issue The Alumni and Development Team

This year has been an exciting time for the Development and Alumni Office - You can find the Alumni and Development Office in the old school shop at the back of the Pavilion.

We are now well established in the centre of school and have a great viewpoint of Queen’s from our lovely window. It’s always wonderful to hear from OPs and recall trips to the tuck shop or to buy uniform!

As the newly appointed Head of Development and Alumni Relations, I am delighted to introduce our new colleagues who have recently joined the Department.

Rachel Whittaker joined the team in July 2022 and has already embraced the Old Peterite community and the organisation and delivery of our events programme during her time here. Rachel will be your point of contact for all our Old Peterite events, including reunions and tours of the school.

We have also welcomed Becky Nicholson as Development and Alumni Manager, Becky joined the team in April 2023. Becky will oversee our 627 Society, for donors who support the school on a regular basis and will also be a point of contact for people who have or are considering leaving a gift in their will to the school. Becky will also be working closely with the Old Peterite Club Committee and leading the Old Peterite Mentoring programme.

We want to take this opportunity to thank you all, as ever, for your continued support of the school and the Old Peterite Club. To everyone who volunteers to help with organising events or reunions, donates raffle prizes, gives gifts to support pupil experiences and bursaries, supports the OP Club Committee or takes the time to support our Mentoring programme, or complete our survey - thank you.

It has been a busy year as ever and it is wonderful to be part of this thriving community. We look forward to speaking with you and hopefully welcoming you back to school soon!

Update from St Peter’s 2-8

Over the past year there has been a tremendous amount of activity across all areas of St Peter’s 2-8. At the end of August we became aware that St Peter’s had been shortlisted for a Talk Education Award for Innovation in Education 2022. The categories were ‘Thinking Beyond the Curriculum’. How do schools inspire pupils to think beyond the core, and challenge themselves to take their interest in a subject further? We were honoured to have been shortlisted which resulted from a visit that took place in June.

During the school year we ran six weeks of holiday activity provision for 2-11 year olds. There has been increasingly high demand from parents to offer this service in the holidays to support childcare needs. Last academic year our school charity was the Children’s Heart Surgery Fund based at the Leeds General Infirmary. The school community raised £7,000 through fundraising activities at school and events initiated by the Friends of St Peter’s 2-8. This year our school charity is Zarach. The charities aim is ‘Every Bed a Head’, to address bed poverty through supporting families and raising the profile of this issue.

The School Leadership Team view the extension of our current nursery provision to cover a 50-week period as a key priority. Yearround childcare will offer a much-needed service to our parents, who currently have to seek out alternative providers for daycare during the school holidays. From January this year the nursery began to operate 50 weeks a year. It will close on bank holidays and for a week in the summer and a further week at Christmas.

In September 2022 we have the largest cohort in the schools’ history. The success is undoubtedly down to the strong reputation St Peter’s holds nationally, compounded by the inspiring teaching and learning delivered by our excellent teachers. Our success achieving not only the Pre-prep school of the year but also the Independent School of the Year at 2-8 further cemented interest from families wishing to join the school.

The twelve months since the last edition of the Cross Keys Magazine has seen a flurry of activity across the broad range the children are engaged with. Our swimmers won 18 medals in the inaugural World Schools Swimming Championships at the Olympic pool in London, following on from two national champion wins earlier in the term. There was much success with our sports teams in tournaments across all the main sports, however it is the huge number of fixtures played at all levels which is most pleasing. Last summer term saw the lifting of all remaining COVID restrictions and so our J5s were able to go on their residential as planned, and every other year group had a fun day offsite at places such as Lightwater Valley and the Yorkshire Water Park. We have also resumed the ski trip and rugby tour to Italy and netball tour to Barcelona.

Update from St Peter’s 8-13

This academic year saw the York Minster choristers singing in a special service to welcome the new Dean, followed by singing for the King and Queen when they came to York in November and again for the Maundy Thursday service in April. They headed off to the Netherlands on tour in the May Half Term. We held a special Eucharist service in York Minster for all pupils and staff from age 8 upwards – a wonderful addition to our school calendar. Our J3s produced an amazing ‘Aladdin the Musical’ and the J5s performed at the Leeds Carriageworks in the Shakespeare Schools Festival.

It was a lovely surprise to open ‘The Week’ magazine and see that we were chosen as “Great City Prep” school in their Independent Schools Guide. Music continues to go from strength to strength, with increased numbers of children learning an instrument and playing in ensembles. We even had 147 pupils playing in a ‘Baroque and Roll’ concert for parents. Walking around the school, the variety and quality of art which is displayed everywhere is truly remarkable.

A big focus for us this year has been making the most of the amazing opportunity of educating children from Nursery through to the Upper Sixth, ensuring that each transition point is as smooth as possible and that we build on what has gone on before whilst preparing them for the next stage, with the ultimate goal of producing amazing adults who have had fun at school.

We welcome applications throughout the year. For advice on all aspects of the Admission and Bursary process, or to arrange a visit please contactMrs Gillian Bland on 01904 527305, or by email at admissions@stpetersyork.org.uk