July '10 Newsletter.Pub

ST PETER’S RC HIGH SCHOOL & SIXTH FORM CENTRE JULY 2010 NEWSLETTER Tuesday 15 July 2010 Dear Parents Thank you for the support at the Annual Fete. It was a beautiful day and the atmosphere once again was superb. I would like to place on record my thanks to the following: • John Jones and the Fete Committee who were ably assisted by Dave Miles and the rest of the PFA Committee. It is fabulous how they work so hard for the school and the work of Jane Ryan, Fiona Gittins and Tina Parsloe, from the staff side, is exemplary. The day fully justified all the work they have put in to organising the occasion. • To our super musicians who once again provided excellent music under the direction of our Director of Music, Catherine Perfect. • To all the parents, governors, staff and friends of the school who manned the stalls and helped with refreshments and the bar. • To our students who did so much to make the day a success. Our brilliant year 10 sports leaders who organised and ran the primary schools sports festival and our dance leaders who did the same for the primary schools dance exhibition. In supporting our students the PE staff, led by Stuart Crabb, were terrific; and not only that, they did a tremendous amount to prepare for the day and help tidy up afterwards. Also, to our BTEC Hospitality and Catering group, under the direction of Becky Kefford, who did so much with the Hot Dogs, Burgers, Chips and Ice Cream! It was just terrific to see so many students involved; and yet again the atmosphere between staff and students as they worked together is a real feature of all the work we do at St Peter’s! • To our visitors from outside who provided such excellent exhibitions of gymnastics and acrobatics. • To Barclay’s Bank who sponsored our bottle stall and means that the £750+ on the day will be doubled. As always the day was marked by former students and parents returning. It is always lovely to see and talk to them. From a financial side it was a great success and my thanks to those of you who sent in donations and/or bought raffle tickets. Altogether the Fete raised in excess of £4,500, which as you know will be used entirely to provide equipment and resources for the ongoing education of your sons and daughters. We were delighted that MP for Gloucester, Mr Richard Graham, was able to join us during the afternoon. Richard spent a considerable amount of time going around the stalls and talking to the helpers. He then drew the winning tickets for our annual raffle and picked the winning numbers for our 200 Club Draw. I am most grateful to Richard and Councillor Organ for the time they gave in attending the Fete and supporting the excellent work of our PFA Committee. AWARDS O ur Awards Ceremony took place after our Mass on 29 June. Chair of Governors, Mr Jim Stenson, presented many awards on behalf of the Governors to students who had worked extremely hard and/or achieved excellence within departments. There were also general awards given out for many different aspects of school life. I will indicate just one or two awards and if you would like to see the full list of winners we will publish it on the school website www.st-petershigh.gloucs.sch.uk . • As always the Anna McGurk bursaries were presented on this occasion. These bursaries are in memory of former student, Anna Potts, who after her marriage worked for the City Council at Gloucester Docks. Tragically going home from work one evening in the winter in the 1990s she was murdered. To maintain Anna’s memory her family set up a trust fund and over the years many of our students have benefited. This year Anna’s sister, Helen Potts, presented the Junior Award to Elliot Hopson to continue his progress in tennis, whilst the Senior Award went to Julia Puddicombe, who is a super oboist and now needs to find at least £1,000 to upgrade her oboe. • The Molly Gravells Community Award is given in memory of Councillor Andrew Gravells’ mother. This year the recipients were our Year 12 BTEC Hospitality and Catering students, who organised a variety of functions during the year which they have had to do for their course. These raised over £3,500 for different charities ranging from Cancer Research to Amnesty International and the Royal Lifeboat Institution. • We were delighted to welcome to the School the former Director of the International Office for the Local Authority, Mrs Penny Krucker. Penny had given the school an award for international work and this year it was awarded to Gemma Colucci who you know has gained a Prime Minister’s Global Fellowship and will be going to India for six weeks to study that country, study the language and teach English to Indian students. I hope that you will look at all the awards on our Website, as you will see they cover the whole range of school activity and it is particularly pleasing that Ali Sarwari, an EAL student, who came to us only a few years ago without any English, won the Boyce Trophy for Endeavour. It was pleasing to have Canon Bernard Massey at our Awards Ceremony. Canon Bernard is one of our governors but is also a trustee of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Clifton and one of Bishop Declan’s main advisers. Canon Bernard presented Diocesan Long Service Awards to John Mitchell and Tina Parsloe (more of which later). He also presented a certificate on behalf of the County Council to Mrs Parsloe who has worked for over 25 years in Gloucestershire schools. Both these staff are leaving at the end of this academic year but of all the accolades and presents they may receive, I am sure what they will take with them into retirement is the most magnificent endorsement of their careers in St Peter’s. This was the lengthy applause and support from the student body as they received their certificates. STAFF LEAVING • John Mitchell —As stated on previous page, John Mitchell, our Director of 16 – 19 Education, is leaving us at the end of this academic year. John came to us in 1986 as Head of Geography. Having led the Geography Department he moved into the sixth form in a pastoral role and subsequently took over as Director of Sixth Form Educa- tion and became a member of the Senior Management Team of the school. When John took over the sixth form it was approximately 200; as he leaves it is approximately 500! There can be no greater endorsement for the work he has done than this incredible increase in popularity of St Peter’s sixth form education. John has the remarkable knack of being able to empathise and support 16 to 19 year olds at the same time as being able to give them “unequivocal advice” when necessary without losing their respect. I am often quoted as stating I think John has the second best job in the school, next to myself, but at the same time it is a job which very few people can do successfully. John has succeeded in not only doing this successfully but also he has played a major role in St Peter’s obtaining the outstanding status it now enjoys nationally. A committed Catholic, John has always contributed to the ethos of St Peter’s. One only has to go into his office to see the number of cards he receives from former students, who are now working all over the world, to realise what an impact he has had on so many young people’s lives over the years. I wish John and his wife Lynne many years of happiness in retirement as they take up their new life on the east coast of their much loved Yorkshire. • Tina Parsloe – Tina joined St Peter’s from a secondary school that has now closed, Linden Road. From the time she joined us she became known as an outstanding teacher of English. She has had resounding success in teaching English and particularly with young people who do not find the subject particularly easy, Tina has ob- tained outstanding GCSE results. From the classroom teacher Tina progressed to work in the vocational area of our school as Head of Careers. In this capacity she became extremely popular in the county and respected by the county for her knowl- edge and work in the area of vocational education. She formed very good links with industry and was always an excellent public image for St Peter’s. Due to this she became a member of the Senior Management Team with a responsibility for develop- ing vocational education. The fruits of her work can be seen by the number of vocational courses we now offer in the school. As indicated above, from the reception at the Mass, Tina is immensely respected by the students for her ability to relate to them, but at the same time demand the highest possible standards from them in terms of academic performance, behaviour and appearance. She has been instru- mental in leading the School Council over the last two years to a position where now it is truly influential in the life of the school. She has also played a major role in en- suring that the female students have a true advocate and also someone who will not allow the females in the school to diminish the reputation of themselves or our school.

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