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The Peterite 2001-2002

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Prize List 2002 III Form Jack Brittgin Memorial Prize for Middle School Essay (III Form) Arthur Craven Prize for Middle School French (III Form) Form Prizes for Academic Merit

Prize Winner Kirstie Dallas Vincent Guadagnino Kate Ashworth Richard Walkland Peter Saxon Matthew Thomas-Peter

1 IV Form

Primrose Lovett

Jack Brittain MemOrial:Prize for Middle School Essay (IV Form) IV Form Prize for Academic Merit ^.-: John Cipok Prize forfoetry ,.:""r",. ' Arthur Craven Prize for Middle School French (IV Form) Old Peterjte Club Reaejing Prize (JMiiior) Music Priz^

Penny Boxall Holly Hughes

1 Sally McLaren (in absentia) Sophie Ottewell Joshua Tindell Jayne Milburn Jayne Milburn Chloe Johnson Joseph Tang (in absentia)

Middle School Information Technology Prize IV Form Prizes for Academic Merit

_y_ V Form Richard Atkinson Memorial Prize for Drama it Art Prize (Junior) , , Stephenson Prize for Latin (Junior) Foluso Rotowa Memorial Prize for Classical Civilisation Course WoHf ^Geography Prize: . , Ji PE Lord Prize for. Classical Civilisation (Junior) , V Form Prizes for Academic Merit V , it. .German Prize ' *?* fc *•, < V Form Prize for Academic Merit The Walter Smith Prize for 6CSE Practical Science: (I, .. ' The King-Reynolds Prize for Middle School Mathemati0j ' • V Form Prize for Academic Merit

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VI Form LMM^II Design and Technology Prize Aft Prize (Senior] , : Tfie Friends of;St Peter's Prize for Business Studies The HSBC Prize lor Upper Sixth Form Business Studies Course Work Mathematics Prize Mathematics Project Prize SkretiSlf Prize for Creative Writing Brian Holbeche Prize for a Critical Essay Richard Atkinson Memorial Prizes for Drama (Senior) Old Peterite Club Reading Prize (Senior) Stephenson Prize for Latin (Senior) HTOBnie for Cl \ftjjg!iKpri^e for Ph head Memorial P izelot Wind and.Brass •nior) ;; J225,::;f (Senior). The Old i'eteriij1 lJ>due Prize for Service to the'Community Arthur Craven Memoi1;'.l Prize ioi Senior; FreBch Reading Chemistry Prize ' r~f "r"::SMJ Walter Smith Prize for Biology Orange-Bromhead Prize for String Instrument Accomplishment Tudor Howat Prize for Music .Composition ,... Music Prize (Senior) Le Tocq Prize for Economics Robin Shanrion Memorial Prize for Contribution to School Debating Toyne Prize torfuropean History Politics Prize Norman Crombie Memorial Prize Stephenson Prizeifor Singing KH Rhodes PrizA

front cover rowing photograph courtesy of The Evening Press, York,

Louise Foody Nazeeha Hasan Hannah Lloyd Richard Kiveal Tom Edwards Emily Cogbill (in absentia) Martin Smallpage Sarah Stefanini Alexander Woodrbw iCharles Strickland-Constable

Jonathan MacGregor (in absentia) Harriet Julian Jenny Ashley James Craven (in absentia) Alex Porte (in absentia) Edward Parkin Helen Hildebrand*' = Robert Heaps (in absentia) AranCrompton Duncan Downes James Brown lajnes Gibbon fare: Fletcher (in absentia) rensy Rose .ydia Davidson , uw._ Xatherine Morris (in absentia: Simon Austin Rose Strickland-Constable obeit fsaywara rlice Sweet (in absentia) : onathan Fort TOSS Walker Guy Rushton » Paul Wilsiw

Alan Mak

Junya Iwamoto Georgina Aeons


The Pete rite 2001 - 2002 Issue No. 419

Acknowledgements

Contents 'ommemoration

Art

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In his address at Commemoration in June, Michael Mayne, Dean Emeritus of Westminster spoke about the uniqueness of each individual and encouraged all pupils to realise their potential and individuality. The news and articles in this year's Peterite show just how St. Peter's pupils do strive to attain their full potential and to succeed whether individually or as a part of a team, whether in music, sport, art, CCF, extra curricular activities or academic studies.

Drama

«E»

Another extremely busy year at the School has yet again shown the full extent of the opportunities available to each and every pupil during their school life at St. Peter's.

Music

Creative Writing

Many thanks to all pupils and staff for their contribution to this edition of the Peterite and to Linden Richardson and his team for their design input and their patience!

senior Common Room

Photographic reporting is, in the main, with grateful thanks to David Morris who once again has spent a great deal of time the wrong side of the camera in order to record a pictorial account of the school year.

\lews ft Activities Foreign Travel

Tory Gillingham Editor

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House Reports port

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The Peterite 2001-2002


Commemoration and Prize Giving m ::•:;•>;;;;:•

Head Master's Commemoration Speech June 30th 2002 Lord Mayor, honoured guests, Chairman, ladies and gentlemen.

Academic Scholarships = Yayra Adoboll Natalie Baldry James Brawn Charlotte Buckley Duncan Dowries Christopher Garnett James Gibbon Laura Heaps Helen Hildebran.d

&,

Matthew Hodsden Amanda Hughes

LVt LVI III. LVI LVI LVf LVI LVI LVI LVI

Last summer, I was fortunate to hear the author and playwright Alan Bennett read extracts from his work. One of his texts was from an article that was published in September in the magazine The World of Interiors'. It described the visit he made to the Masons' loft here in the Minster. In a room that dates back to the 1320s, high above the Chapter House, the plans and patterns for the stones that form the building and towers all around us were inscribed full-size into the plaster floor. These drawings became templates in wood and then later in zinc for the many stones that were cut and worked by the Masons. The drawing floor was then washed with plaster to prepare for the next patterns. I was delighted to be shown the drawing loft earlier this term by the Master Mason, John David. Hanging all around the room like pelts, or large bats, were the many wooden and metal templates. I could clearly see that the large plaster floor was inscribed with the traces of countless drawings.

Daniel Lightwing Catherine McTurk Andrew Moroney Stephen Pike Richard Scott James Sharp

Heads of School Georgina Aeons Junya Iwamoto

Monitors Jennifer Ashley Simon Austin Indraneil Basu Maneka Braganza Clare Fletcher Jonathan Fort Eleanor Hanna Peter Menwood Daniel Lloyd Alan Mak Katie Millar Matilda Noble Nichola Robertson Jeremy Rose Jenna Sillars James Sweeting James Taylor Charlotte Ware Paul Wilson

The Peterite 2001-2002

LVI LVI LVI

Alan Bennett's story fired my imagination because, as I sat listening last summer, the removal vans were due to arrive. The planned re-configuration of the three schools was about to take shape. Our guest preacher took the idea of pattern and order in creation in his book published last year called 'Learning to Dance'. From the complex dance of the worker bee to the rhythm of life and death, Michael Mayne constructed a rich and stimulating dance to the music of time. He begins the chapter for the month of June with a quotation from St. Augustine: 'Men go abroad to wonder at the height of the mountains, of the huge waves of the sea, of the long course of the rivers, at the vast compass of the ocean, at the circular motion of the stars and they pass by themselves without wondering'. A large group of pupils and staff certainly did go abroad to wonder at the height of mountains and the jungle on the expedition to Ecuador. It was a character-building experience for the group, not only out in South America, but also in the planning and preparation for the adventure. The pupils involved returned just in time to receive their examination results at GCSE, AS and A level. Last summer was the first time that all three senior years were involved in public exams. The experience was not an entirely happy one. I am in favour of a broad curriculum, but I do have a concern that as a Nation we over examine. Some pupils are not here this morning in the

Minster, but instead are sitting at school taking exams. I am sure that you will be alarmed at the recent HMC estimate that a school leaver could have taken 87 public examination papers during his or her school career. St. Peter's is not a highly selective school, yet in the league tables it sits alongside schools that are. The academic performance is due to a community of staff and pupils which respects learning, appreciates that hard work is necessary and responds to good teaching. Our results certainly confirm the school's academic reputation. Following on from the good results in the summer, it was pleasing that we had our most success in recent years placing pupils at Oxford and Cambridge. In total, 13 pupils were made offers and a good number missed out by the narrowest of margins. It was fitting that the first major gifts to the Foundation were for academic scholarships. From September there will be means-tested scholarships for sixth-formers in business studies and economics, design technology, modern languages and for science. The science scholarship was given to the school by the Merchant Adventurers of York and marks a firm link with the Guild in the city. In September Mrs Sylvia Shepherd will open new modern language rooms to be named after her late husband, Colin. The foundation has also been given funds to create an art gallery in the department on the new St. Olave's site. At the recent open day for those who contributed to the 1989 appeal fund for the Alcuin Library and the magnificent Chilman building, the purpose of the Foundation could not have been more clearly expressed. Nearly 90 former parents and pupils returned to the school. Many of the former parents had not been back to St. Peter's since their children had left. They expressed a great sense of joy to be back among friends. They missed the sports matches, the concerts and plays and the fellowship of the school community. Our guests also visited the new St. Olave's site, the former Queen Anne School. For many it was a return to familiar surroundings: a number of mothers had been girls there, or had educated their daughters at Queen Anne School before St. Peter's became a coeducational school. There was a natural pattern, too, when the Archbishop of York opened St. Olave's in November. Queen Anne School had first been opened by Archbishop Lang at the beginning of the 20th century. The pace of change last summer was extraordinary. St. Olave's and Clifton Prep were entirely relocated. For St. Peter's the art, politics, business studies and geography departments moved.


Commemoration

The project was achieved by tremendous work by governors, non-teaching and teaching staff. The re-configuration for the rest of St. Peter's continues. In the summer we begin the refurbishment of the main school buildings and Memorial Hall. The most ambitious project will be the new St. Peter's biology department. Five new labs have been completed including one for microbiology that will enable pupils in the future to study the fascinating genetic patterns that Michael Mayne explores in learning to Dance'. The laboratories will be opened in September by one of the world's leading biologists, Professor Richard Dawkins, author of The Selfish Gene'. One of my aims for the school has been to make more of the potential of the campus. We have regularly been hosts to colleagues from other schools for further training. With the enhanced campus I would like to see the school on the map as a centre of excellence. The events this year alone that we have hosted include a major academic conference, a training course for orthopaedic surgeons during the October halfterm, a meeting of schools' medical officers and nursing staff and, only this week, a history conference on the Vietnam War. The Community Service group established a new link this year working with the Minster Lions. Pupils helped restore the charity float Rudolf that was used by the Minster Lions in their Christmas fundraising. As a token of thanks they kindly donated a number of teaching aids to be used within our social and health education programme.

the first time last term and I have asked for the piece to be played as part of today's service. It was written in response to the tragic events in New York and Washington on the 11th of September. I wrote to the Mayor of New York City and the United States Ambassador who responded to express their sincere thanks. I hope that at some stage it can be performed in New York as a token of support and appreciation from York to New York. It was an end of an era when the school play closed just before Christmas. It was Mr Ian Lowe's last play and he chose this year to produce 'King Lear'. Pupils and staff made up the cast representing the old order and the new. Significantly, Mr Lowe played the part of King Lear in a thrilling and enthralling performance. The CCF was inspected in March and the report was most gratifying, full of praise for the efforts of both the officers and cadets. This has been a year of outstanding sporting achievement. The cricket in the school has gone from strength to strength with particularly strong first and second elevens. They have won almost all of their school games. They did well in the club games, with a memorable victory over the MCC. The teams showed a good balance of talent and the first team continues to play well together under the leadership of James Taylor as captain. They have matches next week, including a two day game on Thursday and Friday against the Old Peterites, to be followed by the cricket Festival at Loretto. Please come and watch the game next week. The tennis teams have been strong with some notable victories especially by the girls over Queen Margaret's.

The whole school held a fun run in aid of the University of York cancer research unit in the spring term. Over a hundred pupils and staff this term ran at the Beverley 10-km race also raising funds for the same charity. As well as jazz for the Jubilee for the school charities there was also a memorable talent night organised by pupils at the end of March. It was another busy year for the musicians following their tour to Italy last summer, with major concerts each term and a wonderful Carol Service. The most memorable piece this year was Paul Wilson's composition of the 'Stabat Mater'. Paul won a place with the National Youth Orchestra as a composer and they performed the work in Birmingham. It was performed for

The girls' swimming team had an unbeaten season and finished with an outstanding effort at Crystal Palace where they finished third in the medley and freestyle relays in a record time. The Boat club continues to be successful. A significant achievement was the silver medal at the National Schools regatta by the Junior 16 boys' eight. A school crew races at Henley tonight. I wish them every success The greatest sporting moment on the national stage took place in the first weekend of the Easter holidays. The boys under 15 rugby team reached the final of the Daily Mail cup. Thousands of pupils staff and friends of all three parts of the school went to Twickenham to watch the match to see St. Peter's defeat Outward Grange from Wakefield in what was a thrilling final. I was still exhausted after the

semi-final against Millfield. Congratulations to Mr Monteith and his team who were given a civic reception here by the Lord Mayor of York in acknowledgement of a momentous achievement at such a high level. The school celebrated 100 years of hockey with a ceremonial dinner at the Merchant Adventurers and brought back players and coaches from many years. Unfortunately, the game in the afternoon took place with 100 years of bad weather. Of the 100 years, for 25 of them the Hockey club was in the hands of Mr Dick Hubbard who retires from St. Peter's today. As a teacher of physics, housemaster, tutor and head of careers, he has been a most valued and respected member of staff for 34 years. May I wish him every happiness in his retirement? Miss Terry leaves St. Peter's to continue her career at Cheltenham Ladies' College. The achievements of the pupils under her guidance have been truly remarkable with outstanding examination results as well as a large proportion of pupils encouraged to study art at University or Art College. I also wish Miss Lewis every success as she moves to Brighton College. The chairman in his introduction spoke of the retirement of Mrs Reid, Mr Elliot, Mrs Rymer, Mr Wilson and Mrs Hewish as governors. I thank them for their support and help over the years. For many pupils and their parents today's Commemoration is their last school function. I wish them a fond farewell and every success in the future. Although you leave today, please remember that you still remain part of the school as Friends and you are always welcome to school events. All that is left now is for me to ask our guest to present the prizes and that will be the end of another year: the time when new plaster is swept over the drawing floor ready to start again. God bless you all. The Peterite 2001 -2002


Commemoration

Commemoration Speech Michael Mayne, Dean Emeritus of Westminster June 30th 2002 "Who do you say that I am?" Jesus once asked his friends. It was the most important question he ever asked them, and he got a fair number of wrong answers. And I now in turn ask you: "Who do you say that I am", this priest from the south who suddenly turns up on Commemoration Day? When I was in charge of Westminster Abbey I had lunch one day in the small Choir School to meet the new boys. The very smallest boy sitting on my right, aged 73/«, was totally silent throughout the meal. I simply couldn't get a word out of him, though as he ate, he never took his eyes off my face. Which can be very disconcerting. Finally, as we ended lunch, he said: "So, basically you're the Dean of Westminster."

the bits may be differently arranged. I guess that you like to be liked, that you're not always very confident, than on good days you can be very nice to know, but that on bad ones you can be terrible. I hope that during your life you'll know the life-changing excitement of falling in love and being loved back; and I know that you'll have your share of both joy and suffering. I know that your genes make you unlike anyone else who has ever lived or ever will. And I say one thing more: I say you are made in the like-

Well, yes and no; for basically I wasn't, any more than 500 of you are basically pupils at St. Peter's. Those are just roles we play at different times of our lives. Basically you're uniquely you and I am uniquely me, the you and me we've always been and always will be: a puzzling mixture of body, mind and spirit, all wrapped up in this package each of us calls "me". And I'll tell you the strangest thing. Because our brains are able to hold the memories of a lifetime, as we grow older nothing is ever lost to us. Here, inside my head, I feel all the ages I've ever been. A bit of me will always be the six year old pining for a dead father; the thirteen year old hating school and playing truant; the eighteen year old playing Hamlet and thinking I was God's gift to the theatre; the thirty something year old discovering the joy of having children; the fifty year old me spinning like a top in a busy parish; and the seventy something year old me in retirement in Salisbury, being asked to do such daunting things as preaching in York Minster for a school, which like my old one in Canterbury, claims to be the oldest in the country. (This morning, good manners tells me you may be right: tomorrow, I may have changed my mind). Well, that's who I am. So who do I say that you are? I say that you're pretty like me, though The Peterite 2001-2002

ness of God and that, because you are unique, with your own gifts and your own story, each one of you is of irreplaceable worth. Now forget for a few moments that you're in York Minster and imagine you're in another great church, my old home of Westminster Abbey. Everywhere you look there are graves and memorial stones: and between them they sum up all the various aspects of what it can

mean to be human. Over there are the poets and novelists, those who have explored the mystery of what it can mean to be human in compelling words: Chaucer and Dickens, Tennyson and Browning, Shakespeare, Jane Austen and Thomas Hardy. Over there, on the other side are the scientists, those who combined a probing intellect with that leap of imagination which unlocks some of the secrets of the Universe: Isaac Newton, Faraday, Rutherford, Charles Darwin. Off to your left are the politicians, those who sought a common life based on equity, justice and freedom: Gladstone and Pitt, Wilberforce, Shaftesbury, Churchill. But there, right up at the far end, almost in the doorway, is a single grave lined with Flanders poppies. In it lies the body of just one unknown man. One day, after the First World War, they dug up six unidentified bodies from the battle-fields of France and Belgium, placed them in a hut at night, blind-folded a young officer and took him inside. The first body he touched was chosen as the Unknown Warrior, and that anonymous man has come to represent all who died and who since then have died, fighting in war. When heads of state visit London, the very first thing they do is to come and place a wreath on that man's grave. I've stood there beside Gorbachev and Yeltsin and Chirac and Clinton and Nelson Mandela, and it always struck me how extraordinary it was that they were honouring one ordinary young man who could have been anyone: perhaps one of the thousands of Yorkshire schoolboys who were killed in the trenches. "I will tell you who I am," I hear that unknown soldier saying to me: "I am one of those slaughtered like cattle in the Flanders mud, yet I am no different from you, a human being of infinite value in God's sight." And more and more that grave said to me that no one is ordinary, for every human being is extraordinary and of equal value, with equal needs and equal rights and duties. But why bring that unknown man into a church? Because of what Christians believe it means to be human. We may or may not, like


Commemoration

the poet and novelist, have imagination and skill with words; we may or may not, like the scientist, have intelligence and intuition; or, like the best politician, have a sense of justice and compassion. But what we all have is the need to

know what life means, what it's all for; we need to know if there is a power greater and other than us whom we call God - and if so, what he is like. And this and every church on earth exists because Christians claim that when Jesus asked his friends: "Who do you say that I am?", one of them got it right. "You," said Peter, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God. You are the one who has come to show us what God is like. You reveal him as our loving and compassionate Father." If Peter is right, then Jesus has once and for all defined everything we need to know, not just about what God is like, but also about the real value of every human being. So then: who do I say that you are? I say, "You are the child of God, who loves and values you more than you can begin to imagine." I say, in a word, that you are irreplaceable. And that's the word I want to leave you with. When you leave school, there will be huge pressure on you to make your mark in this scary world, pressure to make money, to be smart and streetwise and successful. Yet by far the most important thing is for you to be the one thing that nobody else in the world can be except you, and that is your own unique and irreplaceable self.

The greatest gift you have to give to the world is the gift of who you alone are, with your unique way of seeing things, and feeling about things. If so much as one of you was missing there would be an empty place at the great feast of life that no-one else can fill. And what is true of you is true of everyone else as well. If each of us is unique and made in the image of God, then (in the words of Gandhi) "If you don't see something of God in the next person you meet, there is no point in looking for him further." I end with a Jewish story: they're usually the best. A Rabbi once asked his students which of them could tell when the night ended and the day began. "Well," said one, "is it when you can distinguish between a sheep and a sheepdog?" "No," said the Rabbi. "Is it," asked another, "when you can tell a fig tree from an olive?" "No." "We give up," they said. "The moment when you can distinguish when the night ends and the day begins," said the Rabbi, "is when you can look upon the world and everything in it with wonder, and when you look on the next person you meet as your brother or your sister. Until you can do that you continue to live in the dark." "Who do you say that I am?" asked Jesus. And he got one right answer out of twelve. "Who do you say that I am?" "Who do you say that you are?" In the end, none of us can avoid those questions; and our happiness and fulfilment as human beings will depend on how we answer. The Peterite 2001-2002


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Chairmans Report 2001-2002

Board of Governors

illfl 2001/2002 mil.Chairman:

Major General 0 M Nayior CB MBE DL

Vice Chairman:

Mrs E M Reid Dip. IM

Members:

M W Bainbridge Esq Mrs C Blenkin BSc ARCS S M Burn Esq UB TEP ACIAr b R A Elliott Esq FCA MLIA(dip) Mrs P Hewish MSc lady Emma Ingilby Mrs DN JaggerUB DipEEC Brigadier P J Lyddon MBE Professor N J Maitland

BSc PhD M A McMahon Turner Esq Reverend Canon Professor E R Norman J Pike Esq MA Mrs E C Rymer MBE JP OL P N Shepherd Esq G B Smalley OBE TD ACID RJ Wilson Esq MA J R Wood Esq

Clerk to the Board: R C Dixon Esq BA

The Old Peterite Club 2001/2002 Office Holders President:

S M Bum

Secretary:

P J Netherwood

Treasurer:

A B Tuck

The Peterite 2001-2002

This year's activities have focused on building the social aspect of the Friends of St. Peter's and I am delighted to say that this appears to have been a success bringing together a wide range of parents from across all year-groups. Our first event was a tentative try at Salsa dancing, inspired by the fact that an expert Salsa teacher had recently joined the staff. Francisco Gonzalez, the new Spanish assistant kindly volunteered to lead a group of parents and staff through the tricky Salsa steps. Our first Salsa and Supper evening in the Christmas term was a resounding success, and since we had had to disappoint many hopeful dancers, a series of Salsa classes was organised for the Spring term. Once again a capacity crowd learnt to keep to the beat and move with the music. This was not just an enjoyable set of dance classes - it brought together a number of parents who would otherwise not have met. A plea for funds from the new cookery department at the new St. Olave's site was taken up by arranging a cookery evening with Betty's Cookery School during the Spring term. David Parker of Betty's provided us with a fascinating evening of recipes, cookery tips and delicious flavours. Once again, it was a capacity crowd in the cookery room which resulted in a substantial cheque to fund the purchase of new equipment for the use of all students. Summer brought two musical events - a trip to Leeds Town Hall for a terrific concert by the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra with Evelyn Qlennie on percussion. With wine and a gourmet packed-supper on the coach, it was an evening to remember. Our second musical event was a very enjoyable evening of musical memories provided by Mike Hurst, formerly of the Springfields pop group. A new idea, again to encourage parents to get together on an informal basis, has been the introduction of the Tennis Club. During the summer term, parents have been able to make use of the terrific new courts down at St. Olave's on two mornings a week. Also new has been the Friends web-page, regularly updated with our programme of events, term by term. Another vital aid to communication has been the introduction of the Friends' notice board in the Monkey cage. The aim of these Friends events has been to help build a social network for parents within school. The aim is not to make money, although if we do have a surplus it is directed into school projects which might otherwise not go ahead. I am

pleased to report that all our social events this year added, in varying amounts, to the fund which is divided up at the end of the year. This year we have provided a TV video unit for the Sanatorium, cookery equipment for the Home Economics department, two spectator benches near the tennis courts, an A3 printer for artwork and a trophy for girls' athletics.

In addition to these social activities, the Friends team has been in action at various school events, providing people power to help with the New Parents' Evening, Open Day, the Play, Sports Day and the Cabaret Concert. Although at these events it appears that the Friends are 'on duty', they are yet another opportunity for us all to get to know new friends. This social calendar could not have happened without a hard-working and efficient team. I would like to thank all the Committee for their ideas, enthusiasm and valuable time, but in particular Catherine Noble, Sue Smallpage, Elaine Howard and Edward Duke who have each steered one or more projects to its successful conclusion. I would also like to thank members of the committee who are standing down after three years' service, Julie Sharp, Jo Hilling and Jane Henderson. Another vote of thanks goes to the secretarial and catering staff and to the porters who have all responded to requests of help with unfailing enthusiasm and good humour. I have thoroughly enjoyed my two years on the Friends of St. Peter's Committee. This year is my last as a parent at St. Peter's however, I shall join the ever-growing ranks of Old Friends who are forever associated with the school through their children. As such I shall be delighted to be involved in Friends social events from time to time, so please save a place for me at next year's Salsa classes! I wish the new chairman and the new committee every success for next year. Christine Austin


USIC This year saw significant changes in the character of the Music Department as the buildings that previously had housed both St Olave's and St Peter's Music Departments in very crowded conditions reverted to use solely by St Peter's. More room has meant new challenges. Pupils have room to practise during the day and with the increasing importance of composition and performing elements in GCSE, AS and A2 level, this will be of tremendous value.

Autumn Concert Bagpipes ably played by Edward Lax was a new feature in the Autumn Concert while Gestillte Sehnsucht - song settings by Brahms sung by Caroline Law with piano and viola accompaniment by John Pennington and Paul Wilson respectively were quite hauntingly sung. An array of solos all concluding with Enamel, our fourth form band, provided an entertaining evening.

Music Scholars' Concert In November, our Scholars' concert was more extensive than ever reflecting the good number and excellent quality of our music scholars; mention should be made of some items:- Daisy Cannons' playing of Faure's 'Elegie' was full of passion, Simon Austin's Weber variations were crisp and lively, Sophie Ottewell's violin in 'Hoe down' was very energetic and Sally McLaren's Danse Espagnole was dashing and nimble.There was so much more to enjoy from our eighteen music scholars. Steve Vai's Blood and Glory' with Charles Strickland-Constable on Electric guitar brought a high quality evening to a close.

School Choir The School Choir has had an excellent year and have been some of the quickest learners we have had at St Peter's; they have covered a very extensive repertoire during the year. They have had great demands placed upon them and have risen so well to the challenges - thank you for all your hard work and commitment. The spoof 'Twelve days after Christmas' was particularly well received at the Christmas Concert as was 'Flying free1 a very approachable piece with a floating flute solo played ably by Alex Woodrow. In this, the Training Choir joined the School choir to make a group of about 160 singers in total.

He goes on in September to study composition at the Royal College of Music and we wish him every success in this. In the Summer Term, together with Commemoration music and Haydn's 'The Heavens are telling1 some lighter fare was mixed in. A 'West Side Story Medley' proved very popular with the choir with well-controlled changes of character for the contrasted sections. Kurt Weill's 'September Song' was rehearsed in readiness for the St Malo Tour as was the1 Beach Boys Medley!

In February, Pergolesi's 'Magnificat' was given a very good performance in the Winter Concert with Pipp Saul-Harrah (soprano), Morag Lyall (contralto), Ben Noble (tenor) and Junya Iwamoto (bass) as soloists conducted by John Pennington. My thanks go to all, especially John Pennington, who covered for me during the period after my car accident. One of the highlights of the year, however, was Mozart's 'Requiem' where the School Choir together with the Choral Society contributed to a performance full of energy, dynamism and impact. The choir's impact in the 'Dies Irae' was especially impressive while they also adapted well to the more gentle sections such as 'dona nobis pacem'. Our own Wendy Goodson sang the soprano solos outstandingly and it was not surprising to hear, shortly afterwards, that she had got through to the finals of a Channel 4 Opera Singer Competition. Jane and Edmund Sturmheit sang the Contralto and Tenor solos with great assurance and Christopher Gulley sang the bass solo parts with all the power and drama that we have come to expect. The quartet sections were very impressive indeed. It was a very special evening. In this same concert we had what I can safely say is the most impressive piece ever produced by a pupil at St Peter's - Paul Wilson's 'Stabat Mater', a piece written in memory of the terrible events of September 11th 2001 when the Twin Towers in New York were destroyed. Paul's piece is full of emotion, suffering but at the same time resolution. Each performance has evoked such strength of feeling from those who have heard it. Paul has also achieved the rare distinction of being one of the composers on The National Youth Orchestra's courses.

Lunchtime Concerts To have Saturday lunchtime concerts running so efficiently has been a real joy this year. Alex Woodrow has had a clear sense of direction in organising these and presenting such varied programmes with fulsome programme notes. These short concerts have attracted, not large, but enthusiastic and varied audiences and, most importantly, have given our pupils a platform to perform the high quality music which they play for various exams and courses.

Christmas Concert The Brass Ensemble's opening pieces by Purcell and Handel gave the evening a great start. The String Orchestra's performance of Elgar's beautiful Serenade was imbued with a richness of sound and well-judged shape. The newly re-established Barbieshops with 'A Nightingale sang' and 'Big Spender 1 with colourful outfits and choreography were very entertaining. The Swing Band's Tuxedo Junction had all the vigour and atmosphere it needed and the Barbershop's singing of The Star-spangled banThe Peterite 2001-2002


iMusic

ner' was a special tribute to the memory of those who so tragically lost their lives in the appalling events of 11th September. It was lovely having readings interspersed with the music in this concert and my thanks go to Maureen Hopkinson for so expertly arranging this.

good experience for the choir to sing in another fine building. Thank you to all who took the group away from York for the afternoon and evening.

Composition Showcase Concert

The Summer Concert featured a large array of talent. Caroline Law's account of the slow movement of Shostakovitch's Second Piano Concerto was full of atmosphere and contemplation. Matilda Noble's 'Bring him home' from 'Les Miserables' was both touching and beautiful with a lovely clear tone. In the slow movement from the Samuel Barber Piano Concerto, Paul Wilson managed to achieve great flexibility and nuance with a fine variety of sound showing a real command of the keyboard.

Again, we had an evening which was most impressive. Pipp Saul-Harrah's 'Distorted Carousel' for Wind Quintet had some well-crafted twists and turns and great vitality while Peter Townson's 'Musical Box' had great delicacy and humour. Simon Austin's Concerto for Trumpet played by our Sibelius system was full of exciting rhythms and climaxes and showed real imagination. My thanks to John Pennington for arranging the evening.

Chapel Choir Choral Evensong at York Minster has now become a fixture after its reestablishment four years ago. Edward Bairstow's anthem 'Though I speak with the tongues of men and angels' was sung with passion and the canticles to Noble in B minor were exhilarating. Their singing of Britten's complicated 'Hymn to the Virgin' at the Advent Carol Service was as assured as it was telling

Summer Concert

The concert had started with Rose S t r i c k l a n d Constable's impressive setting of the 'Dies Irae' text. Not easy music to sing but sung with commitment and real impact. The Chamber Choir's singing of Parry's 'My soul, there is a country' and Christopher Clapham's arrangement of 'I got rhythm' gave lovely contrast to the orchestral items as did the West Side Story Medley which the School Choir sang with real excitement after the interval. The second half began with the school choir's lively singing of Haydn's The heavens are telling' with Maneka Braganza, Ben Noble and Paul Wilson as soloists. This was followed by a medley from West Side Story. With the girls suitably 'prissy' in 'I feel pretty' but the boys a little self-conscious in 'Maria' yet all full of fun in 'America' and quite plaintive in 'Make of our hearts, one heart' it was most enjoyable.

The Chapel Choir's contributions to the Christmas Carol service were as professional as ever with sensitive accompanying in the Three Kings being balanced by shape, sense of line and fine tuning in Warlock's 'Bethlehem Down'. In the Easter term the choir tackled Howells' 'Collegium Regale' a setting of the Magnificat and Nunc Dimittis written for King's College, Cambridge. This for a visit to Carlisle Cathedral rearranged after it was 'snowed off last year! During my absence Mark Edwards directed the choir with expertise and John Pennington accompanied on the organ in his usual accomplished way; it all went well and it was a very The Peterite 2001-2002

Next, Maneka Braganza and Harriet Julian played a lively movement from Vivaldi's Concerto for two cellos, with special vigour. Simon Austin played the whole of a concertino for trumpet by Lars-Erik Larsson and demonstrated what a fine player he has become, with well-controlled echo effects and precise rhythms at the opening and rich lyrical shape in the slow movement. Rose Strickland-Constable chose the Allegro from the Marimba Concerto by Paul Creston. In her hands the marimba's rich haunting sound was heard to good effect and the driving rhythms of the piece were full of excitement. Junya Iwamoto's singing of two songs from Gershwin's 'Porgy and Bess' was a special highlight. Clarity of diction, humour, projection and a strong sense of time were hallmarks of these performances. We all hope that all the soloists will continue to build on the talents which they have developed so well so far.

Commemoration Service When the Head Master asked me several times about performing Paul Wilson's 'Stabat Mater1 at Commemoration, I was reluctant, knowing what a difficult time the end of the Summer Term can be and especially having some premonition that this end of Summer would be more difficult than most. Well - my premonition proved almost too true - we had a torrid rehearsal on the Wednesday but, fortunately, the pupils knew all the music and Friday's Service, with a fuller complement of singers and strings and brass, produced a moving performance of the 'Stabat Mater'. The anthem 'Lord who shall dwell' by Alwyn Surplice with strong solos from Junya Iwamoto was sung impressive-

ly and Walton's 'Set me as a seal' was a fitting tribute to the centenary of the composer's birth. The Strings' playing before the service provided a lively introduction to the proceedings, especially when Simon Austin joined them to perform the first movement of Larsson's Concertino for Trumpet. The Brass pieces, so well directed by Christopher Blood, to begin and end the service provided all the necessary pomp and splendour and it was especially good to have Alex Woodrow playing the organ before and after the service with such confidence. John Pennington's accompaniments to the rest of the service were as assured as ever. All went well but this year's juxtaposition of Open Days, Expeditions, Trips and Exams in the final week surely cannot happen again.

Chamber Choir Chamber Choir and Friday evening have been as lively as ever and one of the real highlights this year was their singing at the Advent Service at Holy Trinity Goodramgate. The choir really excelled themselves; whether the quality of their singing was inspired by the fact that I had promised to take them out to a meal at 'Little Italy' afterwards, I don't know, but they sang beautifully and received so many compliments afterwards. Their lighter offerings this year have included Jerome Kern's The way you look tonight', 'Miss Otis regrets' a telling Cole Porter number, Gershwin's 'I got rhythm1 while they have also enjoyed Victorian favourites such as 'Come into the garden Maud.'


Music

Cabaret Concert First -Thank you to all those members of the Friends of St Peter's who helped on this evening so ably lead by Christine Austin; it was a most enjoyable evening although a little longer than anticipated! With such a gamut of music presented it was hard to single out particular items but the Barbershop and Barbieshops were most entertaining, Pipp Saul-Harrah's 'Ashokan farewell' was hauntingly beautiful. The Strings provided very varied fare from Schindler's List to Handel's Sarabande (from the Levi Advert!) Holly Hughes', Joe Venables' and Matthew Naughton's singing in very different styles promised much for the future, whereas the quality of Lauren Walker's 'Can't help lovin that man' was quite outstanding. It was very good to have the Training Choir with us, and together with the School Choir they sang 'Streets of London' and The sound of silence' very well indeed ably directed by John Pennington. The Swing Band with Allan Hughes 'guest artiste extraordinaire1 were on very good form and the Wind Band brought the' proceedings to a climactic, though late, end.

Staff Alison Holford joined us as one of our cello teachers in September and has proved herself an able and sensitive new member of the visiting team. Anne Bunemann took over from Rachel Meredith who left us during the year to pursue a full time schedule teaching violin with the York Music Service - we thank her very much for all her work over the last few years. Robert Poyser has brought liveliness and a sense of fun to both his colleagues and to his piano pupils over the last two years and wish him every success as he takes over as Head of Music at the Minster School. We hope to see him regularly playing the organ and accompanying so sensitively.

in the music, in fact I am sure we played Tuxedo Junction in both styles! As usual, the year began with a somewhat depleted band. But with an influx of saxophones and trombones the band grew and under the every watchful eye of Mr Blood (who this year managed to get the band to do movements - obviously this proved a little difficult for Paul who just couldn't move the piano in time!). This year there have been many opportunities for solos and experiments with mutes for the trumpet section, and most members of the band have been able to shine individually, for example, John Lewis, shows massive amounts of talent, both on the Clarinet and Saxophone. Other soloists have been Adrian Warmington on the trombone who has developed enormously over the past year and he, Justin Grace and Tom Hubbard have easily slotted into the gap left by Simon Whiteley. The rhythm section of Charlie, Alex, Rose and Paul have all contributed to the success of the Swing Band and their solos have also been fantastic. This year the pieces we have played were Basic Basic, Basin' Street Blues, Woodchopper, My Funny Valentine, Tuxedo Junction, to name but a few, with main performances being at the Christmas Concert, Easter Concert and Cabaret Concert. Thanks must go to Mr Spencer and Mr Bailey who have both been able to step in at short notice to cover for a missing member and also to Clare Fletcher and Rose StricklandConstable who have been in Swing Band since Third Year. Of course, the most thanks must be given to Mr Blood, who still manages to inspire us all to play to the best of our ability and the results seen on stage are not without hard work and effort on Mr Blood's part. I would also like to take this opportunity to thank Mr Blood for his continued efforts in his individual teaching. I know Charlie would also like to thank him for his encouragement throughout our trumpet studies, which has been invaluable. Gandhi once said 'there are two kinds of people, those who do the work and those who take the credit1 - Mr Blood is definitely the former! THANK YOU!!

Thanks to all my colleagues in the department for all their hard work. John Pennington whose assistance in many areas such as accompaniment work and organisation of the practical exam schedule is much appreciated ; Joel Moors whose awareness of contemporary music is so refreshing and whose teaching is so wellinformed; Christopher Blood whose work with the Band, Swing Band and Brass Group continues to be of a high standard; Margaret Lamb whose work with the String Orchestra has seen good progress over the years as the quality of our string pupils has developed.

Swing Band Report 2002 Karl Marx once said 'Religion is the opium of the masses'. Judging from the applause given to Swing Band this year it is probably fair to say that Music is the opium of the masses. This year, the Dixieland Band converted back to Swing Band. I didn't really notice any major difference

Simon Austin

St. Peter's Music Festival Woodwind and Brass This year we were very lucky to have Stuart Drummond to adjudicate the woodwind and brass finals of the music festival. As Head of Brass and Wind and also a boarding house master at Uppingham School, Stuart was very well qualified to do this very difficult jnd delicate job. The standard of playing from all the finalists was very good, which gave Stuart some very hard decisions to make. To have two Tubas of such high standards in the Junior Brass section was a very encouraging sight Robyn Webster's (Tuba) performance of the various on The Carnival SiwIawBBHBHHHSBHHMHHEBMHMHBSiPE;

of Venice was most impressive but on the day she was not to be the winning soloist. In the Junior Woodwind Alice Scruton showed excellent tone control on the Alto Saxophone in her rendition of the Gypsy Songs by Bafogh. fn the Senior Brass, Simon (Trumpet) Austin played with confidence and styte and was the clear winner of this sec^ tion. The hardest section to judge was the Senior Woodwind with all six finalists giving performances of a very high standard but it was Alex Woodrow's (Flute) beautiful tone, musical phrasing and sound technique that Stuart went far and gave him first prize. Well done to all of the finalists and thank you for a most enjoyable.evenings music making.

Junior Woodwind Finalists: Alice Scruton (Winner) Simon Webster Liza Gowen . :.>:'.":,.-l:';"-:).. Sally Henderson Junior Brass Finalists: Simon Wallis (Winner) Tom Hubbard David Heaton Robyn Webster Senior Woodwind Finalists:

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Alex Woodrow (Winner) Ben Noble Pipp Saul-Harrah : ;'.:•. V John Lewis Clare Fletcher Morag Lyall

Senior Brass Finalists: Simon Austin (Winner) Tom Wright Charles Crowther Adrian Warmington

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Strings There were some very distinguished performances in this section and the adjudicator Marion long, a cellist from Bedford, had a difficult job in sorting out the winner of each section. Adjudicator: Marion Long Junior Section: Winner Sophie Ottewell (Violin), Second Sally McLaren (Violin) ,

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Highly Commended: Victoria Janes (Violin) Tom Hubbard (Cello)

Plucked Strings: Charles Strickland-Constable (Electric Guitar)

Senior Section: Pipp Saul-Harrah (Violin) Charles Strickland-Constable (Violin)

Highly Commended: Paul Wilson (Viola)

The Peterite 2001 -2002


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Art

1. Ming Li 2. Hanna Lloyd 3. Amanda Holmes

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The Peterite 2001-2002

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4. Abigail Kirkman 5. Melody Lam 6. Laura Lewis

7. Jonathan Batten 8. Josh Bennet 9. Jenna Sellars

10. Nazir Hassan 11. Georgina Robinson 12. Nelson Fung


Art

The Peterite 2001-2002


Music

St. Malo Chapel Choir and Strings Tour

plateau on the top and a spectacular abbey. Eventually we all managed to meet back at the car park, having navigated our way through the labyrinthine fort. That afternoon we stopped

The St. Malo Chapel Choir and Strings Tour began far too early Tuesday morning at 15 minutes past midnight as we all began the usual boring coach trip down to Dover. A fairly routine ferry crossing was followed by a longer than expected coach journey up to St. Malo, which was lengthened by our coach running out of diesel minutes after we had left the ferry dock, and rush hour traffic as we arrived at St. Malo. We accustomed ourselves to the hotel-cumhostel-cum-private-board ing-school, before being let out to have a look round St. Malo itself, a smallish town with plenty of places selling crepes and paninis. The next morning we clambered over rocks to reach one of St. Male's beaches, and later that afternoon we took a boat to the nearby town of Dinard. There some played volleyball while others enjoyed the cold sea. After the boat trip back we got ready for our first concert, at St. Bartholomew's British-American-French Church in Dinard. A friendly audience appreciated the concert, and we had the chance to sing and play some of the more relaxed non-religious pieces. Thursday included a trip to the legendary Mont St. Michel, with most of the coach wondering whether this would equal Mr Wright's famed "olive-factory" trip on last year's choir tour. Thankfully, Mont St. Michel did prove interesting, with some astounding views from the

The Peterite 2001-2002

After a less than filling lunch back at the hotel/hostel/school a decision was made to go busking in St. Malo. A perfect place was picked by Mr. Wright - behind a large bush and tucked away from the main path where all the tourists/locals would walk. The busking session as a result didn't quite go as planned but it was all taken in good humour. That evening everyone went to the beach where we all had a picnic. Later, Mr. Savage truly lived up to his name and buried Chris Wordie in the sand in retribution of causing the teachers to lose too much sleep during too many nights! Again, it was all in good humour. The coach trip on Saturday seemed to go on for ages as a few unlucky people became ill, espe-

off at a small pebble beach, where an unfortunate accident meant Holly Hughes' swollen ankle became inflamed and a hospital visit was needed. Our second concert took place the same night at a Catholic Church in St. Malo. The first half was... lacklustre and the crowd recognised this, but in spite of this we improved no end and the barbershop finished the concert with an encore. Our last day was Friday, and this began with the teachers trying to persuade us that the planned waterpark trip should go ahead as planned. Most of us were far too tired and when details of how tiny the park actually was filtered through, it was agreed that a day in St. Malo at the market and on the beach was a much better idea. A trek then followed, to a local market where a small group started an unusual trend of buying and then even wearing tacky bandanas. Amazingly, the trend even spread to some of the teachers, with Mr. Pennington looking especially fetching.

cially after the ferry trip, which wasn't as calm as the first. We all arrived at home finally at about half one on Sunday morning. All that's left to say is a huge thank you to all the teachers for putting up with us, managing to stay calm despite all of us not being so calm, and for providing us the opportunity to have such a fantastic time. James Brown


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Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music and the Guildhall School of Music and Drama CHRISTMAS TERM Grade Name

Instrument

Result

Mark

2

Kathryn Browne

Viola

Merit

2

Tom Hubbard

Trombone

Distinction 136

224

3

Felicity Johnson

Piano

Pass

114

3

Simon Austin

Piano

Pass

116

3

Yayra Adoboli

Violin

Merit

202

4

Alex Brandon-Davis

Piano

Pass

103

4

Sophie Binns

Singing

Pass

111

4

Emma King

Singing

Pass

113

4

Sarah Hayward

Singing

Pass

116

5

Ranolph Harrison

Oboe

Pass

112

5

Betony Lloyd

Singing

Pass

113

5

Justin Grace

Trombone

Pass

114

5

Penny Boxall

Violin

Pass

117

5

Katie Mellor

Violin

Pass

178

5

Chris Wordie

Violin

Pass

193

5

Adrian Warmington

Trombone

Merit

120

5

Marie Hyslop

Singing

Merit

121

5

Kate Ashworth

Violin

Merit

203

5

Toby Pring

Clarinet

Merit

207

5

Laura Eastwood

Flute

Merit

216

5

Michael Foster

Violin

Merit

128

6

Peter Townson

Piano

Merit

122

7

Felicity Johnson

Flute

Pass

165

7

Sarah Hayward

Flute

Pass

188

7

John Lewis

Violin

Merit

214

7

Ben Noble

Oboe

Distinction 131

7

Emma MacKenzie

Clarinet

Honours

245

8

Natalie Baldry

Violin

Pass

115

8

Maneka Braganza

Cello

Pass

116

8

Alice Ottewell

Clarinet

Merit

207

8

Alex Woodrow

Piano

Distinction

138

8

Alex Woodrow

Flute

Distinction

141

EASTER TERM 2002 Grade Name

Instrument

Result

Mark

2

Flute

Pass

115

Laura Binks

2

Matthew Gray

Drum Kit

Honours

221

3

Emma Wilkinson

Singing

Pass

117

3

Charles Elwess

E flat Saxophone Pass

4

Terence Mak

Clarinet

Merit

117 203

4

Paul Wilson

Drum Kit

Merit

218

5

Robyn Webster

Theory

Pass

66

5

Phoebe Harrison

Cello

Pass

5

Lauren Walker

Singing

Distinction 130

6

Victoria Janes

Violin

Bryony Tallack

Flute

Pass

H8

6

Kate Saunders

Oboe

Pass

118

6

Sophie Ottewell

Piano

Pass

118

6

Simon Austin

Singing

Merit

120

6

Sally McLaren

Piano

Merit

124

7

Simon Wallis

Trumpet

Pass

116

7-

Tom Hubbard

Cello

Pass

118

7

Sophie Wright

Cello

Merit

120

7

Morag Lyall

Singing

Merit

122

7

Nick Devlin

Cello

Honours

250

8

Lydia Davidson

Piano

Pass

107 112

6

2001

Pass

115

118

•

8

Harriet Julian

Piano

Pass

8

Alex Woodrow

Organ

Distinction 136

SUMMER TERM 2002 Grade Name

Instrument

Result

Mark

2

Josh Tindell

Drum Kit

Pass

155

2

Joshua Cantrilt

Guitar

Merit

200

3

Laura Eastwood

Piano

Pass

109

3

Kathryn Browne

Viola

Honours

241

4

Lauren Walker

Theory

Merit

90

5

Joseph Tang

Theory

Pass

75

Trombone

5

Thomas Hubbard

Pass

112

5

Matthew Thomas-Peter Piano

Pass

113

5

Marcus Keating

Oboe

Merit

120

5

David Heaton

Tuba

Merit

122

5

Sophie Wright

Piano

Merit

123

5

Vicki Rounding

Singing

Merit

125

5

Penny Boxall

Piano

Merit

126

5

Sarah Crompton

127

5

Singing ' Piano

Merit

Emma Mackenzie

Merit

235

5

Philip Walton

Drum Kit

Honours

203

6

Penny Boxall

Violin

Pass

237

6

Helen Gray

Clarinet

Pass

151

6

Victoria Sugden

Clarinet

Pass

159

6

Alex Hetmanski

Clarinet

Pass

181

6

Robyn Webster

Tuba

Merit

125

6

Alice Scruton

Classical Sax

Merit

195

7

John Ramsden

Clarinet

Pass

150

7

Chloe Johnson

Violin

Pass

107

7

Pippa Bailey

Cello

Merit

125

7

Sally Henderson

Flute

Merit

126

7

Duncan Downes

Double Bass

Merit

236

7

Robyn Webster

Voice

Merit

146

8

Matthew Welsh

Horn

Pass

too

8

Natalie Baldry

Piano

Merit

128

Honours

83%

Certificate in Music Performance: Pipp Saul-Harrah Violin

The Peterite 2001 -2002


Drama Thirty Dramatic Years Dear Ian This is by way of saying thank you for the experience. When I watched your production of The Caretaker in 1975, I could not have anticipated I should see thirty-one more plays under your direction ~ not just thirty years of drama, but at least thirty-five separate plays with which you have been directly involved. There were proba-

You transcended the limitations of the Memorial Hall. I still don't quite know where I put the audience for Cabaret when you took one third of the main floor for your stage. You only made the problem worse with Grease two years later when the action occupied the entire auditorium and left me just the stage. I don't think anyone else would ever thought of turning the whole Hall round ~ but it worked. What will you have to think about when you are invigilating in there now?

Presentation fo Ian Lowe on completing 30 years as producer of the School Play, Christmas 2001 The plague was made by Mike Dawson, Head of Design and Technology, and incorporates

bly as many again where you helped colleagues: Middle-School plays and St Olave's productions. It was not beyond you to be involved with three at a time ~ Roots, Twist, and Look Back in Anger all running together in 1995. The best of these combinations was surely the 1983 back-to-back staging of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead with Waiting for Godot ~ each illuminating the other to marvellous effect It cannot be co-incidence that a boy who acted in one and his sister in the other are now both well known and established in the profession of Drama. It is beyond my ability to estimate how many such actors have enjoyed working with you ~ or how many have at least thought afterwards, "I'm really glad I did that." I only ever twice tried to stage a play on my own; but those experiences showed me exactly how hard you worked over the years. Almost invariably you began with a rewrite of the full text to fit it to what you knew would be available. I still laugh over your inability to remove all traces of a character called Pedro in The Royal Hunt of the Sun: we would both scour your revisions of the text to be sure he had gone ~ and two scenes later, on would come his disinherited donkey. The Peterite 2001-2002

You made use of all the different possibilities of the first Drama Centre: the technical innovation of producing Antony's speech at the assassination of Caesar on national television had a powerful effect on our interpretation of Heil Caesar and its resonances in the modern world. The Dame Judi Dench Theatre gave new possibilities, especially of entrance and exit ~ but you never forgot that, whatever the setting, what matters is the quality of the acting. For me, the second greatest pleasure of all the years was seeing and hearing you apparently effortlessly acted off the stage by Dame Judi Dench as Cleopatra. As on that special evening, the purpose of your writing was always to give the best possible vehicle for the actors. These you had often held in mind for a few years as pupils developed through the School. Especially when it came to Shakespeare, you identified Hamlet, Macbeth, Othello and lago, Antony and Cleopatra, Romeo and Juliet - and probably your King Lear - long before the people themselves had any idea what they were fated to experience. You were brilliant at making the best of any limitations, turning them into strengths. Players would find themselves cast as characters for performances which enabled them to draw upon their own personalities. To call it type-casting would be far too crude. Would 'identity-matching' be better? There are many stories. Antigone was counterpointed by a moth which hovered in the main light for an entire evening: Psyche attending the drama. Was it Cleopatra who was scared of wasps - and who determinedly got through her entire performance while being buzzed? It was certainly Joan of Arc whose ignition at the stake was accompanied by the sirens of fire-engines coming along Clifton. How did anyone keep a straight face? But for all the fact that I saw almost all of every performance of every pro-

the original printer's plate for the programme of "Heil Caesar",

1979.

duction, it was only at the end that I really came to understand what it has all been about. I was very apprehensive when you approached me to play the part of Kent in King Lear. Had it not been your final production, I should certainly have said no - not least at the idea of being identity-matched with a foolish, grey-bearded old man. But I said yes, and began to experience all the pleasure and anxiety of learning (or trying to learn) lines and movements. The engagement built-up. It was a delight to be working with you in a production, rather than doing jobs for you. It was an equal delight to watch and work with the pupil-actors.

Once it came to the performances, the intensity grew further, and I began to feel I was learning to act. I could read the lines and - for the first time, though I have taught Lear for twenty years - to know what they mean in their fullest expression. I would not have missed it for the world. Nor would the others who were involved. Thirty years of School Productions. I do not suppose anyone anywhere has ever done more. Now, at last, I know what your productions have meant for all those years, what all your pupilactors have experienced and gained. On my behalf and most of all on theirs, thank you. David


Drama

King Lear Review When I discovered that this year's main production at St. Peter's was to be Shakespeare's epic tragedy King Lear, I was anxious for those involved. For one of our major professional companies to embark on this play - the Everest of the theatrical canon - is a major undertaking. For a school to do so seemed folly. I had, of course, reckoned without taking into consideration the amazing energy and talent of those involved. The final production was a theatrical triumph that thoroughly engaged all those who were fortunate enough to see it. Central to the play's success was Ian Lowe. His extraordinary performance as the beleaguered King was an appropriate close to thirty years' involvement in the theatre. Astonishing was the speed with which one went from regarding Ian as a colleague to considering him King of Britain. The emotional range demanded by the part is notorious, yet Ian captured the awful tragic curve of the King's career from contentment to abject helplessness quite beautifully. The King's madness was terrifyingly evoked, the soliloquies naturally emerging from the characterisation rather than being "bolted on" set pieces. This was, in short, a performance that would not have disgraced the professional stage.

Intelligently edited and clearly focused, the most impressive aspect of the production was its attention to detail. There is a great deal of territory to cross in the play, but I was continually struck by the way that individual gestures and emphases brought out the heart of the tragedy. To take one example: the blinding of G l o u c e s t e r (Andrew Rogerson) can often become a ghastly gore-fest on stage, the audience so appalled that the paradoxical response is mortified laughter. In this production, however, a director sensitive to the theatrical situation evoked a sense of Gloucester's terrible plight. The scene was terrifying in its casual cruelty, but it also provoked real empathy for the subject of these horrors. An experienced and sensitive directorial hand was on the tiller of this production throughout.

One of the real delights of the production was the quality of the verse speaking. Particularly impressive in this regard was Alan Crompton. Edgar's impersonation of Poor Tom of Bedlam often leads to a lack of clarity with regard to what is being said. On this occasion Alan's pointing of the verse meant that the lines (and thus the character) were as clear as a bell. The moral differences between Edgar and his illegitimate brother Edmund (Duncan Downes) were neatly embodied in the physical and vocal contrast between the two actors. The latter's hard-edged delivery of the lines thrown into relief by Alan's more mellifluous delivery.

terrible cruelty, the latter no less ghastly, but softly insinuating. Any theatrical production is only as strong as the weakest actor on stage and in this respect the production was blessed - the smaller parts were expertly played. Oswald (Peter Townson) was a contemptible time-server, his willingness to please occasionally comic. Rachael Saxon's Cordelia was the quietest, the stillest character in any scene she appeared in; yet an unbending sense of principle was the keynote of the performance. Louise Foody brought the most problematic character in Shakespeare - Lear's Fool - to life through her relentless energy and impressive vocal range. On the evening I saw it, King Lear played to an appreciative audience packed into the Dame Judi Dench Theatre. It was particularly satisfying to be present at an event that was the consequence of a genuine collaboration between staff and pupils and to be reminded of the immediacy with which this great play continues to communicate some 400 years after it was written. I would like to take this opportunity to thank all those involved for a wonderful theatrical experience. A Murray

I know through directing school productions that casting is crucial. This aspect of the piece had clearly been attended to with some care. Regan and Goneril are often crudely presented as "the ugly sisters" of traditional pantomime. Here they were superbly played by Hannah Lloyd and Emily Adam, the former blank and detached in her The Peterite 2001-2002


Drama

Middle School Play

'DEAR WJVTW

Members of the third and fourth form put on an outstanding performance of J.M. Barrie's play "Dear Brutus". Set on Mid-summers Eve, an unlikely group of visitors have been assembled by the eccentric Lob, brilliantly portrayed by David Heaton. The audience eavesdrop on the post dinner conversations to discover that each is unhappy in their own way. The seemingly professional butler (Josh Tindell) is in fact a thief, whilst Mrs Purdie (Chloe Johnson) is forced to watch on with growing spite as her adulterous husband (Richard Thomas) charms his flirtatious mistress (Sarah Crompton). The first act ends with the appearance of a magical wood offering those who enter a second chance. The curious houseguests venture in to explore. given a second chance. "Dear Brutus" attracted large audiences on all three nights who were treated to a real gem, with convincing and touching performances from all the actors. SJH

In the wood, Mr Dearth (Carl Burton) finds fulfilment in his love of a daughter, delightfully played by Phoebe Harrison, whilst the snooty Lady Caroline (Rebecca Jacobs) is romanced by the butler made good.

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The Peterite 2001-2002

The play leaves the wittiest act until last. Including a series of perfectly delivered one-liners, the guests return to the house and wake from the dream imposed by the magic wood. The play also delivers its moral message as many decisions are made and the audience is left asking themselves what they would do if they were


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The following pieces were produced by the Creative Writing group in response to the publication of this year's Booker Prize shortlist. "Hotel World" Elizabeth Fishley- IVth Form 'The Moore Arch Hotel", a fabulous building. The white window frames set against dark bricks and the red tiled roof hold many memories. I remember living in the attic, in the servants' quarters, sharing a room with a blonde girl, I forget her name. She was clumsy, never should have worked here, but Mr Vermont, our boss, was a kind man, never turned anyone away. Whenever he was here, the hotel just seemed to be full with warmth. Things have changed a lot since then, the exterior is the only thing that's retained its class. It's no longer a cosy family business, no longer has the charm it once did. But times change and so, I've noticed, do people. "!..v

I've seen many types walk through these hotel doors over the past century. Some I'd rather forget, others who have made me smile on many occasions, but I'll never forget those five women who checked in last year. Only four checked out.

tolerable. Nick wasn't sure that the phoomph noise really counted as something for which to live, but it certainly made a good start (along with popping bubble-wrap and finishing The Times cryptic crossword). The problem was that Nick Bridges really was a dark mustard sort of person. He jumped at the sudden, unexpected noise of someone knocking at the door. Scratching his forehead and moulding his eyebrows into that particular shape that said thank you but I'm busy, he lolloped downstairs and swung the door open. The woman standing in his doorway was oddly familiar, but Nick's inability to remember why made the situation somehow unwholesome - like someone wearing your favourite jumper, minus the hole above the left elbow. The fabric was still there, but it was so inarguably not yours without the recognisable flaw. "May I help you?"

The first of this quintet was a quiet soul. She was here as a birthday treat from her son, Mrs Briggs was her name. I remember her eyes, they were sparkling blue, always smiling from behind her creased face. I could instantly tell she was a genuinely kind person. After a century of practice, I'm quite experienced at judging people. She was patiently waiting at the desk, had been doing so for quite some time when the second of these people walked in. She liked to make an entrance, that was for sure, marching through the doors with her sunglasses and fur wrap. Her loud voice dominating the quiet chatter of the nearby bar, and all heads suddenly turned in her direction. She barged straight to the front of the line, announcing that she was Mrs Terry-Bowles and that she requested the penthouse suite for a period of two weeks. Her painted nails tapped on the desk as the assistant tried to explain that there was a short queue and that Mrs Terry-Bowles would have to wait her turn. She got her way in the end, she seemed to have always got her way. I'd seen plenty of people like this, being oblivious to the fact that the world didn't actually revolve around them, that they weren't society's first priority. I had coped with these people, accepted that they were selfish ignorant people. But the way she looked at Mrs Briggs, the condescending manner in which she glanced at the kind, patient woman who had made no objection when pushed roughly aside, gave me instant contempt for her. I followed her for the next two days, her every move being watched by me. The fact that she didn't even notice my presence made me dislike her even more. At least with the others I'd have had some satisfaction from their fear, but she, this self-obsessed person who'd obviously spent a great deal of her life under the knife of a plastic surgeon, she didn't even acknowledge my attempt to "haunt" her.

"Hotel World" Penny Boxall- IVth Form Nick Bridges had arranged the suits on the bed, in descending shades of brown. After careful consideration, he picked up one in dark mustard, with wide lapels and a faint pinstripe. He had been told on several occasions that it went with his colouring; deciding, on balance, that he would really rather not be a dark mustard sort of person, he folded it neatly into a black bin-liner and plumped it into the corner of the room. He enjoyed that quiet phoomph noise that the bin-liner made as it expelled excess air. Life's small pleasures, he had once read, can make the boring parts more

"Nick." "Yes - Nick Bridges." The woman pushed past him and made for the nearest chair. "May I help you?" Nick asked again, helplessly. He wasn't much good at helping, but his use of the phrase made him sound like a used-car salesman. He stopped himself, just in time, from saying it again. What information Nick managed to glean from the woman in the next ten minutes was confusing, to say the least. "What did you say your name was?" "Oh please, I cannot believe you sometimes." "Well, that's not entirely surprising. You have spent exactly" - he checked his watch - "twelve minutes in my company." The woman was delving in her handbag, triumphantly pulling a piece of paper from inside her wallet. "Here. Read it." The piece of paper was ripped into a single-lined rectangle, with a name and number scrawled messily on it. It could have been anyone's writing. But the number was unmistakably his. Hmmmm. "I'm sorry, but I think there must be some mistake." And, to clear up any loose ends, Nick added, "I'm rather busy at the moment, as you may have noticed." His eyebrows had started to do that thing again. It was rather useful, really. Gentle but firm. "Now listen, Sandra," (for this - he had finally discovered- was her name) "I don't know if this is some elaborate joke, but I don't know where you got my number, I'm tired of discussing it already, and I have some clothes to colour-code." Damn. That really didn't sound too great spoken aloud. The Peterite 2001 -2002


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Nick started to notice something odd approximately twenty-four minutes after Sandra's arrival (he had been timing it, surreptitiously, on his watch). Firstly, he recognised her as the daughter of the newsagent. Aha. Secondly, he deduced that she was insane.

Year.

"Look, I'm a busy man. If you could get to your point round about now, I'd be happy."

"Three, two, one ...." They exchanged happy glances in the last second of the century.

"Well, aren't you going to ask?"

"Happy New Year!" At once, the crowd burst into a simultaneous smile as they traded polite kisses and embraces.

"Seven, six, five, four...." Their voices were growing louder, until they were shouting.

This was getting slightly tedious. "Ask what precisely?" "The sum of your digits came to one thousand, seven hundred and ninetyone. Reversed, they came to the year of my birth - nineteen seventy-one - so, you see, it's only logical that we are destined for each other." "What?" "The digits of your telephone number."

After a few minutes, everyone regained their more tranquil state and found their way out of the double French windows to the firework display. I joined them, and soon we were making the appropriate noises of delight as the bright, vast fountains and flowers etched their way onto the sky. When the fireworks had finished and the cold was seeping through our heavy winter coats and scarves, we returned to the warmth and glow of indoors. We again arranged ourselves on the edges of sofas and armchairs.

" ....Ah." Nick decided that it was probably time-saving to vaguely agree with her. But he couldn't help noticing something about her that made him feel sad; an indefinable lost-summer feeling; something that would never come back. It puzzled him as she explained the intricate mathematics behind her reasoning, like a maze in which the core was always just out of reach.

Suddenly, from somewhere between this floor and the one above, came a raw, terrified scream, and the room was frozen like glass.

It came to him later, after he had fetched her a cup of tea, thinking that it was probably better to let her tell him what no one else would listen to. He'd leant over the table with a plate of biscuits, so she could choose. He smelt her perfume. It all came back in that instant. He knew the perfume; and, with it, the excruciating feeling of loss of a thing he didn't know he'd had.

The days and years to come could never be anticipated, not by one so young. Nothing in her life was sufficiently interesting or shameful to merit hiding; no one knew about the squirrel's skull beneath her bed, but no one wanted to know. As the world passed by, she watched with a mind set on recreating it. At the age of thirteen, Briony had discovered that her gift for writing gave her total power, not over reality, but over a world where she was the ultimate - the creator. Her innate ability to tell a story with the conviction of a lawyer and the determination of someone convinced they "know" what they have seen, tears her family apart.

When she had gone, Nick went back upstairs to his dismal little room. After kicking the bin-liner several times - lifting it up onto the toe of his boot, dropping it, listening to that eternally satisfying phoomph noise - he opened it up, pulled out the dark mustard suit, dusted it down. Then he fetched its special marked coat hanger, and hung it safely in the wardrobe.

"Hotel World" AN Smith - Upper IVth Form By 11 o'clock, the reception room of the Montgomery Hotel was alive with laughter. Red velvet curtains hung luxuriously to the floor, gathered in the middle with vast golden tassels. The plush cream carpet silenced the sound of expensive high-heeled shoes. Champagne glasses chinked; Alice lost some inhibitions and was dancing around in an unrestrained manner. Vera perched on the edge of her red leather sofa, her face composed and demure. She did not approve of alcohol. I sat in a corner, with a group of friends. Most wore bright paper hats and happy expressions to match, and everyone had a slender glass of fine champagne. Their faces, numerous and animated as the bubbles, were cheerful and their laughter exploded like the bursting spheres. My glass needed refilling, and so I detached myself from the group and walked to the central buffet. I reached down for the chilled bottle and poured the liquid into my glass. The faces seen through it were distorted and caricatured, with longer noses and more ridiculous grins. I returned to the group and let the conversation wash over me. It was almost midnight, and everyone had an air of anticipation. After twelve, I will have been born in a different century, I thought. It was a strange idea, like stepping into an unknown world. Eventually, at five to midnight, someone turned the television on. The revellers in Edinburgh seemed so different - they jostled and danced outside in the chilling darkness while we sat around in consciously relaxed poses. We joined in the countdown to the new millennium. "Ten, nine, eight...." People recharged their glasses, ready to toast the New The Peterite 2001-2002

"Opening 10"RuthWainaina- Lower Vlth Form

A life not known for excitement and panache encouraged Briony in her secretiveness. Slowly retreating into her imaginary world she watched reality pass by. The hustle and bustle of life was no match for the adventures she created in her mind. Her sense of expectancy to become a famous writer grew with every short story she wrote, confidence in her powerful ability growing by the day but the ability to interact with others diminishing. Those outside her worftf- longed to enter hers, but this world was her own and she would not reveal it to anyone, not until she was ready. The trees sparked images of magic, the wind of a secret, but people, people were her true fascination. The true innocence with which she placed herself in the mind and body of another was without true moral understanding but this meant nothing to one who could escape from her own life and enter another's. To Briony, life was nothing without words she loved to hear people talk but even more loved writing about it. She had the imagination of someone high on drugs, but the understanding of one who had never really experienced life for herself, just her perception of life from others. A sweltering midsummer's day mirrored the heat of the day's events. Briony wandered around the house party; a silent observer and witness to events that made her imagination run wild. The mind of a child is not mature enough to understand events advanced even in an adult's world of thinking, but nevertheless she is forced to witness something that fits in to the story being built in her mind and therefore seems perfectly plausible to one so innocent. The heat engulfed the whole estate, making the rapeseed in adjoining fields envelope the estate with radiance like the sun. The trees were a lush green and the grass perfectly soft for bare feet. Children ran all around, adults gazing on with an air of maturity but a secret desire to join in the shedding of all inhibitions only children could truly master. As well as sipping tea and nibbling on scones, this was an ideal middle-class family situation. Briony could not see this. The struggle for identity and need for social acceptance was alien to her, Briony had her own world and in that she did not need to be accepted, she was the one who accepted others. In her world, Briony called all the shots...


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"The Flood"

Daisy Cannons - Lower Vlth An almost man, essentially rational .Even though only reason blinds man to man. Now he sits still as stone

Waiting, Time rattles through his bones. He looks through a long window at Bare, barren landscape. Spindly trees like stick insects /;;,£][:: Contorted in their thick air,

Choked Breathless against a blood-red sky streaked with kind orange, ';. The book lies closed collecting dangerous dust. There is no point. Only a lack of subject matter. :: : ; : ••:.-.. . v : :'-. • • • ' • • - • • ' • ' •

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"September Mourning" Alan Mak - Upper Vlth On that bright September morn, without warning to us all So many lives were shattered as we watched two towers fall. A billion souls felt empty, and the flags at half-mast fly In memory of those innocents, who did not have to die. They tost brothers, sisters, families and friends • .; But we have chosen not to forget those lives, nor their tragic ends. Though we have our share of troubles, we put them all aside For as their nation grieves, we defend our liberty with pride, j Evil-doers make excuses for what they have done and said But their acts of inhumanity bring defiance and unity instead. For we stand here today as one: in heart, in soul and in voice That moment challenged us, but we remain united by choice.... We are a world of survivors, and with one heart, we shed a tear. Yet, we live to serve their memory, but never yielding to fear.

"Small Change" (A poem written on the introduction of the Euro). Penny Boxall - IVth Form On the reverse of the outdated disc Lion and Unicorn, carved and chiselled, Clasp the Royal Crest. Harp and solitary lion Printed minutely; Rose and thistle lean. Perhaps, one day, This coin, too, will be dug from soil And locked Under glass.

Helen Hildebrand - Lower Vlth She waits in fear for the flood. An uninvited guest, Unwelcome and unexpected, She cannot predict it Though when the rain starts She knows it's coming. It casts a shadow of despair, Destroys all she has built, Washes away all she has achieved, Since the last time. She cannot resist, "j:f;?;; It carries her away, !;;;.:.;;:. Engulfed, drowning. Y ; =:; And when it has passed, She picks up the broken remains And rebuilds.

"How can I say My Love?" Holly Hughes - IVth form How can I say my love? He's my love, my soul, my own. Te amo. S'agapo. Se ret lay. ..':•• -ii^j;;'{& He's handsome, and he's perfect for me. :•: He compliments me when I'm jealous. He holds me when I'm blue. :,:; : Je t'adore. Ich liebe dich. Ai shi-te imasu. :! '•'.•'•!•.••"• It's on long, dark nights that I realise P::;;";...;i:He is ail I need, and I need him, too. Une te dua. Nagligivaget. :;;/i; : ; I comfort him when he is weeping. \v';;t;:;:: And he only ever weeps with me. ; iiFif iji!;; We lean upon each other. ;••;•!;:':;:••:..; In tears, in laughter, in pain. Ya lyublyu tyebya. Testimo molt., >; ;• And I have to say, I'm sure I'm positive he loves me. And even if he doesn't... There's no point, no question, I know. Ani ohev otakh. Aloha wau la oe. I can't imagine not being with him, . ; ;::;!j;.;;;i;j|>^ We've been together so long. '; : .-j;;i;'' Which is why I find it so easy. To say my love to him. Seni Seviyorum. Du stet darum. Mina rakkastan sinua. Wo ai ni. Jien inhobbok. Thaim in grabh teat. Jag alskar dig. : I love you.

The Peterite 2001-2002

4E»


SeniirCommon Room Senior Common Room 2001/2002 Head Master

History

A F TROTMAN J.P. MA (Balliol College, Oxford).

R C G DRYSDALE, M.A. (St. Andrew's), Head of Department.

Deputy Head Master R C PERRY, M.Ed. (Stirling).

Mrs P GARBUTT, B.A. (Leeds). R C PERRY, M.Ed. (Stirling). Miss A t£W6, BA (Durham), P.G.C.E.

Director of Studies D J WATKINSON, B.Sc. (Sheffield).

Information Technology M R T JONES, Cert. Ed. (Bretton Hall College of Higher

Senior Chaplain The Revd J DALY, M.A. (Fitzwilliam College, Cambridge).

Education), Head of Department. Mathematics D J SPENCER, B.Sc. (Leeds), Head of Department.

Art

Miss 6 TERRY, B.A.(Falmouth College of Art),

D J WATKINSON, B.Sc. (Sheffield).

M.A.(Birrningham College of Art), Head of Department.

A W ELLIS-DAVIES, B.Sc. (University College of North

C W HALL, MA (Leeds Metropolitan). Miss L BASS, MA (Camberwell Art College). Miss J CAWSEY, M.A. (Royal College of Art, London) Artist in Residence.

Senior Common Room Joining the staff in September were Andrew Murray (Head of English), Jenny Houghton (Head of German), Ruth Hockenhull (Biology), Sam Hall (Geography), Pauline Garbutt (History), Bradley Owen (Assistant in Linton), Justine Cawsey (Artist-in-Residence) and, returning after a year, Lindsay Stark. Social events during the course of the year included the Christmas party and a quiz, both involving all three schools. Two cricket fixtures were arranged against an Old Peterite XI and Copmanthorpe CC. With some outside help, the annual tennis match against the School ended in a draw.

Wales). N A MATKIN, B.Sc. (Leeds). Mrs M C WIKE, B.Sc. (Loughborough). M HALL, B.Sc. (Edinburgh).

We congratulated the Gillingham and Dransfield families on the happy events of the births of Harriet and Isaac Samuel respectively.

D TILDESLEY, B.Sc. (Birmingham), M.Sc. (York). Biology C LAWRENCE, MA (Selwyn College, Cambridge), Head of Department. M A MONTEITH, B.Sc. (Newcastle). P J STEPHEN, B.Ed. (Durham). OR R HOCKENHULL, B.Sc., Ph.D., (London)

Modern Languages C A HODSDON, B.A. (Lancaster), Head of Department. Mrs J BAINBRIDGE, B.A. (Durham). M DUFFY, BA (Stirling), P.G.C.E. M J GRANT, B.A. (Manchester Polytechnic). Mrs J M HOUGHTON, BA (Bath).

Careers/Personal and Social Education

Head of German

R H HUBBARD, B.Sc. (Manchester), Head of

J W G SHAW, B.A. (Leeds).

Department.

Miss A MOORE, B.A. (Nottingham).

Chemistry

Music

P D NORTHFIELD, B.Sc.(Manchester), CChem., F.R.S.C.,

A P WRIGHT, B.Mus. (London), L.R.A.M., Director of Music.

Head of Department.

C BLOOD, A.R.C.M. Cert. Adv. Study. (Royal College of

I H LANCASTER, B.Sc. (Birmingham).

Music, London), Head of Wind Studies.

R 6 SHREAO, B.Tech.(Bradford), M.Sc. (York), F.V.C.M,

J PENNINGTON, B.Mus. (London) School Organist.

Mrs L STARK, B.Sc. (Leeds).

Ms M K LAMB, LRAM. (Royal Academy of Music), Head of String Studies.

Classics P TAYLOR, M.A. (Liverpool), Head of Department. Miss E ELLIS, B.A. (Corpus Christi, Oxford). Economics/Business Studies Mr A SEVERN, B.A. (York), Head of Department Mr R W DOYLE, B.Sc. (Cardiff). Mr M PAINTER, BA (York), P.G.C.E.

J MOORS, B.A. (York) (Head of Music St. Olave's) Physical Education and Games M W JOHNSTON, B.A. (Newcastle Polytechnic), P.G.C.E.,

Towards the end of the year, several changes of House staff for next year were announced: Claire Wike stepped down from Clifton, to be succeeded by Paul Taylor; Maurice and Elie Monteith succeed Rob and Sian Doyle in Linton; Elisabeth Ellis takes up responsibility for Grove. We wish them all well in their new appointments. At the end of the year we said goodbye to our leavers in customary fashion on the Music School lawn. Tributes to Dick Hubbard, who retires after thirty-four years of distinguished service in a variety of roles, Georgina Terry, who moves to Cheltenham after ten years, and Anna Lewis, who takes up her new post at Brighton, appear elsewhere. There were also presentations to Justine Cawsey, who leaves after a year as Artist-in-Residence, and to Anna Moore, with best wishes for her marriage during the summer holiday.

Head of Department. Mrs W M SHEPHERD, Cert. Ed. (Bedford College of Physical Education) Head of Girls' Games. Mrs P A FLETCHER, Cert. Ed. (Coventry College of Education).

English A MURRAY, MA (Glasgow), Head of Department. Mrs S M QAIR, MA (York). Mrs M HOPKINSON, MA (London). D J HUGHES, B.A. (York).

Physics D K MORRIS, B.Sc. (Liverpool), Head of Department. M A EDWARDS, B.Sc. (Durham). R H HUBBARD, B.Sc. (Manchester). A W ROGERSON, MA (York).

I M K LOWE, BA (York) (Head of Department of General Studies).

Religious Studies

J A OWEN-BARNETT, BA(Open), Cert. Ed. (Borough

The Revd J DALY, MA (Fitzwilliam College, Cambridge),

Road College, Middlesex).

Chaplain. Mrs S M WATKINSON, B.A. (Nottingham).

Geography D M PATERSON, BA (Durham), Head of Department. Miss S J HALL, M.Sc. (Newcastle). Mrs A TOOBY-SMITH, B.A. (Aberystwyth).

Technology M DAWSON, Cert. Ed., (St. John's College, York), Head of Department. R WALLACE, B.Sc. (Surrey).

Government and Politics P C TAYLOR, B.A. (Durham), Head of Department. R C PERRY, M.Ed. (Stirling).

Librarian

Finally, after six years as SCR Chairman, I am handing over the reins to Richard Drysdale. I take this opportunity to thank colleagues for their support and to wish Richard well. I also thank Elisabeth Ellis for her support as Secretary, a position she has understandably had to relinquish in order to concentrate on her new responsibilities. Sam Hall has kindly agreed to take over the position.

Mrs A J M PEDLEY MA (Newnham College, Cambridge) MCLIP.

P Taylor The Peterite 2001-2002


Senior Common Roorrf " I

Anna Lewis

Georgina Terry

Dick Hubbard

It is difficult to believe that Anna was only with us for two years before affairs of the heart took her south of Watford Gap. The impact she had in that short time was immense. Anna came to us as a NOT and if all new entrants to the profession were of her calibre the teaching profession would be in safe hands.

Georgina joined St. Peter's in 1992 from Christ's Hospital School in Horsham, where she had been an Artist in Residence. She soon established herself as a colourful and enthusiastic member of the school community. During her time at St. Peter's she instigated a most successful Artist in Residence scheme and the move of the Art Department from its site above the cricket pavilion to what is now the Politics Department and more recently to its current location on the Lower Campus.

At Management Day I heard Dick recycle his old self-deprecating introduction for one final time. "I'm the school has-been" he says and goes on to mention one or two things he has been at the school. It wasn't any funnier on Friday than on the many previous occasions, but it was more poignant! In 34 years at the school what hasn't he been?

Georgina's unconventional and sometimes controversial teaching style made her popular with her students and led to the record breaking results that brought national recognition and a place in The Guinness Book of Records. Her focused approach and ability to communicate with children of all ages have clearly been factors in her development over the years, as have her beliefs in alternative medicine and methods of learning. Students have been actively encouraged to meditate in her lessons. This was indeed a sight to behold, particularly with some of the more lively members of the Sixth Form!

Anna taught Politics and History. She was an innovative teacher who was keen to try out new methods and her pupils responded enthusiastically to her dedication and her concern for their well being and academic progress. She had a light touch and there was always laughter around her. Who could forget the St. Valentine's campaign "Who would you give your last Rolo to?" or the "Do you seriously want to be a Smarty Millionaire?" charity exercise. Anna was a House Tutor in Dronfield. Her contribution to the running of the House was greatly appreciated by Matthew and Clare Grant. The girls of Dronfield responded well to her warm and friendly personality and always knew that Anna would provide a listening ear for their concerns. She had a sense of fun which boarders appreciated: soirees for her tutees as well as for the rest of the House in her 'penthouse' accommodation were a revolutionary idea. Anna was also keenly involved in the middle school drama. She was the producer of last summer's "Dear Brutus" which was so highly praised and enjoyed by both audience and participants. Her energy seemed boundless. We wish her well at Brighton College. R C G Drysdale

Although not renowned for her sporting prowess, Georgina did contribute to the school's extra curricular programme. Her Cross Country sessions are legendary - perhaps not necessarily for the right reasons! Georgina was a tutor in The Rise and latterly in Temple House. She will be missed by many pupils, both for her pastoral support and her unique way of bringing out the best in her pupils. She leaves St. Peter's to take up the post of Head of Art at Cheltenham Ladies College. We wish her well. C W Hall

Pastorally he started out as an Assistant Housemaster in Dronfield, became the Housemaster of Queens (and briefly Grove) and was the first elected Chairman of the SCR. Academically he has been a teacher of Physics, the begetter of PSE (despite all the condoms), the Head of Careers turning the department from a cubbyhole in the music school to the prestige spot on the guided tour. On the Games Field he was master in charge of hockey, when the team's results were more spotless than their shorts; coach of the third fifteen - the infamous "Club" and an athletics coach (particularly for the shot). He has taken scout and D of E groups camping, helped create Expedition Day, organised Peter's Walk, discovering the Boroughbridge route. He has been in charge of Stage Lighting, produced a musical, run the May Ball, organised with Jen the best of the Christmas parties, helped create the egg race ... I could go on and on but I won't, because actually in the end it won't be for the things that he has done that we will miss Dick. The reassuring thing about this job is that we are all replaceable - if what we do is that important, someone else will take it over; if not, something else will take its place. We will miss Dick for what he is the most caring, thoughtful and compassionate colleague I have ever worked with. The great teachers are those that have the understanding and insight to recognise when someone needs help and support and who then makes the time to give it them. Few have done so as often for their pupils as Dick has, no one has done it so consistently for his colleagues. The quiet word, the phone call, the glass of sherry, the letter of thanks, the invitation to help that gives you the sense of being valued, the protective loyalty to those who work with him - these are the things we really will miss. All this from a man whose most obvious quality is diffidence. The earliest The Peterite 2001-2002


Senior Common Room

story I know about Dick and St. Peter's is from when he first visited the Boarding House where he was going to live. He came with a friend. The housemaster invited them in, sat them down and, after a pause asked, "Which of you is Dick Hubbard". There was a longer pause. Eventually one of them pointed at the other and said "He is". Self-effacing, shy, modest - he hasn't changed a lot since then, except perhaps in his willingness to overcome such feelings if others would benefit. After all here is the man who was congenitally nervous of the telephone but still agreed to take over Careers. Even now Dick is the most frustrating person to have an argument with - because he will always let you win. It's only later when you check the facts or reconsider the viewpoint that you realise he was, more often than not, right all along - but then winning for Dick has always been less important than caring about the people taking part. Already I've said far too much for his peace of mind and far too little to do him justice. Just

two other details some colleagues may not know - a couple of "traditions" that he is at least partly responsible for. One is the bi-annual musical which he resurrected firstly through his own production of "Oh What a Lovely War" and then by achieving the far more difficult task of getting me to work with Andrew. Throughout the 90s it was always Dick's name on the contract that promised I wouldn't change a note or a word of the original - I think his interest in prison visiting dates from that time! The other tradition, now sadly almost lapsed, is that of saying farewell to senior colleagues in a partic-

ular way - almost lapsed, but not quite The staff then sang a selection of songs from 'Oh What A Lovely War1 with suitably modified words. I M K Lowe

RHH's Chapel Address At the end of the Summer Term DickHubbard gave this address at the final Chapel Service.

something, but as the start of the next chapter of my life.

.Thank you Pippa and Andrew; I realty enjoyed that, particularly since 1 chose it; it was splendid.

So where will you be on that Monday at the start of September.

In idlt moments in recent weeks in invigiiations, in physics lessons or even staff meetings, my mind has wandered and being a scientist it has revolved around some facts and figures. For me St. Peter's has been; five Head Masters, Mil' five Deputies or Second Masters, five Chaplains, but I'm sorry Andrew only two Directors of Music. I then started to look far 'a one' and the only one I eould think of, was the man who comes to wind the clock on the Memorial Hall and I haven't seen him for some weeks, but as the clock is still going there is hope, thank goodness. Then it started to become a little silly; 4,200 Chapels which, if you include Sundays, means about 13,000 hymns, 8,200 school lunches, 4,000 games sessions, but when I got to 34,000 physics lessons, I gave up and thought how sad this was. And you thought you had problems, I have never been very good at looking back. Indeed \ have a confession to make, I have never read a Peterite magazine because it is about last year not this. Yesterday is gone, let it go. Those things you did, that you should; n't cannot be recalled. "If only \ had" or "I : wish I had" or "I should have" are the most useless of phrases. Today is to be lived and enjoyed and tomorrow is to be anticipated and planned for. ,- /:& I think of this weekend not as the end of

The Peterite 2001-2002

You who are finishing the third forms, you will be fourth formers. No longer the bottom of the pile but embarking on your GCSE courses in earnest. It has never been an easy year but you will survive it. : And you fourth formers, you will be in the fifths. GCSEs will be looming and the start of your choosing of A-Levels and career. You will be fine, and I am sure that your exams will go well. And those of you who have just finished your GCSEs, you will be pleased I am sure on results day. You will be in the tower sixth, starting on A-Levels and with difficult decisions to make such as what to wear and whose party is next weekend. Some of you will be starting your final year. ALevels suddenly become close and decisions about Higher Education, University, Career, GAP year suddenly have to be mad€. I know that for alt of you in the end, everything wilt be fine. But some of us will not be meeting here. Exciting and rather scary isn't it A few wilt be at new schools, and many of you will be preparing for GAP years or university or a career. A few of my colleagues wilt be starting new jobs. Georgina, Anna, I wish you well. Even I know where I shall be on Monday, September the 2nd. I shall be doing voluntary work in a local prison. Perhaps St. Peter's has been a good training ground. For me it has been a great privilege to have been a schoolmaster, but above all it's been such jolly

good fun. Alt of us who are leaving must take what is good in St. Peter's, and it is a lot, and leave behind the baggage. I suppose that any valedictory remarks should try to pass on the wisdom which older people are supposed to have. I think that is often a myth encouraged by those older people. But so much of what I think is important has been said so many times, so I looked up the meaning of the word 'cliche'. "A phrase devalued by over use". And yet I thought how arrogant that I could say better than Shakespeare, "To thine own self be true" or than St Paul, "And now abide Faith, Hope and Love and the greatest of these is Love". Albert Schweitzer, philosopher, musician, doctor and medicat missionary, perhaps gives me my core philosophy. He said "We all have God given talents, it is up to us to use them to benefit our fellow human beings". But what of my own wishes for you. First you must have hope. Hope for yourselves, for your families, for the future, for your husbands, your wives and your children. And you must all dream dreams. Dreams of a better world and dream how you can make it so. Two final statistics. For me St. Peter's has been 4,500 Peterites and over 700 colleagues and friends in every department of the school. And that is what makes St. Peter's what it is. Head Master, through you, I wish St. Peter's School, whose progress I shall follow with great affection, every success. And to all of you, hope your hopes, dream your dreams, but above all be happy, and may your God go with you. Thank you


News ft Activities Charity Fundraising for the York Cancer Research Unit GRAND TOTAL RAISED - £13,500 ty of competing along side each other as well as raising £3,000 through sponsorships. The day culminated in a well-earned barbeque back at Linton House. Many thanks to all those who have already given up their time, efforts and donations towards such a worthy charity. A Tooby-Smith ft P J Stephen

Charity Fun Run On Saturday February 28th the whole of St. Peter's School took part in a charity fun run to raise money for York Cancer Research Unit. A variety of courses to suit differing abilities were planned for the Ings, but unexpected snow and gales during the early hours of 'run day' put a question mark on the event. But nothing deterred the organisers, and replacement routes were soon found encompassing each of St. Peter's playing fields which quickly resembled mud baths with the pounding of hundreds of pairs of feet. All pupils, staff and many ancilliary staff who took part in the run were in high spirits despite bitter weather conditions, and everyone's efforts raised the fantastic sum of £7,500.

ing a regular feature of the race. As in the two previous years, we scooped all the 'Corporate Team' prizes, finishing 1st. Corporate Men's team (Jonathan McGregor; Jos Spilman; Charlie Hazelrigg), 1st. Corporate Women's team (Dawn

Gibbs; Angela Tooby-Smith; Lara Gibbs) and 1st. Corporate Mixed team (Anna Clarke; James Sugden; James Butterworth). St. Peter's first competitor home was Jonathan McGregor in an impressive time, and Lara Gibbs won 1st. U18 Girls.

BUPA Great North Half Marathon A team of 22 runners comprising Staff, pupils, and Old Boys took part in the world's largest half-marathon on Sunday October 6th. It was an exhilarating experience pounding the duelcarriageways between Newcastle and South Shields amongst 47,000 other runners, despite it taking up to 10 minutes to cross the start line and being restricted to the pace of a tortoise for the first 4 miles - a great excuse to take it easy! St. Peter's team did admirably, deserving not one but two mentions on live television by Brendan Foster. The team completed the course in an average time of 1 hour 57 minutes raising £3,000 towards the 'York Cancer Research Unit1 in the process.

It was another great day where pupils, staff and associates of the school had the rare opportuni-

It was a most memorable occasion, heightened only by the following incidents: Rob Doyle being overtaken along the home straight by the ageing Sir Jimmy Saville.

Beverley 10k Another great day was had at the Beverley 10k race held on Sunday May 12th. This was our second fund-raising event in aid of York Cancer Research Unit and we successfully managed to coerce an impressive team of over 100 entrants from St. Peter's School. The range of ages within those 100 or so runners varied from 60 year old Tim Pedley to 4 year old Eddie Stephen. We once again dominated the applause at the finish line and St. Peter's School is rapidly becom-

Members of the team desperate to trade their hard earned medals for a mere 'Wagon Wheel' nonetheless food! Sitting for three hours on the coach after the event with no hope of exiting the car park due to South Shields' annual gridlock. It was such a good day that we are even considering making it an annual event alongside the Beverley 10K. A Tooby-Smith The Peterite 2001-2002


News ft Activities

Library and Archives

CCF Report 2001/02

The Alcuin Library

You have to find your limits and then push yourself a little further. Ellen Macarthur This year was going to be one of those years, not least because we would be subject to a Biennial Inspection. The Contingent was in good shape - 95 cadets - and in good hands under the leadership of JUO I Basu and CSM W02 J Walker. This year, too, CCF activities were not to be blighted by Foot and Mouth Disease and the section would finally have the opportunity for full-bore shooting.

On Sunday 7 October on Exercise Colts' Canter the St. Peter's team finished fourth in a strong field of teams which represented 11 Schools from across the region. The following weekend on Exercise White Horse the St.Peter's team lead by W02 J Walker competed against 19 Army Cadet Force units who are all affiliated to the Prince of Wales' Own Regiment. In the course of the day they were challenged physically and mentally on the assault course, orienteering, mountain bikes, the aerial slide, military knowledge, a memory test, shooting and a remote command exercise. The St. Peter's team won seven of the eight tasks and was second in the other and finished as clear winners. For the coming year the Section is the holder of a side drum painted in the colours of the Prince of Wales' Own Regiment. This is the first time in the history of the competition that a School section has won this trophy. Congratulations go to the following on an outstanding example of teamwork: W02 J Walker, Sgt A Chalmers, Sgt A Crompton, Sgt C Hazlerigg, Sgt D Henderson, Sgt T Leung, Sgt S Spencer, Sgt P Walton, Sgt T Robinson. The Peterite 2001-2002

The Alcuin Library now stocks well over 15000 items and continues to be a busy part of the School. There has been an increase in class use of our facilities this year and our borrowing statistics show that many pupils and staff appreciate all that the library has to offer. During the summer term there were three opportunities for Air Experience Flying and all available RAF cadets flew at least once. During the Easter holiday JCpl 0 Suckling successfully completed his Gliding Scholarship and was awarded his Silver Wings. As this report is being written Cpl B Lander is awaiting his Gliding Scholarship. Cpl A Holmes will attempt hers in October. The end of the academic year brought the opportunity to attend Summer Camp. No fewer than 56 Army cadets went to Wathgill and 8 RAF cadets went to RAF St. Athan and 5 RAF cadets 'joined' the Regiment at RAF Honington. All 69 cadets thoroughly enjoyed their experiences although the Army cadets felt a little washed out by the end of the week. Outstanding cadet at Army Camp was Cdt G Duke. JCpl M Mikola was nominated as Best Cadet at St. Athan. Many thanks to Sgt A Chalmers who shouldered the responsibility of seeing himself and 4 other cadets arrive at and return from Honington safely. As reported above this was another year for a Biennial Inspection - the means by which the Contingent is assessed for viability and funding. We are grateful to the time that Brigadier Bev Smalley put into forming his report. On Inspection Day he was complimentary in his views on the conduct and enthusiasm of all the cadets and was happy to present the Contingent with a good report. As a result of his observations we have also received funding to have the CCF accommodation revamped which will serve to improve the image of the Cadet Force at St. Peter's. Next year we should, therefore, be in a position to put Ellen Macarthur's words into practice. Sqn Ldr M J Grant VR(T)

As ever I have to say thank you for many splendid gifts to the library. Books have been received from the following Upper Sixth pupils: Simon Austin, Jonathan Batten, Clare Fletcher, Jonathan Fort, Robert Harris, Robert Hayward, Richard Kissack, Thomas Main, Alan Mak, Nicholas Middleton, Alex Porte, Jeremy Rose, Guy Rushton, Helena Sharpe, Philippa Smith, Rose Strickland-Constable, Sarah Thorpe, James Walker, Gavin Westmoreland and Richard Wilson (with his sister, Sarah, who left in 2000). Further items have been received from William Dixon Smith (friend of the School) and Lois Cuthbertson (parent). I do thank all these donors most warmly for their generosity. Undoubtedly the most significant addition to the Alcuin Library this year has been a new member of Staff. Mrs Susie Lockett has joined us as Library Assistant and I now wonder whatever I did before she arrived. (She may well think the same!) My thanks go to her for all her hard work.

Archives Due in large measure to the generosity of John Mitchell whose death we recorded in last year's magazine, I have been able to introduce a new computerised system of cataloguing in the Archives, and to begin to re-box our holdings in archivally sound acid-free materials. The work will take a long time but with patience (mine and archive-users) it will allow us to develop a really useful facility for Old Peterites, present staff, and outside researchers. The addition of a scanner to the Archives means that if you have interesting early pictures of the School we can copy them and return them to you - you no longer need to part with your original treasures and I can use copies rather than valuable originals for exhibition purposes. Donations to the archives have been received from: N R Barton (athletics and swimming programmes, St. Olave's and St. Peter's, 1949-60, concert and chapel programmes and numerous miscellanea); E A K Denison (early photographs); Mr and Mrs F Henderson (silver Yorkshire Public Schools Rugby Football Challenge Cup Winners Medal, 1892); Rev Jeremy Howat (menus, photographs, MS memorial volume); Dr Peter King (thesis on Sir Philip Morris, Old Peterite); Mrs Jane Robertson (history of the Shepherd Family of York). These donations to the Archives are of great value and interest - thank you all very much. A J M Pedley


News ft Activities

Maths Challenges Senior School Thirty-one lower sixth pupils entered the National Mathematics Challenge. The paper proved very difficult compared to previous years. Certificates were awarded for;

Gold - 2 awards Silver - 9 awards Bronze - 8 awards Shuo Shang achieved an outstanding mark of 100 out of a maximum 125. He then sat the three hour invitational paper, but was unsuccessful in gaining a place into the third round.

UVIth trip to Liverpool Physics Olympics The team (Gavin Westmoreland, Georgina Aeons, Edward Parkin, Steve Emmerson and I) arrived at York station at Sam expecting to be greeted by grumpy Mr Morris, armed with his camera and all, complaining about how late we were. However he was the one who was late despite all of the reminders he made for us. Arriving early in Liverpool, we took a walk through Liverpool city centre. The puppet show on the street managed to fascinate Mr Morris and we had to tear him away from it to carry on. Having bought numerous doughnuts and bought some videos (including Steve ranting on about how amazing 'Starship Troopers' was) we decided to make our way to the University.

Middle School Good achievements all round this year for the younger pupils. Out of 93 entries the results were:

Gold - 13 awards Silver - 22 awards Bronze - 23 awards Jonathan Forsyth came top for the third year running with a score of 90. Also, ten 3rd form pupils qualified for the European competition, and came away with four Certificates of Distinction. M Hall

Politics and Debating Societies

When we arrived, we were given our team name, team Infinity. We were briefed as to the basis of the day - five practical tasks and a fermi quiz, where questions are set by the professors at the university and answers are given to the nearest power of ten. Our first task was for two of our team to transmit a car registration plate to the other members of the team using only a full can of Coke at the same time as five other teams. Some teams gargled the Coke, some

teams drank it and tapped on the can but one team managed to spray theirs on Mr Morris' 'best' shirt. Other events were mimicking the movements of the Sun, Moon and the Earth, estimating the thickness of a CD, and finding the period of a swinging pendulum, but best of all was creating the longest possible overhang off a table using assorted full and empty tubes of Pringles, most of which were eaten by Gavin. Out of 27 other schools, we won the fermi quiz and the mimicking of the Sun, Moon and the Earth and we came fourth overall. We were presented with a cup and a t-shirt to notify our achievements, however Mr Morris was more impressed by all of the Physics lecturers who were wearing just as large glasses as he was. Finally the whole team would like to thank Mr Morris for organising and taking us to the event, and especially for taking us all out for a pizza afterwards where we nearly broke all of the glasses fighting over the mints that come at the end of the meal. However, we all thoroughly enjoyed the day and are grateful we went. A Porte - U VI

British Physics Olympiad and Challenge Competitions 2002

Damian Green, M.P., the Shadow Spokesman for Education, addressed the Politics Society in March. Despite having been in the job for only a short period of time, he offered common-sense views on the future of education in this country. Perhaps more impressive was the depth of knowledge shown by our pupils when questioning Mr Green. Whilst the Politics Society had a quiet term, the Debating Society flourished under the chairmanship of Alan Mak. He organised debates against Yarm School, Queen Margaret's and Queen Mary's, enabling a range of pupils to articulate views on religion, the abolition of exams, fame and privacy and the benefits of television. I must thank Alan for his enthusiasm and organisation and am delighted to award him a new prize for contribution to school debating.

P C Taylor

Back Row: Jonathan Forsyth (Commendation), Neil Riley (Bronze 1), Alistair Sargeant (Bronze 1), David Clark (Bronze 1), Ian Dawson (Bronze 1), Sarah Stefanini (Commendation), Ben Noble (Commendation). Front Row: Shuo Shang (Silver), Victor Ho (Bronze 1), Tom Leung (Bronze 1), Alexander Porte (Silver), Steven Emmerson (Silver), Charlie Strickland-Constable (Gold). These are National Physics Competitions. In the Olympiad Competition for Year 13 students the top 50 received Gold Awards, the next 100 Silver Awards and the next 100 Bronze 1 Awards. In the Challenge Competition for Year 11 students the top 30 received Gold Awards, the next 70 Silver Awards and the next 200 Bronze 1 Awards.

The Peterite 2001 -2002


News ft Activities

One Year on A review of the Great Move To persons standing alone on a hill on a clear midnight such as this, the roll of the world eastward is almost a palpable movement.

each when they fall. Our support staff - caretakers, porters, assistants, dining room staff and chefs - become known and personal to us. The children trust and welcome all who come to our doors (and many now come to enjoy our hospitality at conferences and seminars) and the name of St. Olave's spreads even wider. Tis distance lends enchantment to the view...' From the floodbank vantage-point distance in time and perspective becomes possible. Of course one could take a romantic rose coloured spectacled view. But I know where I'd rather be.

ST PETER'S

SCHOOL So wrote Thomas Hardy in Far From The Madding Crowd and sometime in July 2001 I, too, stood on a hill and felt, inwardly, the roll of the world. Well, actually, I stood on the floodbank (which is about as big a hill as we get in York) and contemplated the roll of our world, not eastward but sort of south westerly from The White House, Queen's and Chilman to what is still sometimes infuriatingly called Queen Anne School. Nevertheless it is good, occasionally, to stand on the floodbank at the furthest south-western corner of our campus and gaze across the playing fields, the sports halls, the Chapel and beyond Clifton Prep to the farthest Wightman games pitch and realise just what a fine and impressive complex of buildings and fields we have.

FOUNDATION securing

the

So, what is the verdict? Unqualified, unmitigated, unparalleled and unimagined joy and pleasure in our new surroundings. The answer I most frequently give is that we now experience a sense of ownership. This must never be translated as a desire to become separate from CPS or St. Peter's, for the greatest strength of our school, and the greatest benefit to its parent body is the corporate resource and determination that a school such as St. Peter's, in its whole and complete sense, can bring. But we do feel special, we do feel an identity, we can revel in the success of each pupil and lift up and support The Peterite 2001-2002

It is hoped that the Foundation will provide further funding in the near future for scholarships in other subjects and at 13+ as well as 16+. The Foundation has also been working to bring together friends and associates of the school and in particular those whose immediate connection with the school has ceased. In May this year we invited all those who had donated to the 1989 School Appeal to return to the school and to view the areas that had benefited from the money raised. Over eighty former parents, former staff and Old Peterites returned and in glorious sunshine, walked around the upper campus looking at the improvement that had taken place, before moving down to the lower campus and having lunch in the Queen Anne Hall.

future

St. Peter's School Foundation 'Securing the future' The St. Peter's School Foundation has enjoyed a very successful first full year, and donations have been received for a number of specific capital projects as well as cash donations and legacies. Legacies At the beginning of the year we received a legacy from a former member of staff, Mr John Mitchell, teacher at St. Olave's and St. Peter's Archivist, who sadly died last year. He very generously left his house to the School, and we are honoured that the first legacy bequest should be from someone who regarded the School and all it stood for - as a mainstay of his life. The St Peter's School Art Gallery

And into our small corner we rolled with excitement, wonder, fearfulness, anticipation and desire in September just over a year ago. All of those emotions have been present during our first year. It was the King in Alice in Wonderland whose preferred way of controlling the criminal court was '...sentence first, verdict afterwards...' It was our lot to be sentenced to life in our new school and wait for the verdict to come afterwards.

arships will be in the specific subject areas of Modern Languages, Design and Technology, Business Studies and Science and the first recipients of the scholarships will be announced in September following the A-level results.

As soon as the St. Peter's School Art Department settled into their new premises on the Lower Campus, the need for a modern Art Gallery in which pupils, as well as outside artists, could display their work, became very apparent. The Foundation has been able to secure funding for the refurbishment of the ground floor of the Art Department which will now be converted into a modern, multipurpose Art Gallery with professional hanging systems, lighting and flooring. The Colin Shepherd Modern Language Rooms Two new modern language rooms, equipped with computers and language stations, have been created in order to accommodate the growing number of pupils who wish to study languages at GCSE and A-level. Colin Shepherd was an Old Peterite, leaving the school in 1945. The funds required to achieve this project were kindly donated by Colin's widow Sylvia, through the Colin and Sylvia Shepherd Charitable trust. Sylvia will officially open the rooms when they are completed in September. Sixth Form Foundation Scholarships During the year the Foundation received funding from generous benefactors, for four new Sixth Form Foundation Scholarships. The schol-

Christine Austin, former Chairman of the St Peter's Friends' Committee and as of June 2002 officially a former parent is now working with the Foundation Office to try and encourage 'Old Friends' - former parents - to return to the school during the year. To this end invitations and letters are being sent out so that this very important group of people can keep in touch with the School. The first chairman of St. Peter's School Foundation was Mr E A K Denison, who agreed to front the Foundation during its infant years, having recently retired as Chairman of the Governors. At the end of August this year, Mr Denison stepped down as Chairman, but he has agreed to becoming a Vice President of the Foundation, thus enabling us still to draw on his wealth of knowledge concerning Old Peterites and the people of York. Mrs Buff Reid, former Vice Chairman of the Governors will become the new Chairman of the St Peter's School Foundation from September 2002. Buff has had a very long association with St Peter's School as a parent as well as a member of the governing board. The St. Peter's School Foundation is as much about keeping in touch with the Friends of the School, in its widest sense, as Fund Raising. Many past pupils, parents and staff appreciate that the quality of education in one's formative years has the greatest impact in later life. The driving force behind the efforts of the Foundation is to ensure that St. Peter's School is able to offer the best possible education to the widest possible constituency of children. T J Gillingham


News ft Activities

Community Service Report 2001/2002

Operation Rudolph

This year we have been involved in lots more projects and we have met lots of people in the community - a sign of things to come, hopeful-

iy. The Duke of Edinburgh group has been imaginative and enthusiastic in finding ways of giving up their free time to being useful. The Rudolph project, started by Miss Bass and her brilliant team of restorative artists, culminated in a wonderful selection of Christmas Hampers prepared by Chloe Johnson and her fellow D of E fairies. Another group responded to an appeal from St. Olave's parents, and organised their Christmas Disco. The team of Mark Jagger, Duncan Watt, Jacob Smith, Bryony Tallack, Lizzie Fishley and Primrose Lovett worked hard to decorate the Hall, organise games, prizes, music and entertainment and generally ensure a great party.

The winter months were also busy with collections for Fight the Freeze, Andrew Slingsby led a very keen team including Alasdair Macleod, James Clarke, Charlie Duke and Edward Hilling to persuade the whole campus to give their redundant foreign coins when the Euro came into use in Europe. The boys worked hard to collect, sort and collate the coins, and Age Concern were delighted. All Macleod and friends also gave their time to help at St Olave's Charity Bike Ride, despite the awful weather! Seeds were sown by yet another D of E Group, led by Joseph Tang, to start a campus recycling programme. The project is underway, with many plans for expansion. The Sixth Form have found time to respond to a wide range of requests for help. James

Butterworth and a willing band of volunteers have befriended residents in the Wilberforce Trust for the handicapped blind. Charlotte Drummond and Alice Ottewell became involved way beyond their initial intentions with SNAPPY, both appearing as convincing witches in their Christmas Show. Christmas also saw an enormously successful and popular community party with guest appearances from senior and junior fairies, our nationally renowned bingo caller, Mr Chris Hall, and our resident pianist, Mr David Spencer accompanied by the whole Spencer Family. Mr Wright made the evening even more special both with traditional Christmas music and a most dashing sparkly hat. Pupils have given time to help with reading, games and computer skills with younger pupils, and there are plans for this to extend even further. Alongside these projects there have been our stalwart supporters, working behind the scenes to volunteer and encourage at every event. Alex Burckhardt was one of our most sought after volunteers ever, with his help and enthusiasm at Clifton Prep. We were delighted to give Community Service Prizes to Alice Sweet and Jonathan Earl who were always ready to help at every community service event, but never keen to seek the limelight. The Minster Lions of York have been unfailing in their support and encouragement of our community projects and we must thank Lion Gordon Harrison for everything he has initiated. There are many more collaborative plans afoot thanks to our association with the Lions. Lets hope the enthusiasm for getting involved and giving time continues. We've only just begun! J Bainbridge

Through late November and early December we were working on our community service projects for the Duke of Edinburgh Award Scheme. Our main project was helping the Minster Lions of York prepare hampers for elderly people alone over Christmas. The whole school community was enthusiastic about helping us throughout the project with many bringing in lovely food to go in the hampers. We spent every second of spare time decorating our boxes with wrapping paper, ribbons and bows (the eventual completion of the project left us with the luxury of much time on our hands!). The boxes we used were recycled from the school photocopying room. Towards the end of the project with the pressure on, we hastily perfected our boxes and began to fill them, selecting gifts from the enormous pile of food, with everything from tinned peaches to chocolate biscuits, which we had accumulated. The boxes were due to be collected by "Rudolph" who belonged to the Minster Lions; they would later distribute the food to the elderly people. On the collection day, a larger than life presenter from Yorkshire TV and her crew came to film us filling the very last hampers with help from people of all age

groups from across the St. Peter's campus. For this event we were dressed up as fairies to bring some Christmas cheer to the occasion. The now famous St. Peter's fairies also made appearances at Clifton Prep School helping Santa, formerly known as Mr Howman, deliver presents to all the little children. The fairies caused quite a stir with a surprise appearance at the St. Peter's Christmas party for the elderly where we indulged in sherry and mince pies and am amiable round of bingo. It would not be fair to mention any of the wonderful things we have done without thanking Mrs Bainbridge, the teacher in charge of community service, for her help and support, not to mention her incredible dedication and enthusiasm towards the community service at St. Peter's. Chloe Johnson, Jayne Milburn, Hannah Thomas, Betony Lloyd The Peterite 2001-2002


General Activities


General Activities

The Peterite 2001 -2002


Foreign Travel j»«***h f

**0cj|ott -

French Exchange Visit to Brochon October 2001 A wonderfully joyous occasion was celebrated at exactly midnight on Monday 15th October as we made our way to France. Balloons burst, party poppers popped and the coach broke into song as Simon Austin's 18th birthday began. (May I congratulate Simon on his 19th birthday which will have taken place by the time this article appears in "The Peterite"!) From that moment on, he gratefully accepted the title of "Grandad" and his duty as "Chief Werthers Original Supplier". After a gruelling seventeen-hour journey, we finally arrived and nerves were running fairly high amongst beginners to the exchange, myself included. No-one knew just what pleasures and horrors awaited us during this week-long stay at Brochon and its neighbouring villages near Dijon. The word "horror" applies especially to James Gibbon. I can only begin to imagine what he must have been thinking when he inadvertently got "affectionate" with the French teacher! Not only that, but I am sure he is more horrified to know that he was inevitably caught on camera by Mr Hodsdon. Of course he uses the obvious excuse that the traditional French "bise"

The Peterite 2001-2002

with the teacher was a mistake as he thought that she was his correspondent's mother, but I will leave you to draw your own conclusions about that. Apart from this, the meetings with correspondents went relatively smoothly. However I don't think it was too long until sleep overcame the vast majority of us. Despite this, we began bright and early on the next morning with a tour around the chateau at Brochon which is used as a girls' boarding house. Although a relatively modern chateau, it is not short of historical content and style. An imposing exterior is complemented by the culture of the collection room and the library with its many works, including the books of the chateau's original owner, Stephen Liegeard, after whom the lycee was named. At that point it was time to follow our correspondents to lessons, and, for myself, Tom Gastrell, David Henderson and Lara Gibbs it was

sport. With us being the lazy types we are, we managed to avoid doing a twenty-minute run and David and Lara even managed to skive the next element to the session. For Tom and me there was the opportunity to sample the delights of handball for the first time. It is certainly an interesting sport and, if you are reading this Mr Johnston, perhaps you would consider making it an option! As if Tom G didn't get enough exercise, after that, he and Tom Boyle were able to participate in the training session of the local rugby team which reached the quarter final of a national tournament. Both lads certainly did our country proud with Tom Boyle being

called on many occasions, "petit mais tres fort" and Tom Gastrell scored an astonishing four tries. But this well deserved glory for Tom G, being proclaimed "Rugby Man", was rather short lived, as courtesy of a photo from Anna Greenwood, we saw him in a very different light. He certainly looks very attractive in drag! The photograph was duly passed round the whole party, teachers included, of course. It was most definitely something to scream at. While on the subject of screaming, Pippa SaulHarrah certainly knows how to scare rodent haters (Sarah Thompson and her correspondent's pet rat know what I am talking about) with her mouse-like, yet certainly interesting scream. The splendour and magnificence of this was only matched once by Sarah Hayward who, within seconds of entering the insectarium at the Citadelle in Besancon and seeing the vast expanse of poisonous and rather hefty spiders, let off a purely stunning scream and hastily vanished back through the door, magically appearing downstairs at the aquarium in the blink of an eye. At least I think it was the spiders she screamed at, or perhaps that picture of Tom appeared again. I don't know.

Slightly marred by suspect weather, although remaining fairly dry, the trip to Besancon was, indeed, a great experience, especially for Tom Boyle who managed to get himself separated from everybody within the space of a minute,


Foreign Travel

only to meet up with us again when it was time to make the heavy slog up to the towering Citadelle. The large fortification was built by Vauban in the reign of Louis XIV and was used as a local headquarters for the Gestapo in World War Two. Its eerie surroundings were put perfectly into context by the superb Resistance Museum which reflected clearly the horrors of the Holocaust and the efforts to end Nazi rule. However, the Citadelle caters for other tastes as well. Perhaps the main attraction is the zoo at the far end of the fortress with everything from chickens to lions, including the baboons and gibbons which provided endless entertainment. The next day it was back to school and, as if by total coincidence, lunch was roast beef and chips! Having played along with the endless "Oh you'll be used to this!" from the French, the scene was set for the thrilling cards tournament. After a qualifying game, two divisions were made and rivalry appeared immediately between James Gibbon and Alex Porte, which, I am sure, will continue for decades to come. Following the weekend spent with our correspodent's families, we were reunited on Monday morning for a visit to a Beaune wine cellar. After an interesting tour of the cellar we were given the opportunity to taste the wine. Having been

lustre performance of one or two of our players (not mentioning any names - Jess!). The journey home included the now traditional "awards ceremony". Amongst the illustrious winners were:

were in France our correspondents had a day of school so we spent the day in our families. I went with my correspondent to Dijon where we spent the day shopping at the Toison D'or shopping mall and where I was also introduced to some of her relatives.

• Best bise award - James Gibbon (as we all could have guessed) • Worse bise award - the vast majority of the Selongey group who didn't bise at ail! • Loudest of the loud award Helen Ashman » Groovy Grandad award - Simon Austin (with prize of groovy granddad slippers) • Charlie Dimrnock award for best garden water feature - Rob Heaps (how could you, Rob?!) • Best Karaoke award - James Gibbon and Robert Heaps for serenading Sarah and Helen • Ultrasonic award - Pippa Saul-Harrah • The Nelson Mandela award for inexpli cable lack of ability to pronounce words, ie "Bonjlea" - Matthew Hodsdon (thank you James) • French boffin award - Lara Gibbs for attending every lesson

On Thursday we were reunited with our friends from Selongey and Brochon for our first outing to the beautiful town of Besancon. In the morning we took a boat trip along the river and spent some time exploring the town and shopping. After lunch we trekked up to the citadelle, which as it stands at the top of one of the seven hills surrounding the city boasts stunning views over Besancon and the countryside. The citadelle was built in 1674 and during its lifetime has not only served as a military fortress but also as a prison and barracks. It is not very surprising therefore that it hosts the excellent yet shocking Resistance and Deportation Museum, showing the horrors of the Holocaust and the resistance against the Nazi's rule, as well as a zoo, aquarium and insectarium.

And many others. I would just like to thank the coach drivers, Paul, Peter and Henry and the staff, Miss Moore, Mrs Rose and special thanks to Mr Hodsdon for all the hard work in organising the exchange. It was an enjoyable and useful experience for us all. (How about a rise in pocket money now, huh?) shown the correct procedure for swirling, burying your nose in the glass and then tasting the wine by spinning it around the mouth, we were given the option of using a spittoon, which everyone duly declined (we didn't like to waste it). Having resisted the temptation to buy any of the bottles costing £400 (1941 vintage) we continued our cultural visit by touring the Cassis museum where we were enthralled by the video adventures of an animated blackcurrant and yet more tasting. That evening the whole Brochon and senior Peterite group met for an end-ofexchange reception at the Chateau. We crammed ourselves into a room, where Daisy gave an impressive speech in French before we were let loose on the big pile of food on the table. The penultimate day of the exchange afforded the chance for shopping at the Toison D'Or shopping complex, with the compulsory McDonald's visit. Disregarding the fact that the next day would mean an outrageous 4 am "rise and shine", a group of us were dragged to an Anglo-French ten pin bowling match. Despite putting our lives on the line to defeat the "enemy" at one of their favourite sports, we unfortunately succumbed to the successes of the majority of the French team and the lack-

Matthew Hodsdon

French Exchange Visit to Selongey October 2001 On Tuesday 16th October the French exchange arrived in Selongey to be greeted by warm French weather. As we had arrived a little later than planned, our correspondents had already started their afternoon lessons but it was good to be off the coach, stretching our legs after our 14-hour journey while we waited for them. The senior pupils left for their school in Brochon while Mr Hodsdon remained in Selongey with us and we spent the evening settling into our families and getting to know our correspondents.

We spent Friday and Saturday morning in school with our correspondents, participating in some of the lessons like English and German and in others merely observing or catching up on work we were missing back at school. The rest of the weekend we spent in our families. On Saturday afternoon I went with two other English students and our correspondents to watch a football match in which one of them was playing and in the evening my correspondent was kind enough to organise a party where I saw some of my English friends. I was fortunate on the Sunday to visit the neighbouring "department", the Haute Marne and see some more of the beautiful and dramatic French countryside. Our second trip was on Monday, this time to the Toison D'or on the outskirts of Dijon, where we enjoyed a full day shopping. After dropping off the senior pupils at Brochon we visited the "Grottes de Beze" and took a boat trip through the caves so we could see the many interesting

The second day we The Peterite 2001-2002


Foreign Travel

and unusual rock formations. Of course a trip to Burgundy is not complete without experiencing something of the wine for which the region is famous. On our last day in France we took a trip to Beaune for an interesting tour round a wine cellar, where, having been shown the correct way to do so, we also tasted both red and white wine. After that we proceeded to the Cassis factory and museum where our tour was commenced by an entertaining and yet educational video of a cartoon blackcurrant. Here we were also able to sample the cassis itself (a syrupy, blackcurrant liqueur) and given the opportunity to buy some to take home. We arrived back at Selongey for a reception hosted by the school where I read a speech thanking the teachers and the French families for their wonderful hospitality and warm welcome. I had a great time on the exchange; I made lots of new friends and my French improved dramatically. Thanks to Mrs Rose and Miss Moore for accompanying us and to Mr Hodsdon for organising the trip. Chloe Johnson

IVth Form Battlefields Trip

Early on the first morning of the Easter holidays a group of fourth form historians set off from school to visit some of the First World War battlefields in Belgium and northern France. Mr Drysdale, Mr Hughes and Mrs Hopkinson were in charge and 'Bob' was our Geordie bus driver. We were slightly delayed by a missing passport but thanks to mobile phone technology it was shortly reunited with its owner and we were on our way. We arrived in Belgium via two long bus journeys and the Channel Tunnel crossing during which hundreds of card games were played and countless CDs were listened to. We finally arrived at The Hotel Munchenhof in Langemarck and as we walked down the corridor to our rooms someone remarked that the hotel must have been on a tight budget when they hired the decorator, who had strangely decided that carpet was best on the walls and decorative tiles would be best suited to the floor! The first day of our trip started with a visit to Essex Wood Cemetery, which contained the grave of the youngest British soldier to die in WW1 at the tender age of 15. This was very thought provoking as he was the same age as many of us on the trip. This was the first of many reminders for me of the futility of war and the tragic effect it had on many of the people involved. Our next destination, Tyn Cot has to be one of the most incredible places I have ever been to. The cemetery is the largest British cemetery in the world and it is simply vast. The Peterite 2001-2002

What is hard to believe is the sheer number of people buried at the place: in every direction you look there are literally hundreds upon hundreds of rows of white gravestones and the impact it has upon you is almost overwhelming. At Hill 62, our next destination, we learnt more of the experience that the First World War soldiers underwent. The place now comprises of a cafe, a museum and a network of trenches. The museum was very interesting with many photos and weapons from the battlefields and trenches but the trenches gave the best insight into the real experience of trench warfare. The trenches, which had been preserved close to their original state, were open to the public as part of the museum and gave a good impression of what the soldiers went through In the afternoon we visited Ypres and the outstanding 'In Flanders Fields' museum. Our final activity of the day was, for me, the most memorable of the trip. Anyone who has not yet been to Ypres to hear the buglers sound the Last Post should go. The nightly ceremony at 8.00 p.m. has been conducted for the better part of a century in remembrance of the slaughter of 191418 and it is a moving experience with two local fire-fighters playing the piece. It was a sombre and dramatic way of ending the day. After departing from the Hotel Munchenhof we spent the morning of the third day in the colourful city of Bruges with its canals and medieval buildings - a great photo taking opportunity. Unfortunately, this was also the morning that I ran out of film for my camera! Our next stop was Vimy Ridge which holds the impressive 'Canada Weeping' monument, which in itself was worth the visit. The ridge was of great strategic importance during the war and it is possible, in some periods in the year, to go through the tunnels which were built under the battlefield. Although the tunnels were closed when we visited, the place remained just as interesting and imposing, even without this feature. On the bus ride to Arras, I took the opportunity to find out where we would be staying. The itinerary informed me that we would be staying at The Hotel Moderne'. Unfortunately, the Hotel was anything but 'Moderne'. We weren't given the best of welcomes as the woman at the desk immediately reeled off a list of every 'rule' you could possibly think of, which I am sure included 'no talking' and 'no breathing'. That evening we went out into Arras and had the traditional French meal of chicken and chips! On the final day we visited the Somme Battlefields, so Mr Drysdale handed the guiding responsibilities over to Mr Hughes who enlightened us with his expertise on the subject. Being on the actual site of that horrendous battle gave us an impression of what it must have been like to have been fighting there in 1916. The sight of a bare solitary tree which was the only thing left remaining after the battle was particularly poignant as it gave an idea of the destruction and the tremendous loss of life in the Battle. However, on a beautiful sunny day in green countryside it was hard to fully comprehend the horrors of 86 years earlier. We then travelled to the impressive Thiepval

Monument where we had lunch and continued on to Lochnagar Crater. The crater was formed by a mine and the size of it was enormous, so we could imagine the scale of the devastation it must have caused. The journey home was long and uneventful the complete opposite of the trip itself! We arrived back at school on Wednesday afternoon feeling tired but well rewarded by what we had seen and learnt. Our thanks go to Mr Drysdale, Mr Hughes and Mrs Hopkinson for making the trip so enjoyable. Tim Heaps

Ski Trip 2001/2002 Montgenevre: a quiet, picturesque little ski resort, snuggled high in the Alps on the French/Italian border. The unfortunate prey of the St Peter's ski trip 2001/2002.

Fresh (or not so fresh) from Christmas festivities, 45 students congregated in the horseshoe, eagerly awaiting their departure. Everyone was pleasantly surprised by the prodigal return of Paul the bus driver and his dry wit we all remembered clearly from last year. The highlight of a 26-hour journey which can only be described as mammoth had to be waiting at a French service station for 3 hours whilst the wrong petrol was pumped out of the coach. To pass the time we indulged in an interesting selection of "Euro-friendly" games. However, after what felt like an eternity, 45 happy campers flopped off the bus as we arrived, tired, crotchety and relatively unscathed at our destination: 'Hotel les Rois Mages'. The next day, woken up bright and (too) early by Mr Monteith, (who appears to enjoy ruining our body clocks a little more than he should) we


Foreign Travel

were ready to, quite literally in some cases, 'hit the slopes'. We were split into our skilled (or not so skilled) based groups and the instructors were distributed - with some very pleasing results, I might add! After an agonisingly slow start for all, the advanced skiers were finally perfecting their jumping technique (and Joss his wipe-out technique) and the snow boarders were fine

demonstrated their prowess - it turns out Mr Hall is quite a pro! Kingy soon realized that using one's snowboard as a sledge is not sensible when it disappeared over the edge of the piste! We hope he won't try that again! No ski trip would be complete without the usual list of injuries and challenging experiences.

Christopher Dean with Oli Butler as his Torville. New Year's Eve gave us the opportunity to party, and to gain a deeper insight into some members of our group. Party Boy (Joe Shepherd) was clearly at home in the cold temperature and a generally uninhibited atmosphere encouraged friendships. Many of the Lower Vith girls worked on forging strong inter-school relations with Reading Grammar (an all boys school) whilst others seemed contented with what St Peter's had on offer. This utter madness was continued with an inexplicable desire to ski 'au naturelle', we were unsurprised to see two pairs of bare legs (Steve Pike and Rich) and two naked torsos (Joss and Party Boy) tearing down the slopes on the last day! Another case of the 'era-zee English!' I suppose something should be said about the transition from Franc to Euro but to be honest, the only significance it bears in my mind is of the angry rantings of Philippe the burger man as he attempted to deal in two different currencies and flip burning burgers!

tuning what they do best - basking in the glorious sunshine looking cool! Despite there having been two foot of snow before we arrived, the conditions were icy and very little of the resort was open. Thankfully the budget allowed us to take two fantastic day trips to Sestriere, an Italian resort with more snow and plenty for every ability. A great time was had by all in the 'free-skiing sessions' whether it involved building snowmen, discussing the mind-boggling mechanics of how Italian men manage to ski in such skin-tight, pink Lycra, larking in the sun or sometimes even skiing. Whilst the LVIth girls enjoyed the perks of the intermediate group (sharing ski lifts with their hot instructor alone - mmm!) the snowboarders

Although this year saw no bout of contagious lung disease, there were impressive falls and consequent injuries from Helen, Pip and Richard who all fell victim to the slopes. Comedy falls came from Pete and Tom B as we watched on (helplessly of course!) as they careered towards a six-foot drop on the piste. Mr Monteith: 'Do they know there's a drop?' Seconds later the reply: 'Obviously not!' Pete gave us all a great deal of pleasure shortly afterwards as he had a close encounter with a snow cannon: Well Pete, whatever turns you on! And we wonder why the instructors remark 'You English are so erazee!'

All that is left to say is a huge thank you to Mr and Mrs Watkinson, Mr Monteith and Mr Hall for such a fantastic and memorable trip. Laura Heaps and Daisy Cannons.

Pupils took advantage of the various apres-ski activities available at the resort which included playing pool, an unforgettable night of terrible karaoke and ice-skating. It was a pleasure to watch Joss pirouetting round the rink as The Peterite 2001 -2002


j&tge Reports 2001 - 2002 »>;;

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Clifton It has been a relatively quiet year in Clifton House. With the introduction of AS levels, the lower sixth seem to be far more occupied with less free time, which has resulted in less mischief. Or, it could be due to the good example set by the upper sixth. The atmosphere in House has been one of friendliness and positive interaction between year groups. The liveliest group has been the new third form. The year started with twelve newcomers and one other a few weeks later. They have been a lively bunch to say the least and have probably made more noise than the rest of the House put together. This could be due to the state of the art CD player provided by Rory, which did on occasions entertain (not quite the right word) those in the Bursar's department. Tom Gastrell also joined us in the lower sixth and he soon became very popular, particularly with the girls! Inter-house sport kicked off with the senior Rugby 7's and what a start this was. Having beaten Queens in the semi's we faced Grove in the finals. Grove scored two tries and Clifton replied with 2 tries and a conversion. Sadly, for us anyway, Grove scored a try in the final 30 seconds to lift the trophy. It was a superb effort by our lads and considering the squad included only one upper sixth boy, augurs very well for next year. The spirit in which the competition took place was also very pleasing in that those boys not playing, enthusiastically cheered their team. In October the girl's cross-country took place. I think it is true to say that the junior girls in Clifton are not at present the sportiest bunch ever but I praise them for their effort. All tried exceptionally hard. The seniors achieved 3rd place with a commendable performance by Laura Heaps (4th place). The juniors were 7th with Lara Turner achieving fifth place. The girl's hockey is always a pleasant event in that the team consists of girls from all year groups working together. Here we were fifth having drawn five of our six games.

but others such as Helen Slee, Helena Sharpe, Helen Round, Hannah Lloyd and Ellie Burton all made the finals. I would like to commend all who so willingly took part in the heats. The netball was an exciting event. The standard in the senior event was very high indeed with Clifton losing narrowly in the final to Temple. The juniors achieved fourth place. The Easter term always sees the charity talent show. It was good to see James Morgan participating for the second year running along with Rob Heaps looking dashing in uniform and Katie Millar as a glamorous bunny girl. On March 1st. the Memorial Hall was buzzing again with the Great Egg Race Teams. Clifton's consisting of Jono Kemp, Alex Hanly, Oli and Will Butler, John Lewis (a veteran in this event) and Chris Wordie did extremely well to achieve yet another second place. This is another event, which brings pupils of differing ages together. Two occasions when I felt very proud to be part of St.. Peter's were the trip to Twickenham to watch our boys win the Daily Mail trophy. Will Butler and Peter Stower were the Clifton stars. The second was the Beverley Fun Run where there were excellent performances by Piers Bevan and John King in the 10K race and Natalie Hodge and Ellie Burton in the fun run. Another major inter-house event was of course sports day where numerous individuals took part. Well done to all who participated filling every event for the House. Victory was to be ours at last in the boy's tennis event. With a strong team including Chris Garnett, Tom Gastrell and Jono Kemp Clifton finally lifted a trophy. Chris Garnett later went on to win the Alcuin Cup and to be named as next year's tennis captain.

The term ended with the traditional Clifton House Christmas dinner, which is a huge success in bringing together the entire house in a social setting. Katie Millar excelled herself in an original speech incorporating a video diary of life in Clifton - most entertaining. On returning from the Christmas break we had the good news that four Cliftonites has been given offers for Oxbridge places (Robert Heaps, Alan Mak, Paula McBride and Edward Parkin). This is the most I have ever had in one year group during my time here and is a true indication of the academic talent within the House. More inter-house events took place this term for the girls including swimming, badminton and netball. Many girls participated so willingly and with real enthusiasm that I cannot name them all. In the swimming our only individual winner was Rebecca Jacobs The Peterite 2001-2002

Clifton is currently buzzing with musicians in all year groups. I have thoroughly enjoyed the excellent concerts this year. It has also been a pleasure to listen to the lunchtime recitals organised by Alex Woodrow. Many Cliftonites have participated in these including Alex himself, Robyn Webster, Tom Hubbard and Emma Mackenzie, to name but a few. The academic standard in


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house has also been pleasing with academic prizes going to Robert Heaps, Alan Mak, Edward Parkin, Nazeeha Hasan, Hannah Lloyd, Alex Woodrow and Vincent Guadagnino. Having won the merit cup for the past three years (last year shared with Manor) I have yet to find out if it is ours this year. Hannah Lloyd and Rebecca Jacobs are to be commended for their contribution to the senior and junior school productions. Both performed with excellence. As usual, a word about the leaving Upper Sixth. They have been a most likeable bunch and really no trouble at all. A real mixture of characters, some noisy some very quiet. They have been a mature, reliable group. Henry's hair was the topic of conversation for some time as it got longer and longer! Eventually he was asked to have it cut and as usual he did as he was told! Every one of them carried out their roll duties reliably and they all got along well together. Katie has been a lively, vivacious Head of House and Head of boats. Speaking of boats, we have had real success in the boat club this year particularly the fifth form boys namely Adam Peeroo, James Mackenzie and John Lewis-well done. Back to the sixth form! Each year the Pemberton Plate is awarded to the sixth form who has contributed significantly to school life. Katie, Alan and Rob had been rewarded by being made monitors but I felt that Charlie Crowther had in his time here contributed greatly. Being a quiet individual it is easy for him to go unnoticed but he has been a committed member of the CCF, and to the wind band and has always thrown himself wholeheartedly into sporting events. On sports day his determination in the 3000m and 800m did not go unnoticed. When he was unable to compete himself, he would always encourage others, so this year the plate is his. During the year House Colours have been awarded to Nazeeha Hasan, Laura Lewis, Hannah Lloyd, Matthew Wilson, Rebecca Jacobs and Ellie Burton. These have been awarded in cases where a pupil has contributed to inter-house sport, achieved highly in their orders and been reliable and tidy. All of these are taken into consideration (Hannah has been tidy most of the time!!!)

Houses are built to live in and not to look upon.

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DROHFIELD 2002

I'd be very surprised if Francis Bacon had school boarding houses in mind but it is unquestionably applicable provided that 'live' means more than 'exist'. Living is about filling your time meaningfully and enriching your experience. The horrific event of September 11 underlines the need to live life to the full while we still can. Our modern life can seemingly mitigate against an active lifestyle, but we must not risk allowing political

issues prevent us from enriching ourselves. Those who 'do' lead a more satisfying life and ultimately make themselves more marketable. The Third Form grew as the year progressed. Harriet, Kate, Yayra, Catherine and RJ joined in September but it was the Easter term when Lorna and Liza joined the throng. There is much sporting talent in this group and they contributed much at junior and senior level. Especially exciting was Sports' Day when Catherine was awarded the Vitrix Ludorum and subsequently her House colours. Yayra and Catherine are involved in School music and should be proud of their contribution in this field, too. The Fourth Form have certainly been industrious this year. Both have con-

I wish all my leavers all the best as they leave the known St.. Peter's for the unknown. I am sure they all have great times ahead of them. As I too leave Clifton I wish all other Cliftonites successful, happy school years. I have enjoyed my time as Housemistress and feel privileged to have worked so closely with the pupils. I cannot go without thanking my tutors, particularly Mr. Peter Taylor who has been such a support to me as well as to the pupils. Thanks to all my other tutors too who do their job so well. I leave Mr. Paul Taylor a committed team. I congratulate Ruth Wainaina for being chosen as Head of House for next year. Helen Slee, Charlie Delaney, Georgie Robinson and Matthew Hodson will support her as monitors. Five monitors from one house is a significant number. Such is the strength of the current lower sixth. There are others too who can equally be relied upon and will I am sure set an excellent example to the younger pupils. So, Good Luck Mr. Taylor and Good Luck Clifton! M C Wike The Peterite 2001-2002


House Reports

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tributed to School music and sport and have been willing to attempt the new: both have rowed, Holz was assistant producer in the Middle School play and threw herself into CCF activities and Kathryn has been striving for her Duke of Edinburgh Award. In spite of academic pressures, well, perhaps because of academic pressures, the Fifth Form look for more in their lives. Emma T and Amanda love their racket sports. Amanda has enrolled on a Gliding Scholarship through the CCF. Emma C has discovered a new talent in rowing. She, Marie, Kris and Louise have all added voice to the choir. Aimee is one of the many who are willing to try a diversity of sports. Kris continues to enjoy CCF and has a great opportunity to enrich her mind on the exchange programme to South Africa during the summer holidays. Back in September we welcomed Peggy and Iris to the House. Their biggest challenge was a new language and culture. Both have made themselves a new life here and friends. Newcomer Fliss threw herself into hockey and tennis and rather like her mate Rosie contributed greatly to the House atmosphere. Rosie is no slouch outside the classroom enjoying sport and seniority in the CCF.

Alice and Sarah had much fun on the slopes of Montgenevre at New Year. Both have been involved in Community Service for which Alice was awarded the Old Peterite Lodge Prize. Within this account there will be omissions but the report aims to show how much members of Dronfield can be involved in a form of education which is every bit as valuable as what they get in the classroom. We competed well in all competitions throughout the year and were often placed second. There was, however, one breakthrough when we finally got our hands back on the Badminton cup. In conclusion I must offer some thanks. Firstly to the time offered by Miss Bass, Mrs Houghton and Mr Shread as tutors. Thank you, good bye and best wishes go to Miss Lewis whose voluminous enthusiasm in the House has known no bounds. To her tutees she has given good support and also much to talk about. Many thanks, too, to Mat for her tact and diplomacy as Head of House this year. Last but not least Mrs Q puts up with too much in Dronfield on both sides of the study door and yet without her I would not be able to do this job.

You're as big as you fee/. Spread your wings and soar. The Upper Sixth, too, have time for more than just academia. Lyndsay, Charlie, Mat, Jules, Jen and Alice have all represented the School at one sport or another. Sarah developed a keen interest in Line Dancing and along with Mat and Jen sang with the choir. Hannah even came and threw the discus for us at Sports' Day. Travel broadens the mind and certainly

The Peterite 2001-2002

Stuart Little M J Grant


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The Grove

Fourteen new third formers joined our merry band in The Grove in September and under the careful guidance of Miss Hall (new third form tutor), Charlotte Ware (Head of House), Paul Wilson and James Sweeting (School Monitors) and Junya Iwamoto (Head of School), the new Grovites settled in readily. The relentless nature of the Christmas term could not quell the enthusiasm and industry seen in the Grove. It was indeed a hive of activity (some of it academic) and much was achieved thfs term. The girls lead the way with a convincing victory in the Inter-House Cross Country, with Lara Gibbs, Laura Mclntyre, Sam Ford and Sarah Fishley, all finishing in the top 10. Lara Gibbs equalled the Senior School record time whilst still only in the fifth form! Not to be outdone, the boys responded with an emphatic victory (17-10) in the Senior Rugby Vlls competition - Toby Cleminson scoring the winning try in the last play of the final against Clifton. Not satisfied with excelling on the sports field, The Grove also displayed its academic prowess with Gavin Westmoreland, Paul Wilson and Ian Dawson winning the Top House Quiz. Alas, this proved to be the last victory that the Grove experienced, but nevertheless, the House competed in all other competitions with fervour and good

cheer. The members of the Grove did not restrict their contribution to inter-house and inter-school competition and nearly half the members of the House were regularly involved in School music, with Pippa Saul Harrah and Paul Wilson at the forefront of anything musical, and as usual, Alan Crompton was to be seen performing splendidly in the School's major drama production, King Lear. 'T2002' provided an opportunity for many members of the House to reveal hidden talents, including the 'Britney Babes' (Chloe Burns, Sophie Ottewell and Charlie Simpson) and Jonathan Batten's unforgettable (and thankfully inaudible) punk performance. Once again the Merit Cup eluded us, but it was pleasing to see the terrific effort made by the Grovites in an attempt to win it, as exemplified by Jonathan Batten, who submitted an English merit that he had been awarded four years previously from Mr Bulcock.

I thank the Upper Sixth for (mainly) setting a good example to the rest of the House and I commend them for the good humour and friendship that they displayed throughout their five y^ars in the Grove. I hope that our leavers will continue to strive towards fulfilling their goals and aspirations or as a budding poet, James Courtman said in his poem entitled Through the Door' in the Olavite of 1995, whilst in J4: 'Open The Peterite 2001-2002


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