A lot of this week has revolved around ‘Teas’. We have hosted the Nursery, Reception, Year 1, Year 2, & Year 5 Teas, as well as Match Teas, throughout the week. Diana and her team in the kitchen have made mountains of scones and cucumber sandwiches and they have gone down a treat. It has been lovely to welcome parents back onsite; to come together and catch up. I’ve also very much enjoyed speaking to the Year 5 Parents with Dr Evans about the transition to Upper School and our Future Schools process. Lots to get excited about.
I visited Queen’s College on Wednesday which has updated its bus service to now reach Darts. This means that Queen’s can absolutely be on the radar for our parents when they leave us at Year 8. I was very impressed. Exceptional sporting facilities, a cookery teaching block including a ‘restaurant’ for the children to serve their food and a wonderful ‘West End-quality’ theatre.
This week, the staff shout out-has to go to Miss Ebony Paver. Miss Paver has been working incredibly hard this year completing her teacher training and this week she had her final observation which she, of course, passed with flying colours. Working full time in a job such as teaching and studying at the same time is no mean feat. We are incredibly proud of her and her journey at St Peter’s. Congratulations to Ebony. We must also congratulate Mrs Lucy Ball who has mentored and steered Ebony throughout the whole process with patience, compassion and oodles of support. Congratulations must also go to her for this achievement. Well done all.
This week, I have enjoyed some work for IAPS, the Independent Association of Prep Schools where I have been in post as Vice Chair this year. IAPS is the kite mark for prep schools of quality and there are over 600 schools involved at the time of writing, both nationally and internationally. On Monday I was involved in a panel of seven heads interviewing in London for the new Chief Executive of the Association: a gruelling but fascinating process. Today I am attending a conference in London with the themes of ‘Conscious Inclusion’ and an agenda of ‘Moving from colour blindness to colour consciousness’, ‘Celebrating difference from the start: a whole school approach to LGBTQ+ inclusion’ and ‘Diversifying the curriculum’. I shall keep you posted.
Gardening Club has started off brilliantly and we look forward to sharing more photographs with you over the coming weeks.
Finally, the PTA met this week to look forward to the next academic year. Plans are afoot for a large-scale Summer Fête, as well as a Summer Charity Ball on Friday 1 July 2023. Save the date. We also commenced fundraising for an update to the adventure playground on the Abram Field.
Enjoy the weekend with your families. Mr Johnston takes part in the Exeter half marathon on Sunday: will he be able to walk next week? We wait to see!
Charlotte Johnston
Head
