26th May 2005

• St Peter’s School netball team have continued their run of success by qualifying for the quarter finals of the Kettering District Primary Schools’ Netball Tournament.  This comprises of four leagues each with five teams.  Our girls won their three of their four games convincingly against, Loatlands, St Edward’s and Millbrook, with Meadowside getting the better of them, but only with a score of 3-0.  Our team is due to play the next round today – good luck, girls!
   
• On Saturday our football teams made up two of the seven teams involved in a football festival held at King John School in Thrapston.  Experiencing such an event was a valuable experience for our Year Four and Five boys, for it gave them a flavour of the rigours involved in representing the School team, which we hope they will next year. The Year Six team were very unlucky not to figure in the awards, having won two games and drawing in one, but despite this they had a great time and thoroughly enjoyed the day.
   
• Pupils in Years Five and Six welcomed two veterans of World War 2 yesterday, as part of the units of study concerning ‘Children in the Second World War’ and ‘Post war changes in Britain’. Reg Payne, a local artist and ex-wireless operator/air gunner (WOP) in the War, and Roy Briggs, a retired engineer and War child, turned back the clock and recounted their war-time experiences to pupils. The children had many questions to put to Reg and Roy, regarding life on the home front and the rigours of war.
   
• Reverend Jenny led this week’s whole School assembly, at which Reception class were again in attendance.  The theme was Pentecost, and the inextinguishable candles on a celebration cake certainly helped even our younger pupils remember that Pentecost is the ‘birthday’ of the Christian church!
   
• St Peter’s School Swimming Gala takes place at Kettering Pool tomorrow, starting at 10am.  The spectator section is available for parents of pupils in Year Three through to Year Six, who are warmly welcome to attend, but please be aware that space is limited. 
   
• Each section of the School was involved in a Fire Drill earlier this week.  Staff were impressed as to how well even the younger children responded.  Each area was evacuated in very good time.
   
• Please note that the last day of this school year is Friday 15th July.  In line with other schools, this will be a half day for pupils only; ending at 12 noon. There will be no late club in operation.
   
• The funds raised at Saturday’s PTAFA Auction of Promises exceeded an astounding £1850.  It was a great night, led by the persuasive auctioneering skills of Mr Tim Bull, who also kept us all thoroughly entertained!
   
• As usual, it really has been a very industrious half term for pupils at St Peter’s, with plenty of academic, sporting and artistic pursuits.  After their well earned half term rest, we look forward to the children’s return, and have an eventful Book Week planned for them.
   
• The Scholastic Book Fair will arrive on Tuesday and will be open each day in Sunnylands Hall, from 3.25pm to 4.15pm, with its last opening being after School on Monday 13th June.  Your continued support of this will benefit the children.  The purchases you have made in the past have earned the School an excellent commission, which is always used to buy even more books for pupils to read.  Last year’s Key Stage Two commission was over £500!  If you are able to offer your services to help the teachers run the Book Fair after school, even to open up the display cases at 3.15pm or help take orders for even the first busy ten minutes of a sales session, then please inform your child’s class teacher of this tomorrow.
   
• We will be participating in Readathon again this year.  This is a ‘sponsored read’ with collected proceeds being donated to Sargent Cancer Care for Children and the Roald Dahl Foundation.  These organisations spend their funds caring for children and young people in the U.K. who are suffering from cancer, Hodgkin’s disease, leukaemia, epilepsy, blood disorders or head injury.  Pupils will bring their sponsor forms home at the end of this week, so that they can use half term to gather sponsors and decide which books they intend to read for Readathon.  All homework time during Book Week will be given over to reading to enable children to read the books they have chosen for Readathon.  This will also benefit their reading, of course!
   
• There will be other activities taking place relating to Book Week of which you will be informed after half term.  The aim of this event is to further promote the joy gained from reading, and we hope that the children will have fun too.