Well done to all of the pupils and staff at St Peter’s who rallied round today to run ‘A Mile for Maisie’ to raise money for Hampshire and Isle of Wight Air Ambulance. This service, funded entirely from public contributions, gave essential help when our Year 6 pupil needed to get to the teenage trauma unit at Southampton General Hospital at the start of November. Our fundraising mile run today was our way of saying thank you in return. Friday started with Mr Maxwell from Fry and Kent estate agents (other estate agents are available!) presenting a £60 cheque to Pets as Therapy when announcing the winners of their design a Christmas Card competition, as Maisie enjoyed visits from one of their pets in hospital whilst separated from her own dog Leo. When Mr Maxwell saw 430 children in sports kit before him in assembly, he added another £60 to our Air Ambulance fund to get the ball rolling. As I write we are still counting the donations from today’s event, and will add to that the retiring collection from our Carol Service on Tuesday night, so that a grand total can be announced next week.
Which takes me onto events earlier in the week. The pupils of St Peter’s once again impressed as they conducted themselves impeccably on the journey to and from Sacred Heart and St Peter the Apostle Church, earning complimentary comments from members of the public. Children from every year group made wonderful contributions to our Advent service, and I must thank especially the family volunteers who helped walk with the children for the service. Then on Tuesday night the school celebrated what I hope will become an annual Carol Service at the church, brining together in one night and one place our Key Stage 2 children and families to set the Christmas spirit. Add to that the amazing Year R nativity play, and we have had quite a busy week of it.
Of course, it doesn’t stop there, as next week sees two performances of the Year 1 and 2 nativity play on Monday afternoon and Tuesday morning, Christmas dinner for the children on Tuesday (best Christmas apron on for me to serve the gravy!), our pantomime Peter Pan on Wednesday and Christmas jumper day on Friday for the last day of term.
Still, all that is yet to come, and I need to get ready for tonight’s Friend’s of St Peter’s Winter Wonderland Christmas Party! Mince pie anybody?
Mr R Cunningham
Headteacher