St Peter's Catholic Comprehensive School

St Peter's Catholic Comprehensive School
Motto "In Verbo Tuo"
Established 1936
Type Academy
Religion Catholic
Headteacher David Todd
Deputy Headteachers M Antram and A Wazejewski
Founder De La Salle Brothers
Location St Catherine's Road
Bournemouth
Dorset
BH6 4AH
England
Coordinates: 50°43′23″N 1°47′35″W / 50.723°N 1.793°W / 50.723; -1.793
DfE number 837/5408
DfE URN 137349 Tables
Ofsted Reports Pre-academy reports
Students 1,600
Gender Coeducational
Ages 5–18
Colours blue
Assistant Headteachers R Dixon, P Hubbort and M Spackman. Kathy North is Head of the Primary Phase.
Website St Peter's

St Peter's Catholic Comprehensive School is a Roman Catholic academy in Bournemouth, Dorset, England. It is run under the joint trusteeship of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Portsmouth and a religious order of teachers, the De La Salle Brothers. The headteacher is David Todd who joined the school in 2013. The school is now an academy.

St Peter's has achieved both drama and sports specialist school status. The nearest Catholic church is Our Lady Queen of Peace and Blesséd Margaret Pole.

The Lower Primary School (years reception-6) is located in Holdenhurst Avenue, Iford; the Upper School (Years 7-13)is in St Catherine's Road, Southbourne. The Upper School site includes the De La Salle Theatre, which seats 470 people.

History

Jesuits

St Peter's was opened as a boys' boarding school on 29 September 1936 with 34 boys. Father Bellanti was the first headmaster and the school was run by Jesuit priests. Subsequently, the bedrooms have now been removed and the swimming pool was demolished due to building problems.

De La Salle Brothers

In the summer of 1947, the school was handed over to the De La Salle brothers. The last Jesuit community consisted of nine fathers and two brothers. One of the Jesuit priests who was a housemaster at St Peter's was Father Gerard Hughes S.J., the author of God of Surprise in which he observed St Peter's boys were "affable and undemanding".

Independent grammar school

From the time of the first De la Salle headmaster, Brother Bernard Brady in 1947, until the last, Brother Bernard Hayward in 1993, the De la Salle brothers improved, enlarged and ran the school. In 1973 it sent nearly 14% of its sixth form to Oxford and Cambridge. Under the headmastership of Brother Alan Maurice, the school became a member of the Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference (HMC) association of public schools. Boaters were allowed to be worn by sixth formers.

The reorganisation of local education and the changes wrought by the Labour government in 1974 offered the opportunity for the school to examine whether it might serve the interests of the wider Catholic community in Bournemouth by becoming non-selective. It was therefore during this time that they oversaw the integration of the combining of the St Peter's, the St Thomas More and the Boscombe Convent schools. The notice of intent was published on the 13 October 1978. By 1980 Boscombe convent and St Thomas More had merged. All then joined under the same name of St Peter's.

Comprehensive

The long-serving headmaster, Anthony McCaffery, retired at the end of the 2010/11 academic year after 19 years leading the school.

Academy status

The school achieved Academy Status at the beginning of September 2011. Martyn Egan led the school throughout its first year as an academy. The headteacher from 1 September 2012 is David Todd. From 1 September 2014 St.Peter's became an "all-through" school, with the establishment of two Reception classes at the Iford site.

Arts and Sports College status

St. Peter's School gained Arts College status in September 2000 and in September 2004 gained dual specialist status in Arts and Sport.

One of the highlights of the school's Arts College status was being shortlisted for the Sky1 programme Hairspray: The School Musical. Although the school did not win, losing to Kingsmead School in Enfield, various performing arts students spent a week being interviewed by the shows hosts and performing for them.

Commemoration

A circular memorial to mark the motoring and aviation pioneer Charles Rolls, is situated in the bottom corner of the playing field at the Southbourne site of St Peter's School. The school was built adjacent to Hengistbury Airfield where Rolls had a fatal accident in July 1910. There was a large air show taking place, as part of Bournemouth's centenary celebrations. Rolls' aeroplane crashed; this being the first air-accident death in England.[1]

In 2010, St Peter's marked the centenary of the death of Charles Rolls by having a fair on the Headmaster's Lawn at the Southbourne site. The memorial was also refurbished. The Central Band of the RAF performed in the school hall and there was an exhibition of Rolls-Royce aviation memorabilia, including an aero-engine.

Successful Former Pupils

References

  1. ↑ http://www.hengistbury-head.co.uk/history20.htm
  2. ↑
  3. ↑
  4. ↑ Perrett, Neil (12 October 2007). "Lallana Learning Curve". Bournemouth Echo. Retrieved 15 May 2010.
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