As May comes to a close, our diploma students are reaching significant points in their academic journeys. Year 11 students are finalising their mock exams, while Year 12 students are preparing to step into the next chapter of their lives after completing their official exams. For those of us who will remain at St PETER’S, it’s also a time to reflect on our accomplishments and prepare for the new academic year of 2024-25. We take immense pride in our new cohort, boasting an impressive list of university acceptances worldwide. We are confident that the July results will continue the trend of excellence, surpassing global averages as they have in the past two years.
This year, St PETER’S once again participated in the PISA for Schools tests alongside 17 other schools in Spain. Our results reaffirmed our standing as one of the best schools not just in Spain, but globally. However, as our Head of Education recently wrote, beyond these measurements, our true mission is to provide a holistic education. We strive to blend technical and scientific knowledge with a humanistic approach, fostering an awareness of philosophical dilemmas and an appreciation for art and creativity—qualities that make us uniquely human.
Reflecting on this term, we’ve seen remarkable achievements across all levels. Our Primary art teachers organised an amazing Art and PE Day, showcasing the students’ year-long efforts in art, music, drama and PE. Our Y5 went to the European Space Center to continue their research on Space Exploration, while, in the MYP, Year 6 students conducted in-depth research on Artificial Intelligence, addressing both its technological aspects and the societal challenges it poses, such as algorithmic bias and inequality. Year 8 students participated in a Design Thinking and Futures Literacy challenge, creating innovative solutions for future challenges using skills from their new Futures Literacy subject—tools even top executives may not know. Additionally, our Year 6 and 7 students took part in our traditional Maths Challenge, working in teams of four to solve logic puzzles, tangrams, cross-number puzzles, engineering challenges, and maths problems in a relay format.
Meanwhile, our youngest learners have embarked on an exciting journey of pre-programming activities. Our F3 and F4 students engaged in hands-on, unplugged activities to build foundational skills essential for future coding endeavours, rather than diving straight into computer-based programmes. Finally, the whole community gathered at Bonasport Club to participate in our traditional sports competition.
In summary, education must go far beyond mathematics, science, and technology. At St PETER’S, we believe this spirit can be felt in every corner of the school, in the hallways filled with art, in the way our students treat each other, and within our community of teachers and families.
Let’s close this article by referring again to the Ljubljana Manifesto on Reading we mentioned at the beginning of the term. This document reflects on the type of education we aspire to offer—an education in which the cultivation of culture and appreciation for beauty stand in stark contrast to the prevailing ethos of competitiveness and utilitarianism.
