St Anne's Catholic School St Anne's Catholic School

Parent Update 17th December 2021

17th December 2021

Dear Parents,

As we reach the end of term, I want to thank you for your continued support as we travelled through this term. It's been great to see how low case numbers have been this second half term. Testing levels have also significantly increased as well, so thank you for that too. Saliva test kits were handed out to all pupils yesterday ready for the new term. The way in which the community has continued to thrive and learn through this term has been remarkable.

This final week is always fun. We had an amazing Christmas Concert on Monday, lovely Carols in the Quad on Thursday lunchtime, the Mayflower Theatre pantomime visit on Thursday night (Oh, yes we did!) and a beautiful whole school liturgy on Friday morning to name but a few activities. Our home clothes day at the end of term was very colourful, with lots of Christmas jumpers and other bright clothing on display. A great end to the term.

Whole School Liturgy

We are glad that some of you were able to join our whole school end of term liturgy which was delivered remotely to tutor groups this morning as we continued through Advent and prepared our hearts for the birth of the Christ Child at Christmas. You can still watch it at any point over the Christmas season by clicking on this link.

Christmas Card Competition

We ran our Christmas Card competition again this year, sponsored by our Parents and Friends Association. The entries were many and varied, and again I am so impressed by the creative talents of our pupils. Miss Bradley has put together a video of the entries and winners. They really are very impressive! Click here to see the winners: Christmas Card Competition Winners. If your New Year’s Resolution is to support the school through the PFA, then do get in touch with them: pfa@st-annes.uk.com!

Christmas Shoebox Appeal

We have been blown away again by the amazing generosity of our school families as we collected donations for our Christmas Charity appeal. Despite all that is going on at the moment, we collected over 260 shoe boxes, which is more than even last year's amazing total. We were collecting on behalf of MHA. MHA is a charity that provides care and support to the elderly in the UK. MHA was founded in the 1940s as a Christian charity which aimed to shine God’s love on people who were sometimes forgotten about in society. Today they support over 19,000 elderly people across the UK living in care homes, retirement communities or living home alone. Families also donated lots of food for our local food banks. I cannot thank you enough for your hospitality and openness to those in need. Our LSU values shine through both within school and in our school community.

St Annian Student-Led Newsletter

The 9^th edition of our student-led newsletter is out! We are so impressed by the commitment of the editorial team, made up of students from all year groups. You can see an online version here: St Annian December 2021

Testing

Don't forget to drop off a saliva test on the Tuesday, 4th January by 13:00, or if not that day, then Wednesday 5th January by the same time. If neither of those, then hopefully you have signed up for the onsite LFD testing on the 5th January. If that's not possible, please complete an LFD test on the evening of Wednesday 5th January or Thursday 6th January. If all else fails, please hand in a saliva test on Thursday 6th January when term starts. We are aiming for every single person to be tested at least once in that first week. Please support us with that goal.

Uniform

A reminder that we expect the correct shoes to be worn to and from school and in school. We have seen an increase in trainers coming into school, and we would ask families to address this over the holidays ready for the new term. This also applies to tights. If families are struggling with affording uniform, please do let us know via your daughter’s head of year so we can take that into account and support you with getting the right uniform for your child. There can be a tendency over the holidays for false nails and new piercings. A reminder that on their return, the uniform rules apply from the first day, and so false nails would need to be removed and piercings to be jewellery (and retainer) free. Thank you for your support with that. Uniform Expectations

Testing Positive for COVID

We hope that you all stay COVID free over the festive period. However, if the worst happens, please tell us via attendance@st-annes.uk.com if your daughter or son tests positive for COVID over the holidays so we know for our records.

Masks

We are handing out quite a few blue disposal masks to pupils. These are proving expensive and also not good for the environment. Please can you ensure your daughter or son has a permanent cloth mask to wear around school.

Have a great Christmas break and we look forward to seeing your daughters and sons during COVID testing on the 4th and 5th January, and as term starts on Thursday, 6th January.

God Bless

James Rouse

Headteacher