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

July 2022

8th July 2022

Dear Parents,

Important information about the hot weather next week below the introduction.

See this update in a more visually friendly way by clicking here.

I hope this update finds you well.

Introduction

Summer is very much upon us, and despite the heat, we have been impressed by how focused pupils are in their learning. On top of that, we've been up to lots in the last fortnight, including:

Year 10 Taster Days for Sixth Form
Sixth Form trips to the University of Southampton
Year 10 trips to Solent University
Feel Good Friday: our anti-bullying campaign run by our Diana Award Team of pupils in year 9
Preparations for St Anne's Day next week, which includes the House Choir competition…there have been pupil choirs all over the school at lunchtimes practicing. They sound great!
Annual alumni day where we have former pupils come back and visit the school
Year 12 DofE Silver Award Expedition
Sixth form welcome day for new year 12s joining us next year.
Year 11 celebration assembly and evening prom
Year 13 prom
Year 7 to 13 residential trip to London to see the shows!
Gymnastics and Dance Showcase
Year 7 Transition Day for our new year 7s joining us next year and our transition evening for new parents to find out more about the school

Quite the fortnight, with lots of great activities taking place in the final two weeks.

Hot Weather Warning

We have heard today that the Met Office have issues a heatwave warning for the whole of next week. In response, we have the following advice for parents and changes to our uniform expectations:

Pupils do not need to wear jumpers or blazers. They can, if they wish, wear full PE kit for next week.
Pupils may have water bottles out in lesson. However, these are to be filled during break and lunchtime, and not during lessons, or changeover between lessons. Drinking water is available from all taps in the school other than science rooms due to the potential for taps to be contaminated with chemicals.
Drinks should be water, not energy or highly-sugary drinks.
We will ask pupils to make sure they follow specific instructions from teachers regarding water bottles in Creative Design, Business and Computing, and Science rooms as there will be health and safety considerations with equipment.
Pupils can wear hats in the playground at break and lunchtime and/or stay in the shade as much as they can. They are advised to bring and use sun sunscreen during the school day.
Friday is our Sports Day and so pupils will be outside for the whole day. This makes the advice above even more important! It's definitely PE kit for Friday!

Some advice on how to stay cool at home can be found here.

Parent Surveys 2021-2022

We've also been looking at the responses of parents to the annual parents survey that we send out to parents after each parent evening. You would have had a link to it after the parents evening for your child. We received over 230 responses this year.

There have been some wonderful comments about the work of the school. Thank you! 9 out of 10 parents would recommend the school to other parents, and the same is true for parents feeling the school keeps their child safe, that their child is happy and that they make good progress. I am glad that parents continue to feel we are doing an effective job. This is matched by the fact that a quarter of our new year 7s next year are younger siblings of older pupils, showing that parents are choosing to send their daughter to St Anne's after experiencing it as a parent already. That is great to know. Rest assured that we don't take this lightly and are continually looking to improve. Some parents have suggested areas of the school's work that could be improved which is much appreciated. I have read every single response. As these are anonymous I can't respond to specific questions, so if you would rather, you can use consultation@st-annes.uk.com to share any thoughts as well, or get in touch with your daughter's tutor or head of year via info@st-annes.uk.com.

“My daughter is very happy and thriving at this school. She and we couldn’t be happier with her first 6 months!” (Year 7 parent)
“We would like to thank all the teachers and staff for giving support to my daughter.” (Year 8 parent)
“I am extremely impressed by the school, it’s staff, it’s communication, the opportunities and ethos and am truly grateful for the fantastic experience and education my daughter receives. Couldn’t ask for more! Thank you” (Year 9 parent)
“My daughter has thrived at St Anne’s.” (Year 10 parent)
“My daughter loves this school and is doing fantastically well. Thank you to all the staff for their efforts in keeping the children safe and happy through difficult times” (Year 11 parent)

End of Term and Next Year

A reminder that the end of term is Thursday, 21st July.

The school term dates for next year can be found on our website at the bottom of the page.

Uniform

It is clear that some pupils are coming to the end of their current uniform as they grow! Please make a note to check uniform over the summer holiday and get in what you need for the new academic year in plenty of time. We can discreetly help with uniform if cost is a struggle. Please do contact your daughter's head of year. Also, if you have uniform that is now too small for your daughter but in good condition, please consider donating it to the school for our second hand shop.

Some of the issues in the new academic year involve pupils getting piercings, false nails and dying hair in the holidays. The summer holidays are definitely the time to do this! As colourful as these are, please ensure that these are done in such a way and at such a time that they can be ready to be removed by start of term: Monday, 5th September. See our page on uniform on our website for more details.

Activities over the summer holidays

There are all kinds of fun activities being offered for families over the summer holidays. Southampton City Council's Holiday Activity and Food Programme for families with children on free school meals is really amazing, and well worth a look if you are looking for things to do over the summer. More can be found on their website. This video gives more information too. Share with your communities if you can.

The attached flyer has information about the Hampshire Teen Project, again for children on free school meals, which provides opportunities for everything from media production to martial arts, and a hot meal included. Really worth checking out.

Have a good weekend, and stay safe in the sun!

God Bless

James Rouse

Headteacher

Hampshire Summer Teen Project