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

Parent Update 25th March 2021

25th March 2021

Dear Parents,

On this special day for the LSU, I would like to wish you a Happy Feast Day! Today is the Feast of the Annunciation. At the moment of Christ's conception, the unique bond between heaven and earth was created through the union of Mary and Jesus. This union is the union referred to in LSU - La Sainte Union. We pray today for the sisters and all members of the LSU family, including ourselves. We give thanks for the foundation of the school and we ask God's blessing especially on all mothers in our school community.

We have received the following message from the Trustees of the LSU:

"Christians around the world celebrate the Annunciation today. In the midst of a pandemic a hint of new life, a bold and courageous YES, giving flesh to the Eternal in our midst.

We pray for the grace that we too say YES to the invitation to cloister eternity in our heart … to give flesh to The Word … to be artists of the Good News especially in these days wrapped in fear and anxiety.

We wish you all a truly happy Feast day and are united in prayer

With blessings on each one from

LSU Trustees

and the LSU Leadership Team

Srs Annemarie Helen Julie Michele"

Governors Parent Survey Responses

The governors would like to thank you for your responses to their survey regarding the school response to the pandemic. We had 217 responses.

In the survey:

87% of parents said their child received effective lessons while working remotely.
56% of parents did not have any practical concerns about learning in lockdown. Of those that raised a practical concern, 92% said it was dealt with to their satisfaction.
94% of parents say the school has stayed in regular contact with their child during lockdown periods.
96% of parents say the school has responded well to the pandemic.
97% of parents say the school has kept them well informed throughout the pandemic.

The governors have shared this with school leaders as we continue to plan for the future.

Testing at home throughout the Easter holidays for schools and colleges: A message from the DfE

Following the success of the asymptomatic testing programme on the return to school and college, it is vital to keep testing at home throughout the Easter holidays and into the summer term. Please pass on this message to all of your staff, students and parents:

test twice a week at home from now on (all those who are able to)
report results online as positive, negative or void. This information is critical in helping us to understand the prevalence of the virus across the country
continue to test twice weekly over the Easter holidays
test before returning to school or college for the summer term, either the night before, or morning of, the first day back, to find and isolate any positive cases

We will be giving out more test kits to students next week in readiness for the Easter holidays. Do please keep testing. We are currently up to 1747 tests completed as I write.

CED on Wednesday

Wednesday will be our first curriculum enrichment day of the year! We will be working in year groups still and all the normal COVID restrictions apply, but it will be a chance to do some deeper learning on statutory aspects of personal, social and health education.

Early finish on Thursday

A reminder that as Thursday is the final day of term, we will be having a shorter day as usual, with school finishing and pupils being dismissed between 12:15 and 12:30.

Changes to the Test and Trace support payment for parents

Parents and carers of children who have been advised to self-isolate by their education setting or by NHS Test and Trace are now able to apply for a Test and Trace Support Payment or discretionary payment of £500, if they meet the eligibility criteria. The extension of the Test and Trace Support Payment scheme, which is administered by district and unitary local authorities in England, ensures that parents receive the financial support they need if they are unable to attend work due to childcare responsibilities.

Parents and carers should apply to their local authority to receive a payment. Applications for the Test and Trace Support Payment scheme are made via the local authority in which the parent or carer resides, not the local authority where the setting is situated, if these are different.

To be eligible applicants must meet all of the criteria that:

they are the parent or guardian of a child or young person in the same household and need to take time off work to care for them while they self-isolate. This is limited to one parent or guardian per household for the child or young person’s self-isolation period
they are employed or self-employed
they cannot work from home while undertaking caring responsibilities and will lose income as a result
they meet all the other means-tested eligibility criteria for a Test and Trace Support Payment or locally determined criteria for a discretionary payment

That their child or young person:

is aged 15 or under (or 25 or under with an Education, Health and Care Plan (EHC)) and normally attends an education or childcare setting
has been told to self-isolate by NHS Test and Trace or by their education or childcare setting because they have been identified as a close contact of someone who has tested positive for coronavirus (COVID-19)

Nurseries, schools, colleges and further education providers are required to provide a letter (which we do as an email) to all parents or carers of the children advised to self-isolate, to support their application to the Test and Trace Support Payment scheme. Parents or carers will then be able to provide this letter to their local authority as evidence that their child is required to self-isolate. The local authority will verify this with the school to check it is legitimate. You can see the full eligibility criteria for the Test and Trace Support Payment scheme and find out how to apply at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/test-and-trace-support-payment-scheme-claiming-financial-support/claiming-financial-support-under-the-test-and-trace-support-payment-scheme.

God Bless

James Rouse

Headteacher