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

Parent Update 25th November 2021

25th November 2021

Dear Parents,

I hope this email finds you well. School life definitely feels much more normal this year than last year, which is great. We currently have low case numbers in the school, but looking at the regional picture, that is likely to increase over the next month, so please keep testing (see below).

Last week we had a great curriculum enrichment day, with each year group having the chance to get stuck into different learning activities:

Year 7 had a great PSHE day looking at aspects of their health in terms of the importance of sleep and what happens during puberty. They also had some education on how to manage their finances.
Year 8 had a Catholic reflection day including a visit to St Edmunds Church on the Avenue (It was lovely to have a Welcome liturgy at the Church recently for year 7 too. We were really impressed with their behaviour).
Year 9 had a day focusing on some less well-known aspects of World War One. They learnt about the impact of the war on parts of the world other than Europe, particularly Africa and India, as well as heard some less well-known stories of the heroic efforts of different women within the war.
Year 10 were on work experience, and it has been great to hear about their experiences over the last two weeks. It is clear that for many it was a chance to understand better what the world of work is like.
Year 11 also had a Catholic reflection day, starting with liturgy.
Year 12 got to learn a whole range of skills to better prepare them for life beyond home (particularly at university) such as cooking on a budget, first aid, self defence, and looking after their clothes.
Year 13 had the chance to spend the day with their tutors refining their UCAS statements for their university courses as well as also spend some time on preparing for university life.

All in all, a really different day, with lots of different learning going on from usual.

Keep Testing!

Please do keep encouraging your daughter (or son in sixth form) to complete saliva tests twice a week on Mondays and Thursday. Case numbers are rising in the region and we all need to do our part to keep case numbers down.

We have had an extra assembly on Friday to remind pupils and staff how to complete them, and also looking at ways of supporting with reminding us all to test throughout the week. It's great to see increasing numbers completing the tests. There are now also posters up around school to help remind us all to complete them.

The most recent newsletter from the testing programme is attached with an interview with one of our pupils! To highlight some facts and figures about the testing programme:

Unlike LFD or PCR tests, you don't need to wait 90 days after a positive COVID test before restarting saliva testing. Once your 10 day isolation is up, saliva testing can restart.
Your data is secure and confidential: The programme takes the security of our data very seriously. They abide by strict GDPR regulations. Access to data is only available to those who need to process our samples and return our results. Our data is not shared with anyone outside of the programme.
Saliva samples are only tested for COVID-19: Our saliva sample is only tested for COVID-19. No DNA is extracted or stored. If your test result is positive, your sample maybe sent off for genotyping (to look at the genetic code of the virus for changes and mutations), to contribute to research about variants.

A message from our Admissions Team: Consultation on admissions arrangements for 2023

As required by regulations the governing body of St Anne’s Catholic School, Southampton, SO15 2WZ will be conducting a consultation on its proposed admissions arrangements for the school year 2023 – 2024. The consultation period runs for a minimum period of 6 weeks from 17/11/2021 until 29/12/2021

Please see our website below for further information and to review the proposed admissions arrangements:

https://www.st-annes.uk.com/web/admissions_consultation/254331

Any feedback is welcome and should be emailed to info@st-annes.uk.com with the subject ‘Admissions Guidance 2023-24 Consultation’.

God Bless!

James Rouse

Headteacher