Parent Update 3rd December 2021

3rd December 2021

Dear Parents,

 

I hope this email find you and your families well.

 

It has been wonderful to visit classrooms this week and see the high quality education that our pupils are getting. I have seen year 13s learning how to effect change in organisations as part of their A Level business studies course, year 10s learning about indices and year 8s learning about probability in mathematics, and some amazing art work in the creative design department from our year 11s.

 

Our staff development day on Friday gave the whole staff the chance to celebrate the start of liturgical year with the coming of Advent. We ended our day with a wonderful liturgy at St Edmunds Church. Our House assemblies this week have been focused on our House Saints and a call to arms to our young people to provide Christmas hampers to those most in need this Christmas. 

 

As we approach Christmas, we know that it is less easy for some families than others.  If you or your family would like a confidential conversation to see how school could signpost or refer for practical support, please do email safe@st-annes.uk.com with the subject Christmas.

 

Year 9 Parents Evening

 

Y9 Parent's Evening will take place on Wednesday 8th December from 16:30 to 19:30. Parents of children in Year 9 will have received an email from us on Thursday 25th November with a guide on how to register and make appointments. The last opportunity to make appointments is midnight on Tuesday 7th December. There have been some issues with the provider we use, School Cloud, during this week, so please do log on and check that you have all the appointments wish to have.

 

Start of the New Term

 

As you may have heard, schools are being asked to offer onsite testing at the start of the new term to help combat the pandemic. We are allowed to have a staggered start to the year to allow us to get through all the testing needing and to get results from tests before pupils are back onsite en masse. We are sending out a paper letter to all parents with details of start of term early next week, but in summary we intend to have a delayed start back so that we can get through the testing. It means that the start of the term will be delayed by one day, so it looks a little different from originally planned:

 

  • Monday 3rd January 2022: Bank Holiday. School closed.
  • Tuesday 4th January 2022: Pre-planned Staff INSET Day. School closed to pupils.
  • Wednesday 5th January 2022: Onsite COVID testing of pupils. Pupils come in just for a COVID test and then return home.
  • Thursday 6th January 2022: Normal timetabled day for all pupils. Pupils to bring in a saliva test on this day and then every Monday and Thursday morning.

More information will be coming home by letter next week.

 

Key Dates for the Year

 

As a reminder, there are key dates for the year on our website as follows:

 

 

Some upcoming dates for next half term (all can be found on our School Calendar):

 

Year 7

 

Year 8

  • Friday, 18th February: Year Group Mass at St Edmunds Church

 

Year 9

  • Wednesday, 26th January: 18:00-20:00: KS4 Curriculum Evening for finding out more about Key Stage 4 courses. This is currently planned to be a face-to-face event.
  • Friday, 18th February: Year Group Mass at St Edmunds Church

 

Year 10

  • Friday, 18th February: Year Group Mass at St Edmunds Church

 

Year 11

 

Year 12

 

Year 13

  • Wednesday 5th January to Friday 14th January: Pre Public Exams. The staggered start to the term due to COVID testing does not affect this timetable: year 13s with exams on the 5th January will still be able to test first and then do their morning exams on that day.
  • Tuesday, 25th January: Year Group photos
  • Wednesday, 9th February: 16:30-19:30: Sixth Form Parents Evening. It will be online. Click here for more information on how online parents evening run.

 

Uniform

We are seeing an increasing number of non-school shoes being worn.  Families are reminded that acceptable and non-acceptable shoes are detailed on the website. For those students who choose to cover their heads at school, the uniform rules are clear that these coverings should be navy blue. In the New Year, we will be asking students to correct uniform transgressions on the day - which may involve them going home and returning to school.

 

TikTok

TikTok is an app for 13 year olds and older. Want to find out more about it, then see the attached support document for parents.

 

Support our UK City of Culture Bid

Southampton has successfully made the long-list to be UK City of Culture 2025. As a school we are proud to support the bid. As a school community, we can all play our part in small ways to support the bid. One way we have been asked to pass on is to follow the bid's Twitter account on: @Southampton2025. The number of followers is of interest to the judges, so following helps show our support for the bid as well as keeps us up to date with what is going on. I'd urge you to follow if you are on Twitter.

 

Have a great weekend

God Bless

James Rouse

Headteacher

Telephone: 023 80328200 Email: info@st-annes.uk.com