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

Parent Update 4th February 2022

4th February 2022

Dear Parents,

I hope you and your family have had a good week. We have had a busy week in school with more art gallery trips, house charity events, LifeLab trips and an amazing number of pupils taking part in the Intermediate Maths Challenge. Last week we had judges come in for the Rotary Youth Speaks Competition. We had some lovely feedback from the judges:

"I would like to compliment both the students and the liaison teacher, Ms James on the standard and quality of the debates we heard. From my experience of working with this age group it can be difficult to motivate and focus them to keep on track but this is something Ms James has obviously mastered!"

Next week is includes the Dance Live competition at Portsmouth Guildhall and our Sixth Form Parents Evening and the week after includes the second of year 11's science and maths mock papers, house assemblies, year 7 parents evening, our year 8, 9 and 10 masses at St Edmund's Church and our year 10 and year 12 DofE Bronze and Silver training, so lots of great activities beyond the classroom.

Face coverings and cases

The numbers of cases this week have been much lower than previously, and so we will move next week to face coverings being optional in classrooms. They will remain expected in communal areas (unless a child is exempt). We will then review again at the end of next week. The adherence to this has been brilliant by pupils.

Ash Wednesday

Wednesday 2 March is Ash Wednesday. Families who have been with us since before the pandemic will know that we usually hold Liturgies of the Word with ashing in school. This year, especially due to the complications surrounding the pandemic, we will be holding an online service instead. We would ask families wishing to receive ashing in person to attend their parishes either before or after school.

'Introduction to Apprenticeships' Webinar - 8th February 2022, 4-5pm

As part of National Apprenticeship Week 2022, the Southern Universities Network (SUN) have teamed up with ALPHI and ASK Amazing Apprenticeships to run an informative online workshop providing an up to date introduction to Apprenticeships, designed specifically for parents, carers and young people. This is available free for St Anne's families – simply sign up here: https://register.gotowebinar.com/register/983841225747267344

For further information about SUN see their website, www.sunoutreach.org

Uniform Consultation

In line with recent government guidelines, we are consulting with all key stakeholders on aspects of our uniform to ensure that it strikes the right balance between purposeful (that is, to make all members of the community feel equal) and cost effective. If you would like to take part, please do follow the link to a survey, which will close on Monday 28 February.

God Bless

James Rouse

Headteacher