St Anne’s C of E (A) Primary News

“Developing the whole child, spiritually, mentally and physically in a caring Christian

environment through close links to the Church and Community”

Friday 28^th February 2025

Dear Parents & Carers,

Welcome back!

I hope you all had a restful break and are ready for the new half term ahead. We have a busy and exciting few weeks planned, and I look forward to seeing the children continue to flourish in their learning.

This half term, we will be focussing on our school value of ‘acceptance’.

Acceptance means to accept our differences. It means showing respect for the race, religion, age, gender, opinions, and ideologies of other people or groups.  At St Anne’s, we are blessed with having families from a broad range of backgrounds and this allows the children to really experience what acceptance truly means.

Children in school will be completing activities around equality, inclusion, acceptance and respecting differences over the coming weeks.

Celebrating 100 Years of St Anne’s

If you would like to support Mrs Middleton in planning for a ‘100 year’ celebration of all that is St Anne’s and what makes our school so special, you are invited into a ‘Cup of tea and planning session’ on Friday 14^th March 2025 at 2pm.

Thank You - Parents’ Evening

It was wonderful to see such a high turnout for the parents’ evenings before half term. Thank you for taking the time to meet with your child’s teacher and engage with their progress. If you were unable to attend, please contact the school office to arrange an appointment at a convenient time.

Year 1 Class Assembly

Class 1 amazed the school with their performance at their class assembly yesterday! Each played their part and shared their knowledge of space, the importance of sharing worries as well as a superb ‘Talk for Writing’ performance of ‘Whatever Next’ – well done to all.

Prioritising Reading

Reading is at the heart of all learning, and we encourage you to read with your child as often as possible. We encourage all children to read at least 4 times a week to work towards their ‘remarkable reader’ awards.

As you will be aware, Key Stage 2 are taking a different approach with a half termly reward, acknowledging the effort, resilience and hard work of the children – Mr Flockhart will be leading on the reward for this half term and will be sharing his ideas with the children.

Children have been reminded that there are opportunities in the school day such as ‘drop-in lunch time club’ to read in case it has been a busy week at home to enable to fulfil the expectation of four times.  It is important for the adults at home to sign the reading diaries please. A few minutes each can make a big difference!

To support this, Miss Decouto will be running her ‘Year 1 Phonics Screening Workshop’ next week. This will provide practical strategies to help your child develop strong reading skills. Please speak to your child’s class teacher should you require any advice in supporting your child.

Book in a Box competition – children are encouraged to get creative! Children are invited to recreate a scene from their favourite story, inside a box (shoe box/cereal box etc). They will be given the opportunity to use their box to retell the story to their classmates during World Book Week. Here are a few ideas……

           

World Book Day

Don’t forget, we are encouraging the children to dress up as a book character on Tuesday 4^th March for our World Book Day (2 days earlier than the National one due to gymnastics). Please don’t go to additional costs – it’s amazing what can be done with a cardboard box!

Science with Worksop College

We welcomed Dr Bob from Worksop College on Wednesday when he came into school to put on a display of some of the ‘wow’ moments in science for classes 4&5.  Children took part (wearing safety equipment) and thoroughly enjoyed the display. As a school with the Primary Science Quality Mark, we continue to provide opportunities for the children to be ‘our scientists of the future!’

    

Sporting news

Football vs Holy Family

On Thursday, the football team played in a match against Holy Family, they worked well as a team a came away with a 1-1 draw. Well done all who took part this week.

Swimming gala

Today, children from KS2 participated in the Nottinghamshire School Swimming Gala. Every member of the team swam their hearts out. A big well done to all. 

Next Week – Lent begins – Ash Wednesday Service 9am

As we approach the season of Lent, we might traditionally think of having to ‘give something up’ for Lent. Whilst this has its benefits, there is an increasing interest in doing something positive during Lent to express our gratitude, offer positive help to those around us and make space for reflection.

We are encouraging the children to take part in the ’24 Acts of Kindness’ during the period of Lent – the sheet has been sent home and can be returned to school once complete. Rev Dave will be leading the school in the Ash Wednesday Service at church on Wednesday at 9am – children will be invited up to the front to ‘be ashed’ (small cross on forehead). Please let your child’s class teacher know if you do not want them to participate in the ashing).

Science week – a reminder what is coming up!

We are very excited about our upcoming Science Week beginning on the 10th of March.

You will now have received a letter inviting you to one of our parent workshops, we can’t wait for you to join us and for your children to participate in some Science.  

Science Fair Competition

We would like you to create a model, poster or experiment based upon this year’s Science Week theme. The theme this year is ‘Change and Adapt’, – there are loads of STEM topics to explore!

Children are tasked with creating a project linked to this theme. They could show how a certain type of technology has changed and adapted, they could also go futuristic and show us how they think the world might change and adapt in years to come, designing their own adapted world. Or perhaps they could look at nature – lifecycles, lifespans, evolution and hibernation – nature is full of changes and adaptation.

How will the competition be judged?

1. Creativity in approach – Innovative angle on the content or creative interpretation of the theme – don’t be afraid to think outside the box 2.
2. Content – Clear, accurate, and informative about a STEM topic
3. Effective communication – presented and communicated in an engaging way  

How will the day work?

On Thursday 13th March, projects can be brought to the school hall from 8:30am to be displayed, viewed by the rest of the school and judged throughout the day.

At 2:15pm, parents are invited to come along and view the children’s projects and find out this year’s winners. Teas, coffees and biscuits will also be available for a small donation.

At 2:30pm, we will host a short assembly, where the winners will be announced, and prizes will be awarded.  

All entries will receive a participation certificate and team points.  

It would be lovely once again to see lots of exciting entries showing the work of our young scientists. Please come along and support this event. It was such a fantastic afternoon at our Science Fair last year.

Technological Advances!

On Monday, we went live with ‘Arbor’ the new management information system – thank you for your patience. My thanks to Mrs Ridout and Miss Fenton for persevering and troubleshooting as the week has progressed. We know in the long run; it will all be worth it!

After School Club

Activities w/c:  Monday 3rd March 2025

Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday
Outdoor Activities	Book Activities	Connect & Games	Dodgeball	Sports

Collection from the club remains through Harrington Street only and you will be notified of any changes.

News from the Classes

Class Reception

This week Class Reception have been learning to retell their new traditional tale ‘Goldilocks and the Three Bears’ through an action song.  They have been working hard to describe a forest setting.  In Maths, they have been thinking about length and comparing objects that are long and short.  

Class One

This week, Class 1 have started a new writing unit in English. They were introduced to Bob, and they wrote letters to him, asking him questions about his life. He replied to them and sent them his book 'Man on the Moon: A Day in the Life of Bob'. The children thought about their favourite part, and then pretended to be tourists on the moon, writing a postcard to their family, describing everything they did and saw on the moon.

Class Two

This week Class 2 have begun a new unit of learning in writing focusing on poetry. They are studying the poem 'The Sound Collector' by Roger McGough.  Initially they focussed on the features of the poem before building up to write verses of their own.  

Class Three

Class 3 have had a busy start to the half term with a new writing unit. The children have been exploring the Roman Myth of ‘Romulus and Remus’, and they have a great understanding of the story. They are now using that knowledge to develop a diary entry for one of the characters. The children have been enthusiastic in coming up with emotive language and creating a timeline of events in chronological order ready to start writing. In Maths, the children have begun the next unit of work involving fractions. Already they have blown Mr Flockhart away with their growing knowledge and confidence in applying new learning.

In the children’s topic work, they have used maps and atlases to identify countries and continents of the Roman empire as their focus becomes more geographically based. The children have also started preparing for the Easter performance and have shown great enthusiasm for the songs - links to these songs can be found on the class page.

As mentioned on the Spring Letter, please be aware that PE days for Class 3 are now Monday (swimming) and Friday.  

Class Four

Year 4 have had a busy first week back. In Science, they have started their next unit: states of matter. They were tasked with sorting objects based on whether they were solids, liquids or gases. They needed to think carefully about all the properties in order to classify them accurately.

In English, the children have been writing diary entries based on the text ‘How we lived in ancient times. They had to write from the perspective of Freya, a Viking child, and include all the features of a diary entry.

In French, they have begun their new unit ‘Ma Famille’- they learnt how to say different family members in French and produced a family tree to represent this.

Class Five

This week the Class 5 were amazed by the wonders of Dr Bob’s science workshop. Together with Class 4, the pupils were able to compare what happens when different metals are burned, as well as when different chemicals are combined.  

Here are some comments from the pupils:

Amber: It was really cool because I like seeing the chemical reactions

Ollie: It was fun…the fire turned green!

Ruby: The liquid that glowed without light was really fun.

Here is some of what they learnt:

• ‘Different chemical reactions turn the flame different colours.’
• ‘If you add copper to a flame that flame will burn green.’
• ‘Iron is an element.’
• ‘In a chemical reaction something new is made.’

The pupils have also combined a focus on the human and physical geography of Egypt with a historical investigation into the types of houses which the Ancient Egyptians built. Did you know that they had flat roofs with canopies so that they could sleep or rest there to keep cool, or that their doorways were above ground level to keep out the sand.

Class Six

This week year six have been busy diving into facts about the ‘Ancient Maya's’ beliefs and enjoyed researching the Gods and making their top trump cards with key facts about the many Gods that they worshiped. In RE they are exploring the importance of the resurrection to Christians and recapped the Easter Story. During maths children have been solving problems involving decimal numbers including rounding, and place value. 

In English children are enjoying creating their own creatures to write non-chronological reports on. Their new unit in PE is badminton and they enjoyed their first session learning how to hold the bat and how to serve. 

Due to the number of children at the swimming gala today, Star of the Week Celebration will take place on Monday at 9am, with Class 3 have a double award on Friday due to swimming.

Class Tidiness Award

Caretaker Adele has awarded Class 1 this week – well done!

Out of School Achievements:

Georgiana (class 4), Emily (class 4), Harri (class 4), Sophie (class 5) – at the Nottinghamshire County Swimming Relays competition last weekend the girls reached the final for the 9/10-year-old individual medley. 

Georgiana and Sophie also qualified for the mixed medley final for the 9/10-year-olds.

Church Services

Sunday 2^nd March

9.00am           StA@9 Holy Communion led by Rev Edith

10.30              STA @10ish Service for all ages, led by Claire.

2.00pm           Care Home Service, led by Bev 

6.00pm           StA@6 led by Satya

Family Support

Kerry Macadem ‘Bassetlaw Behaviour Support’ – Family Support Co-ordinator joined us on Monday and saw parents. She will be in school on the 10^{th of} March.

Drop-In Sessions

Monday 10 March 9.00-11.00am

Monday 31 March 9.00-11.00am

Monday 28 April 9.00-11.00am

Monday 19 May 9.00-11.00am

Monday 16 June 9.00-11.00am

Monday 14 July 9.00-11.00am

She can help support with issues within the home such as behaviour, sleep patterns, resistance to change, establishing routines.

2024-2025 Attendance

Class	Attendance
R	98.0%
1	98.8%
2	97.3%
3	91.4%
4	99.3%
5	99.5%
6	94.9%
ALL  96.9%

Thank you for your continued support. If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to get in touch.

With my best wishes

Mrs Middleton & the St Anne’s Team

Diary dates are on the website