St Anne's Catholic Primary School

EASTER HOLIDAY

Schools have been asked to continue providing education for the children during the school holiday.  At St Anne's, we are very keen to balance this request with the children's, parents' and staff need for a break.  As a result, we have produced a grid for each of the two weeks containing creative learning suggestions.  Children may complete none/some/all of the activities and can submit a photo of their output to the class teacher.  No marking or feedback will be given but photos will be posted on the school website when we return after the Easter break.

Please note that Easter holiday work is not compulsory.  However, the Google Classroom work set this work and again from Tuesday 21st April is a requirement.  

TUESDAY 31st MARCH

Dear Parents/Carers,

Sadly, it has come to our attention that there has been a spike in cyber scams. It looks like many are being targeted at parents and are presenting themselves as 'free' online resources to support with home learning. Whilst some of these are genuine, please be extra vigilant when opening emails and registering for websites. The fraudulent sites are designed to gather personal details in order to then access financial accounts. As a general rule, never give out personal details online or over the phone. Banks never contact you and ask for bank details. If in any doubt, please hang up/don't respond to an email and make the phone calls yourself. 

Here is a handy quiz to help you work out if someone is being untruthful. 

https://phishingquiz.withgoogle.com/

MONDAY 30th MARCH

Story time with Monty - The Trials of Morrigan Crow by Jessica Townsend

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cZGK2RcbqXs

Live Streaming now available at St Chad's Cathedral
​Monday to Friday – 12.15pm
Saturday and Sunday – 11am

https://www.stchadscathedral.org.uk/

SATURDAY 28th MARCH

Hear this weekend's gospel read by Mrs Bernto on the link below

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UJCLhayMpNo

Listen to Chapter 1 of David Walliam's latest publication The Beast of Buckingham Palace read by Mrs Bernto

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RcFjF6jyVDk&feature=youtu.be

FRIDAY 27th MARCH

Dear parents and carers,

We are reaching the end of Week 1 of vitual learning and have learnt a great deal in the last five days.  Thank you so much for the huge efforts you have made  in order to ensure that the children continue to learn.  We realise that this is no mean feat, especially when trying to do your own work and to manage the needs of several children.  

We are already planning for the Easter holidays now and would kindly ask that parents of children eligible for a school place (children with an EHCP, a social worker or having one parent who is a key worker) and who cannot care for their child at home, contact us by Monday 30th March on head@st-annes.reading.sch.uk

In the meantime, there are a few highlights to note this weekend:

- His Holiness, Pope Francis will once again lead us in prayer today (Friday) at 5:00. Please follow the link for more information

https://www.cbcew.org.uk/

- Saturday (28th March) at 8.30p.m. is Earth Hour; switch off your lights at home for an hour and enjoy a candlelit supper whilst also supporting the environment.

- Check out Fr Patrick's messages for Lent on the parish website  https://www.ourladyandstanne.org.uk/

Have a safe and relaxing weekend,

Sarah.

FRIDAY 27th MARCH

Just a reminder to parents that Fridays are catch up time.  No new work will be set and teachers will not be online.  However, TAs will be available in the afternoon to answer questions.  Children should finish off pieces that they haven't completed or start work that was set earlier this week but which they haven't yet attempted.

26th March 2020

The school remains closed at this time.  However, should your child be eligible for school provision (having a social worker, EHCP or a parent who is a key worker) and you would like a place, please contact Mrs Bernto on head@st-annes.reading.sch.uk

For the latest information, please check out our PSA Facebook Page on

https://www.facebook.com/groups/StAnnesCavershamPSA

To all our parents and carers,

Thank you so much for the way in which you have been supporting the children with their work over the last few days.  You are doing an amazing job and we are extremely grateful.  Most importantly, do not feel stressed or worried about this; we know that many of you are juggling jobs and multiple children.  Please just do what you and your child can manage each day.

We have received feedback from across the community and have made a few amendments to our provision as a result which we wanted to let you know about.

Subjects: henceforth, teachers will be setting only Maths, Literacy and Reading daily plus RE twice a week.  Teachers may continue to send links about PE, Science and Art etc but this will not be done on a daily level.

Hours worked: teachers have been receiving communications through the evening and late into the night.  Clearly, responding at all hours is not sustainable.  Therefore, teachers will now only respond to enquiries and man Google Classroom between 9.30 and 3.30.  

Marking and feedback: teachers are working flat out to mark work and to return it with comments.  In the interest of wellbeing, class teachers will designate some work to be marked at home and will attach the answers to be used.  This will be indicated in the instructions for the task.  Children should mark their own work and make corrections where appropriate.

Fridays: since most children are not turning in all the work set, teachers will not set any new work on a Friday.  Thus, Fridays will be a catch-up day on which children should undertake and/or finish incomplete tasks.

I know you will want to join me in thanking our teachers and TAs at this time.  They are complete stars!  Thank you!

Take care and God Bless,

Sarah.

Nursery News

Dear parents and carers,

It is with great sadness that I am writing to let you know that Miss Bray will be leaving us at the end of this term since her VISA to work in the UK has expired and cannot be renewed.

Miss Bray has been a fabulous member of the team bringing compassion, a love of the outdoors and an Aussie twang into all she does.  The Nursery children have been truly blessed to have her as their teacher with her singing and her love of dancing in puddles.  We wish Miss Bray all the best as she finds her new path and send with her all our love.  

From next term, Nursery will be taught by Mrs Orife on Mondays and Tuesdays supported by Miss France and by Mrs Cosgrove on Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays - again, supported by Miss France.  Reception will be taught full-time by Mrs McAdden supported by Miss Bradshaw.

All kind regards,

Sarah.

24th March 2020

We are in new and challenging times.  With the coronavirus pandemic, we are following government guidance and are offering places in school to children who have an EHCP, a social worker or who have one parent defined as a key worker.  We are currently closed .

But pleaee contact Mrs Bernto on head@st-annes.if you think your child is eligible and you require a place.

All other children are at home and are undertaking learning set for them daily via Google Classroom.  In this first week, please do not worry if you are struggling to adjust to the new routine or if your child is taking time to adjust to online learning.  This is totally to be expected.  We would just ask that all children sign in each day and try to turn in one piece of work daily or let their teacher know what they have been reading/doing.  Children without access to the iinternet, should undertake work from their home learning packs and parents can email class teachers for further activities.

The main thing is to keep safe and well; in the meantime, reading is always a fabulous go to!

God Bless!

Mrs Bernto

Learning to live by faith and to be known by love

We are a Voluntary Aided school in Caversham , Reading, serving the Catholic parish of Our Lady and St Anne, which is part of the Archdiocese of Birmingham.  We welcome children of any faith and no faith.

Basing our work on the Gospel values of Love and Service, we recognise that every child is a gift from God and that the first and best teachers of any child are his or her own parents.  As a result, we welcome the opportunity to work closely in partnership with the amazing community that we serve.  We are extremely proud of our children and their achievements, our academic standards and the selfless commitment of our staff and of our Parent/Staff Association.

Currently, we have 197 children across 7 year groups.    We also have a 26 place Nursery.  Children come into our Reception class in the year that they are 5 and move up to secondary school at the end of Year 6, when they are 11.

Our school day starts at 8.50am and finishes at 3.25pm.  However, we do also have a super Before and After School Club, run by school staff which opens at 8.00 and ends at 18.00.

Do contact the school office and pop in for a visit!

Mrs Sarah Bernto

Headteacher