Friday 6^th March 2026

Dear Parents and Carers,

It has been another positive week.  Not only have staff been focussed on their teaching, but some have taken time in their subject leader roles to evaluate the provision and quality of work across the school.  We are a school constantly striving to refine and enhance practice and resources to ensure an even better experience for the children.   As always, thank you for your continued support—it truly strengthens our whole school community.

We began the week in Collective Worship as we continue our journey through the teachings of Jesus. This week, we explored the miracle of the loaves and fishes—a story many children know well, yet one rich with meaning.

The children reflected on how the story shows that God provides, even when a situation seems impossible.  A small offering of five loaves and two fish was shared among thousands, reminding Christians that even the smallest gifts, when offered with a generous heart, can achieve great things. 

The story also helped us think about the importance of community, generosity, and hope - values that guide us every day in school.  As we journey through Lent, the children have been encouraged to consider, not only what they might give up, but what they might take up instead.  This could be offering help, showing kindness, or simply being a good listener.  Whilst some pupils have been thinking about their decision to give up chocolate, one pupil cheerfully suggested to a staff member that they were “giving up maths” - an idea we very quickly and gently discouraged!

World Book Day Celebrations

Although we celebrated a day early this year, the children fully embraced World Book Day with huge enthusiasm.  It is always such a delight to see the incredible effort families go to - thank you for supporting the joy of reading so creatively at home. Throughout the day, children were immersed in a wide range of book‑themed activities, sharing stories, exploring characters, and celebrating the magic of reading together.

Swimming Achievement

A huge congratulations to our swimming squad, who triumphed at the Bassetlaw Gala last Friday!  Their teamwork, determination, and resilience were exemplary, and we are thrilled to announce that they are now through to the County Finals.  A heartfelt thank you to the parents who supported the squad on the day - your encouragement makes moments like this possible.

Rugby Megafest – Classes 3/4

Some of our Class 3 and 4 pupils took part in a Rugby Megafest, demonstrating fantastic teamwork, commitment, and sportsmanship.  They represented the school brilliantly and showed real determination throughout the festival. Well done to all involved!

Football Squad – First Match of 2026

Our football squad played their first match of 2026, securing a 2–2 draw against Gatefold, in what was a nail‑biting, end‑to‑end game!  The children showed superb effort, spirit, and resilience—an excellent start to the season.  With further fixtures coming up, we look forward to seeing the team flourish as the year continues.

End of Term Services – Important Adjustments

As we prepare for our end of term services, we would like to inform families that we are trialling some small adjustments to help the event run safely and smoothly.  On arrival, parents and family members will be asked to queue at the main church door and will be welcomed inside, once staff have positioned all classes and ensured every child is seated with their group.  At the end of the service, we kindly ask that parents remain seated, while the children exit first.  This will allow staff to guide pupils safely back across the church car park and into school.  Thank you for your understanding and cooperation as we trial these arrangements to support the wellbeing and safety of all our pupils.

Final Thoughts

As we head into the weekend, I want to thank every family for the daily encouragement you give your children.  Together, we nurture a community built on learning, kindness, and shared values.  We also wish Harriet R (6) well as she takes part in the Worksop Drama and Music Festival this weekend - her piano piece is delightful - sending her lots of luck! 

Wishing you all a restful weekend.

World Book Day Photographs

 

     

     

School Trips

We’d like to share a little update about school trips.  Although we use the term voluntary contribution, we are noticing that some visits are ending up with a shortfall. Through the use of the 'Pupil Premium Fund', trips and a 50% contribution to residentials are funded for those children eligible for free school meals.  This year, the school has so far had to cover around £360, so that planned trips could still take place. Many places we visit charge an entry fee for children just as they do for the public, so unfortunately these visits aren’t always free for school groups.

We always do our very best to keep costs as low as we can, and we are incredibly grateful to FOSAS for helping to subsidise travel, through their fantastic fundraising work.  We truly believe that well-chosen trips bring learning to life and are hugely valuable for our pupils.  We’ll keep reviewing how we manage these visits so we can continue offering the best experiences possible for the children.

Breakfast Club

We have noticed that some children are coming across the playground from the Church Car Park or Devonshire Street on their own.  Whilst we appreciate you might be in a rush to get to work, it is essential that you bring your child to the Hall door to be greeted by a member of staff and to sign in.  We cannot have children turning up unaccompanied and will monitor this situation closely.

Afterschool Club Activities

Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday
Reading	Reading	Reading	Reading	Reading
Quiz Time	Balloon Party	Connect	Just Dance	Floor is Lava
Just Dance	Painting	Colouring and Drawing	Parachute Games	Den Making

Please remember pre-booking on Arbor is essential to enable the school to plan for adult/child ratios.  If you phone on the day, we may be unable to offer you a place as ratios need to be arranged in advance.

Arbor

It is non uniform day today and we are raising money for our 'school fund'.  A suggested £1 donation can be made on Arbor, through 'School Shop'.

School fund is money that we raise in school and not from the County Council budgets. It is important to school to help support our activities such as playground equipment, school trips, extracurricular clubs, performances, library resources, and improving school facilities.

Donations on Arbor from the non-uniform day will go towards revitalising the story telling circle on the field for the year of reading.  We have a large story teller chair but we need benches and seating for a full class to enjoy.

All bookings for Wraparound Care—both Breakfast and After-School Club—must be made in advance on Arbor.  It is crucial that you adhere to this policy. Only in emergencies should bookings be made via the Office.  If you encounter such a situation, please ring the office directly rather than emailing, as emails may not be picked up in time.

If your child receives music lessons in school, you will find the fee for these under ‘trips’ on Arbor – please ensure you make full payment for this term before the end of term.

Thank you for your attention to these important matters.

News from the Classes

Reception

This week, Reception have been thinking about different places.  Using the traditional tale, The Town Mouse and the Country Mouse, the children compared what it might be like to live in a city, a town, and the countryside.  They talked about the features of each place and shared their own experiences to help them understand the differences. They have also been focusing on different types of houses and discussing the kinds of homes people may live in.    The children enjoyed exploring how houses can look different depending on where they are and who lives in them. Reception also celebrated their very first World Book Day. They took part in a range of activities linked to The Day the Crayons Quit.

Class One

This week, Class 1 created posters to encourage tourists to visit the moon. Using inspiration from our current class text, 'Man on the Moon: A Day in the Life of Bob', they used exciting adjectives to entice people to visit the moon.  Using phrases such as 'See the glittering stars!' or 'See the sapphire Earth'.  They remembered to use exclamation marks to add excitement, and they drew pictures to match their descriptions.

Class Two

Class 2 have had a super busy week!  They’ve been exploring problem solving in maths, looking at Sudokus, not just number ones but shapes ones and using their problem solving and reasoning skills to figure out where the missing numbers or shapes should be.  They’ve explored the book ‘The Day the Crayons Quit,’ as part of our World Book Day theme, some of our equipment in Class 2 even quit as well! It’s also been their Class Assembly, they got to show their grown-ups and the other children in school everything they have been learning about over the last few weeks, they are really proud of their work.  On Thursday, it was extra exciting as they had gymnastics with Emma, they loved exploring the movements they can make and can’t wait for next week.  But the learning didn’t stop there, they’ve explored how to be healthy in PSHE, how to keep a beat in music and during their computing lesson they have begun to understand the importance of organising data effectively for counting and comparing.

Class Three

This week in Class 3, the children worked hard across all areas of their learning and enjoyed a very exciting trip on Thursday.  In maths, the class focused on fractions.  They practised comparing and ordering fractions and developed their understanding of the whole. The children explored how the numerator and denominator work together and used different strategies to help them decide which fractions were larger or smaller.  In English, the children began planning and writing the first paragraph of a diary entry from the perspective of Romulus.  They thought carefully about how a character might feel and how to write in the first person to make the diary sound realistic and engaging.  For World Book Day, the class explored the story The Day the Crayons Quit.  They discussed the different emotions and reasons each crayon had for writing their letters.  This helped the children begin preparing their own persuasive letters, thinking about how to explain feelings and convince the reader.  In History, the children learned about Hadrian’s Wall.  They discovered why it was built, who built it, and how it helped the Romans protect their empire. In Science, the class investigated what plants need to grow and stay healthy.  The children discussed factors such as water, light, and soil, and they set up an investigation to help them observe how plants grow over time.  On Thursday, the children thoroughly enjoyed their school trip. During the visit, they had the opportunity to build a catapult, learn about battle tactics, and explore Roman armour and weapons. It was a fantastic hands-on experience that helped bring their learning to life.

Class Four

Class 4 had a fantastic time celebrating World Book Day by exploring the book The Day the Crayons Quit.  The children thoroughly enjoyed stepping into the story and writing diary entries either from the perspective of Duncan, the main character, or from the point of view of one of the crayons.  This activity inspired some wonderfully imaginative writing, and the creativity and humour shown in the children’s diary entries was truly notable.  It was lovely to see how enthusiastically they engaged with the characters and brought their ideas to life through their writing.

Class Five

This week, Class 5 have started their Geography topic.  They have looked closely at Africa and located some of the countries and capital cities, the hemi-spheres, lines of latitude, oceans that surround it and climate zones.  In RE, they are looking at the Gospels and this week they have looked at the messages they get from Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount, that can help them to live our lives today.  We know that the Gospels appear in the New Testament, as this tells them about after Jesus was born. ‘The Gospels’ actually means ‘good news’.  They enjoyed celebrating World Book Day on Wednesday this week and had some fantastic costumes in our class, including Sherlock Holmes, Harry Potter, Billionaire Boy and even the Red Crayon! They enjoyed reading ‘The Day the Crayons Quit’ by Oliver Jeffers and looked at the role of satire within stories.  They used this to write their own story, entitled ‘The Day the iPhone Quit’, where they wrote emails from the different Apps to the phone’s owner. This was great fun and made us laugh! They have also been working hard to learn our lines for our Class Assembly next week.

Class Six

This week in English, the children engaged in writing character descriptions inspired by the narrative of Rain Player, enhancing their creative writing skills.  In mathematics, they are continuing the exploration of Fractions, Decimals, and Percentages, reinforcing essential concepts through practical applications.  In science, the children are focussing on classifying plants, developing their understanding of biodiversity and plant characteristics.  Additionally, our topic lessons will delve into the fascinating world of Biomes, where students will investigate various ecosystems and their unique features.

Congratulations to our Stars of the Week this week

Well done to all pupils who received certificates this week. Your hard work, positive attitudes, and kindness continue to make our school a wonderful place to learn.

Class Reception – Amelie and Mac

Class One – Eleanor and Zachary

Class Two – Jack and Felicity

Class Three – Delilah

Class Four – Oliver

Class Five – Alessia

Class Six – Joshua and Ollie Tom

Tidy Classroom Award: Class 4

Out of School Achievements:

Class 3 & 4 Rugby Megafest: Jed (3), Willow (3), Jasper (3), Imogen (3), Pippa (3), Charlie (4), Alice (4), George S (4), Mia (4), Edan (4)

Football Match (St Anne’s vs Gateford: Sam (5), Casper (5), Harrison (5), Adam (5), Jensen (5), Jacob (5), Georgiano (5), Ollie-Tom (5) (Player of the Match), Oliver (5), Ava (5), James (5).

Swimming

Stage 3 Swimming: Oscar (2)

Stage 7 Swimming: Florence (2)

Nottinghamshire County Relays: Worksop Dolphins Relay: 2^nd Freestyle, 1^st Medley: Eliza (3), Dana (3)

Dukeries Open Meet Worksop Dolphins: 3^rd Place 110 breast and 2x PBs Eliza (3), 3^rd Place Emily (5)

Retford Swimming Club: Club Championships Plaque: Harriet (5)

Bassetlaw School Swimming Gala: Leo (3), Eliza (4), Grace O (4), Dana (4), Jude M (4), Oliver (4), Harrison (5), Emily (5) Sam A (5), Casper (5), Harriet R (5), Harri (5), Emily (5), Harriet R (6), Georgiano (6), Sophie (6), Oliver (6) Nicole (6).

SJR Parents Player of the Match: Adam (6)

Church Services

StA@10am, led by Rev Dave, Reading: The Journey of God’s People Luke 15:11-12 - God’s Forgiving Love

6.00pm - StA@6pm, led by Sayta

2025-2026 Attendance

Class	Attendance
R	95.4%
1	97.93%
2	98.41%
3	98.8%
4	95.97%
5	98.15%
6	97.85%
ALL: 98.39%

Attendance

Thank you for supporting strong attendance and punctuality. Every day in school makes a positive difference.

Regular attendance and good punctuality are vital for children to achieve their best.  The doors open for KS2 children slightly earlier to enable families with younger children to walk around to KS1.  The official start of the day is 8:50 am.  If your child arrives after this time, please bring them through the main entrance so that all other external doors are closed promptly and we can secure the site.

Prayers from – Alice and Ollie Tom (6)

Dear God,

May the sick, homeless and poor have a miracle and have their days of dread be over, and to teach us to be the best we can be. Amen.

Dear God,

Help us to support others and give small acts of kindness. Amen.

With my very best wishes for the weekend,

Mrs Middleton & the St Anne’s Team

Diary Dates

Key Dates to Remember in the School Year
Inset Days			Key Statutory Weeks (Assessment)
Mon 27 July			Year 6 SATS Week – Monday 11 May to Thursday 14 May 2026 Year 1 Phonics Screening – Monday 8 June 2026 (2 weeks) Year 4 Multiplication Check – Monday 1 June 2026 (2 weeks)
Please ensure your children are in school during these times as their data will count even when absent.
Looking Ahead
March	9-13	Science Week
	9	Bassetlaw Flag Raising Ceremony Science Parent Workshops - Y2&3 (classroom) 2pm – entry Harrington Street
	10	Y3 School Swimming starts (until end of school year) Science Parent Workshops – Y4 (classroom) 2pm – entry Harrington Street Mother’s Day Secret Sale 3:20 pm (gifts between £2-4)
	11	Mother’s Day Secret Sale 3:20 pm (gifts between £2-4) Science Parent Workshops – Y5 (classroom) 2pm – entry Harrington Street
	12	Y1 & 2 Library Visit ‘Along Came a Magpie’  – walking to library Y5 Assembly 2:45 pm Science Parent Workshops – Y6 (classroom) 1.30pm – entry Harrington Street
	13	Science Parent Workshops – Reception & Y1 (classroom) 2pm – entry Harrington Street
	16	Y6 Parents SATS Meeting 3:30 pm
	19	Y3 Assembly 3:45 pm (School Hall)
	23	Easter Pilgrimage
	27	Girls Football Festival (invited children only)
April	30-12	Easter Holidays
	15	Kerry from Bassetlaw Behaviour Partnership in school for a parent coffee morning 08:30 – 10:00 am
	24	Y4 Gainsborough Old Hall Trip
	25	Full Governing Body Meeting
	26	DAaRT Graduation 2:30 pm
May	11-15	SATS Week Christian Aid Week
	21	Reception Class Assembly
	25-29	HALF TERM
June	1-12	Y4 Timetable Fortnight
	1-4	Y6 Bikeability
	8-12	Y1 Phonics Screening
	8	Admissions Governors
	9	Y5 Ancient Greek Workshop
	15	Big Talk Day – whole school
	18	Y1 Class Assembly
	23	Sports Day – KS1 AM & KS2 PM
	25	Y6 London Trip
	30	School Photos Strategic and Development Governor Meeting
July	1	Whole School Transition Day
	2	Y4 Class Assembly – 2.45pm
	8	Full Governor Meeting
	16	Open Afternoon – 2.15pm
	24	Leavers Assembly in Church – 2pm