Friday 2^nd October 2026

Dear Parents and Carers,

What a week of special moments it has been at St Anne’s!

We began the week with our Harvest Festival, which gave us the opportunity to come together as a whole school community for our first service of the year. I was particularly proud of our Ambassadors, who played an important role in leading the classes through the service.  It was wonderful to see the children taking responsibility and helping to create such a special occasion.

Thank you, once again, for your incredible generosity.  The donations collected will make a real difference to our local branch of Hope, supporting those in our local community who need a helping hand.

For the remainder of the week, I have had the pleasure of accompanying members of Class 5 on their residential to Hathersage.  What a beautiful part of the world it is, and what an opportunity it has provided for the children to experience things beyond the classroom.

There have been campfires, orienteering around the beautiful grounds of Brookfield Manor and a day in Eyam, where the children discovered the extraordinary story of the village during the plague of 1665.  They learnt about the bravery of the villagers who made the incredibly difficult decision to isolate themselves in order to prevent the spread of the plague to neighbouring communities.

This was followed by a long walk across Eyam Moor, where geographical vocabulary that the children have encountered in the classroom suddenly came to life.  They were able to see and describe the landscape around them, identify different types of trees and experience the natural environment first-hand.

These are the experiences that remind us that education is so much more than what can be found within the pages of a textbook.  There have certainly been plenty of “wow” and “now” moments this week – those moments when children experience something new, stop, look around and simply take it all in.

We often talk about developing the whole child spiritually, mentally and physically, and residential experiences such as this provide wonderful opportunities for spiritual development.  Being away from the familiarity of home and school, spending time in nature, sitting around a campfire, reflecting on history, appreciating the beauty of the landscape and sharing new experiences with friends all provide opportunities for children to develop a sense of awe, wonder, reflection and gratitude.  These are precious moments which cannot always be planned, but which can have a lasting impact.

My sincere thanks go to the members of staff who have accompanied me on the residential.  These trips require a great deal of commitment and are undertaken on a voluntary basis.  Their time, energy and care have helped to make this such a memorable experience for the children.

Back in school, all of our classes have continued to make a really positive start to the new academic year.  Next week provides an opportunity for us to talk with you about your child’s progress and targets during our parents’ evenings.  We look forward to sharing the children’s achievements with you and discussing how we can continue to work together to support their next steps.

I wanted to finish with another “wow” moment – your incredible generosity for Macmillan Cancer Support.  We raised an amazing £520!  Thank you. Macmillan is a charity that is close to many of our hearts, and your generosity will help support people and families facing cancer.

OPAL:

We are seeking a handy parent/carer who could build us some welly storage:

🌈 Wraparound Care - Week Commencing: Monday 28^th September 2026

Contact: 01909 473 223 Option 2

💌 Welcome to another lovely week at wraparound care!  Our team are so happy to be spending time with your children. Here’s a peek at all the fun, food, and special activities that we have planned.

🍎 Food & Tasty Treats

🥣 Breakfast Options

Day	Cereals (Low Sugar Options)	Toast Options	Drinks	Fruit Option	Optional Extra	Allergens
Monday	Weetabix Cornflakes Shredded Wheat Rice Krispies Oats (porridge)	50/50 toast with flora buttery and jam	Milk / Water / Apple juice / Orange juice	Banana	Low sugar yogurt or fromage frais	Milk, Gluten
Tuesday				Tinned peaches in fruit juice		Milk, Gluten
Wednesday				Tinned pears in fruit juice		Milk, Gluten
Thursday				Frozen mango		Milk, Gluten
Friday				Tinned oranges in fruit juice		Milk, Gluten

Breakfast is either cereal or toast with yoghurt and fruit as optional extras.

🍌 After School Snacks

Day	Snack	Allergens
Monday	Cheese toastie, raisins, apple Bourbon biscuit or custard cream	Milk, Gluten, Sesame, Egg,
Tuesday	Beans on toast, banana Bourbon biscuit or custard cream	Gluten, Sesame, Egg,
Wednesday	Cheese wrap, sweetcorn, pear Bourbon biscuit or custard cream	Milk, Gluten, Sesame, Egg,
Thursday	Pasta in a tomato sauce, veg sticks, orange Bourbon biscuit or custard cream	Gluten, Sesame, Egg,
Friday	Scrambled egg on toast, fruit salad Bourbon biscuit or custard cream	Egg, Gluten, Sesame

🎨 Next Week’s Afterschool Activities – Around the World

Time	Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday
3:20–3:40	Snack & Social	Snack & Social	Snack & Social	Snack & Social	Snack & Social
3:40–4:00	Reading	Reading	Reading	Reading	Reading
4:00–4:30	Science Sparks	Volcano experiment	Slime making	Floating/sinking	Mini engineering

News from the Classes

Class Reception

This week, Class Reception have used the story Oliver’s Vegetables to support their learning about vegetables and the harvest season. The children enjoyed using their senses to explore, describe and compare a range of vegetables, including some they had never seen before. They developed their vocabulary by talking about what they could see, feel and smell. 

The children also made everyone proud during their first Harvest Festival. They sang beautifully, showing confidence, enthusiasm and enjoyment throughout their performances.  We are incredibly proud of them all!

Class One

This week, Class 1 enjoyed a walk around the local area to help them answer the question, “How do people use our local area?”  The children proved to be excellent explorers, carefully observing the different places around us. The children spotted lots of important places that people use every day including: schools, churches, shops and the library.  The children enjoyed talking about who might use each place and why they are important to our community.

When they returned to school, they shared everything they had discovered during their walk. The children then used their new knowledge to complete a map of their local area, finding and marking the places they had seen along the way. They worked hard to remember landmarks and showed great enthusiasm as they developed their mapping skills. It was wonderful to see the children making links between their learning in the classroom and the world around them.

Class Two

Class 2 have had another busy week of learning.  In Maths, they have been developing their understanding of place value by exploring the greater than, less than and equal to symbols, comparing numbers, objects, and groups. The children have also been participating in some 10 times table practising using the interactive whiteboard and a game called Hit The Button.  In writing lessons, children have been researching and writing biographies about Florence Nightingale, leaning how to organise information using subheadings such as Early Life, Work Life and understanding what her legacy is.  As well as exploring biographies, the children have looked deeper into some of the grammatical features of writing such as the verbs to be and to have. In history, the children got to really appreciate how their homes are now as they looked at Victorian homes and compared the two. In PE, the children have explored the skill of dodging and enjoyed playing Dishes and Plates. Their competitive spirit certainly shone through, and they thoroughly enjoyed challenging one another!  They have had an excellent week and immersed themselves into their learning!

Class Three

Class 3 have had another busy and productive week, continuing to build their knowledge and skills across the curriculum.  The children have worked hard and have particularly enjoyed the opportunities to link their learning across different subjects.  In English, they have been exploring partitive nouns and linking these to their Stone Age topic, using examples such as ‘a herd of animals’ and a ‘group of hunter-gatherers’. They have also begun exploring newspaper reports, identifying the key features they will need to use when writing their own reports. The children have been developing their understanding of headlines, introductions, facts and the organisation of information. In Maths, Class 3 have been developing their understanding of place value by practising adding and subtracting 1s, 10s and 100s from different numbers. They have been considering how the digits in a number change when different amounts are added or subtracted and have been using their place value knowledge to solve problems accurately. In History, the children have been learning about Skara Brae, the fascinating Stone Age settlement found in Orkney, Scotland. They have explored what life may have been like for the people who lived there and used grid references to create their own maps of Skara Brae. This has provided an exciting opportunity to combine their historical knowledge with geographical mapping skills. In Science, Class 3 have continued their learning about nutrition by investigating real food packets. They have looked carefully at nutritional information and considered the different nutrients found in everyday foods. The children have been comparing food labels and thinking about how this information can help us understand what we are eating. In Art, the children have been working collaboratively in groups to create their own portraits inspired by Giuseppe Arcimboldo. They have explored how fruits, vegetables and other natural objects can be combined to create facial features, using their creativity and teamwork to produce imaginative and unusual portraits.

  

Class Four

In Science this week, Class Four have been learning all about our amazing digestive system. The children have explored the journey food takes through the body, learning about the functions of the mouth and teeth, oesophagus, stomach, small and large intestines, rectum and anus.

They have developed their scientific vocabulary and understanding by creating detailed scientific drawings and recording the function of each part in a table.

Next week, the children will be using their new scientific knowledge in English writing, as they begin to create a non-chronological report all about the digestive system.

Class Five

There is no class news from Class 5 this week, as the children have been enjoying their residential visit to Hathersage. 

We look forward to hearing all about their adventures next week!

Class Six

Class 6 have continued to work incredibly hard across all areas of the curriculum.  In maths, the children have consolidated their understanding of long multiplication and have successfully moved on to short division. They have shown great resilience and determination when tackling increasingly challenging calculations, applying their knowledge with growing confidence and accuracy.

In English, the children have been busy crafting their own narratives inspired by ‘Goodnight Mister Tom’. Their writing has demonstrated excellent progress and creativity, incorporating a range of grammatical features to engage the reader. These have included thoughtful -ing and -ed sentence starters, effective use of dialogue to enhance characterisation, and carefully chosen adverbials of time, place and manner. The quality of their work has been impressive, and it has been wonderful to see them developing their individual writing styles.

In PE, they have continued to build on their Tag Rugby skills, showing enthusiasm, teamwork and determination. They have worked hard to improve their passing,

  

movement and tactical awareness, while demonstrating excellent sportsmanship throughout.

In French, the children have impressed us with their recall and application of school subjects.  They have been linking phrases together confidently to say and write which subjects they study and at what time, demonstrating an increasing fluency in both spoken and written French.

Finally, we were exceptionally proud of the children during our Harvest Festival celebrations. Their conduct, professionalism and sense of responsibility shone through, reflecting the maturity and positive attitude they bring to school each day. Well done, Class 6, on another fantastic week of learning and achievement!

Congratulations to our ‘Special Mentions’ this week

Class Reception – Children will be joining our Celebration Assembly next week

Class One – Mac and Hattie

Class Two – Winnie

Class Three – Teddy B

Class Four – Iris and Olivia

Class Five – On residential this week

Class Six – Sam A

A prayer for the week ahead from Emily and Annie (6):

Dear God,

Help us to be responsible in what we are doing.

Amen

Dear God,

Help us to try our best in the tasks we are given.

Amen

Out of School Achievements:

Nova Swimming Meet: 1xsilver, and 2x bronze and PB’s achieved: Harri (6)

Nottinghamshire Cricket Early Engagement Programme selection: Harriet R (6)

Sheffield Wednesday Breakout Squad signing: Casper (6)

Dojo Grading Blue Belt: Julien (3)

Martial Arts White Belt: Hattie (1)

Caretaker Award: Class Three get the ‘Feather Duster Award’

Well done to all!

 

Church Services

10:00am StA@ 10 St Anne’s Together HC with SS, led my Rev Dave

6.00pm StA@6, led by LMM Bev

2026-2027 Attendance

Please use your Arbor App to check your child's current attendance. You can find this by scrolling up on your home page to see this year’s attendance.

Class	Attendance
R	97.14%
1	89.53%
2	99.67%
3	97.76%
4	97.22%
5	83.23%
6	98.28%
ALL: 95.13%

Finally…

As always, thank you for your continued partnership and support.  Together, we help to ensure that a child’s experience at St Anne’s is filled with opportunities, friendship, challenge, discovery and, most importantly, memories that they will carry with them for years to come.

With best wishes,

Mrs Middleton & the St Anne’s Team

Diary Dates

KEY DATES 2026-2027

Please ensure your children are in school during these times as their data will count even when absent.

Class 6 SATS – Monday 10th May 2027 – Thursday 13th May 2027

Class 4 Multiplication Test W/c 7th June 2027 – 2 weeks

Class 2 in school assessments May 2027 and w/c 7th June 2027

Class 1 Phonics Screening 14th June 2027 -2 weeks

Inset Days Monday 4th January 2027 Friday 12th February 2027 Monday 26th July 2027 Tuesday 27th July 2027 Wednesday 28th July 2027

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

			October
5		All	Bookfair in Reception Area Swimming	Bookfair in reception area before and after school each day	All Valley
5	15:30-18:15	All	Parents Evening		School
6	15:30-17:00	All	Parents Evening
7	16:00-17:30		New Starters Open Evening – for starters 2027/28
8	1-3	3,4,5	Library Visit to see poet John Dougherty		Worksop Library
9	All day	4	Trip River Study		Perlethorpe
12	AM	4	Swimming		Valley
14	All day	2	Trip to the Victorian School Room		Newstead Abbey
14-16		6	Residential to PGL		Caythorpe Court
16		All	Red Card to Racism – wear something red		School
19-30		All	Half Term

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

			November
2	AM	4	Swimming	Valley Leisure Centre
2-3	All day	Reception	Balance Bikes	School
9	AM	All	School Photos Individuals (siblings in the morning)	School
10	15:20-17:00		Open Event for New Parents for Sept 27	School
11	10:30	All	School Remembrance Day Service	Church
12	14:45	6	Class Assembly	School Hall
13	All day	All 1	Children in Need Class trip Emergency Services Museum
17	14:30	All Welcome	Maths Parent Workshop	School Hall
19	All day	6	Trip Holocaust Centre
23	All day	All	Flu Jabs	School
24	All day	Reception and 1	Perlethorpe Nativity Trail	Perlethorpe
25	All day	3	Class Trip to Creswell Crags	Creswell Crags
26	14:30	2	Class Assembly	School Hall
27	All day	All	Non-Uniform Day & Rainbow Raffle	School

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

			December
3	15:30- 16:45 17:00-18:15	KS1     KS2	Christmas Disco – KS1     Christmas Disco – KS2	School Hall
7			Nativity Week – days TBC
10		All	Christmas Fair – Provisional date	School
11		All	Christmas Craft Afternoon	School
15		Choir	Portland Carols	St Anne’s Church
16		All	Christmas Dinner Day	School
18	14:30	All	Christingle	St Anne’s Church