Friday 19^th December 2025

Dear Parents and Carers,

As we come to the end of the autumn term, I would like to take a moment to reflect on what has been a joyful and busy few weeks at St Anne’s. It has been a pleasure to see the children enjoying this final run-up to Christmas with such enthusiasm and warmth.
From special visits from Father Christmas to beautiful singing within our local community, the children have embraced the true spirit of the season. These moments have reminded us all that real joy so often comes from giving to others, sharing kindness, and being part of something bigger than ourselves.

We hope you can join us for our final service of the year, as we come together to celebrate, reflect, and give thanks. It is always a special occasion and a wonderful way to mark the end of the term.

On behalf of the school, I extend my thanks to Mrs Adams, who has led Class 5 this term. She stepped in at very short notice and has become very much part of the team! I thank her for all that she has contributed this term and for the care she has shown to both children and colleagues.  Whilst she steps to one side to welcome Mrs Marshall, our new ‘Deputy Head Teacher’ who will have responsibility for the class from this point on, we will no doubt see her soon!
If I do not have the opportunity to see you before the holidays, may I take this chance, on behalf of the staff team and the whole St Anne’s community, to wish you a very Merry Christmas and a peaceful and happy New Year.

Christmas Dinner

Children enjoyed Christmas Dinner this week cooked by Mrs Dunnicliffe and Mrs Barrass-Whale.  Children enjoyed a turkey or quorn roast dinner with all the trimmings and ice cream for dessert!  Children were all given paper cracker hats to wear (thanks to school fund) and enjoyed themselves.

Father Christmas

Father Christmas paid a visit to our key stage 1 children on Tuesday. Children sat with him in the hall to hear all about his Christmas planning! He asked them what they wanted for Chistmas too and gave them all a present each.

   

Nativites in the Local Paper

The school Nativity picture(s) will be in the Worksop Guardian this Friday 19th December.

The paper will be on sale in all retail outlets for a week from Friday.

Should parents not be able to get to the shops during this time, we will have a limited number of copies available for postal orders, they can be ordered by calling us on 0330 403 3004.

Luncheon Club

Luncheon Club, children from Classes 1 & 2 shared their Christmas songs with the elderly in our community at the Church Hall and Miss Decouto shared how well their singing had been received.

Plastic Bottle Tops – Great News!

Yesterday we received fantastic news yesterday that one of our children’s designs, Joshua (6) has been selected as a winning submission for the North Notts Mural Trail.  The judging panel were extremely impressed by the creativity, thought, and environmental message behind the child’s artwork. The design stood out for the way it captured the theme of sustainability and recycling, and we are excited to see it brought to life as part of this new public art trail. So, we need to ensure we can complete the design!  We need lids, lids, lids!!  Over Christmas, it would really help if you could pop the lids below in a bag and bring to the school collection point in the reception area in the New Year.

What Lids Can We Collect?

We welcome clean plastic bottle lids of all colours and sizes (no more than half an inch/12mm deep). These are some of the most common types you can collect:

• Hair product lids – shampoo, conditioner, hair masks, styling products
• Fabric conditioner lids
• Drink bottle lids – water, juice, fizzy drinks, etc.
• Cooking oil bottle lids
• Laundry detergent and softener lids
• Cleaning product lids – including surface sprays, floor cleaners, toilet cleaners
• Body wash and shower gel lids
• Mouthwash bottle lids
• Deodorant lids – especially from roll-ons and sprays
• Sauce lids – such as red and brown sauce bottle tops

Other recycled plastics can be used for finer details.

Please ensure all lids are clean, dry, and free from any product residue before donating.

This helps us keep the project hygienic and makes them easier to work with when creating the murals.

Holiday Activities and Food (HAF)

The HAF programme is open to children and young people aged between 5 and 16 years (age 4 if in reception class full-time) and receiving benefits-related free school meals. This is different from the universal infant free school meals that children receive in reception, year 1 and year 2.

If you think you are eligible for free school meals but you have not applied, you can apply for free school meals online: www.nottinghamshire.gov.uk/freeschoolmeals

The HAF scheme can fund a small number of those who are not eligible for benefits-related free school meals. These places should be discussed on a one-to-one basis with a member of the HAF team. To be eligible for a discretionary place, families will need a professional referral from a support worker, social care or school team.

More information on this scheme can be found on the school website.

News from the Classes

Reception

This week Reception Class have had a wonderful end to their first term at St Anne’s. The children have settled in beautifully and have worked incredibly hard throughout the term. This week they have enjoyed playing lots of blending games in class, helping them to build confidence in recognising and using sounds in words. They have also been practising writing their numbers and recognising amounts. Alongside their learning, the children have been busy completing a variety of festive Christmas crafts, using their creativity and fine motor skills to produce some lovely pieces. They had a surprise visit from Father Christmas and a enjoyed a fun filled party day. Well done Reception see you next year!

Class One

This week, Class 1 have been working hard in Design and Technology. They have been learning how to join materials using different tools, such as tape, glue and string, and discussing which methods work best for different materials. The children designed houses for a range of people, including themselves, their families and even the ‘Three Little Pigs’, carefully thinking about who the house was for and what it needed. They then used an array of materials to build their houses, working thoughtfully and creatively. Finally, they evaluated their finished designs, talking about what worked well and what they might change or improve next time.

    

Class Two

In Class 2, the children have been doing lots of Christmas artwork tutorials and working on their pencil control skills. In English, they have finished their set of instructions for ‘How to Steal Christmas,’ and worked on editing and improving. In DT, the children have now completed their running stitch and have made some incredible hand puppets. Phonics has seen a focus on the sound ‘ti’, children have been identifying the sound and writing the sound.

Class Three

Last Friday, Class 3 enjoyed welcoming their grownups for craft afternoon, they produced some beautiful winter chalk pastel artwork and some cute reindeer portraits made from egg boxes. This week has been a week of finishing off the terms learning with a scientific enquiry and design and technology project.

In design and technology, the children were tasked with designing and making their own super salad. The children needed to demonstrate safe cutting techniques including the bridge grip and claw grip. They also needed to present their salad in an aesthetic way to make it look appetising to eat.

       

In design and technology, the children were tasked with designing and making their own super salad. The children needed to demonstrate safe cutting techniques including the bridge grip and claw grip. They also needed to present their salad in an aesthetic way to make it look appetising to eat.

        

Class Four

On Tuesday, the children experienced a fun and interactive workshop about water safety and CPR.  They particularly enjoyed learning how to use CPR on a range of different-aged patients, along with how to use a defibrillator.  

     

Class Five

Year 5 had a fabulous craft afternoon, so many of our grownups came to join in the fun.   

A message from Mrs. Adams, “This will be my final newsletter entry as the children’s new class teacher takes over in January. It feels important to say just how delightful this class has been — there really aren’t enough words to describe how fabulous they are. They are exceptionally well behaved, beautifully mannered, and genuinely caring, not only towards one another but also towards me… and of course, Kevin the Bean.

I would also like to say a heartfelt thank you to the parents, whose support for their children — and for me — has meant such a great deal. Your encouragement and partnership have made a real difference and have been truly appreciated.

    

Finally, my sincere thanks go to all the staff for such a warm welcome, for their help (especially with IT!), and for the kindness and support they have shown throughout my time here. It has been an absolute privilege to be part of this wonderful school community.”

Lots of love and all that…. Mrs A xx

Class Six

What a busy first term to Class 6! All throughout this term, the topic of World War 2 has captivated the class, it has been great to see their creativity shine.  All children this term have been pushing themselves to do their best and see what they are capable of. This week has been a great week for consolidating their learning and showcase their understanding across all lessons. It is going to be a busy Spring term, full of new challenges, starting the DAaRT programme and building up towards SAT’s. It has been a very festive week to round off the term with Christmas party and end of term service. We hope everyone has a great restful Christmas break and see you all in the New Year!

Congratulations to our Stars of the Week this week

Class Reception – Mac and Luca

Class One – Florence

Class Two – Owen B

Class Three – Jed

Class Four – Ella

Class Five – Georgiana

Class Six – Jacob

Tidy Classroom Award – Class 6

Out of School Achievements:

Kitty (3), Oaklan (3) Teddy M (3) Gymnastics Explore Level 2

Oaklan (3) Gymnastics Stage 1 Apparatus

Ellie (4), Oscar (R) Yellow Belt in Kickboxing

Willow (3), Jack (2) Fantastic Yea in Dance awards

Georgiana (5) awarded a blue belt and invited to wear a black GI, following a recent grading.  This is her 7^th belt.

Florence (2) passed her grading and was awarded a brown belt. This is her 5^th belt.

Jack (2) 25m Swimming Certificate

Elsie (2) 20m Swimming Certificate

Imogen D (3) 100m Swimming Certificate

Jude M (4) Snooker Medals

Nicole (6) Core Skills L1 and Bronze Swimming Challenge

Church Services

St Anne’s Nativity 10am

6.30pm ST@6 Christmas Reflection, led by Rev Dave

2025-2026 Attendance

Class	Attendance
R	84.44%
1	94.59%
2	88.1%
3	89.66%
4	89.38%
5	94.27%
6	96.67%
ALL:       91.04%

We would also like to take this opportunity to remind parents of the importance of honesty and openness when communicating with school.  If you are planning a holiday during term time, we ask that you are truthful with us and do not encourage your child to provide misleading information to staff.

Encouraging children to be honest, even when situations are difficult, is central to the values we promote at St Anne’s. Working together in this way helps us to model integrity, trust and respect — values we want all our children to carry with them beyond school.  As a Local Authority School, we follow their procedures and model letters to address attendance issues.  We respect that the ‘tone’ of the letters is very formal in comparison to some of our other communications but there can be occasions when the LA issues penalty notices and it is therefore important that we follow their advised procedure.

Prayers from Ethan and Henry (6)

Dear God

May God love you and everybody in our community.

Amen

Dear God,

I hope we can bring hope and peace into the community.

Amen

Thank you for your continued support, and we look forward to welcoming everyone back in the new year.

Mrs Middleton & the St Anne’s Team

Diary Dates

ADVANCE DATES TO AVOID BOOKING ANYTHING

Inset Days			Key Statutory Weeks (Assessment)
Friday 13 February Monday 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
January	5	Return to school – Term 2
	12	Class Reception – Forest School
	19	Class Reception – Forest School
	26	Class Reception – Forest School
	29	Y6 Mayan Workshop in school