House Teams and Charity Work
St. Anne’s use a House team system with the children divided into five houses; Maximillian Kolbe, Oscar Romero, Elizabeth Prout, Mother Teresa and Basil Hume. Children from Reception to Year 6 are divided into the 5 houses and are led by house captains and vice captains from Year 6. They use the example set by their patron, to support us in developing a positive community spirit within our school family.
Alongside our house teams, we also run our SCORE core values, encouraging children to not only achieve academically but personally also. Our core values cover these key aspects; Self-esteem, Commitment, Organisation, Resilience and Excellence. Children are encouraged to develop these key skills across all areas of the curriculum and through additional activities and opportunities. Each classroom has a ‘SCORE’ display and children are asked to rate themselves in each area every half term.
We have worked with the children from each house team to help them to develop links with local and national charities. Below you will find a profile of each charity and the house team supporting them. Please check back regularly to keep up to date with any planned events by each house team, with the aim of raising the greatest amount for their house team before the end of the school year!
Maximillian Kolbe and Cafod
Maximillian Kolbe was a Catholic monk living in Poland during the Second World War. Sadly he was sent to and later died at Auschwitz Concentration camp after he was found to be helping Jewish families. Whilst at Auschwitz, Kolbe actually volunteered to be punished by death after an escape at the camp.
We have decided to pair Kolbe house with the charity Cafod (Catholic Agency for Oversees Development) who work all around the world providing support for those who are disadvantaged. Cafod work closely with the Catholic Church across the UK and hold regular fundraising events, you may have heard of their family fast days where they encourage you to give up a luxury and donate the money to them to help fund their projects.
For further information on Cafod’s work and campaigns go to:
Oscar Romero and Alder Hey
Oscar Romero was a Catholic Archbishop in El Salvador who spoke out in support of those living in poverty and poor circumstances. One of his key messages was to say no to violence, believing it could be overcome by love.
Unfortunately, Oscar’s outspoken opinions made him many enemies and he was assassinated on March 24th 1980. His last words were “May God have mercy on the assassin”.
Here in Merseyside we are very fortunate to have one of Europe’s largest children’s hospitals. Alder Hey has been looking after ill children in the region for over 100 years. The work they carry out at the hospital is exemplary and they are at the forefront of medical development and innovation.
This year, Alder Hey will move from its existing building to a brand new state of the art hospital in the park, the first of its kind in Europe. To continue their key role in medical provision, Alder Hey need to continually raise funds to support children and their families, often through difficult times. Many of our past and current pupils access treatment and care at Alder Hey and we would love your support in fundraising for this very special cause.
For more information please visit:
Elizabeth Prout and Nugent Care
Elizabeth Prout plays a very important part in our school and parish’s history. Elizabeth became a nun and began a life of service to the poor in communities in Manchester. In 1855, Elizabeth moved to Sutton where she continued her work with the disadvantaged. As part of her work she opened a school, St Mary’s Blackbrook and took charge of our very own school, St Anne’s. As part of her work, Elizabeth founded the order of the Sisters of Cross and Passion.
When Elizabeth died, she was buried in her habit at St. Anne’s where she still rests in the shrine today. When visiting the shrine you are able to see stained glass windows designed in her memory.
The origins of Nugent Care date back to Victorian Liverpool and the pioneering work of Father James Nugent (1822-1905) in relation to child welfare, relief from poverty and social reform. Through his ministry, Father Nugent witnessed first-hand the suffering caused by poverty and appalling conditions and took action to remedy the situation.
By the time of his death, Father Nugent had given homes and valuable skills to thousands of children, and laid the foundations for the work currently undertaken by Nugent Care.
Allied to the Archdiocese of Liverpool, Nugent Care has provided care and support for those in need for over one hundred and thirty years. While our values have remained constant, our services have adapted to meet the changing needs of today’s society.
Nugent care is famous for its Good Shepherd appeal during Lent each year. For further information please visit:
Mother Teresa and Willowbrook Hospice
Mother Teresa, a member of the Sisters of Loreto is most famous for her work with the poor and sick of Calcutta in India. When she was 36 years old she felt the call from God to help the poor of India. She received some basic medical training and then set out to help the sick and needy. This wasn't an easy task in 1948 India. She had very little support and, while trying to feed and help the poorest of the poor, she herself was constantly hungry and even had to beg for food.
Soon, other women joined her and she formed the Missionaries of Charity. Mother Teresa described the purpose of the Missionaries of Charity as an organization to take care of "the hungry, the naked, the homeless, the crippled, the blind, the lepers, all those people who feel unwanted, unloved, uncared for throughout society, people that have become a burden to the society and are shunned by everyone". The Missionaries of Charity originally had 13 members. Today they have over 4,000 nuns who care for people just like Mother Teresa described all over the world.
It wasn't an easy task to build such an organization and to keep the focus on the poorest people. She worked almost up until her death on September 5, 1997.
Willowbrook Hospice, a local charity aim to provide care and support for local people with life limiting illnesses. Willowbrook was chosen as the charity for Mother Teresa house as we felt their aims matched the lifetime goals the Mother Teresa strove to work towards. Here at St. Anne’s we have supported Willowbrook for many years through the sale of beanies at Christmas and Easter which are always very popular.
Basil Hume and Macmillan
Basil Hume was a former Cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church and was widely respected by those outside of the Catholic community. He was often recognised for the way in which he helped to bring groups of people from other faiths together, sharing a sense of respect and admiration. He passed away from cancer in 1999 with his funeral being screened live on television.
We chose Macmillan as one of the charities our school community would support as many families will have had a member who has battled Cancer. Macmillan’s aim is to provide support not to just those suffering with the awful disease but to their friends and family also. They use funds raised to provide help lines, run their website but also to fund the wonderful Macmillan nurses who provide care in the home for those patients usually at the end of their battle with cancer.
For more information please visit:
All fundraising event photographs are posted onto School Story on Class Dojo. Please ask a member of staff to share them with you.