Whitehouse Weekly Bulletin 114

Friday 8th November 2019

Message from Mrs Hall

We are looking forward to seeing all parents and carers at our first Parents/Carers Evenings, either on Thursday 14^th November or Wednesday 20th November. If you do not yet have an appointment time, please contact the office for assistance. As your views of the school are important to us, we would ask that you allow some time to complete a short Parent/Carer Survey form for us, which will be available on the school iPads during both evenings. Please note there will also be a crèche available on both evenings. Thank you for your continued support.

Attendance for the previous week

Classes with the Best Punctuality – Dragons, Badgers, Owls, Rabbits, Pandas and Chameleons

Class that needs to improve their Attendance – Foxes (91.40%)

Classes that need to improve their Punctuality – Giraffes and Frogs

Reception Open Days (Children starting school in September 2020)

Please note we will be holding our Reception Open Mornings on the following dates:

Tuesday 19^th November – 9.15am and 11.00am

Monday 25^th November – 9.15am and 11.00am

This will be a great opportunity for anyone who has a child starting in Reception in September 2020 to have a tour around the school and speak with members of staff to ask any questions you may have. If you require any further information please speak to a member of the Office Team.

Christmas Dinner

Please note we will be having a hot, traditional Christmas dinner for EYFS, Year 1 and Year 2 on Tuesday 17^th December and for Years 3 to 6 on Wednesday 18^th December.  Letters have been sent home this week with the details.  A reminder that all Christmas dinners MUST be booked by Wednesday 20^th November.  Any child that has not had a dinner booked by that date will need to bring a packed lunch from home.   Any KS2 child (Years 3-6) who is not entitled to Free School Meals will need to pay £2.60 for their Christmas meal and this needs to be paid at the same time as booking.  Thank you for your co-operation. 

Assemblies

The theme of our assemblies for the first week after half term will be: Remembrance Sunday: What was it like to live under Nazi occupation?  What are the factors which prevented England from being invaded?  Resources related to this assembly will soon be available on our website.  To access them, simply go to Learning and click on our Enquiry Based Assemblies.

EYFS:

Key Stage 1:

Lower Key Stage 2:

Upper Key Stage 2:

Year 4 Music Lessons

We are pleased to invite the parents/carers of our Year 4 children to come into school to join in with a music lesson and watch a short performance on the following dates.  We hope you will be able to join us and see all the children have accomplished this term.

Thursday 5^th December – Badgers Class – 2.15pm

Wednesday 11^th December – Owls Class – 2.15pm

Thursday 12^th December – Rabbits Class – 2.15pm

Whole School Team Building Day – Recycled Items Needed

We need your help!  As part of our Team Building Day, each class will be making a scarecrow linked to a book character.  We would like to use as much recycled material as possible.  Please could you help by collecting and sending in the following items:

Plastic Bottles                   Cardboard/Tubes              Old Yellow Pages

          Sweet Wrappers               Bales of Straw                  Newspapers  

          Bamboo Canes                             Tights (flesh coloured)      Crisp Packets

In addition, we also require the following:

          Old white shirts                          Large cord trousers

          Large brown waistcoats               Brown belts

          Big pair of leather boots              Top hat

          Purple jacket

Thank you in advance for any help you can provide. Parents are invited into school on Friday 29^th November to view the scarecrows and vote for their favourite!

Parents/Carers Evening

A reminder that Parents/Carers Evenings are on the following dates:

Thursday 14^th November – 3.30pm to 5.30pm

Wednesday 20^th November – 3.30pm to 6.30pm

Thank you to the over 77% of you who have already booked your appointments.  If you struggle to make an appointment or have not received the text invitation, please speak to a member of the Office Team who will be happy to help. We will also be holding our Book Fairs the same evening.  This year we will be using The Book People who are very reasonably priced, so we hope you will come along and buy some books for your children.

Employee News - Long Service

We recently held a staff afternoon tea to celebrate the excellent work of our longest serving member of staff.  Averil, who is a cleaner at the school, is very much a part of the school community having just celebrated 50 years working at Whitehouse.  Congratulations Averil, what a wonderful achievement!  Thank you for all your commitment and hard work over the years!

Drop of/Pick Up from School

Can we please remind parents/carers that when you are on the school site before and after school, it is your responsibility to ensure your child is supervised at all times.  Children should not be playing on the play equipment unsupervised or running down the paths.  Thank you for your co-operation.

Aldi Vouchers

A very big thank you to everyone who has helped us collect the ‘Aldi’s Kit for Schools’ vouchers.  As a result, we have managed to complete one of the posters and are well on the way to completing a second.  With the campaign ending soon, we would love to be able to complete and send off both posters to help increase our chances of winning the prize.  Please help us in a final push to collect as many vouchers as possible.  Thank you again for all your support.

Year 5/6 Boys Football

Following on from their successful start in the cup, the Year 5/6 Boys Football Team continued their impressive form with a win in their first league game of the season against Springfield Primary School.  Previous fixtures between the teams have always been very closely contested so the boys were keen to do well this year. They started the game extremely well, showing excellent organisation and quick passing.  At half time, thanks to Jemira, they were 1-0 up. As expected, the start of the second half was tense and very competitive.  Despite some excellent defensive work, the boys found themselves behind as Springfield scored two goals.  However, the team were not deterred and continued to work hard.  Their perseverance paid off and a header from Preston and two goals from ‘Man of the Match’ Frankie was enough to win the game 4-2.  Mr Jordan was extremely proud of the attitude and perseverance shown by the whole team.  A very well-deserved win!

Year 5/6 Girls Football

The girls football team recently played a cup match against Rushmere Primary School.  The girls played very well in their first home match.  Well done to Hermione and Tilly who scored goals. Each player represented the school well, showing all aspects of the Whitehouse Way.  A special well done to Talia for being awarded ‘Player of the Match’.  The end result was 3-0 to Whitehouse. Thank you to all parents/carers who came along to support the girls.

PFA (Parents and Friends Association)

A flyer went home this week about our PFA and the need to have some new volunteers to join the committee.  The PFA have done a wonderful job over the last couple of years in organising school events including the School Discos, and our popular Summer and Christmas Fairs.  Unfortunately, numbers on the committee have dwindled as children from Year 6 have moved on. Sadly, unless we can recruit some new volunteers, events such as the fairs and discos will not be able to continue.  Please contact the school office if you feel you would be able to give us your support or come along to our next meeting which will be on Tuesday 12^th November at 3.15pm.   Please come to the main office on Marlow Road to sign in.

Children in Need

This year it is Children in Need on Friday 15^th November. For a donation of £1.00, children and staff can come into school wearing clothes with spots, pyjamas, non-uniform clothes or fancy dress!

Late Marks

Unfortunately, we are seeing an increasing number of children arriving late to school.  When children are late into class, they miss out on essential instructions given at the beginning of the learning session and this can significantly impact learning and academic achievements. Children often feel uncomfortable walking in late to class and it also disrupts the other children who are already settled and working. Can we please ask for the support of parents / carers to ensure children are in school on time each day.  Thank you for your ongoing assistance in this matter.

Dates for the Diary

Tuesday 12^th November – PFA Meeting – 3.15pm

Thursday 14^th November – Parents/Carers Evening – 3.30 – 5.30 pm

Thursday 14^th November – Book Fair from 3.30pm

Friday 15^th November – Flu Immunisation – Year R to Year 6

Friday 15^th November – Children in Need Day

Wednesday 20^th November – Parents/Carers Evening – 3.30 – 6.30 pm

Wednesday 20^th November – Book Fair from 3.30pm

Tuesday 26^th November – Choir visiting Mayo Court

Thursday 28^th November – Whole School Team Building Day (Scarecrow Making)

Friday 29^th November – Parents invited into school at the end of the day to view the Scarecrows

Tuesday 3^rd December – Steel Drum Workshops

Thursday 5^th December – Reception Nativity (9.45 am and 2.15 pm)

Thursday 5^th December – Badgers Music Lesson – Parents/Carers Invited – 2.15pm

Saturday 7^th December – Christmas Fair

Tuesday 10^th December – Year 1 Christmas Play (9.45 am and 2.15 pm)

Wednesday 11^th December – Owls Music Lesson – Parents/Carers Invited – 2.15pm

Thursday 12^th December – Year 2 Christmas Play (9.45 am and 2.15 pm)

Thursday 12^th December – Rabbits Music Lesson – Parents/Carers Invited – 2.15pm

Tuesday 17^th December – EYFS and KS1 – Christmas Dinner

Wednesday 18^th December – KS2 – Christmas Dinner

Friday 20^th December to Friday 3^rd January – Christmas Holiday

Monday 6^th January – PD Day – School Closed to children

Thursday 6^th February – Young Voices – Choir to the O2

Monday 17^th February to Friday 21^st February – Half Term Holiday

Friday 3^rd April to Friday 17^th April – Easter Holidays

Friday 8^th May – May Bank Holiday

Friday 22^nd May – PD Day – School Closed to children

Monday 25^th May to Friday 29^th May – Half Term Holiday

Wednesday 22^nd July – PD Day – School Closed to Children

Thursday 23^rd July – First Day of Summer Holiday