Home School Links 2021 - 2

Friday 15th January 2021

Message from Mrs Hall

I do hope this newsletter finds you all well. I have been delighted with how the children have engaged with their remote learning, thank you for your continued support with this as I know these are challenging times for everyone. This week the BBC have started to broadcast lessons and programmes on BBC2, CBBC and iPlayer to support learning in lockdown.  It is really important for the children’s well-being that they do not sit in front of a computer/iPad all day, so please aim to vary the activities the children are completing such as Art, DT and PE. If you have any questions about remote learning or how to support your children do make an appointment with your child’s class teacher on Wednesday 20^th January and they will be able to support you with this. Thank you for your continued support.

Booking a school place in the Critical Worker and Vulnerable Child Bubbles

Please note all spaces for Critical Workers need to be booked on a weekly basis.  Please send an email to parents@whcps.org by 3pm each Thursday to book spaces for the following week, we will then confirm the space on Friday.  If your child is attending school as a vulnerable child, this space will be kept for them and there is no need to book each week.  Please be aware that any space booked for your child will be for the full week (Monday to Friday) even if you choose not to send them in. This is to minimise the number of contacts children have and to work within our risk assessment.  If your child will not be attending on a particular day, please email the office on parents@whcps.org as soon as possible to confirm they will be absent.  Thank you for your assistance.  If you have any questions, please contact the office team on 01473 741249.

Reading Awards

We are thrilled to see that some of our children have been busy achieving certificates for their reading at home. See below for a list of our Key Stage 2 children who have achieved Accelerated Certificates since Christmas:

Well done to all of you!  Having now reached Classic Reader, Oliver can now start work towards his Word Millionaire.  Remember to keep quizzing.  We look forward to seeing more of you earning certificates.

WELL DONE EVERYONE

Parent/Carer Review Meetings

A reminder that we are holding Remote Learning Review Meetings on Wednesday 20^th January 2021.  This is a chance for you to have a virtual call with your child’s class teacher.  The meetings will last 15 minutes and are an important opportunity for you and your child to discuss their remote learning and to talk through any pieces of work they are particularly proud of, or any worries you or your child may have. Please visit https://whcps.schoolcloud.co.uk to book an appointment.  If you have any difficulties booking an appointment, please email us on parents@whcps.org and they will help you.

Lockdown Awards

Key Stage 1:

Lower Key Stage 2:

Upper Key Stage 2:

Google Classroom Deadlines

We hope home learning is going as well as possible.  We have had a few parents/carers concerned about the daily deadlines on Google Classroom.  We wanted to assure you all that you do not need to worry about these deadlines.  The deadline is there simply to ensure that Google Classroom isn’t getting too clogged up and difficult to follow.  We know that you are all working incredibly hard so please do not feel extra pressure by these deadlines.   In addition, we have added a FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) document to the website which may help with Google Classroom if needed: https://www.whcps.org/blended-learning-at-whitehouse/

Assistance for those with English as an Additional Language

We know that for our families for whom English is not their first language, working from home can be a challenge.  Please can we remind you that all of our letters and newsletters can be translated on our website.  Please see the pictures below for how to do this:

In addition, we now have some ‘Quick Guides’ on the website which can help you with Tapestry and Google Classroom. Please note they can be found at the bottom of the following page: https://www.whcps.org/blended-learning-at-whitehouse/

If you do need any further assistance please do contact us on parents@whcps.org and we will do all we can to help.

Mr Jordan’s PE Challenges

Starting this week, Mr Jordan has been uploading fun PE challenges for everyone to take part in.  PE challenges will be sent to year groups via Google Classroom, but can also be found in the ‘Mr Jordan’s PE Challenges folder on the school website for everyone to enjoy.  The link to the website is: https://www.whcps.org/mr-jordans-pe-challenges/

The first challenge is the ‘Toilet Roll Keepie Uppie’ challenge.  There are two to try.  Have a watch of Mr Jordan’s video to see what you have to do and see Mr Jordan’s attempts at this own challenge!  As well as uploading your videos to Google Classroom, we would also really love to upload them to the PE Challenges page on the website.  Please send your video to parents@whcps.org.  Hope you enjoy it!

‘PE with Bluey’

Ipswich Town Football Club’s team mascot ‘Bluey’ has been delivering some live fitness workouts for everyone to enjoy taking part in. The 10-minute videos can be found on ITFC’s YouTube channel at the following link https://youtu.be/-N3G_VohYYI.  The first one was uploaded on Tuesday and others will be uploaded shortly.  ITFC hope to add a new episode at least once a week. Have fun!

SEND Support

We are happy to let our parents/carers of children with SEND needs know that SENDIASS are offering some extra support.   They will be holding a series of virtual coffee mornings where they will be sharing some simple games that can help with speaking and listening. Each session will focus on a different theme and will be offered at two different times. The first of these will be on Thursday 21^st January 2021 at 10.00am and 6.00pm.  You can book a space by clicking on the link below:

 
Language Games - Register here for the morning session
Language Games - Register here for the evening session
 

In addition, SENDIASS are also offering a one-off informal coffee morning for parents/carers of children with sensory loss.  The aim is to explore ways the services they offer could help and support the children.  Parents/Carers are welcome to just drop in and are not expected to stay for the whole session.  This will be held on Monday 18^th January 2021 at 10.30am to 11.30am.  Please see the link to join the meeting:  Click here to join the meeting

Lastly, the team are also able to provide informal online SEN sessions which have proved popular in the past. The session which will offer SEN Support for pupils with specific learning difficulties will be held on Monday 25^th January 2021 6.00pm-7.00pm.  Please follow this link to register for a space:

 Register for SEN Support for pupils with specific learning difficulties
If any of our families do need extra support please do contact SENDIASS who offer advice and support:  

Helpline: 01473 265210

Email: enquiries@suffolksendiass.co.uk

Text: ADVICE4ME to 87007
www.suffolksendiass.co.uk

Don’t forget!

As well as Google Classroom and Tapestry we have a number of other learning platforms that the children are able to use to support their learning. Please remember to log in to these resources as teachers are setting fun activities on these platforms as well. Every child has been provided with a username and password for these websites and these can be found in their reading journals. If you cannot access these websites, please contact the school for support.

Education City - https://www.educationcity.com/

Myon - https://www.myon.co.uk/

Times Tables Rock Stars - https://ttrockstars.com/

Accelerated Reader - https://ukhosted5.renlearn.co.uk/2248276/default.aspx

Also, a reminder to Key Stage 1 children they can use Numbots.  Log in details can be found in the children’s reading journals.

Finally, if you have any queries regarding your child’s remote learning, you can contact a member of staff from your child’s year team by emailing:  

Nursery and Reception: blendedlearningey@whcps.org

Years 1 and 2:  blendedlearningks1@whcps.org

Years 3 and 4:  blendedlearninglks2@whcps.org

Years 5 and 6: blendedlearninguks2@whcps.org

Dates for the Diary

Wednesday 20^th January – Remote Parent/Carer Meetings

Friday 12^th February – PD Day (No school for children)

Monday 15^th February – Friday 19^th February – Half Term Holiday

Thursday 4^th March – Parent/Carer Evening - Online

Wednesday 10^th March – Parent/Carer Evening - Online

Monday 29^th March – Friday 9^th April – Easter Holiday