Whitehouse Weekly Bulletin 155

Friday 28th May 2021

Message from Mrs Hall

It has been a great half-term in school and we have been delighted with the effort the children have put into their work. This week’s newsletter illustrates some of the super experiences shared. We are busy organising staffing plans for the new academic year and the transition arrangements that accompany this. We hope to be able to share this information with you after the break.  We do hope that everyone has a wonderful half-term holiday. School starts back for the children on Monday 7^th June. Thank you for your continued support.

Attendance for the Previous Week

Class with the Best Attendance – Lemurs (98.8%)

Assemblies

The theme of our assembly the week after half term will be on: What do the words discrimination, prejudice, equality and inclusion mean?  (UNRC Link: Article 2 – I have the right to protection against discrimination). 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.

Academy Consultation Survey

As part of the consultation on the proposal for Whitehouse Community Primary School to convert to academy status and join Children’s Endeavour Trust, the Governing Body has commissioned a survey of staff and parents/carers.  The survey is now open and can found at  Whitehouse CPS Academy Consultation May 2021. The survey will close at 6.00pm on Thursday, June 10^th. We would encourage staff and parents/carers to complete the survey so that the Governing Body has the fullest understanding of your views on this proposal.

Book Reviews

It has been a long time since we have had any book reviews and they are really helpful to give other children ideas of what a book is about and if they might like it.  Why not spare a little bit of time and write a review on a book you have read recently?  If you go to the Library pages on the website (https://www.whcps.org/library/) and look under Holiday Activities you will find some templates which can be downloaded to help.  Please bring your completed book reviews into school after the Half Term holiday and Mrs West will display these in the library.

Purple Man Award

A big well done to Foxes and Red Pandas for winning the Purple Man Reading Award last week.

Awards

EYFS:

Key Stage 1:

Lower Key Stage 2:

Upper Key Stage 2:

Money Paid to School

We are pleased to confirm we are now able to accept payment of money in school.  However, please note money must be placed in an envelope and must be the correct amount, we will not be able to provide any change.   Please ensure the envelope is clearly marked with the child’s name and class and the reason for the payment (e.g. dinner money, Mersea trip).  Money can be passed to the teacher or brought to the school office.  Alternatively, the envelope can be placed in the black post box on the front gate at Marlow Road which is checked daily. 

Roman Day

Our Year 3 children enjoyed a wonderful day this week as they became immersed in the Roman culture.  They spent the day baking Roman honey cakes, making bulla bags and marching around school like Roman soldiers!  Thank you to all the children and families who supported and contributed to this lovely day.

Science Week

It has been an exciting week in school.  Each day we have had a visitor in school delivering science workshops for the children to take part in.  Our EYFS children took a trip to space, learning how to be an astronaut, how to take their heart rate, and all about planets.  Their favourite activity was dropping rocks to make craters on the moon. KS1 became kitchen chemists.  They learnt to make test-tube traffic lights, and egg cup volcanos! Whilst our Key Stage 2 children looked at the fascinating theme of crime scenes and forensics. They learnt how the police look at crime scenes, and all about fingerprints and what it takes to be a Crime Investigator!  They also tried lots of experiments including seeing how colour travels along paper.  What a wonderful week.  Thank you to Miss White for organising this and Kinetic Science for coming in to help us.

School Video

As you will have seen in the letter sent home this week (https://www.whcps.org/25-05-2021-whole-school-film/) we are creating a school film which will appear on our website and allow parents/carers to see what a wonderful school Whitehouse is.  If you do not wish your child to be included in the filming please ensure that you inform the school office on parents@whcps.org or 01473 741249.  Filming will take place on Tuesday 8^th June 2021.

IMPORTANT: EU Settled Status (EUSS).  Deadline 30^th June 2021

Are you an EU citizen who’s living in Suffolk?  Have you applied for the EU Settled Status (EUSS)?  If not, you must act now!

If you are an EU citizen, resident in the UK by 31^st December 2020, you and your family members need to apply to the EU Settlement Scheme by 30^th June 2021 to be able to continue to live, work and study in the UK beyond that date.   Even if you have been living in the UK for many years, or you have a permanent residence document, you will still need to apply.   You do not need to apply if you have indefinite leave to remain or enter, or you are an Irish citizen, but you can if you wish. 

The online application checks your identity and UK residence, and asks you to declare any criminal convictions.   

These are the links that you need:

To apply:

https://www.gov.uk/settled-status-eu-citizens-families/applying-for-settled-status.

Guidance in different languages:

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/settled-status-for-eu-citizens-and-their-families-translations

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/eu-settlement-scheme-factsheet

Get Help:

In Suffolk, the charity, GYROS, will be offering appointments each Monday (10am to 3pm) at Volunteering Matters, Ipswich, to support clients, free of charge with their EU settled-status applications up to the deadline.  They have limited space so please book an appointment by calling them on 01493 745260.

Snacks

Please can we remind parents/carers on our policy around snacks in school.  For children in EYFS and Key Stage 1 fruit is provided free of charge.  Children in Key Stage 2 are welcome to bring in a snack to eat during their morning break, however our policy is that this must be healthy, such as fruit or vegetables or a healthy cereal bar.  Please note children are not permitted to bring in confectionary or crisps for their snack.

Netball Activity

We know many of our children enjoy playing netball and we have been advised of ‘BEE Netball Camp’ which is taking place on Wednesday 2^nd June 2021, during the Half Term Holiday.  This is aimed at children in Years 3-6.  If you think this is something your child may be interested in you can email them at suffolkrocketsnc@hotmail.com for more information and to book a space.

Mr Jordan’s Half Term PE Challenge

To help keep pupils active over half term, Mr Jordan has set the next ‘at home’ PE challenge for pupils to take part in.  The theme of this challenge is Athletics and includes six athletics-based activities to take part in throughout the week.  All of the details of the challenge can be found in the ‘Mr Jordan’s PE Challenges’ folder on the website: https://www.whcps.org/mr-jordans-pe-challenges/

As with previous PE challenges, we would really like to celebrate pupils’ efforts and engagement in the challenge on the PE page of the school website.  Therefore, please feel free to send any photos or videos of your child completing one or more of the athletics challenges throughout the week to parents@whcps.org.

Walking to School Week

Well done to everyone who took part in the ‘Walk to School Week’ challenge last week.  It was amazing to see so many of our pupils enjoying the daily activities, as well as their excitement to place their daily sticker on their class wallchart.  It was also fantastic to hear that a number of families opted to park their cars further away from school and walk the final part of their journey into school.  As a result, an impressive 75% of our pupils walked to school last week!

To add an additional competitive element to the week, Mr Jordan set an extra challenge to see which classes would be the most active and walk to school the most throughout the week.  Mr Jordan presented class certificates (Bronze, Silver and Gold) to the top three classes within each key stage.  Well done to the following classes:

Dates for the Diary

Monday 31^st May – Friday 4^th June – Half Term Holiday

Friday 11^th June – End of Academy Consultation Period

Monday 21^st June – Athlete Visit (Winter Paralympian)

Thursday 24^th June – Year 6 Mersea Trip

Thursday 24^th June – Whole School Art Day

Friday 25^th June – Year 6 Mersea Trip

Thursday 1^st July – Year 5-6 Sports Day

Friday 2^nd July – Year 3-4 Sports Day

Friday 2^nd July – Year R, 1 and 2 Sports Day

Friday 9^th July – Reports Sent Home

Monday 12^th July – House Captain Elections

Tuesday 13^th July – Year 6 Production (Cast 1)

Wednesday 14^th July – Year 6 Production (Cast 2)

Thursday 15^th July – Nursery Sports Event

Wednesday 21^st July – Start of the Summer Holiday