Whitehouse Weekly Bulletin 208

Friday 21st October 2022

Message from Mrs Hall

This half-term has been super busy and I have been very proud of how the children have continued to demonstrate ‘The Whitehouse Way’ at school and with their homework. This week, I have awarded lots of Headteacher stickers in Year 4 for creating excellent models of teeth! Thank you to all parents/carers for attending this week’s share events across the school, the children were delighted to show their work and share their reading (article 18: parental responsibilities). I do hope that you have a great and safe half-term holiday and please remember that school starts back on Monday 31^st October (don’t forget to put your clocks back an hour on Saturday 29th October!) Thank you for your continued support.

Attendance for the previous week:

Class with the best attendance: Jaguars (100%)

Assemblies

The theme of our assemblies for the week after half term will be: How do wars affect children’s rights? (UNRC Link: Article 19: I have the right to be protected from being hurt or badly treated). 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. 

School Dinner – Price Increase

Unfortunately, the provider of our school dinners has informed us that they are increasing the price of our school dinners from Monday 31^st October 2022.  Please note if you pay for school dinners for your child, both hot dinners and pick and mix lunches will then cost £2.35 instead of £2.30. 

Bikes and Scooters on Site

Whilst we always encourage our children to walk to school or to come on their bikes and scooters, can we please remind parents/carers that once they reach the school gates, the children must dismount and push the bike or scooter to the areas where they can be left during the school day.  In addition, can we also remind parents/carers that they also are expected to dismount at the gate.  This is very important so we can ensure the safety of all parties who are on the school site and we thank you for your co-operation.  

Purple Man Reading Competition

Well done to the latest winners of the competition:  Badgers (Year 3), Hedgehogs (Year 4), Lizards (Year 5) and Tigers (Year 6).  Hedgehogs have been the winners for a while now, so come on Year 4, let’s see if Foxes or Squirrels can beat them after half term!

Awards

Key Stage 1:

Lower Key Stage 2:

Upper Key Stage 2:

Flu Immunisations

We have the School Immunisation Team in school on Tuesday 1st November 2022, to give the children their immunisation which is done via a nasal spray.  To enable your child to receive this you will need to have given consent. Please see the following link on the website which has all the information you may need and also gives you access to give consent:  https://www.whcps.org/17-10-2022-flu-immunisations-action-required/. 

Times Tables Rock Star (TTRS) Battles

The most recent results from class battles on TTRS are in and again there was good engagement and some very tight battles between classes.  In LKS2, Hedgehogs beat Foxes, Owls defeated Badgers and Squirrels beat Rabbits. In UKS2, Pandas beat Chameleons, Lizards beat Toucans whilst Macaws and Ocelots beat Tigers and Jaguars.  The top scoring class this week was Lizards, with an incredible average of 3,217!  Battles for week seven have already commenced so get yourself logged on to TTRS and get battling!  If you want to see how many battles your class has won, check out the TTRS display next to the KS2 library.

Year 1 and 2 Art Project

On Monday and Tuesday, the children in Key Stage 1 were very lucky to have an amazing company called Art Solutions come in to work with them.  Together they created some incredible African scenes using newspaper, tissue paper, crepe paper and a lot of glue! The children worked extremely hard, showing lots of perseverance and team work to complete the task.  The Art Solutions team all commented on how well behaved the children were.  As you can see below, we now have a giraffe, an elephant, some crocodiles and even a baby hippo with his mum on our walls! The displays look wonderful!

Year 6 Maths Day

On Thursday 13^th October, Mr Christopher and Miss Fathers took six of our Year 6 children to an AIM Higher Maths Day at Handford Hall Primary School.  The children took part in problem solving activities that challenged them to use the skills they have.  All the children had great fun and showed the Whitehouse Way throughout the day.  They were a true credit to our school.

Recommended Reads

Well done to the following children who have read and passed quizzes on all three of this term’s recommended reads:

Each child has completed a Challenge 1, Challenge 2 and Challenge 3 book to complete the set which has earned them a non-uniform day voucher!  Well done to you all.  Any child in Key Stage 2 who completes a set of recommended reads will receive a non-uniform voucher (a few more of our Year 5 children are very close, so keep going!).  There will also be a special prize at the end of the year for anyone who completes the whole year’s set.

School Christmas Fair

We are very excited to let you know we will be holding our School Christmas Fair on Friday 2^nd December 2022 straight after school.  We know how popular these events are so please put a note in your diary!  It will be organised and led by our PFA (Parents and Friends Association).  If any of you would be interested in joining and helping organise such events please let the office know.  Ms Salmon would love to have you on board!

Parents and Friends Association (PFA)

Our PFA are a very important part of our school and we have had a few questions recently on what it means to become a part of the committee.  Ms Salmon, a Teaching Assistant at Whitehouse, leads the committee and together with all our wonderful volunteers, helps organise events across the school, including our very popular Christmas and Summer Fairs.  We welcome any parents/carers who would like to join and are willing to give a little bit of their time.  It might be running a stall at one of our fairs, or helping sell draw tickets.  Maybe you could help us by contacting local businesses to see if they can donate a prize, or come into school and help organise our library books.  The committee meet just a few times a year, where they share some ideas and make plans.  Please don’t worry, if you are only able to give a little time, we would still love you to be involved!  If you would like a chat with Ms Salmon, to see if you might like to come along, please let the school office know. 

Cost of Living Support

Suffolk County Council have issued a leaflet with advice on help that might be available to Suffolk residents to help with the cost of living we are all facing at the moment. If you would like to have a look and see this information the leaflet can be viewed here: https://suffolk.pagetiger.com/cost-of-living-support/scc1?ptia=n. 

Local Church Events

St Thomas Church on Bramford Lane will be holding their Messy Church event again this coming Saturday from 10.30am.  This is a chance for your family to go along and get involved with all kinds of activities, including stories and crafts and a hot lunch will also be served.  Please see the poster here for more details.

Meanwhile as per the poster below Whitehouse Baptist Church are organising a Christmas Presents Appeal to support the Ipswich Family Bank. They are looking to collect donations of a Christmas gift suitable for a child (up to the age of 18).  We would be happy to take any donations into the school office which we will then pass to the church on your behalf.  Please note any donations need to be with us by Thursday 24^th November 2022 at the latest. 

Trips and Visits

We have lots of trips and visits organised for next half-term. Please ensure that you check the calendar below for exact dates and do send in any reply slips and money as soon as possible. Thank you for your continued support.

Dates for the Diary

Monday 24^th October 2022 to Friday 28^th October 2022 – Half Term Holiday

Monday 31^st October 2022 – Deadline to Apply for High School Place

Tuesday 1^st November - Open Morning – New Parents/Carers 9.15 am and 11.15 am

Tuesday 1^st November 2022 – Flu Immunisations

Wednesday 2^nd November – Open Morning – New Parents/Carers 9.15 am and 11.15 am

Thursday 3^rd November 2022 – Year 6 Martlesham Control Tower Visit

Friday 4^th November 2022 – Year 2 Framlingham Castle Trip

Thursday 10^th November 2022 – Year 6 Martlesham Control Tower Visit

Tuesday 15^th November 2022 – Year 4 Sutton Hoo Trip

Wednesday 16^th November 2022 – Year 4 Sutton Hoo Trip

Thursday 17^th November 2022 – Parents/Carers Evening (Online Event)

Friday 18^th November 2022 – Children in Need (Non-Uniform Day)

Tuesday 22^nd November 2022 – Year 1 Ipswich Transport Museum Trip

Wednesday 23^rd November 2022 – Year 1 Ipswich Transport Museum Trip

Wednesday 23^rd November 2022 – Parents/Carers Evening (Online Event)

Friday 25^th November 2022 – SMSC Whole School Day: Global Citizenship

Friday 2^nd December 2022 – Flu Immunisations Catch-up Day

Friday 2^nd December 2022 – School Christmas Fair

Tuesday 6^th December 2022 – Book Fair – 3.15pm

Thursday 8^th December 2022 – Book Fair – 3.15pm

Friday 16^th December 2022 – Last day of the Autumn Term

Tuesday 3^rd January 2023 – PD Day (School Closed to Children)

Wednesday 4^th January 2023 – First day back at school for the children