Whitehouse Weekly Bulletin 212

Friday 25th November 2022

Message from Mrs Hall

We hope that you found the recent parent’s/carer’s appointments helpful in understanding your child’s next steps in their learning. Over the last few weeks the senior leaders and I have been visiting classes to listen to the children read. It has been great to see how engaged the children are with their reading. Learning to read is a key skill in enabling all children to be able to access the full curriculum. Please do try to read with your children everyday as reading really helps children learn to make sense not only of the world around them but also people, building social-emotional skills and of course, imagination. Thank you for your continued support.

Attendance for the previous week:

Class with the best attendance:  Ocelots (99.5%)

Assemblies

The theme of our assemblies for next week will be: Where does rubbish go?  (UNRC Link: Article 29: I have the right to education which tries to develop my personality and abilities as much as possible and encourages me to respect other people’s rights and values and to respect the environment). 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.

Non-Uniform Day

Please note we will be holding a non-uniform day on Monday 28^th November 2022.  We are asking each child to bring a donation of some chocolate or sweets which will be used for our chocolate tombola at our Christmas Fair which is being held after school on Friday 2^nd December 2022.  Thank you for your continued support.

RRSA Committee: Toilet Twinning

The RRSA Committee are trying to raise money to help buy a toilet for a family abroad who has not got one.  They will be running a Bingo called “Where did Daisy do it?” over the next two weeks. If your child would like to join in and buy a square, this costs just 50p.  Children from the RRSA Committee will be on the KS1 and KS2 playgrounds after school today and next Friday selling the squares. There will be a novelty prize for the winning square and the RRSA Committee will keep us updated with their progress and how many toilets they are able to buy.  Thank you for all the support you continue to give.

Awards

Key Stage 1:

Lower Key Stage 2:

Upper Key Stage 2:

Year 1: Visit to Ipswich Transport Museum

Our Year 1 children had an incredible school trip this week as they visited the Ipswich Transport Museum where they were able to look at old cars, buses, trams and trolleybuses.  The children were very excited as this linked in with their enquiry lessons about the history of transport.  The children were able to explore and get on board a tram, a trolleybus and a county fire engine!    The staff were all very impressed with how well the children listened to the very knowledgeable volunteers who shared lots of information about how transport has changed in Ipswich over the last 300 years.

 Key Stage 1: Reading Parent/Carer Share

We would like to invite the parents/carers of our children in Years 1 and 2 to come into school on Wednesday 7^th December at 2.40pm for an exciting Reading Share.  We will be sharing some Christmas and winter themed stories this time.  Please feel free to bring along any books with these themes you may have at home.  Come along and join in the reading fun.  We look forward to seeing you!

Times Table Rock Stars

This week saw the second week of class battles this half term on TTRS.  In LKS2, Owls defeated Hedgehogs, Badgers beat Squirrels and Rabbit overcame Foxes.  In UKS2, Ocelots beat Chameleons, Toucans beat Tigers whilst Macaws and Lizards beat Pandas and Jaguars.  Battles for this week 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.

Purple Man Reading Competition

Well done to the winners of the Purple Man competition from the week before half term:

Book Fair Poster Competition

The results are in of the Book Fair Poster Competition.  Well done and a big thank you to all the children who entered.  We had five £5.00 vouchers to give away for the best posters and these were to:  Evie (EYFS), Lily (KS1), Lincoln and Scarlett (LKS2) and Lacey (UKS2).  Keep an eye out around school for the posters and don’t forget to come along to the Book Fair next month on Tuesday 6^th December 2022 and Thursday 8^th December 2022. 

News from the House Captains: Sports Competition

Hello Everyone,

We are excited to announce that we are going to be running a whole school sports competition.  This will run at lunchtimes, the week beginning Monday 28^th November.  The sports activity will be bowling (how many can you knock down in 3 tries by kicking a ball).  We will run these activities as well as setting them up, so we ask you to be respectful of the equipment and us.  Each year group will have a specific day to sign up and take part.  When signing up, you will need to give your name and which house you are in. Then you can carry out the activity.  Once all scores are in, we will count up and announce the winner.  The prize for the winning house is yet to be confirmed.

The House Captains 😊

News from the House Captains: Charities 

Hello Everyone,

After counting the votes for each charity, we have come to a conclusion and our Houses will now be supporting the following charities:

             Diamond House                Emerald House            Ruby House             Sapphire House  

After the New Year we are going to be running fundraising activities to raise money for the chosen charities for each house.

The House Captains 😊

Christmas Dinner

We are pleased to let you know we will be having our very popular Christmas Dinner for the children during the last week of term.  The menu will be as follows: 

Roast British Turkey with Pig in Blanket, Sage and Onion Stuffing and Rich Gravy

OR

Quorn Roast Sage and Onion Stuffing and Gravy

Roast Potatoes, Seasonal Vegetables and Yorkshire Pudding

Chocolate Ice-Cream Yule Log OR Mince Pie and Cream

Please note over those four days there will be no other hot dinner choice available.  On the days when your child’s year group is not having a Christmas dinner, they may choose to have a Pick and Mix (Ham, Cheese or Tuna) or they can bring a packed lunch.  The price of the Christmas dinner will be £2.35 for those who pay for school dinners but will be free for all children in Year R, 1 and 2 and for those who are eligible for free school meals. Please note Christmas Dinners do need to be pre-booked so please return the reply slips.

Online Safety

As we head towards the Christmas holidays, children might be asking for new games.  However, this can be a confusing minefield for parents/carers.  Internet Matters have put a lovely guide together which will help parents/carers make decisions, including age-specific games in which families can play together.  You can find the guide by clicking the link below.  If you ever have any online safety concerns, please contact Mrs Cox via the school office.

https://www.internetmatters.org/resources/online-gaming-advice/amazing-video-games-guide-for-families/

Dates for the Diary

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

Friday 2^nd December 2022 – School Christmas Fair – 3.10pm to 5.00pm

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

Wednesday 7^th December 2022 – KS1 Parent/Carer Reading Share – 2.40pm

Thursday 8^th December 2022 – Reception Nativity Play – 9.30am and 2.00pm

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

Monday 12^th December – Christmas Dinner – Reception

Tuesday 13^th December 2022 – Nursery Parent/Carer Christmas Craft Session – 10.30am

Tuesday 13^th December 2022 – Christmas Dinner – Years 1 and 3

Tuesday 13^th December 2022 – Reception Parent/Carer Christmas Craft Session – 1.45pm

Wednesday 14^th December 2022 - Nursery Christmas Songs Performance – 11.00am

Wednesday 14^th December 2022 – Christmas Dinner – Years 2 and 4

Thursday 15^th December 2022 – Christmas Dinner – Years 5 and 6

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