Whitehouse Weekly Bulletin 225

Friday 17th March 2023

Message from Mrs Hall

The safety of the children is of paramount importance to us. Therefore, if your child walks to school on their own or with friends, please encourage them to come straight to school as we have been made aware that some children are stopping to play with friends on the way to school in the road and placing themselves at increased risk, as well as disturbing members of the local community.  In addition, if you have changed your contact details, please can you let the school office know as we need to be able to contact parents/carers in an emergency. Thank you for your continued support.

Attendance for the last week:

Class with the best attendance: Jaguars (99.52%)

Assemblies

The theme of our assemblies for next week will be: International Day of Happiness: What steps could I take to be a happier person?   (UNRC Link: Article 24: I have the right to the best health possible and to medical care and to information that will help me to stay well). 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.  

Parent/Carer Evening

Thank you to all those who came along to our parent/carer evening this week, we hope you found it helpful to meet with the teacher and discuss your child’s progress.  If you have not yet made an appointment, don’t worry as our second evening will be on Thursday 23^rd March 2023 and there are still some appointments available.   Instructions have been emailed home to explain how to make an appointment.   The instructions can also be viewed here:   https://www.whcps.org/27-02-2023-parentcarers-evening/. Please speak to the office if you need any assistance.

Dinner: New Menu and Price Increase

Please note that when we come back from the Easter holiday we will be moving to a new dinner menu.  A copy is on our website and can be viewed here:  https://www.whcps.org/school-dinners/.  Also, a reminder that our catering suppliers have announced that after Easter there will be an increase in the cost of school meals.  From Monday 17^th April 2023, a school dinner (hot or pick and mix) will cost £2.53.  Please note we do ask that dinner money is paid in advance and that any debts owing are paid as a matter of urgency.  Thank you for your assistance.

Awards

EYFS:

Key Stage 1:

Lower Key Stage 2:

Upper Key Stage 2:

Purple Man Reading Competition

Well done to the winners of the Purple Man competition last week (a competition that rewards classes with the highest average reading minutes across KS2). 

A Message from Mrs Calver, our Attendance Officer

Last week I met with the School Parliament who had been tasked with asking their classmates what they felt caused lateness and poor attendance, and what could be done to improve this.  It was great to hear the views of the children.  Many of the causes for lateness centred around time management, whether that was due to forgetting to set an alarm, being stuck in traffic, not being ready for the day ahead or oversleeping due to staying up too late.  They all felt that being more prepared the night before school, having clothes and lunch ready, getting to bed at a reasonable time, being dressed before breakfast and having less screen time would improve lateness.   The children understood that some of this responsibility fell to them to organise, as well as to their parents/carers and we could all learn lessons from this in being more prepared.

If you are finding getting to school on time difficult due to travel, work commitments or feel that you just need to get going that bit earlier each day, please speak to the Class Teachers or Office Staff about attending our Breakfast Clubs which run every morning from 8.00am.

On 6^th March 2023, the Psychology in Schools Team ran an online parents/carers workshop around supporting your child to attend school and supporting your child to manage their big feelings.  Below are YouTube links to both workshops which offer practical support and advice covering a range of topics associated with school avoidance and managing anxiety and mental health. Both are really worth a watch.  If you have any concerns regarding your child’s attendance at school, please contact either myself or a member of the Pastoral Team to discuss the support available to you.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mGa3xTAAyLQ

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WOLvpbAF7WA

Year 3: Colchester Castle Trip

This week our Year 3 children enjoyed a fantastic trip to Colchester Castle.  They were able to explore different artefacts and learn more about life in Roman Britain.  The children were engaged throughout the day and our guide commented on how knowledgeable they all were.

Easter Holidays: Free School Meal Vouchers

We are happy to let you know that Suffolk County Council will again be providing supermarket vouchers to those families whose children are eligible for Free School Meals (due to low income or receiving certain benefits) to help with food over the Easter Holiday.  Please note if you are eligible you will receive an email from ‘Edenred’ on Thursday 30^th March 2023 which will enable you to choose which supermarket you would like to use.  You will be provided with £30.00 per eligible child.  If you think you may be eligible to receive free school meals please note you can apply here: https://www.suffolk.gov.uk/children-families-and-learning/schools/school-meals-uniforms-and-trips/apply-for-free-school-meals

Easter Holidays: Holiday Activity and Food Programme

Suffolk County Council have also confirmed that the Holiday Programme will also be going ahead for those children eligible for free school meals.  Please note an email was sent out to parents/carers on Wednesday, which instructions on how to download your voucher to access the programme.  If you have not received this please contact the school office. 

Suffolk Recycling: Eco Competition

Recycling is important to us at Whitehouse and our Eco-Committee wanted to let you know about a competition currently being run by Suffolk Recycling.  They are ordering eight new waste trucks for Suffolk and they are asking for help to name the trucks!   There will be three new blue trucks which will carry away waste which can be recycled and three green trucks which will take garden waste away to be composted and made into a soil improver to help enrich the soil in local farmland.  In addition, two black trucks which will be used for removing waste that cannot be recycled.  So why not put your thinking cap on and get creative and come up with a catchy name for one of these lorries!  The closing date is 26^th March 2023 and you can submit your suggestion at the following link.  We look forward to seeing which names are chosen.

https://forms.office.com/pages/responsepage.aspx?id=7e3Y3ap0Y0OOtKmX8pHWvtRBYhcNz7pFnWGgpmg0O_dUQUwxVlgyQkJZWlozUUNFUVZXNjFVNU1YNC4u&wdLOR=cC688C432-9AF4-4610-A89C-DBD0DC608CF1

Online Safety: YouTube ‘Go Live Together’

YouTube has begun rolling out a new live streaming feature called ‘Go Live Together.’  The guide below outlines what the features are, what the risks are, and some top tips to help children stay safer if they choose to live stream on YouTube.  Click the link below for more details:

https://ineqe.com/2023/03/09/what-is-youtube-go-live-together/?utm_campaign=Newsletter&utm_medium=email&_hsmi=249683244&_hsenc=p2ANqtz-_XakJeA8p8Xd5vicPUDLFNY9MPtSPZlbe0iFq8YCZ71IlfVFPQPxMUoyNuiYj0Rrm-CtU3VB1vHB9WJnKeEJ5KezC9ig&utm_content=249683244&utm_source=hs_email

Y6 Netball IPSSA League Games

On Tuesday 14^th March 2023, the Year 6 girls played their first IPSSA Netball league game.  We knew this was not going to be an easy game for us given Britannia’s outstanding track record for sport and with the weather conditions as they were.  The first quarter began with some great netball play from both teams, with Whitehouse taking the lead within the first minute of play. Isla passed a great ball to Sophie who scored from just under the net.  Britannia then came back scoring their first goal of the match, leaving it 1-1 at the end of the first quarter.   Whitehouse continued to show some amazing play, passing the ball quickly and with some great defence by Georgia and Sophie.  At the other end, Mylie managed to score 3 more goals and Jasmin 2.  At half time the score was 6-1 to us.  Our girls continued to play well scoring another 3 goals in the next quarter, 1 from Lilia and 2 from Ebun.  Going into the final quarter, the girls really suffered with the bad weather, however were not swayed and continued to push on.  All of the girls played exceptionally well, leading to a great victory and a final score of 9-2.  Ms Salmon was exceptionally pleased with the way the girls played and all the training they did last year is really starting to show.  Well played girls and a special congratulation to Ebun for being awarded player of the match!

On Wednesday 15^th March 2023 the team were back in action again, this time against Broke Hall Primary School, for their second IPSSA League game and the girls were still on a high from their victory the day before.   They soon were back into the swing and playing as well as they did on Tuesday.  Going into the second quarter Whitehouse were in the lead with a score of 3-0.  During the third quarter the team worked beautifully together showing some outstanding netball and scoring a further 2 goals.  Broke Hall also played very well and had scored 4 goals up to this point.  The last quarter was very tight as the score was 5-4 to Whitehouse.  The girls continued to show great determination and courage.  In the last moments of the game, Broke Hall managed to score one more goal, leaving a final score of 5-5. Another great game girls, let’s keep this up!  Well done to Sophie who was awarded player of the match!

Dates for the Diary

Monday 20^th March 2023 – Family Breakfast (KS2)

Thursday 23^rd March 2023 – Parent/Carer Evening (in person)

Friday 24^th March 2023 – Whole School SMSC Day

Monday 27^th March 2023 – Family Breakfast (EYFS and KS1)

Wednesday 29^th March 2023 – Visit to local Co-op – Year 5

Thursday 30^th March 2023 – Walton-on-the-Naze Trip – Year 6

Friday 31^st March 2023 – Walton-on-the-Naze Trip – Year 6

Monday 26^th June 2023 – Mersea Day Trip – Year 6

Tuesday 27^th June 2023 – Mersea Day Trip – Year 6

Friday 30^th June 2023 – Kentwell Hall – Year 5

Monday 3^rd April 2023 to Friday 14^th April 2023 – Easter Holiday

School Closed – Monday 1^st May (Bank Holiday)

School Closed – Monday 8^th May (Bank Holiday)