Whitehouse Weekly Bulletin 254

Friday 15th December 2023

A Message from Miss Siddall

Well done to all 143 children who have had 100% attendance this term – you have shown great commitment to your learning.  Thank you and well done!  Thank you to the parents/carers for supporting our recent classroom open sessions.  There has been a range on offer this week and more to continue next week, so we hope that have been able to enjoy this.

Finally, we hope to see lots of families at our Christmas Fair today.  Access to the Fair is through the KS1 playground only.

Thank you for your continued support.

Attendance for last week:

Class with the best attendance: Lions (98.04%)

Christmas: Parent/Carer Sessions

A reminder of the sessions which parents and carers are invited to attend next week:

Attendance Update

It was wonderful to be able to celebrate your children who have achieved 100% attendance to date in last week’s assemblies. Each of these children received a non-uniform voucher to use.  Considering how many coughs, colds and sickness bugs have been going around, this is a great sign that our attendance is on the up!  We hope to be able to celebrate more great attendance after Christmas.  Well done everyone!

Readers’ Cup

Well done to the following classes who won the Readers’ Cup the week before half term:

Awards

As you may be aware, the children are encouraged to follow ‘The Whitehouse Way’ in school to help them in their learning and in becoming good citizens. Our ‘Wonderful Week’ awards this year will be given as a recognition that the children have worked very hard in one of these areas:  Courage, Perseverance, Reflection or Responsibility.  This will be shown in the colour coded lists below.  We are so proud of our children at Whitehouse and their wonderful achievements.  Well done to you all.

Key Stage 1:

Lower Key Stage 2:

Upper Key Stage 2:

Children’s Achievements

This week we would like to tell you about Sophia who is in our Toucans class.  She loves swimming and has been doing this since she was three years old!  In November she completed the Flamingo Level 8, which is the final level at Crown Pools.  Sophia has decided to continue with her swimming and is now going to try for her Bronze level.  Her family are very proud of her efforts and so are we.  A big well done! 

Hedge Planting

Last year the Eco-school applied for 180 hedge sampling plants from the Woodland Trust and they arrived just in time to get them planted before the end of term.  So last Thursday, we invited the applicants for the Eco-School to take part in planting these and creating a new habitat for any animals and wildlife on our site.  We were lucky enough to have some volunteers to assist us from the Bridge Church and the Rotary Club. The hedges were carefully planted around 10cm into the ground so they will have a chance to get established before the warmer weather. The next job for us will be to ensure these are well looked after, so please remind your children not to touch them when out on the field at break and lunch, and we will also be setting up a regular watering routine.  If your child would like to be involved in looking after the hedges, please have them speak to their teacher so they become part of the maintenance team.  The Eco-School would like to thank all of our children and volunteers who joined in and we look forward to watching them grow!

Eco-Art Project

This term a number of our children have attended Eco-Club.  They had the opportunity to take part in an Eco-Art competition called ‘Going, Going, Gone’ which involved researching animals that have sadly become extinct and then pick one to turn into an art project.  The Eco-Club decided to base their artwork on Andy Warhol and use block prints to make our vivid art.  The children then used bright pastels to make their animals unique and bold.  The artwork will be part of an art exhibition at the Museum of the Environment, which is based at Arlingtons Conference rooms on Museum Street.  Unfortunately, it will not be open to visitors until the Easter Holidays but it will be well worth the wait as twenty other schools have also entered the competition.  Well done to everyone who came to Eco-Club this term.  Look out for more opportunities to join us for more Eco-fun next year!

Year 2 – Church Visit

Last week, Year 2 took part in a local visit to St Thomas the Apostle Church on Bramford Lane.  As part of the Christianity Unit in RE, the children went to learn about the Advent wreath and what it represents in the Christmas story.  Reverend Reverly kindly created five story stations to help explain what each candle in the wreath symbolises.  The session was thoroughly engaging and a wonderful time was had by all.

Reception: Nativity

Starfish, Seahorses and Puffins children performed their nativity called ‘This Way to Bethlehem’ on Monday.  The teachers were so proud of their superb singing and the clear voices of the narrators.  Thank you to all the parents/carers who supported us with costumes and coming to see the performances.  We hope you enjoyed it as much as we did!

Winter Mini Reading Challenge

Building on the success of their ‘Summer Reading Challenge’, the Reading Agency are back with a ‘Winter Mini Challenge’ for children to enjoy over the festive break.  This is a free, online reading challenge which aims to encourage children to keep up good reading habits and discover the joy of reading for pleasure.  The challenge runs from 1^st December 2023 and finishes on 19^th February 2024 and to register visit the following link: https://summerreadingchallenge.org.uk/.  Children can set their own reading goal and then add the books they read to their profile with a short review.  When the goal is reached the children will be able to unlock rewards including a new online badge and a certificate.  There are also a whole host of activities and challenges for the children and their families to enjoy including meet the authors, wordsearches, games and competitions.  We love to recognise the children’s achievements in school, so please do encourage your child to bring in their certificate so we can celebrate their efforts!

Dates for the Diary

Monday 18^th December 2023 – Family Breakfast – 8.00am

Monday 18^th December 2023 – Parent/Carer Craft Session – Year 6 – 9.15am

Monday 18^th December 2023 – Parent/Carer Singing and Craft Session – Year 1 - 1.30pm

Monday 18^th December 2023 – Parent/Carer Singing and Craft Session – Year 3 - 2.00pm

Monday 18^th December 2023 – Christingle Service – Year 4 – Parents/Carers invited. 1.45pm at St Thomas’ Church, Bramford Lane.

Monday 18^th December 2023 – Parent/Carer Festive Reading Session – Year 6 - 2.00pm

Tuesday 19^th December 2023 – Parent/Carer Christmas Craft Session – Year Reception 2.00pm

Thursday 21^st December 2023 to Wednesday 3^rd January 2024 – Christmas Holiday

Thursday 4^th January 2024 – PD Day (Children not in school)

Monday 19^th February 2024 to Friday 23^rd February 2024 – Half Term Holiday

Friday 29^th March 2024 to Thursday 11^th April 2024 – Easter Holiday

Friday 12^th April 2024 – PD Day (Children not in school)

Monday 24^th June 2024 to Tuesday 25^th June 2024 – Year 6 Residential Trip at Mersea