Whitehouse Weekly Bulletin 256

Friday 19th January 2024

A Message from Miss Siddall

Thank you for your support in getting your children to school on time through this spell of exceptionally cold weather we are experiencing.  The children have coped very well in the cold temperatures and have been well wrapped up for their break times.

This week I was lucky enough to visit reading lessons in all year groups to show a teacher from another school how well the children learn in reading.  The guest teacher was incredibly impressed with the children and adults across the school and said that the children’s reading was an ‘inspiration’.  It was a pleasure to see the Whitehouse Way in action and the pride the children have in their learning.  Thank you everybody.

Attendance for the previous week:

Class with the best attendance: Frogs and Squirrels (99.33%)

Assemblies

The theme of our assemblies for next week will be: Being a Good Citizen: What does this mean? (UNRC Link: Article 5: I have the right to be given guidance by my parents and family).  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.

PFA (Parents and Friends Association)

Ms Salmon and the PFA would like to thank everyone for attending the Christmas Fair on Friday 15^th December 2023.  We are sure you will agree it was a very successful event and it was lovely to see so many of our families attend.  The monies have all been counted and I can confirm that we raised an amazing £1,301.89.  We have agreed that some of the money will be spent on buying new high-vis vests for the children to use when on local trips and walks.  We will also be discussing other ways to use the funds to support the school with our School Parliament. Again, thank you for all your support, especially the PFA team who spent their own time gathering raffle prizes, thinking up ideas for the fair and helping on the day.  If you would like to become part of the team please speak to the School Office.

Good News Story

Last week, Jack one of our Year 6 children, spotted his cat Zeus on the playground.  Zeus had been missing from home, over a mile away, since before Christmas!  Jack’s quick thinking meant that his Mum was able to come and collect Zeus before he wandered off again.  Zeus has been given a clean bill of health by the vet and is very happy to be home again!  Well done Jack and Miss Siddall for your good work!

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:

Readers’ Cup

Well done to the following classes who won the Readers’ Cup last week:

Healthy Eating at Whitehouse

In Autumn 1 our SMSC Day focussed on healthy eating habits within school.  At breaktime, we have noticed that some children are bringing in foods which are high in processed sugar, saturated fat and salt.  All of which can be detrimental to a child’s ability to concentrate and achieve their potential throughout the day, not to mention lead to long-term health implications.  Why not try some of the suggested snack options below or see this link for more:

https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/collection/healthy-snacks-kids-recipes

Fruity Snacks:

• Make fruit and veg bite-sized so they are easier and quicker to eat
• Cut up a whole melon, mango or pineapple to store in the fridge – it is quick to place in lunchboxes!
• Cut an apple into slices and reassemble around the core, secured with a rubber band, it makes it easy to nibble and prevents it turning brown!
• Make fruit the dessert!  Melon, mango and grapes taste delicious!
• Dried fruit is a great snack, but has a lot of sugar.  Pack the same number of pieces of dried fruit as you would fresh fruit in each serving.
• Pot up your own yoghurt and add fruit to the top

Savoury Snacks:

• Batch make the following snacks to pack into lunchboxes
• DIY Crumble – a little goes a long way and makes a plain yoghurt or tinned fruit more appealing!
• Homemade cereal bars take 10 minutes to mix together and you can reduce the sugar used.
• Pitta chips use up stale bread and make an excellent snack with homemade hummus.
• Oven-baked chickpeas are crisp and crunchy and can be flavoured with a little salt or spice.
• Chocolate-drizzled rice cakes makes a little chocolate go a long way and have lots of fibre.
• Popcorn is a quick and easy snack and can be flavoured with sugar-free hot chocolate powder, smoked paprika or chilli powder.

Year 5/6 – Parent/Carer Survey

Whitehouse and other schools across Ipswich have been working with an evaluation partner to better understand the barriers that are preventing children attending school.  As part of this we have been asked to invite parents/carers of children in Year 5 and 6 to complete a short survey.  This will only take 5 minutes and the links to access these are detailed below:

English survey: https://impacted.typeform.com/IpswichEnglish
Polish survey: https://impacted.typeform.com/IpswichPolish

Latvian survey: https://impacted.typeform.com/IpswichLatvian

Portuguese survey: https://impacted.typeform.com/IpswichPortug

The surveys are open until Friday 26^th January 2023 and we would be grateful if you could please help by giving a few moments of your time to reply.  Thank you for your continued support.

North West Ipswich Big Local Trust

The NW Ipswich Big Local Trust are a local organisation who work with local residents to help creative positive lasting change in the local area.  They are currently planning on how their budget will be spent during 2024-2026 and would love to have feedback from local residents, children and users of the area to help them with that planning.  If you would like to have some input please see the poster below for more information.

Family Breakfasts

We are very pleased to let you know that our popular Family Breakfasts are starting again on Monday morning.  This is a lovely way to start the school week, as parents/carers are invited to come into school at 8.00am and enjoy a simple, free breakfast with their children.  Please come in via the Key Stage 1 playground on Marlow Road, where Mrs Gotts will meet you and show you where to go.  We look forward to seeing many of you there! 

Online Safety Competition

Do you know how to stay safe online?  If so, the House Captains have a challenge for you!  They would like you to design a poster explaining the potential dangers online, how to stay safe and your top tips for using the internet.  We will be accepting entries from Monday 22^nd January 2024 and your poster must be with Miss Payne (Chameleons Teacher) by Friday 9^th February 2024.  All participants will receive a house point and the winner from each year group will receive a non-uniform voucher.  Be sure to include your name, class and house on the back of the poster so we identify the winners.  The best posters will be displayed around school next half-term, so make them bright and colourful!  If you have any further questions, the House Captains will be happy to help!

Road Safety

Can we please remind parents/carers to encourage children who are either walking to school or coming on scooters to be road and traffic aware.  We have had a couple of recent reports where children have either been crossing roads without looking, or have been scooting along the middle of the road, completely unaware of traffic around them.  Please do take a few moments to discuss this with your child to ensure everyone is as safe as possible as they get to and from school.

Dates for the Diary

Monday 22^nd January 2024 – Family Breakfast – 8.00am

Wednesday 24^th January 2024 – Year 6 ‘Mummification’ Parent/Carer Session – 9.00am

Monday 29^th January 2024 – Family Breakfast – 8.00am

Wednesday 31^st January 2024 – Year 4 ‘Viking Long Boat’ Parent/Carer Session – 9.00am

Monday 5^th February 2024 – Family Breakfast – 8.00am

Monday 12^th February 2024 – Family Breakfast – 8.00am

Monday 12^th February 2024 – Last week of Spring after-school clubs

Friday 16^th February 2024 – SMSC Whole School Day – Online Safety

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

Friday 8^th March 2024 – Reports sent home

Tuesday 12^th March 2024 – Parents Evening

Wednesday 20^th March 2024 – Parents Evening

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 6^th May 2024 – May Day Bank Holiday

Monday 13^th May 2024 to Thursday 16^th May 2024 – Year 6 SATs Week

Monday 27^th May 2024 to Friday 31^st May 2024 – Half Term Holiday

Monday 3^rd June 2024 – PD Day (Children not in school)

Wednesday 5^th June 2024 – Nursery and Reception Sports Day

Thursday 6^th June 2024 – Years 1, 2 and 3 Sports Day

Friday 7^th June 2024 – Years 4, 5, and 6 Sports Day

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

Wednesday 26^th June 2024 – School Transition Afternoon

Thursday 27^th June 2024 – School Transition Morning