Whitehouse Weekly Bulletin 113
Friday 1st November 2019
Message from Mrs Hall
Welcome back to a new, busy half-term at Whitehouse! We have lots of exciting learning planned including visits, workshops and plays that will all help to make your child’s primary school experience memorable. This week it has been great to welcome over 200 families into school – thank you, I know the children are very proud of their work and it is lovely for them to be able to share their learning. Finally, well done to Tigers class who were stars on ITV Anglia this week. They all represented Whitehouse extremely well. Super work everyone.
Attendance for the Week before half term
Class with the Best Attendance – Jaguars (100%)
Classes with the Best Punctuality – Giraffes, Badgers, Owls, Jaguars, Pandas and Chameleons
Class that needs to improve their Attendance – Dragons (85.80%)
Classes that need to improve their Punctuality – Foxes and Robins
Assemblies
The theme of our assemblies for the first week after half term will be: History of Guy Fawkes: Why do we have fireworks on 5th November? 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.
Evening Star – Reception Children
We are pleased to confirm our Reception children will have their photograph in the Evening Star newspaper as part of their ‘First Class’ supplement on Tuesday 5th November. Flyers have been sent home which enable parents of Reception children to purchase the newspaper at a discounted price.
Key Stage 1:
Class |
Wonderful Week |
Wonderful Week |
Handwriting Award |
Elephants |
Shay |
Frankie |
Benjamin |
Giraffes |
Amelia |
Remi |
Lacey |
Lions |
Roxanne |
Jeet |
Lola |
Cobras |
Henry |
Olivia |
Amelia |
Dragons |
Austin |
Sophia |
Bana |
Frogs |
Rebecca |
Demi-Jae |
Liyoh |
Lower Key Stage 2:
Class |
Wonderful Week |
Wonderful Week |
Handwriting Award |
Foxes |
Alysha |
Sophia |
Max |
Hedgehogs |
Diana |
Zuzanna |
Lilli |
Robins |
Maddison |
Andra |
Martins |
Squirrels |
Lucah |
Isla |
Alicja |
Badgers |
Erin |
Elsie |
Mason |
Owls |
Ceylin |
Leah |
Nathon |
Rabbits |
Maja |
Theo |
Sofija |
Upper Key Stage 2:
Class |
Wonderful Week |
Wonderful Week |
Handwriting Award |
Jaguars |
Sehad |
Amez |
Mohamad |
Lemurs |
Megan |
Archie |
Daisy |
Red Pandas |
Henry |
Olivia |
Imogen |
Chameleons |
Enioluwafe |
Ava-Rose |
Tommy |
Tigers |
Aziz |
Preston |
Joshua |
Toucans |
Alyssa |
Sam |
Miley |
Whole School Team Building Day – Recycled Items Needed
We need your help! As part of our Team Building Day, each class will be making a scarecrow linked to their favourite book character. We would like to use as much recycled material as possible. Please could you help by collecting and sending in the following items:
Plastic Bottles Cardboard/Tubes Old Yellow Pages
Sweet Wrappers Bales of Straw Newspapers (not The Sun please)
Bamboo Canes Tights (flesh coloured) Crisp Packets
In addition, we also require the following:
Old white shirts Large cord trousers
Large brown waistcoats Brown belts
Big pair of leather boots Top hat
Purple jacket
Thank you in advance for any help you can provide.
Recycled Material for WW2 Project
Please note we are also collecting empty Muller yoghurt pots as Year 6 will be transforming these into gas masks as part of their WW2 topic. If you have any empty pots please bring them into school and pass to the class teacher or to the school office. Thank you.
Library – Overdue Books
We have many books borrowed from our school libraries each week, so it is necessary for us to keep track of them. All books can be borrowed for up to three weeks. If children need them for longer they can renew them again, which is especially useful for the older children who are reading longer books. Once the three weeks is up, a note is sent to the class teacher so they can chase up any overdue books and have the children return or renew them as soon as possible. If this does not happen, the following week a reminder is sent home. One week later if the book still has not been returned, a final letter will be sent home requesting a payment of £5.00 for any book lost. In circumstances, where a payment cannot be made, we will accept a replacement which can be a used book from home, as long as it is in good condition. Thank you for your support in this.
Book Fair
We are running our Annual Book Fair again in November. For the first time we will be using The Book People. As you are probably aware, their books are very reasonably priced, so we hope you will come along and buy some books for your children. The children love coming to the libraries in school to choose books to share at home and it is even better if they can have their own copies to keep! The Book Fairs will take place during both Parents Evenings on Thursday 14th November and Wednesday 20th November. The Book Fairs will be open from 3.30pm so you are very welcome to pop in after collecting your children from school. We hope to see you there!
Parents/Carers Evening
As you will have seen on the newsletter, Parents/Carers Evening is coming up on the following dates:
Thursday 14th November – 3.30pm to 5.30pm
Wednesday 20th November – 3.30pm to 6.30pm
You should have received an invitation by text to make an appointment to see your child’s teacher, however if this has not been received or you are struggling to make an appointment please speak to a member of the office team who will be happy to assist.
Councillor Visit
This week, Mrs Shalka and the School Parliament were lucky to meet our local councillor, Lucy Trenchard. The representatives learnt all about the role of a councillor and how she helps the community. They also gave Lucy lots of ideas on what changes could be made in the local area. The children had a fantastic afternoon. A huge thank you to Lucy for visiting us. We look forward to seeing her again soon.
Flu Immunisation
A reminder that the flu immunisations will take place on Friday 15th November. This is done via a nasal spray. Please note, if you wish your child to be included you must give consent by Friday 8th November at the latest. You can do this by going to the following link: https://www.whcps.org/11-09-2019-information-for-parents-on-flu-immunisa/. If your child is asthmatic or cannot eat gelatine, please note there is information regarding this on the link also. If you have any questions you can contact the Schools Immunisation Programme on 0300 555 5055.
Gardening Lessons
Our Year 4 classes have been busy learning about planting and have each planted a daffodil bulb in a pot. These bulbs should sprout in the spring so the children will be watching closely as the bulb grows into a shoot, then a stem and finally a flower. They will be ensuring the bulbs are receiving enough sunshine and water.
EAL Achievement
We are thrilled to let you know that we have recently been awarded the EAL (English as an Additional Language) Gold Quality Mark. It is given as a recognition of all the wonderful work that goes on in school to support our EAL families and help the children achieve.
Year 2 Art Session
Year 2 were very happy to welcome parents/carers into school on Wednesday afternoon for an art session. They held a King and Queen’s Learning Café, where the children drew royal portraits of their parents/carers or of each other. Thank you to all those who were able to join us, everyone involved had an enjoyable time.
Remembrance Day Poppies
Please note the School Parliament will start selling poppies and other items including wristbands, pencils, rubbers and rulers on Friday. They will be available to buy on the playground both before and after school and they will also be visiting classes on various days. So if your child would like to buy an item please send a small amount of money into school with them.
Dates for the Diary
Friday 8th November – Last day to give consent for Flu Immunisation
Thursday 14th November – Parents/Carers Evening – 3.30 – 5.30 pm
Thursday 14th November – Book Fair from 3.30pm
Friday 15th November – Flu Immunisation – Year R to Year 6
Friday 15th November – Children in Need Day
Wednesday 20th November – Parents/Carers Evening – 3.30 – 6.30 pm
Wednesday 20th November – Book Fair from 3.30pm
Tuesday 26th November – Choir visiting Mayo Court
Thursday 28th November – Whole School Team Building Day (Scarecrow Making)
Friday 29th November – Parents invited into school at the end of the day to view the Scarecrows
Tuesday 3rd December – Steel Drum Workshops
Thursday 5th December – Reception Nativity (9.45 am and 2.15 pm)
Saturday 7th December – Christmas Fair
Tuesday 10th December – Year 1 Christmas Play (9.45 am and 2.15 pm)
Thursday 12th December – Year 2 Christmas Play (9.45 am and 2.15 pm)
Tuesday 17th December – EYFS and KS1 – Christmas Dinner
Wednesday 18th December – KS2 – Christmas Dinner
Friday 20th December to Friday 3rd January – Christmas Holiday
Monday 6th January – PD Day – School Closed to children
Thursday 6th February – Young Voices – Choir to the O2
Monday 17th February to Friday 21st February – Half Term Holiday
Friday 3rd April to Friday 17th April – Easter Holidays
Friday 8th May – May Bank Holiday
Friday 22nd May – PD Day – School Closed to children
Monday 25th May to Friday 29th May – Half Term Holiday
Wednesday 22nd July – PD Day – School Closed to Children
Thursday 23rd July – First Day of Summer Holiday