Whitehouse Weekly Bulletin

Friday 20th November 2020

Message from Mrs Hall

Thank you for supporting Children in Need at school last Friday. We raised £407.92 – excellent work everyone. The first virtual Parents’ Evening was a huge success. The staff were delighted to be able to share the great work that is happening in class despite the disruptions caused by coronavirus. Children only have one chance at education so it is so important that we continue to work together to ensure that we can keep the school open, this means stringently following the lockdown and self-isolation rules. Thank you for your continued support.

Attendance for Previous Week

Class with the Best Attendance – Owls (99%)

Assemblies

The theme of our assembly next week will be focussed on diversity: Diversity Day: If you dream it, you can achieve it.  Challenging stereotypes of what people can achieve.  (UNRC Link: Article 2: I have the right to protection against discrimination.  This means that nobody can treat me badly because of my colour, sex and religion, if I speak another language, have a disability or if I am rich or poor).  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.

Parents/Carers Evening

Thank you to all those parents/carers who attended their virtual appointments with the class teachers this week.  We hope that you found the meetings productive.  We have our second evening next week on Wednesday 25^th November from 3.30pm to 5.30pm.  If you have not yet made an appointment to speak with the teacher please follow the link which was sent to you last week, or call the school office who will be happy to help.

The Great Whitehouse Bake Off

Don’t forget to send your child’s entry in for our Great Whitehouse Bake Off competition.  We look forward to seeing your fun, festive creations.  Please send a photograph together with the recipe to Mr Donowa at parents@whcps.org.   We will upload the photos onto the school website so everyone can see them.  The top 5 entries will each win 5 house points.

Key Stage 1:

Lower Key Stage 2:

Upper Key Stage 2:

Hardship Assistance

A reminder that if you are finding things particularly hard at the moment, please do phone the school and ask to speak to a member of the Pastoral Team.  Kate and Nicola do have some avenues they can investigate further which may be able to offer some much needed help to our families.   Please do not feel embarrassed to approach us for help, we know how hard these times are for people and we are all in this together and any enquiry will be treated with the utmost confidence.

Discussing Coronavirus in PSHE Lessons

Teaching about hygiene routines and how bacteria and viruses affect health, is a key part of the Health Education aspect of our PSHE lessons at all key stages.  At the beginning of the school year, all classes had a number of lessons and remote assemblies on this area.  These covered what Coronavirus is, how to wash our hands properly, as well as how Coronavirus and its effects can affect us emotionally.   Regardless of their age, this can be a difficult time for children and should you wish to discuss this further with them at home, please see the following link which contains some stories you can use to help:  https://www.whcps.org/useful-information-10/.

Dinner Debt

Can we please remind everyone to please ensure you keep up to date with any payments of dinner money and that if reminded, this is paid promptly.

Reception School Place

If your child was born between 1 September 2016 and 31 August 2017, please note you need to have applied for a full-time school place by 15^th January 2020.  Even if your child is already attending the Whitehouse School Nursery, you still need to ensure you apply for a place as this is not automatically given to them.  To apply, please go to www.suffolk.gov.uk/admissions or call the Admissions Team at Suffolk County Council on 0345 600 0981.

Autumn Art Competition

As part of our ongoing Blended Learning, we are running an Autumn Art competition for all year groups.  Children are invited to produce a piece of artwork (drawing, painting, sculpture, collage etc.) illustrating the changing of the seasons, and the beautiful colours we see this time of the year.   You could:

• Take an autumnal photo
• Paint an autumnal landscape
• Make a collage with leaves or artefacts
• Experiment with autumnal colours
• Draw or paint a tree

Entries should be on A4 or A3 paper.  The entry should also be accompanied by a very short description by the child to explain how they were influenced to create their work.  This can be as short as 1 or 2 sentences, but may be longer if they wish and dependant on the age of the artist.  We will be selecting winners from EYFS, KS1 and KS2.  Winners and runners up will be awarded with a prize and their artwork, together with all other entries, will be displayed in school.

All entries should be handed in to the class teacher by Monday 7^th December.  Good luck, we are excited to see your creations!

Dates for the Diary

Wednesday 25^th November – Virtual Parent/Carer Evening – 3.30pm to 5.30pm

Friday 27^th November – Breaking the Mould Day

Monday 7^th December – Flu Immunisations

Tuesday 15^th December – UKS2 Christmas Dinner

Wednesday 16^th December – LKS2 Christmas Dinner

Thursday 17^th December – KS1 Christmas Dinner

Friday 18^th December – Reception Christmas Dinner

Monday 21^st December – Friday 1^st January – Christmas Holiday

Monday 4^th January – PD Day (No school for children)

Friday 12^th February – PD Day (No school for children)

Monday 15^th February – Friday 19^th February – Half Term Holiday

Thursday 4^th March – Parent/Carer Evening

Wednesday 10^th March – Parent/Carer Evening

Friday 19^th March – Whole School SMSC Event

Monday 29^th March – Friday 9^th April – Easter Holiday