Whitehouse Weekly Bulletin 153

Friday 14th May 2021

Message from Mrs Hall

The after-school clubs have been very successful this half-term with 225 children taking part. It has been great to see the children involved in the plethora of wonderful activities including: tennis, archery, history, mindfulness, gardening and story club. Thank you to all members of staff for giving up their time to organise these. Clubs will finish on Monday 17^th May but we hope to offer more after the half-term break as Covid-19 restrictions are gradually lifted across the country. At the moment, we will be remaining with the current risk assessment but are trialling increasing the bubble sizes in Y4 and Y6. We will keep you updated of any further amendments.  Thank you for your continued support.

Attendance for the Previous Week

Class with the Best Attendance – Ocelots (98.9%)

Assemblies

The theme of our assembly next week will be on: Why is it important for a child to have a voice? (UNRC Link: Article 12 – I have the right to an opinion and for it to be heard).  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.

Morrisons Children’s Little Library

Morrisons have launched a new initiative, shaped by Open University research and collaboration, which aims to promote the joy of reading by increasing access to and ownership of books. Children, teenagers and parents/carers can now pick up a book for free at any Morrisons store across the UK and donate one in its place, if they can. Morrisons are donating 50,000 books to help families in need.  If you have any books you no longer need, Morrisons stores would be happy to add them to their growing libraries.

Sunflower Competition

Gardening is becoming very popular with the children at Whitehouse and two of our classes are having a competition to see who can grow the tallest sunflower!  Red Pandas and Squirrels will be taking part and we look forward to seeing who grows the tallest one by 14^th July!  Why not try growing one with your child in your own garden and see how tall they grow?

Awards

EYFS:

Key Stage 1:

Lower Key Stage 2:

Upper Key Stage 2:

Nursery

Last week, the Gardening Club came to help weed the Nursery Garden and lay some new bark.  The Nursery now have a lovely area to read, play and learn.  Nursery have been able to enjoy story time outside now that the weather is getting a little warmer. 

Miss Smart was reading ‘If I had a Dinosaur’ to the Dolphin Class.  Thank you to all the children in Gardening Club and to Mr Hobhouse.  The Nursery children love their new tidy area.

Purple Man Award

Well done to Foxes and Ocelots for winning this week’s Purple man Reading Award.

Year 1 Curriculum

The children in Year 1 have been busy learning about capacity this week and have enjoyed being outside filling containers up to full or half full.   They are now learning how to measure in millilitres and litres.    

Brownies

Did you know that we have a local Brownies group in the area?  They are finally able to go back to face to face meetings after half-term and will go back to meeting in the school each Monday evening.  They have some spaces for a few new children to join them, so if your daughter is interested please see the details on how to get involved.

Medication in School

Can we please remind parents/carers that children are not allowed to bring medication of any kind to school and keep it in their school bags.  All medication, both prescription and non-prescription, must be handed in at the office by a parent or carer and a consent form completed by the adult. If any children are found to have medication with them, this will be removed and held in the office for a parent/carer to collect.  Thank you for your co-operation.

School Site Expectations

May we remind parents/carers that whilst on the school site there is an expectation that everyone will behave in an appropriate manner.  We are disappointed that recently we have had parents/carers on site who have been swearing, spitting on the floor and getting in heated discussions with other adults. This behaviour will not be tolerated.  Our priority at school is ensuring our children and adults are able to feel safe and comfortable and this includes arriving at the start of the day and leaving to go home.  If this behaviour is seen amongst any of our parents/carers you will be asked to leave and this may result in a ban from the school site.  We thank you for your support and co-operation.

National Walk to School Week

Monday marks the start of Walk to School Week (Monday 17^th May – Friday 21^st May).  To acknowledge this national initiative, we will be taking part in the Keep Moving Suffolk Walking Challenge. As a result, we would like to encourage you and your child to walk to school for the whole week.  If you live too far to walk, maybe you could use public transport or even consider parking the

 car and walking the last 5 minutes into school. An activity booklet with daily fun activities to complete on the way to school and a set of stickers will be provided to each pupil.  Additionally, each class will be provided with a visual wallchart and daily reward stickers to track their class participation in the challenge.  Which class will be the most active? 

We are Gold

Extract from the letter we received this week from the National SMSC Quality Mark.

“We are delighted to inform you that as a result of the recent virtual verification visit, Whitehouse Community Primary School has been awarded Gold level of the National SMSC Quality Mark, and this has been confirmed by the Quality Assurance Panel.”

Key findings from the report

• Whitehouse Community Primary School is a child-centred, inclusive school
• the headteacher, staff and governors ensure that children, and the children’s best interests, drive the school and that every child is celebrated…
• they foster, amongst children, a sense of pride in themselves, in each other and in their community
• they provide opportunities for all children to achieve and have a high-aspiration for themselves as learners as well as individuals and citizens

• children clearly modelled their understanding of the “Whitehouse Way”
• they told how the adults in the school are always available to help and support them and how teachers take care to explain things
• they explained that they learnt about their ‘rights and responsibilities’ and helped one another.
• pupils understood democracy and explained how the School Parliament had influenced decisions made within the school.
• Y6 pupils were confident about moving to High School and were positive about their futures.
• Parents were proud of the school and acknowledged how the school quickly responded to concerns in a positive and supportive manner. They also were particularly grateful for the way Whitehouse had supported their children’s emotional health and well-being through a difficult year and on their return to school after lockdown. 
• Primary carers spoke about the wide range of inclusive and accessible activities for both children and parents.
• A parent spoke with delight at the way her child had been inspired by the assembly on Black Lives Matters whilst another thought that the school’s ‘Breaking the Mould’ had opened up the topic of LGBTQ+, ethnic and religious identity which enabled positive discussions at home.
• Governors were clearly well informed about the role of SMSC in the school and could speak knowledgeably about the importance of this in underpinning learning across the curriculum. 

A huge “THANK YOU” and a big “WELL DONE!” to the following children for being outstanding Ambassadors of the school on the day and to our two Y6 Prefects, Chloe and Megan for taking our verifier Mr Donkin on a Virtual Tour of the school. 

Rabbits: Bahand, Danny, Dylan, Eliza, Logan and Summer

Robins: Andra, Cameron, Emma, Kyle, Lucinda, Mirna and Tate.

Toucans: Alan, Byron, Chloe, Harrison, Megan and Nina.

Dates for the Diary

Monday 17^th May – Friday 21^st May – Walk to School Week

Thursday 20^th May – Academy Consultation Meetings for Parents/Carers 2.00pm / 5.45pm

Monday 24^th May – Thursday 27^th May – Science Week

Tuesday 25^th May – Year 3 Roman Day

Monday 31^st May – Friday 4^th June – Half Term Holiday

Friday 11^th June – End of Academy Consultation Period

Thursday 24^th June – Suffolk Day (Art focus)

Thursday 24^th June – Year 6 Mersea Trip

Friday 25^th June – Year 6 Mersea Trip

Thursday 1^st July – Year 5-6 Sports Day

Friday 2^nd July – Year 3-4 Sports Day

Friday 2^nd July – Year R, 1 and 2 Sports Day

Friday 9^th July – Reports Sent Home

Monday 12^th July – House Captain Elections

Tuesday 13^th July – Year 6 Production (Cast 1)

Wednesday 14^th July – Year 6 Production (Cast 2)

Thursday 15^th July – Nursery Sports Event

Wednesday 21^st July – Start of the Summer Holiday