Whitehouse Weekly Bulletin 158

Friday 25th June 2021

Message from Mrs Hall

It has been a super busy week in school! This week all the children participated in a fitness event with Paralympian Sean Rose and ex ITFC footballer Ian Miller. Then, everyone took part in a fantastic art day where they were painting and creating beautiful art work focussing specifically on Suffolk (to celebrate Suffolk Day). In addition, Y6 had the opportunity to attend Mersea as part of their end of year celebrations. Next week we look forward to welcoming parents/carers into school for Sports Day too so, please ensure that you return your reply slips as soon as possible. Finally, Wednesday was ‘thank a teacher day’ and I am pleased that this worthwhile profession is recognised, but the success of schools is a team effort and so I thank everyone for their contribution. Thank you for your continued support.

Attendance for the Previous Week

Class with the Best Attendance – Tigers (100%)

Assemblies

The theme of our assembly next week will be: What kind of guidance do parents provide? (UNRC Link: Article 5 – I have the right to be guided by guided by my parents/carers). 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.

Smart Watches

Can we ask that parents/carers do not send their children into school wearing a smart watch.  These watches can be expensive and they may well get broken whilst in school.  In addition, some of these enable the children to take photos whilst in school which has the possibility of causing a safeguarding issue.  Thank you for your cooperation in this matter.

Book Donations

Thank you to everyone who has donated books to the school libraries this year.  We have lost quite a few books over the past eighteen months due to the circumstances we have found ourselves in, so donated books have been gratefully received.  It would be lovely if the children who are leaving our school, particularly Year 6, could think about possibly donating a book to our libraries.  It does not have to be a new book, if they have any they no longer read, these would be gratefully received.

Word Millionaire

We are thrilled to let you know another of our children has become a Word Millionaire.  A big well done to Deanna!  What a wonderful achievement.

Purple Man Reading Award

Well done to Lemurs and Foxes for winning the Purple Man Reading Award last week!

Packed Lunches

Please note we are happy if children want to bring a Packed Lunch with them to eat at lunchtime, however as a Healthy School, we do ask that these must be a healthy lunch, and not contain chocolate or items which may contain nuts.  Thank you for your co-operation.

Awards

EYFS:

Key Stage 1:

Lower Key Stage 2:

Upper Key Stage 2:

School Garden

The School Garden continues to thrive!  Last week it was the turn of Year 1 to help out.  The children had a lovely time helping Mr Hobhouse to plant out giant pumpkins. 

They all worked very hard and helped with digging some new flower beds.

Community Pantry

Have you heard about the Community Pantry yet?  We know many of our families have experienced financial hardships due to the Pandemic and a food bank, called the Community Pantry was set up to help families from the Whitton, Whitehouse and Castle Hill areas who may need a little extra help.  They have now begun a ‘Walk in Service’.  All you need to do is go along to the Castle Hill Community Centre on Highfield Road on a Tuesday morning between 10.00am and 11.30am and you will be able to fill a bag full of food, free of charge.  Please note you will just need to bring along something that shows your postcode so they know which area you live in.

GB Athletes Visit

On Monday we were again extremely lucky to be visited by two GB Athletes – 2 times GB Paralympic Skier and World Water Skiing Champion Sean Rose and ex-professional footballer, and former ITFC player, Ian Miller. There was a real excitement amongst the pupils and staff ahead of the visit and the day definitely did not disappoint!

As with previous visits, each class from EYFS to Year 6 took part in a short, high energy, fitness session with the athletes. The Year 5 bubble was also treated to yet another truly inspirational assembly.  During the assembly, Sean told the pupils about his life and how, despite his accident which left him paralysed, he has overcome a number of barriers to achieve his dreams and ambitions. To ensure that none of our pupils missed out on the motivational message of ‘never giving up’ and ‘always reaching for your dreams’, each class was given the opportunity of watching a recording of Sean’s assembly.  This was yet again a fantastic and inspiring opportunity for our pupils to work and interact with professional athletes.  Another truly memorable and inspirational day!

Education City – Summer Learning

Many of you will be aware of Education City, an online learning resource, that many of our children have accessed as part of their remote learning experiences.  It offers lots of fun learning opportunities, including a variety of educational games. We are pleased to let you know that if you would like to continue to use the resource over the summer holiday, this is being made available to all children and their parents, free of charge, for the full six weeks.  We hope you enjoy it!

Toys

Please can all parents and carers ensure that the children do not bring toys into school as this can lead to upset between the children. This includes soft toys and poppet toys.

Headlice 

Can we please ask parents/carers to be extra vigilant in checking their children’s hair as we have had a few cases of headlice within school recently. 

Volunteering Opportunity

Family First, who support a lot of families across the Ipswich area, are in desperate need of some volunteers to help them continue their good work.  If you would be interested in helping them support parents and carers, or would like further information please contact them on the following email: Sarah.Stapleton@familyfirst-uk.org.

Forest Schools

The children in Y4 are really enjoying the opportunity to take part in the Forest Schools programme. Exploring the outdoors is helping the children to develop their learning and personal skills in line with the Whitehouse Way.

Dates for the Diary

Monday 28^th June – House Captain Elections

Thursday 1^st July – Year 5 Sports Day - 9.15am to 10.15am

Thursday 1^st July - Year 6 Sports Day – 11.00am to 12.00pm

Friday 2^nd July – Year 2 Sports Day – 9.00am to 10.00am

Friday 2^nd July – Year 1 Sports Day – 10.15am to 11.15am

Friday 2^nd July – Year 4 Sports Day - 11.30am to 12.30pm

Friday 2^nd July – Year 3 Sports Day – 2.00pm to 3.00pm

Wednesday 7^th July – Y6 Transition Morning (Westbourne)

Wednesday 7^th July and Thursday 8^th July – New Reception Intake to meet Teachers

Friday 9^th July – Reports Sent Home

Thursday 15^th July – Nursery Sports Event – 9.15am to 10.15am

Thursday 15^th July – Reception Sports Day – 10.30am to 11.30am

Thursday 15^th July – Year 6 BBQ – 4.00pm to 5.15pm

Monday 19^th July – Year 6 Production (Chameleons / Ocelots) 9.00am / 4.30pm

Monday 19^th July – Year 6 Production (Tigers / Toucans) 11.00am / 6.30pm

Tuesday 20^th July – YR-Y5 Transition Morning

Tuesday 20^th July – Year 6 Picnic and Celebration – 1.30pm

           Wednesday 21^st July – Start of the Summer Holiday