Whitehouse Weekly Bulletin 178

Friday 14th January 2022

Message from Mrs Hall

We are continuing to see cases of Covid-19 within the school and, in some cases, we have to make adaptions to staffing so that the children can continue to access their learning. Please remember if your child does have to self-isolate, we will be providing work on the school’s website through the blended learning menus. If you cannot find the work please contact the office for more information. For other illnesses which prevent your child coming into school, we will help them to catch up as soon as they are well enough to return. Please ensure you contact the school to inform us for the reason for absence, as soon as possible on the first day of absence. Thank you for your continued support.

Attendance for the previous week

Class with the Best Attendance – Rabbits (98.6%)

Assemblies

The theme of our assemblies for next week will be: Celebrating World Braille Day.  UNRC Link: Article 2: I have the right to protection against discrimination and Article 23: If I am disabled mentally or physically, I have the right to special care to help me develop and lead a full life.  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.

Warm Clothing

With the high level of Covid infections in the area, it is very important that we are following the school Covid-19 Risk Assessment, which includes ensuring we have good ventilation throughout the school.  Part of this means that we are having to keep some doors and windows open at various times during the school day. Please ensure your children have warm clothing with them to wear in school and if they want to bring in extra layers that is fine to do so.

British Science Week Poster Competition

The theme for the British Science Week poster competition this year is ‘Growth’.  This can include plants, population or personal growth.  We would love Whitehouse to enter the competition (and win!). Why not have a go and design a poster and bring these into school for Miss White by Friday 28^th January 2022.   For more information about the competition and the rules, please see the following link: www.britishscienceweek.org/plan-your-activities/poster-competition/

Awards

Key Stage 1:

Lower Key Stage 2:

Upper Key Stage 2:

After School Clubs

We are pleased to be starting our ever popular After-School Clubs again next week. We have a wide variety of clubs on offer which we know the children will enjoy, these include stories, crafts, Lego, football, netball and the return of our very popular choirs.  Please note the clubs will continue to be run within year bubbles, as per our Risk Assessment, to ensure we can reduce the risk of spreading Covid-19 in school as much as possible.

If your child is successful in obtaining a place on the club of their choice, please note you will receive an email to confirm this.  If the club is full, your child will be placed on the waiting list, and you will be notified should a space become available.

Dinner Debt

Can we again remind parents/carers that school dinners must be paid in advance.  We have a number of children who are showing a dinner debt.  Please note these must be cleared as a matter of urgency.  Should you have a problem with clearing the debt, please speak to a member of the School Office or the Pastoral Team and we can try and assist you by setting up a payment plan. Thank you for your support.

Vouchers Available

We know that some of our families are struggling financially for many reasons and due to the support of Greggs Foundation, we do have some Aldi vouchers available that can be used by families to help them over the harder times.  If you think this would be of help to you and your family, please don’t be afraid to speak to Mrs Gotts or Miss Brinkley, from our Pastoral Team.  They may be able to assist you with vouchers or other help, and we can assure you that this will be done in a non-judgemental and confidential way.  You can contact them at pastoral@whcps.org or alternatively calling the school on 01473 741249 and selecting option 3.

Reading Recommendations

Please see below the latest recommendations for books to read to help the children to widen their book choices.  There will be rewards for any children who read and quiz on these books.  This week’s recommendations are: 

Purple Man Reading Competition

Our Reading Competition did not run last week as it was a short week in school for the children, however the winners the week before we started the Christmas holidays were Chameleons and Squirrels. There was also an extra award for Rabbits class for being just 2 minutes behind the Year 4 class.  Well done all.

Library News

Welcome to a new competition in our KS2 Library: Where’s Wally?

Where’s Wally is a very popular picture book where children have to find the Wally character amidst very colourful and detailed pictures.  This month in our KS2 library we have word searches and colouring pictures all about Where’s Wally.  All entries handed back to Mrs West will receive a Where’s Wally bookmark.

In addition, there is a Wally figure hidden somewhere in the library.  There are three copies of a small Where’s Wally book to be given away to three children who find him!

Word Millionaire

We are excited to celebrate our second Word Millionaire of the year!  A big well done to Kezia who has reached a million words, this is a wonderful achievement for one of our Year 4 pupils.  Well done Kezia.

Dates for the Diary

Monday 21^st February to Friday 25^th February – Half Term Holiday

Monday 28^th February – PD Day (School Closed to Children)

Wednesday 16^th March – Parents Evening

Thursday 24^th March – Parents Evening

Thursday 31^st March – Rights Respecting School Silver Award Verification Day

Friday 8^th April – PD Day (School Closed to Children)

Monday 11^th April to Friday 22^nd April – Easter Holiday