Whitehouse Weekly Bulletin 184
Friday 4th March 2022
Message from Mrs Hall
Welcome back to a busy half-term at Whitehouse! This week, it was great to see all the children and staff dressed up for World Book Day. Thank you to all parents and carers for supporting this day and for helping to create some amazing costumes. I was particularly impressed with the Y3/Y4 staff team who had all worked together on a costume theme (photo below). It is beginning to feel like we are able to return to some of the fun activities that we had in place pre-pandemic. Finally, I do hope that lots of parents/carers are able to join us in school on Thursday to learn more about our Rights Respecting Journey (Article 42, knowing children’s rights). The children are very excited about this. Thank you for your continued support.
Attendance for the week before Half Term
Class with the Best Attendance – Badgers (98.9%)
Assemblies
The theme of our assemblies for next week will be: What is Red Nose Day? UNRC Link: Article 26: I have the right to help from the government if I am poor or in need. 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.
RRSA Information Meeting for Parents: 11.15am on Thursday 10th March 2022
Our RRSA Ambassadors have been busy preparing to deliver their Rights Respecting School information meeting to parents/carers next week. They are super excited about welcoming families back into school. If you would like to join us please email parents@whcps.org so that we can set up the room accordingly. Thank you for your kind support in this matter.
Year 4: DT Curriculum
Our Year 4 classes had great fun in their DT lessons before half term, where they had a chance to prepare salads and taste a whole variety of foods. As you can see they did a great job and really enjoyed the lessons.
Healthy Start: Healthy Suffolk
Did you know that if you are more than 10 weeks pregnant or have a child under 4, you may be entitled to help to buy healthy food and milk? If you are eligible, you can receive payments every four weeks which can be spent on milk, fruit and vegetables, formula, pulses and you can also get free vitamins. To see if you are eligible, please speak to your Midwife or Health Visitor or alternatively visit www.healthystart.nhs.uk. You can also give them a call on 0345 607 6823.
Purple Man Reading Competition
Well done to Squirrels and Tigers who won the Purple Man Reading Competition the week before Half Term.
Library News
Thank you to Harvey and Connor who have now completed their time as Library Assistants. We would also like to welcome two new additions to the team, Ceylin and Lily. They will be joining Deanna and Elsie to help keep our libraries nice and tidy and to help any children who may need it.
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 include some of the World Book Day books which can be purchased using the £1.00 World Book Day Tokens.
Year 3: Badgers | James and the Giant Peach by Roald Dahl
| Year 3: Foxes | Grimwood: Five Freakishly Funny Fables by Nadia Shireen |
Year 3: Owls | Jemima the Pig and the 127 Acorns by Michael Morpurgo | Year 3: Rabbits | My Very, Very, Very, Very, Very, Very, Very Silly Book of True and false by Matt Lucas |
Year 4: Hedgehogs | Peek Peril by Sharna Jackson | Year 4: Squirrels | Think Like a Boss by Rashmi Sirdeshpande |
Year 5: Jaguars | Why? Encyclopedia by Dorling Kindersley
| Year 5: Lemurs | Mr Majeika and the School Caretaker by Humphrey Carpenter |
Year 5: Lizards | The Bewitching of Aveline Jones by Phil Hickes | Year 5: Red Pandas | My Olympic Story by Kwame Nkrumah-Acheampong |
Year 6: Chameleons | The Good Thieves by Katherine Rundell | Year 6: Ocelots | Peak Peril by Sharna Jackson |
Year 6: Tigers | Peek Peril by Sharna Jackson | Year 6: Toucans | Peek Peril by Sharna Jackson |
World Book Day
We hope your children enjoyed World Book Day this week. It was wonderful to see so many children dressed up as their favourite book character. Each child was given a £1.00 book token which will enable them to buy one of the special World Book Day books. These are available in bookshops and also most major supermarkets for just £1.00. Why not go and choose a book this weekend to sit and read together? It is a great way of encouraging reluctant readers as the books are quite short and for any keener readers the token can be put towards the cost of a regular priced book.
EYFS: Shrove Tuesday
Our Reception children enjoyed learning about Shrove Tuesday this week. They listened to the story of Mr Wolf’s Pancakes, what a shock at the end of the story! They also enjoyed a traditional pancake race, cheering each on very loudly. Finally, the children were able to taste pancakes with lemon and sugar. One child in Starfish commented ‘It’s fizzy on my tongue’ and they discussed what they would be having on their pancakes at home.
Online Safety – Instagram: Addressing Harmful Online Content and Screen Time
Instagram recently announced two new features that work towards addressing screen time and harmful content online. This includes the ‘Take a Break’ feature as well as how harmful online content is presented towards users.
The ‘Take a Break’ feature works towards helping users with managing their screen time. It aims to set some restrictions around how long people use social media for. Instagram will also show potentially harmful posts lower on a user’s newsfeed, inhibiting their exposure to posts that incite violence or include bullying or hate speech.
Choir – KS2
It has been wonderful to see so many children attending the after-school choirs last term. Their enthusiasm really has made a difference to the dynamic in their voices. Mr Bloomfield is hoping to build on that success and will be starting a Year 3 choir this half term. He is looking forward to a bright future for singing at Whitehouse, which is a great way for any child to begin their musical journey. Maybe we will even see a concert in the planning soon, along with lots of other exciting events. Keep up the good singing everyone!
News from the House Captains Hello Everyone, We are excited to announce that we are running a whole school sports competition. This will run at lunchtimes the week beginning Monday 7th March 2022. For KS2, the sporting activity is shooting a basketball into a hoop (how many can you get in 30 seconds) or skipping (how many can you do in 30 seconds. For KS1, the activity will be throwing bean bags into a hoop (how many can you do in 30 seconds). We will run the activities as well as set them up. Each year group will have a specific day to sign up and take part. When signing up, you will need to give your name and which house you are in. Then you can carry out the activity. Once all the scores are in, we will count up and announce the winner. The prize for the winning house is to be confirmed. The House Captains |
SEND News
Please see the latest newsletter available for parents/carers who have children with SEND needs: https://mailchi.mp/suffolk.gov.uk/introducing-local-offer-news.
Parents/Carers Evening
A reminder that our Parents/Carers Evenings are coming up shortly on Wednesday 16th March and Thursday 24th March. You should have all received a message enabling you to book a virtual appointment but please do contact the school office if you have not received this or are having trouble booking. We look forward to inviting parents/carers to come in during the Summer Term when we will be able to meet you in person and give you a chance to look at the work your children have been completing.
Non-Uniform Day: Friday 18th March 2022
As a Rights Respecting School, we are keen to do all that we can at Whitehouse to ensure that families, all over the world, can access basic rights such as food, water, clothes and a safe place to live (Articles 6, 22, 24 and 27). For this reason, we will be holding a non-uniform day on Friday 18th March 2022 as part of Red Nose Day but also to raise funds for the Red Cross which is currently providing water, food and hygiene parcels, warm clothing and first aid to around 8,000 Ukrainians sheltering in metro stations. The charity is also supporting refugees who have fled to neighbouring countries.
If your child would like to wear non-uniform on that day please consider giving a donation which will be split equally between these two worthwhile charities.
Dates for the Diary
Thursday 10th March – Parent/Carer Rights Respecting Meeting – 11.15am
Wednesday 16th March – Parents Evening (On line)
Friday 18th March – Comic Relief/Raising money for Red Cross
Monday 21st March – World Down Syndrome Awareness Day (Wear odd socks to school)
Thursday 24th March – Parents Evening (On line)
Thursday 31st March – Rights Respecting School Silver Award Verification Day
Friday 8th April – PD Day (School Closed to Children)
Monday 11th April to Friday 22nd April – Easter Holiday