Whitehouse Weekly Bulletin 191

Friday 6th May 2022

Message from Mrs Hall

Have you changed your phone number or moved house?

If so, please ensure the School Office are updated as soon as possible by phoning 01473 741249 or via the Arbor app. In addition, please remember that good attendance at school is paramount in ensuring your child reaches their full potential. Please can we ask that the children attend school regularly and on time. If you are experiencing any problems getting your child to school, please speak to our new attendance officer (Mrs Calver) or a member of our pastoral team (Miss Brinkley or Mrs Gotts) who will be happy to help. Thank you for your continued support.

Attendance for the previous week

Class with the Best Attendance – Ocelots (99.0%)

Assemblies

The theme of our assemblies for next week will be: What is the role of animals in war?  UNRC Link: Article 38: I have the right to protection in times of war.  If I am under 15, I should never have to be in an army or take part in a battle.  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.

Queen’s Platinum Jubilee Celebrations at Whitehouse – Friday 27^th May

This year, Queen Elizabeth II celebrates 70 years on the throne.  To mark the occasion, we are having our own jubilee celebrations in school.  On Friday 27^th May, the children can come dressed in red, white and blue.  They will be able to take part in a number of fun activities, so watch out for lots of lovely photos of our day!

Purple Man Reading Competition

The winners of the Purple Man Competition last week were: Tigers (Y6), Lemurs (Y5), Hedgehogs (Y4) and in Year 3 it was very close with three classes all coming top: Badgers, Foxes and Rabbits.  Well done everyone!

Library News

This month’s competition is based on ‘Diary of a Wimpy Kid’. In the Key Stage 2 library there are templates so the children can design their own front cover.  Can you think of a different type of ‘kid’ which would make a good story?  The best ones will be used as part of a new library display and two entries will be chosen at random to win a Diary of a Wimpy Kid activity book.

Awards

EYFS:

Key Stage 1:

Lower Key Stage 2:

Upper Key Stage 2:

Career Day: Appeal for Help

At Whitehouse, we are eager to equip our pupils with all the life skills they will need to flourish in adult life.  With this in mind, we are organising a Career Day on Friday 24^th June and are currently recruiting guests who would be willing to come to speak to our children about their profession.  If you, or anyone else in your immediate circle, could spare a few hours to come and explain to our pupils what your job entails, we would be really grateful.  Please email the school at parents@whcps.org to let us know you are interested.  Thank you very much in advance for your kind cooperation.  

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. 

Hello from our Attendance Officer, Mrs Calver

I am pleased to be welcomed as the Attendance Officer at Whitehouse.  My main role is to support the school in promoting regular and punctual attendance of the children.  I will be working closely with the Pastoral Team to support the children’s health and wellbeing as well as exploring any options available to support you in giving your child the best start in education.

If you need to report that your child will be absent from school for any reason, please remember to let the school know, or I might give you a call! You can phone and leave a message on the absence line, send a message via Arbor or send an email to parents@whcps.org.

If there is anything about your child’s attendance that worries you, please don’t hesitate to contact me for a chat and finally just a reminder that all school gates close at 8.55am for morning registration.

Year 3: Colchester Castle Visit

Our children in Year 3 are learning about the Romans this half term, so they were excited to visit Colchester Castle on Tuesday to learn more about the Romans in Britain.  The children were able to explore lots of artefacts, build a roundhouse and a Roman Villa and even had the chance to go underneath the castle to explore the Roman vaults.  The children all had a fantastic day learning about their new topic.  They behaved extremely well and were wonderful examples of the Whitehouse Way!

Issues in the Local Area

We wanted to make you aware that we are having an increasing number of reports of children from Year 5 and 6 being seen vaping at the Recreation Ground situated on the corner of Lovetofts Drive and Bramford Lane.   We have also received information from the police of anti-social behaviour occurring in the same area.  The police are keeping a close eye on the area.  Please be aware that this is occurring if this is somewhere your child goes to play.  The age of responsibility is 10 and if your child becomes involved in anti-social behaviour there is a risk of them being arrested.  If you have any concerns please speak to a member of the Pastoral team.

Netball Update

On Tuesday, seven of our Year 5/6 girls were back in action for another IPSSA extra-large school’s Netball league game against Sidegate Primary school.  The girls played very well throughout the 4 x 6-minute quarters, with the first quarter ending in 2-2.  The girls started the second quarter very strong and full of determination, showing some outstanding defensive skills.  However, going into the third quarter the girls were playing catch up and found themselves 2-3 down. Despite having lots of possession of the ball throughout the fourth quarter and scoring 2 further goals, Sidegate somehow managed to slip 4 goals past our strong defence, so the match ended 4-7 to Sidegate.  Ms Salmon and Mr Jordan were very proud of the team and their hard work and perseverance.  The team comprised of Jasmin, Maisie, Georgia, Sophie, Lilia, Isla and Mylie.  A special mention for Lilia for receiving the player of the match award.  Well done girls.  Thank you to all the parents/carers who came to support us and cheer on the team.

Year 5/6 Football

Last week the Year 5/6 boys football team were back in action with an away IPSSA league match against Sidegate Primary School.  With only one place separating the teams in the league, the match was a closely contested affair.  Both teams made a very good start to the match, playing some lovely free flowing football and linking up well to enjoy good spells of possession.  After conceding two Sidegate goals, and a tactical change to strengthen the defence, the boys stuck to the game plan and continued to work hard to press the ball. Their perseverance paid off with goals from Theo and Hayden before half time.  The second half again saw both teams playing some excellent football, with both teams creating chances to score.  The boys also worked very hard to defend and break up the Sidegate attacks. Despite conceding an early goal, the boys fought back and a good headed goal from Hayden levelled the game once again.  Unfortunately, two late deflected goals handed the win to Sidegate.  Despite the final score, the boys were very positive and pleased with their performance.  A great effort boys!

Sports Equipment for Schools Newspaper Campaign

Over the last few years local newspapers have run a number of campaigns to provide schools with the opportunity to receive fantastic equipment for their school.  Following the success of these partnerships ‘Sports Equipment for Schools’ will be launching their latest campaign.  By collecting daily and weekly tokens in both the East Anglia Daily Times and the Ipswich Star, we have the chance to win new sporting equipment for our school.  The tokens will appear from Monday 9^th May 2022 and will finish on Saturday 16^th July 2022.

The winning schools will receive a full primary athletics kit worth over £1,000 plus a visit from a professional athlete who has represented Great Britain.  The second prize will be a Sports Hall Triathlon kit worth £750.  Every other school who collects more than 1,000 tokens will receive a sports pack worth over £120. 

We would love it if you could please help us to collect the tokens for our school.  They can be passed to the class teacher or to the school office.  Thank you for your assistance.

Word Millionaire

Well done to Kezia who has now achieved her Multi-Millionaire award.  Brilliant job.

Dates for the Diary

Wednesday 11^th May – Class Photographs – Year 3 only

Friday 27^th May – Queen’s Jubilee Celebrations

Monday 30^th May to Friday 3^rd June – Half Term Holiday

Tuesday 14^th June – Year R Easton Farm Park Trip

Friday 17^th June – Year 2 Duxford Airfield Trip

Friday 24^th June – Career Day

Tuesday 28^th June – Year 5 Kentwell Hall Trip

Monday 4^th July to Wednesday 6^th July Year 6 Mersea Residential Trip

Wednesday 6^th July – Year 1, 2 and 3 Sports Day

Thursday 7^th July – Year 4, 5 and 6 Sports Day

Friday 8^th July – Nursery and Reception Sports Day

Friday 22^nd July 2022 – First day of the Summer Holiday