Whitehouse Weekly Bulletin 205

Friday 30th September 2022

Message from Mrs Hall

Our continual professional development of staff ensures the best interests of the children are at the heart of our work (Rights of the Child, Article 3). As the safeguarding of children is paramount, all staff have had safeguarding training this term to ensure that we are up to date with current guidance and know the procedures we must follow. As a reminder, if you have any concerns about the safety of any child the safeguarding lead at Whitehouse is Mr I Williams (Deputy Headteacher). Additional information can be found on our website: https://www.whcps.org/safeguarding/  Thank you for your continued support.

Attendance for the previous week:

Class with the best attendance: Elephants (96.2%)

Assemblies

The theme of our assemblies for next week will be: Who is Mo Farah?  What can his life journey tell us about courage and perseverance?  (UNRC Link: Article 35: No one is allowed to kidnap me or sell me and Article 36: I have the right to protection from any kind of exploitation). 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.

Year 2: Local Walk

This term Year 2 are thinking about the enquiry question. ‘What is it like to live in our local area?’ and so the children all went on a walk last week, to visit the local park, to learn more about it.  When they arrived, they explored what facilities were there and talked about what they liked and which facilities were most useful and important, such as benches for people to sit on and rubbish bins to help keep the park tidy.  They also thought about how they could improve the park for all people who use it.  The children enjoyed doing some leaf and bark rubbing and also tried out the play area, where they had lots of fun! 

Year 2 were all very well behaved and were able to come up with some great ideas and thoughtful suggestions which the children will now use in their English unit to write a persuasive letter to the Ipswich Council to provide better facilities in our local area.

Awards

Key Stage 1:

Lower Key Stage 2:

Upper Key Stage 2:

Primary Science Quality Mark

We are delighted to share with you that we have achieved the PSMQ – Primary Science Quality Mark.  This reflects the hard work we have put into improving teaching and learning across the school in science over the last two years.  We would love to share our portfolio of evidence with you and this is available to see on our school website:  PSQM | Whitehouse Community Primary School (whcps.org)  Well done to everyone involved in supporting this achievement.

Year 6 High School Applications

A reminder that the deadline to apply for a High School place for your Year 6 child is 31^st October 2022.  Many of the local High Schools will be holding Open Evenings where you and your child can go along and see what the school is like and ask any questions you may have to help you decide which school to apply to.  The dates we are aware of are as follows and more details are available on the individual school websites:

Westbourne Academy – Thursday 6^th October 6.00pm to 8.00pm

Claydon High School – Wednesday 12^th October 5.45pm

Northgate High School – Wednesday 12^th October 6.00pm

Charity: MS-UK

A big thank you to all those children who brought in a donation for our recent non-uniform day.  We raised £422.21 which will be donated to the charity MS-UK.  As you will know one of our teachers, Miss Payne, was also raising money for the charity by completing a 2-mile outdoor swim.  Despite some last-minute changes to location and a noticeable drop in temperature, Miss Payne was able to complete her swim.  She would like to thank everyone in school for their support and encouragement, and the wonderful money raised. 

The Big Summer Survey

The Children’s Commissioner has launched The Big Summer Survey this month, in which she would like to hear from children, aged 7-17, about their experiences over the summer holidays.  Dame Rachel de Souza will then use the information she gathers to inform the Government about the best ways they can support families across the country.  Over 3,000 children have already shared their views, but Dame de Souza would like to hear from many more children before Friday 21^st October when the survey will close.  If your child would like to take part, please go to the link below:

 https://www.smartsurvey.co.uk/s/thebigsummersurvey/

Autumn/Winter Seasons

As we head into the colder seasons of the year, can we remind you to ensure that your child comes into school dressed approximately so they are able to keep warm.  If your child wants to bring in an extra fleece or jumper to wear if they get cold, they are very welcome to do so.  As the weather gets colder, we are also noticing an increase in cold, flu and other respiratory illnesses.  Within school, we are reminding children how important it is to have good hand hygiene; to wash their hands regularly as well as to remember to ‘catch it, bin it, kill it’ if they are sneezing.  We would ask you to please support us by also encouraging these simple actions at home, so we can ensure everyone stays as well as possible and is able to keep attending school every day.

Times Tables Rock Star (TTRS) Battles

This week saw the second week of class battles on TTRS.  In LKS2 this week, Squirrels defeated Foxes, Badgers beat Hedgehogs and Rabbits overcame Owls.  In UKS2, Toucans beat Ocelots, Chameleons beat Tigers, whilst Macaws and Lizards beat Pandas and Jaguars.  Battles for this week have commenced so get yourself logged on to TTRS and get battling!  If you want to see how many battles your class has won, check out the TTRS display next to the KS2 library.

Purple Man Reading Competition

Well done to the winners of this week’s Purple Man Reading Competition, Badgers (Year 3), Hedgehogs (Year 4), Lizards (Year 5) and Macaws (Year 6).   Three of these classes have won for two weeks in a row, so a big well done especially to these children!

Census Day: Menu

It is the School Census day on Thursday 6^th October and this is always a wonderful chance for your child to try a hot school dinner because the kitchen serves a special dinner including the children’s favourite foods!  This year the hot dinner will be an Alice in Wonderland ‘Mad Hatter’s’ theme with the following menu:

Queen of Hearts Hot dog or Cheshire Cat Fish Finger Roll or White Rabbit Veggie Burger in a Roll

Served with Door Mouse Corn on the Cob and Potato Wedges

Dessert: Alice’s Caterpillar Chocolate Cake

Year 6 SATs Parent/Carer Sessions

We are running SATs information sessions for parents/carers of our Year 6 children in connection with the upcoming SATs in May 2023.  Based on previous feedback, we would like to give you the chance to hear about how to best support your child in the lead up to these tests.  During the session we will share the timetable for the SATs, show examples of previous papers and you will also have the opportunity to ask any questions you may have.  Your child will have brought home a letter with the full details on.  The sessions will run on Monday 10^th October 2022 at 9.00am, 2.30pm and 5.00pm.  We would ask you to please complete the reply slips and send these in to school by Monday 3^rd October 2022.  Thank you for your continued support.

Online Safety

INEQE Safeguarding Group provides a free weekly podcast warning of harmful content, Social Media updates and Safeguarding news.  Click the link below to listen to this week’s edition:  https://ineqe.com/2022/09/23/harmful-content-social-media-safeguarding-news/?utm_campaign=Ineqe%20Safeguarding%20Roundup&utm_medium=email&_hsmi=227083178&_hsenc=p2ANqtz-_hlYqWZZBvoy6NnQtl3aKIL4MD6Bv6-ZLMN1THoiEdsm1-dvxifGzRynjLmmv0xogM33Dlkk5RkWgelw4apt4LyT-Viw&utm_content=227083178&utm_source=hs_email

On the INEQE website, you'll also find lots of free resources and child friendly app recommendations.

Pencil Cases

We have seen a large increase of children bringing in pencil cases to school this term.  We wanted to reassure you that in these times, when living costs are so high, there is no need to provide these items for your children.  We have all of the resources in school for the children to complete their work.

Pet Blessing

We know a lot of our children are animal lovers and many have pets at home.  St Thomas’ Church on Bramford Lane have asked us to let you know they are holding a Pet Blessing service on Sunday 2^nd October 2022 at 4.00pm.  All are welcome to come along and bring your pets with you.

School Photographs: Sibling Photos

As you will know we have the school photographers coming in to school on Monday 10^th October 2022.  This year, in addition to the individual photos which will take place during the school day as usual, we are pleased to inform you the photographers have agreed to be with us early so that any parent/carer who would like a photo of their children together can arrive before school and have this opportunity.   Please note if you would like to have a sibling photograph completed (this may only include children who are current students at Whitehouse), you will need to arrive between 8.00am and 8.45am and go to either the Marlow Road Hall entrance (next to the school office), or to the Waterford Road Car Park entrance.  We will have a photographer working in each hall to ensure that as many families as possible have this opportunity.  Please be aware however that there will be a cut-off point at 8.45am so please arrive in plenty of time to join the queue and have the photograph taken.  These sibling photographs will then also be available to purchase as well as the individual photos of your children. 

Dates for the Diary

Thursday 6^th October 2022 – EAL Coffee Morning

Thursday 6^th October 2022 – Census Day (Special Menu)

Monday 10^th October 2022 – School Photos

Monday 10^th October 2022 – Year 6 SATs Parent/Carer Sessions – 9.00am / 2.30pm / 5.00pm

Monday 24^th October 2022 to Friday 28^th October 2022 – Half Term Holiday

Monday 31^st October 2022 – Deadline to Apply for High School Place

Tuesday 1^st November 2022 – Flu Immunisations

Thursday 17^th November 2022 – Parents/Carers Evening

Wednesday 23^rd November 2022 – Parents/Carers Evening

Friday 25^th November 2022 – SMSC Whole School Day: Global Citizenship

Friday 2^nd December 2022 – Flu Immunisations Catch-up Day

Friday 16^th December 2022 – Last day of the Autumn Term

Tuesday 3^rd January 2023 – PD Day (School Closed to Children)

Wednesday 4^th January 2023 – First day back at school for the children