Whitehouse Weekly Bulletin 211

Friday 18th November 2022

 Message from Mrs Hall

We hope that you found the new reports informative and that you were able to discuss your child’s progress at last night’s virtual Parents’/Carers’ Evening. The staff were delighted to be able to share the great work that is happening in class, attendance and homework. If you were unable to book an appointment this week, our teachers still have appointments available on Wednesday 23^rd November, please contact the office if you require help. All children have the right to education (article 28: children have the right to education) so it would be super to share their successes with you. Thank you for your continued support.

Attendance for the previous week: 

Class with the best attendance:  Jaguars (99%)

Assemblies

The theme of our assemblies for next week will be: Introducing Global Citizenship Day: 25^th November 2022.  (UNRC Link: Article 24: I have a right to the best health possible and to medical care and to information that will help me to stay well, and Article 27: I have the right to a good standard of living.  This means I should have food clothes and a place to live). 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.

Non-Uniform Day

Please note we will be holding a non-uniform day on Monday 28^th November 2022.  We are asking each child to bring a donation of some chocolate or sweets which will be used for our chocolate tombola at our Christmas Fair which is being held after school on Friday 2^nd December 2022.  Thank you for your continued support.

EYFS: Dates for your diary

There are a few events coming up for our Nursery and Reception children which we know the parents and carers will not want to miss.  Please make a note in your diary and keep an eye out for more information to follow shortly!

Reception Nativity Performance:  Thursday 8^th December at 9.30am and 2.00pm

Nursery Christmas Songs Performance: Wednesday 14^th December at 11.00am

Reception Parent/Carer Christmas Craft Session: Tuesday 13^th December at 1.45pm

Nursery Parent/Carer Christmas Craft Session: Tuesday 13^th December at 10.30am

Awards

Key Stage 1:

Lower Key Stage 2:

Upper Key Stage 2:

Purple Man Reading Competition

Well done to the winners of the Purple Man competition from the week before half term:

Global Citizenship Day: Appeal for Recycling Items – 25^th November 2022

Thank you to those parents/carers who have helped provide items for our Global Citizenship Day on 25^th November 2022.  Just a quick reminder that the items we need to complete the activities that day are as follows.  All donations would be gratefully received.

Microwave Rice Pouches               Tissue Boxes (flat not the square ones)

Lolly Sticks                                Long Cardboard Tubes

Elastic Bands                              Buttons, Ribbons and other Decorations

Balloons                                     Ring Pull Tin Cans

Paper Straws                              Cardboard Gravy Containers

Year 4: Sutton Hoo Visit

Our Year 4 visited Sutton Hoo this week, where they were able to visit the exhibition and see many of the Anglo-Saxon artefacts they had been learning and talking about in their enquiry lessons.  The children were able to see the famous helmet replica from King Raedwald’s burial and other pieces of replica jewellery from the burial site.  They braved the cold wind and pouring rain to go outside to see the burial mounds and were then invited to visit the house where they learned more about the famous archaeological dig and the people who were involved in discovering one of the world’s most important historical sites.

Celebrating our Children

Holly is one of our Year 3 children and we are very excited to share with you today all about the good work she does in the community.  Holly recently joined the Whitton and Whitehouse Wombles Group and the North West Ipswich Big Local Trust as they went litter picking to make the local area look much nicer for us all.  Holly volunteered for two hours during half term, and found it great fun but was very shocked about the amount of litter that people throw on the floor.  Holly also regularly helps out at the community garden in Ashcroft Lane.  As you can see one of the tasks she loves to do is planting flowers.  Well done Holly, what wonderful ways to help our local community!

Celebrating our Staff

Well done to Mme Godet and Alfie for walking over 100 miles in October and for raising more than £150 for Breast Cancer Now, which is a charity that carries out research into breast cancer as well as providing support to those who may be affected.  Mme Godet was very proud of Alfie for demonstrating the Whitehouse Way throughout the challenge in particular courage and perseverance. What a wonderful achievement!

Christmas Dinner

We are pleased to let you know we will be having our very popular Christmas Dinner for the children on the following dates:

         Monday 12^th December 2022 – Reception

         Tuesday 13^th December 2022 – Year 1 and Year 3

         Wednesday 14^th December 2022 – Year 2 and Year 4

         Thursday 15^th December 2022 – Year 5 and Year 6

The menu will be as follows: 

Roast British Turkey with Pig in Blanket, Sage and Onion Stuffing and Rich Gravy

OR

Quorn Roast Sage and Onion Stuffing and Gravy

Roast Potatoes, Seasonal Vegetables and Yorkshire Pudding

Chocolate Ice-Cream Yule Log OR Mince Pie and Cream

Please note over those four days there will be no other hot dinner choice available.  On the days when your child’s year group is not having a Christmas dinner, they may choose to have a Pick and Mix (Ham, Cheese or Tuna) or they can bring a packed lunch.  The price of the Christmas dinner will be £2.35 for those who pay for school dinners but will be free for all children in Year R, 1 and 2 and for those who are eligible for free school meals.  Letters will be coming home next week which will allow you to book a Christmas dinner for your child.  If you have any questions please speak to the school office.

Times Table Rock Stars

This week saw the first week of class battles for this half term on TTRS.  Squirrels defeated Foxes, Badgers beat Hedgehogs and Owls overcame Rabbits.  In UKS2, Lizards beat Ocelots, Tigers bear Pandas whilst Macaws and Jaguars beat Chameleons and Toucans.  Battles for this week have already commenced so get yourself logged onto 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. 

Christmas Fair

A reminder that the School Christmas Fair will take place on Friday 2^nd December 2022 at 3.10pm to 5.00pm.  If you are able to donate a raffle prize, or have a connection to a business who may be able to donate, these would be gratefully received. 

RRSA Committee: Toilet Twinning

The children from the Rights Respecting School Committee did a wonderful assembly this week telling their peers that not all children around the world have access to toilets. This means that they can become sick and miss out on their education.  The RRSA Committee think that it is very unfair and would like to do something to help.  They have decided that they would like to raise at least £60.00 to buy a toilet for a family abroad who has not got one.  They will be running a Bingo at lunchtime called “Where did Daisy do it?” over the next two weeks.

If your child would like to join in and buy a square, please send 50p into school with them (named envelope).  There will be a novelty prize for the winning square and the RRSA Committee will keep us updated with their progress and how many toilets they are able to buy.  Thank you for all the support you continue to give.

Under 11 Sportshall Athletics

Last Thursday Mr Jordan and Ms Salmon took twenty-five of our Year 5 and 6 pupils across to Westbourne Academy to take part in the Ipswich and South Suffolk Games Sportshall Athletics event.  During the event, both the boys’ and girls’ teams competed in six adapted indoor track and field events, with each pupil taking part in at least two track and two fields events each.  As always, the event was very exciting and extremely loud with each team cheering on their teammates during the events.  Mr Jordan and Ms Salmon were extremely proud of all of the pupils’ efforts during their individual events .  With a combined team score of 188, the team finished the event in a very respectable 4^th place.  Well done to everyone who took part!

U9’s Girls’ Football Festival

On Wednesday, Mr Jordan took five Year 3/4 pupils to Ipswich Town Football Club to attend the Suffolk FA U9’s Girls’ 4v4 Football Festival.  As with previous year’s, the festival provided a fantastic opportunity for the girls to play on the astro turf pitch within the ITFC stadium.  With no goalkeepers, no referees and minimal coaching from staff the aim of the festival was to provide the girls with the opportunity to simply enjoy playing football.  This is exactly what our girls did!  The girls’ confidence, teamwork and football skills grew throughout the event.  As a result, the girls won 3, drew 2 and lost 3 of their matches.  A special mention to Lexi for scoring and to Millie for scoring an impressive five goals throughout the matches.  The girls had a fantastic time and enjoyed every moment of the event.  A great effort girls, well done!

Year 3: Stone Age Experience

On Tuesday, our Year 3 classes had some special Stone-Age visitors from the Palaeolithic era and had a wonderful experience spending the day with them. The day began with very heavy rain, coming down on the Stone Age tent which had mysteriously appeared on the school field overnight!  No-one wanted to go out in the rain, but were tempted out by their curiosity to look inside the tent!  The children were met by Memma and Scruff, who were speaking in an entirely different language, and they invited Year 3 inside the tent. Inside, the children were amazed to see a dancing fire billowing away, creating lots of smoke.  No-one minded the smoke however as it kept them very warm and toasty.  The tent had beautiful drawings of the Stone Age all over the walls, the children loved looking at the hunters throwing spears at the rhino! Memma showed the children some of the tools she used which was very interesting.

The fire went out, so Memma showed everyone how to make a new one using a mushroom; everyone was very surprised this was possible! Meanwhile, Scruff taught the children a fire chant. Within minutes a red-hot fire was burning again, the children could not believe their eyes!  Finally, it was time to do some Stone Age chores, including scraping the hair from a deer skin, using a rounded piece of flint.  It was harder than it looked.  The day was an amazing experience for everyone.  Thank you to the Prehistoric Experience Company for joining us and giving the children memories they will never forget.

Messy Church Activity

St. Thomas’ Church on Bramford Lane are helping with an Ipswich-wide Messy Church on this coming Saturday and have invited any of our families who would like to go along and join in.    There will be lots of stories, crafts and cakes for everyone who comes along.  If you are interested, the details are on the poster here.

Online Safety

The focus for Online Safety this week is to ensure that children with SEND are having positive online experiences.  Internet Matters have put together a guide by leading experts to support young people and parents/carers in navigating online places safely.  Please click the link below for more information.  If you have any concerns or queries regarding Online Safety, please note you can contact Mrs Cox via the school office. 

https://www.internetmatters.org/hub/question/help-children-with-sen-disability-have-positive-experiences-online/

Dates for the Diary

Tuesday 22^nd November 2022 – Year 1 Ipswich Transport Museum Trip

Wednesday 23^rd November 2022 – Year 1 Ipswich Transport Museum Trip

Wednesday 23^rd November 2022 – Parents/Carers Evening (Online Event)

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

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

Friday 2^nd December 2022 – School Christmas Fair – 3.10pm to 5.00pm

Tuesday 6^th December 2022 – Book Fair – 3.15pm

Thursday 8^th December 2022 – Reception Nativity Play – 9.30am and 2.00pm

Thursday 8^th December 2022 – Book Fair – 3.15pm

Monday 12^th December – Christmas Dinner – Reception

Tuesday 13^th December 2022 – Nursery Parent/Carer Christmas Craft Session – 10.30am

Tuesday 13^th December 2022 – Christmas Dinner – Years 1 and 3

Tuesday 13^th December 2022 – Reception Parent/Carer Christmas Craft Session – 1.45pm

Wednesday 14^th December 2022 - Nursery Christmas Songs Performance – 11.00am

Wednesday 14^th December 2022 – Christmas Dinner – Years 2 and 4

Thursday 15^th December 2022 – Christmas Dinner – Years 5 and 6

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