Whitehouse Weekly Bulletin 247

Friday 20th October 2023

A message from Miss Siddall

We’ve had an incredibly busy half term at Whitehouse, but we’ve achieved a lot and we’re very proud of the hard work the children have put into all their learning, both in the classroom and at home.  I was especially pleased to see so many children in KS2 being awarded a non-uniform voucher for achieving all three recommended reads for the half term.  I know that the children in KS1 have enjoyed the Bedtime Bear recommended reads too, as well as story-time recommended reads in EYFS.  Thank you for all your support.

I hope that you have a wonderful and safe half-term holiday.  Please remember that school starts back on Monday 30^th October, and don’t forget to put your clocks back an hour on Sunday 29^th October!  We look forward to seeing you then.

Attendance for the previous week:

Class with the best attendance: Starfish (100%)

Assemblies

The theme of our assemblies for the week after half term will be: Why is a healthy lifestyle important? (UNRC Link: Article 24: I have the right to the best health possible and to medical care and to information that will help me stay well).  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.

Nut Free School

Can we please remind parents/carers that we are a nut free school.  We have several children with severe nut allergies, so please do not send any product which contains nuts into school for your children’s packed lunch or snack.  We would ask that this includes no Nutella or chocolate spread.  Thank you for your support in this matter.

Readers’ Cup

Well done to the following classes who won the Readers’ Cup last week:

Christmas Fair

Please note our ever-popular Christmas Fair will take place this year on Friday 15^th December 2023.  Make a note in your diary!  More information will follow over coming weeks.

Awards

As you may be aware the children are encouraged to follow ‘The Whitehouse Way’ in school to help them in their learning and in becoming good citizens. Our ‘Wonderful Week’ awards this year will be given as a recognition that the children have worked very hard in one of these areas:  Courage, Perseverance, Reflection or Responsibility.  This will be shown in the colour coded lists below.  We are so proud of our children at Whitehouse and their wonderful achievements.  Well done to you all.

Key Stage 1:

Lower Key Stage 2:

Upper Key Stage 2:

Reception September 2024: Opening Mornings

We are pleased to let you know that we will be holding Open Mornings for any parents/carers whose children are due to start school in September 2024.  Please feel free to attend if this includes you at the following times:

Monday 6^th November 2023 – 9.15am and 11.15am 

Tuesday 7^th November 2023 – 9.15am and 11.15am

A Message from our Attendance Officer

Since I have been in my new position, I have had the opportunity to meet with some of our children who have found it a little tough to come into school.  With various resources at my disposal, simply playing some games and having a chat can be enough to settle them before I take them off to class.  If your child finds it problematic to get to school, for whatever reason., please feel free to call me and I would be happy to arrange a ‘soft start’.  Equally, if you feel your child is too poorly to come to school but are not sure what the rules are surrounding specific illnesses, the NHS have a great resource which can be found on the link here:  https://www.nhs.uk/live-well/is-my-child-too-ill-for-school/

PE Kit

Thank you to all parents/carers for your efforts in ensuring your children are wearing the correct PE kit during Autumn 1, the children have looked very smart! Just a reminder that as the weather becomes colder to please ensure they have warm clothes to wear also. The PE kit consists of:

• Red Whitehouse logo PE Top
• Plain black shorts
• Plimsolls / Trainers (no plimsolls for KS2 PE)
• Black Whitehouse logo PE jumper or fleece (optional)
• Plain black tracksuit bottoms, top and jumper (Outdoor PE)
• No jewellery (please ensure that earrings are not worn on PE days)

Please note staff will be keeping a close eye on the PE kit throughout the year to ensure that the fantastic standards of PE kit remain high.  If there is ever an issue with PE Kit (for example, if you are awaiting an order to be delivered, clothing is damaged, etc.) please inform your child’s class teacher or leave a note in the reading journal.  Thank you again for your continued support.

Terrific Tudors at Christchurch Mansion

During the October half-term holiday Christchurch Mansion will be hosting lots of visitors from Tudor England as part of Ipswich’s Wolsey 500 celebrations. Go along between the 24^th to 26^th October 2023 and you can make a Tudor Rose, hear tales of the Tudors from washerwoman Lizzie, ask Tudor residents of the Mansion lots of questions and even meet Cardinal Wolsey!  If you are there on the 26^th October, there will also be Tudor dancing and a chance to learn about musical instruments of the era!  This would be a great opportunity for all our children, but especially for Year 5 who will be studying the Tudors later in the year and Year 6 who learnt about this last year.

Activities Unlimited

The October edition of the Activities Unlimited half term guide is now available, with information about a number of inclusive activities around Suffolk open to all children with SEND.

Download the guide here.

Flu Immunisation Catch-Up Session

A reminder that we have the School Immunisation Team coming into school on Monday 30^th October 2023.  They will be seeing all the children who have consent to receive the flu immunisation who were not seen on the first session.   Please note if you would still like to give consent for your child, the portal will close on 25^th October 2023.

Year 3: Mosque Visit

This week our Year 3 children were able to visit the Mosque in Ipswich.  They all very much enjoyed the opportunity to learn more about the Muslim religion, what they believe and to see what their place of worship looked like.  The children also had the chance to speak to the Imam and ask lots of very good questions. Year 3 made us all very proud with their outstanding behaviour and the respect they showed throughout the visit.  Well done everyone.

Eco-Committee News

As part of our recycling scheme at Whitehouse, our recycling stations have now been placed in every corridor.  These are situated next to the paper recycling bins and are for collecting used pens and glue sticks.  Our eco-committee will be monitoring these weekly to see which year groups are using them correctly and how much we are managing to recycle.

Year 5: Ancient Greek Day

On Tuesday this week Year 5 immersed themselves into the lives of the Ancient Greeks by taking part in a wide range of fun activities.  This term the children have been learning what it was like to live as a child in Ancient Greece: the Gods and Goddesses, the different city-states, the Greek Empire, and the Olympic Games.  This was a fantastic day to summarise this half term’s exciting topic.  The children learnt about the Greek alphabet and had a go at writing their names and creating banners for the Olympic Games.  They made laurel wreaths to wear and, in the afternoon, painted their Greek pottery.  The whole year group joined together to take part in The Whitehouse Olympic Games and it was fantastic to see all the children exhibiting teamwork and cheering each other on.   

Well done to Lizards who were the overall winners.

ACTION REQUIRED: Year 6 High School Places

A reminder that all Year 6 parents/carers need to make an application for a high school place for their children.  The deadline for this to be completed is Tuesday 31^st October 2023.  If you make a late application, there is a higher chance that you will not be allocated the school of your choice.   Please refer to the below page which will take you through how to make an application:

https://www.suffolk.gov.uk/children-families-and-learning/schools/school-places/apply-for-a-secondary-school-place-2024-2025

Dates for the Diary

Monday 23^rd October 2023 to Friday 27^th October 2023 – Half Term Holiday

Monday 30^th October 2023 – Flu Immunisation Team in School

Tuesday 31^st October 2023 – Year 4 West Stow Anglo Saxon visit

Tuesday 31^st October 2023 – Year 2 Framlingham Castle visit

Wednesday 1^st November – School video

Friday 3^rd November 2023 – Whole School SMSC Day: Healthy Eating

Monday 6^th November 2023 – Reception 2024 Open Morning – 9.15am and 11.15am

Tuesday 7^th November 2023 - Reception 2024 Open Morning – 9.15am and 11.15am

Tuesday 7^th November – Year 6 Martlesham RAF Tower Museum visit

Wednesday 29^th November 2023 – Autumn Term Reports home to parents/carers

Thursday 30^th November 2023 – Online Parents/Carers Evening

Friday 1^st December 2023 – Travelling Book Fair

Wednesday 6^th December 2023 – Online Parents/Carers Evening

Friday 8^th December 2023 – Nursery Nativity Play

Monday 11^th December 2023 – Reception Nativity Play

Friday 15^th December 2023 – Christmas Fair

Thursday 21^st December 2023 to Wednesday 3^rd January 2024 – Christmas Holiday

Thursday 4^th January 2024 – PD Day (Children not in school)

Monday 19^th February 2024 to Friday 23^rd February 2024 – Half Term Holiday

Friday 29^th March 2024 to Thursday 11^th April 2024 – Easter Holiday

Friday 12^th April 2024 – PD Day (Children not in school)

Monday 24^th June 2024 to Tuesday 25^th June 2024 – Year 6 Residential Trip at Mersea