Whitehouse Weekly Bulletin 252

Friday 1st December 2023

A Message from Miss Siddall

This week, Dr Hall and I visited the KS1 and KS2 classes to find out what they were all learning.  It was wonderful to see all of the children in their lessons, following the Golden Rules by listening carefully and working hard, and following the Whitehouse Way by showing reflection and perseverance.  Well done to all the children and adults for their hard work.

It’s also been lovely to see the children in their non-uniform outfits this week, with donations going to the Red Cross.  Thank you for your support.

Attendance for last week:

Class with the best attendance: Dragons (98.93%)

Eco-School News

This term the children have been busy recycling pens and glue sticks.  As we are over halfway through the term, the boxes were getting full, so some of the Eco-School Committee members met at lunchtime to count what we had recycled so far.  The results were:

Pens - 7kg

Glue Sticks – 316

We will continue to reduce our landfill waste by recycling these items.  If you have any pens at home that have run out, please send them in to school to be placed into one of our recycling stations based in each corridor or they can be taken to Rymans, the stationers, in the Sailmakers shopping centre in Ipswich who also have a collection point.

Year Reception: Parent/Carer Session

Our Reception teachers are pleased to invite a parent/carer of each child to come into school at 2.00pm on Tuesday 19^th December 2023, where they will be able to join their child and do some Christmas crafts.  We hope to see you there.  Please enter the school via the usual EYFS garden area.

Assemblies

The theme of our assemblies for next week will be: How do people celebrate the festive period? (UNRC Link: Article 14: I have the right to think what I like and be whatever religion I want to be, with my parents’ guidance).  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.

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:

Healthy Eating

At Whitehouse we promote a ‘Healthy Living’ approach, where we teach and support the children in making healthy decisions in a number of ways.  These include, healthy food choices – where we provide healthy, nutritious lunches and offer fruit and vegetables at snack times, or through exercise and keeping active, whether this is in our PE lessons or by getting up and moving about throughout the day.  In Nursery, we also are part of the ‘mysmile’ toothbrushing programme, where we teach the children the importance of oral hygiene and focus on maintaining healthy teeth, through tooth brushing and drinking water or milk.   To assist with this, we would encourage any food that your child brings into school, whether this is for themselves or for a special occasion such as a birthday, to be a healthy and tooth friendly option.  Thank you for your support.

Book Fair

The children are very much looking forward to our Travelling Book Fairs next week which are due to take place in the Marlow Hall straight after school on Tuesday 5^th and Thursday 7^th December 2023.  We are very excited to announce that Travelling Books are once again offering a generous ‘3 for the price of 2’ on selected books, an offer which we are sure will be very popular at this time of year.  Don’t forget too, that every purchase made at the fair earns the school rewards which we can then spend on books to add to our school libraries.

On arrival at the Book Fair, please pick up a ‘My Book Fair Wish List’.  If you would like to purchase any of the books available, please note these books down on your wish list and make the necessary payment.  Where possible, we would encourage parents/carers to pay online via the Scholastic payment platform.  This can be accessed by scanning the QR code printed in the bottom hand corner of the Wish List.  Once payment is complete, just hand your completed form to a member of staff at the Fair and they will be able to place your order.  We look forward to seeing you next week!

Readers’ Cup

Well done to the following classes who won the Readers’ Cup the week before half term:

Year 3 – Parent/Carer Session

Our Year 3 teachers would like to invite parents/carers of our Year 3 children to come into school on Monday 18^th December 2023, from 2.00pm to 3.00pm for an afternoon of Christmas crafts.  There will be various activities to take part in with your child including craft for those families who do not celebrate Christmas.  We hope you will come along and join the fun! 

Message from Our Attendance Officer

Over the last few weeks we are noticing our children, here at Whitehouse, are suffering with winter coughs and colds. The blue boxes below are released by the Government and show the National figures. Underneath in red are Whitehouse’s figures for the same period. You will see, that despite illnesses, our children are showing real resilience by coming in to school, even when they are not feeling 100% thus keeping our attendance figures better than the National averages.

NHS guidance link and advice

Coughs and cold:  It is fine to send your child to school with a minor cough or common cold.  If they have a fever however, keep them off school until the fever goes.  Encourage your child to throw away used tissues and to wash their hands regularly.

Sore Throat: You can still send your child to school if they have a sore throat. If they also have a high temperature, they should stay at home until it has gone away.  A sore throat and a high temperature can be symptoms of tonsillitis.

Dinner Debt

We again have a number of children who have are showing a debt for their school dinners.  We would like to remind parents/carers that dinners need to be paid for in advance.  If you have a debt, can we ask you to please make payment urgently.  If you are unable to fully clear the debt, please contact the office and speak to Miss Sara McCullum who can agree a payment plan with you.  Until debts are cleared, you will be required to send your child to school with a packed lunch.

Year 3: Prehistoric Experience

This week Year 3 had a wonderful time being transported back into the Stone Age when we had two very special visitors called Scruff and Twigs.  The actors came dressed in authentic Stone Age clothes of fur and leather with tribal markings on their faces. The children learnt about the three eras of the Stone Age, Palaeolith, Mesolithic and Neolithic and how tools and people changed over time to adapt to their harsh conditions.  We learnt how to light a fire using a mushroom and a pyro stone!  Amazingly, we watched as the sparks grew into flames and we were able to light the fire.  It was such an immersive experience and it really brought the Stone Age to life.  We also received some lovely feedback from Scruff and Twigs about how beautifully behaved Year 3 were; they listened well and asked good questions.  Well done Year 3.  

Christmas Jumper Day

Please note we will be holding two Christmas Jumper Days in school this year.  The first will be on Friday 8^th December 2023 and we would ask that a small donation of chocolate or sweets is made which will be used for the Chocolate Tombola at our fair the following week.  The second will be to celebrate our School Fair, so please don your best jumpers also on Friday 15^th December 2023. No donations will be collected on that day.

Dates for the Diary

Monday 4^th December 2023 – Family Breakfast – 8.00am

Tuesday 5^th December 2023 – Travelling Book Fair – 3.10pm

Wednesday 6^th December 2023 – Online Parents/Carers Evening (All except Macaws Class)

Thursday 7^th December 2023 – Trip to St Thomas Church – Year 2

Thursday 7^th December 2023 - Travelling Book Fair – 3.10pm

Thursday 7^th December 2023 – Online Parents/Carers Evening (Macaws only)

Friday 8^th December 2023 – Christmas Jumper Day 1 – Donations of Chocolate and Sweets

Friday 8^th December 2023 – Nursery Christmas Songs

Monday 11^th December 2023 – Family Breakfast – 8.00am

Monday 11^th December 2023 – Reception Nativity Play

Monday 11^th December 2023 – Christmas Dinner - Year 1

Tuesday 12^th December 2023 – Christmas Dinner – Year 2

Wednesday 13^th December 2023 – Christmas Dinner - Year Reception and Year 3

Thursday 14^th December 2023 – Christmas Dinner – Year 4

Friday 15^th December 2023 – Christmas Dinner – Year 5 and 6

Friday 15^th December 2023 – Christmas Jumper Day 2 (No donation required)

Friday 15^th December 2023 – Christmas Fair

Monday 18^th December 2023 – Family Breakfast – 8.00am

Monday 18^th December 2023 – Christingle Service – Year 4 – Parents/Carers invited. 1.45pm at St Thomas’ Church, Bramford Lane.

Monday 18^th December 2023 – Craft Session – Year 3 2.00pm

Tuesday 18^th December 2023 – Parent/Carer Christmas Craft Session – Year Reception 2.00pm

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