Whitehouse Weekly Bulletin 274

Friday 21st June 2024

A Message from Miss Siddall

There are only four weeks until the end of the term and we are still expecting the children to continue working hard in all of their lessons; we still have lots to cover on the summer curriculum, and all the children will have an opportunity to meet their new teachers on Wednesday and Thursday next week so attendance at school remains crucial. 

Finally, please help us keep your children safe by vacating the site quickly at the end of the day.  This allows us to lock and secure the site ready for after-school clubs to take place.  Thank you for your continued support.

Attendance for the week before half term:

Class with the best attendance: Puffins (97.96%)

Staff Changes

We are sad to let you know that we will be saying goodbye to four of our teachers at the end of this term. Mrs Greggor has been with us at Whitehouse since 2016, as a teacher and then as an Assistant Headteacher, but has made the decision to retire.  She will be greatly missed by us all but she assures us she will be keeping very busy and doing lots of travelling!  We look forward to hearing more of her adventures.  Mrs Gelling and Mrs Frost will also be leaving Whitehouse and moving on to other pursuits, whilst Miss Blake will be moving on to teach at another school.  We wish you all the very best, you will be missed at Whitehouse.  Thank you for all you have done for our school and our children.

Year 5: A.I.M. High Writing Day

On Thursday 13th June, five of our Year 5 pupils went to Handford Hall Primary with Mr Trimmer and Mr Dunnett to take part in an exciting writing workshop. The purpose of this day was to encourage and inspire children to write creatively with a specific focus on poetry. The workshop was led by children’s author and poet Debra Bertulis. With other schools taking part as well, the children had the chance to discuss and work collaboratively, coming up with amazing ideas around the idea of writing a poem on colour and then a fond memory with a chance to get praise and further ideas from Debra herself. It was a wonderful opportunity for the children to get together and write poetry, sharing all their ideas on what they wanted to create. At the end, this also included the chance to perform in front of all the schools as well as Debra and get some constructive feedback. Well done to all those involved!

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.

EYFS:

Key Stage 1:

Lower Key Stage 2:

Upper Key Stage 2:

Lego Exhibition

We know lots of our children love Lego so wanted to let you know that The Hold in Ipswich will soon be holding a Lego themed exhibition called ‘Brick Wonders’.  The exhibition opens on Friday 12^th July and runs through to the end of September.  Wonders from around the globe will be presented in half a million Lego bricks, so it will a great sight!  There is a small cost and tickets can be purchased at the following link:  https://www.suffolkarchives.co.uk/brick-wonders/.

World Millionaire

Many congratulations to Blake in Hedgehogs Class (Year 4) who was recently presented with his Classic Reader and Word Millionaire readers awards in our Wonderful Week assembly.  Recipients of our prestigious Word Millionaire award receive a certificate and one of our much sought-after badges.  Well done Blake, wear that badge with pride – you deserve it!  How many more Word Millionaires can we crown before the end of term?

Suffolk Libraries: Reading Quest

Suffolk Libraries is launching an exciting new summer reading program this year. It will run through the summer holiday and offers a great opportunity to get the whole family involved in reading and making memories.  The aim of the summer reading challenge campaign, which has run for several years, is to encourage children to read, for pleasure, over the summer months but to also create something new and engaging with a Suffolk theme which can involve the whole family.

Families will be able to visit their local library from Saturday 13^th July 2024 to collect a free Reading Quest map and then start their quest!  Children will then be encouraged to take part in activities and experiences across the summer rather than read an expected number of books.  This will take the children from ‘reading under their covers with a torch’ to ‘choosing a recipe book and making something together as a family.’  Each week, in the library the staff and volunteers will be on hand to chat to the children about the activities they have completed and the exciting books they have read.  The children can also collect a weekly reward at the library and choose new books to take home to read.  Research has proven that a summer reading campaign can help children to maintain literacy levels during the long summer holiday so their reading skills do not slip.  We have 45 libraries across Suffolk to there are lots to choose from.  Any child can take part but the event is primarily aimed at 2-12 year olds.

Readers’ Cup

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

SMSC Update

We have been very busy updating our SMSC (Spiritual, Moral, Social and Cultural Development) page on our website, including lots of pictures and information from our Multi-Lingual day that was held on Friday.  To view these, please follow the following link:  https://www.whcps.org/smsc-news-2023-2024/

Summer Holiday iCards

Ipswich Borough Council have confirmed that the popular Summer Holiday iCard programme will take place again this summer.  Between Monday 22^nd July 2024 and Friday 30^th August 2024, hundreds of different activities will be available for children living in Ipswich to take part in, including BMX biking, rollerskating and kayaking.  To have access to these events, you will need to purchase an iCard from the Ipswich Fit website, at a cost of £6.00 per child which will cover the full summer holiday.

Please be aware that to take part in an activity you must pre-book a space.  This can be done at: https://eequ.org/ and searching for Ipswich activities. Park activities can be booked from 28^th June 2024 and all other activities from 17^th July 2024.

If your child is eligible for Free School Meals, please note you will not have to pay for the iCard.  When you go in to https://eequ.org/, and are selecting a membership, please select ‘Holiday Concession iCard.’  Your details will then be checked and once they confirm your child is in receipt of Free School Meals you will be able to make bookings at no cost.  Details of holiday clubs and how to book them are also available on the website.

Celebrating our Children

This week we were thrilled to hear that Callum (Year 4) had won an award from Ipswich Valley Rangers, the football team he plays for.  They held a Seasons Award Ceremony on Friday and Callum received the Most Improved Player award. 

What an amazing achievement Callum, well done on all your hard work!

Year 3: Ducking Down the Deben

This week saw our last Year 3 class, Rabbits, taking part in the Ducking down the Deben trip.  As you can see from the photos the children all really enjoyed the day, and had the best weather of any of the classes!  They loved tracking the river, from where it first started, through to Woodbridge where they saw just how much the river had grown.  Well done Rabbits, you represented Whitehouse perfectly!

Attendance: Duck Race Winners

Well done to the winners of our Duck Races the week before half term:

Parent/Carer Survey 2024

Our latest parent/carer survey has now been released which gives you a chance to feedback your experience and opinions with regards to the school.  Please do access the survey either by using the following link: https://forms.office.com/e/cNQxnUWC9d, or by using the QR code.  Thank you for your assistance.

Attendance helps:

Assemblies

The theme of our assemblies for next week will be: Transition:  What is it and what happens on transition days?  (UNRC: Article 3: All adults should always do what is best for me).   Resources related to this assembly will soon be available on our website.  To access them, go to Learning and click on our Enquiry Based Assemblies.

Summer Fair: Please Help!

As you are aware our Summer Fair is planned for after school on Friday 5^th July 2024.  However. we are in desperate need for further help so we ensure this can take place.  If you are willing to do a little to help, please do let the office know, so we can inform Ms Salmon.  We are also in need of prizes for our raffle.  If you or anyone you know would be willing to provide one, again please speak to the office or directly to Ms Salmon. 

Please also note that we will be holding a Non-Uniform day on Monday 1^st July 2024, where we would ask for a small donation of chocolate or sweets.  These will then be used on the tombola at the fair.

Dates for the Diary

Monday 24^th June 2024 - Family Breakfast at 8.00am

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

Wednesday 26^th June 2024 – School Transition Afternoon

Thursday 27^th June 2024 – School Transition Morning

Friday 28^th June 2024 – Year 5 Kentwell Hall visit

Monday 1^st July 2024 – Family Breakfast at 8.00am

Monday 1^st July 2024 – Non-Uniform Day (bring sweets or chocolate)

Friday 5^th July 2024 – EYFS Afternoon Tea for new Reception children (Sept 2024 intake)

Friday 5^th July 2024 – Summer Fair

Monday 8^th July 2024 – Family Breakfast at 8.00am

Friday 12^th July 2024 – End of year reports home

Tuesday 16^th July 2024 – Year 6 Production

Thursday 18^th July 2024 – Y6 Leavers BBQ

Friday 19^th July 2024 – Y6 Leavers Assembly – Parents / Carers invited

Friday 19^th July 2024 – Last day of the Summer Term

Monday 22^nd July 2024 to Friday 30^th August 2024 – Summer Holiday

Monday 2^nd September 2024 – PD Day (Children are not in school)

Tuesday 3^rd September 2024 - PD Day (Children are not in school)

Wednesday 4^th September 2024 – First day of Autumn Term

Friday 15^th November 2024 – Flu Vaccinations (more details will follow)

Friday 13^th December 2024 – Flu Vaccinations Catch-up Session (more details will follow)