Whitehouse Weekly Bulletin 282

Friday 27th September 2024

A Message from Miss Siddall

We’ve had a positive start to the year regarding attendance with several classes achieving 100% attendance and lots of children being entered into the weekly ‘duck race’ competition.  Thank you for supporting your child to be in school every day, and remember to keep our attendance officer informed if your child is unable to attend school.

We completed the first fire drill of the year last week and I am proud to report that the behaviour of all children was excellent throughout - they were all very sensible and all 575 children were evacuated safely.  A special well done to our youngest children in reception who had not practiced this before.

Assemblies

The theme of our assemblies for next week will be: Online Safety: How to Use the Internet Safely.  (UNRC: Article 36 – I have the right to protection from any kind of exploitation).  Try and take some time to speak to your child. If they use the internet at home, do they know how to stay safe? Do they only access appropriate material for their age? What might they do if they become concerned about something they see?

Reception 2025: Open Mornings

If you have a child who is due to start school in September 2025, please note we will be holding several open mornings, to give you a chance to view the school and ask any questions you may have.  Please let the school office know if you wish to attend. These will take place at 9.30am on:

Friday 8^th November 2024                     Thursday 14^th November 2024

Monday 2^nd December 2024                    Thursday 9^th January 2025

Year 6: Earthquake and Volcano Day

On Friday 20^th September 2024, Year 6 took part in a whole day of activities linked to our Geography topic, ‘Why does the earth shake?’.  In class, the children created some fantastic stop-motion animations on volcanic eruptions using clay and tissue paper.  Some of the children even had a go at making flipbooks to show how volcanoes change over time.  They also researched where the tectonic plates, volcanoes and mountain ranges are on Earth and created a detailed world map with these labelled. 

The children were very lucky to have someone visit them to lead an ‘Earthquake and Volcano’ workshop, where they played various games linked to the topic and learnt lots of new and exciting facts.  Well done all of Year 6 for a fantastic day.

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:

Online Safety: Lego ‘Build and Talk’

A core part of the NSPCC’s 10-year strategy is to ensure children are safe online.  To help achieve this, the NSPCC have teamed up with the LEGO group to help promote their fun, free, Build and Talk activities.  The six ‘adventures’ help parents and carers talk with their children about key online safety topics through the joy of LEGO play. Please use the link below to access these free resources. 

https://www.lego.com/en-gb/sustainability/children/buildandtalk?locale=en-gb

Attendance: Duck Race Winners

Well done to the winners of our Duck Races last week:

Parents and Friends Association (PFA)

Unfortunately, due to the lack of volunteers, it is looking like we will be unable to hold our Christmas Fair this year as it is impossible for Ms Salmon to do this without a few more helping hands.  We will hold one further meeting on Monday 30^th September, straight after school for anyone who would like to come along and be part of the team.  Just come to the main office where Ms Salmon will meet you.  If we do not have enough interest, sadly, the fair will not go ahead. 

Jewellery

Can we please remind parents/carers that children are not allowed to wear earrings of any kind during their PE sessions.  If a child does have earrings in, they will be asked to remove them.  If they are not able to remove them without adult help, unfortunately your child will not be able to take part in the lesson.  Please note this is also the case for sports based after-school clubs.

Year 2: Trip around Ipswich

Over the last two weeks, Year 2 children have been on a trip around Ipswich to find out more about our local area.  They enjoyed a walk along the docks, seeing lots of different buildings including flats, the university and lots of restaurants.  Then, they moved on to the Ipswich Town Football Stadium where they saw the football pitch, a park close by along with a police station.  Lastly, the children went to Christchurch Park, where they drew maps to show everything they had seen in the town, all of which will help them with their enquiry curriculum topic. They also enjoyed taking part in a bug hunt, looking at a variety of animals and their habitats to help with their science work this term.  Everyone had a lot of fun and learned a lot about the area.

Scooters and Bikes

Despite being asked to dismount, we are having a lot of children riding bikes and scooters on the school site.  We would appreciate your support in ensuring your children dismount once they reach the gates so we can ensure everyone on site is able to be kept safe.  Thank you for your assistance.

World Mental Health Day: Wear Yellow!

We are pleased to be able to show our support for World Mental Health Day on Thursday 10^th October 2024 by inviting all members of our school community to wear something yellow!  There is no donation being collected, just the opportunity for us to recognise how important it is for all of us to look after our mental health.

Dental Appointments Available

We are pleased to let you know that the University of Suffolk Dental CIC are now able to offer dental appointments for children under the age of 18.  To make an appointment please go to the following link and select Children’s Dental Care.

https://suffolkdentalcic.co.uk/

Census Day: Special Menu

On Thursday 3^rd October, we have our school Census Day and we always like to have a special menu which contains some of the children’s favourite foods.  We are pleased to let you know the menu for that day will be as shown here: 

If your child does not usually have school dinners, this is a great day to give it a go.  As always it is free to all children in Reception, Year 1 and Year 2 and those eligible for Free School Meals and is a cost of £2.52.

Attendance: ‘Missing Children, Missing Grades’

In November 2023, the Children’s Commissioner, Rachel de Souza, released her report titled ‘Missing Children, Missing Grades’.  Although this report, as you would expect, is extensive and focuses on outcomes at the end of Key stage 4, it still drives home the importance of good attendance throughout children’s school lives. The main focus is looking at the relationship between school attendance and academic attainment.  However, one very important message is the relationship between parents/carers and their child’s school. Here at Whitehouse, we strive to ensure that we support you as parents/carers as much as we support your children.  Therefore, if you find you are experiencing difficulties in getting your child to school, please remember you can reach out to us. We have many tools at our disposal to help and sometimes just a brief chat could be the key to unlocking doors that some may think can never be opened.

Year 1 Library Visits

A reminder that each Thursday, our Year 1 children are invited to come along with their parent/carer to our School Library straight after school to choose a sharing book to take home and enjoy reading together.  If you would like to come along, please collect your child from class as normal and then come to the main car park on Marlow Road.  You can then get to the library via our ‘Blue Meeting Room’ which is through the gate just to the right of the main office entrance.  Mrs Balaam, our Librarian will be pleased to meet you there.

Year 5 Gurdwara Visit

This week, our Year 5 classes went on a visit to the Gurdwara in Ipswich.  Whilst there, the children learned about the Sikh religion and were able to see their place of worship.  On arrival, everyone washed their hands, took off their shoes and each wore a head covering as a sign of respect.  The children learnt about many aspects of the religion and culture and some enjoyed a turban tying experience.  A big thank you to all those at the Gurdwara who welcomed our children and allowed them such an informative, interesting and enjoyable morning.

Contact with School

We know that sometimes parents/carers may be concerned about something and want to chat it over with someone at school.  Please note if this is the case, we have a procedure of who you would need to speak to, starting with the Class Teacher and working through the stages if further help is needed. Please see the steps shown here. 

We will always try to help as best we can and appreciate your support in following this procedure as it will mean that we can help resolve any concerns and offer assistance quickly. 

Dates for the Diary

Monday 30^th September 2024 – Family Breakfast – 8.00am

Thursday 3^rd October 2024 – Y1 Lions and Elephants local area walk

Friday 4^th October 2024 – Y1 Giraffes local area walk

Monday 7^th October 2024 – Family Breakfast – 8.00am

Tuesday 8^th October 2024 – Year 4 Local Walk

Thursday 10^th October 2024 – Wear something Yellow for World Mental Health Day

Thursday 10^th October 2024 – ELSA Diabetes Screening

Monday 14^th October 2024 – Family Breakfast – 8.00am

Tuesday 15^th October 2024 – Autumn 1 Project Showcase (Nursery, Years 1, 3 and 5)

Thursday 17^th October 2024 – Autumn 1 Project Showcase (Reception, Years 2, 4 and 6)

Monday 21^st October 2024 – Family Breakfast – 8.00am

Friday 25^th October 2024 - Whole School SMSC Day

Monday 28^th October – Friday 1^st November 2024 – Half Term Holiday

Friday 8^th November 2024 - Open Morning for Reception 2025 children

Thursday 14^th November 2024 - Open Morning for Reception 2025 children

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

Monday 2^nd December 2024 - Open Morning for Reception 2025 children

Wednesday 4^th December 2024 - Reports home to parents/carers

Thursday 5^th December 2024 – Online Parents/Carers Evening

Tuesday 10^th December 2024 – Online Parents/Carers Evening

Tuesday 17^th December 2024 – Autumn 2 Project Showcase (Reception, Years 2, 4 and 6)

Thursday 19^th December 2024 – Autumn 1 Project Showcase (Nursery, Years 1, 3 and 5)

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

Friday 20^th December 2024 – Last day of the Autumn Term

Monday 23^rd December 2024 – Friday 3^rd January 2025 – Christmas Holiday

Monday 6^th January 2025 – PD Day (Children are not in school)

Tuesday 7^th January 2025 – First day of the Spring Term

Thursday 9^th January 2025 - Open Morning for Reception 2025 children