Whitehouse Weekly Bulletin 288

Friday 15th November 2024

A Message from Miss Siddall

It's been a busy week in school!  On Monday we held a Remembrance Day silence in school.  Even our year two children, who were on a trip at Framlingham Castle, joined in with the silence.  On Wednesday we had lots of visitors from other schools joining us to learn about our inclusion award.  The year six prefects did a fantastic job leading the guests on a tour of the school - well done prefects!  I'm sure you will have had a look at the Ofsted report which I shared with you yesterday.  We were very proud to read that the inspector recognised that the children receive ‘the highest standard of education’ here. 

Thank you for your support. 

Attendance for the week before half term:

Class with the best attendance: Tigers (100%)

Assemblies

The theme of our assemblies for next week will be: Anti-Bullying Week: Online Safety (UNRC: Article 36 – I have the right to protection from any kind of exploitation). Keep an eye on our weekly newsletters for lots of helpful tips on how to support you and your children in using the internet safely.

Wet Play

The PFA (Parents and Friends Association) have kindly donated a very generous amount of money to pay for our new wet play resources for all classes in Key Stage 1 and 2.  Each class has been given a box full of games and activities for them to enjoy when it is too wet to be outside at lunchtime.  Some of the new resources include playdough, board games, playing cards, yoga cards, construction sets and origami.  The children are now very excited for their first ‘wet play’ so they can try them all out.  A big thank you to the PFA for your amazing fundraising! 

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:

Christmas Fair

As you will be aware, we have our popular Christmas fair booked for Friday 13^th December 2024.  For this event, we would love to gather some wonderful prizes for the raffle.  If you or someone you know has a local business and feel you would be able to donate a little something, we would very happily receive it.  Please either speak to a member of the office team or to Ms Salmon, head of our PFA. Please do put the date in your diary: the fair will take place directly after school and to make it even more festive we will also be holding our Christmas Jumper day the same day!

Slots to see Santa will be available to book and pay for after school on Friday 22^nd November on the KS2 playground from 3.20pm

Attendance: Duck Race Winners

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

Holiday Activity and Food Programme (HAF)

As in previous years, we are pleased to let you know the Holiday Activity and Food programme will again be running across the Christmas holiday and will be free for all children in receipt of free school meals.  This allows you to book your child into a number of holiday clubs and activities where they will also be provided with a lunch.  For further information, including how to book please see the following page: https://infolink.suffolk.gov.uk/kb5/suffolk/infolink/advice.page?id=Zj4vWQtEbvA.

Year 2 – Framlingham Castle Visit

Our Year 2 children had an exciting day out at Framlingham Castle on Monday.  The day started with a walk around the moat, taking in the castle’s amazing views in the winter sunshine!  After a two-minute silence to reflect on the service the Armed Forces have made, the group explored the museum and castle walls and discovered what it was like to live there.  They learned about it’s past and even tried their hand at archery – channelling their inner knights!  It was a fantastic mix of learning and fun, making for a memorable day out for everyone.

CET Christmas Concert 2024

We are thrilled to let you know that this year we will be holding a Trust-wide Christmas Concert in which the Whitehouse school choir will be taking part.  The event will be held on Thursday 12^th December 2024 at the Corn Exchange in Ipswich.  Tickets will go on sale shortly at a cost of £5.00.  Once available, we will let you know how these can be purchased.  Our choir have been practising very hard and we cannot wait to see and hear them!

If you would like to purchase a ticket these can be purchased directly at the link below:

https://ipswichtheatres.co.uk/whats-on/childrens-endeavour-trust-christmas-concert/

Asda Cashpot for Schools

A big thank you to all those parents/carers who have kindly added the school to their Asda cashpots.  So far you have raised over £670 which will be donated to the school to help us buy resources for the children.  There are still 15 days to go…we wonder how high this figure will reach?  We really appreciate the support of all of our parents and carers.

Book Fair

Please accept our apologies that this week’s Book Fair postponed at short notice.  The revised dates will be Monday 25^th and Tuesday 26^th November 2024.  It will take place in the Marlow Hall on each day as usual from 3.00pm to 4.00pm.  As a little festive treat, Scholastic have very kindly provided us with a number of Dogman magazines to be handed out for free (whilst stocks last) with every order placed.  The Dogman novels are extremely popular with the children and their enthusiasm is only likely to increase with the prospect of the new Dogman film being released in cinemas shortly after Christmas!  There will also be an opportunity to view the books available for purchase in advance in the Blue Corridor (where EYFS are situated), straight after school next Thursday (21^st November 2024).  This session will be to view books only but you can complete an order form in preparation for the fair the following week.  If you are hoping to buy books secretly as Christmas gifts, just let Mrs Balaam, our Librarian know, who will be happy to help.  We look forward to seeing you, and don’t forget the school earns rewards for every purchase made so we can buy extra books for our libraries.

Needed: Year 5 and 6 Pupil Library Assistants

Over the next few weeks the school will be recruiting a dedicated team of Voluntary Pupil Library Assistants in preparation for the start of the Spring Term.  Any child in Year 5 or 6 who meets the ‘essential criteria’ set out in the volunteer job description can apply.  More information will be shared with the children in UKS2 next week along with the job description and application form.  To be considered, Mrs Balaam, will need to receive the completed form by 1.00pm on Tuesday 26^th November 2024.  Children are encouraged to spend time on their application to ensure that it is completed neatly and to the best of their ability.  The form must also be signed by a parent/carer and the class teacher.  A shortlist will be drawn up and children will invited to a short, informal interview. The appointed Assistants will hold the position for the Spring Term and may be invited to help mentor the next team during the Summer Term.  If your child would like more information then they can go and have a chat with Mrs Balaam in the library.

Accelerated Reader

We are very pleased to be able to celebrate with the following children who have all earned certificates for their reading.  A big well done to you all.

Post Adoption Support Group

Please note the Suffolk County Council Post Adoption Team are relaunching their face to face support group. It is a place where you can receive informal, non-judgemental, peer-based support as well as information on adoption related issues. If you are interested and would like more information please email them on: cyppsthelpline@suffolk.gov.uk.

Dates for the Diary

Monday 18^th November 2024 – Family Breakfast – 8.00am

Monday 18^th November 2024 – Year 1 Transport Museum Visit

Thursday 21^st November 2024 – Year 3 Stone Age Visit (at school)

Thursday 21^st November 2024 – Helping Hands 2.00pm-3.00pm

Friday 22^nd November 2024 – Slots open for Father Christmas – KS2 Playground – from 3.20pm

Monday 25^th November 2024 – Family Breakfast – 8.00am

Monday 25^th November 2024 – SATS information session for parents/carers – 9.00am / 4.30pm

Wednesday 27^th November 2024 – Year 6 Bletchley Park Visit

Monday 2^nd December 2024 – Family Breakfast – 8.00am

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 – Helping Hands 2.00pm-3.00pm

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

Friday 6^th December 2024 – Non-Uniform Day – Bring chocolate / sweets as a donation

Monday 9^th December 2024 – Family Breakfast – 8.00am

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

Thursday 12^th December 2024 – CET Christmas Concert – 6.30pm (ticketed event)

Friday 13^th December 2024 – Nursery Christmas Songs

Friday 13^th December 2024 – Christmas Jumper Day

Friday 13^th December 2024 – Christmas Fair

Monday 16^th December 2024 – Family Breakfast – 8.00am

Monday 16^th December 2024 – Reception Nativity

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

Thursday 19^th December 2024 – Helping Hands 2.00pm-3.00pm

Thursday 19^th December 2024 – Autumn 2 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