Whitehouse Weekly Bulletin 291

Friday 6th December 2024

A Message from Miss Siddall

It has been wonderful to see some of the activities in school this week.  Year four had a shared parent/carer session, Year two visited the church, Nursery and Reception have been practicing for their Christmas performances and the Choir have been practicing for the big shared Trust event in the Corn Exchange next week.  There are still more parent/carer sharing events coming up so please check the timetable below.  Finally, we hope to see lots of families at our Christmas Fair next Friday (13^th). Thank you for supporting these events at this busy time of year.

Attendance for the week before half term:

Class with the best attendance: Tigers (100%)

Parent/Carer Sessions

Please note we are excited to be able to invite parent/carers into school before the end of the term for the following:

Year 6 Bletchley Park Visit

Last Wednesday, Year 6 had the opportunity to visit Bletchley Park on a school trip linked to their topic of World War 2.  Although it was a long day, the children thoroughly enjoyed their visit, exploring the heart of British code breaking during the war and the site where Alan Turing helped crack the Enigma Code – a huge turning point of WW2!  During the day, the children had a guided tour of the park, using role-play to understand what life must have been like working during the time period, including having the chance to dress up.  Year 6 were able to learn more about D-Day and how the Allies triumphed using clever tactics and strategy.  The children even got to touch a real Enigma Machine!  Throughout the day, the children were also able to explore the site and see various artefacts from the time, including Alan Turing’s office and the Bombe – a machine that was used to crack the Enigma code.  It was a fantastic day and the children behaved superbly.  Well done Year 6!

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:

Free School Meal Vouchers

We are pleased to confirm that Suffolk County Council will again be providing vouchers to parents/carers of any child who is eligible for free school meals, to help with food costs over the Christmas holiday.  The voucher will be £30.00 per eligible child.

As usual the voucher will be sent by email from noresponse@vouchers.sodexoengage.com and will be with you by Wednesday 11^th December 2024. If you do not receive the voucher, please email freeschoolmeals@suffolk.gov.uk and they will be able to assist.  Please do not contact the school office as we will be unable to help.

***Job Vacancy: Midday Supervisor***

Fixed term till 31^st August 2025

We are pleased to let you know we currently have vacancies for Lunchtime Supervisors as detailed below. Full details of the vacancies along with application forms are available on our website: https://www.whcps.org/vacancies/.  In addition, application forms can be collected from the school office. The closing date for applications is 10.00am on Friday 13^th December 2024.

Lunchtime Assistant:

• Working under the direction of the Lunchtime Leader
• Engage with and support the children while eating and engaging in safe and positive play outside
• Contribute to the management of behaviour
• Undertake first aid responsibilities
• Working Hours: 1.25 hours a day working term time only
• Scale Point 2.2: (Currently £12.26 an hour)

Year 4: Parent/Carer Session

On Wednesday, the Year 4 classes invited their parents/carers to join them in mask making.  Based on this half term’s enquiry question of ‘Who were the Anglo Saxons?’, the children created masks out of clay using the cardboard templates they had previously made and the techniques learned working with clay.  The results were wonderful with some creative and imaginative features scored and marked onto the warriors’ faces, including many battle scars and some very realistic facial features.  The children were wonderful hosts to the visiting adults and the Year 4 team really enjoyed involving the parents/carers in the children’s learning in such a hands-on way.

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, we are very proud of you!

School Dinners

Please note we have made a few minor changes to the autumn/winter menu, to ensure that we always have options that the children enjoy.  Please note the amended menu can be viewed on our website: 

https://www.whcps.org/school-dinners/.

If you ever have any questions regarding the menu, please feel free to contact the school office.

Assemblies

The theme of our assemblies for next week will be International Migrants Day: What is a migrant and is migrating always a choice?  (UNRC: Article 22 – I have the right to special protection and help if I am a refugee.) Why not ask your child what they have been learning about how this might affect the rights of children?

Attendance: Duck Race Winners

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

Year 2 Trip: Visit to the Church

Year 2 took part in a local visit to St Thomas the Apostle Church on Bramford Lane on Wednesday.  As part of the Christianity Unit in RE, the children went to learn more about advent – the period of waiting before Christmas.  Reverend Gail kindly set up different activities which helped them to understand how Christians celebrate Advent during this time. The children’s engagement and enthusiasm was excellent and the church volunteers were very impressed with the children’s behaviour and attitude during their visit.  What an amazing afternoon!

Coming Next Term: Parent/Carer Course

We are very excited that in the Spring Term we will be offering a new course for parents/carers of children in Reception and Year 1. Details are in the poster below.  More details will follow shortly.

Dates for the Diary

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

Tuesday 10^th December 2024 – Online Parents/Carers Evening – 3.30pm to 5.30pm

Wednesday 11^th December 2024 – Year 5 Parent/Carer Sewing Session – 1.45pm

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

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

Monday 16^th December 2024 – Christmas Dinner – Year 1

Monday 16^th December 2024 – Year 4 Christingle Service – St Thomas the Apostle Church

Tuesday 17^th December 2024 – Christmas Dinner – Year 2

Tuesday 17^th December 2024 – Year 3 Parent/Carer Christmas Crafts Session – 1.30pm

Tuesday 17^th December 2024 – Year 2 Parent/Carer Christmas Crafts Session – 2.00pm

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

Wednesday 18^th December 2024 – Christmas Dinner – Year R and Year 3

Wednesday 18^th December 2024 – Year 1 Parent/Carer Christmas Craft Session – 2.00pm

Wednesday 18^th December 2024 – Year 6 Parent/Carer DT Anderson Shelter – 9.15am

Thursday 19^th December 2024 – Nursery Parent/Carer Share Session – 10.30am

Thursday 19^th December 2024 – Christmas Dinner – Year 4

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

Thursday 19^th December 2024 – Reception – Parent/Carer Christmas Crafts/Games Session – 2.00pm

Thursday 19^th December 2024 – Autumn 2 Project Showcase (Nursery, Years 1, 3 and 5)

Friday 20^th December 2024 – Christmas Dinner – Year 5 and 6

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

Tuesday 14^th January 2025 – Parent/Carer Reading Course Begins (Reception / Y1)

Monday 17^th February 2025 to Friday 21^st February 2025 – Half Term Holiday