Whitehouse Weekly Bulletin 293

Friday 20th December 2024

A Message from Miss Siddall

Well done to all 140 children who have had 100% attendance this term - you have shown great commitment to your learning.  Thank you.

Thank you also to all the parents and carers who have been able to support by attending one of the many events we have had in school - the fair, the CET Christmas concert, parents' evenings, open sessions, nativity plays and the project showcases.  A huge thank you to all the staff for making these events possible.  I hope you enjoyed being able to share in your child's learning.  

Finally, have a wonderful Christmas break.  School starts again for the children on Tuesday 7th January 2025.  We look forward to seeing you in the new year.

Attendance for the week before half term:

Class with the best attendance: Tigers (98.1%)

Attendance: Duck Race Winners

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

Thank you!

A big thank you to all those of you who came along and supported our Christmas Fair last Friday. We are pleased to confirm we made a profit of £1,191.94 which we can use to organise activities for the children and support their learning. A big thank you to the PFA, led by Ms Salmon, for making it all happen! Finally, a big thank you to all the staff who helped support in so many ways!  What a wonderful school community we have!

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 Winter Mini Reading Challenge

The Reading Agency have just introduced a Winter Mini Challenge, which is fun and can boost your child’s reading confidence. It takes place from December 2024 to February 2025 and is free to take part.  You can register at the following link: https://wintermini.org.uk/ and each time your child logs in and reviews a book they will earn points.  The challenge is to read three or more books between 1^st December 2024 to 20^th February 2025 and add these to their profile. When they reach their reading goal, they will unlock a special online badge and get a certificate of achievement. 

If your child takes part, please encourage them to bring their certificates into school to share!

Reception Nativity

Thank you to all of the parents/carers who supported the Reception children with their nativity performance – providing costumes, helping to learn words and coming to see the production.  We are sure you were all as proud of these children, who have only been in school for just one term, as we are.  Well done to both the Seahorses and Starfish classes.

Suffolk Libraries Blank Page Project

The Blank Page Project is an exciting programme providing free high-quality activities run by professional local artists at Ipswich County Library and selected Suffolk Libraries during the school holidays. The free, creative activities, give 10-16-year olds the chance to express their creativity through a range of mediums. From textiles, to interactive video game, fiction and filmmaking, there is something for everyone to enjoy!

We have been talking about this project in our KS2 assemblies and there are also displays in our KS2 library.  For further information or to book a place on one or more workshops, please visit: https://www.suffolklibraries.co.uk/resources/the-blank-page-project?e6ae108a_page=4 or contact Katie Puls on email at katie.puls@suffolklibraries or calling on 07380 193784.

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!

Year 2: Christmas Crafts

Year 2 had a wonderful afternoon with all the parents/carers making Christmas crafts together.  We had Christmas music playing and everyone enjoyed singing along to their favourite songs!  Cards, ornaments, paper chains and decorations were designed and everyone had a lot of fun.  Thank you all for coming along and making memories with the children.

Young Carers Lunch

This week we had our first Young Carers Event where the children across the school all joined together for a lovely Christmas lunch with some fun games with Mrs Gotts and Miss Pottyondy.  Everyone had a lovely time. 

More events will be planned for next term, so keep an eye out for more information!

U11 Christmas Cracker Event

Recently Mr Jordan and Ms Salmon took ten of our KS2 pupils to Inspire Suffolk to take part in the U11 Christmas Cracker Event.  This event is an inclusive one, which involved the pupils rotating around a carousel of fun and inclusive workshops including circus skills, catching and throwing activities, cricket skills, Boccia and archery.  One of the workshops also included dance in which each school learnt and choreographed their own Christmas dance which they performed at the end of the event. To fully get into the Christmas spirit, each school, including staff, wore their Christmas jumpers. The event was lots of fun and the children really enjoyed completing each of the activities.  Well done to everyone that took part.  What a fantastic and fun way to start the Christmas period.

Dates for the Diary

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 20^th January 2025 – Family Breakfast – 8.00am

Monday 27^th January 2025 – Family Breakfast – 8.00am

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