Whitehouse Weekly Bulletin 305

Friday 4th April 2025

A Message from Miss Siddall

It has been a great term and I am delighted with the progress the children have made with their learning – well done. The children have enjoyed a range of visitors and trips (Year 1 Fire Service, Police and Great Fire of London Workshop, Year 3 Colchester Castle, Year 5 Co-op and Year 6 Walton-on-the-Naze) as well as our online safety day which was a huge success.  We've also had several parent/carer open sessions - thank you for supporting these. On behalf of all the staff, I would like to wish all our families a wonderful Easter break and we look forward to seeing the children again on Wednesday 23rd April (KS2: 8:40am, KS1: 8:45am, EYFS: 8:50am).

Attendance for the previous week:

Class with the best attendance:  Rabbits (99.00%)

Asda Cashpot for Schools

As you will remember last year Asda encouraged customers to gather points in the Asda Cashpot for Schools which would then lead to a donation of money to schools to be spent on resources for the children.  Our wonderful parents/carers and friends together raised £854.96.  This money has now been received and we will be spending this on resources, including games and activities for our children to use at lunchtimes.  A big thank you to all who helped by choosing Whitehouse!

Nursery

Did you know we have a lovely nursery on site, which is based near the front of the school, just behind our Reception classrooms?  We are currently full but will have spaces coming up for September 2025 if you have a little one and are looking for a space.  We take children from the term after their 3^rd birthday and currently run sessions in the morning from 8.30am to 11.30am, five days a week.  If you would like to pick up an application form or have any questions please speak to a member of the office team.  If you would like to have a look around and meet Mrs Vince, our Nursery Lead, this can be arranged. 

Assemblies

The theme of our assemblies for the week after Easter will be celebrating St Georges Day. (UNRC: Article 7 – I have the right to a name and a nationality).  How might you celebrate St George’s Day as a family?  Maybe a special meal, cooking cupcakes and decorating them with a flag or making some bunting with the English flag?  Spend some time together and have fun!

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 is 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:

Lost Property

We are having a large number of children who are losing items of clothing in school recently. Can we please remind parents/carers the importance of labelling all items with your child’s name.  This means we can quickly return items to the children.  Thank you for your assistance.

Nut Free School

Can we please remind parents/carers that we are a nut free school.  We have several children with severe nut allergies, so please do not send any product which contains nuts into school for your children’s packed lunch or snack.  We would ask that this includes no Nutella or chocolate spread.  Thank you for your support in this matter.

Attendance: Duck Race Winners

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

Celebrating our Children

This week we are excited to celebrate Nova from Year 4 and George from Year 3.  Nova competed in a gymnastics competition representing Hadleigh Stars.  The event took place on 23^rd March 2025 at Pipers Vale.  We were very impressed to hear that Nova achieved 1^st place in the Beam, and 3^rd place in the Floor and Bar categories.  Nova has done so well that she has now qualified to take part in the regional competitions in a few months’ time. We will let you know how she gets on at the regional event!  Meanwhile we were excited to see that George, who has been regularly going to Karate, had his belt grading last weekend.  Due to all of his hard work and achievements, George has now earnt his orange belt!  That is an amazing achievement!  We are all extremely proud of you both.  Keep up the good work!

Suffolk Parent Carer Forum

Please note the following which are taking place in April.  If any parents/carers of children with SEND needs would like to attend a session please email info@suffolkpcf.co.uk.  All meetings take place online via Microsoft Teams.

Thursday 24^th April 2025 – 10.30am-11.30am - Meet Mike McKeaveney (Assistant Director of Inclusion and SEND at Suffolk County Council) 

Friday 25^th April 2025 – 10.00am-11.30am – Phase Transfers (for parents/carers of children with EHCPs).

Tuesday 29^th April 2025 – 10.00am-11.30am – EHCP Annual Reviews

Attendance Update

We are pleased to report that attendance has remained relatively good this term, despite the various illnesses that have been circulating.  It’s been wonderful to see so many children still eager to be in school, engaging with their learning and enjoying time with their friends.  Our attendance incentive, featuring the reward kiosk has been a great success!  The children have really enjoyed collecting their stamps and cashing them in for prizes, which has helped to keep spirits high.  Their enthusiasm for this initiative has been fantastic, and we are delighted to see it making a positive impact.

House Captain Update

The House Captains are pleased to announce the winners of the house point competition for this half term.

In fourth place with 550 points is Diamond House.

In third place with 701 points is Emerald House.

In second place with 735 points is Sapphire.

And in first place with 841 points is Ruby.

Congratulations to Ruby House, who will have a non-uniform day on the first Thursday (24^th April 2025) of the new half-term.

Year 1: Emergency Services

As part of their learning this term Year 1 were very lucky to have some visitors in school from both the Police Force and the Fire Brigade.  In PSHE the children have been learning about people who are able to help us to keep safe and well so they were thrilled to meet the policemen and even had a chance to try the police hat on!  Then last week as part of their Great Fire of London topic, we had a fire engine on site.  The firemen visited each class to tell them about what they do and showed the children their uniform.  The really exciting part of the visit was when the children were able to have a go using the hose, even occasionally making one of the firemen a little wet due to their enthusiasm!

Year 5/6 IPSSA Netball

On Monday the Year 5/6 girls played another IPSSA Netball league game. We knew this was not going to be an easy game for us given Sidegate’s outstanding track record for sport. The first quarter began slowly for Whitehouse and Sidegate took the opportunity to get a couple of goals in their net despite great defending from Mia and Lacey. Whitehouse continued to show some amazing play, passing the ball quickly and with some great efforts but our goals just weren't going through the net!. Our girls continued to persevere and it was in the third quarter we got our first goal, scored by Violet. The game ended with a win from our Sidegate, however, Ms Salmon was exceptionally pleased with the way all the girls played and carried on despite Sidegate's lead. Well played girls and a special congratulation to Skye for being awarded player of the match from Sidegate and Ms Salmon's player of the match, Lacey, for outstanding defending! Thanks to all that came to watch and show the girls their support. 

Year 5/6 Girls Cup Football

Following their recent run of league matches, last Friday the Year 5/6 girls football team turned their attention to cup action as they travelled to Goals Ipswich to play Clifford Road Primary School in the second round of the cup. With a place in the quarter finals up for grabs the girls were determined to put in a good performance, and they did exactly that! In every area of the pitch the girls were fantastic and really took the game to Clifford Road. With the ball the girls kept possession and linked up fantastically to stretch their opponents defence. As a result, the girls passed brilliantly as they moved the ball from one end of the pitch to the other and used the wings excellently to create a number of goal scoring opportunities throughout the match. Defensively, the girls were solid and kept their shape to continually work hard as a team to put pressure on the ball and not allow the Clifford Road girls anytime on the ball. After a goalless first half, the message from Mr Jordan at half time was for the girls to continue to play with the exact same confidence and tempo. Mr Jordan also encouraged the girls to be a little braver in front of goal to shoot from a distance. A message the girls took on board, as they increased the number of shoots on target throughout the second half. The girls hard work was paid off with two goals by Scarlett, which included a brilliant free kick from outside the box. Some fantastic goalkeeping from Sakura throughout the second half and some excellent defending in the final minutes of the game was enough to seal the win for the girls and to book themselves a place in the quarter finals of the cup! Well done girls!

Year 5/6 Boys Football

It has been a little while without a league game for the boys’ football team, however on Tuesday the Year 5/6 boys football team were back in action as they travelled to Heath Primary School. The boys were very excited to take to the pitch again but, just like the recent girls match against Heath, the boys knew that they were in for a tough match as they had to play the

 match with no subs! The game was very competitive with both teams giving their all to continually dispossess and win back the ball for their team. As a result, both teams enjoyed good spells of possession and created a number of chances to score. Despite going into half time 1-0 behind, the boys were not deterred and continued to play some fantastic football throughout the second half. The boys again created some fantastic opportunities in front of goal with some excellent link up and build up play. As a result, Heath‘s goalkeeper was the busier of the two keepers and was called into action several times throughout the second half. The boys hard work was rewarded with an excellent equalising goal from Noah from a very tight angle following an initial saved shot from Ben. In the late stages of the game Heath regained the lead with a headed goal from a Heath corner. With minutes left in the game there was time for one final goal, and what a goal it was! A big kick out of goal from Arthur was misread by the Heath defenders and was allowed to bounce over their keeper, that had come off his line, into the back of the net to level the match for a second time! Mr Jordan was full of praise for the boys perseverance to come from behind twice to eventually draw the match 2-2. Mr Jordan was also very proud of the effort and overall team performance from the boys throughout the match.

Dates for the Diary

Monday 7^th April 2025 to Monday 21^st April 2025 – Easter Holiday

Tuesday 22^nd April 2025 – PD Day (School closed to children)

Wednesday 23^rd April 2025– Year 2 Shimpling Farm – Dragons Class

Thursday 24^th April 2025 – Ruby House Non-Uniform Day

Friday 25^th April 2025 – Year 2 Shimpling Farm – Frogs Class

Friday 25^th April 2025 – Year 1 Colchester Zoo

Monday 28^th April 2025 – Year 2 Shimpling Farm – Cobras Class

Tuesday 29^th April 2025 – Year 6 Hindu Samaj Trip – Chameleons and Toucans

Tuesday 29^th April 2025 – Year 1 Parent/Carer Phonics Information Session – 9.00am / 2.30pm

Wednesday 30^th April 2025 - Year 6 Hindu Samaj Trip – Ocelots and Tigers

Friday 2^nd May 2025 – Y3 French Day

Monday 5^th May 2025 – Bank Holiday (School Closed)

Thursday 8^th May 2025 – Year R Easton Farm Park

Friday 23^rd May 2025 – PD Day (School closed to children)

Monday 26^th May to Friday 30^th May – Half Term Holiday

Tuesday 3^rd June 2025 – Year 4 Victorian School – Hedgehogs Class

Thursday 5^th June 2025 – Year 4 Victorian School – Squirrels Class

Monday 9^th June 2025 – Year 4 Victorian School – Foxes Class

Monday 23^rd Tuesday 24^th June 2025 – Year 6 Residential (Danbury)

Tuesday 22^nd July 2025 – Last day of the Summer Term

Wednesday 23^rd July 2025 – First day of the Summer Holiday

Monday 1^st September 2025 – PD Day (School closed to children)

Tuesday 2^nd September 2025 – PD Day (School closed to children)

Wednesday 3^rd September 2025 – First day of term for the children