Whitehouse Weekly Bulletin 308

Friday 9th May 2025

A Message from Miss Siddall: 

We are currently in the process of organising classes for next year and we hope to let you know all arrangements before the transition events on the 25th June (afternoon) and 26th June (morning). These transition sessions are very important as they provide the children with the opportunity to meet their new teachers before the summer holidays. As in previous years, careful consideration will be given to the needs of the children and we intend to reorganise some class groups. We will keep you updated on any planned changes. Thank you for your support.

Attendance for the previous week:

Class with the best attendance: Owls (97.93%)

Assemblies

The theme of our assemblies for next week will be International Day of Families: What is a family and why are they important?  (UNRC: Article 9 – I have the right to live with my parents, unless it is bad for me).  What a great week to do something as a family, you could play a board game, watch a film together or if the sun is shining why not go for a walk or visit the park or the beach?

Free School Meal Vouchers

We are pleased to confirm that supermarket vouchers will again be issued over the May half term holiday for any families who are eligible for free school meals (due to receiving certain benefits).  A voucher of £15.00 will be issued for each child who is eligible.  As usual parents/carers will receive an email which will arrive by Thursday 22^nd May 2025 with a link to access the voucher.  These vouchers must be used within 2 months or they will expire. 

If you think your children may have become eligible you can apply online https://www.suffolk.gov.uk/children-families-and-learning/schools/school-meals-uniforms-and-trips/apply-for-free-school-meals) or you can come and speak to the school office who can help you apply.  Please let us know if you have had a change in email address to ensure the vouchers reach you.  If you do not receive the voucher please email freeschoolmeals@suffolk.gov.uk who will be able to assist further.

Dinner and Breakfast Club Debt

We have a number of children who have outstanding debt on dinner money and breakfast club.  Can we please ask that balances are cleared as a matter of urgency.  Thank you for your cooperation.

Year 6: SATs

Next week our Year 6 children will sit their KS2 SATs. The children have worked extremely hard all year and have shown amazing courage and perseverance in their learning. They have made fantastic progress and have shown themselves to be a wonderful cohort. We wish them all the best next week.

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:

Year 6: Hindu Samaj Visit

Last week, our Year 6 pupils had the fantastic opportunity to visit the Hindu Samaj in Ipswich.  The visit provided a fascinating insight into Hindu beliefs, traditions and practices, complementing the children’s learning in RE.  They were warmly welcomed and had the chance to look at traditional clothing, listen to and play music and learn about Hinduism in relation to other religions. We are proud of how respectfully and enthusiastically the children engaged throughout the visit.  Well done to Year 6.

Year 3: Ooh là là! – French Day!

Last Friday, Year 3 had a magnifique French Day!  During their short trip to ‘Paris’ our visitors taught the children how to buy and order in French and they wrote postcards home using their French language skills.  After a turbulent flight home, the children all had a chance to taste a variety of French foods (the profiteroles were a particular hit!) and took part in a range of activities to practise their new learning.  Thank you to Kidslingo for their excellent workshop and to all the adults who came along to help out.

Attendance: Duck Race Winners

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

Accelerated Reader

We have also had a large number of children who have recently received certificates for their reading.   A big well done to you all.

Online Safety

Reporting Online Harm: We know there are times when things happen online which need to be reported, but there are so many different organisations and helplines it can be difficult to know where to turn.  Internet Matters have a really useful page which gives advise on who to contact and how to report specific issues. 

Roblox - New Tools for Parents: At the beginning of April Roblox announced some new tools which allow parents/carers a greater degree of control over their child’s Roblox experience.  This includes limiting who your child can connect with, seeing which games your child plays the most and limiting the experiences (games) your child an access.  For more information please see the below link:

https://corp.roblox.com/newsroom/2025/04/new-parental-controls-on-roblox

Bake Sale: Monday 19^th May

The House Captains are excited to announce that we are running a bake sale after school from 3.15pm to 3.30pm on Monday 19^th May.  We will set up our stalls on the Astroturf outside the Year 6 classes on the KS2 playground.

If you would like to donate baked goods for us to sell please see the following points:

• Items must be handed in to your teacher by the morning of Monday 19^th May
• All items must be clearly labelled with your child’s name, house and class
• Any items that are homemade must include an ingredients list or we will unfortunately not be able to sell them.
• Any donated foods must NOT contain nuts

Items will be sold for between 20p and 50p and all proceeds will be donated the charities the children have voted for.

Thank you for your help and support!

The House Captains

Realise Futures: Parent/Carer Workshops

As you will have seen there have been several workshops recently for different year groups where parents/carers have been invited into school to work alongside their children on a specific subject.  Last week was for KS1 who enjoyed some ‘Fun with Maths’.  The next two workshops are:

Fun with Shapes:

Year 3 and 4 - Tuesday 13^th May

Years Reception, 1 and 2 on Tuesday 20^th May

If you would like to book a space please just email parents@whcps.org or pop to the school office.

PE News

With the IPSSA football league deadline approaching, it has been yet another busy couple of weeks of fixtures for both the Year 5/6 boys and girls football teams.

Year 5/6 Boys’ Football

Last Thursday the Year 5/6 boys’ football team were back in action with a home IPSAA league match against Broke Hall Community Primary School. Having already played against Broke Hall in a friendly at the beginning of the school year, the boys knew that the match would be a competitive affair, and it was exactly that! Both teams made a very good start to the match, playing some excellent attacking football and linking up well to enjoy good spells of possession. The match was extremely closely contested, with both teams creating shooting opportunities in front of goal. The boys were extremely unlucky to go into half time level after a superbly struck shot from Otto narrowly went over the cross bar. The second half of the match continued where the first half left off, with end to end football from both teams. The boys were again unlucky not to score with Ben hitting the post and shots from Remi and Noah again narrowly missing the target. A fantastic double save from Arthur towards the end of the match ensured that the match finished 0-0. A fantastic effort from the boys - well done!

Year 5/6 Girls’ Football

After their victory against Clifford Road Primary School during their recent cup game, last Friday the girls again faced Clifford Road in the league. Despite winning their previous match, the girls knew that the Clifford Road girls were going to be tough opposition. The match was also made even trickier with the sweltering weather conditions! Undeterred, the girls worked extremely hard and gave 100% effort from the first to the final whistle. As a result, the girls played some fantastic football and continually put Clifford Rd under pressure when they had possession of the ball.

Out of the possession of the ball, the girls worked equally as hard to break up the play and win the ball back. Eventually, the girls’ hard work paid off with four, very well taken, first half goals!

During the second half, Clifford Rd enjoyed a lot more possession of the ball and increasingly began to create their own attacks. Despite standing firm and defending fantastically as a team, Clifford Rd were rewarded with a late consolation goal. This was to be the last action of the match and saw the girls earn a very deserved 4-1 win. A fantastic performance girls – well done! 

On Tuesday, the Year 5/6 girls were again back in league action as they hosted Broke Hall Community Primary School. Having also previously played, and beaten, Broke Hall in a friendly and having won their previous league game against Clifford Rd, the girls were full of confidence heading into the game. As a result, the girls quickly picked up where they had left off and enjoyed large spells of possession of the ball. The girls passed the ball excellently, spreading the ball out wide and playing some fantastic through balls to set up a number of opportunities in front of goal. The girls also showed some excellent tactical knowledge as they kept their shape and formation brilliantly throughout the match. As a result of the girls’ hard work, they were rewarded with two first half goals from Millie and then a third by Ivy towards the end of the match to eventually win the game 3-0. A special mention goes to Skye for being named as Mr Jordan’s ‘Player of the Match’ for her excellent defensive work throughout the match.

Mr Jordan was extremely proud of both the boys’ and girls’ team’s effort and the standard of football and the teamwork showed throughout the recent matches. Mr Jordan was also pleased to see the continued development and confidence in both teams during their recent performances!

Year 5/6 Netball

The Whitehouse Netball team were back in action again last Friday, this time travelling to Rushmere Primary. The girls got off to a flying start passing the ball beautifully amongst themselves up and down the court. Rushmere took the lead scoring the first goal of the match. It wasn't many minutes before the whistle was blown for the end of the first quarter, we pulled a goal back making it 1-1. Going into the second quarter, the Whitehouse girls looked stronger. Their defending was amazing and there were some great interceptions from the team.  At half time it was Rushmere 2, Whitehouse 2.  The third quarter saw Whitehouse again defending wonderfully, passing the ball up and down the court with skill giving our shooters more chances of scoring. Both teams were playing well but no goals were scored. It was a tense but very enjoyable game to watch. Going into the last quarter showing great perseverance, resilience and working as a team that 3rd goal for us happened. The look on the girls’ faces when that final whistle was blown was priceless, Ms Salmon was beaming with pride! Whitehouse 3 - Rushmere 2.  Throughout the whole game, the girls had smiles on their faces and thoroughly enjoyed the experience. A big thank you to the parents/carers who supported us and came to watch. Well done to Mia, Idunnu (Year 5), Imogen, Kyla-Marie, Shanelle and Violet (Year 6). An extra mention to Kyla-Marie for receiving Player of the match from Rushmere and Shanelle for receiving Ms Salmon's player of the match. Well done girls.

Dates for the Diary

Monday 12th May 2025 – Thursday 15^th May 2025 – Year 6 SATs Week

Thursday 15^th May 2025 – Helping Hands (from 2.00pm)

Monday 19^th May 2025 – Family Breakfast – 8.00am

Monday 19^th May 2025 – House Captains Bake Sale – 3.15pm to 3.30pm

Tuesday 20^th May 2025 – Project Showcase (Years N, 1, 3 and 5)

Thursday 22^nd May 2025 – Project Showcase (Years R, 2, 4 and 6)

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 9^th June 2025 – Year 6 Crucial Crew

Tuesday 10^th June 2025 – Year 3 Ducking Down the Deben – Owls Class

Wednesday 11^th June 2025 – Sports Day – Nursery / Reception

Thursday 12^th June 2025 – Sports Day – Years 1, 2 and 3

Friday 13^th June 2025 – Sports Day – Years 4, 5 and 6

Tuesday 17^th June 2025 – Y3 Ducking Down the Deben – Rabbits Class

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

Tuesday 24^th June 2025 – Y3 Ducking Down the Deben – Badgers Class

Wednesday 25^th June 2025 – Transition Day

Thursday 26^th June 2025 – Transition Day

Friday 27^th June 2025: SMSC Day: British Values

Friday 4^th July 2025 – Summer Fair

Tuesday 8^th July 2025 – Project Showcase (Years R, 2, 4 and 6)

Thursday 10^th July 2025 – Project Showcase (Years N, 1, 3 and 5)

Friday 11^th July 2025 – Reports Home to Parents/Carers

Wednesday 16^th July 2025 – Year 6 Production

Monday 21^st July 2025 – Year 6 Leavers BBQ

Tuesday 22^nd July 2025 – Year 6 Leavers Assembly

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