Whitehouse Weekly Bulletin 311

Friday 6th June 2025

A Message from Miss Siddall: 

It has been a wonderfully busy first week back in school.  We started the week with a very exciting visit from a Paralympian which the children thoroughly enjoyed and year 4 have already been on their trip to the Victorian School.  Thank you for supporting this by providing costumes. 

 As I am sure you are aware, this time of the year is always so busy in school, so do check the dates section of this newsletter so that you or your children do not miss out on all the planned activities. We look forward to seeing many of you at our sports day events next week.  Thank you again for your continued support.

Attendance for the week before half term:

Class with the best attendance: Dragons (95.98%)

Assemblies

The theme of our assemblies for next week will be Transitions and Moving Up. (UNRC: Article 28: I have the right to education).  The children will soon be finding out about which class they will be in next year in readiness for our Transition Days on Wednesday 24^th June and Thursday 25^th June 2025.

‘This is Our Town’ Competition

Calling all our budding artists!  Ipswich Borough Council are holding a poster competition for primary school children as part of their ‘This is Our Town’ campaign, aimed at raising awareness about littering and encouraging pride in our local environment.   If your child would like to design a poster that promotes anti-littering and highlights the importance of keeping Ipswich clean and beautiful, the deadline is Wednesday 18^th June 2025.  Posters can be digital or scanned and sent to communications@ipswich.gov.uk. Please include the child’s first name, age and the school they attend on the email.  There will be prizes for the winning entries.

No Mow May

As you may remember in our previous newsletters as a school we love to support the environment so always take part in No Mow May on part of our school site.  This year we found with the changing weather our grass did not grow very tall, so we were very impressed to hear from Harrison in Year 6 who also joined in and whose grass grew nearly as tall as he is!  Well done Harrison, I am sure the bees and other wildlife were extremely grateful!

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.

Key Stage 1:

Lower Key Stage 2:

Upper Key Stage 2:

Attendance: Duck Race Winners

Well done to the winners of our Duck Races the week before half term:

Summer 1 Project Showcase

We are very pleased to announce the winners of the Summer 1 Project Showcase below.  As you can see from just the few photos below, we had some wonderful work completed by the children in every class.  Well done everyone, we love seeing your homework projects.

Year 6 Production

Plans are well under way for this year’s Year 6 production ‘Star Warts: The Umpire Strikes Back’ which we are all very excited to see.  It promises to be entertaining, amusing and filled with singing and dancing.  There will be two performances on Wednesday 16^th July at 9.30am and again at 6.00pm.  Parents/Carers of Year 6 children are able to purchase up to 2 tickets, per performance, at a price of £2.00 per ticket.  Should there be any tickets remaining extra tickets can be purchased from Monday 23^rd June from the school office.  Please note we are unable to reserve tickets unless the money has been received.

Athlete Visit

On Monday we were extremely lucky to be treated to a visit by 3x Invictus Games medallist Rich Potter. During the 2023 Invictus Games, Rich successfully achieved a gold medal in the 100m, silver medal in table tennis and bronze in the relay!  As with previous athlete visits, the day began with a truly inspirational assembly. During the assembly Rich told pupils about his life and how after initially injuring his ankle during a football cup match, further complications during his time in the army consequently lead to the loss of his left leg due to sepsis. Rich went on to explain how with lots of resilience, perseverance and hard work he was able to overcome a number of barriers to follow his love of sport to become an Invictus Games athlete and champion.

Throughout Rich’s assembly he provided pupils with his motivational and inspirational motto to “Aim High Always”. Rich explained how this motto can be linked to not just playing sports but also to achieving our dreams and ambitions, and encourages us all always be the best you can be! After their assembly each class from Reception – Year 6 took it in turns to take part in a high energy fun fitness session with Rich. The pupils thoroughly enjoyed completing the fitness exercises and working closely with Rich. The motivational music, encouragement by Rich and the fun exercises ensured that each pupil gave 100% effort during the session.  Each of our pupils thoroughly enjoyed the visit from Rich. The fantastic and inspirational opportunity to meet and work so closely with such a top-level athlete was a memorable and inspiring experience for all of our pupils!

Upcoming Vacancy: Parent/Carer Governor

Are you passionate about your child’s education and eager to contribute to the success of our school?  In September we will have a vacancy for a Parent/Carer Governor and would ask you to consider if this would be something you would like to do?   The role would include the following:

• Representing the views of parents/carers in discussions and decisions
• Help set the school’s strategic direction
• Support and challenge school leadership to drive improvement
• Attend regular meetings (typically once or twice a term)
• Receive training and support for the role.

We will advertise the role in September but if you are interested and have any questions before then please speak to a member of the office team who will arrange for you to speak to someone.

Spanish Club

On Tuesday, for the last day of Spanish club we looked at ‘la comida’ (food) and tasted a range of Hispanic snacks. This included Spanish omelette, aioli, olives, cheese as well as ‘Cuñapé’, a delicious Bolivian cheese bread made from yuca flour. The children loved trying the food, especially the cheese bread which was perfectly soft in the middle. A big thank you to Jean’s Mum who kindly helped out and brought in the Bolivian food. ¡Muchas gracias!

The Linus Project

A quilt is a hug you can keep!  We would like to say a huge thank you to The Linus Project for providing our school with some ’hugs’ to share with some of our families and for some of our children to use in school. This project works hard to provide love, a sense of security, warmth and comfort to children who may need a little extra love by providing them with new, homemade, washable quilts they can keep forever.  The quilts are lovingly made by their volunteers and as you can see here, they are absolutely beautiful.  For more information please check out their Facebook page.

Celebrating our Children

In March this year we were pleased to celebrate Nova in Year 4 on her wonderful gymnastics achievements as we heard she did so well she had gone through to the Regional round of the competition.  We are thrilled to let you know that the Regionals took place on 25^th May 2025 and Nova was able to represent her club as planned.  She took 1^st place for her bar routine, so became the Regional Champion (Suffolk and Essex) on bars in her age category!  What a star!  Well done Nova, we are very proud of you! 

U11 Mixed Bee Netball Tournament

On Thursday 22nd May our netballers were back in action, with another successful event run by School Games, which was held at the Ipswich School Sports Centre. Ms Salmon and Miss Last took fourteen Year 5 and 6 girls and three Year 5 boys to participate in a Mixed Bee Netball Tournament. The event was split into a ‘Compete and Develop’ tournament, which meant we could enter one team in each section. The Compete team played against Colnesis, St Johns 1, St Johns 2, Hadleigh, Stratford St Mary and Heath. Whilst the Develop team were up against Colnesis, Beaumont, Grundisburgh, Dale Hall, Stratford St Mary and Waldringfield. Ms Salmon took the Compete group and Miss Last took the Develop group. They both saw some outstanding teamwork, dedication and perseverance throughout the event. Each of our children played with smiles on their faces and appeared the happiest children at the tournament!  As it was a School Games event, we were lucky enough to have some Year 10's from high schools who umpired the matches for us. The Compete team consisted of Ivy, Violet, Lacey, Imogen, Skye, Dexter and Tommie. The Develop team consisted of Kyla-Marie, Shanelle, Isla, Sophia, Idunu, Ruby, Alivia, Lona, and Oliver. While the Develop tournament was for the children to make progress in their Netball skills, the Compete was to fight for a place in the County Final. Whitehouse came close to a place coming 3rd. A massive well done to all of you - you made Whitehouse very proud. Extra well done to Mia and Ruby for receiving ‘Netballers of the Tournament’ for our school, displaying all the School Games values.

Parking

As you will be aware from previous newsletters parking is often an issue that is raised by the school, members of the local community and parents/carers.  You may have noticed our new signage that has appeared this week, encouraging all members of the community to please follow safe parking practices so we can ensure everyone can safely access and leave the school site each day. 

We would encourage all those who are able to leave the car at home and walk, ride or scoot to school – this is especially nice as the weather is so much better at the moment.

Dates for the Diary

Monday 9^th June 2025 – Family Breakfast 8.00am

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

Thursday 12^th June 2025 – Helping Hands Hub

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

Monday 16^th June 2025 - Family Breakfast 8.00am

Monday 16^th June 2025 – Year 1 Felixstowe Trip (Rescheduled from 5^th June)

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

Thursday 19^th June 2025 – Y2 Duxford Visit

Monday 23^rd June 2025 - Family Breakfast 8.00am

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 (including those transferring to Westbourne)

Thursday 26^th June 2025 – Transition Day (including those transferring to Westbourne)

Thursday 26^th June 2025 Helping Hands Hub

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

Monday 30^th June 2025 - Family Breakfast 8.00am

Friday 4^th July 2025 – Summer Fair

Monday 7^th July 2025 - Family Breakfast 8.00am

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

Thursday 10^th July 2025 - Helping Hands Hub

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

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

Monday 14^th July 2025 - Family Breakfast 8.00am

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