Whitehouse Weekly Bulletin 314

Friday 27th June 2025

A Message from Miss Siddall: 

The children have had a busy week in school. They have really enjoyed the opportunity to meet their new teachers and classes on Wednesday and Thursday this week and have been asking lots of questions about what they will be learning next year and whether there will be any trips or visits. The Year Six children had a wonderful time on their residential trip to Danbury, the Badgers class has a lovely time on their ‘Ducking Down the Deben’ trip and the Year Five children are off to Kentwell Hall today. Thank you for your continued support and we look forward to seeing many of you at the fair next Friday (4^th) after school.

Attendance for the previous week:

Class with the best attendance: Cobras (98.62%)

Staff News

We are sad to let you know that two of our Teaching Assistants will be leaving us at the end of July. Mr Parr who has been with us for a couple of years is leaving to pursue a career in engineering and Mrs Holland, who joined us earlier this year, is leaving to spend more time with her children.  We wish them both lots of luck. We have really appreciated all their hard work whilst they have been with us at Whitehouse.

Year 6: Robot Building

Some of our Year 6 children were on their residential trip but for those who did not go, it has been a fun couple of days enjoying different kinds of activities!  On Monday the group put their creativity and engineering skills to the test by designing and building their very own craft robots using recycled materials.  Well done Year 6, they look fabulous!

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:

Summer Fair

A reminder that our Summer Fair is coming up on Friday 4^th July, directly after school.  Please put the note in your diary, it would be lovely to see as many of you as possible come along! 

Year 2: Duxford Trip

Year 2 had an exciting and educational day out at Duxford Imperial War Museum last week. The children were thrilled to see a wide range of historic planes, many of which had been carefully restored to their former glory. A major highlight was stepping aboard the fastest model, Concorde, where the children got to explore what used to be the infamous and iconic supersonic jet. They had been learning many facts about its fascinating history in their guided reading lesson so it was fantastic to see this in real life!  The trip also gave the children a unique opportunity to learn about the early development of flight, from the Wright brothers’ first flight to the cutting-edge aircraft of modern day. They even got to watch planes take off and land on the airfield right before their eyes, which was a thrilling experience for all!  The children returned to school buzzing with new knowledge and excitement. What a fantastic trip! 

Whitehouse Prefects

We are very pleased to announce our prefects for 2025-2026.  These children have all been extremely hard-working and responsible members of Year 5 this year and are great examples to us all of following the Whitehouse Way.  Well done to you all.

Free School Meal Vouchers

Suffolk County Council have confirmed that vouchers will once again be provided to parents/carers whose children are eligible for free school meals (due to benefit eligibility) to assist with costs of food over the summer holiday.  A £90.00 supermarket voucher will be provided for each child. As usual these will be sent out by email, so if you have changed your email address since you last received a voucher please inform the school office.  If you feel your child may be eligible for free school meals, you can apply online at this link: https://www.suffolk.gov.uk/children-families-and-learning/schools/school-meals-uniforms-and-trips/apply-for-free-school-meals

Holiday Activity and Food Programme (HAF)

Suffolk County Council will also be offering their popular HAF programmes over the summer, offering many free spaces on activities and holiday clubs, including a lunch, for children who are eligible for free school meals.  The programme will go live on Monday 30^th June 2025 and parents/carers can register for an activity at the following website: https://eequ.org/suffolkhaf.

SENDIASS Session for Parents/Carers

Booking is now open for an online session, hosted by SENDIASS, where specialist teachers from the Social, Emotional and Mental Health Service will explore ways to help children and young people to understand and manage their feelings.  The workshop will take place on Thursday 17^th July 2025 from 10.00am to 11.30am.  To see more information and register for the session please follow the link:  https://suffolksendiass.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/Supporting-to-manage-emotions.pdf

Childhood Neurodiversity Workshop Survey

As you have seen in previous newsletters, the Psychology in Schools Team (NSFT) deliver a virtual childhood neurodiversity programme for parents/carers, offering assistance on a variety of topics.  They are currently planning their workshop schedule for 2025/6 and would love to capture the views of parents/carers on which future workshops would be useful.  If you would like to assist please complete the survey using the link below:

https://forms.office.com/e/uyhkKKx1EY

Celebrating our Staff and Children

As per Mr Jordan’s article in the newsletter last week we learnt it was National Sports Week in schools and today we celebrate a member of staff and one of our children in their sporting antics!  Mrs Anderson, a teacher in Year 4, recently completed the London to Brighton Cycle Ride, raising money for the vital work of The British Heart Foundation.  After a very early start from Clapham Common, Mrs Anderson cycled 86km through London, across the very hilly South Downs, to the truly welcoming sight of the Brighton seafront.  Earlier this year, Year 4 had been learning in PSHE about the importance of having a positive mindset and Mrs Anderson shared her cycling plan with her class.  The Hedgehogs gave her lots of encouragement and she was able to put this into practice, crossing the line in 4 hours and 40 minutes!  That is some achievement!

We were also very pleased to hear about Carmen, from Year 2, who embraced Mr Jordan’s challenge to get involved and took part in three different sports in one week: swimming, street dancing and tennis!  Wow!  It looks like you have been very busy!  Well done, we love to see what our children are achieving.

Dinner and Breakfast Club Debt

Can we please remind parents that all debt on dinner money and breakfast club need to be cleared by the end of July.  If you are unsure what you owe, please speak to a member of the office team.

KS2 Inclusive Sailing

Last Thursday eight of our KS2 pupils had an amazing opportunity to take part in an inclusive sailing event. Accompanied by Mr Jordan, Mrs Zantboer and Mrs Bendell, the event took place at Suffolk Yacht Harbour, Levington and involved the pupils sailing on the open water of the River Orwell.  As a school, this was the first time we had ever attended a sailing event, and for the vast majority of our pupils this was also the first time they had taken part in any kind of sailing activity. Once the pupils and staff had received their safety briefing and had been fitted with their life jackets, they headed to the marina to begin their session. Any initial apprehension was quickly replaced with excitement as the pupils were introduced to the instructors from the East Anglian Sailing Trust (E.A.S.T), and got to see the boats they would be sailing in during the session. Each boat contained three pupils, a member of WHCPS staff and two E.A.S.T instructors.

Once out of the marina and on the open water, the instructors in each of the boats demonstrated and taught the pupils how to sail the boats, including pulling the correct ropes to set the sail and most importantly how to steer the boat. During the session the pupils were also given the opportunity to sail the boat for themselves under the supervision and guidance of the instructors.   

All of the staff were incredibly proud of the effort and courage shown by all of the pupils throughout the session. It was amazing to see so many happy and smiling faces throughout the session…including the staff! At the end of the session all of the pupils commented on how amazing the session was and some even went as far to say that it was the best thing they had ever done at school!

Mr Jordan would like to take this opportunity to thank the East Anglian Sailing Trust and our School Games organisers for such an amazing opportunity!

Wake Up and Walk – Coming Soon!

Back by popular demand! Following the continued success of last year’s ‘Wake up & Walk’, we will again be inviting parents/carers to take part in the Daily Mile inspired event. As in previous years, this year’s ‘Wake Up & Walk’ will again be an informal and optional event, which will invite parents/carers the opportunity to take part in a 2 lap walk around the KS2 field before school with their child. Keep an eye out in next week’s newsletter for full details!

Assemblies

The theme of our assemblies for next week will be Safeguarding: ‘The Pants Rule’ (UNRC: Article 16: I have the right to a private life.  For instance, I can keep a diary that other people are not allowed to see).  You may want to talk to your child about keeping themselves safe.  Further information about ‘The Pants Rule’ can be viewed on the NSPCC website:

https://www.nspcc.org.uk/keeping-children-safe/support-for-parents/pants-underwear-rule/

School Library Books

Yesterday was the last day children were able to borrow books from the school
libraries, so the library computers have now been switched to 'Returns Only' mode.
Please could you encourage your child to locate and return their library books as soon as possible and by no later than Friday 4th July? It is vitally important that all school library books are returned by the deadline so that the end of academic year procedures can be completed and everything can be set up ready for the new academic year.  We understand that books do sometimes get lost and damaged and need replacing.  If this is the case with the book that your child currently has on loan, please let your child's class teacher or the office know, so that a suitable replacement can be arranged. Please note, we normally ask for a contribution of £5 towards the cost of replacing lost or damaged books.

Naturally, we still would like your child to continue reading as much as possible in the last few weeks of term and over the long summer break, so books will still be available for your child to borrow.  Finally, the long summer break is an ideal time for children to join the public library and to checkout some of the titles on offer.  Why not encourage them to listen to a couple of audio books during this period which are available to borrow from the public library free of charge?

Win £1,000 for the School Library

National Book Tokens are offering the chance for five schools to win £1,000 to spend in their school libraries.  Anyone can make a nomination so please think about supporting us by clicking on the link below.  If you are successful you will also win a £100 National Book Token to treat yourself.

https://www.nationalbooktokens.com/schools-prize?utm_medium=email&utm_source=nbt&utm_campaign=20250625-schools&utm_content=schools-prize

Dates for the Diary

Monday 30^th June 2025 - Family Breakfast 8.00am

Tuesday 1^st July 2025 – Year 4 DT Parent/Carer Session 2.00pm to 3.00pm

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)

Wednesday 9^th July 2025 – Ipswich Star Supplement with Year 6 Leavers Photos

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