Whitehouse Weekly Bulletin 232

Friday 3rd October 2025

A Message from Miss Siddall: 

We've had a fantastic day in school today as the children have been taking part in a special 'learning to learn' day where they've been finding out how their brains work and what they can do to help their brains grow.  I have been visiting the different classes to see lots of interesting brain inspired artwork, including spaghetti, blancmange and wool! Try to ask your children what they have learnt about their brilliant brains today!  Thank you for your support. 

Attendance for last week:

Class with the best attendance: Foxes (99.01%)

Assemblies

The theme of our assemblies this week was celebrating National Teaching Assistant Day. (UNRC: Article 28: I have the right to education).  The children learnt all about what TAs do and why they are so important to our school.    They also started learning the song ‘We’re all in this together’ from High School Musical.  Why not learn this together as a family and have a practice at home!

Rotary Club: Dictionaries

On Friday we were very pleased to welcome Mr David Podd, from the Rotary Club to join our Key Stage 2 assembly.  Each year this wonderful organisation kindly donates a lovely dictionary to each of our children in Year 6 which they can use to help them through their school journey.  Thank you, Mr Podd, it is always a very welcomed donation and will be well used by all of our children.

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:

Children’s Wellbeing: Anger

Every year many thousands of children are referred to Childline for anger issues.  Anger management in children is one of the top mental health concerns in childcare.  Violent thoughts frequently bubble underneath human interactions and anger is the quickest way for those thoughts to become reality.  However, this is difficult for children to learn to manage as anger can be remarkably powerful.  The NSPCC have produced a number of resources which can help if you see this issue in your child, including advice on how to de-escalate a situation.  If you are interested, these can be accessed on the following link: 

https://www.nspcc.org.uk/keeping-children-safe/support-for-parents/arguments-conflict-family-tension

Attendance: Duck Race Winners

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

Accelerated Reader

A big well done to all the children below who have recently received certificates for their reading.  

Celebrating our Children

As you know we love to celebrate the achievements of our children and this week are thrilled to share about Jayden from Year 3.  He loves to play football and recently joined the Ipswich Valley Rangers Under 8s team.  In his very first match he scored a hat trick and was scouted by Ipswich Town Football Club!  What an amazing start!  He followed that with scoring four goals in his second match and was rewarded with the Player of the Match award.  Jayden is loving the start to his football journey and is very excited to be able to join the school team when he reaches Year 5.  As you can imagine his parents are very proud of him, and so are we.  Well done Jayden, we look forward to seeing how you progress further.  

We have mentioned before about Ava in Year 2 who adores to dance.  Well she has kept on her journey and is still enjoying every second.  This week we heard she was awarded Star of the Week and received a trophy that is almost as big as she is!  Well done Ava, we look forward to seeing what you achieve next!  

Free School Meal Vouchers

We are pleased to confirm that Suffolk County Council will again be providing vouchers to parents/carers of any child who is eligible for free school meals, to help with food costs over the October half term holiday.  The voucher will be £15.00 per eligible child.

 As usual the voucher will be sent by email from noresponse@vouchers.sodexoengage.com and will be with you by Thursday 23^rd October 2025. If you do not receive the voucher, please email freeschoolmeals@suffolk.gov.uk and they will be able to assist.  Please do not contact the school office as we will be unable to help.

Year 5: Gurdwara Trip

This week, Year 5 went to visit the Sikh Gurdwara and learnt all about the Sikh religion to support their RE lessons.  They were able to hear lots of interesting facts about different parts of the religion such as the history of Sikhism, parts of the Gurdwara and what the different symbols mean.  The children asked some wonderful questions and the trip was finished off with a turban tying demonstration.  Well done on an excellent trip Year 5.

PFA / Christmas Fair

We are sad to have to inform you that due to the lack of volunteers coming forth to be part of the PFA (Parents and Friends Association) that for the foreseeable future we will not be able to put on any events, including the Christmas Fair. If anyone would like to be involved in future events please do speak to either the office or to Ms Salmon.

🎉 A New Attendance Record 🎉

We’ve got some brilliant news to share with all our wonderful children and families!  On Wednesday 1^st October 2025, our school reached its best ever attendance for statutory school age children, a fantastic 97.2%!  This means that almost every child was in school, ready to learn, play and enjoy the day together.  What an amazing effort by everyone!

To celebrate this special moment, Mrs Zantboer made an exciting tannoy announcement so that the whole school could hear the good news.  Smiles could be seen in every classroom and cheers could be heard from the playground.  One of our Year 3 classes ended their lesson with a victory dance with Ms Salmon.  We are so proud of each and every one of you!

Thank you to all the children for coming in with your best attitude and to all the families for supporting good school attendance.  Every day in school is a day full of learning, laughter and friendship.  Let’s see if we can beat our record again soon!

Dates for the Diary

Monday 6^th October 2025 - Family Breakfast 8.00am

Tuesday 7^th October 2025 – Year 4 Local Walk

Thursday 9^th October 2025 – Year 2 Local Walk

Monday 13^th October 2025 - Family Breakfast 8.00am

Monday 13^th October 2025 – Year 6 SATs Info Sessions for Parents/Carers – 9.00am / 4.30pm

Tuesday 14^th October 2025 – Autumn 1 Project Showcase – Years Nursery, 1, 3 and 5

Tuesday 14^th October 2025 – First Class (Reception) Photos in the Evening Star (change of date)

Thursday 16^th October 2025 – Autumn 1 Project Showcase – Years Reception, 2, 4 and 6

Monday 20^th October 2025 - Family Breakfast 8.00am

Monday 20^th October 2025 – Year 3 Local Walk – Owls Class

Tuesday 21^st October 2025 – Year 3 Local Walk – Badgers Class

Thursday 23^rd October 2025 – Year 3 Local Walk – Rabbits Class

Monday 27^th October 2025 – Friday 31^st October 2025 – Half Term Holiday

Monday 3^rd November 2025 – Year 4 West Stow Visit

Thursday 6^th November 2025 – Scholastic Book Fair (after school)

Friday 7^th November 2025 – Tour for new Reception Children (starting Sept 2026)

Monday 10^th November 2025 – Scholastic Book Fair (after school)

Thursday 13^th November 2025 – Tour for new Reception Children (starting Sept 2026)

Friday 14^th November 2025 – Year 2 Framlingham Castle Visit

Friday 28^th November 2025 – Reports Home to Parents/Carers

Monday 1^st December 2025 – Tour for new Reception Children (starting Sept 2026)

Tuesday 2^nd December 2025 – Online Parents/Carers Evening – 3.30pm to 5.30pm

Thursday 4^th December 2025 – CET Christmas Concert

Tuesday 9^th December 2025 – Nursery Nativity Event

Thursday 11^th December 2025 – Reception Nativity Play

Thursday 11^th December 2025 – Online Parents/Carers Evening – 3.30pm to 6.30pm

Tuesday 16^th December 2025 – Autumn 2 Project Showcase – Years Reception, 2, 4 and 6

Thursday 18^th December 2025 – Autumn 2 Project Showcase – Years Nursery, 1, 3 and 5

Friday 19^th December 2025 – Last day in school before Christmas

Monday 22^nd December 2025 to Friday 2^nd January 2026 – Christmas Holiday

Monday 5^th January 2026 – PD Day (School closed to Children)

Tuesday 6^th January 2026 – First day back for the children

Monday 22^nd June to Tuesday 23^rd June 2026 – Year 6 Residential Trip to Mersea