Whitehouse Weekly Bulletin 326

Friday 24th October 2025

A Message from Miss Siddall: 

We’ve had an incredibly busy half term at Whitehouse, but we’ve achieved a lot and we’re very proud of the hard work the children have put into all their learning, both in the classroom and at home. I was especially pleased to see so many children engaging in the homework projects with their families.  It has also been wonderful to see some of the children going out on school trips or enjoying special themed days in school.  Thank you for all of your support.  I hope that you have a wonderful and safe half-term holiday. Please remember that school starts back on Monday 3rd November. We look forward to seeing you then.

Attendance for last week:

Class with the best attendance: Hedgehogs (98.71%)

Attendance: Duck Race Winners

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

Assemblies

The theme of our assemblies this week was Keeping Safe at Halloween (UNRC: Article 5: I have the right to be given guidance by my parents and family).  As part of the assembly the children learnt about what to do and not to do if they were out and about celebrating the Halloween holiday.  We hope you all have a wonderful and safe evening.

New Autumn Menu

We will be introducing our new Autumn menu from 3^rd November 2025 (after half term holiday).  The menu can be viewed on our website:

https://www.whcps.org/school-dinners/

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:

Celebrating our Children

This week we would like to celebrate Sophia from Year 5.  Sophia loves to play football and is player for the Coplestonians Girls, U10’s Panthers team.  We were very proud to hear that she was recently awarded the Manager Player of the Match Award, what a wonderful achievement Sophia.  Well done. Keep up the good work!

If you have something to share that your child has achieved outside of school we would love to celebrate them on our newsletter.  Just send an email to parents@whcps.org and let us know.

Accelerated Reader

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

Year 4: Tasty DT Creations

This week in their Design and Technology lessons, Year 4 pupils put their chopping, cutting and slicing skills to the test as they made their very own savoury salads.  The children loved using their five senses to evaluate their creations and their table partners enjoyed acting as the official taste testers!  It was a fun (and delicious) way to learn about food preparation and healthy eating.

Year 2: Local Area Walk

Year 2 went for a walk around the local area this week.

The children used a map to follow a route and added symbols as they went to show the different places they found.  They used directional language linked to their compass lesson in enquiry.  The children saw three churches, a bus stop and the park.

Scholastic Book Fair

Our next Scholastic Book Fairs are scheduled to take place after-school on Thursday 6th and Monday 10th November.  Both Book Fairs will be held between 3.00pm and 4.00pm in the Marlow Road Hall and will feature a fantastic range of titles for you to choose from including a good selection of budget-priced books for below £5.  As an added bonus, every child attending one of our after-school Book Fairs will have the opportunity to enter our free prize draw with a chance of winning a book chosen by one of our Prefects.  There is also a separate free to enter competition with the chance of winning a new book for your child's class book corner. 

Parents/Carers can pay for books whilst they are at the Fair in cash or via the online payment platform. Please note that in order to pay online, you will need to bring your mobile phone and physical payment card along to the Book Fair. You can access the online payment platform by scanning the QR code on display at the Book Fair. We look forward to seeing you at one of our Book Fairs after half term.  

Suffolk Parent Carer Forum

For parents/carers of children with SEND, please note the October 2025 edition of the SPCF newsletter is now available on the below link.  It includes SEND updates, useful information and a range of free events and activities happening around Suffolk over half term/  

https://suffolkpcf.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/October-2025-SPCF-Newsletter.pdf

Please be aware that the office will be closed during half term, so please refer to the newsletter for available support services.

Suffolk Schools Area Cross Country

After finishing a very impressive 7th and 9th place in their respective races during last year’s Ipswich & South Suffolk School Games Cross Country event, both Noah and Millie from Year 6 were invited to represent the School Games team in last week’s Suffolk Schools Area Cross Country Championships. The Area Championships, which again took place at the Royal Hospital School, involved both Noah and Millie competing in the minor boys’ and girls’ (Year 6 and 7 pupils) section of the competition. With the top 50 competitors progressing through to the Area Championships finals at Woodbridge School in January, the race was an extremely competitive affair! Both showed incredible determination, perseverance and stamina throughout their respective races, and were a real credit to themselves, Whitehouse and the School Games team.  After yet another very impressive race, Noah narrowly finished outside of the top 50. However, Millie was able to secure herself a top 50 place finishing in a very impressive 40th place. As a result, Millie has now qualified for the next round of the Area Championships!

Reception 2026: Open Mornings

Do you have a child who is starting in Reception in September 2026?  We are holding 3 tours the school so that parents/carers and their child can meet our Headteacher and have a look around Whitehouse.  If you would like to come along to any of the dates below, please call the office on 01473 741249 or email parents@whcps.org to book a space.

Dates of Reception Tours:

• Friday 7^th November 2025
• Thursday 13^th November 2025
• Monday 1^st December 2025

Dates for the Diary

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)

Tuesday 11^th November 2025 – Year 3 Stone Age Experience Visit

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

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

Tuesday 25^th November 2025 – Year 6 Bletchley Park Visit

Wednesday 26^th November 2025 – Year 5 Parent/Carer Science Session – 9.30am

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