Whitehouse Weekly Bulletin 335

Friday 16th January 2026

A Message from Miss Siddall:  Thank you for your support in getting your children to school on time through this spell of particularly cold and wet weather we are experiencing. The children have coped very well in the cold temperatures and have been well wrapped up for their break times.  This week, clubs have restarted and many children have chosen to take part in one or more of these.  We are very fortunate to be able to offer lots of free clubs at Whitehouse as we want all children to have the opportunity to learn, play, develop new skills and gain new experiences. Clubs run until the end of the half-term when there will be a new set of clubs on offer. We don’t offer our clubs on a first-come-first-served basis and priority is given to children who have not accessed a club this year, so if you were unlucky this term, then you will be more likely to be offered a place next time. Thank you for your support.

Attendance for the previous week:

Classes with the best attendance: Rabbits (99.14%)

Wednesday

We wanted to apologise to those parents/carers who were held up by the delay in getting the school gates opened on time on Wednesday morning.  Unfortunately, due to the frosty weather several of our padlocks froze and were difficult to open.  Thank you for your patience as we waited for the Site Manager to go around and assist. 

House Captains: PJ Day

On Friday 23rd January, the House Captains are holding a pyjama day to raise money for Children with Cancer UK. All children are invited to come to school wearing pyjamas and to give a suggested donation of £1 per child. As the temperatures continue to drop, please ensure that the pyjamas worn are appropriately warm.  We ask that children wear pyjamas with full-length trousers and long sleeves.  Oodies and onesies are also welcome.   Thank you for your continued support.

ITFC Match Reporters

You may remember in December we launched a competition for children in Years 5 and 6, to give them a chance to become a match reporter at an ITFC Match.  There were lots of amazing entries and it was very difficult to select the winners.  However, we are pleased to announce our winners who will be given this opportunity. 

Well done to Taku, Zofia and Noah in Year 5 and to Alaina-Hope, Muhamad, Ilya, Millie and Mia in Year 6.    The match will take place on Saturday 17^th January 2026 and we will share the match reports in our newsletter.

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.

EYFS:

Key Stage 1:

Lower Key Stage 2:

Upper Key Stage 2:

Staff News

We said goodbye this week to Miss Huggins, one of our Teaching Assistants, who has worked in our Breakfast Club and in KS2.  We wish her all the best in her new endeavours.  We are also pleased to welcome our new Attendance Officer next week.  Mrs Sharkey is looking forward to joining Whitehouse and getting to know our children and their families.

CET Chess Tournament

On Friday, Whitehouse took part in a CET Chess Tournament at Combs Ford Primary School in Stowmarket.  There were five schools taking part and there were a total of six teams, as we were pleased to take two teams, A and B.  Both our teams played really well and were able to put into practice some of the techniques they have been using in their weekly chess club. The final scores meant that Whitehouse Team B came 3^rd overall and took the bronze medal whilst Whitehouse Team A came first, taking the gold medal and a trophy!  Well done everybody, we look forward to displaying the trophy in our awards cabinet.  A big thank you to Mrs Hall for arranging the tournament, to Combs Ford for hosting and to Mr Edwards for all his help throughout the tournament and for running our Chess Club each term.

 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.  

Free Parent/Carer Workshops

The NHS run a number of free workshops for parents/carers.  If you would be interested you can find out more at http://nsft.uk/Workshops.  They are also running one specifically for Childhood Neurodivergence, which you access by looking at https://www.suffolklocaloffer.org.uk/health-and-wellbeing/autism-adhd-and-neurodevelopment/neurodiversity-online-parentcarer-workshops

Celebrating our Children

This week we are pleased to celebrate NJ and her further success in her karate. When she returned to class after Christmas she was thrilled to be awarded Student of the Year 2025 where she received a trophy and certificate. NJ has also been invited to join in the regionals, nationals and world championships this year so we wish her all the best in the further competitions.

Free School Meal Vouchers

We are pleased to confirm that Suffolk County Council will again be providing vouchers for those families whose are eligible for free school meals.  A £45 voucher per child will be allocated which will cover both the February Half Term and Easter holidays.  If you think your child may be 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.  We will give further details on when the vouchers will be sent out once we have this information. 

Plea for Help

We are looking to develop our Nursery Outdoor Creative Space and are on the lookout for cable drums.  If anyone has any they are able to donate, these would be gratefully received.  Please let either Mrs Vince or the school office know.  Thank you for your assistance.

Information requested from School

On occasions the school are contacted and asked to either complete forms (e.g. Disability Living Allowance) or provide copies of information we hold about a child (e.g. letter confirming your child attends the school).  Can we please remind parents/carers that there is a procedure we have to follow in school on such requests to ensure that we are following data protection laws.

Where forms need to be completed, these should only be handed in at the School Office, who will ensure they reach the correct members of staff.  If information is required, please ask at the office for a SAR form (Subject Access Request), which must be completed and handed to the office staff.  Please note that in both situations the school then has 30 days to complete the request.  Thank you for your understanding and co-operation in this matter.

Dates for the Diary

Monday 19^th January 2026 – Family Breakfast – 8.00am

Monday 19^th January 2026 – Year 3 DT Parent/Carer Session – 2.15pm

Thursday 22^nd January 2026 – Year 6 Mummification Parent/Carer Session – 9.05am

Monday 26^th January 2026 – Family Breakfast – 8.00am

Thursday 29^th January 2026 – Year 2 Parent/Carer Session – Time TBC

Monday 2^nd February 2026 – Family Breakfast – 8.00am

Monday 9^th February 2026 – Family Breakfast – 8.00am

Tuesday 10^th February 2026 – School Photographer: Class Photos

Tuesday 10^th February 2026 – Spring 1 Project Showcase – Years Nursery, 1, 3 and 5

Thursday 12^th February 2026 – Spring 1 Project Showcase – Years Reception, 2, 4 and 6

Monday 16^th February 2026 to Friday 20^th February 2026 – Half Term Holiday

Tuesday 24^th February 2026 – Year 6 Walton Trip – Toucans and Ocelots

Wednesday 25^th February 2026 – Year 6 Walton Trip – Tigers and Chameleons

Friday 27^th March 2026 – Last day in school before Easter

Monday 30^th March 2026 to Friday 10^th April 2026 – Easter Holiday

Monday 25^th May 2026 to Friday 29^th May 2026 – Half Term Holiday

Friday 22^nd May 2026 – PD Day (School closed to Children)

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

Tuesday 14th July 2026 – Year 6 Production- 9.30am and 6.00pm

Friday 17th July 2026 – Year 6 Leavers Picnic and Assembly – 1.50pm