Whitehouse Weekly Bulletin 340

Friday 27th February 2026

A Message from Miss Siddall:  We hope you all had a restful half-term break. It's been wonderful to see the children return with such enthusiasm for their new termly topic. The week has been full of exciting experiences that bring our curriculum to life. Our Reception children have been exploring space, role-playing as astronauts and developing their imagination and curiosity. Meanwhile, our Year 6 pupils enjoyed a fantastic trip to Walton-on-the-Naze beach in the spring sunshine, connecting their classroom learning with real-world experiences.  At Whitehouse, trips and visits are an integral part of our curriculum, enriching children's learning and creating memorable experiences. To help us organise these effectively, please return permission slips and lunch notifications promptly. If you have any concerns about your child attending a trip, please don't hesitate to talk to us – we're here to support you.

Attendance: Top 3 classes with the best attendance for week ending 13^th Feb 2026

Rabbits – 99%             Hedgehogs – 96%            Jaguars – 96%

Be an Attendance Hero!  Help achieve our 96% target!

🎉 Congratulations to the parents of Darawan in Toucans, who won a £20 Amazon gift card for achieving 100% attendance in Spring 1 – what a fantastic achievement! 🎉

We ask parents/carers to work with us to ensure good attendance by:

• Ensuring your child arrives on time every day
• Notifying school on the first day of absence by phone
• Providing medical information if requested
• Wherever possible, making medical/dental appointments outside of school hours
• Planning family holidays during school holiday periods

Attendance really makes a difference

• Regular attendance makes a real difference to children’s learning and development
• Every day in school builds on the last, helping children grow in confidence, strengthen friendships, and develop important skills in reading, writing and maths
• Consistent attendance also supports positive routines and good habits that prepare children for future success
• Every day truly counts, and even small improvements in attendance can have a big impact over time.

✨Who will win this half term?  Keep up the good attendance – it could be you next! ✨

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:

World Book Day

To help us celebrate World Book Day on Thursday 5^th March, we are happy to share the special lunchtime menu that will be available that day.  This is always a wonderful opportunity for your child to try a school dinner, if they have not had one before, or for a little while.  Hot dinners cost £2.62 but are free for all children in Reception, Year 1 and Year 2 and there is no charge for those children entitled to free school meals.  If you think your child may be eligible you can apply online at the following link:  https://www.suffolk.gov.uk/children-families-and-learning/schools/school-meals-uniforms-and-trips/apply-for-free-school-meals

Assemblies

The theme of our assemblies this week was The Joy of Kindness: the importance of sharing and being kind (UNRC: Article 29: I have the right to education which tries to develop my personality and abilities as much as possible and encourages me to respect other people’s rights and values and to respect the environment). Maybe as a family you could work on being kind and sharing with siblings, or choose a random act of kindness to do for someone in your neighbourhood.

Accelerated Reader

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

A Plea for Help!

Year 2 have put in a plea for help as they are in need of clear plastic bottles for an upcoming curriculum activity. 

Anything from 500ml up to 2 litre in size would be perfect.  Thank you for your help!

Attendance: Duck Race Winners

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

House Points: A Message from the House Captains:

Your House Captains are excited to announce the winners of the House Point competition from Spring 2 as follows:

In 4^th place is Ruby with 485 points

In 3^rd place is Emerald with 528 points

In 2^nd place is Diamond with 582 points

In 1^st place is Sapphire with 700 points

Well done Sapphire! 

NHS Parent/Carer Workshops

We are very pleased to be able to offer the following two courses for our parents/carers which will be held on site at the school during April.  These are very good courses which many families may find to be of benefit.  Keep an eye out for further details on how to sign up for the sessions.  For further information please speak to Mrs Gotts.

PE: Sporting Events

It was a very busy sporting final week of the half term as our school took part in three separate School Games events in three consecutive days! 

U11 Mixed Basketball Event

During the first event of the week, Mr Jordan took twelve of our Year 5/6 pupils to the Ipswich & South Suffolk School Games mixed Basketball event at Inspire Suffolk. The team was made up of both a girls’ and boys’ team. During the event, each match was divided up into two halves with the girls’ teams playing against each other during the first half, and the boys’ teams playing the second half. Due to number of schools competing in the event, the teams were separated into three groups to play a round robin of games, before progressing through to play off matches to determine which position each team would finish at the end of the event. During the initial group stages, our pupils played two matches, against Dale Hall and Morland Primary. The team ended the group stages with a win against Dale Hall and a loss to Morland Primary. Following the playoff matches against Gusford and Britannia primary school, the team finished the event in a very respectable 6th place. As this was a compete event, all four matches were played at a very fast and competitive tempo, with each team having to continually run up and down the court to attack and defend the basket. Mr Jordan was extremely proud of the teams’ teamwork and impressive basketball skills throughout the event. As a result of their hard work and effort, a number of the team received an invite to the upcoming Suffolk basketball trials and half term basketball camp! A special well done also goes to Lacie Mai for receiving the School Games ‘player of the team’ award, voted for collectively by Mr Jordan and the young leaders at the event. Well done everyone!

U11 Inclusive Ten Pin Bowling Event

The following day, Mrs Edwards and Mrs Welham took five KS2 pupils to Tenpin Ipswich to take part in the U11 Inclusive Ten Pin Bowling event. This was the second inclusive Bowling event that our pupils have had the opportunity to attend this academic year. Just like the previous event, the format involved each school playing 2 games of bowling with the total team score at the end of the first game recorded to determine which position each school would finish. This particular event was very popular with 19 schools in attendance! Mrs Edwards and Mrs Welham were extremely proud of the team spirit shown throughout the event, as the pupils continually applauded each other’s efforts. As a result of their hard work and effort, the team finished 8th place. To celebrate their hard work and participation within the event, each pupil in the team received a medal and certificate! A special mention also goes to Samson.

U9 Basketball Festival

During the final event of the week, Mr Jordan and Mrs Moore took ten Year 3/4 pupils to Suffolk One to take part in the U9 Basketball Festival. The festival, which was led by the students at Suffolk One, was split into two parts. The initial part of the afternoon involved each school rotating around a carousal of basketball activities which was designed to allow the pupils to practice an array of basketball skills from dribbling, passing to conditioned gameplay. The pupils had lots of fun as they worked closely with the Suffolk One students to further develop the basketball skills they have

learnt with Mr Jordan during their basketball after school club. The second half of the afternoon provided the opportunity for each school to apply their skills into conditioned games of basketball against the other teams at the festival. With the aid of the teachers, the games were led and officiated by Suffolk One / School Games staff.  Not only did the team demonstrate some very good basketball skills during the game, they also showed fantastic sportsmanship as they took time to shake hands with their opponents after the match!  A fantastic effort from the team, well done!

Year 6: Walton Trip

Year 6 had a brilliant time in Walton-on-the-Naze this week, learning lots about coastal erosion and how sea defences allow humans to protect vulnerable coastlines.  They even got the chance to go fossil hunting and managed to find fossilised shells, wood and even shark teeth.  The children were wonderful ambassadors for Whitehouse, the activity leaders were impressed by their enthusiasm and engagement across the day and a member of the public even complimented the staff on the wonderful behaviour of the pupils at lunchtime.

World Book Day – 5^th March 2026

Preparations are almost complete for this year’s World Book Day at Whitehouse which is taking place on Thursday 5^th March.  Teachers have been sharing information with the children, including this year’s specially produced World Book Day books.   The main aim of World Book Day is to encourage children to begin a lifelong love of reading, so they produce a special selection of books which are available for just £1.00 and book tokens are provided for each child to cover the cost of one of these books.

Building on the success of previous year’s events and taking onboard feedback from the children last year, we have asked the children to pre-select their chosen book from the list of available titles, which have then been pre-ordered and will be available for the children to take home on Thursday.  Some of the children had difficulty choosing so we do have a few spares in case of a last-minute change of mind!  We will also ensure that there are copies in our libraries that children can borrow.

As always, we would like to invite each child to come to school dressed as their favourite book character.  We are aware that with the cost of living, this can be difficult for families, so please do not feel you have to go out and buy a costume.   Instead, why not have some fun together making a very simple costume using items you have at home?  The World Book Day website has lots of fantastic ideas:

https://www.worldbookday.com/resource-types/dressing-up/

There's also a simple to enter competition with a chance to win one of 20 YOTO Player bundles which include a YOTO Player and up to £200 worth of YOTO cards. https://www.worldbookday.com/yoto-competition/

Whole School SMSC Day: Oracy

Our SMSC day on the Friday before half term was all about learning how to improve our speaking and listening skills!  Oracy is the ability to speak and listen effectively and is a vital skill that underpins learning and confident and positive relationships.  Across the school, children took part in a range of fun and engaging activities designed to help them think about how they speak, listen and why communication is so important.  The children learnt a wide range of new skills such as:

• Understanding how voices can be used and changed to express feelings
• How to use new and challenging vocabulary to improve their communication
• How to reason and structure their talking to support their views and opinions
• How to use active listening to respond appropriately and work with others effectively

The day was full of active learning!  Every year group enjoyed playing games or activities to practice oracy skills, including ‘Squashed Bananas’, ‘If I…’, ‘Guess Who’, ‘Whispers’ and ‘0-20’ to name a few.  Throughout the school there was lots of talking, lots of listening and much laughter!

Here were some of the children’s thoughts on the day:

“I learnt you have to look at someone when they are talking and listen and don’t talk over each other!”

“It was so fun to learn that way!”

“Can we play the game again at break time?”

“Let’s work as a team everyone!”

Dates for the Diary

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

Thursday 5^th March 2026 – World Book Day (Dress as your favourite book character)

Monday 9^th March 2026 - Family Breakfast – 8.00am

Wednesday 11^th March 2026 – Year 3 Colchester Roman Experience Day

Wednesday 11^th March 2026 – Reports Home to Parents

Thursday 12^th March 2026 – Parents/Carers Evening – 3.30pm to 5.30pm

Monday 16^th March 2026 - Family Breakfast – 8.00am

Tuesday 17^th March 2026 – Parents/Carers Evening – 3.30pm to 6.30pm

Thursday 19^th March 2026 – Year 5 Felixstowe Trip (Groups 1 and 2)

Friday 20^th March 2026 – Comic Relief: Red Nose Day

Monday 23^rd March 2026 - Family Breakfast – 8.00am

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

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

Tuesday 21^st April 2026 – NHS Parent/Carer Workshop: Anxiety – 2.00pm to 3.00pm

Tuesday 28^th April 2026 – NHS Parent/Carer Workshop: Emotion Regulation – 2.00pm to 3.00pm

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