Whitehouse Weekly Bulletin 346

Friday 24th April 2026

A Message from Miss Siddall:   

This week, I've been reflecting on perseverance – one of our core Whitehouse Way values – and I've seen many children displaying this as I've visited classes. In Year 6, the children have been working hard to improve in reading, writing and maths, as well as trying new ways to create their dreamcatchers using woollen yarn.  Perseverance is a life skill that helps our children build resilience and confidence. When children stick with something difficult, they discover that effort and practice lead to progress. At Whitehouse, we celebrate this 'have-a-go' attitude because it will serve our pupils well throughout their lives.  This week, why not ask your child: "What was the hardest thing you did this week? How did you stick with it?"

Attendance: Top 3 classes with the best attendance for week ending 17^th April 2026

                   Foxes (99%)   Dragons (99%)  Rabbits (99%)  

                           Whole School Attendance: 94%

A Message from our Attendance Officer, Mrs Sharkey:

A huge well done to Foxes for achieving the best attendance again this week!  You made our Attendance Hero, ACE (Attend Class Every day) bear very happy – he loved spending the whole week with your class!  Now, the big question is… who will look after ACE next week?  Keep coming to school every day and it could be your class next!

I am also excited to announce that the Kiosk is back!  Even better, Reception classes can now start collecting stamps in their passports too.  ACE and I have already been counting stamps since before half term, and we have been so pleased to see so many children attending school every day.  Every single week you come into school, you are not just learning new things and seeing your friends, you are also earning a stamp in your passport, and what do stamps mean?  PRIZES!  I cannot wait to visit the Reception classes so you can all spend your stamps.

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. Well done to you all.

EYFS:

Key Stage 1:

Lower Key Stage 2:

Upper Key Stage 2:

School Website

Did you know that you can find lots of information on our website that you might find helpful?  The newsletter is added to the front page each Friday, and is a great place to check the ‘dates for the diary’ so you don’t miss out on any events, especially with so much happening in the summer term.  Or if you have a look under the ‘Parents’ signpost, then you will find the school menu, term dates, the club list and also copies of all of the letters that are sent home.    Just take a look at www.whcps.org.

Sporting Fixtures after School

As you will see from previous newsletters we have a number of netball and footballs teams who compete against local schools.  Most of these fixtures take place at the end of the day and although it is wonderful to have members of our school community stay behind and cheer on the team, can we please remind you children are only permitted to stay if their adult is with them.  Even if they have an adult’s permission, they will not be allowed to stay unsupervised.  Thank you for your assistance in this matter.

Accelerated Reader

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

Attendance: Duck Race Winners

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

Online Safety: Roblox Kids and Roblox Select

Roblox have been making some big changes recently and that now includes age-gating, so that children and young people get the experience according to their age.  This means that there are now 3 types of Roblox accounts:

• Roblox Kids – for children 5-8 years
• Roblox Select – for children 9-15 years
• Roblox – for anyone 16+

For any users that have not completed an age check, they will be put into the youngest users category and parents/carers can update or correct a child’s age through a linked account.  Please see the link for a breakdown of the different accounts: 

https://en.help.roblox.com/hc/en-us/articles/48163847200532-What-are-Roblox-Kids-and-Roblox-Select

Stay and Play

Highfield will again be holding their Stay and Play sessions on a Thursday afternoon at our Nursery (enter via the Marlow Road gate).  Sessions start at 1.30pm and finish at 2.45pm and are for families who have a child under 5 years of age.  Sessions will be on the following dates:

7^th, 14^th and 21^st May 2026

4^th, 11^th, 18^th and 25^th June 2026

2^nd, 9^th and 16^th July 2026

Sports Day

We are very excited to be holding our Sports Days next month.  Please note the days and times as detailed below.  We hope many of you will be able to join us.  We will share more information about which gate to enter and when they will be open nearer to the date.

Year 5/6 Boys Football

Last Thursday the Year 5/6 boys’ football team were back in action as they hosted top of the league Sidegate Primary School. Given Sidegate’s current league position, the boys knew that it was going to be a tough match. Undeterred, the boys were very excited to take to the pitch again! Throughout the match the boys showed real perseverance and worked extremely hard to try to close down the ball and track the runs of their opponents. Despite conceding an early goal, the boys continued to work hard and began to play with more confidence. Enjoying much improved spells of possession and build-up play of their own, the boys hard work was rewarded with a very well struck goal by Callum. Having equalised, the boys were unlucky to find themselves trailing 2-1 at half time.  

The second half continued to be a very competitive affair with both teams demonstrating some excellent passing and link up play when in possession of the ball. Out of possession, the boys continued to work extremely hard to defend Sidegate’s high pressing football. Despite the boys’ best efforts, unfortunately the match finished with a win to Sidegate. Mr Jordan was extremely pleased with the boy’s efforts and perseverance to keep working as team and give 100% effort from the first to the final whistle!

Norwich City Football Trials

Norwich City Football Club will be holding open trials for next season’s Development Centres, which will take place across Suffolk, offering pupils high-quality football coaching.  If your child is interested more details and registration information can be found at the following link: https://www.abler.io/shop/ncfcfd/trials or by scanning the QR code on the poster.

Dates for the Diary

Monday 27^th April 2026 – Family Breakfast – 8.00am

Monday 27^th April 2026 – Year 2 Shimpling Farm Trip – Frogs

Tuesday 28^th April 2026 – Year 3 French Day

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

Thursday 30^th April 2026 – Year R Easton Farm Park Trip

Monday 4^th May 2026 – Bank Holiday

Monday 11^th May 2026 – Family Breakfast – 8.00am

Monday 11^th May 2026 to Thursday 14^th May 2026 – Year 6 SATs Week

Friday 15^th May 2026 – Year 6 Parent/Carer Dreamcatchers Session – 9.05am

Monday 18^th May 2026 – Family Breakfast – 8.00am

Tuesday 19^th May 2026 – Sports Day (Nursery to Year 3)

Wednesday 20^th May 2026 – Sports Day (Years 4 to 6)

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

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

Friday 5^th June 2026 – Whole School SMSC Day: Thinking about Thinking

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

Wednesday 24^th June 2026 – Transition afternoon

Thursday 25^th June 2026 – Transition morning

Friday 10^th July 2026 – Reports home to parents

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

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

Friday 17^th July 2026 – Last day of the Summer Term for the children

Monday 20^th July 2006 – PD Day (School closed to the children)

Tuesday 1^st September 2026 – PD Day (School closed to the children)

Wednesday 2^nd September 2026 – PD Day (School closed to the children)

Thursday 3^rd September 2026 – First day of Autumn Term for the children