Whitehouse Weekly Bulletin 347

Friday 1st May 2026

A Message from Miss Siddall:   

This week, I’ve been reflecting on courage, one of our core Whitehouse Way values. Across the school, I’ve seen children showing courage by sharing ideas, tackling challenges and trying new things, even when they feel unsure. These moments help build confidence and independence.  Courage is not about never feeling nervous, but about having a go and learning along the way. We are proud of how our pupils support one another to take these positive steps.  You might ask your child: “When did you show courage this week?” 

Have a wonderful Bank Holiday weekend. I’m sure many of you will be enjoying some sunshine too.

Attendance: Top 3 classes with the best attendance for week ending 24^th April 2026

               Chameleons (100%)   Frogs (99%)  Ocelots (99%) 

                            Whole School Attendance: 95%

WOW!  Well done Chameleons, 100% attendance all week!  ACE has enjoyed spending time with you all this week!  Who will ACE visit next week?  Remember, Attend Class Every day on time and your class could be next to look after ACE!

Absence Line

It is so important to call or email the school when you know your child is going to be absent.  If we do not know the reason, we will have to unauthorise the absence and if this occurs for more than 5 days (not necessarily consecutively), our policy states we can issue a fixed penalty notice.  Naturally, we would rather this did not happen but it is a course of action we sometimes have to take. If there is anything we can do to support your child in their attendance then please do not hesitate to contact us.  Mrs Sharkey, our Attendance Officer is always willing to meet with or speak to parents/carers to assist wherever she can.  For persistent absence, where your child is sick often, we will require proof of any medical appointments.  We know many come via text now, so that is fine, these can be emailed in or shown to a member of the school office team.  Viewing these will then allow us to note this on your child’s absence record. 

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:

Year 1 Colchester Zoo Visit

As part of the Year 1’s science and writing units this half term, last Friday the Year 1’s took a trip to Colchester Zoo.  They had a lovely time and the weather was perfect!  The children were able to see a variety of animals, including tigers, snakes, penguins, gibbons, elephants and giraffes to name just a few!  The children all showed amazing listening skills and showed the staff at the Zoo the respect that we would expect from our children at Whitehouse.  The teachers were impressed with the behaviour shown throughout the day.  Everyone did a super job and it was an enjoyable day for all.  Well done Year 1.

Year 2 Shimpling Farm Visit

Over the last two weeks each Year 2 class went on an amazing visit to Shimpling Farm as part of their enquiry topic ‘Where does your food come from?’. During the visit they were surprised to discover how many food items are made using wheat as an ingredient. They were able to grind their own flour, before sieving the white flour from the wholegrain. This flour was then used to make their own delicious bread which they sampled at the end of the day. They acted out being a wheat seed as it grew and even got to look at all of the different equipment used to help grow wheat including the massive combine harvester. The children also had an opportunity to see some fluffy lambs that are also kept on the farm and identify plants in the orchard. They all had great days with lovely weather and gained new knowledge to support their science and enquiry work.  Well done Year 2.

Free School Meal Vouchers

Please note we have received confirmation that Suffolk County Council will again be providing parents/carers of children who are eligible for free school meals (due to receiving certain benefits) a supermarket voucher to help with the cost of food during May half term.  As previously, this will be a £15 voucher for each eligible child.  Due to cuts in funding they are unable at this stage to confirm whether this will continue in future holiday periods.  Vouchers must be used within two months or they will expire and will be sent out by email by Thursday 21^st May 2026 (from the email, noresponse@vouchers.pluxee.uk).  Should you not receive your voucher or have any questions, please contact the Free School Meal team at freeschoolsmeals@suffolk.gov.uk who will be able to assist. 

Times Tables Revision: Year 4

Building confidence in times tables can be fun, engaging and full of small wins!  This is what our Year 4 classes have been learning this week, as staff encouraged the children to focus on the times tables they find the most challenging, using their heat maps from TTRS.  This can be supported at home in easy, playful ways:

• Log into TTRS and try Garage mode for personalised practice
• Head outside and use chalk to write number facts, turning the driveway or pavement into a colourful learning space!

With a mix of digital practice and active play, children can build fluency, confidence and even enjoy the process.  Every small win counts! 

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.

Celebrating our Staff and Children

We love to celebrate the achievements of members of our school community.  This week we heard about Larnie in Year 2 who took part in her first inter-competition with her street dance group.  She was able to take part in freestyle, duos and groups and we were very excited to hear that Larnie and her partner got into the final for their duo dance, achieving an impressive 2^nd place!  Overall the group came 5^th.  What an amazing achievement Larnie, well done!

We also were excited to have one of our staff members take part in the London Marathon last weekend.  Mrs Jousiffe, who works in our school office completed her third marathon, achieving her personal best of 4 hours 37 minutes.  As you can see she was very happy to complete this amazing achievement.  Well done!

Your Child’s Digital Footprint

What is a digital footprint?  Basically, this is the trail we create online whenever we visit a web page, buy something, scroll social media and everything else we do online.  It is a really important aspect to understand for lots of reasons such as privacy, reputation, advertising, risks of harm and much more.

Internet Matters have a really good explainer article covering what a digital footprint is, what we mean by an active footprint, why it matters and much more.  You can access this information here:

https://www.internetmatters.org/hub/expert-opinion/what-you-need-to-know-about-your-childs-digital-footprint/

Year 3 French Day

This week in Year 3, the children had the opportunity to experience French Day where they participated in a range of activities, including buying an ice cream and writing a postcard home in French.  They were also lucky enough to taste some delicious French food. One child in the Badgers class said ‘I wish every day could be French Day!’.  Thank you to the parents/carers who attended our food tasting session and well done to the children who behaved beautifully throughout the day.

Attendance: Duck Race Winners

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

Dates for the Diary

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