Whitehouse Weekly Bulletin 354

Friday 26th June 2026

A Message from Miss Siddall: 

Thank you for your continued support during what has been a very busy and hot week. The children have coped brilliantly with the heat and we're grateful to our teachers for adapting activities to keep everyone comfortable and safe. The children have really enjoyed the opportunity to meet their new teachers and classes on Wednesday and Thursday this week and have been asking lots of questions about what they will be learning next year and whether there will be any trips or visits. Our Year Six children had a wonderful time on their residential trip to Mersea Island and visiting their new high schools for their transition sessions.  Looking ahead to next week, we look forward to seeing many of you at our summer fair on Friday (3rd July). 

Attendance: Top 3 classes with the best attendance for week ending 19^th June 2026

                          Puffins (100%)  Ocelots (99%)  Hedgehogs (99%)

          Whole School Attendance: 95%

A Message from Mrs Sharkey, the Attendance Officer

A huge well done to Puffins class, who achieved 100% attendance last week and earned the chance to look after our Attendance Hero, ACE (Attend Class Every Day Bear), all week!

ACE had a wonderful time with you all, as you can see from the photos!

Who will get to look after ACE this week?  Come to school every day and arrive on time and it could be your class 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. Well done to you all.

EYFS:

Key Stage 1:

Lower Key Stage 2:

Upper Key Stage 2:

Dinner and Breakfast Club Debt

A reminder that we have a number of children who have debt for dinner money or breakfast club.  Please be aware that all debt MUST be cleared by the end of the summer term.  Please make prompt payment to the office or via Arbor.  If you are not sure what you owe, please speak to a member of the Office Team.

Year 4 Design Workshop

Year 4 recently took part in an exciting design workshop delivered by Mrs Walker, focused on creating seamless patterns.  The children explored how patterns can be repeated without visible gaps or breaks, just like those in wallpapers, fabrics and wrapping paper. It was wonderful to see the children experimenting with colours, shapes and ideas to make their own repeated, seamless patterns.

Reception / Year 1 After School Library Sessions

Thank you to all those parents who have attended the after-school library sessions with their Reception and Year 1 children.  Please note these have now finished for the summer term and will recommence in September. 

Accelerated Reader

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

Reception Parent/Carer Session

Our EYFS team are very excited to invite the parents/carers of our Reception children in for a fun session on Thursday 2^nd July 2026 at 2.00pm, where you will be able to get creative.  See the poster for more details!

Library Books

Can we please ask that if your child has any school library books that these are please returned by Friday 3^rd July. This will enable us to ensure everything is in place by the end of the year, ready for borrowing to begin again in September.  Thank you for your co-operation.

Free School Meals (FSM)

An important reminder! If your child is currently eligible for Free School Meals (due to benefits), this will not continue into September unless you complete a FSM form and this is re-approved by Suffolk County Council.  Also, if you are in receipt of Universal Credit, please complete a form as your child will be eligible for FSM from September – but only if the form is completed and returned.

Attendance: Duck Race Winners

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

Parental Returnship Programme

Are you a parent/carer who has been out of work for 2 years or more due to caring for your children and are looking to return to work?

Suffolk County Council are again running their Parental Returnship Programme, which is a 12 week paid placement, working 25 hours per week, with flexibility to fit around childcare responsibilities.  Through workplace experience, development sessions and ongoing support, the programme helps participants build confidence, refresh skills and prepare for a successful return to work.  Applications open on 28 June and can be made on www.careers.suffolk.gov/uk/home/parental-returners

Celebrating our Children

This week we heard that we have some budding actors in our midst!  A huge well done to Leo in Year 1 and his sister Lola in 4.  Last weekend, they performed in a local pantomime which was running at Bucklesham Village Hall. They had worked hard for weeks learning their parts and were very nervous, especially Leo as it was his first time being in a pantomime! The show was called ‘Where is Grandad?’ and they both did an amazing job!  Well done to you both.

Sports Day 2026

After having to postpone it twice, last week was third time lucky as our pupils (Nursery – Year 6) represented their ‘Houses’ and competed against their peers in our annual Sports Days.  As with previous years, and with the help of our fantastic Sports Leaders, Mr Jordan organised and conducted individual sports day sessions (7 in total) over two days. During each session, pupils from each year group put their hard work and the skills learnt in their recent Athletics units of work in PE into practice, as each class rotated around six different athletic-based activities. Within each class, the pupils were grouped into their ‘Houses’ and competed against their peers from the other houses to try to gain as many points for their house as possible.

To celebrate the pupils representing their houses, each Sports Day session again began with an opening ceremony with parents/carers and family members lining the playground to cheer and clap as each class was introduced and welcomed onto the KS2 field. It was amazing to see the amount of effort each class, and a number of our parents/carers, had gone to produce banners, signs and flags to celebrate the ‘Houses’ the pupils would be representing during their session.

Despite the sweltering conditions for some sessions and the adapted playground sessions for others due to rain, all of the pupils’ put in 100% effort and demonstrated ‘The Whitehouse Way’ throughout each sports day session. The enthusiasm and healthy competition shown by each of the pupils was fantastic. 

It was also amazing to see so many parent/carers and family members in attendance, enjoying the events and cheering the pupils on. Mr Jordan would like to take this opportunity to thank all of our pupils, staff, Sports Leaders and particularly parents/carers and family members for helping to make this year’s sports day yet another huge success!

Sports Day Results: 2026

The scores from each of the individual year groups sport day sessions and the overall results have been counted and verified! As a result, we can reveal the results and winning ‘House’ from this year’s sports day is as follows:

Walk to School Week

Well done to everyone that took part in the ‘Walk to School Week’ challenge during the final week before half term. It was amazing to see so many of our pupils taking part in the challenge, and enjoying walking to school. It was again fantastic to also hear that a number of families opted to park their cars further away from school and walk the final part of their journey into school throughout the week.  As with previous years, and to add a fun competitive element to the week, Mr Jordan set an extra challenge to see which class in each year group was the most active and had the greatest number of pupils walking to school throughout the ‘Walk to School Week’. 

The results for the inter-class competition were as follows:  

Well done again to everyone that took part in the ‘Walk to School Week’ Challenge!

Wake Up & Walk: Coming Soon!

Following the continued success of last year’s ‘Wake up & Walk’, we will again be inviting parents/carers to take part in the Daily Mile inspired event. As with the previous year’s, this year’s ‘Wake Up & Walk’ will again be an informal and optional event, which will invite parents/carers the opportunity to take part in a 2 lap walk around the KS2 field before school with their child. Keep an eye out in next week’s Newsletter for full details!

KS2 Tennis Panathlon Event

Last Monday morning Mr Jordan took seven of our KS2 pupils to take part in the U11 Mixed Tennis Panathlon event which took place at Ipswich School Sports Centre. During the event, with the help of the young leaders from Northgate High School, each team rotated around a carousel of fun and inclusive tennis-based skills activties in which each pupil aimed to score as many points as possible for their team. The team had lots of fun completing each of the activities and showed fantastic teamwork as they cheered and encouraged each other as they took their turns to complete each of the activities. At the end of the event, the scores for each school were added together to give each team an overall score. As a result of their hard work and perseverance, the team were extremely excited to be presented with medals and certificates at the end of the event!

Whitehouse Shines at Bee Netball Tournament

On Thursday, a team of 16 Year 5 and 6 children from Whitehouse, accompanied by Ms Salmon and Miss Last proudly represented the school at the Bee Netball Tournament at the Ipswich School Sports Centre. The Tournament was divided into two sections: a competitive league and a development league, giving all of the children an opportunity to showcase their skills and enjoy the experience of representing their school.  Our Development League team had an outstanding day, winning all of their matches. They played with confidence, demonstrating excellent teamwork and great determination.  Their positive attitude helped them achieve a fantastic, unbeaten record.

Meanwhile, the Competitive Team faced a number of strong opponents.  Despite that, they performed exceptionally, winning five matches, drawing one and losing just two.  They also displayed resilience, sportsmanship and skill in every game, making us all proud!

Throughout the day, all 16 pupils demonstrated excellent behaviour and represented the school brilliantly, both on and off the court.  Their teamwork, encouragement of one another and their enthusiasm were a credit to the school.  Huge congratulations to everyone who took part.  A special thank you to Ms Salmon and Miss Last for their support during the event. 

HAF Summer Clubs

A reminder to all those families whose children are eligible for Free School Meals (due to receiving benefits) that there are many ‘Holiday Activity and Food Programme’ clubs available free of charge over the summer holidays.  To book please either scan the QR code, or go to the following link: https://eequ.org/suffolkhaf/. 

If you have any queries please send an email to HAFenquiries@suffolk.gov.uk 

Dates for the Diary

Monday 29^th June 2026 - Family Breakfast 8.00am

Tuesday 30^th June 2026 – Year 4 Victorian School – Squirrels Class

Tuesday 30^th June 2026 – Year 1 Felixstowe Trip (Rearranged Date)

Thursday 2^nd July 2026 – Year 4 Victorian School – Hedgehogs Class

Thursday 2^nd July 2026 - Helping Hands (pm)

Friday 3^rd July 2026 – School Summer Fair – 3.30pm

Monday 6^th July 2026 - Family Breakfast 8.00am

Monday 6^th July 2026 – Year 5 Ipswich Tudor Walk

Tuesday 7^th July 2026 – Year 2 Parent/Carer Session (Year 2 into 3 Readiness) – 9.00am / 2.45pm

Thursday 9^th July 2026 – Year 4 Victorian School – Foxes Class

Friday 10^th July 2026 – Reports home to parents

Monday 13^th July 2026 - Family Breakfast 8.00am

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

Thursday 16^th July 2026 - Helping Hands (pm)

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