Whitehouse Common Primary -

Welcome

CLICK HERE TO READ THE RE-OPENING NEWSLETTER, DATED 21/05/2020

URGENT UPDATE 15/05/20

KEY WORKER CHILDCARE- WEEKS BEGINNING 1ST, 8TH & 15th JUNE 2020

Please be aware that currently we cannot guarantee the opening of school for education of Nursery, Reception, Year 1 or Year 6 or exactly when this may happen. Therefore, if your child is in one of these year groups, please book any childcare you may need IF the school has not opened. (If and when the school has opened to your child’s class we will assume your child will attend with their class rather than for child care, unless you inform us otherwise.) Please note that it is vital that we have accurate information of your child care needs as this will impact on the number of children/classes we can offer education to in school.

If you are a Key Worker and require childcare during these weeks. Please complete our online booking form.

ALL CHILDCARE WILL RETURN TO WHITEHOUSE COMMON FROM MONDAY 1st JUNE 2020.

PLEASE NOTE, THIS BOOKING FORM IS AVAILABLE UNTIL 9AM TUESDAY 19TH MAY 2020.

UPDATE 13/05/20

Dear Parents/Carers

Urgent response required from Nursery, Reception, Year 1 and Year 6.

I hope this letter finds you and your family safe and well.

As you are aware, the government would like schools to start to reopen to Nursery, Reception, Year 1 and Year 6 children from Monday 1st June 2020. In order for us to prepare for this and to ensure the safety of all children, parents and staff, it is necessary for us to know if you will be sending your child/ren to school when we are open those year groups.

Please can you provide us with this information by Monday 18th May at 12pm using the registration form on our school website. You will need to complete a separate registration form for each child. If you cannot do this online, please call the school office, on option 3, to let us know your decision either way. Your response is really important to us; we would appreciate a 100% response. If you do not reply, we will assume you do not want a place.

We need this information urgently in order to plan the following: classroom allocation, timetabling, staffing requirements (ratios), safe movement around the site for children, parents and staff (to include the potential staggering of pick up/drop off) and lunchtime arrangements etc.

Please be aware that if and when children come to school, they will be in much smaller groups which may mean they could be in different classrooms from the one they may be used to, they may not be with their friends and they may be with different teaching staff. School will no longer look and feel the same as it has in the past; the groups will not mix e.g. no assemblies, no competitive sports, no playtimes with their friends etc. We will endeavour to provide a broad and balanced curriculum within the constraints of this current situation. However, restrictions on the sharing of resources and movement around the classroom will inevitably have an impact. We are aware this could be unsettling for the children and we will support them in every way we can with this.

All of this information will be used to manage and reduce risk and to ensure the continued healthy and safety and well-being of the children, parents and staff whilst on site.

If the risk assessment indicates that the risk is too high, then we will have to reassess our position. Whilst we will do all that we can to support the children returning to school, the health and safety of all staff and pupils will be the overarching priority and if we feel that this may be compromised in some way, we will not open the school until it is safe to do so.

Once we have your information and have conducted a thorough review of need, in line with current DfE guidance, we will then be in a position to advise you of arrangements and protocols which will need to be in place to start a smooth transition back to school. The DfE has advised that parents will not be fined for non-attendance.

May I take this opportunity to thank you all for your continued support at this very difficult time.

Yours sincerely

Deborah Allen
Head teacher

Click here to complete the form

Coronavirus (COVID-19)

Update - 29/04/20

If you are a Key Worker and require childcare during week beginning 25th May. Please complete our online booking form. Please note, this booking form is available until Tuesday 12th May 2020.

If you are a Key Worker and need Emergency Childcare during this half term and have not registered your childs place, please contact school via This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Where possible please keep us informed, via the school email, if your circumstances have changed and therefore no longer require the child care place that you have booked.

PLEASE NOTE: Childcare provision for Whitehouse Common children will continue to take place at Hollyfield Primary School and as you will already be aware, we are no longer able to offer before or after school care.

PLEASE NOTE ONLY THE OAKS OFFICE IS CURRENTLY OPEN.

School will be closed from MONDAY 30TH MARCH 2020 and therefore telephones will not be manned. Any queries please email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

With regards to school admissions we will be processing these on our return to school.

Thank you for visiting our website. We are very proud of our busy and friendly school. We hope you enjoy our website and that you find lots of useful and interesting information. If you wish to read a welcome message from our Head Teacher please CLICK HERE

We are aware that School Money have redeveloped their website which has caused some confusion for parents attempting to login and pay for school dinners. The School Money link on the right hand side of our website will take you to the correct login screen. Alternatively please CLICK HERE.

Week Commencing ...

School is currently closed and emergency childcare is being provided to Key Worker families only. We will update our weekly events calendar when school re-opens.

School Reopening Newsletter - 21/05/2020

reopening

[Click here] to read the latest letter, dated 21/05/2020, detailing school re-opening.

NEWSLETTER 12 MAY 2020

Please [click here] for the newsletter

Singing Opportunities !

Singing is a fantastic activity to engage in at any time, and our current situation is no exception. See below some fantastic, high-quality, online singing opportunities tailored to different age groups.

LIVE singing sessions: We are also providing LIVE singing sessions every week, aimed at specific age groups. It would be lovely to get you involved in these: they're fun, friendly and will brighten your day! Live videos will appear on our main page here, which you can subscribe to for free. Live timings are as follows:

Mondays 5pm (ages 4-9); Thursdays 5pm (ages 9+); Fridays 7pm adults!

You'll also find a variety of music tutorials, focusing on rhythm, sight-singing and some other singing videos - find them here!

Do tweet us at @whcps if you take part in any of the sessions, and let your teacher know when they call you!

Further details about Singing Community of Choirs can be found at scchoirs.org.uk

Letter to Parents - 27/04/2020

Dear Parents,

I do hope you and your families are well and that lockdown is proving to be as positive experience as possible for you all. Please may I take this opportunity to remind you that there are many support mechanisms in place for both children and adults; a range of information can be found on our website. There is no doubt that I speak for all the school staff when I say we are really missing you and the children and look forward very much to when we can see you all again.

As you are aware, since 23^rd March, we have been providing our key worker child care provision, run by our own staff in a self contained part of the building, at Hollyfield Primary School. We will continue to provide this while it is required. This child care is for key worker parents only, but most importantly those key workers who have no other alternative child care arrangements.

Please may I take this opportunity to remind you that homework for children is on our school website. Initially, our aim was to ensure that there was a range of work for all year groups that would support home learning until after the Easter holiday. However, we will be updating this for every year group every two weeks. It is absolutely vital that every child can access their homework and carry out key tasks so as to ensure this unavoidable and unprecedented disruption to their education has minimal impact. Teachers are setting carefully chosen activities that support your child’s learning of the National Curriculum, builds on their prior knowledge and deepens their understanding of key concepts. Many children are having virtual music lessons arranged by their peripatetic teachers. Parents who have contacted us about difficulties accessing homework information on line will be contacted individually.

Essential homework that you have been provided with for your child on the website is as follows:

Nursery to yr 2. - Daily phonics on line (youtube link on website)

Yr 1 to Yr 6 - White Rose maths lessons - watch tutorials and complete the corresponding activity (Reception to complete maths tasks provided for them in their homework area on website).

-All children to read daily and ensure guidance from teachers is followed so that they access a range of texts

-History and Geography on the guidance for your child’s class ensures coverage of the national curriculum and progression across school.

-All children to work on their basic skills to include number bonds work for EYFS and KS1 and times tables (TT Rockstars) work for yr 2 upwards.

-Spellings are all on the website under the curriculum tab/Spelling.

- Years 1 to 6 have also now been set an account with either ClassDojo (Y1 & 2) or Showbie (Y3 - 6). This is a great way to keep in touch with your teachers and improve your learning. Please can children update this with photos of their work or information about what they have been doing.

Please access the homework area on the website for all the relevant information for your child’s year group.

As you are aware, staff are making contact with children in their class approximately every 2 weeks to have a general chat and maintain contact. Mrs Horne is calling children who she sees on a regular basis for extra support and Mrs Slassor may call parents of SEND children, too. Please be mindful that these conversations take time and will take place over a number of days. Staff will call from numbers that are withheld, so please be mindful of this and do answer your phone! We will worry if we cannot get in touch with children and families!

We are aware that we want to continue to celebrate and reward the children’s effort, hard work and positive attitudes to their learning, whilst they are working from home. We will, of course, be doing this in our phone calls home and also when children return to school. From today, one child a week in each class, from year 1 upwards will be selected to receive a personalised letter from their teacher as one of the special ways we will be celebrating their achievements. Reception children’s learning will be celebrated in a range of different ways by their teaching team.

Please do use the website to access all key updates from the school. Homework will continue to be provided on a fortnightly basis. Information about school opening and closure, as well as child care provision for key workers will be available on the website. Newsletter updates from the school staff team will be provided and a wealth of information is also available for supporting families and children with special needs or for mental health and well being.

I am aware that some parents have expressed concerns about their year 6 children not returning to Whitehouse Common, if the current situation continues. Obviously, we all hope this is not the case but please be reassured that, if it were so, we would be looking at a range of ways to ensure their achievements are suitably celebrated and their leaving is marked appropriately.

On behalf of all of the staff team here, I would like to wish you and your loved ones good health and happiness in these unprecedented times. We hope you will all join in with the Thursday evening ‘clap for key workers’; we will all be doing this and thinking of you too.

Best wishes

Mrs Debbie Allen

Head Teacher

8 Free Primary Music Resources

Music plays a very important part in bringing people together and during this period of extended school closure the power of music could be transformational.

For teachers, parents and pupils, working from home brings about a new set of challenges but a regular musical interlude could be a welcome addition to your daily routine.

Whilst every country has its own language we can take comfort in knowing that the language of music is universal. Music can do great things for your mood and well-being.

Here are 8 FREE practical resources and activities to get started with:

Click Here

Keeping Safe Online

online safety

There are a number of amazing resources online that your teachers have been recommending. Please do make the most of these as many of them are what we use in school and they have been providing free access for parents.

Whilst you are at home it's very important to make sure you are still keeping safe online! Please talk to your child about staying safe online. The following websites are really useful in exploring how to stay safe online. Take a look!

https://www.thinkuknow.co.uk/ (advice from the National Crime Agency to stay safe online)

https://www.internetmatters.org/?gclid=EAIaIQobChMIktuA5LWK2wIVRYXVCh2afg2aEAAYASAAEgIJ5vD_BwE (support for parents and carers to keep their children safe online)

https://parentinfo.org/ (support for parents and carers to keep their children safe online)

https://www.lgfl.net/online-safety/default.aspx (support for parents and carers to keep their children safe online

https://www.net-aware.org.uk/ (support for parents and carers from the NSPCC)

READING Free e-books to enjoy

reading at home

Oxford Owl have a number of ebooks that you can access from home. These include some of the RML books, Project X books and some great graphic novels. You will need to register an account (which is free to do).

There are a number of other literacy based activities too. Happy reading!

Take a look:

https://home.oxfordowl.co.uk/books/free-ebooks/

There are also some ideas and top tips for creative writing, so have an explore of the website!

Don't forget to try and read authors linked to your Book Award

Spanish at home

spanish ¡Hola!

As promised here are some ideas of how you can carry on your Spanish learning at home. It's lovely to hear that some of you have already been doing some Spanish! ¡Bien hecho Ruby y Sophie!

You can send anything you produce to your class Showbie and your teacher can pass it on to me, or you could ask an adult to tweet it to @whcps, or send it to our school enquiry email address and it'll get to me that way.

Most of all, stay happy and safe, and keep smiling. I miss you all very much. ¡Hasta pronto!

Sra Stevens xx

1. Explore a map of Spain. Use your knowledge of Spanish to practice saying the names of the cities. Can you find the names of rivers, mountains, seas and other geographical features? I know Y3 are really good at this as they've just been looking at it in their geography lessons!

Then try and find some maps IN SPANISH, for example, this one. Make a list of country names in Spanish and then add the English word next to it. If you speak another language, you could add the name in that language too. And it's not just country names that are sometimes different. On that map, can you find the name for London in Spanish? What about Moscow and Stockholm, Tokyo and Rome?

2. Where is Spanish spoken? Not just in Spain! Find out where in the world you would find Spanish speakers. Find the countries on a world map. Why do these countries speak Spanish? Can you find out how they got their names? Make a country factfile with details of famous places, people, animals, sports, physical features, important events in history, festivals...

3. Have a go at the British Council Spanish Language Challenge - click here to download. And when you’ve tried the Spanish one, you could try another language - French Arabic German Welsh or Mandarin. And if you speak another language or would like to explore a different one, why not download the blank one and make your own?

There are suggestions of helpful websites under Curriculum - Subjects - Spanish - Parents but here are a few favourites -

For activities, songs and games:

Digital dialects - https://www.digitaldialects.com/Spanish.htm

Rockalingua https://rockalingua.com/ (NB some things are paid but plenty of free songs, games and worksheets!)

Spanish Games https://www.spanish-games.net/spanishtopics

Calico Spanish Kids https://www.youtube.com/user/kidsimmersion

For stories :

Spanish Fairy Tales https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCY0TNnnoZMapIQ3cXv1M1rg

BookBoxSpanish https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCiqZIGpZl2Oc2kKd0EnK-vA and BookBoxInc https://www.youtube.com/user/bookboxinc if you’d like to explore more languages.

RadioLingua has offered free access to some of its excellent resources for the next 3 months. The HighFiveSpanish would be the place to start but you could also learn some French or even have a go at some other languages with the One Minute..videos. https://radiolingua.com/learnathome/

Babelzone have also offered their resources for free for the next 3 months. If you want to log in, use the school initials (4 letters) and the password is the colour in our name plus the 2 digit number in our postcode! https://www.lcfclubs.com/babelzoneNEW/index.asp You can use the Spanish resources but also the French ones so Y6 could start getting ready for September and their new language adventures!

smileysaldra opt