Weekly Bulletin: Friday 17th January 2025
Dear Parents, Carers & Families,
The children in year 5 are currently reading Odysseus. It was great to drop into their lessons and hear them share their understanding of the story. The students were able to compare and contrast events within the book to others that they have read about. They were also able to analyse the characters behaviours and explain why they acted the way that they did - Well done!
Week on week, we will continue to share the learning experiences of other year groups.
Freedom of choice has been a focus in assemblies this week. We were thinking about how the choices that we make can impact others and the World. Two competitions were launched as a result of these discussions. All students have the opportunity to enter these competitions. Class Teachers will be sharing the information with interested students but you can also read about them by clicking on the following links:
Whole School Science Technology Engineering Art and Maths Competition
Design a Poster to Promote Walking to School
Please ask the Class Teacher if you have any questions about either of these competitions.
The Leadership Team has been analysing the students’ test results and performance in class. We have contrasted attainment against school attendance rates - please see below:
term 1 and 2 attainment data for the core subjects google docs.pdf
Even though the children have only completed two whole terms of schooling so far, it is clear to see the detrimental effects of missing multiple days from school. It becomes increasingly difficult for our students to catch up when they have missed the introduction of a number of new concepts. This is also true for our Nursery and Reception children as they are missing the vital learning experiences that play offers. Every day in school counts literally so please be proactive and seek medical advice to minimise sickness and remember that taking days out of school for any other reason than defined in our attendance policy is not permitted. Whilst our team will do everything that it can to help absent children catch up, children who are absent have a double challenge in that they will have to keep up with new learning and catch up with what they missed.
Everything you do to show interest and support for your child’s education is a gift that only you can give! Whether you help your children with their numbers or calculations, support key messages from class teachers or regularly hear your children read, thank you. We really do appreciate your support (and more importantly, so does your child). If you have any questions about your child’s learning, please do contact their class teacher in the first instance.
Have a lovely week everyone.
Best wishes,
Angela Carpenter
Headteacher
Attendance
The foundations of learning are laid in the Primary years of schooling and so Whitehill Primary School is committed to making sure that our children do not miss out on the education and care that we offer. Regular attendance is critical if our pupils are to be happy, successful and benefit from the opportunities presented to them now and in the future.
Good attendance is fundamental to a successful and fulfilling school experience. We actively promote 100% attendance for all our pupils and we use a variety of rewards and incentives to promote good attendance and punctuality. Awards are group focused rather than given to individuals as we recognise that our students cannot help being absent for medical reasons.
Below, you can see this week's attendance data. The stars indicate the year groups who were awarded 5 minutes extra Green Time for topping everyone else's attendance:
Key Events
