Weekly Bulletin: Friday 28th February
Dear Parents, Carers & Families,
It’s hard to believe that we are now more than halfway through the academic year and what a year it has been so far! We are so very proud of the progress and achievements that our students have made and continue to delight us with. The children have made a positive return to school this week and it has been lovely for us to hear news and especially super to see them settled, picking up their friendships and focused on learning. Well done to all of our pupils. You certainly embody our Whitehill Values.
Year 1 this week wowed us with their letter sound (phonemic) knowledge. Their sounding out, reading and writing is awesome. For many, it is clear that the staff and parents’ support is paying off. Year 1 is a critical year in our students’ lives as this is the time when phonemic knowledge needs to be mastered. Phonics is the key to reading and without this mastery, learning will become an increasing struggle. - Well done Year 1!
Year 1 Writing
Phonics is taught at a pace in Year 1, every day the children have to learn about a selection of new letter sounds and it is for that reason that we ask parents to really try to keep absence to a minimum. We understand that pupils cannot help being poorly but school term absence for any other reason is hugely detrimental to learning and particularly to learning how to read. If your child is experiencing difficulties as a result of absence please speak to your Class Teacher. They will be able to advise on how you can support your child with catching up.
Week on week, we will continue to share the learning experiences of other year groups.
Unfortunately, we have had very little interest in joining our parent / carer / school consultation group and as a consequence, we have postponed plans to meet. We have reflected and realised that maybe the proposed time and date of the meetings may be a hindrance to some, so we have amended the form so that you can contribute your ideas through the form and to ascertain whether there would be a better time to meet. At the moment the focus of our discussions would be on how to improve attendance for our children. We so need your ideas and viewpoints on this matter so please, if you are interested and able, click HERE and express your interest.
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
