The White House School Newsletter

Spring Term 2015

Happy New Year

Welcome back to school at the start of 2015 and a very Happy New Year to you all. 2015 is a very special year for The White House School. This year we are 70 years old. The school was founded in 1945 at the close of the Second World War. Mrs. Catherine Greaves, a teacher from Liverpool, had been billeted in Whitchurch with her class of children early on in the war as part of the scheme to evacuate children to the countryside from the large cities. After a while, pupils and teacher returned to Liverpool, but Mrs. Greaves had enjoyed her time in Whitchurch. Once the war was over, therefore, she relocated to North Shropshire and opened a school in her own house. This became The White House School. The White House has always been a family school. Mrs. Greaves’ son, Mr. Frank Greaves, took over the headship on his mother’s retirement in the 1960s and since then we have only had two other Heads – Mrs. Enid Hall and myself. These long years of service mean that some of us have watched the children and school families develop and grow over a number of years. I know that I have been truly privileged to have known and worked with so many amazing pupils over the years. Despite not being as old as some children in my class might think (“Can you remember the war, Mrs. Clarke?”), I have to admit that I can remember the 40

th Anniversary celebrations in Whitchurch Civic Centre, although I wasn’t

on the staff at the time. Once on the staff, it was wonderful to be part of the tea party (including Spam sandwiches!) which marked the 50

th Anniversary and the celebration evening of music and reminiscences of the 60

th Anniversary.

We hope to host several events over 2015 to mark this platinum anniversary, one of which we hope will be a Gala Concert at the end of this term. Please see the notice later on in this Newsletter for further details. Some of you may have memories of The White House School in previous years. Life has changed a great deal since 1945, as have teaching styles. Mrs. Greaves, however, chose the school motto, “Honour, Wisdom” to sum up all that the school stood for. Honour is a sense of pride in integrity and responsibility. Honour means striving to live up to the demands of our various roles, whether we are pupils or members of staff. It means seeking to use responsibility carefully and well. Wisdom means to have insight - to be able to judge what is good, right, true and lasting. I know that I have tried to uphold these tenets over the 25+ years I have taught at The White House (although nobody’s perfect and I may have made mistakes long the way), and I will continue to do so to the best of my ability.

I love this school. I love the enthusiasm, the creativity, the ideas, the loyalty, the pride in achievement, the friendship, the service, the co-operation, the joy, the love, the honour and the wisdom. Above all, I love being part of what feels like a family. I hope that you will all join me this year in celebrating these virtues, whether publically or quietly. Thank you for everything that you all do towards making our school the special place that it is. With very best wishes for a wonderful 2015,

Helen Clarke

White House School Assemblies Our Topics this Term are:

Epiphany

Winter Weather

Martin Luther King Jr.

Candlemas

Emergencies

Love

Fairtrade

New Growth

Mums

Words

Easter

Timetable

Our timetable for the Spring Term 2015 is unchanged from the Autumn Term 2014. The

only additional element is that in Classes 5 & 6 the PE units rotate so that all children have

sessions with both Mr. Ashbrook and Mrs. Bentley.

This means that all Class 5 & 6 children will need both indoor and outdoor PE kit AND

shinpads, girls as well as boys, each week.

A special appeal regarding PE lessons:

It would be much appreciated if parents could write a letter to school if their child is not

sufficiently well to take part in his or her PE (or Swimming) lesson. This would clarify last

minute confusion before lessons.

Welcome to everyone who has started at The White House this term,

or part of the way through last term.

Kindergarten: Hugh Ainsworth, Sofia Mytton-Jones

Class 1: Lydia Ibbetson, Raquel Lopez-Joquera

Class 2: William Aston-Stott

Class 3: Ben Leary

Class 4: Javier Lopez-Joquera

Class 6: Zara Leary

The White House School Open Morning

Saturday 21st March, from 9.30 a.m. – 1 p.m.

Work will be on display in all classrooms and there will be demonstrations of both curricular and extra-curricular activities.

I would like specifically to invite the parents of Lower School children to attend and to see the work of

(and opportunities on offer to) the older children.

Obviously, in order to demonstrate the countless skills and talents at The White House, we will need the help of many of the children. As happens each year, most of the older children will be required to attend school on the Saturday morning to perform in gym, drama and music activities, to show visitors around

and to take part in demonstrations. School will, therefore, be CLOSED on Friday, 20th March to compensate for this.

This day also allows staff to prepare for the Open Morning,

as is common practice in many other schools.

Staff Notices I am delighted to report that all of the members of staff who underwent operations over the summer and in the Autumn Term are now back to school. We wish them all continuing and ongoing recovery. We were all extremely sad to say goodbye to Mrs. Mansell at the end of the Autumn Term. She was not only a great teacher but she is also a lovely person. We hope that she enjoys the new challenges that lie ahead of her. I have appointed a new SENCO, but she is unable to take up the post immediately and we are still awaiting DBS clearance. I will inform you of our new appointee as soon as everything is finalised. Until that time, Mrs. Kate Brown will fulfil the role of SENCO, working alongside Mrs. Andrews and Mrs. Brookes. Once again, during the term, some students on Teaching or Teaching Assistant courses may be doing a small amount of volunteer work on placement. Rest assured that all DBS and other documentation will be checked before this happens. **************************************************************************************************************************************

Sadly, I must inform you (although I believe several of you know already) that Mrs. Giles will be retiring at Easter. Mrs. Giles has always been at the very centre of The White House School and has given many years of devoted and loyal service. People have said to me, “There is only one Mrs. Giles!” with which I heartily concur. It will be a huge wrench to lose her sense of humour, her incredible knowledge and her wonderful support. You will be informed of future staffing in due course.

Further to previously distributed advice about Internet Safety, and our Internet

Safety training of last term, I would like to guide parents towards a recent

government publication offering advice to parents about cyberbullying. No

matter how much we all think we know there is ALWAYS more to learn and so

I advise all parents to visit this website and get the most up to date help that

there is:

www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/375420/

Advice_for_Parents_on_Cyberbullying_131114.pdf

Charity News

Thank you to everyone who has given so generously to charities this term, in money, in talent and in specific gifts.

Thank you for your Harvest donations of dried and tinned food. After being taken to St. Alkmund’s Church this food was given to the Whitchurch Food Bank. For more information go to http://whitchurch.foodbank.org.uk

Bob’s Beautiful Food Bank Idea!! Bob Ball in Class 4 has come up with a wonderful idea. Having read an article in the Whitchurch Herald about the local food bank, Bob is inviting you all to bring along any tins or packets of food that you bought as ‘extra’ over Christmas but haven’t used, and donate them to the Whitchurch Food Bank as a New Year present. All you have to remember is that the items should be non-perishable and that they should have a reasonable shelf life – out of date things won’t do! Bob has started the Ball rolling [Bob Ball - get it?] by bringing a bag of food from home. If you would like to join him, we will be collecting throughout January. There will be a box in the entrance hall for donated items.

Thank you all, and thank you, Bob! Thank you for the wonderful donation of over 60 Christmas Boxes for Operation Christmas Child this year. Everyone who participated made a great contribution to the life of a less advantaged child. The Royal British Legion has not yet notified us of the total raised by selling poppies. In November, thanks to the noble efforts of Jemima and friends in Class 6 we raised £300 for BBC Children in Need. [See our ‘Congratulations’ section for the names of winners.] The collection following our Nativity Play and Carol Service raised £480 for Hope House Children’s Hospice. We were also able to give £300 to St. Alkmund’s Parish Church as a ‘thank you’ for allowing us to hold our Carol Service there. On the last day of term Jamie in Class 6 organised a fundraiser for Save the Children. Lots of Christmas jumpers were worn and £200 was raised.

The enthusiastic children who gave up their Saturday morning after the end of the Autumn Term to sing carols in Sainsbury’s collected £96 for the Beechtree Centre in Whitchurch.

This Term:

On Friday 6th

February we will be holding our annual non-uniform day for UNICEF. This year is all about protecting children caught in emergencies, such as the recent Philippines typhoon and the Syria conflict. We will also be holding an event to raise money for Loldia School in Kenya later on this year.

• to Laura Jones for doing so well in her ‘Cello Prep Test

• to Tara Davies for passing her Grade 1 Piano [ABRSM] with Distinction

• to Ella Quigley for achieving 4th Place in the International Horse Show

at London Olympia

• to Jude Atkinson, Lola Atkinson, William Burrows, Molly Fry

and Kate Rutherford, all of whom will be having poems published in a

Young Writers poetry book later this term

My sincere apologies to any other children who have passed exams or received awards about

which I am not aware.

Congratulations to those children who were awarded prizes for

Outstanding Achievement in the November exams. They were each presented with a prize during our end-of-term Assembly.

Class 1 – Daphne Isaaks

Class 2 – Jessica Blackwood

Class 3 – Lola Atkinson & Amelia Robinson

Class 4 – Sam Jordan

Class 5 – Molly Fry

Class 6 – Kate Rutherford

Congratulations to winners of the

Children in Need Colouring Competition

Kindergarten – 1) Emma-Jayne Charman 2) Buddy Ball

Reception – 1) Eva Matson 2) Dillon Jervis

Class 1 – 1) Janelle Payton 2) Arthur Bate

Class 2 – 1) Jonathan Evans 2) Anna Willis

Class 3 – 1) Eliza Pickering 2) Leo Whittaker

Class 4 – 1) Eleanor Lewis 2) Matthew Pickering

Class 5 – 1) Sophie Jones 2) Thomas Walton

Class 6 – 1) Ella Quigley 2) Jude Atkinson

WHS 70th Anniversary Gala Concert

Plans are still very embryonic, but please put aside the evening of 24th March for a grand concert to celebrate

the 70th Anniversary of The White House School.

We have spent some time already in developing performance ideas, some of which would require parental involvement, if you would be so kind as to consider being part of our celebrations. Obviously the children

themselves will be very much involved.

It would be WONDERFUL to get a choir together, made up of parents, members of staff and past pupils to perform in the concert, and to this end I am inviting any adult or secondary school pupils connected with the school to join in a short series of rehearsals at 7.30 p.m. on Tuesday evenings, beginning on Tuesday 24th

February, to prepare for the concert. Don’t be afraid – everyone can sing!

Please let me know if you are interested; we can only achieve this if we get volunteers!

I also know that we have some talented performers among our parents. Please speak to me if you would like to offer a performance. This would be inspirational for the children and would be a real celebration of the

talent of our school family.

Finally, if you are a past pupil, we would love to hear your reminiscences. Class 6 will be researching the history of the school as the term progresses and we would like to hold a session where WHS experiences can

be shared – more details later!

The Staff Room is buzzing with ideas, so I hope that we can produce a concert that Mrs. Greaves would be proud of! Please join us.

“If I cannot fly, let me sing.” Stephen Sondheim

WHS Events - Spring 2015

Tuesday 6th January Term begins. Monday 12th January School Clubs begin Wednesday 28th January Visit of Image Musical Theatre to perform ‘The Jungle Book’,

generously funded by WHSPA. [Classes 1 – 6] U9s Netball Match vs Prestfelde [Home] Friday 6th February National Non-Uniform Day for UNICEF, raising money for

emergency projects worldwide. Children (and staff!) may attend school in their own clothes if they make a donation of £1 or more to UNICEF. Monday 9th February Class 5 visit to Emma Bridgewater Pottery Wednesday 11th February U11s Netball Match vs Castle House [Home] Friday 13th February Break up for Half Term. Monday 23rd February School reopens after Half Term. Tuesday 24th February U11s Football Match vs St. Winefride’s [Away]

On behalf of all members of staff I would like to thank parents

and children for their kind messages, Christmas cards and gifts

at the end of last term. They were much appreciated.

Thank you for donations, new equipment and renovation.Thank you for donations, new equipment and renovation.Thank you for donations, new equipment and renovation.Thank you for donations, new equipment and renovation. • Huge thanks to WHSPA for its generous fuHuge thanks to WHSPA for its generous fuHuge thanks to WHSPA for its generous fuHuge thanks to WHSPA for its generous funding of the Indian Dance workshop and Christmas pantomime,nding of the Indian Dance workshop and Christmas pantomime,nding of the Indian Dance workshop and Christmas pantomime,nding of the Indian Dance workshop and Christmas pantomime, and and and and also for all the hard work also for all the hard work also for all the hard work also for all the hard work

done during last year.done during last year.done during last year.done during last year.

• We are very grateful to Mr. Ciesielski for double glazing on the ground floor, and in the Art Room and Class 6. The fire alarm has been We are very grateful to Mr. Ciesielski for double glazing on the ground floor, and in the Art Room and Class 6. The fire alarm has been We are very grateful to Mr. Ciesielski for double glazing on the ground floor, and in the Art Room and Class 6. The fire alarm has been We are very grateful to Mr. Ciesielski for double glazing on the ground floor, and in the Art Room and Class 6. The fire alarm has been upgrupgrupgrupgraded even further for increased security. aded even further for increased security. aded even further for increased security. aded even further for increased security.

• We have purchased several new curriculum resources.We have purchased several new curriculum resources.We have purchased several new curriculum resources.We have purchased several new curriculum resources.

• Many, many thanks to the Wynn family for the reMany, many thanks to the Wynn family for the reMany, many thanks to the Wynn family for the reMany, many thanks to the Wynn family for the re----upholstering of the school piano stool. It is now resplendent with the White House owl and upholstering of the school piano stool. It is now resplendent with the White House owl and upholstering of the school piano stool. It is now resplendent with the White House owl and upholstering of the school piano stool. It is now resplendent with the White House owl and motto in glorious grmotto in glorious grmotto in glorious grmotto in glorious green and gold. Not only is it comfortable and beautiful, but it represents creativity, hard work and huge generosity of een and gold. Not only is it comfortable and beautiful, but it represents creativity, hard work and huge generosity of een and gold. Not only is it comfortable and beautiful, but it represents creativity, hard work and huge generosity of een and gold. Not only is it comfortable and beautiful, but it represents creativity, hard work and huge generosity of

spirit.spirit.spirit.spirit.

Tuesday 24th February Year 4 Maths Challenge at Wrekin College [selected children] Wednesday 4th March Prestfelde U11s Netball Tournament Friday 6th March Year 5 Maths Challenge at Wrekin College [selected children] Wednesday 111h March Class 3 Maths trip to Bangor-on-Dee Racecourse [TBC] Monday 16th March Class 2 History trip to Burwardsley (Celts) [TBC] Wednesday 18th March U11s Football Match vs Castle House [Home] Cross Country at Kingsland Grange [selected children] Friday 20th March SCHOOL CLOSED – See Open Morning information Saturday 21st March Open Morning 9.30 a.m. – 1 p.m. Sunday 22nd March Ellesmere College U11s Netball Tournament Tuesday 24th March Class 1 visit to Attingham Park [TBC] White House School 70th Anniversary Gala Concert [More details later] Thursday 26th March Term Ends Monday 20th April Summer Term begins

Check the website for other school and WHSPA events as they are organised.

www.whitehouseshropshire.co.uk

If there is light in the soul, There will be beauty in the person. If there is beauty in the person, There will be harmony in the house. If there is harmony in the house, There will be order in the nation. If there is order in the nation, There will be peace in the world.

Chinese Proverb