Comic Relief (17th March)...

Red Nose Day is back! One of the themes this year is to dress in red ‘from toe to head’. So, we would like to see everyone wearing as much red as possible for the day. As we already wear red school jumpers, we thought we could all continue to wear these. We can add red tops, socks, tights, shoes, trousers, skirts, or even red hair accessories. You can wear as much red or as little red as you like.

We are aware that we are already raising valuable funds in school to help support the people of Turkey and Syria. Comic Relief is a charity who helps people facing the toughest times of their lives. Over the last two years, Comic Relief has helped to support 11.7 million people!

This year, we raised £373. Thank you for all your support!

 

Sponsored Reading Challenge (10th March)…

After our wonderful Reading Week, we launched the fundraising event of a sponsored read. After discussion with our School Council, we have decided that the money raised will go to the Disasters Emergency Committee (DEC) who brings together 15 UK charities including the British Red Cross, to raise funds for Turkey and Syria who have been so badly affected by the recent earthquakes.

As I am sure you all know, our very own Mrs Jolliffe is originally from Turkey which makes this fundraising effort particularly poignant. Her family and friends are still there. Fortunately, they are all safe but we are very aware of the tragic circumstances everyone is experiencing. The School Council felt it would be a lovely thing if our Whitewater community could help raise funds for these families. This shows our school value of Love for Mrs Jolliffe and for the wider world.

In total, we have raised £1660.60 towards those who have been affected by the earthquake in Turkey and Syria. This is a staggering effort and something to be very proud of!

Well done to all the children who have taken part and thank you to everyone who has sponsored the children and supported the challenge.  

 

Eco Council…

The Whitewater Eco Council has been working with Mrs Rolph to help ensure our school is as eco-friendly as possible.

We have noticed that we do not have many bird feeders or nesting boxes. Although it will hopefully begin to get warmer, we hope to ask for your help in setting up feeders and homes to welcome more bird life into our grounds.

We will let you know our plans soon.

Mental Health Week (6th February)…

Next week is children's mental health week in school. Our aim as a school is for children to understand;​

•           What mental health is

•           That how we feel and how well we can cope can change throughout the day

•           That using the 5 ways of wellbeing (see below) can support our mental health

•           Know who to talk to when they need help

•           Know how to be good listeners

As part of our plans for the week we are asking children to come to school in non-school uniform on Thursday 9^th February. We are asking that children 'dress to express' wearing whatever expresses them as a person e.g. rainbows, bright and colourful, sporty etc. We do ask for donations of your choice for this day which will be going to the Place to Be children's mental health charity. 

Autumn Term Values Awards...

On the final celebration assembly of each term, we ask staff to select one child in each year for a ‘Values Award’. This is a very special award for a select few children who demonstrate our school values of Love, Respect and Courage without fail. In recognition of their achievement, the children get a Values Award badge as well as a certificate. In addition, we will take the children out for the afternoon when we return from the Christmas break.

The winners of the Values Awards are:

Year R – Sienna W,  Year 1 – Jean Bastien B, Year 2 – Harry H, Year 3 – William C, Year 4 – Anouk T, Year 5 – Sebastian B, Year 6  - Bertie B

Children in Need (18th November)...

Thank you all for supporting Children in Need today. We raised £139.70.  It’s a very worthy cause and something that we are all passionate about. The children of Whitewater are loved and looked after, fed and watered. They have the opportunity to attend school where they learn and grow. This is not the case for all children for a wide variety of reasons and Children in Need gives us the chance to show love and help others do our bit to ensure other children have the same life opportunities in the future.

Anti-Bullying Week  (14th - 18th November)…

At Whitewater, we have thrown ourselves in Anti-Bullying week and have learnt all about this year’s theme; Reaching Out! We all donned our odd socks on Monday to show that we are all unique and this is something that makes our world wonderful and needs to be celebrated. In Collective Worship, we spoke about reaching out by reflecting on how we can do this, why it’s important to do this and who we can do this with. Following this, the children have designed posters to show our solidarity in making a stance against bullying. The fight against bullying is something that requires all three of our values of Love, Respect and Courage and we are proud to stand together on this.

 

Values Wristbands (10th November) ...

We are launching the values wrist bands next week and will run it for the term as a way of promoting our values. Any adult can give one to any child who specifically demonstrates our values in and around school. Written on them will be a very brief note of what the award was for so you can follow up the conversation at home. Orange bands are for Love, Turquoise are for Respect and Purple bands are for Courage.

If you see our pupils displaying Love, Respect or Courage outside of school, we would really like to hear about it.

 

Love, Respect, Courage and a Red Kite!

As a school, we had several discussions with staff and children about creating a symbol for our new values. We thought about what links Rotherwick and our neighbouring villages and what links them. The idea of a Red Kite was suggested as they can be seen overhead across the communities we serve. We also like the idea that after the children leave school, whenever they see a Red Kite, it will remind them of their time here whilst reinforcing the importance of love, respect and courage and how these can guide us through life. With this in mind, Mrs Edwards has painted the most stunning picture of a Red Kite on the wall next to office. Thank you, Mrs Edwards, for taking the time to produce such an incredible piece of artwork.

In relation to the Red Kite becoming our visual representation of our values, the children have come up with a new motto: Don’t just fly, soar high!

 

Values Courtyard...

I would like to extend a huge thank you to Mr and Mrs Cooling who spent time over half term creating a new wonderful Values Courtyard. The space needed some care and attention and it has received that in abundance. As well as a good clean and tidy, we now have a couple of raised planters, some trellis fencing and even a Values signpost. This area has been transformed and I thank you on behalf of our children and staff.

 

Remembrance (11th November)…

Last Friday saw Whitewater remember. If ever there was an occasions which reflects all 3 of our Christian Values, it would be Remembrance. Poppy sales throughout the week enabled the children to show their respect towards those people past and present who have fought in an attempt to keep peace and keep everyone safe. We marked the occasion with a short walk to Rotherwick Church where Marion led a Remembrance Service, Mr Golding read the poem: What are we Fighting For by Brian Moses and some Year 6 children read In Flanders Field by John McCrae. In addition, children across the school created a range of stunning pieces of artwork.

 

Harvest Celebration…

Throughout the week, we had an action-packed timetable full of harvest celebration! Here’s a brief recount written by Tilly & Isla from Fox Class:

Yesterday, we celebrated our annual Harvest Festival at Rotherwick Church. Our new Rabbits also attended and helped us with the Harvest Samba by playing instruments while we were singing. Marion did an amazing service, so a big Thank you to her. Well done to Otters, Hedgehogs and Foxes for their amazing art, poems and prayers read and shown by the children who were happy to share their creations. A special well done to Yehor and Erika who read out a Ukrainian prayer during the festival.

Following the service, Marion, Mrs Clayden, the House Captains and I collected the donations into the minibus delivered the food to the Hart Food Bank and Maryfield Convent, both in Hook. It was a very fitting first outing in the new school minibus and it was an amazing way to demonstrate one of our new school values: Love. The children represented the entire school community beautifully. We have since received the following message from the Food Bank…

On behalf of Hart Foodbank at Life Church Hook, please pass on our sincere and grateful thanks to your staff, parents and children for the generous donations for Harvest collection this year. Our volunteers have, today, weighed in 170kg of grocery items.

Thank you all for supporting the local community in such a generous manner.

Values Award Winners - Summer Term, 2022

On the final celebration assembly of each term, we ask staff to select one child in each class for a ‘Values Award’. This is a very special award for a select few children who demonstrate our school values of Fellowship, Creativity and Courage without fail. In recognition of their achievement, the children get a Values Award badge as well as a certificate. In addition to this, we arrange for a special treat. As a result, yesterday the 7 Values Award winners from the Spring Term, joined the 7 Values Award winners from this term on a trip to Hollywood Bowl at Basingstoke’s Leisure Park. Mr Ralph, Mrs Brett and Mrs Owen had a thoroughly enjoyable afternoon with the children. Well done children…you are all superstars!

Clean Air Scooter Challenge (17th June, 2022)

Thank you to all the children and parents who took part in our Clear Air Scooter Challenge this week.  It was wonderful to see so many children scooting, cycling, skating and skateboarding to school along with their parents.  Some children were cycling from home, not just from the village hall! We are sure we have some very fit parents and children now! Our Junior Road Safety Officers along with the staff at the school were all very impressed with the effort made. We do have cycle racks outside the front of the school if anyone wants to continue coming to school this way and there is a space there for scooters too.  Well done to the children who designed the banner outside the school to celebrate Clean Air Day.  It looks amazing and is all the children’s own work.

 

Sunflowers (20th May, 2022)

Back in March we had a ‘Sunflower Day’ to show our support for the people of Ukraine who were, and continue to, experience a terrible situation. I shared that we would be planting sunflowers when the weather allowed us to do so. I’m delighted to share that yesterday the sun shone and we embarked on a whole school planting session outside.

Thank you to Mrs Sykelmoore and Mrs Hunt who volunteered to arrange and lead the activity. Every pupil will be bringing their sunflower home today for you to plant at home. Thank you very much to everyone who helped out this fantastic display of fellowship and creativity. The teachers are looking forward to seeing your pictures on Seesaw of you sunflowers growing.

If you’re anything like me, you may have no idea how to ensure your sunflower grows to be nice and healthy. Mrs Sykelmoore has kindly provided the following advice:

Keep your sunflower inside on a sunny windowsill. Remember to keep moist and within a week you should start to see your sunflower start to grow. Water as required. Then, once they are big enough plant them outside (including the pot!), a great time to do this would be in May half term when there is less chance of a frost! Your sunflower should be in full bloom in August so you can enjoy it during the summer holidays!

This is particularly good timing as we have some very special new pupils joining us over the next couple of weeks. Several kind and generous local people have become hosts for families from the Ukraine. As a result, their school age children will be joining us at Whitewater. I can only imagine how difficult it must be to leave your country of birth at such a young age and travel to a different country so far away whilst speaking no English. I’m absolutely certain that you’ll all join us in welcoming our newest additions by showing the same warmth you extended to us when we joined your wonderful community.

Spring Term Role of honour (8th April, 2022)

On the final celebration assembly of each term, we ask staff to select one child in each year group for a ‘Values Award’. This is a very special award for a select few children who demonstrate our school values of Fellowship, Creativity and Courage without fail. In recognition of their achievement, the children get a Values Award badge as well as a certificate. In the summer term, we will be taking these children out for a special treat. 

The winners of the Values Awards are: 

Year R: Lucy N        Year 1: Harriet L                Year 2: Darcy B        Year 3: Olivia L     

 Year 4: Isla H           Year 5: Ethan H               Year 6: Chyna B

 

Red Nose Day (18th March, 2022)

Thank you to everyone who gave donations to support Red Nose Day. I know we very recently asked for support for the charity Sunflower of Peace also. At a time when energy prices, National Insurance Contribution and the price of petrol are all having a squeeze on finances, the Whitewater community has come together to generate £301.10 (£101.10 for Red Nose Day and £200 for the Sunflower of Peace)  for two very worthy causes. This is a wonderful example of fellowship and compassion towards others. This is something that we don’t take for granted and it makes us proud to serve such a special community.

Walk on Wednesdays (4th March, 2022)

Our Junior Road Safety Officers recently led a whole school assembly. They shared with children the benefits of walking to school which include reducing pollution, making a positive difference to climate change and living an active and healthy life. So, we are trying to encourage everyone to ‘Walk on Wednesdays’. For those who walk everyday, keep it up. For those who live further away and need to drive, try park and stride…you can park further away from school and walk the last bit. Let’s all give it go!