Whitehouse Common Primary -

Year 2 speak to Antartica Scientist

Year 2 were very lucky to be able to Skype call Dr Jenny Hillman from the University of Helsinki about her recent trip to Antartica. The children have been learning lots about the North and South poles and in particular what life is like in Antartica. Dr Hillman was able to talk to the children about what life is like in Antartica and spoke about how her and her team dove under the ice to see the effects of global warming on animals on the sea floor. The children were fascinated to find out about the special dive suits that she needed to wear to keep warm in the -2 waters and how sometimes her hands would freeze and take 2 hours to thaw out after a dive! They also found out that whilst Dr Hillman was in Antartica there was no darkness - they found this very exciting, they thought this meant no bedtime!

This is Me signed in Makaton- Hands of the World project

The first month of the Hands of the World (HOTW) project has come to an end and our first song is complete. 31 schools in 19 countries have collaborated, each signing one line (and often learning more!). All the clips have now been stitched together, synched to the soundtrack and the result is this video: This is Me from the film The Greatest Showman, sung in English and signed in Makaton. Some eager volunteers from Y5 sign our line - can you spot them? We hope you enjoy watching it as much as Y5 did this afternoon when the video received its WCPS premiere in 5MM's music lesson.

Hands of the World eTwinning project - January

Today saw the launch of Whitehouse Common's involvement in another eTwinning project. One of the first projects that we were involved in 10 years ago was called Voices of the World and this one is organised by the same person and called HAnds of the World.

The project brings children from around the world together through the use of music and Makaton.

The project aims are

1. to connect children with their global peers, to break down barriers, develop children’s understanding of diversity and inclusion and use technology to make learning global rather than confined to the walls of the classroom.

2. to create a ways for children to connect with others around the world through a meaningful project.

3. to celebrate the power of music as an excellent communication tool, and to celebrate the use of Makaton sign language to create an inclusive environment for children of different needs: children where English is second language, children with hearing impairments and children with communication difficulties. In this project it will also unite children who speak different languages in a common song.

4. to show how a small amount of time each monthcan create a collaborative end product that will be very special.

Each month a song will be released that will have the Makaton signing (YouTube clip). Each school will be assigned one or two lines of the song to which they learn the sign language and video. Schools can choose to learn more, for example, the chorus or even the whole song. All the short recordings will be sent to the organiser who will knit all the recordings together to make one video. This will be released at the end of the month.

5MM will be leading the way with the project as they will be dedicating a Music lesson each month to learning each song, but other classes will be able to get involved too.

This month the song is This is me from The Greatest Showman.  5MM watched the video for the first time this afternoon and, after only two run throughs were confident enough to show some of the song in assembly, and then sign along to the song as the other classes left. So that they can rehearse before next week, and as promised in assembly, here is the video. perhaps you'd like to have a go?

Newsletter 18th January 2019

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An avalanche of Christmas cards!

Two of the eTwinning projects in which Whitehouse Common Primary are participating lead to an avalanche of post  in the school office in December. About 40 envelopes, big and small, arrived from all over Europe, all containing at least one handmade Christmas card. Some contained multiple cards, other schools enclosed beautifully written accounts of Christmas in their country whilst still more contained small gifts such as badges, tiles, stickers and book marks.

Being chosen to open one of the envelopes in class was cause of great excitement, and the volunteers who helped Sra Stevens to display the bulk of the cards were overjoyed that they were allowed to open so many.

You'll find out more about the Green Kids project in the next week or so, but the project that brought the most cards was How's Your Christmas? This project included 51 schools across 19 countries exchanging Christmas greetings. Due to some schools considering 51 cards too many to send, there was a smaller list of 8 schools and a longer list of 43 schools. Whitehouse Common was on the longer list and at the start of December, Y3-5 all produced a Christmas card to be sent to another school in another country. And then we waited!

Sra Stevens made a map of the schools involved so that we could track the cards. Below is a screenshot of the map as it currently is (we received another card today!) and if you click this link you can zoom in and out for more detail. 

How to ensure that everyone could see the cards was a concern and, if you attended one of the Christmas concerts in the Oaks building,  you may have seen that we 'borrowed' the Achievement Tree in the Hall. Below is a video to give you an idea of the number and variety of greetings were fortunate to receive. All the cards are now in the process of being grouped and filed in a big book ready for display.  

Leading Aspect Award

We are delighted to announce that, as part of the Learning Trust for Excellence (LTE), we have been awarded a Leading Aspect Award for excellence in our safeguarding work which ensures our children are safe, secure and happy in everything they do. The Leading Aspect Award is a national award that identifies and celebrates leading practice in education.

Safeguarding is of paramount importance to schools and runs across all aspects of school life. The award recognises the quality of policies, practice and commitment to safeguarding shown by all involved in the Learning Trust for Excellence and acknowledges the significant impact of collaborative working on our schools. A range of people including teachers, parents, governors, pupils and Head teachers were interviewed as part of the verification process required in order to achieve the award.

Thank you to everybody who has been a part of this. We are so proud that the work we have done with the other schools and partners has had such a positive impact on us all, and most importantly our children.
The Learning Trust for Excellence has lots of exciting plans for 2018 so watch this space.

Do You Enjoy Singing?

Singing Community of Choirs (SC Choirs) are having FREE tasters in ALL the choirs next Wednesday,16th January. They meet at Arthur Terry school (times below) every Wednesday in term time.
Come and experience a diverse, inspirational and inclusive choral organisation that nurtures friendships, fosters teamwork and develops musicianship across all ages. Exciting and unique performance opportunities too!

* Little Voices (ages 4-6) - 4.15pm-5pm.
* Junior Voices (ages 6-9) - 4pm-5pm
* Intermediate Voices (ages 9-12) - 5.30pm-7pm
* Senior Voices (ages 12-18) - 5.30pm-7pm
* Dynamic Voices (adults) - 7.15pm-9pm.

View our website here for further details: www.scchoirs.org.uk

Singing Community of Choirs
A community of five active choirs for all ages, plus singing projects within local schools and the wider area.

Newsletter 14th December 2018

Please [click here] to read the newsletter