A message from Miss quarmby
Hello and welcome back to the new school year! It has been so lovely to see everybody’s smiley faces this week, and this morning it was fantastic to welcome our new Reception starters! We are delighted that you’ve joined our Whitkirk family and we can’t wait to get to know you more over the coming weeks and months. Our Pre-School official opening is taking place on 11th September. It’s already looking fantastic, and we are so excited to welcome our nursery children, who officially start on the 15th September. The EYFS team has been working their magic in both Pre-School and Reception, and we know our children will have such a strong start. We can’t wait to share it all with you!
Uniform and P.E. kits – thank you to everyone who has ensured children have returned in their correct uniform and P.E. kits. Just a reminder: while P.E. kits were black last year, this year children can wear either black or navy (no logos or additional colours, and grey is not permitted). From September 2026, we will move fully to navy. Please also ensure that long hair is tied back for school on P.E days.
We know that good attendance makes a huge difference to children’s learning, progress and friendships in school. Every day in school really does matter, and the routines we build at the start of the year help set children up for success. Please support us by ensuring children arrive on time each day, ready to learn, so that they can make the very best start to the year. We have such an exciting year ahead with a strong focus on attendance and ensuring that every child is able to be the best they can be. Have an amazing weekend!
Attendance
This week, finishing in first place with 100% are 4AB. In second place are 6NT, with 98.48% and in third place are 3JC, with 97.7%. A shout out also goes to 5AS, who have also finished the week above our school target of 96.5% The whole school attendance this week is 97.98%: can we beat this next week? The only way to do that is if we all come to school as often as we can.
Please remember look at the NHS guide Is my child too ill for school? - NHS (www.nhs.uk) This is used to determine which reasons for absence will be authorised or unauthorised.
Coughs and colds It's fine to send your child to school with a minor cough or common cold. But if they have a fever, keep them off school until the fever goes. Encourage your child to throw away any used tissues and to wash their hands regularly.
Junior Choir - St Mary's Church
let's take a look at what each year group has been up to this week!
LOWER school
What a great start to Year 1! The children have truly amazed us with how well they’ve settled in and adapted to their new routines. They have tackled our provision challenges with smiles and enthusiasm, engaging in activities such as creating self-portraits, ordering numbers, labelling body parts, and drawing where they live. Their positive attitude and curiosity have already shown us that this is going to be an incredible year!
Here in Year 2, we have had a fabulous first week back! We launched our topic of Apprentice Gardener in Science, where the children have already planted their own seeds. In Geography, we have enjoyed investigating the local area to find out where Whitkirk is in the world. We have also started our new text, Edward the Emu. Miss Dougan and Miss Hickman have been blown away with Year 2's amazing writing.
We have had an amazing first week in Year 3! In English, we explored our text 'The Iron Man' and used expanded noun phrases. In Maths, we have been exploring place value in numbers to 100. In Science, we learned about 5 important nutrients and why they are important for our body. Keep up the great work, Year 3!
UPPER school
Wow - what a fantastic first week back! Year 4 have settled brilliantly into school and are already showing they’re ready for an exciting year ahead. In Maths, we've been exploring 4-digit numbers, representing and partitioning them and beginning to use our reasoning and problem-solving skills. In English, we've recapped key writing skills by imagining we’ve discovered a mysterious portal; our freeze frames had Miss Richardson and Miss Bellwood in stitches! In Science, we launched our topic on the digestive system by working in groups to draw and label the different parts using our own body outlines. A brilliant start, Year 4. Well done!
Year 5 have had a fantastic first week! In Science, we have introduced our new topic of Space and began to explore the different planets within our solar system. We practised learning mnemonics to help us remember which planets were closest and furthest away from the sun and also made our own! We were super impressed with the children's creative ideas and teamwork skills when creating their mnemonics! Well done Year 5.
Year 6 have returned to school with such a positive attitude and eagerness to learn, which has been wonderful to see. They have shown great enthusiasm when writing their letters to their Reception buddies, expressing an excitement for the first time they meet them. It is this caring approach that really makes Year 6 shine. We can't wait to see what this year brings for you all!