A message from Miss Quarmby
Aww, what an amazing year we have had! I know I say it all of the time, but this year really has flown like never before! It doesn't feel like two minutes since we were welcoming our new Reception starters (or that some of our Year 6 leavers were just as little as they are now) and with what feels like a blink of an eye, we're at the end of another year! Time really does fly when you're having fun and our teachers have shared some of their highlights below. This year, so many people who have visited Whitkirk have commented on the warmth and the positivity within our school. This is something that we are so proud of and what we'll definitely be taking into next year with us. We really would appreciate you taking a couple of moments to complete our end of year questionnaire for Parents/ Carers. It should only take a few moments, but will help us in shaping our work for the next academic year. You can access this by following the link: https://forms.office.com/e/rkv67JcVhB.
The end of the year is always bitter-sweet as it is an end of an era for our Year 6 children and to some of our families who have been visiting Whitkirk for a long time! We couldn't be prouder of the young people our Year 6 children have grown into: socially and academically, they have soared this year and we know that they are more than ready for secondary school. We're certain that they will have very bright futures ahead of them and are so proud that we've been a part of their journey.
I hope that everybody has an amazing summer. Thank you once again for your continued support and kindness. It goes such a long way and we really are grateful to have such an incredible Whitkirk family. Take care and I'll see you all in September!
Furry friends!
We love hearing all about our furry Whitkirk friends, and we know that these are loved and adored by our children. However, for health and safety reasons, please remember that animals are not permitted on our school premises.
Class Dojo
Class Dojo is such a useful tool to be able to communicate between home and school and share what we have been doing in class. This year, in some year groups, teachers are receiving a large amount of messages throughout the school day. We will continue to use this throughout the next academic year, and really value this communication tool, but please note that teachers are unable to check or respond to messages during the school day whilst they are teaching. Teachers will always endeavour to get back to you as soon as possible, but if it is an emergency, we ask that you contact our school office or email office@wps.rklt.co.uk for your message to be shared with the class teacher.
Attendance
I am sure you will have seen on the news that there are changes coming into force during the next academic year with regards to penalty notices and unauthorised absences. The following changes come into force from 19th August 2024, across the whole of England. This is part of the Department for Education's 'Working Together to Improve Attendance' framework. A summary of these changes can be found below. Please note that this guidance is taken directly from Leeds for Learning's School Attendance Service.
This week, finishing in first place, with 95.16%, are 6NT. In second place, are 2KD with 95% and in third place are RLE, with 94.83%. The whole school attendance this week is 93.17% The whole school attendance for this academic year is 95.61%: can we beat that next year? The only way to do that is if we all come to school as often as we can!
PASTORAL TEAM UPDATES FOR THE SUMMER HOLIDAYS
We know that the summer holidays are a lovely time for families to spend quality time together. However, it can also be a time that causes stress due to work commitments or financial pressures. We wanted to share some information and helpful websites with you to help the summer break flow a little easier.
- The Best Free Family Days Out in Leeds 2024 - Leeds Children’s Charity
- Places Kids Eat Free in the Summer Holidays 2024Support & advice for parents | NSPCC
Let's take a look back at 2023/24!
EYFS
Where to start?! What an outstanding year we have had in Reception! We could not be any prouder of all of our little learners this year; achieving Whitkirk's highest end of Early Years assessment to date! This is down to the children's determination, unwavering parental support, and strong relationships with our dedicated EYFS team and fantastic children!
We cannot believe the learning journey that the children have been on this year; from learning how to hold a pencil and write their names, to now writing sentences, solving number problems and reading independently! Stand-out moments from this year have been our visits from the Teddy Bears Hospital, the emergency services visits (especially sitting in the police van!), visiting Temple Newsam Farm, Halton library, and This Green Moon. We have thoroughly enjoyed exploring the world with Tim the Travelling Turtle; tasting food and exploring cultures around the world, including Jalof rice from Ghana (made by Mrs Downes' family!). Weekly music sessions with June have been a favourite area of the curriculum this year for our children; their singing each week has made staff smile endlessly when walking past Reception on a Thursday afternoon. We would also like to take this opportunity to say thank you to all of the families that have joined us in class for Secret Reader each week. These sessions ignite a love for reading and it is truly a heart-warming moment when families surprise the children in class! We know that the children will continue to shine in Year 1 and we cannot wait to hear all about their achievements! Well done Reception class of 2024!
Key Stage 1
Year 1, thank you for a truly magical year! We have had an absolute blast this year and made so many amazing memories. Miss Lynch and Miss Cook are incredibly proud of the resilience and progress all our children have made this year; they are so ready for their next journey in Year 2.
Our superb year has included memories of our Grandparent's cafe, dressing as Kings and Queens in Temple Newsam house, visiting vibrant creatures at Tropical World and showcasing our amazing learning with our Great Fire of London class assembly.
Design Technology days have given us the opportunity to showcase what brilliant talents we have, from making Paddington sliders in mechanics to building our windmill structures. Art has allowed us to express the true, magical imaginations we hold with observational sketches and the most spectacular Digital Media masterpieces!
Year 1 has been an incredible journey, but we truly are only just at the beginning of what is to come! We are so excited for the future of our little superstars at Whitkirk Primary School! Well done Year 1!
Wow, what a year we have had! From the children acting in their last nativity—what a showstopper it was—to Victorian Day and our amazing outfits, where we truly enjoyed every moment, even if Miss Dougan and Miss Dougall were acting strict.
Spring brought out the palaeontologists in us as we dug in sand for fossils. Miss Dougan is still finding sand in the carpet! Our brilliant authors took to Author’s Chair, and we’re sure some of them will be writing novels in the future. The trip to Yorkshire Wildlife Park was another highlight, where we held lizards, snails, and cockroaches, creating memories that will last a lifetime.
The progress our Year 2 cohort has made is phenomenal, and we cannot wait to continue to hear about their achievements as they embark upstairs as grown-up KS2 pupils!
Lower Key Stage 2
Thank you Year 3 for such a memorable year - you truly are amazing! Looking back at our year, we all feel incredibly proud to see the progress the children have made, both inside and outside of the classroom. One of our highlights has got to be our visit to the West Yorkshire Playhouse when we watched The Enormous Crocodile. Seeing the children's faces as they watched the Roald Dahl story come to life was magical.
Another Year 3 memory that will always make us smile is our Food Technology unit: baking biscuits. The children took their job of 'biscuit designers' very seriously and produced some very tasty looking biscuits by the end of the day!
What a fantastic year we've had in Year 4! One of the highlights for us this year is when we went to Saltburn-by-the-Sea to explore the British coastal environment. Linking with our Geography Big Idea ‘What is life like at the Seaside?’, the Year 4's had an amazing time and loved being on the beach! Lots of sandcastles were made and we got to paddle in the sea!
Another brilliant memory from Year 4 is when we made pencil pots for our Design and Technology project! We designed them and then created them using saws and glue guns. The pencil pots looked fantastic and was definitely a highlight of the year!
Upper Key Stage 2
We absolutely could not be prouder of how Year 5 have tackled this year. They have shown such commitment and enthusiasm to their learning, but also made us smile every single day. From Sports Day, to DT, to creating imaginative stories and solving challenging maths problems, they have tackled everything we have thrown at them with a positive attitude! One particular highlight has to have been our visit to the Houses of Parliament, where the children absolutely blew us away with their thoughtful questions and their persuasive arguments during the workshop.
It's official! It's a wrap! The final curtain has come down on Year 6s' time at Whitkirk before they move on to pastures new and what an amazing year it has been! From dissecting hearts, laying wreaths at the Cenotaph, scaling heights on the residential, producing the BEST SATs ever at Whitkirk and singing and dancing in the Leavers' Concert, they have been superb. Well done and good luck. It's been a BLAST 💥!