Whitchurch Combined School Parent Portal - Whitchurch Combined School

Whitchurch Combined School - June 2026 Newsletter

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Headteacher: Mrs R. Mobbs
School Vision: “Growing Today, Ready for Tomorrow!”

Dear Parents/Carers,

What an unbelievably busy June we have had! So much so that we’ve put together an extra newsletter just to keep you updated on everything that has been happening across the school!

June also brought with it the record-breaking heatwave, which certainly made it a month to remember.

We hope you enjoy the read and feel as proud as we do of everything the children have achieved.

Record-Breaking Temperatures Across School

As I sit and write this now, we reflect on what has been a truly unique and challenging few days for our school community last week. Never before have we experienced such fierce heat within the school, nor such difficult conditions in which to teach.

Many classrooms reached temperatures in the high 30s, with several exceeding 30°C, making focused learning incredibly difficult. Despite this, the children remained calm, respectful and resilient, and for this we want to say a huge thank you to them.

We would also like to express our gratitude to the Wolfenden and Blumenson families, who kindly lent us air-conditioning units. Mr Soar, Mrs Burgess and Mrs Lawson were immensely grateful, as these units helped keep the Year 5, Year 4 and Reception classrooms at a far more manageable temperature level.

Thank you as well to all parents who supported their children with home learning during this period. We do not take the decision to close the school lightly, but with the Red Heat Warning issued by the Met Office, we felt that the school environment was not a safe space for children, especially with some areas reaching temperatures in the high 30s.

Your understanding, flexibility and continued support are greatly appreciated.

The Year 3 Hudnall Park residential has been rescheduled for 14th - 16th September, but unfortunately the Year 6 Transition Games at Waddesdon Secondary School has been cancelled as there is insufficient time in their calendar to re-arrange.

We now hope we can enjoy the rest of the term with slightly less drama!

WhitFest 26 – This Friday! Don’t Miss It!

The countdown is officially on — WhitFest 26 is happening this Friday, and the excitement across our school community is really starting to build. If you haven’t secured your place yet, tickets are still available on Arbor and through our Ticket Source link until 2:30pm on Friday on both sites.

Tickets can be purchased on the gate on the day.

This year’s event is shaping up to be one of our best yet. Preparations are in full swing for an evening packed with live entertainment, great food, music, and plenty of fun for families and friends.

Our headline act, ‘Oh-Aces’, will be taking to the stage, supported by special performances from our talented Whitchurch children, the Maypole dancers, and our wonderful school choir.

You’ll also be spoilt for choice with a fantastic range of food and drink throughout the evening, including:

Wesley Artisan Pizzeria
Pha Thai
Howdens Fish & Chips

Drinks will be served by Beer Cellar LTD, with sweet treats and refreshments from Will Fender Coffee Van and a classic ice-cream van to keep everyone cool.

We can’t wait to come together as a community for another unforgettable WhitFest. We hope to see as many families as possible joining us this Friday for an evening to remember.

Again, a huge thanks to our local companies and businesses who have kindly sponsored the event: The Five Elms, Weedon, Hampden Equine Vets, Parrot Bros, Weedon Walkies, The Black Boy, Oving, The White Swan, Whitchurch

A Fantastic Month of Sport at Whitchurch!

June has been an incredibly active and exciting month for sport across the school, with children from every year group getting involved in a brilliant range of events, fixtures and festivals. Here’s a look at just some of the sporting opportunities our pupils have enjoyed:

Year 6 Girls – Dynamos Cricket
Year 3 & 4 – Tennis Taster Session at Halton Tennis Club
Whitchurch Wildcats (Netball) vs Waddesdon
Year 2 – Multi-Skills Festival at Cottesloe School
Year 5 & 6 – Dynamos Cricket at Stewkley Cricket Club
Year 5 – Mixed Rounders Tournament at the AVA
KS2 Sports Morning
KS1 & Reception Sports Morning

Each event has given our children the chance to try new sports, build confidence, work as a team and represent Whitchurch with pride. The enthusiasm, effort and sportsmanship shown by all pupils has been fantastic to see.

To read more about these events — including photos, results and write-ups — please visit our Summer Term Sports Page on the school website.

Looking Ahead

We’re not slowing down yet! Coming up, we have:

Year 4 Cricket at Stewkley
District Sports on 6th July

We can’t wait to see even more children taking part and enjoying these opportunities.

A Huge Thank You

At Whitchurch, we believe passionately in giving as many children as possible the chance to experience a wide variety of sports. These opportunities are only possible thanks to the incredible support of our families.

We know that many events take place during the school day, and we truly appreciate the time and effort it takes — including time away from work — to get children to and from fixtures. Your support makes a huge difference, and we are extremely grateful.

A special thank you also goes to Tom Brazier from the Insignis Sports Partnership at Mandeville School, who coordinates many of these fantastic events, and to Mrs Spring, who accompanies and encourages so many of our children at sporting fixtures throughout the year.

Here’s to even more sporting success as we move into July!

As always, a huge thanks to our Sports Partners: Hannon Builders, Vass-Tech, John Dennis 4x4, Fitworx and Oh! Honey Beauty.

Platinum School Games Mark – Re-Certified!

We are incredibly proud to announce that Whitchurch has once again been awarded the Platinum School Games Mark, re-certifying us for the next two academic years. The Platinum Award is the highest level of recognition available and represents a tremendous achievement for our school.

This award highlights our strong commitment to sport – both in terms of competitive opportunities and broad participation – and reflects just how active, enthusiastic and engaged our pupils are across the whole school.

We would like to extend our sincere thanks to the staff who have played such a key role in achieving this recognition:

Mrs Hunt, who put many of the foundations in place for the School Games Mark and who led PE with passion and dedication for many years
Mrs Spring, who has continued this work by taking children to festivals and fixtures, and who has driven the huge development of girls’ football over the past two years
Mr Soar, who has taken on the leadership of PE since Mrs Hunt’s departure and continues to strengthen and grow our sporting provision
All staff, who support events, encourage participation, celebrate children’s achievements and help make sport such a valued part of school life.

Their combined commitment, enthusiasm and belief in the power of sport have been central to this success.

We are delighted to be recognised at the highest level once again and look forward to continuing to champion sport, activity and opportunity for every child at Whitchurch.

Reading Picnic

To support our Reading Olympic Challenge, we once again invited families to join us for a whole-school reading picnic. It was wonderful to see families huddled together with a good book, enjoying the sunshine, the stories and the snacks that many parents kindly brought along.

The atmosphere was relaxed, joyful and full of shared reading moments - a lovely reminder of how powerful it is when families and children read together!

School Events

There have been lots of other exciting events happening across the school since half term, with children taking part in a wonderful variety of experiences. These have included:

Our amazing librarians reading stories at the local pre-school
Year 5 performing the Maypole
James and Jack Mander’s Drumming Assembly
Bikeability for KS2
Year 3 Ancient Maya Day
Our Whole School Reading Picnic

You can read more about each of these events in greater detail on our School Events page on the website.

Book Swap Station Launch

As part of our eco-mission to increase recycling across the school, we are delighted to introduce our brand new Book Swap Station.

This wonderful idea was suggested by Annabelle, Year 6, at the start of the school year, creating a space where children can bring in books they have already enjoyed and swap them for something new. Thanks to the fantastic support of Winslow Men in Sheds, Annabelle’s vision has now become a reality. Annabelle said, "I am really pleased to see the Book Swap Station finally here. I hope that it will last many years and encourage lots of children to love reading!"

We would like to express our sincere thanks for the kindness, time and expertise of Ray and the entire team, who have worked so hard to bring this project to life. The finished station is truly special and we are excited to begin using it.

Next week, the Book Swap Station will move to its permanent home on the school fence. It will be a children only resource, stocked with a range of age appropriate books for all year groups.

We would love your support. If your child has any pre loved books at home that they have finished reading, please do send them in to be shared with others.

This is a fantastic opportunity to encourage a love of reading, allow children to share recommendations with their friends, and support our commitment to protecting the planet through reuse and recycling.

School Trips

Our Year 6 Summer of Fun is well underway and the children have already enjoyed some fantastic experiences. They had an amazing trip to Cadbury World, followed by a visit to a windy and chilly West Wittering Beach. The weather certainly did not stop the fun and laughter.

Reception class also had an exciting milestone, enjoying their first ever school trip to the Natural History Museum in Oxford. It was a wonderful opportunity for them to explore and learn in a new environment.

Meanwhile, Year 2 headed out earlier this week for some strawberry picking at Rectory farm, which was a big hit with the children.

School trips are very important to us, as they provide valuable enrichment opportunities and bring learning to life in memorable ways.

To find out more about these visits, please take a look at our Summer Term Trips page.

KS2 and KS1 & Reception Sports Mornings

Finally, the weather was just right – not too wet and not too hot!

This week, both KS2 and KS1 & Reception enjoyed their annual Sports Mornings, with two fantastic events full of energy, excitement and excellent sportsmanship.

KS2 kicked the week off with a morning of competitive sporting action. Pupils took part in a range of events including the 80m sprint, tunnel ball, under/over relay, drainpipe relay, one and two-lap races, and relay races. Every child gave their all and contributed valuable points to their house team in a closely contested competition.

Congratulations to Mentmore House, led by Year 6 House Captains Tom and Ottilie, who celebrated a fantastic victory. Reflecting on their success, Tom and Ottilie said:

"It's only the second win we have had during our time at Whitchurch. We felt elated to win after such a long time! Well done to all of Team Mentmore – we couldn't have done it without them!"

On Wednesday, it was the turn of our KS1 and Reception children to enjoy a fun-filled, non-competitive Sports Morning. Pupils took part in a carousel of activities, including sprint races, throwing challenges, parachute games with Mrs Fowler, and many other exciting stations. The focus was on participation, enjoyment and developing sporting skills, and the children embraced every activity with enthusiasm and smiles.

A huge well done to all the children who took part over the two days. They behaved impeccably, supported one another and demonstrated outstanding sportsmanship throughout.

We would also like to say a special thank you to our team of Year 6 helpers, who supported the KS1 and Reception event on Wednesday. They were a real credit to the school and showed great maturity, responsibility and kindness whilst helping the younger children.

Well done to everyone involved for making both Sports Mornings such a tremendous success!

Congratulations and Goodbye, Mrs Forsythe!

A huge congratulations to Mrs Forsythe, who has successfully completed her Initial Teacher Training and is now a fully qualified teacher!

Mrs Forsythe has been part of the Whitchurch community for the past five years, during which time she has held many roles within the school – parent, PTA member, Teaching Assistant, trainee teacher in Year 3, and now qualified teacher!

Mrs Forsythe has accepted a full-time teaching position at North Marston School, where she will teach a mixed Year 1 and Year 2 class. She officially finished at Whitchurch on Tuesday and leaves with our sincere thanks for all her hard work, dedication and commitment to our school community.

We wish Mrs Forsythe every success and happiness in her future career. Good luck from everyone at Whitchurch!