Dear Parents and Carers,

I am delighted to welcome you all back to a new school year at Orton Wistow Primary School. I hope you and your families had an enjoyable summer break and are looking forward to the term ahead as much as we are. It was wonderful to see the children arrive at school with such enthusiasm on Wednesday and it has been a great first three days. 

This week, our staff have completed two positive and highly productive professional development days on Monday and Tuesday. These sessions have given us the opportunity to reflect, refine and prepare so that we can continue to provide the very best learning experiences for your children.

I would like to take this opportunity to share some important updates:

• Staffing Updates – We warmly welcome Miss Burch, who joins our team as the Year Three Bumblebees class teacher. I know you will give her a friendly Orton Wistow welcome. In addition, Mrs Fidgett and Miss Tansley have a new title this year. They will continue in their important leadership roles, but will now be known as Assistant Heads, reflecting their responsibilities across the school.

• We have always supported the development of new teachers at OWPS, without schools willing to do that, we would not have the required workforce available in the city. We will be welcoming two 'Teach East' students to our school this term and they will remain with us for the majority of the year. Miss Hussain will be with Miss Wyatt and the Wombats class and Miss Ali will be with Mr. Newton and the Nightingales class. Again, I am sure you will all welcome them in to the OWPS community. 

• Positive Behaviour Policy – We have made some changes to our approach to behaviour, building on our existing strengths and we are confident that these changes will help us support our pupils even more effectively. Miss. Tansley and Mrs. Fidgett are the school's behaviour leads and some additional information about these changes has been sent home today. 

• OPAL Lunchtimes – Later this term we are excited to be introducing OPAL (Outdoor Play and Learning) lunchtimes. This will significantly enrich our lunchtime offer, ensuring that all pupils have access to creative, active and engaging play opportunities.

We are excited about the year ahead and the opportunities it holds for every child. As always, thank you for your continued support; together, we can make this another successful year at Orton Wistow Primary School.

Have a lovely weekend.

Mr. Marks

Headteacher 

^{Photo by Rashmi Shukla on Unsplash}