Dear Parents and Carers,

Another Spring term like no other! Although we have only had all the children back in school for three weeks, it feels like we are all very ready for the Easter break. It has been lovely seeing the leaves and blossoms appearing on the trees and every day there seems to be more colour spreading through Orton Wistow. The weather has been lovely this week and the children have been allowed to play on the field at break and lunchtimes. This always makes these times of the day more enjoyable and hopefully, we can continue to use the field most days after the Easter holiday. 

Over the past couple of weeks, teachers have been busy carrying out assessments (as we usually would at the end of the Spring term) and these will help inform the focus for the Summer term, plugging the gaps and building on the children's current knowledge, skills, and understanding. Although we felt confident that the recent lockdown wouldn't have impacted negatively on the children to the extent the media would have us believe, we were unsure of the picture these assessments would paint for us. Having spent time talking to teachers across the school and seeing some of the results from these assessments, it is clear that the pupils at OWPS have continued to make progress in many areas of the curriculum. Teachers are feeling confident about what can be achieved in the Summer term, before the children transition into the next year group. Some children have fallen behind a little from where they were or where we thought they would be at this point, whilst others have exceeded our expectations. These three weeks have given the teachers enough time to get a more accurate picture of where the children are in relation to expectations for their year group and we will now make the most of the final term of this year. Teachers will speak to you about this during the parents' evening appointments in April. 

Over the past week, I have shown three visitors through the school. Every one of them commented on how calm the school felt and what a lovely atmosphere there was. The children have not forgotten the PRIDE code and it has been lovely seeing how happy they are to be back with their friends in school. However, we do feel that there has been a sense of 'giddiness' among the children and some, especially our younger children, have struggled to remain focused on their learning throughout the whole school day. I suppose it is a bit like being 'match fit' for a footballer. Many of our children have been out of school for a long time and for those who remained in class, it wasn't the same as usual school. Now they have had these three weeks to get used to being back, seeing their friends, and get over the excitement of being in a full classroom and school, we will be hitting the ground running on Monday 12th April, making our expectations very clear to all the children. We need to make the most of the final thirteen weeks in school and to do this we need the children to follow the PRIDE code, work hard on the learning tools, stick to the golden rules, and remember our expectations. 

I hope you all have a wonderful Easter break and I look forward to seeing you all in April! Don't forget to book your parents' evening appointments. 

Kind regards

Mr Marks

Deputy Head Teacher 

^{Photo by Jez Timms on Unsplash}

Each week, we publish the latest achievements of the children at Orton Wistow Primary School.  You can find out the weekly results for:

• Attendance
• Class Dojos
• Dojo Masters
• House Points
• Reading Champions
• Shining Stars
• Times Table Rock Stars

Virtual Honours Award Assembly

Congratulations to the following children who have been chosen as the Spring Term Honours Award Winners for their commitment, hard work and enthusiasm:

The New Summer Term Menu is Revealed!

A Colourful and Varied New Menu for the Summer Term

Mrs Anderson, Libby our Catering Manager, has been hard at work with Mr Eardley and Mrs Russell creating a brand new menu for next term to delight the taste buds of all the children at OWPS. Libby said, "I am very excited to see the children try some new things."

On the menu are 13 new main courses, 5 new side dishes and 9 new desserts!

Over 50 of the dishes on the three-weekly rotating menu are freshly made here at school!

To view a printable copy of the menu, please click here.

A Theme for Every Day!

A combination of tried and tested favourites and fresh, new items make this a menu to please even the most discerning eaters:

• Mondays will feature Pizza and Pasta. 
   
• Tuesdays will take us All Around the World to try dishes from different countries like Mild Coconut Chicken Curry and Spanish Meatballs in Tomato and Basil Sauce. 
   
• Wednesdays will be a Roast dinner. 
   
• Thursdays will focus on School Favourites like Wistow Sausage Roll and Chicken Nuggets.
   
• Fridays will showcase those Feelgood Friday meals that put a smile on all our faces at the end of a busy week like Battered Fish and Jumbo Breaded Fish Fingers.

Freshly Made Desserts

Over 50 items on our menu are freshly made in school including our delicious desserts.  Next term, desserts that are handmade on the premises include:

• Lemon Shortbread
• Chocolate Sponge with Chocolate Sauce
• Raspberry Yoghurt Sponge with Pink Sauce
• Cornflake Tart and Custard
• Iced Ginger Sponge and Custard
• Peach Melba
• Jam Tart
• Flapjack
• Chocolate and Orange Marble Cake with Custard
• Citrus Drizzle Cake
• Chocolate Fudge Brownie

Catering for Everyone

We provide a range of dishes to cater for a variety of eating preferences and allergens.  Every day, for example, we offer a vegetarian main course option including Vegetable Crumble Pie, Lentil and Chickpea Loaf, Sweet Potato, Chickpea, and Spinach Curry and Vegetable Sausage Casserole.

We also provide up-to-date information on allergens for each item on the menu, which can be viewed here.

And finally...

For more details, please visit The Dining Car. We hope the children enjoy the new Summer Term Menu!

^{Photo by Ethan Robertson on Unsplash}

Summer Term Golden Mile Challenges

By Mr Cowles, PE Lead

The Golden Mile

The Golden Mile is a safe, simple and measurable way to improve health and physical activity. Initiatives like this are supported by advice from the Department of Health, which says that children should engage in regular daily physical activity habits across the week, every week of the year.

During the Autumn Term, the children at OWPS undertook the Golden Mile regularly and their cumulative miles contributed to their class total. In addition, each class was challenged to reach a destination in the UK.

Summer Term Challenges

This term each class will be given a new destination to reach. This is based on how well the class did last term. If the class achieves its challenge, the class will receive 5 marbles to go into their jar. The children have 11 weeks to meet their challenge!

There are also certificates available to children when they reach 10, 25, 50, 75, 100 and 125-mile points.

Class Destination Challenges

Mr Cowles did a special assembly this week to tell the children their new challenges.  Here are the destinations for each class:

Each week, we will post the class weekly totals in the Achievements section of the newsletter.

^{Photo by Bruno Wolff on Unsplash}

Red Nose Day

By Mrs Johnson, Learning Mentor

I love being able to look out of my window and see children having fun with the accompanying sounds of shrieks, chatter and laughter.

Red Nose Day was extra special with Superheroes adding an extra bit of colour to the playground.

We had a lovely day which began with Mr Marks' Comic Relief assembly where children were able to see how the money they donate is used.

Some classes took part in a session of Laughter Yoga and we were all able to eat delicious biscuits, made by our lovely kitchen staff, at break time.

Thank you to all parents who were able to donate money to Comic Relief.

In total, we raised £620.85!

National Pet Month - Tell Us About Your Pets!

National Pet Month is from 01.04.21 - 10.05.21 and we'd like to hear all about your pets!

Send in a photo of your pet and let us know its name, age, breed and any other interesting facts.  

Just complete our National Pet Month Form or email digital@owps.org.uk.  If you decide to email, please don't forget to state in the email that you give us permission to publish your photo in the newsletter and on the website.

We hope you get involved and tell us all about your pets!

_{Photo by Bonnie Kittle on Unsplash}

A weekly section on how to maintain good mental health and well-being.

OWN Trust Staffing Announcements

We are delighted to announce that Catherine Chapman (Maternity Cover Class Teacher), Hannah Banister and Jess Atkinson (Trainee Teachers) have secured positions at Woodston Primary School.  We are sorry that they will be leaving us but very pleased that they will be staying within the OWN Trust family.

Due to the lockdown, we will not be issuing certificates for the Spring Term.

We hope to issue certificates for the Summer Term. In order to get the first week towards their Summer Reading Certificate, the children will need to have read 5 times between Thursday 25th March and Thursday 15th April.

Find out what is happening in the community, nationally and internationally.

^{Disclaimer: Orton Wistow Primary School does not endorse any products, services or activities that appear in the Community section of this newsletter, and is not responsible for any contract entered into by either party. Given the current circumstances, we would recommend all parents check with any providers regarding the status of these services, activities and clubs}