Dear Parents and Carers,

We have made it through to the end of the autumn term! It is always the longest term of the year with a very busy (and fun) last week, and we are all ready for the break. 

Although we have had to adapt some of our events to be in line with restrictions and guidance, it is amazing how much we have still managed to do, and it has been wonderful seeing the children back on stage in the past few weeks. This week we have had Christmas quizzes, Christmas jumper day, Christmas dinner, a Foundation Stage trip to the church, a Christmas joke-telling assembly, Jack and the Beanstalk pantomime, and toy day! I imagine we will all sleep well tonight. 

As this is the last newsletter of the term, I wanted to take this chance to thank everyone involved with Orton Wistow Primary School for their hard work and support this term. The staff have worked tirelessly and shown resilience and flexibility throughout, the parents have continued to support us (even when we have had to make decisions that we knew would be disappointing), FOWS have managed to still find ways to raise funds for the school (the sweet and chocolate raffle was a huge success) and the children have followed the PRIDE code, worked hard and made the most of this term! Thank you all, and I wish you all a very merry Christmas and a happy new year! 

Enjoy the break,

Mr Marks 

Deputy Head Teacher

^{Photo by Aaron Burden on Unsplash}

Each week, we publish the latest achievements of the children at Orton Wistow Primary School. 

OWPS vs Woodston Girls Football Match

By Mr Cowles, PE Lead

On 7th December, Orton Wistow Primary School played against Woodston Primary school in a girls-only football match here at the school.

Key Stage 2 girls were selected from the school’s football club to take part. Everyone played exceptionally well.  I'd like to give a special mention to Chloe Fincham who stepped up from Year 4 at short notice and was outstanding on the day. 

The event took place as we wanted to highlight the importance of girls’ football and give them a platform to showcase their talents. The children represented the school admirably and played the match in front of spectators.

OWPS won the game 2-1: they were dominant for most of the game and showed some brilliant football in some sections. The girls were a credit to the school and showed what it meant to be a Wistow pupil!

The girls will have more fixtures in the New year.

Honours Awards 15.12.21

Congratulations to these children who received an Honours Award this week:

Book Fair Update

Mrs Edwards, our Reading Lead, would like to say a big thank you to all parents for purchasing books from the book fair as we have raised £843.22!

Celebrating Success

Here at Orton Wistow Primary School, we recognise that success comes in all different shapes and sizes! We celebrate the children's achievements in school in the Achievements section of the newsletter and website.

Many of the children, however, are also achieving things outside of school.  We would like to recognise these successes too.

It might be that your child has passed a music or dance exam, gained a karate belt, starred in a show, volunteered, taken part in a sporting event or done something that they didn't think was possible!

If you would like to share your child's achievements with us so that we can celebrate their success, please complete the Celebrating Success form which can also be found below.  Contributions will be considered for inclusion in upcoming editions of the newsletter.

We look forward to hearing about your children's extra-curricular achievements!

Celebrating Success this week!

Congratulations to this child in Year 4.  He has achieved junior student of the year for taekwondo for his commitment and hard work during the past year.  Well done!

Congratulations to Harry C who has achieved a certificate for completing Stage 1 of learning to swim. Well done!

Congratulations to this child in Year Two for achieving his white and orange belt at Inspired Martial Arts on Sunday. He has worked very hard to achieve this belt. Well done!
 

Congratulations to this child in Year 4 who had an amazing weekend showing real perseverance and determination.  On Saturday she was part of 3 concerts, two of which were at Peterborough Cathedral. On Sunday she achieved her karate yellow belt.  Fantastic news!

Congratulations to this child in Year 2.  She had another amazing grading at karate this weekend with her second A* grading, which means that she has been awarded 4 belts in 2 gradings.  She loves karate and pushes herself to the limit in this sport showing amazing perseverance.  Well done!

Congratulations to this child in Year 3 who achieved his green belt in karate moving him into the black belt classes. Well done!

And finally, congratulations also go to this child in Foundation Stage who passed his first belt in Little Ninjas karate earning him an orange and white belt. Well done!

Operation Christmas Child

On 16th December 2021, Mrs Hales, who coordinated the collection of shoeboxes from Orton Wistow Primary School, came in with a special certificate to say a big THANK YOU to everyone who gave donations to Operation Christmas Child.  There were a total of 136 boxes collected in the Orton Wistow Community. Thank you to everyone who gave their support!

Checking your Child's Attendance on the Parent Portal

Did you know that you can check your child's attendance on the Parent Portal?  You can check daily, weekly, or as often as you wish by logging onto the Parent Portal and seeing their uptodate percentage attendance on the Attendance Ring on the dashboard:

For more information about the Parent Portal including logging on, troubleshooting, and what's there, you can download our Parent Portal Guide. If you have any difficulties or need further help, please email digital@owps.org.uk or telephone 01733 370646 in the new year.

Discover what is coming up in the OWPS Dining Car.

^{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}

You can also contact us at digital@owps.org.uk if you have any comments or queries about the e-newsletter or website. We look forward to hearing from you!