Dear Parents and Carers

At the moment I am sitting at my desk surrounded by To-Do lists. I have some on pads of paper, another on my IPad and quite a few on post-it notes. I can't help feeling that it is only a matter of time before I start to write things on the back of my hand - which is, ironically, how I got through my first year as a class teacher back in 1990. I've come full circle!

The reason for the mountain of lists is that I want to make sure that I get everything done, and done properly before I leave. This can lead to a feeling that my focus is to get them ticked off and then move on to the next task. Summer fair - check! Open Day - check! House Captain elections - check! Sports Day - check! But I am making sure that I take a moment to reflect on how everything is going and to be honest, I just feel a tremendous sense of pride in all that we do as a school and the support that we enjoy from the parents at school. Last week's summer fair was amazing. Our Friends of Wistow School (FOWS) did a superb job of organising everything for us in advance and the fair ran like clockwork. It was great to see so many staff running stalls and to see so many families join us for the event. However, what really made me smile was the number of ex-pupils who came back to see us. It made me realise that many of them hadn't had the chance to have a summer fair of their own when they were in Year 6. 

When I put forward the idea of the Open Day to staff, I was a little worried that they would be reluctant to undertake such a complicated event. I needn't have worried! In true Wistow fashion, everyone worked together as a team to take responsibility for one part of it and the whole day was a great success. The children loved being able to show their special guests around the school and the feedback from parents has been touching. It has reminded me just how long it has been since you were able to come into school and look at your child's work. As always, we will reflect on how the day went and make some tweaks next year. We already know that we need to make more sausage rolls!

Recruitment

Compared to some other workplaces, schools tend to have three key points in the year when we have staff leave or change their roles. Thankfully for us, this tends to be at the end of each term and most often at the end of the summer term. We have a number of changes coming up that I wanted to let you know about:

Headteacher

Hopefully, the Trust will appoint my successor next week, and we will be able to let you know who will be the new Headteacher at OWPS from September.

Mrs Sharman

After eleven years of loyal service at the school, Mrs Sharman, one of our Teaching Assistants will leave OWPS at the end of this term. Mrs Sharman began her time with us supporting a child who had additional needs. When he left, we jumped at the chance to appoint her as a TA, and she has been brilliant at supporting children in school. Mrs Sharman has always risen to a challenge and for a while was part of the support team who helped the Year 6 children get ready for their SATS. We wish her every happiness as she takes time to be closer to her family.

Mrs Samuels

At one point, I think Mrs Samuels held four different roles in school. As you would expect from her, she effortlessly juggled working at Breakfast Club, being a Class TA, a Midday Supervisor and then working at the After School Club and Holiday Club. Over time, she has slimmed down her roles and the majority of her time is now spent providing support to a pupil in school. She has decided that the time is right to give up her After School/Holiday Club role so that she can have a bit more time away from school. An advert to replace her P1 role is out at the moment.

Mrs Matthewman

If my maths is correct, I think that Mrs Matthewman has worked at the school for over twenty years! She has held a variety of roles in that time but one of her greatest contributions to the school has been the way that she has led and developed Platform One. She has now made the difficult decision that it is time to relinquish her After School/Holiday Club roles as well as that as Club Manager. Mrs Matthewman is Team OWPS through and through, but the time is right for her to be able to relax a little more. She will continue in her role at Breakfast Club and as a TA.

Mrs Riccardi

Mrs Ricciardi held the honour of holding the most roles of any member of staff at one point, and we needed two separate pages to list them all on our personnel software! Over time, she has given some of these up but is still an essential member of our team in her roles at Breakfast Club, as our Senior Midday Supervisor and as a TA. She has now made the difficult decision that it is time to leave us at the end of this term so that she can enjoy time with her family.

It is always sad to have to write that someone is stepping down from one or all of their roles, but I then remember that we are very much a team. We all play our part in one way or another and, although we are sad that we have people leaving us, we also know that we will welcome new people to the team, and they will bring their own ideas and talents. When we have recruited for these roles, I will write to let you know who is joining us.

I can now tick off the Newsletter from my To-Do list! There is just the small matter of reading 150 more reports!

Have a great weekend everyone.

Kind regards,

Mr Eardley
Headteacher

^{Photo by Anne Nygård on Unsplash}

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

FOWS Update 01.07.22

By Mrs Francis, FOWS

THANK YOU!

It's hard to know where to start in terms of the thank you for the summer fayre! The most obvious thank you must go to the FOWS team/ We are a small group and putting on an event such as the fayre takes a lot of planning and consideration, and takes a great deal of time. A huge thank you to the team for putting on such a successful event. 

Next, a thank you to the staff. The support from the staff is crucial to the running of the fayre. Having staff running stalls delights the children, and adds to the atmosphere of the fayre. Thank you to all those who helped before the fayre with preparation, who ran stalls and of course who stayed for the big clean-up at the end of the day. 

But finally, we want to thank YOU. The parents and friends of the school, who came in their droves, and took part in everything there was to offer. It was absolutely wonderful to see the children enjoying themselves. For many of them it would have been their first experience of a Wistow fayre, and they certainly seemed to be having a fantastic time. So many of you stayed until the end when we announced all the winners, so another huge thank you to you all for your support. 

We hope you've already seen the total raised, but in case you haven't, we're thrilled to be able to tell you we raised £4100 for the school. This is an amazing amount of money, and will be so appreciated by the school. We do have one match funder lined up, so this total could increase further. If you think you could also match fund for us, it's not too late, please email us on fows@owps.org.uk

WE NEED YOU

If you enjoyed the fayre, and wondered how it was put together, or just enjoyed the buzz, and you'd like to be part of it next time, now's the time to get involved. We have four named positions on the committee and three of the four are stepping down in September. If the idea of holding a named position immediately isn't tempting, why not come along to a meeting just to find out more. Our next meeting will be a meeting designed for new parents/friends to pop along to and ask questions, see the sorts of things we do, and see whether you are interested in becoming involved. 

The date for the next meeting is 22nd September at 7.30pm, so please put that date in your calendar now, a new year means a new committee, and a chance to be involved and be part of the team fundraising for our school. 

Any questions, please email us on fows@owps.o

Sports Days 2021 - 2022

By Mr Cowles, PE Lead

KS1 Sports day 24.06.22

On a mild morning, we were thrilled to be able to open our gates to visitors for the KS1 Sports Day. The children were placed into teams, with each team split into four different houses. As the morning started, the children demonstrated fantastic teamwork, encouraging their team members throughout. The adults created a wonderful atmosphere, making sure that the children had encouragement and support.

Each team visited the seven stations set up (as well as two rest stations for a well-deserved break). Some stations were trickier than others, but all the children took part in the stations. From strategic placement with the bean bags to brilliant technique using the foam javelins, the KS1 children were supported by the Year 6 boys and girls. A special mention goes to the Year 6 helpers as they represented the school tremendously well. They set a wonderful example for the children and make sure that their demonstrations were precise and clear. Once all the children had visited every station, the children, along with their parents, took part in races on the track. It was brilliant to see so many children wanting to take part, and all that did can be proud.

I’d like to say a massive thank you to all the adults who came and supported their child and to the children themselves who made the morning a fantastic sporting event.

KS2 Sports day 21.06.22

Unlike KS1 sports day, the KS2 sports day was blisteringly hot. The children were again separated into their houses, and they were able to get underway with the stations. As the children are older and the transition between the stations is quicker, the boys and girls took part in 10 active stations with 2 stations as rest. A few different stations consisted of relay agility, tennis dribble and different distances for the other dribbling events. The KS2 children showed brilliant teamwork, encouragement and a desire to do well at all times. Even though they may have not had a child in their year in their team, they did not let this hinder their interactions with each other.

I’d like to say that both the KS1 and KS2 sports days ran so smoothly because of the commitment from staff and children at the school. It would not have been possible without them.

To the adults that attended, the atmosphere was electric and because of that, both days were ones to remember. So again thank you for your continued support of the school and your children.

The overall results for both days are:

1st – Fens (5291)

2nd – Mallard (5232)

3rd – Dempsey (5154)

4th – Nene (4543)

OWPS Open Day

It was fantastic to see parents back in school for our Open Day on Monday 27th June 2022.  In the course of the day, over 150 parents enjoyed looking around the school with their child/ren as tour guides.

Lessons continued as normal throughout the day, with the opportunity for parents to sit in on the learning and experience life in class.  Children showed parents their books and enjoyed telling them what they had been working on.  It was delightful to see children showing their parents the displays and photographs, and leading them confidently around the school and the grounds.  One parent was even encouraged to run the Golden Mile with their child!

A pop-up café in the hall enabled parents and children to enjoy a tasty treat and a drink from the Dining Car.  

Staff, children and parents all enjoyed this opportunity to get together.  There was a buzz around the school all day and several parents also booked to have lunch with their children as well.

Here are some of the lovely comments from parents:

"The visit was an amazing experience. Children had a chance to come around and show me the places where they usually work. It gave me more awareness about the school environment."

"Wow! What a great and well-organised event. I came to the first session, we enjoyed a sausage roll and some flapjack in the pop-up café. A then showed me round the different wall displays, and then she grabbed her tray with all her books, and we sat in the café in a quiet area and looked through the books. It was a lovely relaxed session, well done Wistow!"

"Such a lovely experience! I got to see two very excited, proud children. They got to show me their work and school at the same time. It bonded the parent/school relationship especially in their eyes."

We look forward to holding another Open Day next year.

Celebrating Success 01.07.22

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.  Contributions will be considered for inclusion in upcoming editions of the newsletter.

We look forward to hearing about your children's extracurricular achievements!

Celebrating Success this week!

Congratulations to this child in Year Three who took part in the Peterborough Championship series 2nd event last weekend. He fought some tough opponents but was really proud of his perseverance and his medal. He will be fighting again in November and is really looking forward to it. 

Congratulations to this child in Foundation Stage who became an official member of The Purdy Squirrel Scout and made his promise in front of all his friends. 

Well done to this child in Year Two who achieved his red and white belt at Inspired Martial Arts on Sunday. He did extremely well in his grading and all of his hard work and determination has led to him achieving his new belt.

Well done to this child in Year Two who showed amazing bravery to participate in the sparring element and scored a high grade pass to achieve her yellow belt. Now onto her orange belt in time for joining year 3 in September!

Congratulations to this child in Year Four who, after a number of weeks out, has shown great perseverance to pass her green belt. She now moves on to work towards her blue belt.

Well done to this child in Year Three who successfully competed his grading this week and has progressed to a higher belt in his karate.

Discover what is coming up in the OWPS Dining Car.

Read about what is happening locally, 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}