Issue 415: 24th February 2023

Dear Parents and Carers,

Welcome back to the second half of the academic year, I hope you all had a great half-term. It has been a busy and positive first week back and the children appear well rested and ready to work! 

Industrial Action

As it stands, the school will remain open on Wednesday 1^st March, the next planned day of teacher strikes. A separate letter about this has been sent home today. Circumstances could change between now and March 1st. I will keep everyone updated. 

Year 5 2 Can Learn

It was great to see so many family members join our Year Five children for their 2 Can Learn session yesterday. They were set the challenge of investigating which size parachute would take the longest to reach the ground. They had to think about variables, making it a fair test and working as a team to build three different sized parachutes. It looked as if everyone enjoyed the challenge and the chance to work together. 

Bike Canopies

Many of you will have noticed that the work on our new bike canopies has begun. They have completed the first canopy outside the entrance to the Year Two classrooms, and they are planning to start on the larger canopy very soon. We are hoping that this will be another way of encouraging more of you to cycle or scoot to school. I know Mr. Newton is very happy about not having a wet bike seat at the end of the day from now on!

Have a wonderful weekend everybody. See you on Monday.

Mr. Marks 

Headteacher

^{Photo by Chris Linnett on Unsplash}

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

Red Nose Day - Friday 17th March 2023

Your donations help to build a better world

“Your donations make a real difference to people facing the toughest times of their lives, both here in the UK and across the world. Helping them to break free from the effects of poverty.

However much or little you give, you’re helping organisations and brilliant change-makers who are closest to the communities trapped in poverty and so have the best solutions. You’re helping them to build a better world.”

At OWPS, we will be raising funds by having a non-uniform day and selling delicious biscuits made in our kitchen.

If you can, please donate in the following ways:

£1 To wear non-uniform

50p for a biscuit

Online Safety - help for parents and carers

By Mrs Francis, Joint Online Safety Lead

We all know that the digital world is ever-changing, and it’s hard as parents, carers and indeed teachers, to keep up with the latest apps and websites that children want to be using. Guidelines are there to help us make the right decision for our own family, but sometimes it’s hard to know where to look to find this information. 

We have been updating our online safety section of the school website with links to websites that you might find helpful for your family. Please take a look - there are many links to different sites that are worth reading, and some parent guides to popular games within our school, such as Fortnite and Roblox. There’s also a general guide to online gaming, and information on cyberbullying. We hope that this will be useful for you. As you know we hold online safety lessons every half-term in every class, as we believe that we need to teach children to be responsible users of the internet, and that it is important for them to develop their digital resilience and to empower them to keep safe online. 

 https://www.owps.org.uk/online-safety

Celebrating Success 24.02.23

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!

This child in Year Five recently started a Goalkeepers Development Programme to help further his skills to become the best he can be playing in this position. This was his second week, and he achieved trainee of the day. Well done!

Discover what is coming up in the OWPS Dining Car.

Kung Fu Panda Lunch Boxes

Thank you to the parents who took part in the Kung Fu Panda Lunchbox activity.  If you haven't completed the survey, please could you do so as soon as possible.  Many thanks.  

You may notice your children coming home wearing a healthy veggie sticker, these are being given out as part of the 'Eat Them To Defeat Them' campaign, where we are encouraging children to make healthy choices at lunchtimes, both as part of packed lunches and school dinners.

World Book Day Reminder - Thursday 2nd March

Don’t forget World Book Day next week on Thursday 2nd March!

We would love to see as many children in costume as possible, ready to take part in a day full of activities.

We’ve also suggested that children create a ‘shoebox scene’ from a book, or jar of items representing their favourite book, that they can share with their class. Perhaps you could show each of the three little pigs’ houses, recreate Hogwarts School or make an underwater scene from The Snail and the Whale – the choice is yours! Classes will be voting on their top two, which will be sent down to the library and displayed, with an overall winner from FS/KS1, LKS2 and UKS2. 

There will also be an Escape Room running in the library for the next fortnight, which all classes will have the chance to participate in.

It is up to you and your children whether they dress up, create something, do both, or neither - but it would be fantastic to have as many children involved as possible in one way or another. 

Please note, if your child is not dressing up they will need to be in uniform.

Read about what is happening in the local community.

^{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. We would recommend all parents check with any providers regarding the status of these services, activities and clubs}