Dear Parents and Carers

It’s a bit of a cliché to say that you don’t know what you've got until it’s gone but as we have started to do some of the things that we used to do as a school, I realise just how much I've missed them. This week the Year Five children performed their play about Beowulf to the rest of the school. We had hoped to be able to have all of their parents in for a face-to-face performance but sadly local Covid restrictions meant that this was not possible, and we’ve had to film the performance instead. Despite this, it’s hard to put into words just how brilliant it felt to see the children performing again to an audience.

I’ll be honest and admit that not only did I smile throughout, I did also have tears in my eyes at a couple of points. I looked at the faces of the children in the audience, and they were all transfixed by what was happening on the stage and beaming as the story unfolded. When I also looked at the children on the stage, I realised how much they have also missed the chance to share their acting and performing talents. We may find that as we go through this year, more of the performances may have to be filmed for parents but what we will carry on doing is making sure that children have the opportunity to perform for an audience. This has always been something that we’ve been passionate about, which is why the children have opportunities every year to take part in a play or production. Occasions like this give children the chance to develop their speaking and listening skills, their singing, their dancing, their acting and, perhaps most importantly, develop their confidence.

The weather has definitely taken a turn this week and the days seem darker and wetter than even a couple of weeks ago. As we look over the next few weeks and head towards Christmas we will have to strike a balance between what we can still do as a school and what we may have to adapt. Whether we can have parents in school or not for events closer to Christmas, we will make sure that the children get to enjoy this special time of the year.

Once again this week, Mr Marks and I have been visiting classes as part of our learning walks. I’ve been struck by the exciting curriculum that we offer our children and how it is tailored to the needs and interests of the children in school. Whenever I go into a classroom, I’m always greeted by a sea of happy faces, and children will give me a wave and say hello. I might be a bit old-fashioned, but good manners really matter to me which is probably why the PRIDE Code starts with the word Polite.

I’d also like to take this opportunity to recommend that you follow the school Twitter account and the accounts for any class that your children are in. I follow all of them, and they are brilliant examples of the things that we do in school. I know some classes tweet more than others but all classes are expected to tweet at least once a week.

We’re always looking for ways to communicate with you and to let you know what your children are doing in school. This week, we decided to buy a new online product called Century, which we will use with the Key Stage 2 children. It sounds slightly futuristic to say that the system uses artificial intelligence to learn about the things that children can do well and what they find more difficult in English, maths and science. It then uses this to plot their route and give them tasks to help fill the gaps. We plan to use this in school in lessons and for small groups of children who need extra practice. But we’re also really excited that Century can be used at home, and we are looking at how we can use this to set homework for Key Stage 2 children. The beauty of the system is that it would allow children and you to see demo videos that explain the task in more detail and the work is also marked by the system which means that you’d be able to see whether your children got the answers right or not. I know that sometimes some of you have a battle with your children and that homework can take much longer than we intended. I remember this battle with my own children when they were at school. Century allows us to set tasks or to set homework by a time period which means we could ensure that your children don’t spend longer than they should on a piece of homework. As you can see, I am rather excited about this. Mr Marks will write to you soon with further details when we launch this officially. 

Mr Eardley

Head Teacher

^{Photo by Michal Ico on Unsplash}

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

Year 2 Multiskills Sports Festival

On Wednesday 8th November 2021, the Elephants from Year 2 went to Ormiston Bushfield Academy for a Multi-skills Sports Festival.

After a brisk walk (in which the children managed to walk 1.1 miles in twenty-two minutes!), the Elephants arrived at OBA for an afternoon of sport.

The children took part in eight different sports including human skittles and the bird's nest ball game.  All the children demonstrated the PRIDE Code, and the Learning Toolkit was on display throughout the afternoon.

A huge thank-you goes to the parent helpers, trainee teachers and teaching assistants who came along to help.

Reading Certificates Autumn Term 1

Congratulations to all the children who have achieved a Bronze Reading Certificate for the first half-term of Autumn.

Odd Socks Day and Anti-Bullying Week

By Mr Newton, Anti-Bullying Lead

On Monday 15^th November, we’re going to start our Anti-Bullying Week by joining in with Odd Socks Day.

We’d love children to come to school wearing odd socks as we take the opportunity to encourage everyone to express themselves and celebrate their individuality and what makes us all unique (no donations required.)

You can visit https://anti-bullyingalliance.org.uk/anti-bullying-week/odd-socks-day/what-odd-socks-day for some more information about Odd Socks Day.  

During the rest of the week, we’ll be taking part in a range of activities around this year's theme ‘One Kind Word’ and you’ll be able to read about some of what we’ve been up to in next week's newsletter. 

Remembrance Day at OWPS

On Thursday 11th November 2021, the school marked Remembrance Day across the year groups in a variety of different ways.

All the classes observed a 2-minute silence at 11 am and were provided with resources from the History Curriculum that enabled them to reflect on the meaning of the day with their teacher.

Here is a selection of what went on around the school:

Foundation Stage learned about Remembrance Day today and had a moment of silence. They made poppy pictures and talked about why we wear them.

The Iguanas held a 2-minute silence at 11 am to mark Remembrance Day. They watched the fantastic video to help them in their remembrance of those who have died in all wars. Thanks to the Royal British Legion, the Iguanas were all sporting slap bands, wrist bands and poppies to help them remember. Mrs Ironside was very impressed with the knowledge the children already had about how and why we remember.

Our Year Six Children took some time before break time to have a two-minute silence on the playground.

In the morning, Year Six spent some time thinking about those who sacrificed their lives in conflict, for the future of others. Miss Tansley shared some family history about her Great Uncle and his role as a tail gunner in a Lancaster Bomber-just 19yrs old.

^{Photo by Bence Halmosi on Unsplash}

OWPS Sponsored Event 2021

By Mr Marks, Deputy Head Teacher

The Great Britain Challenge!

On Wednesday 24^th November we shall be holding our annual sponsored event in school. These events have always been a great way to raise money to go towards some exciting things for the pupils at OWPS. In the past, we have raised money for chromebooks, playground equipment, books and topic related resources.

In recent years, year groups have chosen their own events and what they would spend the money raised on. This year’s event will involve all the children working collectively to walk/run as far as they can in an hour, using our new Golden Mile track. Each year group is going to decide on how to spend the money raised by the children in their classes. We have also decided to give half of the money raised to the charities chosen by the children in each year.

The Great Britain Challenge has been shared with all the children today! Land’s End to John o’Groats is a traditional journey that is 874 miles (1,407km) long! Walkers that undertake this journey often take over two months to complete it. We are going to try and reach 874 miles in a single day!

Every child will be given a card that will be stamped each time they complete a lap. We will split the school into 4 groups and complete the challenge, one group at a time. We will tweet throughout the day so you can keep up with how we are doing.

The sponsor forms have been sent home with the children today. Please help your child collect sponsors from family and close friends. They can either sponsor a small amount per lap completed or make a donation of a specific amount.

The children will need to bring in their sponsor sheet by Monday 22^nd November and they will bring it home after the event with their total written on the bottom. As it is the Great Britain challenge, we would like the children to wear a red, white and blue PE kit for the day. Their normal school PE kit is also fine if you do not have any suitable clothes in these colours.

Thank you for your support.

^{Photo by Aleks Marinkovic on Unspla}

A fortnightly article about Mental Health and Wellbeing

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}