Dear Parents and Carers,

We are at the end of the penultimate week of this school year and this will be the final newsletter before we begin the summer break. Every year in school appears to flash by in an instant and it is hard to believe that our visit from the Ofsted inspectors was now over a year ago! When we plan the year and place everything on the calendar we ask ourselves if we have tried to fit in too much but we make it work and nearly every topic, event, trip or special day has happened. It takes a lot of hard work, commitment and enthusiasm (the wording on our end of year honours award certificates) to achieve this and I would like to take this chance to thank the staff, pupils, families, FOWS, governors and Trust for their support and determination over the past three terms. It takes a real team effort for a school to be successful and I feel very lucky to be surrounded by the team here. 

Year Six Production

After weeks of rehearsals, the Year Six children finally performed to the school and family members this week and it was worth the wait! It has to be one of the best Year Six productions I have seen (and I have seen quite a few!) and I know everyone else who watched it felt the same. The enjoyment and enthusiasm throughout the performance from all the children was outstanding and the singing was like something from a Broadway musical. Well done to all the children in the Sharks and Cobras classes, it was incredible.

The Final Week

Lots of exciting things are happening in school during the final four days (last day for the children is Thursday 18^th July).  On Monday we will have the Year Six Drive-thru event where we will wish every child in Year Six good luck on their move up to secondary school. On Wednesday we will have our final assembly for the year where we will find out the new house captains, which house has won the house point shield this year and say good bye to Miss. Strike (who will soon be moving to Cambodia to teach), Mr. Clifton (who has secured a job as a caretaker at another school in Peterborough) and Mrs. Nalton (who will retire to spend time with her growing family!).  Then on Thursday we have a non-uniform day and the FOWS disco for all the children to enjoy (this is NOT a toy day). 

Facebook / Class Dojo Stories

Our new OWPS Facebook page is now up and running and will replace the school's X/Twitter page. Please follow this link to access and like the page https://www.facebook.com/ortonwistowprimaryschoolowntrust/ , this is a great way to see what is happening in school each week. We have switched to Facebook after asking parents which social media platform they prefer and after Twitter switched to X, and the limitations/complexities that have come with the changes introduced to that platform. The class X/Twitter pages will also be retired during the summer holiday and each class will begin to use the 'Class Dojo Stories' function to share what each class has been doing in school. Mrs. Fidgett has written a letter to you all with further information about this change. Foundation Stage will continue to use Tapestry. 

By the time 3.15pm on Thursday arrives I know we will all be ready for the break. I hope you all have a fantastic summer holiday and I will look forward to seeing you back in school on Thursday 5^th September.

Take care

Mr. Marks

Headteacher 

^{Photo by Joydeep Sensarma on Unsplash}