Dear Parents and Carers,

What an incredible final full week of school. It was already going to be a busy week and then we had some visitors pop in to see us on Tuesday and Wednesday! We are now all ready to enjoy the final couple of days of school when we will say our final goodbye to our Year Six children with the drive-thru after school on Monday. 

Year Six Production

I have now seen twenty-one Year Six end-of-year productions and I can remember quite a few of them. Darwin Rocks is one I will not forget for a long time. I watched the afternoon performance alongside family members of the Year Six children and a governor (Karen Hales) and it was incredible. Possibly the best singing I have heard in a Wistow production and the complexity and challenging dialogue of this play was perfectly executed by the whole team. I know the evening performance gained a standing ovation and Mr. Eardley was invited back to enjoy the show and told me how impressed he was with the Year Six children. Well done to all involved. 

Ofsted Inspection 

There isn't a perfect time for Ofsted to call and inspect a school but the final full week of the year is an unlikely week to be chosen by any headteacher. However, we thought a visit was likely after they had recently inspected the other two schools in the Trust and we were well prepared. I am unable to share the details or outcomes of the inspection at this point, the report will be shared with you all once it has been officially published. This is likely to be in September. We had three inspectors for the two days and it was a graded inspection. We all feel that the team were fair and I am happy that they recognised all the wonderful things we do at our school and how fantastic our pupils are. Thank you to all of you for supporting the school and for completing the parent survey. All three inspectors commented on the positive relationship we have with our families and this was reflected in the surveys and comments made. The staff were amazing. They pulled together and shone at a time when we are normally ready to relax a little and just enjoy the final few days in school. The inspectors spoke to a lot of the children over the two days and they were all impressed with how polite, positive and articulate they all were. They followed the PRIDE Code throughout and I am very proud of them all. 

New Start Time

One small change to the school day will begin on September 4th. Our gates will open at 8.35am for ten minutes, closing at 8.45am. Registration will begin at 8.45am and all children need to be in class by this time. We have had to adjust the school day by five minutes to ensure we are open for the correct amount of time that all schools have to be from September 1st.

The End of The Year

Your children will be coming home with books and other items from school this week as we do a deep clean over the summer and try to empty as many spaces as possible. When I had a class of my own it was always quite incredible what was found in trays and lockers at the end of the school year! I have been thinking a lot about my first year as Headteacher of Orton Wistow Primary School these past few weeks and how much I have enjoyed the role. I have learned an incredible amount over these three terms! I continue to love working at this school and the main reason for this is the wonderful pupils, supportive families and amazing team I work alongside each day. Thank you all for another amazing year. I am excited about September and the plans I have for moving our school on but I think we need and will all enjoy the summer break first! 

Good luck to our Year Six leavers and Mrs. Phillips and Mrs. Edwards who we also said goodbye to today. Every year we also say goodbye to some families who have sometimes been part of the school for a very long time. I hope you come back and see us at the events we hold. Be safe, enjoy the break and see you back in school on Monday 4^th September. 

Mr. Marks

Headteacher

^{Photo by Aziz Acharki on Unsplash}