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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