Issue 435: 22nd September 2023

Dear Parents and Carers,

Already our third week of the Autumn term has come to an end and school is in full flow. It has been a busy week in school with photograph day, Jeans 4 Genes and our first family learning session, all regular parts of the OWPS diary! 

Family Learning

Each year in school, all parents will be invited to come in and join their children for a family learning session often in the school hall. This is a chance to work alongside your child and experience an element of that year group's curriculum. This week, Year Six had their session and we had a hall full of parents and other family members experience a Year Six maths lesson. Speaking to some of them, they were surprised at the level of vocabulary that is used and commented on how different it was to when they were at school. All other sessions (Years One to Five) are in the school calendar already and we hope to see you at those in the coming months. 

Residentials

We now have four residential trips happen each year at OWPS. Next week, about half of our Year Five children will be going to Hilltop in Norfolk for the first residential of the year. I have been on this trip several times and it is great. Children get to experience something totally different and many of them will do some exciting activities for the very first time. I know the adults going are all looking forward to taking part as well! 

Parent Helpers

When I was the teacher of the Meerkats class, I had the same parent helper for a morning each week for several years. I was extremely grateful for this time and it made a real difference to me and the children in my class. Some volunteers have started already this year and it has been great to see them in school. An extra pair of hands to help in the classroom, listen to children read or complete some admin/ lesson preparation tasks is always welcomed by the teaching staff. If you would like to volunteer in school, please get in touch via the school office. 

Board games for wet play

We have had a few wet playtimes and lunchtimes this week in school. We have resources in each classroom for the children to access during these times but it is never the same as having the chance to go outside and play on the playground or field. If you have any old board games at home that you would be happy to donate to the school for those damp days, that would be great. Please just drop them off at the school office. Thank you. 

I have no idea what the weather will be like this weekend, it feels like we have had it all over the past five days. I hope you all have an enjoyable few days, and we will see you back in school on Monday.

Mr. Marks

Headteacher

^{Photo by Henry Be on Unsplash}

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

FOWS Update

By Hannah Bass, FOWS Secretary 

Hello again everyone. 

First of all, a big thank you to everyone who came and supported our coffee morning today. It's always lovely to see some new faces and meet people.

Donation Friday: 

Next week we will be having the first Donation Friday of the school year. For those of you who are not familiar with concept, what we do is ask you to donate items that we can make use of at the Christmas Fair (Yes, we are thinking that far ahead already!) and the Elfridges FOWS Christmas Sale (Where the children get an opportunity to buy small presents for family members). This Donation Friday, we are asking for unwanted (unopened) gifts. Gifts for Dads, Mums, Grandparents, siblings, even pets! As a thank you for your donation, the school kindly allows children to wear an item of their own clothing to school on that day. This time it is socks. So, dig out your brightest, craziest, most colourful or just comfiest socks and wear them to school on Friday.

AGM Change of date: 

Due to unforeseen circumstances, we have had to change the date of the AGM. It will now be held on Tuesday 10th October, 7-7.45pm in the school staffroom, or via the Zoom link you will have received via email. This is a different date to the one published in last week's newsletter. We hope you can make it, as active involvement from parents and carers is vital as we make decisions that will shape the future of FOWS and the funds we raise for the school.

Request for help: 

Any green fingered family members out there? FOWS has recently adopted the planters at the front of school by the office. Over the summer, some FOWS volunteers have been out and painted the planters to make them look fantastic. However, we don't have anything to plant in them yet. We are hoping to get hold of some compost and some plants (possibly some bulbs too) to give a colourful display throughout the year. We are asking if anyone has the means to donate any unwanted plants to help brighten up the school environment or if you are free and willing to give a little bit of your time and experience to help us with some planting and arranging of the vegetation. If you can help, please contact fows@owps.org.uk.

Have a great weekend.

New Reception Tours for 2024 Entry at OWPS

New reception tours for entry to Orton Wistow Primary School September 2024 

For September 2024 entry: DOB: 1 September 2019 - 31 August 2020 to start school in September 2024. 

Please call the School Office on 01733 370646 to book a place on the tour that you wish to attend.  

Applying For a Place: You can apply for a Primary School place for September 2024 from 12 September 2024 on the Peterborough City Council website. The deadline for applications is 15 January 2024, you will then get an offer for a place on 17 April 2024. 

NB: We do not?recommend?that your child attends the tour as there is alot of?information?given by the Headteacher or Deputy Headteacher at this time, and there are other opportunities for your child to come into school. 

Celebrating Success 22.09.23

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!

Last Friday this child in Year 1, and his classmate, chose to go litter picking in the surroundings of the school and Napier Place. They did this straight after their day at school and collected 2 bags of litter. They were very proud to contribute to making their neighbourhood a cleaner environment to live in. Well done to the both of them and keep up the good work!

Discover what is coming up in the OWPS Dining Car.

Vacancies at Nene Valley School

Nene Valley School have the following vacancies:

• Nene Valley Primary School - Breakfast Club Vacancy
• Nene Valley Primary School - Administration Assistant Vacancy
• Nene Valley Primary School - After School Club Play leader Vacancy

For more details please visit their Job Vacancies page :

Nene Valley Primary School - Job Vacancies

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}