Dear Parents and Carers,

Every year at Orton Wistow Primary School is unique and comes with its own surprises and challenges. I think it is fair to say we will remember this particular year for a long time! We saw the return of one bubble at the start of the week but then, unfortunately, had to close another at the end. Although the plan nationally is to lift restrictions on the 19th of July, we will continue to stick with our risk assessment until the very end of term and recent data within schools strongly suggests this is the correct thing to do.  

I am pleased to report that our transition day went very well and all the teachers reported back that they had a positive and happy session with their new classes. It was unfortunate that we could not have stuck to the original plan of a whole day but it was the right thing to do and all children in school got to meet their new teacher and learn a little bit about them and what it will be like in September. It was also great that we were joined for the day by our two new teachers, Miss Strike who will teach the Seals class (Year Three) and Mrs Phillips who will teach the Pandas class (Year Five). We had a number of children absent on Wednesday so we contacted those families to let them know their teacher and class for next year and when they return to school we can arrange an opportunity for them to say hello to their new teacher. 

The new Years One to Six transition evenings also worked well as Zoom meetings and every meeting was well attended. I had convinced myself that I had mixed up the meeting details and this was going to cause chaos! Luckily, all went to plan and we hope it gave all of you a good insight into your child's next step with us. If you were unable to attend or should you wish to watch again, each year group recorded one of the sessions and I shall be uploading them to our school YouTube channel and sharing the links with you. 

Just seven more school days left this year and there are lots of lovely end of year events to look forward to in school including; Honours award assemblies, Leavers assembly, Year Six Drive-Thru event and the end of term disco day. We will certainly need a rest over the summer!

This will be my last newsletter of the year so I would like to wish you all a very happy, restful and safe summer holiday. Good luck to all our leavers, I know how lucky your new schools are to have you join them. And a big thank you to all the family members who have supported us through this interesting, challenging and successful year!

Kind regards

Colin Marks

Deputy Head Teacher 

^{Photo by John-Mark Strange on Unsplash}

Each week, we publish the latest achievements of the children at Orton Wistow Primary School.  You can find out the weekly results for:

• Attendance
• Class Dojos
• Dojo Masters
• House Points
• Reading Champions
• Shining Stars
• Times Table Rock Stars
• Golden Mile

OWPS ECO Achievements 2020 - 2021

by Ms Porter, Eco Lead

Our Eco code runs alongside our school curriculum and helps to teach children ways to care for ourselves, our environment and promote sustainable living.

We have achieved numerous awards through working with PECT (Peterborough Environmental City Trust) as well as being involved in national competitions to support recycling, saving water and looking after our mental and physical health.

Our Eco code is an acronym of ERIC’s, one of the toy eagles we award to the class who have shown how well they have followed the Eco code:

Each week in school the Eco warriors check classrooms to ensure waste is being recycled properly, lights are off, and we do not have any dripping taps.  They also check how many children travel to school by bike or scooter and bring healthy, unpackaged snacks to school.

This year (2020/2021), despite the Covid pandemic, we have been able to continue with our ‘Eat healthily’ theme by encouraging children and families to think about ways they can exercise and choose healthier snacks. We were also able to promote sustainable travel by taking part in The Big Pedal national cycling competition. 

We were awarded the Food Smart award this year in recognition of our work around promoting healthy living, recognising the ways we have supported a ‘healthy body and healthy mind.’

We use the school newsletter and twitter to share ways to support our Eco code and encourage parents to contribute, for example tweeting pictures during our Big Pedal competition.

Our plans for the following year include working with the Healthy Schools programme to embed ways to keep well and active, bearing in mind how lives may have been affected by the Covid crisis.

If you would like any further information about our Eco code please contact Ms Porter via the school office.

^{Photo by Ash from Modern Afflatus on Unsplash}

Year Six Football Tournament

by Mr Cowles, PE Lead

On the 29^th of June, a year 6 football team travelled to the Grange in Netherton to take part in the YDP European football tournament. We were assigned a team in advance and were given Germany. With half the teams having to pull out due to Covid it meant the structure of the tournament had to change.  

We played three group games, winning all three, scoring 7 and not conceding a single goal. An amazing achievement and the boys should be proud of this. We finished top of our group, which meant we were then put into the ‘Championship’ group with the other group winner.  

At this point, fatigue was starting to kick in and it became apparent on the pitch. We drew our first two games, conceding goals in the last minutes of both games and lost our final game. This meant we went through to a 3/4 place finisher. We ultimately lost this game.  

For many of these children, it was their last chance to represent the school in what has been a chaotic year. They should be proud of how they conducted themselves and know that they did the school proud! A great day out!   

Rotary Club Competition Winner

By Miss Wyatt, UKS2 Lead and Wombats Class Teacher

On Thursday, the Wombats class had a visit from Nick Cottingham from the local Rotary Club.  He came to award one of the children with a certificate and voucher for coming third in their Young Environmentalist Competition.  The child had created a poster to explain the environmental effects that deforestation is having across the world.  Well done!

Celebrating Success!

Celebrating OWPS children's extracurricular achievements...

"This child in Year 6 has been busy planning games for a fundraising event, in aid of the Peterborough Huntington’s Disease group. We have the event every year, in our garden. We sell cakes, have a tombola and have games. He is very passionate about helping people with Huntington’s Disease, as a friend of ours has it. He always puts a lot of effort into trying to make as much money as possible. This year, he’s going to have a ‘play your cards right’ game. He is organising prizes and has prepared a sign."

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 extra-curricular achievements!

New Gymnastics Club for September

We are delighted to be able to offer children a new club which will be starting at school in the autumn.

Inspire Gymnastics Academy will be offering gymnastics classes at OWPS in September 2021 on Wednesdays. More details will follow once covid restrictions have lifted fully. In the meantime, here is a leaflet with information of what will be offered:

^{Photo by Ian Flores on Unsplash}

A weekly section on how to maintain good mental health and well-being.

Find out what is happening in the community, 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}