Dear Parents and Carers,

Only one week until half-term. It has been such a busy and productive six weeks; I think we are all ready for a bit of a rest. 

We are now up to 80% of parents' evening appointments being booked online. A reminder was sent yesterday via email to all parents who still need to book. The system worked very well last year, and they continue to make positive changes to the site as they get feedback from schools. We can now select to have a short gap between each meeting (20 seconds) allowing teachers to take a breath before starting the next appointment. 

When we held the appointments in the school hall, we had a very small number of parents not turn up on the night (often due to a last-minute emergency or in some cases they had simply forgotten!). Last Spring, we had significantly more appointments missed on the SchoolCloud system. Please make sure you set yourselves a reminder for these appointments as it is difficult for us to reschedule them for another time. 

Teachers spend a lot of time preparing for the appointments and what they plan to share is important for you to hear. We would also like parents to consider where they are when the appointments take place. Teachers spend the two evenings in their classrooms as we know that what we are discussing is personal and confidential. Hopefully, most parents are at home. This works very well. It does not work as well when the parent is outside, on public transport or doing their shopping, and we are concerned that it will be difficult to have a private meeting with you if you are out and about or distracted. The beauty of this system means you do not need to take a large chunk out of an evening to be at school. Please try to be in a suitable place for the meeting. 

On Monday your child/children will come home with an Autumn term report (Years One to Six). Our intention is to add this to the parent portal, and we will do this as soon as we can. Parents who are new to the school will be receiving information about how to access the portal next week. It will then sit alongside the end of year report from the Summer and over time a collection of reports created by the school will form on the portal for you to access. I will send home some extra information about the report separately, but it is important that you take the time to have a look at it before your child's appointment. 

As this will be the last newsletter I will do this half term, I hope you all have a great break. Thank you for your continued support and I will see you in November!

Colin Marks

Deputy Head Teacher

^{Photo by Adi Ulici on Unsplash}

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

OWPS Fundraising - Jeans for Genes Day

Thank you to everyone who contributed to Jeans for Genes Day on 17th September 2021. Together we have raised £650.22!

Operation Christmas Child

From today until Friday 5th November, OWPS is collecting filled shoeboxes and individual items in the school office.

The mission of Operation Christmas Child (run by Samaritan’s Purse) is to provide God’s love in a tangible way to children in need around the world and to share the Good News of Jesus Christ at Christmas.

For some children, this is the only gift they will have ever received. In these difficult times, many are struggling to make ends meet or to come to terms with a change in lifestyle – but the poorest of the poor are most affected and children need to know they are loved; today more than ever.

Click here for a video of how shoeboxes change lives

If you feel able to pack a box or simply give a small gift to the shoebox appeal, Orton Wistow Primary School are collecting both filled shoeboxes and individual items which will be safely packed and processed by a local group.

Gifts and boxes can be dropped off into prepared collection boxes in the school reception, between now and Friday November 5th. Thank you!

Click here for more information on packing a box

Images courtesy of Samaritans-purse.org.uk

Tag Rugby Festival

On Wednesday 13th of October, Mrs. Simmons took eight children from Year Five and Six to compete in the Ormiston Bushfield Academy Tag Rugby Festival. 

There was a mixture of schools, with all adults adhering to covid measures, with Team Wistow performing greatly and scoring lots of tries.  The children showed all elements of our PRIDE code and learning toolkit, ensuring to clap the opposition and referee regardless of whether we had won or lost.  Mrs. Simmons was very proud of how the children represented the school and is very much looking forward to the next one!

Bike to School Week

Thank you to everyone who supported #BikeToSchool week with @Sustrans_East during the week commencing 27th September 2021.

Sustrans.org.uk organised the event.  You can find out more about pedal power on their website.  There is also a handy leaflet about Bike and Scooter Skills for those that would like a few tips!

As Sustrans makes clear, cycling, scootering or walking to school are all fantastic ways for children to keep fit:

"Cycling is brilliant for your kids - it helps them get the recommended 60 minutes of physical activity per day, which one-third of children don't currently achieve.

And, once you've invested in bikes and some basic kit, it costs very little but provides so many benefits:

• many teachers report that kids who walk and cycle to school are more alert and ready to learn than those who arrive by car
• it's fantastic fun and, for many kids, can feel much more exciting than travelling by car
• cycling can help kids get to know their local area and feel part of it
• good travel habits learned young will last a lifetime
• cyclists breathe in less pollution from traffic than car drivers."

The Big Pedal has a new name that was voted on by members of the public.  It is now called Sustrans Big Walk and Wheel, and will take place 21 March - 1 April 2022.  

Until then, why not see if you can find opportunities to leave the car at home and come to school by foot or wheel!

Celebrating Success!

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 those 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 extra-curricular achievements!

Celebrating Success this week!

Well done to this child in Year 4 who has grown tomatoes from seeds over the summer. With a little help, she grew this large tomato, and it is from a plant called the 'super mama'.

Last weekend, this child from Year 3 took part in the Relay for Life alongside his teammates from Hicks Karate to raise money for Cancer Research. He is pictured here with his younger brother.  As a team they have raised over £1500 so far with some events still to come over the next few weeks. He was really proud to be part of this event.  Congratulations on a fantastic achievement and for helping others by raising money!

Happy Thoughts about OWPS

Two weeks ago, to celebrate World Teacher Day, National TA Day and all the OWPS staff, we invited parents and carers to share their happy thoughts about OWPS.  

Thank you to those parents who have responded this week.  If you wish to send us your happy thoughts about OWPS you can do so by completing the form.  Thank you.

Here are some more messages that we received this week:

^{Photo by Daniel Andrade on Unsplash}

Mrs Godfree Remembered

By Mr Eardley, Head Teacher

Penny Godfree joined Orton Wistow in 2018 to work one to one with a child in school. I remember being impressed when I interviewed her as she not only had a lot of experience working with children, but her face lit up when she talked about her work.

She was a kind, caring, sweet lady who soon became a member of Team Wistow and believed in our ethos and values. Sadly, by the end of that term, Penny had been diagnosed with cancer and began a long and difficult regime of medical treatment.

We kept in touch throughout and she always hoped that she could return to her role when completely better. Even after she had made the difficult decision to resign, she still intended to return to school as a Reading Buddy and I know that staff would have fought to have her in their class.

We were very sad to discover that she had passed away earlier this year and decided to hold our annual Macmillan Coffee Morning in her memory. We were delighted to raise £212.59, and I let Penny's brother know what we had done. He was touched by our gesture and has made a further donation of his own.

 Parents Evening 19th Oct & 21st Oct 

At the last count, 80% of parents had booked an appointment to meet with their child's teacher. Please visit https://ortonwistow.parentseveningsystem.co.uk to book your appointment(s) if you have not already done so.

Each meeting will be ten minutes long. The link below will take you to a short video clip showing how it works for parents and teachers: https://www.parentseveningsystem.co.uk/features-video-meetings.asp 

If you have any problems making the appointments, please contact the school office. 

OWPS Harvest Collection

Thank you to everyone who has already donated to the harvest collection.  A reminder that we will be collecting until Wednesday 20th October 2021. This year, we will split the collections between the Peterborough Soup Kitchen and the Peterborough Food Bank. 

Your child can bring their donations into class with them in the mornings.  Alternatively, you can drop it off at the school office if the items are heavy.

Thank you!

My School Fund

My School Fund is a free initiative that enables the school to get cashback when you spend money at participating retailers, including Sainsbury’s and Argos.  You can also earn eGift vouchers too.  For every purchase you make, you get 2% cashback (in the form of vouchers) and the school you are linked to gets 1% cashback.

We are asking parents to please sign-up at myschoofund.org and link to Orton Wistow Primary School.

 Thank you for your support.

Discover the latest development in the OWPS Library.

Discover what is coming up in the OWPS Dining Car.

Read about what is happening locally, 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}