Issue 419: 24th March 2023

Dear Parents and Carers

The sun has made a welcome appearance this week, and we even managed to get onto the field a couple of times at lunchtime. It's the penultimate week of the Spring term, and we have seen some lovely things happening across the school. 

Year Three Family Learning

It was great to see so many parents and other family members of children in the Seals and Nightingales come into school yesterday to spend an hour with the children. Mr. Newton and Miss. Strike had prepared a session on times tables and this is a perfect subject for a family learning session as it is something that can be practiced anywhere. Knowing your times tables can be a huge advantage in many areas of maths and although we aim for children to be secure at the end of Year Four, it is a focus throughout the school. 

A Sad Goodbye

This week, Mrs. Phillips interviewed for a new job and was successful! She will be teaching music at a prep school near Loughborough, starting in September. Many of you will know that Mrs. Phillips has a real passion for music and singing and this is a wonderful opportunity for her. She will remain as the Pandas class teacher until the end of the academic year. Congratulations Mrs. Phillips! 

Teach East Students

We fully support teacher training at Orton Wistow Primary School, and we have developed strong links with several SCITT (School Centered Initial Teacher Training) courses including Teach East that is based in Peterborough. We say goodbye this week to Mr. Crowson, who has been with the Iguanas this term and Mrs Mahmood, who has been with the Seals. They have both had successful placements with us, and we wish them the best of luck for the next step in their training. We have already welcomed back Miss. Harris who is based in the Elephants class and next week we will see the return of Miss. Carters, who is with the Nightingales and Miss. King, who is with the Sharks. All three had positive Autumn terms with us and I know the children and staff will be pleased to see them return ready to complete their training with us in the Summer term. 

Are you smarter than a Wistow pupil?

Good luck answering this set of questions that have been asked in Year Six this week: 

1. What does the 2 represent in 234, 509? (Year Six maths)
2. Why is the circulatory system called the circulatory system? (Year Six science)
3. Why are/were the women from Hidden Figures inspirational? (Year Six history/English)

Have a lovely weekend everyone,

Mr Marks

Headteacher

^{Photo by ekrem osmanoglu on Unsplash}

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

Break the Rules Day 31.03.23

On Friday 31st March, we're having a Break the Rules Day at OWPS!

For 'one day only' children can choose as many or as little rules to break from the list below. 

Each rule is 50p to break and must be paid for online via Parentmail before 10am next Thursday 30th March (so it allows us time to get the list of rule breakers to the class teachers!).

Once your child has chosen all the rules they wish to break you will need to log into Parentmail and access the Payments > Shop' section.   

If your child wishes to break more than one rule you must select 'Add to Basket' each time after choosing each rule.  Once your child has chosen all the rules they wish to break select 'Pay Now' which will show you a summary of all the rules chosen then select Checkout, and you're done. 

We look forward to seeing all the rule breakers in school next Friday. How much of a rule breaker is your child!?

Sustrans Assembly and the Bike Shelter Opening

Thank you to Sustrans for coming into our assembly today to introduce this year’s Big Walk And Wheel on Friday 17th March.

Gemma and Steve helped the Eco Warriors to cut the ribbon on our brand-new bike shelter which looks amazing! Thank you to all the parents and FOWS for the donations to fund the shelter. No more soggy bike seats after a wet rainy day!

Red Nose Day Total

Thank you to everyone who joined in with our Red Nose Day and helped raise money through Just Giving.

The school raised a massive £672 for Comic Relief.

Comic Relief is a UK charity which aims to create a just world, free from poverty. Since 1985, Comic Relief has raised over £1 billion. That money has helped, and is helping, people living incredibly tough lives, both at home in the UK and across the world.

Discover what is coming up in the OWPS Dining Car, and don't forget, parents and carers are welcome to Join Your Child for Lunch at any time, just call the office on 01733 370646 to book.

^{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}