We could all do with some news. Let me introduce you to Connie May Fidgett weighing in at a dinky 4lb 9, but breathing independently and doing well. Our love and best wishes to Mr and Mrs Fidgett and baby Connie, the newest member of the OWPS team. X
There was a national debate this week about the quality of Food parcels for FSM children at home. After a u turn, schools can offer parcels or vouchers. We’re proud of our Catering Manager who has created the box of meals below. Like all Wistow meals, it was prepared with love. X
We have a challenging few weeks and months ahead of us and teamwork is going to be essential. Team OWPS want you and your families to know that we miss you and that we're still standing.
We hope you enjoy this performance. OWPS staff are amazing!
Welcome to the new and improved OWPS Friends library! We are delighted with the end result. Thanks to
@OWPSfows
and
@OuttaReachUK
for making our dreams come true.
I have had the best leaving assembly ever and cried quite a bit. Mr Marks had invited my wife and children to join us. This beautiful picture includes each child’s finger print. I also have a Leaver’s Hoodie. X
It’s days like today that remind me that I work in a fantastic school. Despite the challenges, many out of our control, staff smiled, pulled together and it was ‘business as usual’. These are testing times and Team Wistow has risen to the challenge. - Mr Eardley
What a year 2020 has been! Thank you to everyone who has helped us to make it such a success. The staff wanted to send you all a Christmas gift. Pass me the Elton glasses and hat...Mr Eardley
Hello everyone. I hope that you are all well. I’ve taken a break from working indoors to go for a run. What fantastic weather! Take the time to have a break from work.
You would not believe how much work has gone into the teacher reveal films, coordinating the emails and Youtube channels! Thanks for the positive feedback. We wanted to go that extra mile because we miss having everyone under one roof and your children mean a great deal to us.
I told staff yesterday that the test of how strong we are is how we cope under pressure, not when everything is fine. This is one of those times. I know that I can rely on my staff and the wider OWPS community to pull together, support one another and do what's best. - Mr Eardley
I’ve just discovered my office team are still working on creating registers for tomorrow /sending emails to parents. They’ve worked a 12 hr day. It’s amazing what Team Wistow do to make things run smoothly. I feel frustrated we were given so little time to put plans in place.
This morning, we had a ‘You Can’t Break Us Breakfast’ with a prize for the lucky member of staff whose name was drawn from the hat. Ms Porter was overjoyed with her prize - a toilet roll!
I couldn't have had a better send-off. A brilliant assembly followed by time with every class to do their challenge. Thank you to everyone for their kind words and for the lovely cards and gifts I have had. It has been an incredible privilege to be Head of OWPS.
The last day of the year and what a year it has been! I said earlier this year that the test of a school was how it responds to a challenge, not how it copes when everything is fine. I’m proud to say we have exceeded all expectations. We have epitomised the PRIDE Code! Mr Eardley
The kitchen team have been providing the Test and Trace team at the Showground with tasty treats as a thank you for their hard work. We have just been sent this email. It's good to know our brownies are a hit! It's important that we all support one another. :)
It’s taken me longer to shake off Covid than I’d expected. There aren’t enough words to express how proud I am of my staff. Once again, they have done all they can and gone that extra mile to make this work. They deserve to rest and to switch off from school. - Mr Eardley x
The Wistow team jumped into action to make sure every child had a lunch today. Everyone went out of their way to ask how they could help. A great example of the PRIDE Code and the Teamwork toolkit.
Just look at this stunning art work created as part of our Jubilee celebrations. Each class were challenged to reproduce British flowers to adorn our queens. Our gallery has never looked better.
Today the girls have qualified for the England school finals! They won all 6 games, without conceding a goal. This is an absolutely amazing achievement and will be an incredible experience for them later in the year
#teamwistow
👏🏻👏🏻
I’d like to say a huge thank you to my staff. They have pulled together to keep the school open and provided home learning each day. The PRIDE code in action!
At the end of a difficult week, I would like to say a massive thank you to all the school leaders, teachers and staff who have show immense dedication as they step up to help this country tackle coronavirus.
#StayHomeSaveLives
Today we unveiled the four banners we have created as a school to mark our 30th anniversary. Every child produced a piece and so did many staff. A fantastic example of team work.
#pboroschools
I’m so in awe of my amazing team and how hard they have worked today to get everything sorted. I feel frustrated that I can’t be there to help. Kind messages from parents have been appreciated. - Mr Eardley
We only have 19 children in school today, much less than we expected. We are proud to support parents who are vital, front line workers in the fight against the Coronavirus.
What a beautiful day. We are open to children of critical workers and vulnerable children as normal. All other children will continue with home education. Well done to all of the staff for going above and beyond...again.
I’ve just been interviewed on BBC Radio Cambridgeshire as they had heard about our Elton John performance. It was great to be able to tell them how grateful we are for the support of families and how much I admire the OWPS Team. - Mr Eardley
Everyone at Orton Wistow plays their part in our success. Mr Firth was spreading the salt at 7 this morning so that we could come to school safely. What a star!
Today has been hard and challenging. We had a race against time to collect the data we needed! The support of colleagues and kind words from parents made all the difference. One family sent me this relaxation kit. I am very grateful. Thank you. Mr Eardley
This is what our new outdoor story area is going to look like! We have opted for two rows of seating so that we can have the whole class together. Our area will have gravel set in resin so that it will last longer and sensory plants around the edges. It's going to look stunning!
A great start to the day. The children were brilliant about coming in to school and we are about to do our first zoom assembly. So pleased to have more children back in school.
I am in school today and couldn’t resist having a sit down in the Storyteller’s Chair. It is a magical area and is going to make a big difference to our school. - Mr Eardley
I'm absolutely amazed that our Elton John song has been watched almost 2500 times on YouTube. I know that I'm responsible for about 8 of them! Thank you for the lovely comments we have had. I'm really pleased that it has been a cheery moment during a difficult time. - Mr Eardley
Success! We needed to run a total of 573 miles today. We actually ran 1102 miles! We nearly got to Berlin and back again! Huge congratulations to all the children, what a fantastic team effort.
I am amazed and overwhelmed to announce that we have had £1156 donated for our Christmas biscuit sale tomorrow. With the generous support of BGL, this will bring the total to £3156. Thank you to everyone who was able to support us. It means a lot to us.
It was lovely to hear the children realise that several of us had dressed as crayons today for World Book Day. We were inspired by
@DrewDaywalt
brilliant ‘The Day the Crayons Quit’.
Our first day in Bubbles was a complete success thanks to careful planning, the hard work of staff and our delightful children. It feels lovely to open the school to more children.
This week, Mr Marks and I have become ‘experts’ on the introduction of twice weekly lateral flow tests for staff in primary schools. It’s reminded me that it is tiring to learn new things all the time and to be constantly vigilant. Once again, the Wistow Team spirit prevails.
An extremely proud moment for the school. Both the girls and boys football team won their leagues this year and were invited to the Peterborough finals. The girls lost in the semi finals, with the boys coming runners up with a lose in the final. A hugely successful year! 👏🏻⚽️
We have seen a significant improvement in what our children write, in part because we have inspired them with exciting, challenging texts. To have Michael Rosen comment on this has made our day/week/month/term. :)
"Have a go at writing in the style of..."
A great way to get writing; a great way to learn about language; a great way to discover how a particular kind of writing works; in the end, when you do it, you do as much inventing as you do initiating; so much better than drills,rules.
The first ever competitive Wistow netball team! The girls played their first fixture this year and represented the school brilliantly. Though the result didn’t go our way, we stuck together as a team and battled on. Onto the next 🏐
We are delighted with the article in
@peterboroughtel
.
Mr Marks and I have gotten used to the children calling us by each other's name so it was only a matter of time before it happened in writing. Unless Mr Marks is secretly using my name...
All done! A member of OWPS staff checked me in (she’s a volunteer) an ex-parent completed my paperwork, an ex-parent vaccinated me whilst an ex-pupil assisted. I couldn’t have been in safer hands. It was a totally Wistow experience!
Congratulations to Mrs Morris and her husband on the safe arrival of their twins on Friday 29th October - a girl and a boy named Nora Elsie and Rupert. We can't wait to meet them!
Everyone within the community of Orton Wistow Primary School sends their deepest condolences to the Royal Family. This is a very sad time for the whole country and beyond, as we come to terms with the loss of a figurehead who has meant so much to so many.
I’ve been working on my HUGG (Huge Unbelievably Great Goal) today as prep for the Cambridge Half Marathon. When I started to wilt, I thought about the PRIDE code and the Perseverance Toolkit and kept going!
#OWPSpe
#OWPSPride
#OWPSperseverance
We did it! Our challenge was to walk 874 miles collectively today. After counting up all the laps, the children actually walked 1336 miles! An amazing effort from them all.
The seating is now in place and looks fantastic! I can’t wait to see classes out here for story time. The older children will also be able to use this area at break time and lunchtime as a place to read quietly. The gravel goes in next week and then we can think about planting.
The boys went one further today and won the Key Sports tournament. As the team was all year 6s it was the perfect way for them to finish the football season at school. Very proud of the hard work and dedication they have shown. Well done boys!
Is your child missing their daily storytime with their teacher? Good news! We are launching a daily 'Wistow Stories' on our website where you will find staff reading aloud a book. You can find it on our website in the Parents section.
As you can imagine, getting things rights takes lots of planning and training. Team Wistow has risen to the challenge once more. New procedures and routines to establish ahead of seeing more children next week.
The smiles say it all! Another win for the girls football team, making it an undefeated start to the season. They battled hard this evening to win 3-0 against a very strong Winyates team. As always, representing the school brilliantly. Well done girls! ⚽️
I hope that you're having a great summer. I wanted you to know that the developers have withdrawn the planning application for the Business Park project. They will consult with us before resubmitting the application but it will not have an access road onto Wistow Way! Great news!
Today, the year 5/6 netball team represented Orton Wistow at the Nene Park Netball Festival. The girls demonstrated the Learning Toolkit Skills in abundance and scored some great goals. Well done!
Today's fire drill was unannounced! Everyone was out of the building in 1 min 15 seconds and everyone accounted for in 2 mins 40 seconds. This is our best time yet and the children were silent. We are feeling very proud of them all.
Thurs 1 March- School is open today but you will need to wrap up warm! We do our best to stay open. Closing unnecessarily would inconvenience most families. We are demonstrating resilience and team work to our children.
Another day where staff step up and do a brilliant job. Everyone is working their socks off to provide a normal, settled experience for children. Letters will be sent out today to explain how to access learning tasks if the school has to close.
Danny Clifton has done a great job sprucing up the fence and staining it black. I can’t wait to see what the new area will look like when everything is complete at the end of September (we can’t plant until then). I love it when we improve what is already a beautiful school.
A fun, emotional assembly this morning as we said
good-bye to Mrs Schneider and Mrs McIntosh. We wish them Good Luck in their exciting new adventures 😃
I’ve been watching Miss Tansley and Mrs Simmons set up the Y6 Leavers Drive Through. It looks amazing. They have both worked so hard to make it special. A great example of the PRIDE Code and Team Wistow
@OWPStoucans
@OWPS_sharks
I still haven’t got used to not being around 420 children, families and colleagues every day. I’ll be glad when this is over. Until then, I’m going to make sure I take a minute to be grateful to work at such an amazing school. This crisis has shown the best in us all. Mr Eardley
This afternoon the Year 3/4 girls took part in a football festival at Hampton Gardens. They played 5 games, winning 4! They all had beaming smiles on their faces and wanted to play as much football as possible. It was great to have such passionate girls wanting to play! 👏🏻⚽️
Delighted to have knocked three minutes off my PB. I had to use Perseverance and Resilience from our Learning Toolkit. That’s the first of my HUGGs ticked off the list. Thank you to everyone who donated to my Just Giving page.