Woodston Primary School

The autumn term was an exciting one for the children at Woodston Primary School with plenty of activities and trips. Here is a selection of the highlights:

Hamerton Wildlife Park

Year 1 had a fabulous visit to Hamerton Zoo where they learnt all about the animals. It was wonderful to see the children in awe at seeing the different animals close-up. There was even time for some fun in the playground! We were so grateful for parent helpers on this visit - thank you for supporting us!

Firefighter Visit

Our students have been diving into the fascinating topic of the Great Fire of London. They’ve been learning about the historical significance of this event and its impact on the city.

As part of our learning experience, we had a special visit from our local firefighters, who brought along a fire engine! The children enjoyed exploring the engine and learning about fire safety. It was a fantastic hands-on experience that tied in perfectly with our History topic.

Trip to Peterborough Museum

In November, Year 3 took the opportunity to ‘dig up the past’ at their local museum. During their walk there, they displayed excellent road safety skills and represented Woodston Primary School proudly along the way.

Peterborough Museum conducted numerous workshops for the children to take part in which allowed them to unearth information about prehistory. This included field walking, excavating land and handling Bronze Age replica artefacts. 

A great time was had by all, and history was brought to life!

Drumming Concert

Year 5 have been working so hard in their weekly music lessons to learn to play the djembe drums. They have mastered different techniques as well as different types of songs, including group pieces and solos.

The children performed for their parents and carers today to show off their drumming skills. Everyone was so proud!

Nene Valley Primary School

The children at Nene Valley have been working exceptionally hard across all subject areas this term, while also taking part in a variety of exciting and memorable experiences. The lead-up to Christmas has been filled with creativity, exploration, and learning—making it a truly fun and inspiring time for everyone!

Design Technology

This term, Design Technology (DT) has been our focus across the school, providing children with opportunities to develop both practical and creative skills.

• Years 3 and 4 have been busy creating their own flashlights as part of their electronics topic.
• Years 1 and 2 and Years 5 and 6 demonstrated their culinary expertise while learning about healthy eating and food hygiene.

In Years 1 and 2, children made their own smoothie mixtures, exploring which foods are good for us, how to maintain a healthy diet, and the importance of hygiene when working in the kitchen.

Meanwhile, Years 5 and 6 took their learning even further by investigating where food comes from, ethical food sourcing, and what makes a nutritious meal. The children used their knowledge to create their own delicious Bolognese sauce, which they proudly took home to enjoy with a family dish of their choice. Their enthusiasm was clear throughout the topic —especially when it came to tasting the final results!

History

History has been as engaging as ever this term, with each year group delving into fascinating topics:

• Years 1 and 2 explored significant figures from the past, including Florence Nightingale, famously known as “The Lady with the Lamp.”
• Years 3 and 4 investigated the influence and legacy of the Roman Empire.
• Years 5 and 6 travelled further afield to learn about medieval Africa and its powerful rulers.

The children have gained a deeper understanding of the past, discovering incredible stories and facts about people and events that have shaped our world. They are now brimming with interesting historical knowledge to share!

Out of This World

This term, our learning has even taken us beyond Earth and into the solar system! Across different year groups, the children have been inspired to explore our place in the universe:

• Years 1 and 2 investigated the connections between the moon, the sun, and the Earth, learning about their unique relationship.
• Years 5 and 6 expanded their knowledge by studying the gravity and mass of the planets within our solar system.

It has truly been an out-of-this-world experience, sparking awe and wonder about the incredible universe we live in!

We are so proud of the children’s hard work and enthusiasm this term and look forward to more exciting learning opportunities in the new year. 

Orton Wistow Primary School

Parent Partnership

Orton Wistow Primary School undertakes several initiatives annually to strengthen the fantastic partnership that we have with parents. Our Family Learning sessions, for example, enable parents and carers to work alongside their children in a teacher-led session. Our focus this year has been GPS (Grammar, Punctuation and Spelling) and children and parents from years 1-6 have all enjoyed attending together.

Children and parents in Year Five (pictured above) had a busy hour started with a fun interactive game of Kahoot followed by some in-depth learning, including videos and written work on the tables. This included modal verbs and apostrophes, relative clauses and adjectives. Using a picture stimulus, the children with their families created a descriptive paragraph using the learning and knowledge from the start. Parents took home a writing check list to help support their child’s writing.

Children and adults in Year 4 (pictured above) learnt more about sentence types and punctuation, inverted commas, expanded noun phrases and fronted adverbials, before applying these to write a story opening based on a picture of a mysterious ship.  The event was very well attended, and Mrs Granville and Mr Nolan were very impressed with the quality of the writing that the children produced with support from their parent or carer. 

Family Learning for Year 1 had an English focus, linking to the story, ‘The Jolly Postman’.  We re-read the story, and then focused on the letter to Cinderella.

Miss Wyatt modelled how to write a sentence using adjectives. Year 1 then had a go at completing one together to describe the wicked stepmother and stepsisters before practising writing their own. 

We’d like to thank everyone for attending and for parents' continued support and involvement in their child's learning.

Community and Charity Involvement 

On Wednesday 11^th December, the OWPS Choir went to Notcutts to perform some of the songs that we have been learning this term. The children represented the school brilliantly, and sang beautifully. They've been working very hard on aspects of their singing, trying to enunciate the words clearly, and include some dynamics and shaping into their songs. They were absolute stars and really enjoyed the performance. Thank you to those who came along to watch us - it was wonderful to have such a supportive audience. In the final week of term we will be visiting Napier Place and singing to the residents there. 

Orton Wistow also raised £684 for Children in Need. Children were allowed us to wear non-uniform if we paid £1 to charity and the school kitchen made biscuits which could be purchased for 50p. The children also took part in a Children in Need Assembly and watched an inspirational video.

Sports Events

We had some fantastic results in sports this autumn term. These include:

Year 5 & 6 Football Tournament

A group of boys from Year 5 and 6 had the chance to represent the school at a football tournament at Jack Hunt School. Despite having never played together as a team before, they worked really well together and went from narrowly losing their first game 2-1, to winning the rest of their games without conceding a goal.  They behaved very well throughout, worked brilliantly together as a team and were a real credit to the school.  

Girls Win U11 Premier League Regional Cup

On Tuesday 3^rd November, the girls football team took part in the city-wide qualifier for the Premier League U11’s Cup and won! In March, the girls will now represent Peterborough United and play against teams like Watford, Tottenham Hotspurs, MK Dons, Colchester and many more. If they win the southern finals, they then get to play at Wembley during the play-off final against the winners from the North!