A Round Up of the Year from Mr F

2026 - A New and Special Kind of Progress in our Schools

• all children are creative, kind, polite and clever pupils with big ambitions
• our children have passion...they now explore more about life and the world. They aim to find and succeed in their talents.
• our children have self confidence in learning...our results across both schools are once again super high
• all children's general knowledge is much higher than ever before

Huge success has come this year in drama, debating, maths, art and sport.

Water Zone 2026

A highlight of Go Fest and the school year for our children…always a joy and an illustration of  co-operation, appreciation and sheer happiness. 

GO FEST COMMUNITY WEEK 2026 has been a remarkable achievement. There were 20 shows in 4 days plus two huge Y6 graduations. The children and staff showed incredible stamina in the intense heat outside. The quality of the children's performances was exceptional with every child giving their absolute all. Their behaviour and attitudes were just exceptional this week. We show our families and our community that our schools are different and special and unique and above all happy and harmonious.

GO FEST COMMUNITY NIGHT PART 2

Without a doubt the hottest two community nights ever! What a remarkable evening with music, dancing, joy and happiness. Our families this year showed such respect, kindness and gratitude. We hope you had a very special time with your family and friends.

GO FEST : COMMUNITY WEEK DAY 4

GO FEST COMMUNITY NIGHT PART 1

What a special vibe tonight. Amazing families, amazing staff, great music, rides and food, fun and togetherness.

GO FEST : COMMUNITY WEEK DAY 3

Wonderful performances have continued all morning with an afternoon Secret DJ set. Mr F has kept us all cool despite the soaring temperatures. GO Fest really is the most special time of the year and parents are full of pride and joy.

GO FEST : COMMUNITY WEEK DAY 2

Thank you to our nursery children, Y2 and Y5 who performed today to proud parents and an amazing audience of hot but very happy children who are loving being together on the Orion field. 

GO FEST: COMMUNITY WEEK DAY 1

It’s a scorcher! Thanks 🙏 amazing audience and Y3, Y4 and Jets who kicked off the week. You were brilliant! 

GO FEST: OUTDOOR LEARNING

One of our favourite weeks of the festival - being in nature, outdoor cooking, cloud gazing, team games on the field. Glorious!

GO FEST: FRINGES FRAMES - MONDAY

Traditionally on the final day of the Pink Fringe we get together for a huge guided draw. This year we did movie characters to complete film and theatre week. Great job everyone!

GO FEST: THE PINK FRINGE - SATURDAY

Families were welcomed into Sunshine Place for 2 fabulous and interactive experiences in the I-Shine Theatre. Later that day we hosted Mr Belldini, a performer and magician to entertain our families. We thank One Kind Production Team and all the families who bought tickets and supported our schools.

GO FEST: THE PINK FRINGE - FRIDAY

Another day of talent and creativity - recorder playing, guitar playing, singing, dancing, poetry performing and drama. Stunning!

GO FEST: THE PINK FRINGE - THURSDAY

A phenomenally inspiring day in The I-Shine Theatre. Children aged 3-11 sang, danced, performed poetry, drummed, showcased musical talents, put on a fashion show throughout 5 shows across the day. Parents supported this years Pink Fringe beautifully and Orion children showed how very exceptional they are.

GO FEST : DAD'S BREAKFAST 2026

A record breaking number of dad's mum's and kids came for breakfast this year. Happy Father's Day to all our amazing and kind dads.

GO FEST: CELEBRATION OF GRANDPARENTS IN NURSERY

Our nursery children came to school as grandmas and grandpas today after visiting Grandma's cottage from Little Red Riding Hood

GO FEST: ACTIVE WEEK

Ninja Warrior, Capoeira, Sychronised Swimming, The Daily Mile. What a fantastic week of Go Fest Learning!

GO FEST: CLOUD 9

This year we kicked off Go Fest with a day outside altogether. The big stage arrived for one day only! We had musical performers and an DJ and Miss Lee performed acro! Goldbeaters and Orion together! 

SUNSHINE THURSDAY

Team Yellow and Team Orange all united outside today to conclude an amazing half term and to bring in the miracle of GO FEST.  There was palpable excitement when the Superjuicers arrived in their camper van! All the children enjoyed Herbie's Jamba Juice and the result of the big vote was revealed.

FAMILY ACTIVITY TRAIL 2026

Big thanks to all the amazing Orion and Goldbeaters families who came after school to take part in our annual activity trail. Y6 leaders were fantastic and everyone had so much fun. It was great to see so many parents join in with their children.

A SUNSHINEY SCIENCE WEEK

All children took part in a curiosity carousel this week. Y6 science leaders led some dazzling and wondrous experiments for every child in the school.

BIG YELLOW WORLD 2026

Having a sunny attitude helps us achieve so much more. This half term is a very important one for learning! We are pushing the sunny button and showing that we can be better and better and better at everything we put our minds to. Reading, writing and maths, effort,  friendships, fitness, knoweldge and curiosity. We have so many exciting things coming up. We are loving the yellow and orange teams and also being with our sunny buddies!

WORD UP 2026: THE FINAL MESSAGE

Word has finished.Thank you all for loving Word Up and helping Word Up. The Do-it-Dude has said that Word Up should be kept in all of our hearts forever. It is sad when we have to move on but great things are planned for next term. When we come back to school after Easter holidays we are all going to become Super Sunny!

WORD UP 2026: THE FINAL WEEK 

What a celebration of Word Up...the story of Arthaven, Jenny, Jane and Matilda was all resolved in Haven House this week. The Superjuicers saved the power unit and defeated Jemma Night. The Do-it-Dude bid goodbye to Jenny knowing that he changed her life forever. Matilda found her real family. Thank you One Kind Productions for a phenomenal 2 days of shows for 1500 children.

WORD UP 2026: Quizzing

Throughout Word Up all children have LOVED the weekly Wednesday quizzes in their classrooms. Our Y6 Maths Team took part in a national quiz championship and have successfully made it through to the final in June competing against other UK schools. Y4, Y5 and Y6 children all took part in Mrs Shear's quiz championship where they showed amazing knowledge, problem solving, teamwork and sportsmanship. Well done to the winning teams!

WORD UP 2026: K-POP VISIT

Celebrating all things K-Pop and S-Pop today with an amazing performance. K-Pop has been so popular in our schools this year (we have a K-Pop dance club!) and through Word Up we have created our own culture - S-Pop.

THE K-POP DOG - SODAPOP

Sodapop came to school on K-Pop day. He was absolutely loved and the children learnt about everything they need to look after a pet really well.

WORD UP 2026: THE RALLY

Tear down the wall!!!! Kindness Wins! Today we recreated the wall that The Jemini Group built in Arthaven. Walls symbolise division, separation, unkindness and a lack of unity. It was wonderful to be together as a school community to stand against division. It was a very special morning.

THE BARNET DANCE FESTIVAL 2026

A spectacular celebration of dance this week with our incredible Goldstar dancers representing Orion and Goldbeaters at this festival. Huge thanks to Mr Kabs and Miss Lee for their amazing choreography and coaching. Phenomenal talent in our wonderful kids! 

ORION WIN THE LEAGUE! 
Huge well done to The Orion Boys team coached by Mr Frater who bought home the trophy this season. We are so proud of you all, your talent, your team spirit and your amazing sportsmanship. 

WELCOMING BACK AUTHOR AND PENALTY WORLD EXPERT BEN LYTTLETON

We were so lucky to have a visit from Ben at Orion and Goldbeaters. His new book Score like a Striker was very popular and he entertained us with quizzes, facts, stories and a question and answer session. He will be back next week for a book signing session. 

SPRING TIME ARTS AND CRAFTS SPECIAL EVENT

We loved having so many children stay after school to take part in an arts and craft gift making activity. It was very creative and very joyful! 

WORD UP: WORLD BOOK DAY & THE BIG GIFT

To celebrate World Book Day this year every single child at Orion and Goldbeaters was gifted a book of their choice. A book is a gift that can last forever.  The I-Shine Theatre was transformed into a book store for the children just like Waterstones! Children were showed genuine appreciation - a life skill. They were so happy and excited to share their books with each other. Children completed the book trail around the school, dressed up as book characters or brilliant readers and lots of children attended the I-Shine Cinema to watch Dog Man. A wonderful sunny World Book Day.

WORD UP: THE KNOW ZONE

We continue to "creativate" during Word Up - making rooms that look as if we have just stepped into a story...! It's magical. Look at the pictures below and see if you can work out the story they represent. 

The Word Up Super Juice Films are just brilliant. It's the BIG STORY. It's all on Youtube. Thanks for watching the latest episode... The Grape Escape Episode 4

WORD UP 2026: THE FLOW ZONE

Children have become fashion designers using their words and creativity to create fashion for this zone. We have learnt over 250 new words, grown our general knowledge with weekly quizzes, improved our reading, writing and talking. We have loved story telling sessions and the Picture Book Challenge. We have started a positive culture called S- Pop. We have excelled in debating, art, football and cross country.  We are REMARKABLE - It is a REMARKABLE YEAR!

One of our maths teams has made the national quiz finals in June! Such an achievement! 

WORD UP 2026: THE GO ZONE

The first two weeks of Word Up have been full of word collecting, story telling, quizzing, debating and vibrant art. We are creating a new Super Pop Culture!

WORD UP 2026

This is our 12th Word Up Festival! We are Word, Story and Picture Popping our way through January. It a very special and unique part of our school year. 

The Christmas Weeks

December at The Orion has been SUPER. We have been BRIGHT, HELPFUL and KIND. Real Superheroes!The Starlight Exhibition was a magnificient display of pupils' art and creativity. One Kind Productions put on a really entertaining and moving show for 1500 children over 2 full days. Children have had parties, Christmas lunch, visited the Fresh Finds store, donated to BYT and played traditional party games.

We wish all our school community a peaceful and blessed holiday season.

Starlight Exhibition 2025

Every Orion child was represented in our beautiful Starlight Art Exhibition. We created artwork inspired by traditional tales and stories. Families walked through each story to appreciate the children’s creativity and take photos! Can you recognise the tales in these photographs?

YES I CAN CHALLENGE FOR CHILDREN IN NEED 2025

There are 25 "I cans" for children this week. Parents are helping by telling children all the things that they CAN do. "Yes you can share you toys...yes you can make your bed...yes you can do your homework" On Friday children will bring back to school their decorated tin can, their I cans and a donation for charity. Don't forget to dress up too!

REMEMBERANCE @ ORION

We take part in our traditional minutes silence altogether by lining the corridors. We remember and show gratitude and respect for all those who lost their lives in the first world way and subsequent wars.

GIRLS FOOTBALL TRIP!

Thirty lucky girls from the Orion and Goldbeaters football teams, along with a few staff members, had the amazing opportunity to watch Arsenal take on Chelsea at the Emirates Stadium.

It was an incredible experience for our students, inspiring them to see top-level women’s football in action. Events like this highlight the importance of promoting girls in sport and show that with determination, you can achieve anything you put your mind to.

Our girls left feeling motivated, proud, and ready to take their own football skills to the next level!

GOLDSTAR FEDERATION FIREWORKS NIGHT @ THE ORION 

A super evening for our school community. 1800 children and families together watching a sensational firework display. Thanks to all the staff for helping make a special evening. Our community is truly wonderful when we are altogether! 

Black History Week: Superheroes

Our world needs harmony heroes! We are celebrating Black History at school this year by recreating some art and writing to some significant artists of our time. 

After- school art with Miss Hindle

A wonderful after school opportunity this week for lots of  Y3 children who enjoyed a very special art session. Thanks Miss Hindle!!

Miss Hindle's Big Art Lessons

Miss Hindle LOVES art and is super creative and talented herself. This half term many Orion children have had the opportunity to be taught be Miss Hindle in our amazing new art room! Being immersed in an artistic experience has resulted in some incredible outcomes for ALL children. 

World Mental Health Day : 10/10/25

Today we launched the myHappy Mind Parent App. We do so much at school for our mental health and well-being and through our new scheme myHappy Mind we are learning about how our brain works and ways that we can help all parts of it to work as a team.  Lots of classes did yoga, Y6 made very thoughtful posters, children shared time with their buddy classes and parents did self affirmations. 

A Wish for a Smile: 4th October 2025

In keeping with tradition our staff did a meet and greet this morning to children coming into school in honour of World Smile Day. Y6 children were a new and welcome addition on the paths to school. We really do have the smiliest community.

A Wish for a Cure - Macmillan Day 26.09.25

The Do More Task this week was to bake cupcakes at home. Keep one for yourself and donate 3 or 4 to the bake sale. WOW WOW WOW! Our school community showed their very very best for this event. There are many star bakers in our school!

A Wish for Peace: International Day of Peace 19.09.25

Celebrating the International Day of Peace is a long tradition at Orion and Goldbeaters.  Another beautiful event together. Look at our message!

A Super New School Year

A big welcome to the school community all our new children and parents. We are so happy to be back TOGETHER for a very exciting new school year. We are ready to SUPERPOWER our skills for learning and for like and we are going to be more CURIOUS about the world and our own interests and passions.

Look at the photos below to see how happy Orion pupils are at the start of term.