Governors Report to Parents 2023/24

The Governing Body 

The role of the Governing Body is to provide strategic management, and to act as a critical friend, supporting the work of the Headteacher and other staff.

The full Governing Body usually meets once each term, but under special circumstances, they may need to have extra-ordinary meetings, but these are very rare.

The Governors at Oldcastle Primary use a committee structure to undertake their monitoring and evaluation roles. Membership and terms of reference of the committees are determined annually. Finance, Staffing, Admissions, Health and Safety, Curriculum and Complaints committees are examples. These committees meet outside of the full Governors meetings, as required, to discuss specific issues that arise throughout the year. Each committee reports fully to the whole Governing Body through its agenda/minutes.

All governing body minutes are available from the school website.   A list of the current Governing Body is available in the Report Appendix.

No Governors claimed any expenses for fulfilling their duties on the Governing Body during the year. The Clerk to the Governing Body is provided by the school and is currently Mrs Addell Whiteley. 

Feedback / Questions from Parents

We will hold a 'Meet the Governors' event on 20th November at 6pm.  

As an alternative we are offering parents the opportunity to complete this Feedback / Comments Form to provide feedback or ask the governors any questions regarding the Annual Report to Parents.  

Please return  by 13th November.

Welcome from Chair of Governors

I am pleased to introduce this year’s Annual Report for Oldcastle Primary School. As Chair of Governors, I am proud of the many achievements we’ve seen in the last year and the dedication of our staff, pupils, and the wider community.

At Oldcastle, we constantly strive to provide the best possible education for our children. The school continues to review and adapt its curriculum, ensuring that it meets the evolving needs of our pupils. I want to extend a genuine thank you to the hardworking staff, whose unwavering commitment helps our children flourish.

This year, we embarked on an exciting new journey to become a Community Hub School. This initiative has already seen fantastic developments, including introducing a parent, baby, and toddler group and a school pantry offering low-cost food to support our school community. Through our partnership with Ty Penybont, we are thrilled to have access to their garden space to grow vegetables. This initiative ties in beautifully with our focus on sustainability and outdoor learning. Additionally, parents have received our uniform swap shop well, providing a simple yet impactful way to support families.

Wellbeing remains at the heart of our ethos. We now have an outdoor learning programme designed to enhance the children’s connection with nature and promote wholesome growth. We also saw the outstanding success of Discovery Week, which helped inspire a love of science among our pupils. This week-long event connected classroom learning to real-world applications and nurtured critical thinking and confidence in STEM subjects, laying a solid foundation for the future.

I am also delighted to report that Oldcastle achieved the Siarter Iaith Cymraeg Campus Silver Award this year, building on last year’s Bronze Award. This is a testament to the dedication of all the staff who have done much to promote the Welsh language within our school.

Despite challenging financial pressures, the school goes above and beyond for our children. As a Governing Body, we conducted a thorough self-evaluation this year, which will become an invaluable tool for our continuous improvement and accountability. I am incredibly fortunate to work alongside such a passionate and committed governing body, all of whom are deeply invested in the future of our school.

Lastly, I want to thank everyone—our dedicated staff, enthusiastic pupils, supportive parents, and committed governors. Your collective efforts make Oldcastle a place where every child can thrive.

Yours sincerely,
Damian Faulkner

Chair of Governors

School Prospectus

The School Prospectus is available on the school website and paper copies are available from the school office. School Prospectus

School Improvement Plan - Evaluation 2023/24

Curriculum Overview 2023/24

The concept-based curriculum we’ve adopted is now in its second implementation cycle and has been rigorously reviewed by senior and middle leaders. Their latest review of the 2023-2024 plans identified some areas where adjustments are needed to ensure the curriculum fully covers all learning requirements, including addressing any gaps in content or skills.

At the heart of our school’s philosophy is a commitment to creating opportunities for our learners to take ownership of their learning. We’ve embraced this ethos through Welsh Week, culminating in our school’s Eisteddfod — a rich celebration of Welsh culture and heritage. During Welsh Week, our pupils immersed themselves in the Welsh language, arts, and traditions, bringing a new depth to their learning experience. We are proud to share that the school has been awarded the Silver Award in the Siarter Iaith for Welsh Language Competence, a testament to the hard work and dedication of our pupils and staff in fostering language skills.

Our focus on literacy development continues to be strong. Pupils in years 3 to 6 have been engaged in guided reading sessions to enhance their reading skills. Staff members have also been collaborating through professional discussions to share effective teaching practices, ensuring we continue providing the best learning environment possible.

Additionally, we are committed to promoting outdoor learning opportunities for pupils in years 3 to 6, especially for those benefiting from the Pupil Deprivation Grant (PDG). By integrating community work into outdoor activities like nature walks, gardening, environmental projects, and community service, we aim to enrich their learning while nurturing values such as teamwork, empathy, and environmental awareness.

We’ve also introduced a whole-school initiative to promote healthy eating. This reflects our dedication to pupil well-being and encourages the development of lifelong healthy habits. To support this, students across our cluster of schools have collaborated to create a video highlighting the importance of healthy eating, which has become a valuable educational tool in raising awareness.

New Curriculum for Wales

Our curriculum vision for Oldcastle can be viewed on our website - Our Curriculum Vision

Curriculum and Additional Learning Needs (ALN)

In Wales, the provision for Special Educational Needs (SEN) has been reviewed. The term SEN has been replaced by Additional Learning Needs (ALN). In line with this change, a new ALN Act was introduced in September 2021.  

Our register has been reviewed in line with the new ALN Act. Currently, there are 7 pupils registered with ALN. These pupils have been identified, and an Individual Development Plan (IDP) has been formulated; this includes targeted additional learning provision (ALP) to support the child.  

Additional learning provision - ALP (Children who have an IDP will access ALP)

This is specific provision for a few pupils where highly tailored provision is necessary. Only pupils who have been officially identified as having an ALN would be in this stage.

We work closely with several agencies to ensure children's needs are met, including Early Help, Speech and Language, Cognitive and Learning, Complex Medical Teams, and Communication and Relationship Teams.

We have Thrive provision, which supports our pupils with emotional needs through class, group, and individual Thrive sessions. Thrive is a therapeutic approach to helping children with their emotional and social development. Research has shown that how we behave is linked to how we feel, and our emotions are linked to how we learn.

Within the school, we ensure all pupils with ALN have access to high-quality teaching and learning to help support their individual needs. Pupils also access provisions suited to their needs. Our sensory room, which has been used for over two years, was designed and developed to create an environment for all children who need a quiet and relaxing time out of the classroom. Many of our ALN pupils use this room to allow them to regulate their emotions. This has already proven to be an excellent space and will help to provide support for all children with additional sensory needs.

Lyndsey Hodgson, Deputy Head and Nia Vaughan are responsible for ALN needs within the school. Jack Shaw and Angela Minton are the governors with specific responsibilities for ALN.

Curriculum Cymreig

Criw Cymraeg is a group that promotes the use of Welsh in school, and they achieve this through various means, including planning enrichment programs and introducing Welsh phrases in assemblies. They create posters and a Padlet and use tokens as a reward system across the school. Welsh assemblies are held regularly, where they can present the Cwestiwn yr Wythnos, in addition, we sing lots of Welsh songs and children from each class are awarded Welsh speaker of the week. 

Thanks to the efforts of Criw Cymraeg, a Welsh atmosphere has been established in the school. The school uses Welsh words and phrases in class, and they have a welcoming Cwtsh Cymraeg that uses Welsh vocabulary. The main entrance features a vivid display exclusive to the Criw Cymraeg, and QR codes are available to display the school's Cymraeg Campus journey. Signs are bilingual, and the Welsh language is used throughout the school, especially in the dinner hall, P.E. hall, music room, and maths rooms.

Incidental Welsh is encouraged in classrooms, with daily Helpwr Heddiw sessions. The Criw Cymraeg actively promotes and monitors the use of incidental Welsh and the use of Welsh throughout the day. Reading resources in Welsh are visible in classrooms and designated reading locations, such as The Book Nook. QR codes are used in classrooms to enable students to access Welsh reading material via iPads.

Welsh is integrated across the curriculum, with a current focus on mathematical vocabulary. Working Walls in classrooms and the music room display a wide range of Welsh terminology and language patterns appropriate to the respective subjects. Both students and teachers are enthusiastic about learning Welsh, and the school'

We completed our Silver Siarter Iaith Award. 

Year 6 took part in a Welsh Jambori with our cluster schools which Oldcastle led. Our children learnt and sang Welsh song and one of our children performed a solo poem all in Welsh.

Teaching Timings

The hours per week for lessons are based on the national recommendation:

Age 5 to 7 years = 21 hours

Age 8 to 11 years = 23.5 hours

Wellbeing and Sport

The well-being of our pupils, staff, parents, and stakeholders is a priority for us all at Oldcastle and is key to everything we do. We prioritise both the physical health and mental well-being of our whole school community, recognizing the critical role these areas play in overall development and success. A group of school governors met with the junior leadership team and wellbeing champions to gain an overview of wellbeing in Oldcastle Primary.  These governors reported back to the full governing body on the positive impact of providing alternative ways for pupils to participate in school learning enhancing their creativity and imagination.  

We are very fortunate at Oldcastle to have such an active PTA, who work closely with the school and organise many events.  We all thoroughly enjoyed the Christmas Elf Celebrations. 

Oldcastle’s Junior Leadership team and the Pupil Voice, regularly meet with the Senior Leadership Team, taking an active role in school life.  This year the  Well-being team launched the Buddy Bench initiative and were instrumental in helping the school to renew its Platinum Eco-schools award.  They also collaborated with our cluster schools to launch a Healthy Choices lunch box video. 

The Friday afternoon Enrichment programme, continues to allow the pupils to participate in a range of activities, which include many sports, cookery, line dancing and various arts and crafts.

Our after-school sports clubs continue to be very popular, we offer rugby, netball, cricket, football and rounders.  Our teams participated in matches against other schools and in local tournaments.  Our rugby team won the South Wales Police Touch rugby Tournament for the second year in a row.  While our tennis teams, were extremely successful in the Bridgend Schools Tournament and qualified for the South Wales finals.  Our Cross County teams continue to grow, and is open to all pupils in years 3 to 6.  We had another successful season with more trophies for our cabinet. 

Our Sports Day saw children from years 1 to 6 compete for their houses on the Athletics Field at Newbridge Fields. While Nursery and Reception held their own Sports Day at Heronsbridge School.  Both events were very successful and enjoyed by all.

Our Thrive practitioners work directly with the pupils and their families, supporting their wellbeing, mental and emotional health. Wellbeing has also been a focus for our staff, with the school actively supporting a good work-life balance.  Two of our staff are now qualified Mental Health First Aiders. 

Our Family Engagement Officer plays a key role in our school, working with our pupils and their families, running Language and Play, Number and Play, and Outdoor Language and Play sessions.  As well as other family engagement projects.

This year saw the launch of our Community Pantry, which continues to thrive.  

Barney, our well-being dog, can be found welcoming our families into school each morning and the children always enjoy a visit from him.

Finally, thanks to our families who provide so much support and encouragement, our local community remains so important to our school and we always enjoy welcoming parents and carers to events and workshops.

School Savings Club

Oldcastle Primary School has operated a successful school savings club in conjunction with Bridgend Lifesavers Credit Union since 2017.  Children are able to pay money into their account every week on a particular day at the school and are issued with their own School Savings Book to keep track of their savings.  The school provides every new starter with £2 to start off their savings and this is deposited in the account on their first visit to the club.  Children also receive a piggy bank to encourage them to save coins at home.

The school savings club offers an excellent opportunity for pupils to save each week at school and learn about money management.  We aim to combine financial education, family engagement and promote partnership working within the community to help teach children from an early age the value of saving while learning valuable money management and life skills.  Children help run the savings club and will act as the banker to collect money, recording the deposits in the savings book and collate the appropriate paperwork for the credit union.  The school currently has 373 plus savers in the scheme.

School Developments

Replacement blinds

The junior building had replacement blinds installed on all windows overlooking the main yard.  The nursery and reception class in the older building also had replacement blinds.

Community Room

A Community Room was developed in a multi use classroom space.  The Community Room is open for parents and carers to use throughout the day.  A Food Pantry has also been created in this room .  The food pantry has been created in partnership with Baobab Bach with the aim of offering affordable and nutritious food to families.

IT Equipment

Replacement chromebooks and Ipads have been purchased for use by children.

Toilet facilities

The school has adequate provision of toilets for pupils and 6 for adults including disabled provision for both adults and pupils. In the old infant block there are separate toilet facilities for all children: one dedicated to the Nursery and Reception classes, one for boys, one for girls and a disabled toilet. In the new Foundation Phase block there is one set of toilets for year 1/2 boys and 1/2 girls plus a separate set of toilet for reception age pupils. In the junior block there are two sets of toilets for girls and two sets of toilets for boys. All of which are cleaned daily.

Parent Teacher Association (PTA) and Community Links

The Oldcastle PTA has had an incredibly productive and successful year, filled with events and fundraising activities. Our efforts have not only brought joy to our school community but also made a significant financial contribution to various school projects.

We began the Autumn term with a wreath-making event, this evening was a fantastic success, raising £342. Continuing the festive spirit, the PTA organized refreshments and a raffle during the Christmas concerts. With contributions from parents, grandparents, families, and friends, we raised an impressive £2,675. Another seasonal highlight was our Christmas Fun Day, where the children enjoyed a visit to Father Christmas in an inflatable grotto, decorated wooden tree ornaments, and danced in a festive disco with Chopsy the Elf.

In March, we hosted a school disco, which was a great success, raising £487.17. On next to our sports days, where we raised an amazing £562.

For the third consecutive year, Oldcastle Rocks brought together the school community for an exciting day of performances from bands, soloists, duets, a drama group performance and a beautiful performance from the school choir. The event also featured a BBQ, Bar, inflatables, fun games, stalls,  a magician, a reptile centre, an ice cream van, and appearances by beloved characters Bluey, Peppa Pig, and Stitch. Thanks to the incredible efforts of volunteers and enthusiastic community participation, we raised £3,302.26. We extend our heartfelt thanks to all the parents, grandparents, carers, teachers, and Governors who helped make this event, and all our others, such a great success.

The funds raised have allowed us to make a significant contribution to the school. We supported the launch of Oldcastle Toddlers, donating money to purchase equipment, mats, toys, and books. We also funded clothing rails for the school’s free uniform drive, ensuring that uniforms are readily available for pupils and their families. In addition, we provided funding for Year 6 Leavers hoodies and helped with a BBQ and refreshments during their wonderful leavers assembly.

The PTA remains committed to strengthening the school’s connection to the local community. Our support for Oldcastle Toddlers has allowed the playgroup to reach full capacity most weeks, providing a welcoming space for parents and toddlers from the surrounding area.  We also contributed to the opening of the community room, a warm and inviting space where parents, grandparents, and carers can enjoy tea, coffee, and conversation. 

In partnership with Baobab Bach, the school launched a community food pantry, offering reduced-cost food bags to families in need. Baobab Bach also participated in Oldcastle Rocks with a stall to raise awareness of the services they provide. Through social media advertising and distributing flyers, we invited the local community to join us at Oldcastle Rocks, and many residents came to enjoy the day with us.

Looking ahead, we are proud of how the school has strengthened it’s ties with the local community, and we are committed to continuing to build on these efforts in the future.

Finance

Our school receives its funding from the Local Education Authority (LEA). The amount is based on pupil numbers and the estimated cost of maintaining the buildings – budget formula.

Other monies are available from educational grants and awards. The school also applies for external grants for specific needs e.g. sports, arts, culture etc.

This final budget pays for the general running costs of the school – heating and lighting, staff salaries, books, equipment, and general maintenance work. 

The head teacher manages the budget in consultation with the LEA and governing body. Specific requirements are prioritised, along with the financial implications of the school development and improvement plan. These are discussed and agreed by the governing body. The budget is then set to facilitate all projected financial needs. 

Through the effective management of the budget, the school has been able to create an underspend. This to be used as a contingency fund to safeguard our staffing levels so that all pupils are taught in straight year groups and also to support resources for teaching and learning across the school.

Our school also has its own private school fund, where donations and money collected from special fund-raising ventures are deposited. This fund supports our sports clubs, Eco Committee, school council and other groups or activities within the school. This fund is managed by the head teacher, staff and governing body.

Here at Oldcastle we have a very active PTA – Parent, teachers and friends association. The money donated to school by the PTA makes a huge impact on our spending plans, enabling us to buy equipment and resources that we need. The PTA make regular donations to projects within the school and support all our clubs and committees. Their hard work and generosity is much appreciated.  This year they organised and funded a Christmas event for all children in the school and donated and helped with the Year 6's leavers events. We are very grateful to the support we receive from the PTA.

Funds for music tuition lessons and after school clubs is paid for by parent contributions, all monies raised are used to support the individual activities. 

Fundraising for charities – The school's Junior Leadership Team select charities each year to support.  

In the last year we raised funds as follows;

• Children in Need £352.06

• Marie Curie £745 

• In memory of Julia Williams and £342.70 for Velindre. 

Attendance 

Regular attendance is vital to enabling children to utilise their education fully. At Oldcastle, we believe every student is entitled to the highest possible quality of education. We are committed to providing a complete, rich, effective, and appropriate education where achievement is celebrated. 

Attendance is crucial to the continuity of learning experiences and effective learning. At Oldcastle, we view attendance not just as a duty but as a vital partnership between families and the school. Your involvement is highly valued and plays a significant role in your child's education. 

Our Educational Welfare Officer (EWO) works closely with Miss Lyndsey Hodgson (Deputy Headteacher), Mrs Lisa Diehl (Family Engagement Officer) and the governors to monitor and support attendance. As a result, poor attendance and lateness are being targeted through phone calls and meetings so that we can work together with families to overcome the barriers surrounding their child’s non-attendance. 

For the academic year 2023-2024, attendance was 94%.

We are grateful for your continued support and hope you will continue to work with us on attendance. We kindly request that you try to schedule holidays during school breaks and book appointments outside of school hours, whenever possible.

Term Dates

Term dates are published on our website and follow those set by Bridgend County Borough Council.  The school has a number of inset days that are set in conjunction with our cluster schools. The inset days are published on our school website.

List of Current Governors