Oldcastle Weekly Newsletter

Welcome to week 11 of the school year.

Our junior leaders led our virtual school assembly this morning.. Well done to Lois, Charlie, Lottie and Layla for delivering such a fantastic assembly.

The junior leaders asked all our classes for an update on their token collection. It is great to see so many tokens being collected throughout the school.

The whole school were pleased to hear from the junior leaders that the litter posters developed by children were now on display throughout the school. The posters remind children not to leave any litter around the school. Children were also reminded to keep the canteen and sandwich hall clean during the lunch time period.

Super Ambassador Project

The junior leaders also launched a video that has been put together for the Super Ambassador Project with the Children's Commissioner of Wales. The junior leaders had to complete a mission to share how our school supports well-being. We look forward to sharing the video with parents soon.

Christmas Cards and Decorations

Do you want to spread some festive cheer? Do you want to spread some happiness within our community?

We would like the children of Oldcastle to create homemade Christmas cards and Christmas tree decorations to gift to the residents of Heathfields Care Home in Merthyr Mawr Road.

Your decorations should be small enough to hang on a Christmas tree and you could include well wishes and information about yourself inside the cards - maybe a joke or a funny story!

On the 16th December the School Choir will be singing carols for the residents in the garden of the care home and sharing cards and decorations for their Christmas tree will make their day!

Please hand Christmas cards and decorations in to the office. The deadline for receiving cards and decorations will be 14th December.

We can’t wait to see your creations and we’re sure the residents will love them too!

Reward Scheme

Children love the virtual assembly that we hold on a Friday morning and finding out how their house colour is doing in other parts of the school. Our house captains collect their class tokens on a Friday afternoon and empty these into our token collector in the main reception. The reception token collector is starting to fill up nicely this term and lots of classes have been asking for more tokens as they have run out! We look forward to keeping parents up to date on the collection of the tokens.

Enrichment Programme

Another fantastic week of enrichment today. This term we have a vast range of activities happening across the school. These range from model making, weaving, crafts, martial arts, knitting, Lego club, badminton, netball, rugby and boxing! Phew its certainly busy on Friday afternoons in Oldcastle.

Eco Schools Platinum Award

We were delighted to learn that we have retained the Eco-Schools Platinum Award this week. Miss Vaughan put together a fantastic document detailing all the amazing things we are doing as a school. The assessor was very complimentary about our school below is an extract from their report.

There were so many highlights and it is obvious how important Eco-Schools is to you as a school. Here are just a few:

• Excellent new pupil voice structure – it will be really interesting to see how this develops with time.

• Great presentation delivered by the pupils highlighting the big projects being delivered this year.

• Lovely to see how you are still creating outdoor growing spaces which I know is challenging with so much concrete/tarmac covered ground.

• Brilliant to see such a commitment to alternative energy with the huge array of solar panels. It will be interesting to see how much green energy you create and what percentage of your whole energy mix this will be.

We are so pleased well done to Miss Vaughan and all our staff and pupils for showing commitment to caring for the environment.

Netball Fixture

We were delighted to have our first netball fixture in a while on Friday. A team were selected from our after school netball club and 16 children from years 5 and 6 travelled to Penybont Primary School for the fixture. Well done to everyone that attended and represented Oldcastle. Both the year 5 and year 6 teams won their games - year 6 won 22-6 and year 5 won 11-3 !! They certainly needed a hot chocolate to warm up when they returned back in school!

Christmas Event - Nursery and Reception

We are pleased to advise that the 'Littlest Christmas Elf Returns' production will be visiting school on December 14th (PM) and Nursery and Reception class children are invited to watch the performance, join in Santa’s workshop, meet elves, hear stories and dance along as the magic of Christmas is brought to life through charming puppetry and interactive drama.

The cost per child is £3.00 and to secure a place you should make payment through ParentPay by the end of November.

The performance will take place in school and children should attend school as normal on the day. Children can wear Christmas jumpers if they wish.

Pantomime - Years 1 to 6

We are delighted to inform parents of children in years 1 to 6 that we have been able to arrange a visit to the pantomime on Wednesday 15th December. The pantomime is Aladdin in the Grand Pavilion, Porthcawl. Parents have been emailed details of the panto via Parent Pay with instructions on how to pay for the trip. Payment should be made by ASAP if you would like your child to attend the pantomime. We would like to reassure parents that a full risk assessment is in place for the visit to ensure we follow current Covid guidelines. We are liaising with the Grand Pavilion to ensure protocols are in place and these will be referenced in our risk assessment. We will share further details with parents nearer the time of the event. If you would like to discuss any aspect of the trip with us please get in touch.

We are currently looking at options for our children in Nursery and Reception and hope to be able to advise parents shortly if we are able to make arrangements.

STEM Week

Our STEM week this year is based on the topic ‘Houses and Homes’ through the book "If you Lived Here: Houses of the World". Each year group will be given a page of the book as their project focus for the week. On Monday, classes will be given clues about what their house looks like and will make predictions based on this. Further, into the week we will all be designing and constructing our model houses which will lead to ‘The Streets of Oldcastle’ on Friday. On Friday afternoon, all classes will display their houses in the corridors of the school and each year group will take a walk through the ‘streets’ to celebrate one another’s work. We will of course share photos with parents in our weekly newsletter.

Please read on for more details relevant to your child's year group.

Nursery

Nursery are looking forward to their first STEM week. Children will be delving into the book ‘The Three Little Pigs’ and investigating materials used in the story. Throughout the week children will be collecting materials to build houses and dens. We will also be junk modelling to create a variety of structures. We will be welcoming visitors into the school who will be showing us different materials used in buildings. Children will have the opportunity to work in groups and enhance their skills of team working and cooperation.

Reception

For our STEM week, Reception children will be completing activities based around the story of ‘The Three Little Pigs’. Children will be visited by Valleys to Coast and Morganstone to look at the properties of materials. We will also be going on a nature walk to Newbridge Fields in order to collect materials to make houses.

In class we will be making houses out of the three main materials from the story, ‘straw, sticks and bricks’. Working in groups to further enhance the skills of cooperation and working as a team. Children will then be using their prediction skills to predict which material will make the strongest house and give a reason why. Children will have opportunities to reflect on their models in order to make them better! Children will also have the opportunity to look at old and newer houses and begin to identify symmetrical patterns.

• TUESDAY 30th NOVEMBER - Please ensure that children wear appropriate clothing and footwear as we will be walking to Newbridge fields.

Year 1

Our STEM week promises to provide year 1 with a variety of exciting activities. While constructing our model houses, children will have an opportunity to explore the properties of a range of natural materials and then decorate with geometric shapes in the style of an influential artist.

We are also fortunate to be receiving a visit from Willmott Dixon and Morganstone, who are each going to teach us about the construction of different structures.

As well as this, we will be taking part in an online meeting where virtual challenges will be received. We’ll be working to solve these throughout the day, in time for a set deadline.

Finally, we will then become estate agents and learn how to persuade people to buy our magnificent homes!

• WEDNESDAY 1ST DECEMBER - On Wednesday morning, we will be walking to Bridgend Fire Station to help with a community garden project. Please ensure appropriate clothing and footwear is worn by your child on this day.

Year 2

We have lots of exciting opportunities planned for Year 2 during our STEM week. We are going to be building our model houses from a variety of materials. First, we will be predicting what our house looks like from the clues we are given and then using illustrations to accurately draw a design of our house.

To help us with our project we will be exploring the properties of materials with a focus on what waterproof means, as well as, what it means to float and sink. Once we have built our house we are going to start to think about components inside such as electricity and will explore and create electrical circuits.

Finally, we will become estate agents to persuade people to buy our houses! We also have lots of visitors throughout the week. We are also being visited by Willmott Dixon and Morganstone who are going to teach us about structures.

• THURSDAY 2ND DECEMBER - On Thursday morning, we will be walking to Bridgend Fire Station to help with a community garden project, please ensure appropriate clothing and footwear is worn on this day.

Year 3

Year 3 has an extremely exciting STEM week planned. We are going to be building our model houses from wood. Firstly we are going to be looking at what houses looked like back in the 1700 and 1800s. This will allow us to accurately plan and draw our model houses. We will then talk about the most appropriate materials for our house, making sure we take into consideration the location of where our house is going to be built. We will also of course be checking what material is best suited for our house to ensure our house is waterproof.

We will then become architects and use perimeter and area to make sure the measurements of our house are correct. We want to make sure our house is the perfect size for us! Finally, we will become estate agents and try to persuade people to buy our house. We also have lots of visitors throughout the week including Swansea University who will be teaching us about how to design a house. Mrs Hardy will also be cooking and constructing gingerbread houses as part of her wellbeing session

Lastly, our houses will be put on display to show everyone at Oldcastle throughout the corridors to create ‘The Streets of Oldcastle’ on Friday.

Year 4

We cannot wait to share our plans for STEM week with Year 4. We will be building our model houses from lightweight materials, talking about insulation and why we need it, and most importantly for our house, making sure they will float! We will be exploring materials that float or sink; this will include looking at density and shape and predicting whether our materials are waterproof. We will be testing whether our houses can remain stable in choppy waters and storms or whether they will submerge into the deep, dark depths of the water!

Throughout the week, we will be meeting with various companies who will be talking about energy conservation, sustainability and even... Minecraft! We will be acting as estate agents hoping to sell our houses using persuasive language and creating convincing brochures. To finish our week, we will be displaying our “hopefully” floating models in the ‘Streets of Oldcastle’.

Year 5

What a fantastic week we have planned for STEM week, we are all very excited! We have been given the mission of modelling our houses from clay, including dowels for the roof and creating our homes to be built into a cliffside. Our houses are going to have to be super strong and durable. We will be exploring 3D nets and the importance of accuracy when designing our homes.

Additionally, we will be able to use clay modelling tools to create shapes and join the clay together effectively. We will also be developing our literacy skills through role-play and creating advertisements for our ‘cliff-side homes’.

Throughout the week we will be taking part in on and off-site activities including building with Bridgend College.

• FRIDAY 3RD DECEMBER - On Friday morning, we will be walking to Bridgend Fire Station to help with a community garden project, please ensure appropriate clothing and footwear is worn on this day.

Year 6

Year 6 has an exciting final STEM week at Oldcastle planned. We will be designing and creating our buildings in our House colour groups, working collaboratively to meet the criteria. Each building will come together and children will develop a complex of buildings with communal areas.

Over the week, we have lots of exciting activities planned: from research, trips, practical activities and many more.

• TUESDAY 20TH NOVEMBER - we will be walking to the fire station to complete part of our community task please ensure appropriate clothing and footwear is worn on this day.

• WEDNESDAY 1ST DECEMBER - we will be visiting Parc Stormy (please wear appropriate warm clothing and footwear as we will be outside).

• THURSDAY 2ND DECEMBER - all children in Year 6 are required to bring wellies (or something you do not mind getting wet) for our practical problem solving session.

As you can see we have a packed week planned for our pupils next week. We look forward to sharing more information and photos with you next week.

Carols on the Yard

We are also pleased to be able to offer parents the opportunity to join us and their children for Carols on the Yard. In previous years we have arranged this lovely event and we hope that parents will be able to join us in the run up to the Christmas period. The PTA have kindly offered to provide refreshments for sale at the events.

• Nursery and Reception - Monday 6th December 2pm to 3pm

• Years 1 and 2 - Wednesday 8th December 5.30pm to 6.30pm

• Years 3 and 4 - Thursday 9th December 5.30pm to 6.30pm

• Years 5 and 6 - Tuesday 7th December 6pm to 7pm

To keep everyone safe we will be operating strict Covid guidelines for the Carols on the Yard performances. We ask that only 2 adults per child attend. If siblings are pupils of Oldcastle they may also attend, but they must be supervised by parents and stay in the family group at all times. Families must socially distance and all adults will be required to wear a mask. We thank you for your help and support with this. Children may wear Christmas jumpers if they wish.

Christmas Jumper Day - Friday 10th December

The junior leaders would like to invite children to wear Christmas jumpers on Friday 10th December to support the Save the Children charity. As we have recently supported the 'Children in Need' fundraiser we will not be expecting children and parents to donate money via the school. If you would like to donate to the charity you may do so by visiting the charities websites. Save the Children Charity

School Savings Club

School Savings Club continues every Wednesday and we look forward to seeing our savers and hearing what they are saving for.

More information on the School Savings Club can be found on our website. School Savings.

Christmas Jumpers

Don't forget - The PTA will be holding a Christmas Jumper sale on Tuesday 30th November from 3pm and are asking parents to donate any unwanted Christmas jumpers you may have. Please bring these into the collection box in main reception. Thank you for your support.

Christmas Wreath Making Workshop

The PTA event for Wreath making is now sold out.

PTA Get Together

The PTA are arranging a get together on Thursday 2nd December from 6.30pm at Bridgend Tennis Club to make arrangements for the events they have planned over the next few weeks. Please complete the Google Form if you are able to attend the get together and help out at events. PTA Meeting Interest Form

Christmas Elf Day

The PTA are arranging an Elf Party Day for our children on Monday 13th December - we are so excited to learn about the event and we hope that Father Christmas will put in an appearance too!! Children will visit our very own grotto land and we hear that the PTA have arranged for it to snow on this day! We also hear that some naughty elves will be visiting and playing tricks on our staff and children and they will have to solve clues throughout the day. We can't wait to see what the PTA have planned on the 13th - we know from the Mad Hatters Tea Party last July that they like to go to town on the decorations when they plan an event!!

Ty Cerrig Christmas Tree Farm

If you happen to be buying a Christmas Tree from Ty Cerrig please mention Oldcastle Primary School when you pay as the PTA will receive a percentage of the purchase price.

Safeguarding

In the event that you have a concern regarding a child please follow this procedure:

• During school hours please contact Mrs Ceri Littlewood, safeguarding lead at Oldcastle Primary School.

• Out of school hours please contact the out of hours Emergency Duty Team Tel No 01443849944

School dinner payment

Please note that payment for school dinners should be made via www.bridgend.gov.uk. The payment should be made 24 hours in advance.

Staying Safe Online

The website government 'Hwb' website has some very useful information for parents regarding keeping your child safe online. Please take a look at the information detailed here.

Diary Dates

Monday 29th November to Friday 3rd December - STEM Week

Tuesday 30th December - PTA Christmas Jumper Sale

Monday 6th December - Nursery Carols on the Yard

Tuesday 7th December - Years 5 and 6 Carols on the Yard

Wednesday 8th December - Years 1 and 2 Carols on the Yard

Thursday 9th December - Years 3 and 4 Carols on the Yard

Monday 13th December - Elf Party Day

Tuesday 14th December - Nursery and Reception Elf Christmas Performance

Wednesday 15th December - Years 1 to 6 Trip to the Pantomime

Friday 17th December - Last day of term

Tuesday 4th January - Back to school

Bridgend Schools Cross Country

Schools cross country competition will be held on Saturday 27th November 2021.

Children must be under 11 and be at least 9 years old on the day of competition and be under 11 years old on 31st August 2021.

Under 11's 1pm (1500m)

Event Address: Forage Farm, Penllyn Estate, Cowbridge. CF71 7FF

This event is open to pupils from schools in the Bridgend area..

Cost: £2 per entry

If you would like more information please contact the school. Mrs Evans (Year 6) will be in attendance on the day and will coordinate entries from Oldcastle Primary. Entries can be made via this google form School Cross Country Competition.

Nut Free School

We have a number of children in school with a nut allergy and we ask parents to be mindful of this when sending in a packed lunch or snack. We strive to be a nut free and we hope you can support us in this.

Year 2

This week year 2 have learned about mining in the South Wales valleys. We set up our own mine under the picnic tables with tarpaulin over them and gravel to dig in the ‘tunnel’. They used a shovel and a tray to dig and collect the gravel and push along to the other end! Other groups sketched a miner’s lamp and built winding towers out of construction sets and recorded how they thought children felt when they were working in the mines

Nursery

The children in nursery have been measuring and mixing salt dough this week in the outdoor kitchen area of the learning lodge. They then were challenged to make nature-themed decorations by rolling the dough, cutting the dough and then pressing natural objects that they had collected into the salt dough.

P.E. Days

Children should wear P.E. kit to school on the day their class has a P.E. session.

• Nursery - Friday

• Reception - Wednesday

• Year 1 - Monday

• Year 2 - Thursday

• Year 3 - Monday

• Year 4 - Wednesday

• Year 5 - Tuesday

• Year 6 - Thursday

Private Hire - Exercise Class

We have recently hired out our main hall to an exercise class and they have asked us to share the details with our parents in case anyone is interested.

Circuit Class - £5 per class, payable weekly.

No need for equipment everything supplied. Exercises adapted to everyone’s ability.

6pm – 7pm.

Please bring water/drink and towel.

Text/whats App/messenger to book place - Liz Roberts 07875171351 / Tony Poole 07590766084

Facebook page:- Tony Poole – Personal Trainer

At Oldcastle, we are proud of each other and ourselves. We nurture all of our community so that we grow as confident, responsible and happy people. Oldcastle school is more than just learning.

• We try hard for each other

• We act responsibly

• We treat people how we’d like to be treated

• We work as a team

• We trust and respect each other

• We listen and learn together

• We share knowledge and experience

Together we make the difference

Together we shape innovative experiences

More information on our values and visions can be found on our website. Visions and Values

COVID 19 Rules from 1st November

You will be aware that Welsh Government guidance changed last week regarding household self isolation. The details released by Welsh Government are as follows:

Fully vaccinated and children between the ages of 5 to 17 years

• If someone in your household has symptoms or has tested positive for coronavirus and you are fully vaccinated or aged 5 to 17 you should self-isolate and take a PCR test.

• If your test is negative you can stop isolating.

Children under 5 years

• Children aged under 5 do not have to self-isolate or take a test if they have been in contact with a positive case in their household or otherwise.

• Children aged 0 to 4 years old no longer need to take a PCR test, even if they have COVID-19 symptoms. This is unless a doctor advises there is a need for it. Also they can get tested if parents feel that a PCR test is necessary and in the best interests of the child.

• If a child has a PCR test and the test result is positive then the child will need to self-isolate for 10 days.

• For those children under 5 who have COVID-19 symptoms but are not tested for the virus they do not need to complete any formal period of self-isolation. However, we advise that those children should be kept home from school or childcare until they are well enough to return. A simple cough is not a reason to keep them home

Not fully vaccinated

• If someone in your household has tested positive and you are not fully vaccinated you should self-isolate for 10 days. You should take a PCR test on day 2 and day 8. You should self-isolate for 10 days even if your tests are negative.

If the above applies to you or your child please let us know by email ask@oldcastleprimary.co.uk or by telephoning the school or 01656 815790.

Covid Symptoms

• high temperature – this means you feel hot to touch on your chest or back (you do not need to measure your temperature)

• a new, continuous cough – this means coughing a lot for more than an hour, or 3 or more coughing episodes in 24 hours (if you usually have a cough, it may be worse than usual)

• a loss or change to your sense of smell or taste – this means you've noticed you cannot smell or taste anything, or things smell or taste different to normal

If your child does have a PCR please let us now via our ask@oldcastleprimary.co.uk email address or by telephoning 01656 815790.