Oldcastle Weekly Newsletter

Last day of term

Once again thank you to all our parents and pupils for the support over the last couple of challenging months. We are very grateful for your support and adapting to changes in the school routine, often at short notice. All the staff working in Oldcastle Primary School wish you a happy and healthy Christmas holiday period.

Below is a reminder of the information sent out yesterday following the announcement from Welsh Government that school's will not re-open until 6th January. If we hear of any further changes over the holiday period we will notify parents via email, otherwise we will be in touch from the beginning of January with any further updates.

Reminder - Information sent regarding school closure to pupils on 4th and 5th January

I wanted to inform you that this morning we have been informed by the Welsh Government that there will be two additional planning days for schools on Tuesday 4th and Wednesday 5th January, with pupils now returning to school on Thursday, 6th January.

With the concern of the current Omicron Virus we have been informed that the purpose of the two days will allow schools to plan for the term ahead should we need to switch to blended learning if this becomes necessary.

The Director of Education, Lindsay Harvey will be writing out to all parents today with some further information, however we felt it was important that you were provided with this information as soon as possible.

The Welsh Government are monitoring the situation very carefully and should anything change over the Christmas holidays we will notify you as soon as possible.

This all feels a little unsettling as we move towards the Christmas holidays but I know we'll all work together to keep our community safe.

Dear Parents,

I can’t believe that I have already come to the end of my first term as the substantive Headteacher of Oldcastle, and what an exciting term it has been. During this term, staff and pupils have enjoyed developing and working on the new curriculum and the outdoor learning spaces are constantly evolving. We were delighted to see our Learning Lodge entertain a very special visitor this week!

The pupil voice champions and Junior Leadership Team have been working collaboratively alongside the Senior Leadership Team to help implement some exciting changes. We hope to link in with the school council of Brynteg School after Christmas to work on a joint project.

Enrichment activities have been a positive experience for the pupils and we are looking forward to introducing some new challenges next term.

The school is very lucky to have an amazing PTA and I am sure you would agree that the Mad Hatters Tea Party and the Elf day was a wonderful distraction for all the children after the last year and a half of dealing with Covid. I am extremely grateful to them for all their hard work.

In January the governing body will be advertising for a Deputy Headteacher and Assistant Headteacher, and I will keep you updated once these appointments have been made.

I appreciate that there may be lots of concerns following the Minister's announcement yesterday regarding the return to school in January. Like yourselves we hope that we don’t have to return to blended learning, however, I know that we will all work together to ensure we keep each other and our community safe. As parents, you have already done a fantastic job supporting your children through what has been a very disruptive and challenging 22 months. Together we will continue to provide the best education possible for all our pupils despite the challenges that are still to come.

The staff and I would like to say a huge thank you for all your support, feedback, patience and community spirit. However you are choosing to celebrate the next couple of weeks, we hope that you all have a well-deserved break and stay well.

Wishing you and your families a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

Mrs Littlewood, Barney and all the Staff of Oldcastle School.

Christmas Concerts - Carols on the Yard

We were able to finally get all our Carols on the Yard concerts completed this week. The weather eventually held off long enough for us to hold concerts on Tuesday evening. Our children in years 3 and 4 sang beautifully at their 4.30pm slot, but the children who attended the year 5 timeslot certainly gave them a run for their money!

Thank you to all our parents and children for supporting the outdoor concerts. It was lovely to get together and celebrate the songs that our children had learnt.

Once again we are grateful to our PTA for supporting the event with the provision of the lovely teas, coffees, mulled wine, cakes and sweets!

We are also extremely grateful to Watts and Morgans Estate Agents and SCM Law for sponsoring the Christmas trees and lights decorating the yard.

These Christmas trees are being donated to local care and children's houses by the PTA.

Pantomime Visit - Years 1 to 6

We had a fantastic time in the Grand Pavilion on Wednesday and can't thank the Pavilion for such a great performance and for putting safety measures in place for our children to enjoy. Children thoroughly enjoyed the trip and were so well behaved. We were also really impressed by Creta Coaches for supplying 8 buses and ensuring we were able to remain in our year group bubbles.

Nursery and Reception Elf Production

Nursery and reception children thoroughly enjoyed their visit from the Littlest Elf Production earlier this week!

Christmas Elf Day

We had a special visitor and some mischievous elves in school on Monday! Children from each class were able to wave to Santa in his grotto, enjoy a little party with their classmates thanks to Mrs Ace and take part in an elf treasure hunt! Thank you to our wonderful PTA for arranging such a lovely event. Every child was given a selection box or bag of sweets at the end of the day.

Nursery Outdoor Learning

Nursery children have been enjoying outdoor learning this week. Some lovely Christmas pictures nursery children!

Happy Christmas from some of our year 3 pupils!

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

Please take time to refresh yourself with the current COVID Rules in place in Wales

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.

If your child does have a PCR please let us know via our ask@oldcastleprimary.co.uk email address or by telephoning 01656 815790. Please also ensure you notify us of the result.

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

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