Oldcastle Weekly Newsletter

Welcome Back to School

Welcome back to school following the Christmas holidays. We thank parents for your support over the holiday period and start of the new school term as we continue to operate in these challenging times.

The planning days were useful for the school to determine the way forward for this term. Below is a reminder of the information sent to parents on Tuesday. We are grateful for your support regarding this fluid and ever changing situation. We will of course keep parents and carers up to date with any changes to school operations over the coming weeks

School operations - reminder

We will not be re-introducing the one-way system throughout the school premises but we will be opening the car park entrances to allow a freer movement of people at drop off and collection times.

Late Club and After School Club will operate as usual from Thursday 6th January for confirmed bookings. We are unable to take any further bookings at the current time.

Catering Services have advised that Breakfast Club will operate as usual for children who have pre-booked from Monday 10th January.

All the above are subject to change and we thank you for your understanding in the event we need to make changes to our school operations.

In the event that we will need to close a class bubble we will implement the following:

• Home Learning will be offered to children following any class closure and this will be offered via Seesaw for children in nursery to year 2, and Google Classroom for children in years 3 to 6.

• Children may borrow a Chromebook for any closure period and parents may collect these from the main reception in the morning following any class closure. You will be required to complete a Chromebook Lending Agreement form,

• During any closure period, we will try to ensure we are able to offer onsite provision for critical workers. These will be identified as blue light workers.

Closing class bubbles will only happen if we have exhausted every other possibility within the school.

As you are aware the current situation in relation to the Covid pandemic has brought new challenges for schools and we will be closely monitoring the situation. The number of cases locally will make the next few weeks challenging however we will do our utmost to ensure that disruption to pupils is limited where possible.

School Values

Our school values for this month will be:

• Determination and perseverance

During our virtual assembly this morning Mrs Littlewood informed the children of the new school values and talked to the children about persevering with new activities or initiatives.

Children's Rights

Oldcastle Primary School are committed to the UNCRC Children's Rights. Children and young people have 42 rights under the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC). These 42 rights give children and young people what they need to grow up happily, healthily and safely. A full list of all the Children's Rights can be viewed here.

Each week in school children will be focusing on a 'Right of the Week' to highlight the various rights children have. Our focus next week will be on

• Article 28: You have the right to an education. All classes will be discussing this children's right and understanding how Oldcastle Primary are working towards the new curriculum for Wales and how this will effect our school.

The Children's Commissioner for Wales website provides further information for parents.

After school sports sessions

From week beginning Monday 10th January, the following sports club will recommence for children who have booked a place.

• Monday after school - Rugby year 5 and 6 collection at 4.30pm

• Tuesday after school - Netball Year 5 collection at 4.15pm

• Thursday after school - Netball Year 6 collection at 4.15pm

If your child no longer wishes to attend the club please let us know.

Football Club for year 4 children will start back after February half term.

School Swimming

Children in years 4, 5 and 6 will start their swimming lessons in the coming weeks, a full schedule is shown below.

• Year 4- 17th January through to 21st January 2022 – Class 4M and Class 4R

• Year 5 - 24th January through to 28th January 2022 – Class 5BTJ and Class 5P

• Year 6 - 31st January through to 4th February 2022 – Class 6E and Class 6L

Children will receive an intensive course (Monday to Friday) at Ynysawdre Swimming Pool for a period of one hour a day, over a period of a week. At each session there will be a level 2 swimming instructor present along with the class teacher and children will be assessed against the criteria of the National Curriculum Swimming and Water Safety Assessment.

• All children are required to bring swimwear, a towel and goggles for the week their lessons are scheduled. Long hair should be tied back or a swimming cap worn, no jewellery should be worn.

• Lunch provision will be as normal, so if your child normally has a school meal then they can still order one in the usual way.

• This year there will be no cost for the lessons or the bus.

• Parents will not be allowed to spectate during these sessions.

Please ensure your child has the appropriate clothing for their lessons on the correct day.

Government guidelines will be followed and a full risk assessment will be in place.

School Savings Club

School savings club will start back again next Wednesday. We look forward to seeing our young savers.

PE Day Change Years 1 and 2

This half term years 1 and 2 will swap PE days - Year 1 will now have PE on Thursday and Year 2 will have PE on Monday.

School Dinner Accounts

If your child has school dinners please ensure your child's school dinner account has funds added in advance. School dinner payment should be made via www.bridgend.gov.uk

Breakfast Club

Breakfast Club will start from Monday 10th January for children who have booked a place.

Late Club and After School Club Reminder

Bookings for after school club and late club were carried forward from the previous term as we have now reverted to our previous booking terms. Bookings are ongoing unless cancelled.

Family Engagement Officer - Mrs Lisa Diehl

I hope you and your families had a restful Christmas break and would like to wish you all a Happy New Year.

We appreciate that starting back after a holiday is not always easy for the children and can cause some anxiety for them. If this is the case for you please do not hesitate to speak to me or your child’s class teacher as there is lots we can offer in the way of support. You can catch me on the yard at school drop off or pick up everyday.

Also, a reminder that we will be holding a coffee morning and afternoon on Tuesday 11th January at 9.15am and Thursday 13th January at 2.15pm where there will be someone from The Early Help Team to answer any questions that you may have about the Nurture and NVR sessions (please see posters). We look forward to seeing you there!

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

• If you or your child get a positive rapid lateral flow test result, most people will not need to take a PCR test to confirm the result. You must self-isolate immediately if you get a positive rapid lateral flow test result.

• Self-isolate for 7 days if you test positive for COVID-19. You should take a Lateral Flow Test (LFT) on day 6 and day 7. If either LFT is positive, you should remain in isolation until 2 negative LFTs or after day 10, whichever is sooner.

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

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