Oldcastle Weekly Newsletter

We have had an extremely exciting and productive week in Oldcastle. Children have thrown themselves into learning in our first full week back after the Christmas period. We are pleased to let parents know that the return to school has been very successful and our robust risk assessment has been received well by all concerned. We currently have a very small number of Covid cases in school and we hope that this continues and follows the decline we are seeing locally. Thank you for your support.

We have a lot of exciting plans for the remainder of the school year and we can't wait to share our plans with you. These include celebrations to mark the Queen's Platinum Jubilee, the school being 110 years old this year and a reminder of the time capsule that was buried 10 years ago to mark our centenary celebrations. We look forward to sharing more information with pupils and our school community soon.

Barney has also enjoyed being back in school and has loved seeing the children again. This week Barney has been out and about in classrooms and outside areas helping children with reading and listening. Just before Christmas, Barney celebrated his 1st birthday and enjoyed playing with his favourite thing (besides seeing our children!) his ball!

School Values

Our school values for this month will be:

• Determination and perseverance

During our virtual assembly this morning Miss Hodgson asked the children to focus on improving presentation and handwriting of school work next week. We hope children will 'Wow' their teachers and present their work in the best way they can.

In assembly we also heard from every class who showed the whole school how many tokens had been collected this week. Children loved showing the vast number of tokens that had been collected across all year groups. Da Iawn! We look forward to seeing how many tokens have been given out next Friday as a result of the children's determination and perseverance.

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 the following two rights :

• Article 6 (life, survival and development) - Every child has the right to life. Governments must do all they can to ensure that children survive and develop to their full potential.

• Article 24 (health and health services) - Every child has the right to the best possible health. Governments must provide good quality health care, clean water, nutritious food, and a clean environment and education on health and well-being so that children can stay healthy. Richer countries must help poorer countries achieve this.

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

Fundraising for the children and families of Afghanistan

Today we launched a fundraising initiative that our Pupil Voice Champions have devised. The children decided that they would like to raise money for those affected by the troubles in Afghanistan and thought the best way to support children and families affected would be to complete a sponsored walk. We will walk the number of miles from Afghanistan to the UK as a school collectively.

Each class will complete a walk around our school yards to accumulate the total number of miles required which is an astounding 3,692 miles! We like a challenge in Oldcastle and it appears that the children are also committed to the pledge to help families and children affected by the situation in Afghanistan.

The Disaster Emergency Committee has launched an appeal to help and the following provides you with further information on the appeal.

“Families in Afghanistan cannot afford to buy food and children are dying. Health services are struggling to treat malnourished mothers and children as they lack medicines and supplies. The head of the World Food Programme describes the situation as “the worst humanitarian crisis on earth.”

Over three million children under five are expected to suffer from acute malnutrition by March 2022, with at least a million of them at risk of dying. Even before the recent conflict, change of government and collapse of the economy, people were struggling to survive the worst drought in 27 years, the effects of years of conflict and the disruption caused by the pandemic. Now, chronic poverty and hunger have deepened and those who fled their homes in recent months are facing temperatures as low as -12 without suitable shelter.” Information from Disasters Emergency Committee

Please help us support this appeal by sponsoring your child to complete a walk in school with their classmates over the coming weeks. Friends and relatives may also sponsor your child - please can we ask that all sponsorship forms and money are returned to school by 17th March 2022. We look forward to updating you on our children’s progress as they collectively walk over 3692 miles. Sponsorship forms will be sent home with children or please download one from our website. Afghanistan Appeal Information

Thank you for your support.

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.

Family Engagement Officer - Mrs Lisa Diehl

It was lovely to see the parents that attended our coffee morning and afternoon with the Early Help Team this week. Just a reminder that the Nurture Group will begin a week later on Tuesday 25th January and the NVR Group will start on Thursday 3rd February both after school morning drop off.

Maths Investment

Over the past 12 months we have been reviewing our maths provision with an external consultant and we are delighted to let parents know that we have recently invested in a range of maths resources to benefit our children. The photos below show some of our year 1 pupils using blocks leaning maths skills through construction and play. The blocks help children develop fine and gross motor skills and explore maths through play. We look forward to sharing more photos with parents as we continue to invest in our indoor and outdoor maths provision.

Parents Evenings

We are aiming to arrange parents evenings for children in reception to year 6 week beginning 7th February. At the present time we are planning to offer a 10 minute appointment with the class teacher to provide an update on your child. We plan to offer parents the opportunity to book a phone call or an appointment in school. All appointments will be booked on a first come first served basis. For your information a risk assessment will be in place for in person appointments in line with welsh government guidance.

Bookings will be made through our website appointment system and we will email parents with details of how to book next week. If you have changed your email address please ensure you let us know an up to date email address to ensure you receive our communication.

Nursery parents appointments will be held in the summer term.

School Dinners

We had another bumper record for school dinners today - 274 children were served a school dinner today - Massive thank you to our catering team and lunchtime supervisors for the smooth running of the dinner service today. Chippy Friday is certainly proving popular!!

School Savings Club

School savings club will continue next Wednesday. We look forward to seeing our young savers.

Reception class - House photo

Reception classes are looking at habitats as part of our overarching concept 'Global Environment'. Next week they will be discussing 'where we live and our homes'. If possible, on Monday or Tuesday please could reception children bring in a photo of the outside of their house in order to discuss their habitat with the class.

If you would prefer to email the picture rather than print, please email to the school ask account. .Any questions please feel free to ask Miss Walters or Mr Trigg.

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.

Applications to secondary school - year 6 pupils

The local authority have asked us to remind year 6 parents that the application process to apply for a secondary school place will close on Friday 21st January at 4pm.

Applications can be made via this link https://www.bridgend.gov.uk/residents/schools-and-education/school-admissions/apply-for-admission-to-school/

Applications to Reception Class - September 2022

Nursery parents are reminded that they need to apply for a place for their child to attend the Reception class from September 2022. Parents must apply for your child to attend a reception class and the deadline for this application process is Friday 11th February at 4pm.

Further information can be found on the Bridgend Council website. https://www.bridgend.gov.uk/residents/schools-and-education/school-admissions/apply-for-admission-to-school/

Applications to Nursery - September 2022

Applications for full time nursery in September 2022 are now open. Applications can be made via this link https://www.bridgend.gov.uk/residents/schools-and-education/school-admissions/apply-for-admission-to-school/

Year 2 trip walk to Newbridge Fields

For your information year 2 will be going on a walk to Newbridge Fields next Tuesday afternoon. Please can children wear suitable footwear and a warm coat.

Sporting Success

We are pleased to let our school community know that Eliza (year 5) and Heidi (year 3) recently competed in the British junior closed squash championships. They played amazingly well against the best girls in Britain in the U11 category. Eliza only losing one game and Heidi losing at her consolation final. Eliza achieved an impressive 9th place and Heidi one of the youngest competitors achieving 18th. Luckily the sisters didn't have to play each in the draw!

Well done girls we are very proud of you.

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