Oldcastle Weekly Newsletter

Exciting school announcement

We were so excited to launch a brand new initiative in our school assembly today. In the coming weeks we will be creating a brand new room in the space outside our music room which will house our very own RADIO STATION!!! The new studio will be self contained and will house all the equipment required for us to operate our very own school radio station. The radio station is being developed in conjunction with an organisation that specialises in installing radio stations in schools. We are delighted to be the first school in Bridgend County Borough to have a radio station installed!

Children throughout the school will have the opportunity to be part of the radio station and create some exciting announcements and programmes for our pupils, parents and staff. The new radio station will be broadcast throughout the school at designated times via our school wifi and interactive screens. We are also installing external speakers on our main yard and over time we hope to broadcast to parents at school drop off and pick up times.

All pupils have been tasked with considering a name for our new radio station. Next week, our pupil voice champions will meet with the radio station specialist virtually to consider all the name suggestions. We look forward to sharing further details with you over the coming weeks. Below is a picture from another school to give you an idea of how the radio station will look.

Assembly

In our virtual assembly today, we learnt how the house token collection was going. Children and staff love finding out how many tokens each house colour has earned throughout the week. If you've been into main reception recently you will see that there has been lots of tokens awarded for good behaviour and good work. Over the next few weeks, pupil voice will be having a think about the type of rewards the children would like at the end of the term.

Throughout the assembly each class teacher gave the school an update how the children had been working towards this months school values - determination and perseverance.

• Nursery had really worked hard all week with their mark making and writing.

• Reception had been creating patterns in maths.

• Year 1 had worked really hard on their presentation and handwriting and had worked particularly hard on their maths presentation.

• Year 2 had also worked really hard on maths and in particular had completed some very tricky fractions in maths.

• Year 3 sound like they have been busy this week with some tricky multiplication and practicing conversations in welsh.

• Year 4 have completed swimming lessons this week and we hear from Ynysawdre Pool that the children have been so well behaved and polite. We are so proud to hear this from the pool. All children have shown great determination and perseverance with their swimming lessons this week.

• Year 5 have concentrated on their presentation this week and have shown great perseverance with their division work in maths.

• Year 6 have also worked really hard on their presentation and being really determined to get to grips with coordinates in their maths lessons.

It is lovely to hear that all the school have been working hard on our school values and we really enjoy hearing about their determination and perseverance in assembly.

Next week, Mrs Littelewood asked the to focus their determination and perseverance efforts on PE and outdoor activity. We look forward to hearing all their efforts in next week's assembly.

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 right :

• Article 19: You have the right to be protected from being hurt or badly treated. Classes will have a discussion around safeguarding and who to go to if there is a problem. Types of safeguarding i.e. internet safety, safety from physical and emotional harm, safety from bullying etc.

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

Enrichment

Our enrichment sessions continue every Friday afternoon. Today we had a visit from the Bridgend School rugby hub officer who did a session with some of our year 3 children. The children looked like they thoroughly enjoyed.

Enrichment sessions are wide and varied throughout the school and it is also lovely to see and hear the children chattering about new skills they have learnt.

Year 2 children have made some lovely cards as part of their St Dwynwen's Day celebrations. St Dwynwen's Day is celebrated in Wales on 25th January and is the welsh equivalent of Valentines Day.

Year 2 walk to Newbridge Fields

Year 2 enjoyed a walk to Newbridge Fields to create artwork inspired by the Welsh artist Tim Pugh using natural items to create an animal or plant. They also completed a scavenger hunt. At school, the children have created bug hotels, bird's nests and looked for mini beasts!

New planter and pollinating plants

Thank you @Keep_Wales_Tidy for our new planter and pollinating plants. Year 2 loved helping in our school garden this week. Children created some lovely bug houses too and even Barney came to 'help' out!

Year 1 Circuits Class

Year 1 have been put through their paces this week in PE. The circuits lesson looked great and there were lots of smiling faces as the children tried something new.

Barney

Barney has had a busy week helping out with children and even helped Mrs Ace out with her rounds around the school on Thursday! We are so lucky to have Barney as our school dog.

School Swimming

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

• 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.

Fundraising for the children and families of Afghanistan

Last week 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.

Family Engagement Officer - Mrs Lisa Diehl

Just a reminder that the Nurture Group will begin on Tuesday 25th January and the NVR Group will start on Thursday 3rd February both after school morning drop off.

Parents Evenings

Parents in reception to year6 have been emailed details of how to book a parent evening appointment with your child's class teacher. Please follow the link in the email to book the appointment. This term we are offering in person appointments and phone call appointments. Appointments are available on a first come first served basis. If you have not received an email please contact the school office.

Nursery parents appointments will be held in the summer term.

Water Bottles

Please could children only bring water in their water bottles and not squash.

Collecting Children

If your child is to be collected by another parent in the class please ensure that you contact the school office to let us know.

School Savings Club

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

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/

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