Oldcastle Weekly Newsletter

School Assembly

In the school assembly today Mrs Littlewood announced that today was the last day to collect reward tokens before they are counted next week. All tokens collected over the following two weeks will count towards the collections after half term. Our pupil voice will be counting the tokens throughout the week and will be announcing which house has gained the most tokens. All children will receive a reward for their house in the last week of term and we look forward to hearing what the junior leaders have chosen for the rewards this term.

Nut Allergy

Also in assembly Mrs Littlewood highlighted the importance of nut allergies to children. We have a number of children in Oldcastle who have a nut allergy which can be triggered either airborne or ingested. Mrs Littlewood asked the children to be aware of items that contain nuts and not to bring these into school. Items such as peanut butter sandwiches, Nutella spread, cereal bars etc will all contain nuts and we please ask that you ensure these are not brought into school. The consequences of a child with a nut allergy coming into contact with any of these items could be severe and possibly mean that in some circumstances they may experience anaphylaxis shock and require hospital treatment. Thank you for your support in not sending any items containing nuts into school.

Golden Retriever Day

We can't believe we missed #GoldenRetrieverDay yesterday and the opportunity to promote our school dog Barney! Barney has become a very important part of our school community and our pupils, staff and parents are so lucky to have a school dog

He's grown so much since we picked him up on the 9th February 2021.

Welsh Music Day

Today is Dydd @Miwsig_Cymru / Welsh Language Music Day. In our virtual assembly this morning all pupils sang 'Aderyn Melyn' beautifully and listened to more great welsh music in our enrichment sessions this afternoon.

If you'd like to listen to welsh music at home please follow these links:

Foundation Phase Music

Years 3 to 6 Music

Radio Station

We are progressing well with our new radio station and looking forward to the installation of the radio station studio during half term. We are still deliberating over the name - if you have any suggestions please let us know!!

School Values

Our school values for this month have been 'Determination and Perseverance' and we have loved hearing how the children have taken on board the school values.

• Compassion and Hope

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 15: You have the right to meet with friends and join groups.

• Children will have discussions around clubs and groups that children are a part of and the importance of socialising as a group of friends at play times.

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

Swimming Praise

Over the last few weeks, our years 4, 5 and 6 children have been taking part in swimming lessons in Ynysawdre Pool and we have been delighted to hear from the pool staff how well behaved and polite the children have been. Well done years 4, 5 and 6 that you have been recognised for your good behaviour when representing the school.

COVID - changes to self isolation

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

• If you or your child get a positive 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 5 days if you test positive for COVID-19. You should take a Lateral Flow Test (LFT) on day 5 and day 6. If either LFT is positive, you should remain in isolation until 2 negative LFTs are received 24 hours apart..

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.

When we are notified of a positive case in school we are required to send an 'Inform' letter to those in the same class as the case. If we have more than 2 cases in a class we are required to send a 'Warn and Inform' letter to parents - this letter provides further advice on LFT testing. If a warn and inform letter is sent we are not required to re-send the letter for a seven day period even if there are additional cases.

We are very grateful to parents for your support during the Covid pandemic.

Fundraising for the children and families of Afghanistan

A couple of weeks ago 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.

We are pleased to report that children have walked over 1300 miles so far!!

We sense a little competition between teachers and classes to see who can walk the most miles!!

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.

Year 2 Welsh Weather Report

Year 2 have been undertaking a stop motion animation project to complete a welsh weather report. They created scripts and storyboards before completing our final films. We hope you enjoy looking at the video.

Welsh Weather Report

Year 1 are getting very good at their karate moves with Miss Vaughan!

Year 2 have been den building and love their outdoor learning sessions. Thank goodness we have the waterproof trousers and jackets!

Year 2 made some lovely leaf patterns this week.

Year 1 Outdoor Learning

In groups, the children were given an adjective to think about and had to collect objects which it described. Once the collection was made other groups were challenged to see if they could guess the word. Can you?

Year 1 have been looking at the temperatures in Wales and Burkino Faso, West Africa, this week and creating graphs using base 10 for their measurements - very impressive year 1 !!

Parents Evenings

Next week we will be holding parents evening appointments for parents of children in reception to year 6. Each year group will be holding an in person appointment and a phone call appointment this was decided following our parents questionnaire sent out last year. Below is a reminder of the appointment days for each year group. All appointments will be 10 minutes.

We are currently required to limit the number of people on school site and we would be grateful if parents can abide by the following if you are attending an in person appointment:

• In person appointments will be required to adhere to current Welsh Government guidelines and the school has a risk assessment is in place.

• Please do not arrive until your appointment time.

• Please enter the school via the door that your child normally enters school. Reception to year 2 teachers will advise you when you may enter the classroom.

• Please wear a face covering whilst in the school (unless exempt)

• Please hand sanitiser when you arrive at school.

• Appointments are restricted to 10 minutes, this allows us to ensure that all parents have an allocated appointment and we are adhering to the numbers of people on site. Please can we request that parents stick to the allocated times. Should you feel you need more time then a follow appointment can be made at a later date.

• Children’s books will not be available to view as we are limiting contact with items in school.

• School books will be sent home with children at the end of the school year.

• Teachers will clean the seating area after each parent meeting.

• There will be no access to toilet facilities as these will be being cleaned by our cleaning team

• Please do not come to school if you are displaying any of the Covid symptoms

• Teachers will contact parents on the mobile number previously provided for phone call appointments

Year group appointment days

Reception:

• Monday 7th February - Phone Calls and Tuesday 8th February - In person appointments

Year 1

• Monday 7th February - In person appointments and Wednesday 9th February - Phone calls

Year 2

• Tuesday 8th February - Phone calls and Wednesday 9th February - In person appointments

Year 3

• Monday 7th February - In person appointments and Tuesday 8th February - Phone calls

Year 4

• Tuesday 8th February - In person appointments and Thursday 10th February - Phone calls

Year 5

• Monday 7th February - Phone calls and Wednesday 9th February - In person appointments

Year 6

• Monday 7th February - In person appointments and Wednesday 9th February - Phone calls

Water Bottles

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

School Savings Club

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

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

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