Week 2 - Friday 17th September 2021

Week 2 of the school year has flown by and we're so pleased to see the children back in classrooms. Children are enjoying being in their new year groups and are settling well into the routine of their new year group. Please read on to see what we've been up to this week.

If you need to contact us please get in touch via ask@oldcastleprimary.co.uk

Enrichment Programme

Week 2 of our Enrichment programme The enrichment programme takes place on Friday afternoons and will give the children opportunities to try new and varied activities that may not strictly fit into the curriculum, but that develop character, resilience and motivation, and encourage them to pursue wider goals. It helps to teach life skills that benefit children beyond the classroom and can develop an appreciation for cultural and community issues, teamwork and social responsibility. Here are year 2 pupils taking part in forest school / gardening and year 4 learning sign language.

Reward Scheme

All children found out their new 'house colour' this week and we are so pleased with how well our new reward scheme has been received by the children. We asked children and staff to choose Castle names for each house colour and we are delighted to inform parents that the following castle names were chosen by pupils:

• Red house - Coity Castle

• Blue House - Newcastle Castle

• Green House - Cardiff Castle

• Yellow House - Ogmore Castle

This morning we held a virtual whole school assembly to see how many tokens had been collected by each house colour in each class. Mrs Littlewood was so impressed with the number of tokens that had been collected in every class - children have been working hard all week not just in their classrooms, but in the dinner and sandwich halls! Children can gain tokens anywhere in school.

It looks like Yellow House (Ogmore Castle) have done well this week throughout the school, but its pleasing to see that all Castles have achieved lots of tokens throughout the week!

Our whole school coin collector is situated in main reception, and every class will have a class coin collector for children to deposit their coin in to when received.

Junior Leaders

Year 5 and 6 pupils are invited to apply to become a Junior Leader in Oldcastle. Don't forget applications have to be received by 27th September. Junior Leaders Application

Well Being Champion

As the schools Well-being Champion, Mrs Hardy will be working towards teaching children right across the school life skills. These skills will include activities such as gardening, sowing, cooking and more. Rain or shine the groups can still be outdoors for gardening activities using the outdoor classroom.

This week Mrs Hardy has been working with children in Reception, Year 1 and Year 2 teaching them gardening skills in our outdoor classroom - The Learning Lodge.

School Operations

Don't forget these are the current school hours for drop off and pick up:

• School starts at 8.55am for all pupils

• Nursery children can be collected between 2.45pm and 3pm

• Reception, Year 1 and Year 2 children finish at 3.05pm

• Years 3 to 6 children finish at 3.10pm

COVID 19

Thank you for all your support this week by helping us keep our school community safe. As a reminder if your child develops any of the Covid symptoms identified by Public Health Wales please ensure they attend for a PCR test. If your child does have a PCR please let us now via our ask@oldcastleprimary.co.uk email address or by telephoning 01656 815790.

Family Engagement Officer

Mrs Diehl, our Family Engagement Officer, is often in the school yard at drop off and pick up times so please do not hesitate to introduce yourself or stop and ask a question. The role of family engagement officer is important to us to ensure we can forge a link with between schools and our parents / carers.

Barney

Barney has been out and about in school a lot this week helping children settle into class. He has also been helping with maths and reading when he can! Our well-being champion, Mrs Hardy, has taken Barney along to her outdoor sessions with reception and year 1. The children love seeing him get involved in their sessions.

Barney has also been registered as a 'Medical Mental Health Assistance Animal which will allow him to accompany pupils and staff in public indoor areas.

School Savings Club

School Savings Club started back this week and we were delighted to see 60 children save their money. Savings Club continues every Wednesday and we look forward to seeing our savers and hearing what they are saving for.

School Savings Club Poster competition

We are excited to launch a poster competition for the school savings club - see the details below. Please get your entries into the school office by Wednesday 22nd September.

Nut Free School

We have a number of children in school with a nut allergy and we ask parents to be mindful of this when sending in a packed lunch or snack. We strive to be a nut free and we hope you can support us in this.

Fundraising

We are delighted to be supporting 'Y Bont' , a special needs charitable nursery based in the grounds of Heronsbridge School.

On Friday 8th October we will be taking part in a 'Funky Friday' fundraising day! We will be encouraging staff and pupils to dress up, create funky hair, funky face paint...anything fun goes!

Y Bont is a small charity who are tasked with raising £300,000 each year to keep their service running. We hope you can help us support the charity and get involved with the fundraising. All donations will be gratefully accepted.

Routine Visits Consent Form

This week we sent you an email asking you to complete our Routine Trip Consent Form. This is an annual form where parents provide consent for your child to take part in routine school visits. Parents will always receive communication regarding specific trips arranged for your child. If you have not completed the form for this year please click here. Trip Consent Form

Pupil Sporting Success

On the 4^th of September 90 runners took part in the Welsh Athletics annual Rabbit Run. The run takes place on the Merthyr Mawr Estate and participants run on the grass alongside the River Ogmore for 1.7km. Lewis Durston completed the run coming 1^st place with a time of 7.42 minutes. Malakai Cornish Vaughan finished 5^th in the Under 11 boys and Aaron Durston, Boaz Dodge and Roux Dodge all completed the race with excellent times. A great effort by all on a very hot day!

Cross Country season will begin in November and the school will be looking for children in Years 3-6 to represent Oldcastle in the Bridgend Schools competition. In recent years Oldcastle had a healthy team of 25 children who completed the 2km run on a beautiful Sunday morning at Brynteg school. More information to follow as soon as dates and venues are confirmed.

P.E. Days

Children should wear P.E. kit to school on the day their class has a P.E. session.

• Reception - Wednesday

• Year 1 - Monday

• Year 2 - Thursday

• Year 3 - Monday

• Year 4 - Wednesday

• Year 5 - Tuesday

• Year 6 - Thursday