Oldcastle Weekly Newsletter
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Week 3 - Friday 24th September 2021
Week 3 - Friday 24th September 2021
Another busy week in Oldcastle Primary with lots of exciting activities taking place - please read on for more information.
If you need to contact us please get in touch via ask@oldcastleprimary.co.uk
School Values
This week our school values focussed on the following:
Responsibility - ensuring that their learning environment is tidy at the end of the day
Respect - Greeting adults when they see them in the corridor or the yard. This can simply be 'Good morning / Bore Da sir or miss - or use the adults name if the child know it'.
We have been delighted with the way that the children have approached these two values this week. In particular it has been great to see the children taking responsibility for their classroom areas and ensuring they are tidy throughout the day. Mrs Peters undertook a health and safety audit with one of our school governors this week and our governor commented that the school was looking really good and the children were very polite.
Next week our school values will focus on:
Responsibility - When coming in from lunch time and / or moving around the school children should aim to be quieter and act sensibly
Respect - A new initiative for school called 'track the speaker''. When someone is talking you should turn and look at the speaker to show respect to them.
Message from Mrs Littlewood
The last three weeks have flown by so quickly and the pupils have been so busy enjoying school life.
The new token system has been a big success and the children are really enjoying earning their reward tokens as a class and as a whole school. If you visit the main reception don’t forget to have a look to see which house is winning this half term.
Today, application forms are available for the children to put themselves forward to represent their class as a Pupil Voice Champion (Year 2 to 6). The House Captain application forms will also be published for pupils year 6 and 2. We are very excited to be developing a pupil voice at Oldcastle. These application forms will be available in our weekly newsletter.
I hope your children have been chatting at home about some of the new things they are experiencing at school. Below you will find the link to the class termly newsletters which will give you an overview of the curriculum being covered in your child's class. I hope you find these useful and if there is any way you feel you would like to be more involved in what goes on in school please let us know.
We would like to introduce more face to face meetings at school in line within the current Welsh Government Covid Guidelines. Here is an overview of when we will hold ALN (Additional Learning Needs) Reviews and Parent Consultations this year.
Autumn term
ALN Reviews week beginning November 8th
Invitations will be sent home from Miss Hodgson.
Spring Term
Parent Consultations . Week Beginning February 7th
Parents will be provided the opportunity to attend a face to face meeting or receive a telephone call. These will be booked via the website and information will be provided nearer the time.
Summer Term
ALN Reviews week beginning May 8th.
Invitations will be sent home from Miss Hodgson.
Although meeting times have been set, parents are always welcome to contact the school at any time to discuss any concerns or progress. Staff are always happy to answer any questions via email, a telephone call or to arrange a meeting.
As I write my letter, children are beginning to get ready for their Enrichment activities. It is so lovely to see children having some real down time on a Friday afternoon and enjoying something new.
I hope you all have a wonderful weekend and I would like to take this opportunity to say a big thank you for your continued support as we start our new academic year.
Best wishes
Mrs C. Littlewood
Headteacher
Class Newsletters
Class newsletter are now available to view via our website Class Pages. You will find an update from your child's teacher about the learning and activities being undertaken in class this term. Please click the link below.
Reward Scheme
The token collector in main reception is starting to fill up already this term! We held a virtual school assembly for all our pupils this morning to find out how each class has been getting on with their tokens.
It looks like Yellow House (Ogmore Castle) have done well again this week throughout the school, but it was certainly a close call with all other houses very close. Children have been collecting coins throughout the school and all members of staff including the catering team are able to give out tokens.
Pupil Voice
Our Pupil’s Voice structure will help prepare our pupils for citizenship by teaching them about roles, rights and responsibilities within the school system, our local community and beyond. The roles of the Pupil’s Voice will centre around developing, promoting and embracing our school vision and values.
Our vision is to ‘Inspire, Motivate and Educate’ and this includes children, families, staff and our wider community.
Pupil Voice Champions and House Captains
Today in assembly we launched the application process for Pupil Voice Champions and House Captains.
House Captains - Roles and Responsibilities
Be responsible for collecting points and updating the total points for each House.
Work with class teachers to plan and organise events, such as Sports Day, Eisteddfod and assemblies.
Be an advocate for the vision and values of Oldcastle Primary School.
Motivate and support members of the House when taking part in events, for example, during Sports Day and Eisteddfod.
Inspire members of the House by displaying positive attitudes and behaviours and being an excellent role model to others.
Undertake any additional jobs to support the smooth running of events.
Applications are invited from children in years 2 and 6 to join our House Captains. Closing date is Wednesday 29th September.
Pupil’s Voice Champions - Roles and Responsibilities
Work with the Junior Leaders to ensure that ideas, questions, concerns and issues are discussed within SLT meetings.
Discuss areas of focus with their class and gain the class perspective.
Be an advocate for the vision and values of Oldcastle Primary School
Be an active member in meetings.
Undertake jobs given by teaching staff to support the development of the new curriculum.
Undertake any jobs provided by Junior Leaders in support of planning events, in school and out of school activities.
Applications are invited from children from years 2 to 6 to join our Pupil Voice Champions. Closing Date is Wednesday 29th September.
Junior Leaders
Don't forget children in Year 5 and 6 are invited to apply to become a Junior Leader in Oldcastle. Applications have to be received by 27th September.
Please click on this link for further details on how to apply for Pupil Voice Elections.
Pupil Questionnaire
As a school we reflect on our operation on a regular basis and as part of our self evaluation we want to gain the views of our pupils. We would love to hear how children feel in school - please help or ask your child to complete this short survey. Please fill in the form below about school as it is now.
Thank you for your support.
Enrichment Programme
Week 3 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.
Below are a few photos from today showing rugby, basketball, clay making, boxing , badminton, forest school and friendship bracelets!
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 year 1, 2 and 3.
Family Engagement Officer - Mrs Diehl
This week I’ve been busy visiting classrooms and getting to know our lovely pupils a bit better. I have also attended a training workshop on ‘Understanding Anxiety’, which looked at the impact anxiety can have on children and some of the strategies we can use to help them cope. I have included a link below that you might find useful, or if you would like to know more, please don’t hesitate to contact me at the school.
https://www.thepathway2success.com/15-strategies-to-help-build-self-regulation-skills/
Breakfast Club
We are currently reviewing the breakfast club bookings - if you previously booked a place and no longer require the booking please contact us by email. If you would like a place in breakfast club this half term please also email us with your requirements. (Click on the Contact Us button at the bottom of this newsletter).
Breakfast Club opens at 8.30am and closes to entry at 8.40am - children must have breakfast in the club.
Rugby Club After School Club - year 6 and 5
We are delighted to be able to offer an after school rugby club to children in year 6 and year 5. The club will start from Monday 4th October and will continue every Monday during the Autumn Term. Please confirm via this form if your child is interested in participating. Once we have received all applications we will confirm places. Numbers are limited and priority will be given to year 6 children.
Rugby Club will run from 3.15pm to 4.30pm and will take place on a Monday.
Children should wear P.E. kit to school on the days that their year group club runs.
The Club will be run by Mrs Evans and Mr Murdoch
Please complete and submit this form by Thursday 30th September.
Music Lessons
We currently have a small number of places available in our music lesson programme. We have spaces in guitar, piano, singing and recorder for children in years 2 to 6. The music lesson cost £50 per term. If you are interested in your child starting a music lesson please email admin@oldcastleps.bridgend.cymru
Year 1 - Learning about the senses
Children 1 are learning about their senses at the moment and we are grateful to Specsavers for providing some resources to allow our children to have a go at wearing glasses and had a lovely game of Who am Eye? when they had to identify the eyes of their friends from a small picture!
Pupil sporting success
Well done to two of our reception pupils who have achieved their orange and white belt in kick boxing this week. Well done !
Staffing news
We were delighted to learn this week that Miss Beth Lewis has given birth to a baby girl. Congratulations from all of Team Oldcastle!
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.
Barney
Barney has been loving his time in the outdoor classroom this week. He had a great time with year 3.
School Savings Club
School Savings Club started back this week and we were delighted to see 72 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
Thank you to the children who submitted a poster for the school savings club competition - we will be announcing a winner next week!
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.
high temperature – this means you feel hot to touch on your chest or back (you do not need to measure your temperature)
a new, continuous cough – this means coughing a lot for more than an hour, or 3 or more coughing episodes in 24 hours (if you usually have a cough, it may be worse than usual)
a loss or change to your sense of smell or taste – this means you've noticed you cannot smell or taste anything, or things smell or taste different to normal
If your child does have a PCR please let us now via our ask@oldcastleprimary.co.uk email address or by telephoning 01656 815790.
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
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.
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
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
Have a lovely weekend!
Have a lovely weekend!
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