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

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 Blue House (Newcastle Castle) have done well 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.

Next week we will launch our House Captains who will be collecting house points and providing us with an up to date total.

Pupil Voice

Thank to you to all the pupils who submitted an application to become a junior leaders, house captains and pupil voice champion. We look forward to announcing the names of the successful pupils next week.

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

Today in our virtual assembly we announced the winners of the school savings club competition. Well done to those who submitted an entry and especially those that have won a prize.

These posters will be displayed on our website and the Bridgend School Savings Club Facebook page.

Foundation Phase Winners

Junior Winners

Pupil Questionnaire

There is still time to complete our 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.

Pupil Questionnaire

Thank you for your support.

Enrichment Programme

Week 4 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.

Family Engagement Officer - Mrs Diehl

This week I visited the Zone, Dunraven Street, to find out more about The Bridge Mentoring Plus Scheme and some of the other great work they do in the community. They offer help on a wide range of subjects, including money management, health & wellbeing. They can also help you to develop your CV and assist in job searching and offer free training courses at the centre. If you want to know more or would be interested in volunteering with them, see the link below.

www.thebridgemps.org.uk/the-zone

Also, along with Mrs Hardy, I started my ‘thrive’ training this week. Thrive helps adults to nurture supportive relationships with children to become more emotionally resilient so that they are better equipped to deal with life’s ups and downs and we are both excited to put this into practice at 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.

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

Year 6 loved their practical maths session this morning in the main hall.

Year 1 have been learning about senses this week - looks like great fun!

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

Diary Dates

14th October - Individual child photos

24th November - Flu vaccine Reception to Year 6 children - more details will be sent to parents shortly

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.

Community Information

There is a girls rugby training session held at Newbridge Fields on a Monday evening at 6pm. Any girls who are interested can simply turn up and have a go.

Parking around school

We have received a complaint from local residents that parents are parking across their driveways when they are dropping off / collecting children from school. Thank you for your co-operation.

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