Oldcastle Weekly Newsletter

Welcome to week 9 of the school year. We have had a very busy week in Oldcastle and we have lots of exciting things planned for our children over the next part of this term!

In assembly today, Mrs Littlewood thanked all the children for being so well behaved on the yard during our remembrance service on Thursday. It is the first time in a long while that we were able to come together as a whole school and we loved being able to see each other. Da Iawn pawb.

Don't forget we are supporting Children in Need next Friday - more details below.

Remembrance Day

On Thursday we came together as a whole school to commemorate Remembrance Day. We have not been able to come together as a whole school for such a long period of time we were delighted to congregate on the main yard. Mrs Littlewood played The Last Post on a speaker, and following the ringing of the school bell we all fell silent for one minute.

Over the last week children in all years have been working hard to create a special display to mark Remembrance Day. Using our small milk bottles children have been drawing poppies on the bottles and these have been used as a whole school display in the main hall. We are sure that you will enjoy seeing these photos and will agree that the display was magical. Children throughout the school have been able to visit the hall and view the display on Thursday and Friday. Thank you to all our staff for creating such a lovely mark of remembrance.

On Saturday 13th November, our pupil voice will represent have been invited to attend the Children and Family Remembrance Parade and Service in Bridgend Town Centre. Our junior leaders will take part in the parade and lay a wreath on behalf of Oldcastle Primary School. If you would like to attend the event the parade will start from the top of Wyndham Street at 10.40am and will finish at the War Memorial in Dunraven Place. A short commemorative service will be held at the War Memorial. The event is due to finish at 11.15am.

Reward Scheme

Children love the virtual assembly that we hold on a Friday morning and finding out how their house colour is doing in other parts of the school. Our house captains collect their class tokens on a Friday afternoon and empty these into our token collector in the main reception. Miss Vaughan obviously inspired a lot of teachers last week with the amount of tokens she had given out. There appears to be some friendly competition amongst our classes to see who can give out the most tokens!! We love hearing about how the tokens have been collected and how good each class has been during the week. During the assembly, Mrs Littlewood asked all class teachers to give every one of their pupils a token as she was so proud of how the children had behaved for our remembrance service.

We look forward to keeping parents up to date on the collection of the tokens.

School Governors

A full governing body meeting was held on Wednesday with the purpose of electing a chair and vice chair for the forthcoming year. During the meeting the following appointments were made:

Damian Faulkner - Chair

Nerys Sales - Vice Chair

The school would like to thank Miss Clare Davies, previous Chair of the governing body, for her commitment and support during her term of office.

The governing body also confirmed the appointment of two community governors - Mr Konrad Halabuda and Mrs Angela Minton will become community governors with immediate effect.

Parent Governors

We have a number of parent governor vacancies and nominations are invited from all parents, or those with parental responsibility, of registered pupils at the school.

If you wish to nominate yourself for the position of parent governor, please submit a short personal statement of no more than 100 words and return it to the school no later than 29th November 2021. Nominations received after this date will not be considered. Please note applications must NOT exceed 100 words. Please email nominations to ask@oldcastleprimary.co.uk

Following the closing date, the local authority will prepare ballot papers and these will be sent home to all parents. Further information on the voting process will be sent to parents at this point.

The term of office of a parent governor is four years from the date of appointment. A parent governor may serve out their term of office if their child leaves the school during the period of their term of office.

Governors Annual Report to Parents

The school governors Annual Report to Parents for the academic year 2020/21 is available to view on our website.

Annual Report to Parents

Governors will be holding a 'Meet the Governor' event on Wednesday 17th November at 5pm and invite parents to attend and discuss any aspect of the annual report or any aspect of school operations. The informal meeting will be held in the main school hall please note face coverings will need to be worn. We are able to offer the opportunity to attend virtually if required. Please let us know if you would like to attend virtually and we will make arrangements to facilitate this. We also have a Feedback / Comments Form included in the annual report so please use this if you would like to provide comment. The link to the feedback form is included in the report or please click here - Feedback Form.

Junior Leaders

Junior leaders have been working on problems that pupils have throughout the school - this week, the Pupil Voice asked the junior leaders to explore canteen / lunch options.

On Wednesday the junior leaders attended the SLT meeting in school and are working hard on plans to make their pledges happen! The junior leaders also attended the Governor's meeting this week to share their exciting work with them. They were very impressed at how much is going on in school and very pleased to see the impact of Pupil Voice across school.

We have also received lots of ‘Stop Littering’ posters and have chosen a 1st, 2nd and 3rd place. The winners are detailed below - congratulations!

Enrichment Programme

Another fantastic week of enrichment today. This term we have a vast range of activities happening across the school. These range from model making, weaving, crafts, martial arts, knitting, Lego club, badminton, netball, rugby and boxing! Phew its certainly busy on Friday afternoons in Oldcastle.

Water Bottles

Please can we remind parents that children should bring water in their water bottles not squash. Thank you for your support.

STEM Week

This year we are excited for the return of our STEM week which will run for the week from 29th November. This year we have a whole school theme of Houses and Homes. Children will be creating their own mini models of different types of homes based on the book ‘If you lived here: houses and homes’. Through this children will explore properties of materials, engineering and structures, sustainability and the impact of environments. Throughout the week we are hoping to have a range of visitors where children will gain first-hand experience of roles surrounding our topic as well as hands-on experiences. If you or anybody you know can help with our STEM week we would be very grateful for your support and input, this could be anything from a show and tell opportunity, a talk on your role, or an experience linked to different trades etc. If there is anything you think you can offer please follow the link below to the Google Form so we can get in contact with you.

STEM Parent Interest Form

Pantomime - Years 1 to 6

We are delighted to inform parents of children in years 1 to 6 that we have been able to arrange a visit to the pantomime on Wednesday 15th December. The pantomime is Aladdin in the Grand Pavilion, Porthcawl. Parents have been emailed details of the panto via Parent Pay with instructions on how to pay for the trip. Payment should be made by 26th November if you would like your child to attend the pantomime. We would like to reassure parents that a full risk assessment is in place for the visit to ensure we follow current Covid guidelines. We are liaising with the Grand Pavilion to ensure protocols are in place and these will be referenced in our risk assessment. We will share further details with parents nearer the time of the event. If you would like to discuss any aspect of the trip with us please get in touch.

We are currently looking at options for our children in Nursery and Reception and hope to be able to advise parents shortly if we are able to make arrangements.

Carols on the Yard

We are also pleased to be able to offer parents the opportunity to join us and their children for Carols on the Yard. In previous years we have arranged this lovely event and we hope that parents will be able to join us in the run up to the Christmas period. The PTA have kindly offered to provide refreshments for sale at the events.

• Nursery and Reception - Monday 6th December 2pm to 3pm

• Years 1 and 2 - Wednesday 8th December 5.30pm to 6.30pm

• Years 3 and 4 - Thursday 9th December 5.30pm to 6.30pm

• Years 5 and 6 - Tuesday 7th December 6pm to 7pm

Christmas Dinner

Christmas dinner will be served on 9th and 10th December. Thank you to our parents for completing the google form to order a Christmas Dinner. Please ensure payment is made to your child's dinner account via www.bridgend.gov.uk

Nursery, year 1, year 3 and year 5 - Thursday 9th December

Reception, year2, year 4 and year 6 - Friday 10th December

On the day that your child's year group does not have Christmas dinner children will need to bring sandwiches.

Christmas Jumpers

The PTA will be holding a Christmas Jumper sale soon (date to be confirmed) and are asking parents to donate any unwanted Christmas jumpers you may have. Please bring these into the collection box in main reception. Thank you for your support.

Flu Vaccine Consent - Reception to Year 6

If you haven't returned the flu vaccine consent letter please can you return it to school early next week - the letter needs to be returned even if you do not want your child to have the vaccine.

The School App

As a school we use an app called The School App as one of our communication tools. The app can be downloaded from the Google Play or App Stores. If you are not receiving messages please contact the school so we may investigate.

We also regularly use email to communicate with parents so please remember to let us know when you change your email address.

Children in Need - Friday 19th November

We are delighted to be supporting Children In Need again this year. By taking part we know that children in our school can make a huge difference helping fund local charities and projects that support young people. Children will be able to come to school in their own clothes on this day and make a donation to Children in Need if they wish. Donations will be accepted in school on the day or if you prefer donations may be made directly to https://www.bbcchildreninneed.co.uk/

Bridgend Schools Cross Country

Schools cross country competition will be held on Saturday 27th November 2021.

Children must be under 11 and be at least 9 years old on the day of competition and be under 11 years old on 31st August 2021.

Under 11's 1pm (1500m)

Event Address: Forage Farm, Penllyn Estate, Cowbridge. CF71 7FF

This event is open to pupils from schools in the Bridgend area..

Cost: £2 per entry

If you would like more information please contact the school. Mrs Evans (Year 6) will be in attendance on the day and will coordinate entries from Oldcastle Primary. Entries can be made via this google form School Cross Country Competition.

School Savings Club

School Savings Club continues every Wednesday and we look forward to seeing our savers and hearing what they are saving for.

More information on the School Savings Club ca be found on our website. School Savings.

Brynteg Open Evening

Brynteg School will be holding a virtual open evening for pupils and parents of years 5 and 6 children . The event is being held on 18th November at 5pm. More information is available for parents on the Brynteg School website.

Diary Dates

19th November - Children in Need fundraiser (own clothes day)

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

29th November to 3rd December - STEM Week

6th December - Nursery Carols on the Yard

7th December - Years 5 and 6 Carols on the Yard

8th December - Years 1 and 2 Carols on the Yard

9th December - Years 3 and 4 Carols on the Yard

9th December - Christmas Dinner Day for Nursery, year 1, year 3 and year 5

10th December - Christmas Dinner Day for Reception, Year 2, Year 4 and Year 6

15th December - Years 1 to 6 Trip to the Pantomime

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.

Lost Property

We have a large amount of lost property once again. If your child has lost an item please ask them to come and check lost property or call into the office.

P.E. Days

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

• Nursery - Friday

• Reception - Wednesday

• Year 1 - Monday

• Year 2 - Thursday

• Year 3 - Monday

• Year 4 - Wednesday

• Year 5 - Tuesday

• Year 6 - Thursday

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

COVID 19 Rules from 1st November

You will be aware that Welsh Government guidance changed last week regarding household self isolation. The details released by Welsh Government are as follows:

Fully vaccinated and children between the ages of 5 to 17 years

• If someone in your household has symptoms or has tested positive for coronavirus and you are fully vaccinated or aged 5 to 17 you should self-isolate and take a PCR test.

• If your test is negative you can stop isolating.

Children under 5 years

• Children aged under 5 do not have to self-isolate or take a test if they have been in contact with a positive case in their household or otherwise.

• Children aged 0 to 4 years old no longer need to take a PCR test, even if they have COVID-19 symptoms. This is unless a doctor advises there is a need for it. Also they can get tested if parents feel that a PCR test is necessary and in the best interests of the child.

• If a child has a PCR test and the test result is positive then the child will need to self-isolate for 10 days.

• For those children under 5 who have COVID-19 symptoms but are not tested for the virus they do not need to complete any formal period of self-isolation. However, we advise that those children should be kept home from school or childcare until they are well enough to return. A simple cough is not a reason to keep them home

Not fully vaccinated

• If someone in your household has tested positive and you are not fully vaccinated you should self-isolate for 10 days. You should take a PCR test on day 2 and day 8. You should self-isolate for 10 days even if your tests are negative.

If the above applies to you or your child please let us know by email ask@oldcastleprimary.co.uk or by telephoning the school or 01656 815790.

Covid Symptoms

• 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.