Week 13 - Friday 6th December 2019

Welcome to our weekly newsletter and week 13 of the school year. Its been another busy week at school.

Christmas Concerts

Our Christmas concerts kicked off this week with a whole school concert in Nolton Church on Wednesday. On Thursday years 1 and 2 performed their concert to parents and they sounded amazing.

Fundraising

We supported The Alzheimer's Society 'Elf Day' today and we are delighted to let parents know that we raised over £290!! All money raised will go to help people affected by dementia. At Oldcastle we are keen to raise awareness of mental health and we are pleased the Children's Voice are supporting the charity. There have been some amazing outfits in school today - here is a small selection of our fantastic elves!

Over the past few weeks we have held 3 fundraising events for different charities and we are so grateful to the support we have received from parents and children. We have raised over £1000 for the charities. Thank you for your support.

Christmas Tree Festival at Nolton Church

Children in reception to year 6 will visit Nolton church on Friday 13th December to view the Christmas Tree Festival. We are looking for parents helpers to walk with classes to Nolton church, if you are able to help please let the office or your child's teacher know. Thank you for your support. Here are the times each class will visit.

• Reception at 11am
• Year 1 at 11.20am
• 3ND and 4R at 11.40am
• 3BB and 4C at 12pm
• Year 2 at 1.20pm
• Year 5 at 1.40pm
• Year 6 at 2pm

Criw Cymraeg Wythnos 6

This week the Criw Cymraeg assessed how far we have come as a school since we began our group. We have completed lots of the sub targets set by the Cymraeg Campus initiative and have decided on what areas we would like to develop next. We are planning to set up a meeting with Mr Thompson to discuss these further.

Our words of the week are:

Nadolig Llawen! - Merry Christmas!

https://flipgrid.com/s/1d4557506baa

Our phrase of the week is-

Beth yw’r ateb?- What is the answer?

https://flipgrid.com/s/37c880e990e9

Eco Schools Award

We are delighted to let parents know that we have been informed that we have retained the Platinum Eco Schools Award. Our focus on the reduction of single use plastic through the introduction of a milk machine for foundation phase was commended. Well done to everyone involved in retaining the award.

STEM and Digital Days

Our next STEM and digital days will be held on the 1st two days of the new term in January. Monday 6th January will have a STEM focus and Tuesday 7th January will be digital. We have something so exciting for children to be involved with - we can't tell them about it yet but it is AMAZING!

Christmas Concerts

Christmas concerts have started - we are looking forward to seeing the concerts and would like to thank staff and children for all the hard work they have put into the concerts. We hope you enjoy. At each concert we will be selling raffle tickets to win a hamper, the money collected will be used for our canteen refurbishment. The PTA will also be selling refreshments at the start of the concerts - thank you to members of the PTA who have given up their time to provide this service to parents.

Nursery

• Wednesday 11th and Friday 13th December - 9.30am

Reception

• Monday 16th December - 9.30am and 2pm

Year 1 and 2

• Thursday 5th December- 9.30am and 1.30pm

Years 3 and 4

• Monday 9th December - 9.30am and 1.30pm

Years 5 and 6

• Tuesday 10th December - 9.30am and 5pm

School Savings Club - last savings club on Wednesday 11th December

The Credit Union would like to thank the staff, children and families of Oldcastle Primary for continued support of the school savings scheme.

As we enter the Christmas season, the credit union would like to give the children the opportunity to withdraw from their savings. As always, they offer the option of cash (up to £100) and / or Bank Transfer. Your child does not have to withdraw any of their savings, as we will continue school savings in January. Our last collection will be on the 11th December, before re-starting in January.

To make a withdrawal through school, we kindly ask for 1 weeks’ notice and require the trustee / guardian fills in the withdrawal consent form. The forms will also be available at the office on collection days. Any withdrawal requests through school will need to be brought in by 11th December.

Once the holidays begin, your child can pay in / withdraw money at our branch in Sarn or Bridgend but, please note, cash withdrawal requests may require 48 hours’ notice, so it’s always worth contacting the office by phone before visiting. The Sarn office can be contacted Mon-Fri on 01656 729912, although you will need to check opening times over the Christmas season.

For any queries about your child’s account, I can be contacted either through the main office or by email at damianf@blscu.co.uk

Governing Body

The role of the school governing body is to provide strategic management, and act as a critical friend. Annually a full governing body meeting is held when elections take place for Chair of Governors and Vice Chair of Governors. For the next year the Chair of Governors is Mrs Claire Davies and the Vice Chair is Mr Barrie Lewis. The clerk to the Governing Body is Mrs Addell Whiteley.

School Communication

Don't forget we use the School App to communicate with parents on a regular basis. Class messages are distributed in this way and if you are not signed onto the app you could be missing important messages about your child and the school. The School App is available in the App or Play stores. If you are not recieving specific messages regarding your child's year group please email us so that we may ensure you are allocated access. Please email us here.

Christmas Gifts

We would like to remind parents that there is no expectation from any staff at Oldcastle to receive a Christmas gift from children or parents. A simple thank you is more than sufficient.

School Dinner Menu

Catering services have provided the school with updated menus for 2020. These are available to view on our website. School Dinner Menu.

Late Club / After School Club Terms and Conditions

Please can we remind parents who use late club or after school club of our terms and conditions. Terms and Conditions of Use

PTA

The PTA are planning a school disco for Wednesday 18th December. Disco times will be:

• Nursery - 2.20pm to 3pm
• Reception - 3.15pm to 4pm
• Year 1 - 4.15pm to 5pm
• Year 2 and 3 – 5.15pm to 6pm
• Year 4, 5 and 6 – 6.15pm to 7pm

Please click here to register for the disco PTA Disco Tickets. The PTA are attempting to go paperless and are trialling a new approach with these discos. Paper copies of the ticket will not now be sent home. Once you have completed the form you will receive an email confirmation. This can be used as your child's ticket.

The PTA will also have a range of glitter tattoos available at the discos for a small charge as well as the the usual drinks, crisps, sweets and fruit.

School Choir

Our school choir are performing at Brackla Community Centre tonight. Thank you to children and parents for supporting the concert.

Twitter

Don't forget we regularly use our Twitter account to let parents know what we have been up to in school. Please have a look @oldcastleschool

Headteacher Award

A headteacher assembly was not held today.

Sickness Policy

Please can we remind parents that in line with advice from the Health Protection Agency, children who have vomited or had diarrhoea must not return to school until 48 hours has passed since the last episode of sickness or diarrhoea. Please refer to the advice on our website. Health Protection Agency Poster

Admissions to Reception class

Bridgend County Borough Council have opened their application process for children joining reception class starting in September 2020. Applications are online - apply here.

Roofer / General Builder

We are currently looking for a roofing company and general builder to undertake a range of jobs for us. We require builders to be CIS registered however we can advise on this if required. Please contact the office on 01656 815790 or email s.peters@oldcastleprimary.co.uk if you can help.

Diary Dates

• Monday 9th December - Years 3 and 4 Christmas Concert - ticketed event at 9.30am and 1,30pm
• Tuesday 10th December - Year 1 trip to Dan yr Ogof
• Tuesday 10th December - Year 2 trip to Cardiff Castle
• Tuesday 10th December - Years 5 and 6 Christmas concert 9.30am and 5pm
• Wednesday 11th December - Nursery Christmas Concert - ticketed event at 9.30am
• Thursday 12th December - Christmas Dinner Day
• Friday 13th December - Visit to Nolton Church to view the Christmas Tree festival
• Friday 13th December - Nursery Christmas Concert - ticketed event at 9.30am
• Monday 16th December - Reception Christmas Concert - ticketed event at 9.30am and 2pm
• Wednesday 18th December - Juniors to visit Pantomime
• Wednesday 18th December - PTA Disco
• Friday 20th December - Term Ends
• Monday 6th January - Back to School
• Monday 6th January to Friday 17th January - 4C Swimming
• Monday 13th January to Friday 31st January - 4M Swimming
• Monday 3rd February to Friday 7th February - 5BJ Swimming
• Monday 10th February to Friday 14th February - 5JJ Swimming
• Monday 17th February to Friday 21st February - Half term
• Monday 24th February - Back to School
• Monday 24th February to Friday 28th February - 6C Swimming
• Monday 2nd March to Friday 6th March - 6E Swimming
• Monday 6th April to Friday 17th April - Easter holidays
• Monday 20th April - Back to school
• Monday 4th May - Inset Day
• Friday 8th May - Bank Holiday
• Monday 25th May to Friday 29th May - Half term
• Monday 1st June - Inset Day
• Tuesday 2nd June - Inset Day
• Friday 17th July - Term Ends
• Monday 20th July - Inset Day

Inset Days 2019/20

• Monday 4th November 2019
• Tuesday 5th November 2019
• Monday 4th May 2020
• Monday 1st and Tuesday 2nd June 2020
• Monday 20th July 2020