Week 15 - Friday 20th December 2019

Welcome to our weekly newsletter and week 15 of the school year. The autumn term has been a lone one (15 weeks!) and children have had a busy period with core learning and preparation for Christmas concerts! We hope you all enjoy the Christmas break. On behalf of all staff in Oldcastle Primary School we would like to wish everyone a very merry Christmas and a happy new year. School resumes on Monday 6th January at 8.55am.

Message from Mr Thompson

Over the last few weeks we have talked about journeys, visitors, special gatherings and gifts. As 2019 draws to a close the next two weeks creates space for us to consider these things, and I trust that whatever you are doing and however you are spending the next two weeks holiday you will have a wonderful time.

On behalf of the staff I would like to thank you for your kind words, gifts and generosity not just at this time of year but throughout 2019. As a school we will continue to work hard and know that we must resolve to keep the children and families we serve in Bridgend at the centre of what we do.

As we look forward to 2020 and begin to make resolutions for the year ahead, I know that as a school, via our pupil voice, we resolve to think about our impact on the environment, develop our sense of community and place our values of Inspiration, Education and Motivation at the heart of our decision making.

We are excited about the prospects of a new calendar year and look forward to welcoming you back on the 6th of January 2020!

Jeremy Thompson

Headteacher

Christmas Concerts

Our reception children wowed parents, grandparents and staff with their Christmas concert this week - they were fabulous. Thank to you to all parents and grandparents who have supported our concerts and given so generously towards our Christmas raffle. We are so grateful to members of the PTA who have been able to provide refreshments at all our concerts - we hope you have enjoyed.

Years 3 to 6 Pantomime

Children in years 3 to 6 visited the Grand Pavillion in Porthcawl to watch the Snow White pantomime on Wednesday this week. The children thoroughly enjoyed and really got into the spirit of the panto!

Christmas Tree Festival at Nolton Church

We were delighted to learn this week that our tree in the Nolton Church Christmas tree festival won a runners up prize! We are pleased that our children's hard work has been recognised. Thank you to children who created a decoration made out of recycled material for the tree and supported our theme 'It was on a starry night'.

PTA

The PTA have informed us that they have made a profit of £960 from their recent events in December! This is fantastic news and the school are so grateful for the support from parents who help with the PTA.

The disco was another resounding success and the PTA would like to thank Martha Ace for providing the disco tunes (and playing the Baby Shark song so many times!!), and parents for helping out and supporting the event.

The PTA will be arranging a get together in the new year for parents to help form their fundraising plans for 2020. We hope many parents become involved with the PTA and reap the many rewards from meeting new people and fundraising for the school.

Our school canteen dining hall is the focus of PTA fundraising efforts at the moment. It is in desperate need of modernisation and we are working to get new plans together to make the area inviting for children. We look forward to sharing designs with children and parents. The PTA are planning lots of exciting activities to raise funds for the refurbishment of the canteen - we will share these with parents in 2020.

Criw Cymraeg Wythnos 8

The Criw Cymraeg would like to thank pupils, parents and staff for their enthusiasm and continued support this term during the setting up of the Criw Cymraeg.

We have so many plans for the New Year and can’t wait to get started. Nadolig Llawen a Blwyddyn Newydd Da!

Our words for the first week of the new term are:

Croeso nol! Welcome back!

https://flipgrid.com/s/bacc06ad263f

Our phrase is:

Sut oedd eich gwyliau? How was your holidays?

https://flipgrid.com/s/043279e283c5

STEM and Digital Days - coming soon!!!!

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! Don't be late on Monday 6th January as you may miss something really exciting!

School Swimming

In January, children in class 4C will take part in swimming lessons. Please can children bring their swimming costume and a towel on Monday 6th January. Children will need to bring in their swimming kit every day for 2 weeks. 4R will start their swimming lessons from Monday 20th January for a 2 week period. Please ensure that payment is made through Parent Pay prior to your child's swimming lesson period.

Foundation Phase fruit

If you wish your child to participate in the school's fruit scheme from January 2020 please arrange payment via Parent Pay by Friday 10th January. Children from nursery to year 2 are provided with a piece of fruit daily as a snack and the cost is £10 per term.

School Times

Reminder - school starts at 8.55am in Oldcastle and following registration children are quickly into their daily school routine and learning. Children who arrive late at school will cause disruption to the teacher and pupils in the class. Repeated lateness to school will be monitored by the Education Welfare Officer.

Children in nursery may be collected from 2.45pm, foundation phase children will finish at 3.05pm and junior children end their school day at 3.10pm.

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.

Our new green screen is coming together nicely thanks to our caretaker. We already have one green screen and by creating another green screen space we will be encouraging children to get creative!

See below for some of the work our year 5 children have put together on the green screen.

Year 5 have been creating some amazing postcards with a little help from digital resources and our green screen!

Our 'Thrive' room has had a make over and new resources. We are looking forward to launching our Thrive programme in 2020 which will support emotional and social development as a therapeutic approach for children.

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 Have a look at Twitter for our very special Merry Christmas message! Click here

During a school assembly, the following headteacher awards were distributed. The theme for today was 'pupil who has fully embraced school life'.

• Reception Miss Walters - Ioan
• Reception Miss Williams - Violet
• Year 1 Miss Vaughan - Aaron
• Year 1 Mrs Morcom Lewis - Bella
• Year 2 Miss Lewis / Mrs Guy - Charlie
• Year 2 Mrs Roberts - Caleb
• Year 3 Mrs Brotherton / Mrs Burr - Andy
• Year 3 Miss Davies - Phoebe
• Year 4 Miss Radford - Ioanna
• Year 4 Miss Craven - Katerina
• Year 5 Miss Jones - Taylor
• Year 5 Miss James - Norah
• Year 6 Mrs Coleman - Mali
• Year 6 Mrs Evans - Evan

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.

Diary Dates

• Monday 6th January - Back to School - school starts at 8.55am
• Monday 6th January - STEM Day
• Tuesday 7th January - Digital Day
• Monday 6th January to Friday 17th January - 4C Swimming
• Wednesday 8th January - School savings club starts back again
• Monday 13th January to Friday 31st January - 4M Swimming
• Saturday 1st February - Schools Cross Country competition years 3 to 6
• 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
• Wednesday 29th February - Nursery, reception and year 6 long class photos
• 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
• Tuesday 9th June to Saturday 13th June - Year 6 residential trip
• Friday 17th July - Term Ends
• Monday 20th July - Inset Day

Inset Days 2020

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