Week 18 - Friday 24th January 2020

Welcome to our newsletter for week 18 of the school year.

Parents Evening - Reception to Year 6

Parents evening for children in reception to year 6 will take place week beginning 24th February. Parents will have received an email from 'notifications@primarysite.net' with an invitation to book your timeslot for your child's class. If you have not received an email we advise that you initially check your 'junk' folder to see if the email have been received. If you have not received an email from us please contact the office and we will be able to book the appointment for you and check we have an up to date email address. Parents evening are an ideal opportunity to speak to your child's teacher who will provide an update on how your child is progressing in school in a range of areas.

Cluster Voice

As a school we often liaise with other primary schools and the secondary school in our school 'cluster'. Over the past year some pupils in year 6 have been researching health and well being across our cluster of schools. The children have all visited each others schools and have learnt all about great practices. The children met at Oldcastle this week to review what they had found out and are now developing a presentation to highlight good practice. The aim is that each school will be able to implement an exciting project that they have learnt from another school. We look forward to sharing more detail with you once the children have finalised their project.

Schools within our cluster are Oldcastle Primary School, Penybont Primary School, Brackla Primary School, Litchard Primary School, Tremains Primary School, and Brynteg Comprehensive School.

School Swimming

4M will continue with their lessons on Monday 27th January for another week - children will need to bring a swimming costume, towel, goggles and a packed lunch.

Children in years 5 and 6 will commence swimming lessons shortly. Children will require swimming kit (costume, towel and goggles) and a packed lunch each day. Payment should be made via Parent Pay - the cost is £5.

• 5BJ - 3rd February to 7th February
• 5JJ - 10th February to 14th February
• 6C - 24th February to 28th February
• 6E - 2nd March to 6th March

School Savings Club

This week we had 87 savers! If you haven’t saved for a while or want to join, we’d love to see you next Wednesday - let’s see if we can get that number higher next week. The busiest class this week was Miss William’s Reception (RW).

We also had a visit from Pencoed Primary who are launching the school savings club with Bridgend Lifesavers after half-term. They were very impressed with the Year 4 children who help to run our weekly savings club!

More information on our School Savings Club is available on our website.

Australia Day - fundraising update

We have now received over £770 for our Australia fundraiser. Thank you to everyone that has contributed.

This week Niamh and Florence from year 5 visited Cynffig Comprehensive School to deliver a presentation to their Eco Club to raise awareness of climate change and the Australian bushfires! Well done girls for spreading the word.

Criw Cymraeg

This week we have been busy planning for the school Eisteddfod. We have chosen the competitions for the children to compete in and discussed what we want to happen on the day. We have been talking about how excited we are to learn new songs and poems and how we much we are looking forward to taking part.

The word of the week-

https://flipgrid.com/s/d9e7782d665d

The phrase of the week-

https://flipgrid.com/s/53a6be19fdf4

Ukulele Club

Miss Vaughan has started a ukulele club this week. It looks like great fun!

School Cross Country Competition - years 3 to 6

There is a schools cross country competition on Saturday 1st February for children in years 3 to 6 in Porthcawl Comprehensive. There are 4 races with the first race beginning at 10am. Attendees should arrive by 9.30am and be accompanied by an adult. The events are usually completed by 11am. To enter children and parents need to meet at the venue. The school are grateful that a parent has offered to coordinate the children from Oldcastle on the day.

Singing Teddy

Singing Teddy has been awarded to class 1ML for some super singing this week. Da Iawn.

Dydd Santes Dwynwen Hapus

Happy St Dwynwen's Day for January 25th. Children in year 2 have been very creative this week preparing some artwork and learning about the Welsh patron saint.

Oldcastle PTA

A meeting is being arranged by the PTA for parents of the school on Friday 7th February. The meeting will be held in the evening around 6.30pm and will be held in a venue away from school. The aim of the social meeting is to discuss events and fundraising activities that the PTA could arrange, and be an opportunity for parents to get together outside of school. At this stage the PTA would like to gauge how many parents are likely to attend so an appropriate venue can be arranged. A google form has been created - please click on the link and let the PTA know if you are able to attend. If you are not able to attend the form will allow you to provide some feedback on what events / fundraising activities you would like to see the PTA focus on at the school. PTA meeting and suggestions form

Nursery and reception - St Davids Day photos

The Glamorgan Gazette will be in school on Monday 10th February to take photos of nursery and reception children in their welsh outfits. The photographs will appear in the newspaper close to St Davids Day.

Nursery Spare Clothes

Please can nursery parents ensure that a spare set of clothes are available in their child's bag daily.

Nursery are always grateful for any donations of spare clothes. If you are having a sort out and have any clothes suitable for 3 to 4 years they will be happy to accept a donation.

School bags

Following a health and safety audit this week we are asking that children and parents consider the size of the bags children are bringing to school. Cloakroom storage is limited and to enable safe storage of bags and coats we ask that children do not bring too much to school with them in their school bags.

Thank you for your support.

Lost Property

We have an enormous amount of lost property yet again. If your child has lost something in school please come and have a look in our lost property collection to see if you can find it. We have items including water bottles, lunch boxes, coats, school uniform, p.e. kit and umbrellas! We hope we can reunite some items with their owners.

Graphic Designer

We are currently looking for a graphic designer that could help us with some design work. If you are able to help please get in touch by email.

Twitter

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

During a school assembly, the following headteacher awards were distributed. The theme for today was 'Co-operation'.

• Reception Miss Walters - Luna
• Reception Miss Williams - Amelia
• Year 1 Miss Vaughan - Victoria
• Year 1 Mrs Morcom Lewis - Bella W
• Year 2 Miss Lewis / Mrs Guy - Matthew
• Year 2 Mrs Roberts - Harri
• Year 3 Mrs Brotherton / Mrs Burr - Lilly-May
• Year 3 Miss Davies - Amelia
• Year 4 Miss Radford - no award due to swimming
• Year 4 Miss Craven - Teghan
• Year 5 Miss Jones - Grace
• Year 5 Miss James - Lucas
• Year 6 Mrs Coleman - Jack
• Year 6 Mrs Evans - Imogen

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. Deadline for applications is 13th February 2020.

Admissions to Nursery

Applications for admission for full time nursery from September 2020, and part time from January or April 2021, are also open via Bridgend County Borough Council. Applications must be received by 27th March 2021. Apply here

Diary Dates

• Monday 20th 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 3rd February - Dental Team Fluoride Treatment Nursery to Reception
• Monday 10th February - Nursery and Reception St Davids Day photos
• Monday 10th February to Friday 14th February - 5JJ Swimming
• Tuesday 11th February - Safer Internet Day Final
• Monday 17th February to Friday 21st February - Half term
• Monday 24th February - Back to School
• Monday 24th February - Parents Evening Week
• 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
• Tuesday 10th March - Reception rip to Cefn Mably
• 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