Week 39 - Friday 17th July 2020
Message from Mr Thompson
As we come to the end of this academic year, it is with great pride that I can look back at the many achievements of the children and the school. Our pupils have worked so hard and with determination, especially with the ever-changing demands made due to the current pandemic that has engulfed our everyday activities, country and our lives since the start of 2020.
As we end our year, staff have been reflecting on our successes and celebrations as a school. We have shared stories about the many values that have been on display throughout the year. These have mainly come to the fore over the last two terms. This includes the following values: resilience when dealing and addressing the many changes and challenges faced, courage in coping with the uncertainty, appreciation for the tremendous effort and sacrifices everyone has made and perhaps most importantly the integrity, honesty and forgiveness towards the things that have gone well but also in recognition that there is always more work to do and improvements to be made.
This year undoubtedly has been a strengthening of character, as we demonstrated our ability to make the best of a move towards our 'new normal';
Today I shared our leavers' assembly, recorded by video without many of the personal touches we afford our leaving pupils. We are proud of the achievements of our Year 6 children and know that we send them on to their next schools having had some wonderful, memorable learning experiences, and a robust set of necessary skills. At Oldcastle, we value many things, but not all are measurable – sporting, music, linguistic and personal-social skills are embedded in our curriculum and celebrated widely, as you will see in this newsletter and on our website. I hope, despite the loss of so much of their final year with us, they leave with the same fond memories we hold of them both individually and collectively.
As in previous years, I offer this advice to our leaving year six pupils. "Your dreams are not to imagine the impossible but to realise your potential: Where ever you are, inspire yourself and others, be self-motivated and cherish and motivate those around you and remember that learning is a life long pursuit." I offer these words knowing that former pupils and their families will always be part of the Oldcastle community.
This year a special note of thanks goes to the parents and extended-families of the pupils of Oldcastle. Your support and patience this year has been incredible. A great deal of what we do in school cannot be achieved without the strong partnership we have. This year more so than ever, you have embraced the role of educating your children. The results obtained would not have been possible without you—your co-operation, backing and support of distance learning has been exceptional.
I extend the deepest of thanks for this, and we look forward to working more closely with many of you from September.
I want to take this opportunity to thank all staff for their hard work this year. It has been a year of challenges and changes, and they have embraced this with goodwill and professionalism. The staff team continued to provide the best education for the children of Oldcastle. It is a privilege to work with them, and I am exceptionally proud of their efforts, counsel and support.
Finally, I would like to wish all children who are leaving us at the end of this academic year all the very best on their journey. I know that they have all had firm foundations at Oldcastle and am confident that they will go on to achieve great things in the future.
Jeremy Thompson
Headteacher
Year 6 Leavers Assembly
Today we shared our virtual leavers assembly with our year 6 parents and children - these have been uploaded to our You Tube channel. The assembly is in 2 parts and contains announcement of the achievement awards for year 6 as well as messages from various members of staff who have taught this group of children. We wish all our year 6 children the very best on the next stage of their education.
This years winners in our achievement awards are:
Contribution to School Life - Sam ML
Academic Achievement - Oliver
Embodiment of School Values - Ella
Learning Resilience - Max
Aspiring Athlete - Liam
Creative Excellence - Evan
Friendship Award (voted by pupils) - Mali
Year Group Messages
Nursery
Well Nursery, what a year it has been! You have all been so incredible both learning in school and learning at home. We have loved seeing you engage with 37 Flipgrid videos and 69 Daily Challenges on Google Classroom! Thank you for all your hard work and thank you to all the parents for making home learning possible. We are sorry that our time with you all in school was cut short but we are so pleased that we got to have some fantastic times with you in your first year of school. We loved to share the excitement with you when you were chosen to be ‘helpwr heddiw’ and when you earned your spot on the rainbow. We have loved sharing stories with you, dancing with you, learning with you and getting to know you! We know that you will have the best time with your new Reception teachers in September and you are ready for the exciting challenges that lay ahead. We hope you have a fantastic summer and enjoy your well-deserved break.
Reception
Reception, what can we say! You have continuously blown us away with your resilience, positivity and adaptiveness (children and parents)! You have completed 69 ‘daily challenges’ and engaged with 32 Flipgrid videos. You have put SO many smiles on our faces with your comments and videos. We have absolutely loved our time with you and we are sorry it was cut short. You are a brilliant year group and the Year 1 teachers are in for a treat. We have shared so many lovely memories and the following seem to be the most popular; meeting Father Christmas, a visit to the farm, playing with friends, baking bread, learning about Space, discovering aliens in the yard and performing Whoops-a-Daisy Angel. We would like to say a massive thank you to each and every one of you for being you! We wish all the luck in Year 1, where you will continue to flourish.
Year 1
Wow! We’ve reached the final week of our time in Year One. This week’s work has involved consolidating our knowledge of numbers and spelling patterns, thinking about ideas and information we would like to share with our new teachers for Year Two and having a lot of bubbly fun! Impressively, many of our children have continued to access our Google classroom every day (Yes, we can see you!) and lots have even shared their work on our Flipgrid throughout the whole of this week. Home learning has been a totally different experience for us all but we’ve faced the challenge together, worked hard and since we’ve begun have shared a fantastic total of 635 videos. Amazingly, the champion ‘Flipgridder’ of Year One has managed to upload 59 videos of their work at home. What an achievement! (And who would have thought at the start of this year that we’d be doing PE in our pyjamas?) Everyone should be really proud of their superb effort and now enjoy a very happy, well earned holiday with their families. Pob lwc i chi gyd!
Year 2
Well Year 2, here we are at the end of the school year!! That's your Foundation Phase completed. We are sure all your parents can't believe how quickly that time has gone! On to new adventures now and discovering new things.
We thank all the Year 2 families for supporting us and their children throughout the year but especially during lockdown, when your support has been vital. Thank you too, to all the Year 2 children for being such bright stars. You have all shown that you can cope with a huge amount of change and that will serve you well as you move into Key Stage 2.
So have a wonderful summer break and enjoy getting outside as much as you can. Whilst online platforms have been a huge support, we all need a break from looking at screens!!! Take care of each other and be kind to each other. Our best wishes to you all, from the Year 2 Team.
Year 3
Sadly, we’ve come to the end of what’s turned out to be a very unusual school year. The Covid situation has thrown lots of hurdles at us, but we’ve been blown away by the attitude Year 3 have shown towards their learning, especially during homeschooling.
Year 3 staff would like to wish each and every one of you a happy, safe and FUN summer break. We know that this year hasn’t quite gone as expected, but we just wanted to say a huge thank you to you and your families for always trying your best and showing commitment to your learning.
We have enjoyed sharing time with you in class, as well as keeping in touch online and especially not forgetting the fun entries on our ‘What have you been up to?’ slides. Your smiling faces and happy comments have kept us all going!
We know your new teachers will be thrilled to greet such dedicated, caring and hard-working children in the new school year. Keep up the great effort and remember to keep smiling, stay positive and always be kind.
Have a super ‘google-classroom free’ break and we wish you a wonderful time with your families and friends.
With love from all the Year 3 teachers. xx
Year 4
Wow! What a year! You have persevered through this really difficult time and we are so proud of you for all the hard work you have been doing. As a year group we have learnt so much.
Our first topic of the year ’Heroes’ taught us there is far more to being a hero than wearing a mask and cape. The last few months have shown us the importance of the real life heroes that serve in the community every day. We want you to know that you are also heroes for being so brave and continuing to be positive in such strange and uncertain times.
You have shown courage and determination through all of this and we hope these qualities will stay with you for the rest of your lives.
Through our Geography topic we found out how big the world is and how many people live in it. But we realised that even though we might be just one person, when we raise our voices and work together we make a huge difference. Remember Year 4, to stand up for what you believe in and to always strive to make the world a better place- even if it starts as something as simple as playing with someone who looks lonely on the yard. Your little act of kindness can make a big difference to someone else.
Through the year we have laughed and shared so many memories together, and even though you will move up through school and eventually leave Oldcastle, we hope that your time in Year 4 will hold a special place in your hearts. If you ever want to chat or tell us your news, your Year 4 teachers will be there.
Have a wonderful summer! Relax, enjoy and take a well deserved break.
Hwyl am nawr!
Miss Craven, Miss Radford and Miss Mullins.
Year 5
Dear 5JJ 2020
What a year! First of all I just wanted to say a massive thankyou to each and every one of you. It has been a pleasure to have you as my class this year and I'm incredibly grateful to have had the opportunity. You have been the most hard working, caring, supportive and happy pupils whom I have loved having, you are a credit. You have made coming to school each day a lot easier! I can’t wait to continue to be a part of your primary journey and watch you in your final steps, Miss Lincoln is lucky to have you next year! I hope you all have the most wonderful summer and take time to enjoy the things you love doing. See you in September.
Miss James
Dear 5BJ 2020
Well we have come to the end of year 5 and what a year it has been. I just want to say how proud I am of each of you, you have been an extremely hardworking, caring and enthusiastic class and I am extremely grateful that I have been able to teach you this year. Seeing how far you have all come since the beginning of Year 5 has put a smile on my face each day. I hope you all have an amazing summer, enjoy doing the things that you love and spending time with your family. I wish you the best of luck in year 6 and I know Mrs Evans is very much looking forward to having you. See you all in September!
Miss Jones
Year 6
I just wanted to say thank you to each and every member of year 6. I have had the great honour of being able to teach both classes throughout the year. What a remarkable year group you are, overcome your final year in primary school which will be forever remembered in history. There’s not a lot I can say apart from thank you; thank you for your resilience, your humour, your hard working ethic and for just being you. Good luck with your next journey, go and be the best version of you. You entered as caterpillars and are leaving as butterflies; spread your wings and fly!!! Mrs Coleman.
You are an amazing group of young people and you should be really proud of yourselves for everything that you have achieved throughout your time in Oldcastle and particularly during our period of lockdown. You have become much more independent and resilient as learners. On a personal note I would like to thank you all for making my first year in Year 6 so memorable, I am sure that this is a year that none of us will forget. All the very best to you all for the next chapter in your learning journey, make us proud! Mrs Evans.
Return to School Arrangements - September 2020
As a result of the Minister for Education’s recent announcement regarding the reopening of schools, Oldcastle Primary School will be re-opening for all pupils in September. Earlier this week we provided you with arrangements for each year group. This information is detailed below. We look forward to welcoming pupils back to school in September.
Tuesday 1st, Wednesday 2nd and Thursday 3rd September - School open for STAFF ONLY
Nursery parents have been sent a letter in the post providing information on arrangements for nursery children.
After School Club - important Information
After school Club will not run from the start of the school year. After school club will run from Monday 21st September - Monday to Friday until 5.30 pm. All existing bookings will be cancelled and parents will need to apply for a new place. Places will be allocated on a first-come-first-served basis. Key workers will be given priority. Bookings need to be booked and paid for in advance. Places are very limited due to Welsh Government guidance around pupil bubbles. Late Club will not be offered until further notice. Refunds will not be provided for non-attendance and once bookings are made they cannot be amended. Places will not be available on an ad hoc basis and can only be booked via this form which will close on the 31st July. The Bookings will be processed in the first week of August and you will be notified via email.
After school club will not be provided for nursery children in the first half term but will be reviewed in September / October for the following half term.
After school club is £7.50 per session per child.
After School Club Bookings form
Music Lessons
Music lessons will commence in September - pupils currently lessons will have received an email regarding the lessons. Should we have any availability for additional children to take part in the lessons we will let you know in September.
Inset Days
Inset days for 20/21 have yet to be confirmed as we are awaiting guidance from the Local Authority. We will let you know as soon as possible when these have been arranged.
School Savings Club
Please see below a message from the Credit Union regarding the School Savings Scheme: Everyone at Bridgend Lifesavers Credit Union misses seeing you in school but we hope you are keeping well. We’d like to reassure you that we are still open for deposits and withdrawals, which can be arranged by calling our office on 01656 729912 (9-5pm). If you have any specific queries about your school savings, I can be contacted directly on damianf@blscu.co.uk. We look forward to seeing you all again soon!