Week 23 - Friday 15th March 2019

Welcome to our newsletter for week ending 15th March. This week has been very challenging for our staff as a result of the weather. The weather caused problems for our solar project installation and the canteen building. Due to the extreme weather mid week, rainwater entered the canteen through the roof space which meant we were unable to use the facility for breakfast club and food preparation / school dinners. We are extremely grateful to our breakfast club and catering staff for changing their operating procedures at short notice to continue to offer a normal service to our children.

The building will be professionally cleaned on Monday and we hope to be able to use the building again from Tuesday or Wednesday. We will keep you up to date with arrangements via our School App. Breakfast Club and school dinners will operate in our main hall whilst the canteen building is not available.

Nat West Money Skills

Children who took part in the Money Skills session delivered recently by Nat West were provided with some goodies today. Thank you to Nat West for providing the bags, pencils and keyrings - we are sure the children will get much use out of them.

Grounds Day

Unfortunately we have made the decision to cancel our Grounds Day for Saturday. The weather forecast is not looking good for Saturday which would mean we are not able to complete many of the outdoor jobs. We will rearrange a date when the weather improves.

Big Pedal

Get set … Oldcastle Primary School are taking part in Sustrans Big Pedal 2019, the UK’s largest inter-school cycling, walking and scooting challenge. The challenge runs from 25th March to 5th April. It’s free and we would love everyone to be involved.

On each day of the challenge, schools compete to see who can record the greatest number of pupils, staff and parents cycling, walking or scooting to school. Every morning your child can let us know if you or whoever does the school run has cycled, walked or used a scooter by filling in the chart in school with their class teacher. It’s a great way to get more of our pupils travelling actively to school and is a simple way to boost their physical and mental health. More information will be sent home shortly.

Parents Evening Bookings

Parents evening meetings will be held during week beginning 1st April. If you have not received an email or need some assistance booking the appointment please contact the school office.

Nursery Parents - Book Look

Nursery will be holding ‘Book Look’ sessions on the following dates:

• Monday 1st April
• Tuesday 2nd April
• Wednesday 3rd April

A list is available in Nursery please speak to the class teacher to book a suitable time.

Cross Country

An end of season presentation / fun day will take place at Bryntirion Comprehensive School on Saturday 6th April. More details will be provided shortly.

Nut free School

As a school we strive to be 'nut free', please can we ask that food containing nuts is not included in children's lunch boxes. We have a number of children with an intolerance to nuts and we would be grateful for your cooperation.

School Communication

Please note that we will no longer be using Schoop as a communication tool for the school. If you haven’t already please ensure you download our new communication app - The School App to keep up to date with news and announcements for Oldcastle.

Twitter

Just a reminder that we frequently use our Twitter page to provide an insight into school activities and news. Please take a look and follow @OldcastleSchool

Thank you

Thank you to Mrs Vine Roberts for the generous donation of toys and fancy dress items donated to our nursery. The children are enjoying playing with these items.

PTA

A PTA meeting is arranged for Tuesday 19th March at 5pm - all welcome.

Headteacher Award

A Headteacher Award assembly did not take place this week.

Class of the week for the best attendance was awarded to RBW (99.7%) in Foundation Phase and 6TJ (98%) in Key Stage 2. Our whole school attendance target is 95.9% for the year. This week's attendance was 95.8%.

Diary Dates

• Tuesday 19th March - PTA Meeting
• Friday 22nd March - Year 5 trip to Big Pit
• Tuesday 26th March - Reception trip to Cefn Mably
• Tuesday 26th March - Year 3 trip to Parc Slip Nature Reserve
• Thursday 28th March - PTA Mothers Day Craft Event
• Week beginning 1st April - Parents Evening Week
• Wednesday 10th April - PTA Disco (Nursery, Reception and Year 1)
• Thursday 11th April - PTA Disco (Years 2, 3, 4, 5 & 6)
• Friday 12th April - School term ends at normal time
• Easter Holidays - 15th April to 26th April
• Monday 29th April - Back to School
• Monday 6th May - Bank Holiday
• Wednesday 15th May - Reception and Year 6 Class Photos
• Monday 20th May - PTA Clothing Collection
• Half Term - Monday 27th May to Friday 31st May
• Monday 3rd June - Back to School
• Wednesday 12th June to Friday 14th June - Year 6 residential trip
• Wednesday 19th June - Class and team photos
• Friday 19th July - School Term Ends
• Inset Day - Monday 22nd July 2019

Inset Days 2019/20

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