Week 19 - Friday 5th February 2021

Education Minister Announcement

You may be aware that the Education Minister has announced that pupils in Foundation Phase will return to school from Monday 22nd February. We are currently awaiting further operational guidance from Welsh Government and we hope to provide further information to parents next week.

School Well-Being Dog

The most exciting news of the week had to be that Oldcastle will be getting its very own well-being dog! The response from parents and pupils has been fantastic - we are so pleased to hear all the positive comments.

We launched a competition to name the new dog and we had nearly 300 suggestions!!! Thank you for getting so involved. Three names have been randomly chosen and pupils are not requested to vote for their favourite name. Votes need to be cast by Sunday 7th February - we will announce the name with the most votes on Monday 8th February (only 1 vote per pupil please!)

School Dog - Name Vote Form

Here's a reminder of our school buddy dog. Isn't he adorable!

Check-In Sessions

The sessions have continued to work well this week and we have been so pleased to see our pupils in the check-in sessions. As a reminder these are the times of the sessions.

Project Week - Our plant today and tomorrow

Next week, Oldcastle pupils will be taking part in a whole school focussed project week. All the teachers appreciate how hard the pupils (and parents) have been working and want to allow them to be creative, revisit skills they have learned and become involved in discussions about the world we live in. Next week’s topic is ‘Our planet today and tomorrow’. Below is a brief outline of what each year group can expect. On Friday 12th February, we will celebrate the pupils work in the Newsletter.

Nursery - Children will investigate how we recycle at home, taking on practical recycling challenges around the house as well as a recycle treasure hunt. Children will learn how to be good citizens with the help of ‘Michael Recycle’. They will also be encouraged to talk to adults about how they can be kinder to the planet. Through reading ‘Oliver’s Vegetables’, children will learn about what foods we can grow and what makes our planet so special.

Reception - In reception, children will be Investigating single-use plastics and the harmful effects they have on our environment. They will be investigating the 5 R’s and thinking about what we can do to help the environment. Children will be completing a questionnaire to investigate what they and their families do to help the environment and will be encouraged to ring family members and ask them the questions. By the end of the week, children will be ‘eco-superheroes’ in their homes.

Year 1 - In Year 1, children will be exploring the Fairytale Kingdom that has been spoiled by it’s thoughtless King. He sees the error of his ways and now needs to teach everyone who lives in his land. We will be helping him show different fairytale characters what sustainable development is and how each of them can live more sustainably. We’ll help them see what environmental issues face their land and how they can help solve them.

Year 2 - Children in year 2 will be caring for the environment. They will be challenged to create a weather station and record the wind, presenting using a video like a weather forecaster. Children will be tasked with an outdoor activity based on caring for animals in our environment as well as sorting items from their garden into man-made, natural and a mixture of both. The children’s end of week task will be inspired by Welsh artist Tim Pugh’s.

Year 3- Year 3 will be investigating ‘Is Plastic a Problem?’. Children will be encouraged to complete a number of activities which will include; comparing statistics for the Bahamas and their local area, making an animal fact file of their choice, completing a litter survey, writing a letter or postcard to a friend about the Bahamas as well as design a ‘Keep Bridgend Tidy’ poster or a ‘Byddwch Yn Arwr’(Be a Hero ) Sustainability Superhero character.

Year 4 - Children in year 4 will be investigating and creating a timeline of how our environment has changed in the last decade moving on to considering what they can do to prevent future damage. Children will be calculating differences in temperatures across the world and how they have and are still changing over time. In addition, children will be taking part in an upcycling project with an item around the house, creating a set of ‘how-to’ instructions, documenting their upcycling project from before to after.

Year 5 - In year 5, children will be writing a postcard imagining that they live in a different Biome, they will be investigating and calculating climate and weather differences, and comparing them to what we are used to in Bridgend. Children will also be consolidating their learning of fractions and percentages in the context of the wildlife and animals that live in biomes. In addition to this, year 5 will be creating David Attenborough style TV Documentaries based on their Biomes.

Year 6 - Year 6 children we will be focussing on the life and works of David Attenborough, looking at the impact he has on people and the world around us. Children will also be developing their mathematical skills whilst taking part in an upcycling / recycling creative project; identifying the skills required and developed in a real-life context. In addition to these tasks, year 6 will research the effects of climate change on natural disasters and creating a news report based on their findings.

Welsh Language Music Day

Today marks Welsh Language Music Day. All week we have been celebrating some fantastic welsh language music in our home learning sessions and on our social media channels. We hope the children have enjoyed listening to a variety of Welsh language music. Thank you to Miss Craven for inspiring us with a range of Welsh language music! Children in our in-school provision had fun this morning listening to welsh music.

Nursery Parents

Reminder to nursery parents - applications for a place in our reception class need to be submitted by 4pm on Friday 12th February. The process is handled by Bridgend County Borough Council. Further information is available on the BCBC website. School Admissions

Welsh Week

After half term we will be holding a Welsh week and provide children with the opportunity to take part in a range of welsh themed activities. We look forward to sharing these with pupils and parents from 22nd February.

Years 5 and 6 Live P.E. Lesson

We were delighted to see so many years 5 and 6 pupils join in with the Brynteg live PE session this week - The Brynteg Team certainly put you through your paces with their PE session! We will let you know when the session will be run again.

Thrive

During the last school closure we shared with parents resources that are available through Thrive - social and emotional development for children. Thrive is used in Oldcastle Primary School as a tool to support and encourage the development of confident, curious, creative and capable children and young people who are open to learning and better equipped to deal with life’s ups and downs.

Please have a look at our website for further useful Thrive resources - Thrive

Critical Worker In School Provision

Welsh Government guidance states that critical worker school provision is available when your work is critical to the COVID19 response. We are also informed that parents/carers who are critical workers should, however, keep their children home if you can.

• Those employed in the 'blue light' services - frontline NHS, ambulance, police, fire and rescue service, teachers and support staff working in schools, prison officers and social care workers.

Where possible we would be grateful if you could adhere to the guidance provided above.

The booking form for in-school provision for critical workers is sent to parents on a Monday for the following week. The application process will close at midday on a Thursday.

Bridgend Council Survey to Parents - critical worker provision

The Director of Education has issued a letter today to parents regarding critical worker in-school provision. Please click here for further information and provide feedback via a survey.

Inset Days

Inset days for the school year have been approved and these are:

• Monday 12th April 2021

• Monday 7th June 2021

• Monday 19th July 2021

• Tuesday 20th July 2021