Week 2 - Friday 18th September 2020

Thank you to all our parents for your support over week 2 of the school term. It is lovely to welcome our children back to school and see parents on the yard at drop off and pick up times. The one way system and extra exit routes appear to be working well thanks to the cooperation of parents and children.

Although it is not compulsory to wear face masks in outdoor areas we understand that some parents would prefer to wear one. We do ask that parents maintain the two metre social distancing rules. We have received useful information from Public Health Wales for parents. Schools and COVID 19 - Information for parents

We have also received a reference guide for parents regarding pupil absence. Pupil Absence Guidelines

Keeping in contact

Please ensure you contact the school in the following ways when you need to inform us of COVID symptoms and / or test.

Telephone - 01656 815790 during school hours

And / or Email - ask@oldcastleprimary.co.uk

Solar Project

Hopefully you will have noticed the new solar panels on our main school building roof. There are 62 solar panels in total and we have been so pleased to be able to install these in order to reduce our energy bills. We have just been able to gain access to the solar monitoring - it is fascinating to be able to view the energy that is being generated. Year 6 helped Mr Thompson this week working out how much energy we could produce in a year!! So far this month we have generated over 520 kwh, saving 158kg of CO2 emissions and is equivalent to 7 trees being planted! We are still generating energy through our canteen solar panels and now looking at other areas that could be developed!

Canteen Refurbishment

Our canteen dining hall has also had a make over during the summer holiday period. The floor has been replaced, walls painted and a new door installed at the back of the dining room. We've also created an outdoor patio area and we hope to purchase some outside tables and chairs to maximise use of this area.

Breakfast Club

Thank you to those parents that completed the recent google form regarding breakfast club. We are currently looking at the demand and liaising with the local authority to confirm details of reopening the breakfast club. We hope to be able to provide you with exact details next week. Thank you for your patience.

Fruit

From next week children may bring in a healthy fruit snack to school for morning break time. We ask that fruit is chopped and ready to eat and stored in a labelled sealed container. We aim to operate a no waste policy so encourage children to put peelings or cores in their sealed container and return home. Please note no grapes, nuts or breakfast bars may be bought into school.

School Events

We wanted to let parents know that we haven't forgotten the usual school events that would happen throughout the school year. At this unusual time we are taking advice from Public Health Wales and the local authority about the types of events that can happen in school.

For instance, we hope to be able to let parents know next week of a date when individual school photos will be taken.

At this time of the year we would normally be planning our year 6 residential week for June. Unfortunately due to the current situation we cannot make any firm arrangements. We will however consider a range of activities that may be implemented in the event that guidelines are changed.

Inset Days

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

• Monday 2nd November 2020

• Monday 12th April 2021

• Monday 7th June 2021

• Monday 19th July 2021

• Tuesday 20th July 2021

School Savings Club

We hope to start running our school savings scheme again in the coming weeks. We will keep you posted.

Job vacancies at Oldcastle Primary School

We currently have a teacher vacancy and a learning support officer vacancy. For further information please click here.

COVID Symptoms

Please remember if you or child presents any othe COVID symptoms you must self isolate and have a test.

• high temperature – this means you feel hot to touch on your chest or back (you do not need to measure your temperature);

• new, continuous cough – this means coughing a lot for more than an hour, or 3 or more coughing episodes in 24 hours (if you usually have a cough, it may be worse than usual);

• Loss or change to your sense of smell or taste – this means you've noticed you cannot smell or taste anything, or things smell or taste different to normal.

Your child will not be able to attend school if they have any of the above symptoms. Please also let us know if your child has been advised to have a test so that we can provide appropriate information to Public Health Wales if required.

P.E.

On the days when your child's class has P.E. they should wear their P.E. kit to school for the day instead of their uniform.. P.E. kit should consist of dark shorts / leggings / tracksuit and a white t-shirt. On top of the P.E. kit we recommend a school hoodie / jumper / cardigan, tracksuit and trainers. Please also remember that jewellery should not be worn for P.E - this includes earrings, necklaces, rings and hard headbands - and long hair should be tied back.

P.E. will be held on the following days for each year group:

• Reception - Thursday

• Year 1 - Monday

• Year 2 - Friday

• Year 3 - Wednesday

• Year 4 - Tuesday

• Year 5 - Friday

• Year 6 - Thursday

Water Bottle

Please can you ensure your child comes to school with a water bottle that is named. Children in years 3 - 6 will need to ensure they have sufficient supply for the day, either by bringing in a large bottle or two smaller bottles, this is due to accessibility to water supplies outside of their class bubble.