Week 35 - Friday 25th June 2021

COVID signs - a reminder

As we approach the last few weeks of the school year, we ask parents to help us keep our community safe by being vigilant for covid symptoms.

The 3 main symptoms of COVID-19 to be aware of are:

• new continuous cough

• fever or high temperature

• loss of, or change in, sense of smell or taste

In the event that your child presents any of these symptoms please arrange a test. Please remember to let us know by phone or ask@oldcastleprimary.co.uk if you or your child has a Covid test and let us know the result as soon as you receive it. Please note that if your child presents any of the symptoms identified with Covid, a lateral flow test will not be sufficient. A PCR Covid test will need to be arranged via public health wales (Call 119).

End of term arrangements

Teaching staff are currently preparing end of year reports for children and these will be sent home to parents on Monday 12th July. We will be sending a google form link to parents following the distribution of the reports to parents to allow you the opportunity to feed back to teachers and senior leaders.

Children will be meeting their new class teacher on their 'Bump Up Day' on Tuesday 13th July, and we will email parents on 13th July with details of your child's class teacher for the next school year.

New school year - September 2021

At the start of the new school year we have two inset days planned for Thursday 2nd and Friday 3rd September. Children will return to school on Monday 6th September.

We previously notified you of our inset days for the whole of the next year (these are detailed below), and as a reminder half term will take place from Monday 25th October to Friday 29th October. An inset day is arranged for Monday 1st November so children will return to school on Tuesday 2nd November.

New email address

The local authority has changed school email addresses recently. Our new Admin email address is now admin@oldcastleps.bridgend.cymru. Our ask@oldcastleprimary.co.uk is also available for parents.

Oldcastle Primary Sports Day - Reminder

Due to Covid restrictions our annual Sports Day event cannot go ahead like previous years. Therefore, we have decided that each class will have their very own sports day, where the children will compete with their classmates, participating in a variety of events. Please see the dates below for each class. Children may wear their house colours with their P.E. kit and will need suitable footwear for each day they are taking part in events.

Children will need to bring plenty of water and weather dependent; a sun hat or waterproof coat. Please also ensure you have applied sun cream to your child as staff are unable to do so.

The sports events will take place on the school grounds. Due to Covid restrictions, unfortunately parents and guardians are not permitted to attend. Staff at Oldcastle will ensure that there are plenty of photos taken for our weekly newsletter.

The final results will be announced during the whole school virtual assembly on Friday 2nd July once all year groups have participated in all events. We are looking forward to making this a fun filled day for each class.

Fundraiser for Bridgend Bereavement Services

Thank you to everyone that wore yellow and donated to the Bridgend Bereavement Services charity today - we are delighted that so many of our children supported the charity by wearing yellow. We raised £392!! Thank you so much. Further information on the charity can be found on their website. www.bridgendbereavement.co.uk

Valleys 2 Coast Naming Competition

Valleys 2 Coast are currently renovating the building at the end of St Marie Street / Ewenny Road. As part of the development they are looking to apply to Bridgend County Borough Council (BCBC) for a name for the new homes. The site has some history previously as Lesley Griffiths Motorcycle shop and a double glazing shop.

All ideas are welcome, the only condition to the application is the final name will be translated into Welsh but we welcome ideas in English and Welsh. The name would be used for the block of flats/apartments so the address would be Flat 1 (block name), Ewenny Road.

Bridgend County Borough Council will decide the eventual name for the apartments. Please complete and submit by 2nd July 2021. We look forward to hearing your suggestions!

Naming Competition Form

Mad Hatters Tea Party

We are so looking forward to holding our Mad Hatters Tea Party for our children on Friday 9th July! On Thursday we sent parents an email with a link to a google form asking parents to confirm what type of sandwich your child would prefer. Please complete and submit the form by Monday 28th June. Here's a reminder of the link Mad Hatters Tea Party Form

The children will be sat in their outdoor area as a class and bubbles will not be mixed throughout the day. We have developed a risk assessment for the event and will be following Covid protocol at all times.

Year 6 railway engagement

Year 6 pupils had an informative session with the British Transport Police and Network Rail this week. The session provided the children with an insight about how to keep safe around train stations and railway tracks. The active session certainly got the children thinking about how to stay safe.

School Photographs

The school photographer was in school this week taking class photos. The proofs will be provided to parents via an online link. As soon as the link is available we will email to parents.

School Savings Club

School savings club took place again this week and we had lots of children saving money. Saving Club runs every Wednesday. If you would like to join please take a look at our website for more details. School Savings Club Information.

Please see a message from Bridgend School Savers:

As we near the end of another school year, I would like to thank all the staff, children and families for their efforts running our savings clubs during such a difficult time.

It's been fantastic to see so many children returning to save their pennies and pounds and even more encouraging to know that we've increased the number of schools we're working with!

As with previous years, we would like to offer children the chance to withdraw some of their savings. The children do not need to withdraw any savings as we will return in September, but if your child does want to withdraw some, or all of their savings, a BACs withdrawal (Bank Transfer) can be done online at any time by their parent/guardian at School Withdrawal Form - Bridgend School Savings. BACs transfers are the easiest way to withdraw their savings and we encourage all our savers to choose this option, where possible. We aim to process all BACs withdrawals within 48hrs.

During the summer holidays we can be contacted through our website at Bridgend School Savings - Part of Bridgend Life Savers Union or by visiting the main Bridgend Lifesavers Credit Union office where they can continue to save their pocket money.

A note for Year 6s. If they have a younger sibling in school, they are more than welcome to continue saving for them. Alternatively, they can save directly with the credit union by setting up a standing order or by visiting the branch in Bridgend.

If you have any other questions, you can find lots of information at Bridgend School Savings - Part of Bridgend Life Savers Union. You can contact us directly through the website (including during the school holidays) or by email at damianf@blscu.co.uk.

Thanks once again for all your support!

Kind regards,

Damian Faulkner

School Partnerships

Email: damianf@blscu.co.uk

Website: www.bridgendschoolsavings.com

Barney

We know how much our children (and their parents!) love seeing Barney in the mornings at drop off time but we thought we would show you how he likes to spend his quiet time in school!

Air pollution in the local area

We understand how difficult it is to access our school by car so we would like to encourage parents to avoid using cars on the school run. If you do use a car please can we request that you do not leave the engine running whilst parked near the school. We have to be respectful to our local residents and be mindful of the impact of the air pollution within our local area. We understand that Bridgend Council are currently consulting on making streets surrounding the school residents parking only. We hope you can support our commitment to improving air pollution.

Competition Winner

Well done to Izzy from year 1 who recently was a runner up in a competition and had her poster displayed on the Milkshake TV channel! Izzy's design of her favourite character playing sport was chosen from hundreds of entries. Well done Izzy its a great picture!

Year 1

Children in year 1 have been working on symmetry and have created their own designs and patterns on a hanging ornament.

Tennis Coaching - Reception to Year 3

We have been fortunate to receive grant funding from the Lawn Tennis Association to enable us to offer tennis coaching sessions to our reception to year 3 pupils. From Monday, pupils reception, year 1, year 2 and year 3 will need to wear PE kit every Monday as they will receive tennis sessions from a LTA tennis coach. We look forward to seeing the children progress with their tennis skills. If you would like more information on tennis coaching at Bridgend Tennis Club please see below.

Inset Days

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

• Monday 19th July 2021

• Tuesday 20th July 2021

We ask that you refresh yourself with the following information regarding Covid and inform us if your child is having a covid test - please call or email ask@oldcastleprimary.co.uk

If your child is off school due to a member of your household having a Covid test please ensure that you let us know when you report their absence.

The main symptoms of coronavirus are:

• a high temperature

• a new, continuous cough – this means coughing a lot, for more than an hour, or 3 or more coughing episodes in 24 hours

• a loss or change to sense of smell or taste – this means they cannot smell or taste anything, or things smell or taste different to normal

What to do if your child has symptoms. If your child has any of the main symptoms of coronavirus:

1.Get a test to check if they have coronavirus as soon as possible.

2.Stay at home and do not have visitors until you get the test result – only leave your home to have a test.

Anyone you live with, and anyone in your support bubble, must also stay at home until you get the result.

P.E. Lessons

P.E. lessons this term will take place on the following days. Children attending school should wear their P.E. kit to school on the day of their lesson.

• Nursery - Friday

• Reception - Thursday

• Year 1 - Monday

• Year 2 - Tuesday

• Year 3 - Wednesday

• Year 4 - Tuesday

• Year 5 - Friday

• Year 6 - Thursday

Inset days from September 2021

Inset days from September 2021 have been confirmed and are as follows:

• 2nd and 3rd September

• 1st November

• 18th February

• 25th April

• 20th June