Week 8 - Friday 6th November 2020

Welcome back to school following the half term break. We hope that you had a restful break over the October half term.

Don't forget our one way system is still in operation when accessing the school grounds - entry is via the St Marie Street entrance and exit via the car park and South Street entrance. Please can we ask that limited adults enter the school grounds at drop off and collection times - ideally one adult should drop off / collect a child.

Please follow the welsh government adult social distancing guidelines whilst on school premises and leaving via South Street. Please also respect our staff and maintain social distancing when collecting / dropping off your child. Our staff would respectfully ask that you wear a face covering if you need to speak to them at the class entry door.

If you are collecting a child from nursery, please do so before collecting children who may finish later. We understand that this may be an inconvenience due to our one way system but we appreciate your support in managing adults and children on our school grounds.

Please can we remind children not to bring a bag into school at the present time. Children should only bring a coat, water bottle and lunch box (if applicable).

Welsh Government Advice

Information on the Welsh Government guidelines from 9th November is available via this link Advice following firebreak - 9th November

Remembrance Day - Wednesday 11th November

We will be commemorating remembrance day on Wednesday 11th November with a mark of silence at 11am and children will be completing a range of activity sessions to learn about the heritage and tradition of remembrance. Unfortunately we will not be able to fundraise through the sale of remembrance poppies and other merchandise this year. If you would like to make a donation to the Royal British Legion you may do so via their website. Alternatively, we are happy to accept donations and pass these directly onto the Royal British Legion. Royal British Legion website.

Below is a reminder of our lovely poppy display our pupils completed last year to mark Remembrance Day.

Children in Need - Friday 13th November

We are delighted to support Children in Need again this year in November. After the stress and worry of the coronavirus pandemic, the charity are making children's mental health their number one priority this year. As part of our commitment to Children in Need we aim to supercharge our pupils mental welbeing. We have a variety of activities planned for our children to take part in next week culminating with a Joe Wicks workout on Friday morning.

Children may wear their own clothes or something spotty on Friday 13th November to support Children in Need. Children may bring a donation to the charity into school with them if they wish.

New member of staff

This week we welcomed Mrs Lisa Diehl as a Learning Support Officer. Mrs Diehl will be working as a job share in Class 2GL.

Class Newsletters

Class newsletters are currently being prepared by teachers and we will issue these to parents next week.

Criw Cymraeg

This week we are excited to announce that Criw Cymraeg is back! Of course things will look different this year as we are unable to meet as a group, but we are confident that through the use of technology we will be able to communicate and build on the progress we made last year before lockdown. We will be continuing with our phrase and word of the week and working in classes to promote the Welsh language. We hope that the children will use Welsh around the school and at home.

Words of the week- Dioch / Croeso

Phrase- Sut wyt ti?

Breakfast Club

This week, we emailed parents information regarding the breakfast club at Oldcastle Primary. More information can be viewed via this form. Breakfast Club Form.

Christmas Dinner

Thank you for completing the Christmas dinner form to let us know if your child will be requiring Christmas dinner this year. We are working through the responses, and planning the safe operation of the number of children. We will confirm the date for your child's Christmas dinner shortly.

School Savings Club

Another busy week in school savings club with 101 savers. Savings Club will continue every Wednesday morning. If your child would like to join please download and complete an application form available on our website. Every new child account will receive £2 from the school to start them on their savings journey. School Savings Club Application Form

School savings club is operated by Bridgend Lifesavers Credit Union and they have created a dedicated website for Bridgend School Savers, Please take a look at their really useful website. Bridgend School Savers

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

Nasal Flu Vaccination Programme

The School nursing team have booked the nasal flu vaccination programme to take place at Oldcastle on Thursday 3rd December. Letters will be sent home with children in Reception to Year 6 after half term - all parents are required to complete a form to indicate if your child will be having the vaccine.

Year 1 brightening up their outdoor space!

Our year 1 yard has been brightened up by our children this week as they learn about colours in their outdoor learning sessions. We are sure you will agree that they have certainly brightened up the yard with their chalk colouring!

School Garden Area - We need help!

We are looking to make improvements to our school garden which is located behind the canteen. We aim to make this area more accessible for all our pupils and need the help of a landscape gardener for some ideas!! If you have any suggestions for the school garden area please get in touch we need help to make the most of this area.

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.

Please can we also remind parents of the Welsh Government guidelines regarding COVID 19 -

• If you or any other member of your household has COVID symptoms you must stay at home. If you have symptoms you should get a test.

• Children should not attend school if you or someone else in your household has symptoms or is having a test.

• Once the test result is received as negative children may return to school. Please inform the school when you receive the test result.

• If a positive result is received children should isolate for the 14 day period.

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