Just a four day week in school for pupils this week. Don't forget school is closed tomorrow to pupils whilst school staff complete essential training. We look forward to seeing pupils back in school on Monday for the last week of November!
Wellbeing Team
Over the last few weeks, children in years 2 to 6 have been preparing an application to be a member of the Wellbeing Team. The children who applied have presented their application to the rest of their year group and the following pupils have been successful in being part of the team.
Welcome to the new members Ben (year 2), Mia (year 3), Griff (year 4), Betsi (year 5) and Fara (year 6) who will join existing members Izzy, Mila, Harriet, Evie and Libby on the team. The children can't wait to get started as a new team. Their first priority will be to relaunch the Healthy Lunchbox initiative and the Buddy Bench on the main yard.
Well done to everyone who applied to be a member of the Wellbeing Team.
Year 4 Peaceful Protest
Pupils in year 4 have been learning about significant children who have made a change by speaking out. Pupils created their own campaign from a range of subject areas, including energy saving, littering, racism and bullying. The children made a placard and have written a powerful speech. On Wednesday the year 4 pupils held a peaceful protest throughout the school. Children silently marched around the school holding their placards for all to see. Pupils have enjoyed exploring protest and how the impact of these can help to lead a change. Well done year 4!
Nolton Church Christmas Tree Festival - Make a Christmas Decoration
We are delighted to be supporting the Nolton Church Christmas Tree Festival this year. We would love children to make a decoration that can be displayed on the tree in the church. Decorations should be no more than 5cms in size and be able to be hung on the tree. Please send all decorations into school by Friday 5th December, as we will be creating the tree display on Monday 8th December.
Thank you for your support, we can't wait to see wonderful tree decorations.
Tesco Christmas Colouring Exhibition 2025
Tesco on Cowbridge Road (Big Tesco) have been in touch to share details of an exhibtion they are doing of children's artwork. All children have to do is colour in a printed A4 copy of the image below and drop it into the Tesco Extra store and the poster will be displayed in the front window of their shop in December. We hope children can get involved. All posters need to be dropped into the store by Friday 28th November. We have a small number of printed copies in the main office if you do not have access to a printer.
Years 1 to 6 Panto Trip Packed Lunch Order Form
Please complete this form by 24th November if you would like to order a free packed lunch for your child attending the Panto trip.
The packed lunch will consist of a ham or cheese bread roll, muffin, piece of fruit, cucumber and carrot sticks and a bottle of water.
If you choose to provide your own packed lunch please let us know on the form below.
Please remember we are a nut free school and you should not send in any nut products with a packed lunch.
Christmas Concerts
Children are getting ready to prepare for their Christmas concerts and we are looking forward to seeing the children on the stage in the main hall. Tickets need to be ordered as numbers are limited in the main hall. Tickets are £2 each and payment can be made in cash on the door.
Nursery
Monday 15th December 9.30am and Monday 15th December 2pm
Reception
Tuesday 16th December 9.30am and Tuesday 16th December 2pm
Year 1
Friday 12th December 9.30am and Friday 12th December 2pm
Year 2
Wednesday 10th December 2pm and Thursday 11th December 9.30am
Year 3
Tuesday 9th December 9.30am and Tuesday 9th December 2pm
Year 4
Monday 8th December 9.30am and Monday 8th December 2pm
Year 5
Friday 5th December 9.30am and Friday 5th December 2pm
Year 6
Thursday 4th December 9.30am and Thursday 4th December 2pm
Christmas Costumes and Jumpers
If you have any Christmas costumes or jumpers that your children have grown out of, we would happily accept these as donations. We will ensure that these are available for other children to make use of.
Christmas Concert Raffle
The PTA are asking for donations to create colourful Christmas hampers for each Christmas Concert Performance. Please could each child donate an item based on the below colours for each class. Donations can be whatever you wish in that colour such as, chocolates, sweets, smellies, candles, tea, coffee, drinks, biscuits or novelty items etc.
Please hand donations to the office. The deadline for donations is Monday 1st of December. A raffle will be held in each of the Christmas concerts . Tickets will be sold prior to each concert and the winner of the hamper will be drawn at the end of the concert.
Many thanks for your continued support.
PTA Christmas Wreath Making
A Christmas Wreath making workshop organised by Oldcastle Primary PTA will be held on Wednesday 26th November. Places are limited and booking is essential. Participants need to bring gardening gloves and small gardening secateurs or sharp scissors if possible
The workshop will take place in the main school hall from 6pm to 8pm and will cost £30. The £30 will include all materials needed to make your wreath, hot drinks and festive treats.
Payments must be made by 22nd November to guarantee a place.
Cash payment should be taken into the school office in an envelope clearly marked with your name and PTA Wreath Making.
PTA Disco
We hope that all the children who attended the recent school disco enjoyed the event. We are delighted to learn that £510 was made from the sale of disco tickets and sweets. We are so grateful to the PTA for giving up their time to put on the event. It's always an exciting event for children.
Schools Cross Country Years 3 to 6 - please note venue change
The next meeting of the Schools Cross Country Competition for children in years 3 to 6 will be held on Saturday 22nd November in Porthcawl Comprehensive School.
Community Food Pantry
The food pantry has been restocked this week and will be restocked every week on a Monday. We invite parents and carers to pop in and fill a bag with 15 items for £5. The food pantry is available to everyone and we hope that you can make use of the items. Why not pop in and take a look at the type of items available in the pantry.
Community Room
We invite parents and carers to make use of our Community Room and enjoy a cuppa and a chat. Why not call in after the morning school run or before the pick up and get together with other parents and enjoy a cuppa. We hope you can enjoy this warm space to get together with friends or meet new people.
Contact details - Have any details changed?
Please ensure we have up to date contact details for you to make sure you keep up to date with school news and we are able to contact you during the school day if required. You can either email us with change of details (ask@oldcastleprimary.co.uk) or complete the change of details form. We will use email and our School App to send messages to parents about activities or events.
Attendance
We are committed to promoting good attendance at school and have a target of whole school attendance of 95%. This week's attendance was 93.8%. For more information on the importance of good attendance and how we manage attendance as a school, please look at our website. Attendance | Oldcastle Primary School
Nut Free School
Please can we remind parents that we strive to be a nut free school as we have a number of pupils who have a severe allergy to nuts.
This includes nut products such as peanut butter and nutella.
School Values
The school values for November are Friendship and Forgiveness
September - Respect and Responsibility
October - Compassion and Hope
November - Friendship and Forgiveness
December - Understanding and Patience
January - Determination and Perseverance
February - Honesty and Trust
March -Learning and Effort
April - Community and Service
May - Co-operation and being a good citizen within society
June- Showing Gratitude and Care and Generosity
July - Taking and managing risks
At Oldcastle, we are proud of each other and ourselves. We nurture all of our community so that we grow as confident, responsible and happy people. Oldcastle school is more than just learning.
We try hard for each other
We act responsibly
We treat people how we’d like to be treated
We work as a team
We trust and respect each other
We listen and learn together
We share knowledge and experience
Together we make the difference
Together we shape innovative experiences
More information on our values and visions can be found on our website. Visions and Values
We love to hear about all of the exciting achievements of our pupils during out of school activities. Please share any successes with us at ask@oldcastleprimary.co.uk and include a photograph and details of the achievement to be included in future newsletters.
Well done to Evie from year 5 for your success in the Martial Arts championship recently.
Well done to Lottie from year 6 on your Nipper Award.
Nursery have been fantastic at placing the numicon shapes in the right place.
Reception have been busy on a number hunt and have been planning their route to the fire station next Monday!
Fantastic structure by Gwen!
Barney is looking forward to the weekend and plenty of walks!
Bridgend Town Council Christmas Event
SAVE THE DATE CHRISTMAS LIGHTS SWITCH ON EVENT SATURDAY 29TH NOVEMBER 2025
Bridgend Town Council are excited to announce the date of this year’s Christmas Lights Switch On Event in the Town Centre on Saturday 29th November. The fun starts at 1.30pm and will include:
Elf School
Come as yourself – leave as an Elf!
5pm Light Switch On at Christmas Tree
Meet at the Stage from 4.45pm for the big countdown to the Light Switch On.
Meet the Grinch!
The Grinch, back by popular demand, will be making appearances in the town centre throughout the afternoon, come and find him and see what mischief he makes!
Entertainment Stage
Zack Franks will be introducing local choirs and bands throughout the afternoon:
Snow Sisters
Oldcastle School Choir
Louise Halliday
Bridgend Youth Theatre
The Dance Centre Academy
There will also be FREE
Fairground Rides
Christmas Side Stalls
Two Giant Snow Globes
Children's Craft Tent
Victorian Puppet Theatre in Carnegie House
Facepainters
SANTA'S GROTTO
Santa’s Grotto will be at Carnegie House again this year on the following dates from 10am – 3pm: Saturday 29th November, Saturday 6th December, Saturday 13th December, Saturday 20th December.
For £8 per child, children will meet Santa, choose a quality gift and you can take your own photos. Bookings can be made in advance https://www.wegottickets.com/BridgendLionsClub
Santa‘s Grotto is run by The Lions Club of Bridgend in Carnegie House and is supported by Bridgend Town Council. All proceeds of the Christmas Grotto will be distributed to local Charites by the Lions Club of Bridgend.
Bridgend Town Council would like to thank Bridgend County Borough Council, The Rhiw Shopping Centre and Bridgend Business Against Crime for their contributions towards funding the Christmas Lights Switch On Event.
Toddler Group
21st November - INSET Day
22nd November - Years 3 to 6 Cross Country Competition
4th to 16th December - various Christmas concerts
10th December - Toddlers Christmas Party
11th December - Christmas Dinner Day
17th December - Nursery and Reception Christmas Show
17th December - Years 1 to 6 to the Pantomime
20th December to 6th January - Christmas Holiday
5th January - INSET Day
6th January - Back to School
8th, 15th, 22nd, 29th January and 5th February - Year 6 Swimming
12th, 19th February, 5th, 12th and 19th March - Year 5 Swimming
Inset Days for 2025 / 2026
The inset days for 2025 / 26 have been approved by school governors and these are as follows:
Monday 1st September 2025
Friday 21st November 2025
Monday 5th January 2026
Friday 13th March 2026
Friday 22nd May 2026
Monday 20th July 2026
Health and Wellbeing / PE Days for 2025/26
PE will take place on the following day for each year group. Children should attend school in their PE kit on their allocated day.
Nursery - Thursday
Reception - Monday
Year 1 - Tuesday
Year 2 - Thursday
Year 3 - Wednesday
Year 4 - Monday
Year 5 - Tuesday
Year 6 - Friday
In the event that you have a concern regarding a child please follow this procedure:
During school hours please contact Mrs Ceri Littlewood, safeguarding lead at Oldcastle Primary School.
Out of school hours please contact the out of hours Emergency Duty Team Tel No 01443743665
More information on Safeguarding at Oldcastle can be found on our website.