Today in assembly, some of our staff members launched our annual Eisteddfod.  There was much excitement and this was only from the staff!  Mrs Williams kicked off proceedings with a lovely welcome in both English and Welsh. Mrs Evans reminded children of the purpose of an Eisteddfod. Mrs Roberts informed the children of the house colour meetings that will take place next week, and Miss Walters reminded the children how they could earn house tokens for their house colour.

What is an Eisteddfod?

It is a massive festival that has been happening for hundreds of years.  Originally, the word meant "to sit together." It was a gathering where poets and musicians would compete to see who was the best. Today, we keep that tradition alive right here in our school.

Why do we do it?

• Celebrate our culture and the Welsh language.

• Show off our hard work and creativity.

• Build our confidence by standing up and having a go. 

We will have a variety of competitions for children to take part in

• Art

• Poetry Writing

• Learn a poem

• Learn a song

• Handwriting

• Folk Dancing

• Playing a musical instrument

• Choir

• Year 6 were also reminded about the Chairing of the Bardd, which is always a significant event in Oldcastle every year.

Welsh Week

When we come back from half term, we will be fully immersed in our Welsh Week.  This will give pupils an opportunity to get creative with their competition entries.   For every competition that children enter, they will earn a point for their house colour.

Class Newsletters

Class newsletters for your child's year group were sent out by email earlier this week.  The newsletter provides an overview of your child's learning this term. The newsletters are available to view on our website please follow this link.

Year Group Newsletters

Junior Leadership Team

This week, our junior leaders met with Miss Hodgson to review the Positive Behaviour Policy and talk through other aspects of school life.  The Positive Behaviour Policy is an important school policy and is reviewed by school leaders, JLT and our school governors.  The JLT members raised some valid points, and these have been included in the policy.  The next step will be for the policy to be reviewed by school governors and shared with parents once approved.  

JLT also reviewed the school rewards and recognitions and came up with some great suggestions for future implementation.

Finally, the junior leaders started preparing a school assembly on February's school values - Honesty and Trust

School Governors

Our school governing body met for a Curriculum meeting this week.  Governors were provided with updates on all aspects of the school curriculum with focus on school data throughout the year groups, school planning and progression and evaluation of parts of school life and school curriculum.  

Governors meet regularly to discuss school curriculum, school finance, health and safety and receive reports from the Director of Education and the Headteacher and are an important part of school life.

Schools Cross Country - Years 3 to 6 Tomorrow - CANCELLED

The Schools Cross Country competition planned for for Saturday has had to be postponed due to the waterlogged fields at Porthcawl Comprehensive School.  The organisers are disappointed but have rearranged the race to March 14th.  A further race is planned for 18th April in CCYD.

Netball Match

Today our netball teams were delighted to host Cefn Cribbwr. The school yard was buzzing with excitement for the first netball game of the year.  18 children from year 6 represented Oldcastle Primary today with all enjoying game time.   Well done to you all for playing such great games. We are very grateful to Cefn Cribbwr for travelling to us.  Thank you also to the parents who came to support the team.

• Game one 16 -O

• Game 2 10-0

• Player of the match Lottie Hattie amd Faith

Rugby Match

Our rugby teams were also excited to host Cefn Cribbwr in Newbridge Fields today.  A squad of 28 players represented the school in a number of games braving the wintry conditions.  Well done to you all for playing such great games. We are very grateful to Cefn Cribbwr for travelling to us.  Thank you also to the parents who came to support the team.

We had two fantastic games of rugby today against Cefn Cribbwr in wet conditions. It was great to be able to play  children from years 4,5 and 6. Many thanks to Mr Baldwin, Mr Durston, Mr John and Mr Burns for their help with our rugby squad. 

T-Shirt Sponsor - Thank You

Thank you to the following company who have provided sponsorship towards the t-shirts for our year 6 children to wear during the preparation of their end-of-year production - Psychedelic Cinderella. We are grateful for the support. We have also been provided with additional sponsorship from another organisation which we will announce next week.

Nursery Open Day for children starting in September 2026

Thursday 12th February 2026 at 10am and 4pm

We are delighted to invite families to the Oldcastle Primary School Nursery Open Day! This is a wonderful opportunity to explore our safe, nurturing environment where your child’s early learning journey begins. Meet our friendly staff, see our engaging classroom, and learn about our play-based curriculum designed to inspire curiosity and confidence. 

Come along to see our lovely nursery facilities for children aged 3 years on Thursday 12th February. We have two sessions - 10am and 4pm. You will be able to view our facilities and speak with the nursery teacher and senior members of staff. The sessions will last for no more than 1 hour.

Please book a space by completing this short form or scan the QR code below.

https://forms.gle/osm19KyFhnpCQqm18

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.  At Oldcastle Primary School, we are proud to support our community through our food pantry, which currently has plenty of food available for families who need it. If you or someone you know could benefit from this resource, please don’t hesitate to reach out to us privately. Together, we can ensure no one in our school family goes hungry. 

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 94.3%.  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. 

• 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. 

Music Success

Well done Jayden from year 5 on your success in your violin exams.

Cross Country 

Last Saturday Dewi from year 4 represented Oldcastle in the Welsh Cross Country Championships in Llandaf fields, Cardiff.   In a tough, muddy race Dewi came 4th out of 83 runners. He was disappointed to have just missed out on a medal but determined to get one next time.  Well done Dewi we are proud of your commitment.

Year 4 Health and Wellbeing

Barney

Look how little Barney looked in 2021 when he first arrived in school!

Year 2 loved presenting their work to each other this week.

Year 1 Maths took place outdoors this week

Year 1 have been learning some tricky maths and Welsh words this week. Da Iawn.

Toddler Group

At Oldcastle Primary School, we’re delighted to offer a welcoming toddler group designed especially for our babies, toddlers and and their families. Each week, little ones enjoy engaging activities that promote early development, social skills, and fun exploration in a safe, nurturing environment.

We invite parents and carers to join us and be part of this wonderful community experience. Let’s grow and learn together!

Our Toddler Group enjoyed playing with the wild animals today and creating spotted and stripey artwork.  Busy session today with lots of babies and toddlers. 

• 8th, 15th, 22nd, 29th January and 5th February - Year 6 Swimming

• 12th, 19th February, 5th, 12th and 19th March - Year 5 Swimming

• 16th to 20th February - Half Term

• 23rd February - Welsh Week

• 2nd March - Eisteddfod

• 13th March - Inset Day

• 25th to 27th March - Year 6 Residential

• 27th March - Term Ends

• 30th March to 10th April - Easter Holidays

• 13th to 15th April - Parents' Evenings

• 4th May - Bank Holiday

• 15th May - Years 1 to 6 Sports Day

• 21st May - Nursery and Reception Sports Day

• 22nd May - Inset Day

• 25th to 29th May - Half Term

• 9th June - Class and Team Photos

• 15th June - Careers Week

• 20th June - Oldcastle Rocks

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.