Weekly Assembly

Today in assembly, our Wellbeing team presented to the whole school to raise awareness of Children's Mental Health.  The team presented beautifully and described our mental health like the weather. Some days we feel bright and sunny, and other days we may feel stormy.  The children talked about ways in which we can all look after our mental health  and do things that make us belong and feel happy.  This year’s theme is ‘This is my place'.  That means feeling like you’re part of something, such as your family, your school, your group of friends or a team. These happy moments help us feel connected, valued, and accepted. When we feel like we belong, we feel happy, safe, and ready to learn and play. It helps us grow strong in our minds and bodies, and it makes it easier to make friends, do well in school, and feel good about ourselves. 

Throughout the day today children across the school have been immersed in activities to raise awareness of our mental health. These included a variety of physical activities such as yoga, scavenger hunts and trust trails. Children have also completed creative activities such as developing a Cynefin quilt, belonging shields, Place maps and developing a lego city of dreams.  We hope children will be talking to parents this evening about the mental health activities they have taken part in. Photos from the day can be viewed at the end of the newsletter.

For more information on children's mental health you may find the following website useful.  Children's Mental Health Week

Netball Parents vs Children

This week our netball children enjoyed playing against their parents in very competitive matches!! Special shout out to the Year 5 parents who braved the very wet weather conditions on Tuesday!  Thank you to all the parents and siblings who played against the children and helped raise money for the netball trip to see the Dragons Netball team in Cardiff in March.

Welsh Week - Monday 23rd to Friday 27th February 

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 Eisteddfod competition entries.   We have a busy week planned where children will be celebrating all things Welsh and, learning and performing Welsh songs and dances, developing Welsh artwork and generally immersing themselves in the  Welsh language and history.

During Welsh Week, we will be supporting Tri Dewi, which is a physical aspect of Welsh Week. Triathlon Cymru have invited us to be part of Tri Dewi, a Wales wide St David’s Day celebration that brings communities together through Swim, Bike, Run.  It is a national initiative delivered by Triathlon Cymru clubs across Wales on Sunday 1 March 2026. The project celebrates Welsh identity and community wellbeing through simple, welcoming activity. This year, they are inviting schools to join the build-up through: “Pethau Bychain / Do the Little Things” Challenge

Inspired by Dewi Sant’s message, Gwnewch y pethau bychain. The challenge encourages children to take small, positive steps each week to move more, feel good, and celebrate Wales together. We will hold a St David’s Day “Tri Dewi Mini Festival”. During Welsh Week, we will all be participating in a physical activity as part of our Tri Dewi initiative.

Following Welsh Week we will hold our annual Eisteddfod, which will take place on Monday, 2nd March.  Children can wear house colours or Welsh costume to school on this day.

Y Darllenydd Cudd  / Masked Singer Competition

Some of our staff will be trying to fool our pupils in our very own Masked Singer competition during Welsh Week!  We can't wait to see their outfits and videos. Pupils can win points for every staff member they guess correctly.  

PTA Bridgend Community Lottery

The PTA are delighted to be part of the Bridgend Community Lottery scheme. Please take a look at the information below and click on the link to purchase tickets. Tickets are only £1 per week and for every ticket you play 78.2% goes to good causes and prizes. 

Oldcastle PTA Community Lottery

Sponsorship Proposal - School Rugby Kit

We are currently seeking sponsorship for new kit for our rugby team.  Please share the following link with anyone that can help!

Sponsorship Proposal - School Rugby Kit | Oldcastle Primary School 

School Catering

The following special menus will be in place. for Pancake Day and St David's Day. 

SHINE Emotional Support

We are delighted to invite parents to attend a SHINE coffee morning on 24th February at 9am in the Community Room.  The emotional well-being team will be on hand to have an informal discussion about the resources available to parents.  Please do pop in and meet the team.

We are also inviting parents to attend a SHINE workshop for parents on 10th March between 9am and 10.30am.  Parents need to book onto the session via this form.  SHINE Google Form.

More information on SHINE can be found on our website via this link.  Parent Version - Introducing Shine Leaflet 

Book Looks

We would like to invite parents from Reception to Year 6 into school on Thursday 26th February between 3.30pm and 5pm to view your child's school books. The informal drop in session will allow you to view your child's work in the classroom environment.  

Wear Red for Velindre - Friday 27th February

The Wear Red for Velindre campaign is an annual event aimed at raising awareness and funds for cancer services in Wales. On Friday 27th February, children and staff will be able to wear red to show their support. We will also be accepting donations on behalf of the Velindre Cancer Charity.  By participating, you help ensure that Velindre continues to provide vital support to patients and their families.  Thank you for your support.

T-Shirt Sponsor - Thank You

Thank you to the following companies 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 of Enchanted Adventures and Merthyr Mawr Honey.

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 95.4%.  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. 

Mini Movers fun movement and music session. Years 1 to 3 enjoyed a fun session this week with the Mini Movers, and Reception were able to join in the session with their parents.

Year 4 enjoyed their visit from a pyrotechnics company earlier this week.

Children's Mental Health Day

Blind Trail, Dydd Mwsig Cymraeg and Yoga

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!

This week, Toddlers had lots of fun.

Girls Football - Spaces Available

• Girls U7’s (Year 2) (Space) training sessions will be on a Friday evening from 17:00 - 18:00 Indoor Sports Hall Brynteg Comprehensive School, Ewenny Rd, Bridgend, CF31 3LE.

• Girls U8’s (Year 3) (Space) training sessions will be on a Friday evening from 17:00 - 18:00 Indoor Sports Hall Brynteg Comprehensive School, Ewenny Rd, Bridgend, CF31 3LE.

• Girls U9's (Year 4) (Spaces are very limited) training sessions will be on a Wednesday evening from 18:00-19:00 Archbishop McGrath Catholic High School Oak Tree Way, Brackla, Bridgend, South Wales, CF35 2DN

• Girls U10's (Year 5) (Spaces are very limited) training sessions will be on a Wednesday evening from 18:00-19:00 Archbishop McGrath Catholic High School Oak Tree Way, Brackla, Bridgend, South Wales, CF35 2DN 

• 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.