Wow that term has flown by!  We can't believe it is the end of term - we hope you enjoy the Easter holiday break, and we look forward to pupils returning to school on Monday 13th April.

We held a whole school assembly today to celebrate Spring and recognise the learning and effort that has taken place over the last term. Thank you to Miss Lincoln and Miss Craven for leading the assembly today - children particularly enjoyed singing 'Spring Chicken'.

Year 6 residential

54 of our year 6 children enjoyed a very exciting couple of days on their residential trip this week.  We have visited Culmington Manor in Shropshire for a number of years, and the company are well used to providing a great experience for year 6 children.  Children took part in a variety of activity sessions, including axe throwing, underground maze, low ropes, aeroball, bouldering,  blind trail, abseiling, zip wire and the obligatory disco!  The children had such fun and ate so well over the three day visit.  Below is a taster of the photos from the residential trip, if you follow our Facebook page you will have seen so many photos of the trip!  Huge thank you to the adults who attended the trip and made sure the children had an amazing time - Diolch Mrs Littlewood, Mrs Williams, Miss Ellett, Miss Vaughan, Mrs Whiteley and Mr Faulkner.

Click on the image carousel to see a selection of photos from the residential trip

A huge thank you to the PTA who funded the Leavers Hoodies and covered the cost of the buses to Culmington Manor. The Leavers Hoodies look great and we know the children like to have them in time for residential.

School Swimming Gala

Well done to all the children from year 3 to 6 who took part in the Schools Swimming Gala on Monday. Lots of great achievements resulting in Team Oldcastle achieving 2nd place. We are very proud of you all. 

Click on the image carousel to view more photos

We celebrated our swimmers in assembly today.  The children, minus year 6 representatives, stood on the stage to have their achievements recognised.

Football Tournament

What a fantastic day of football we had at the Bridgend and District Schools Football Tournament on Thursday.  We took two girls' teams and one boys' team to the tournament, and we could not be more proud of their dedication and behaviour today.  We are delighted to report that the teams got through to the knockout stages, and every player should be so proud of themselves. Thank you to the parent coaches from Bridgend Town Football Club for your commitment to the tournament, and Mrs Evans and Miss Pearsall for motivating the players. Well done Team Oldcastle! 

We recognised our footballers in assembly today.

Both our swimming and football teams looked amazing in new sports tops we have been able to purchase thanks to some recent sponsorship funding.  Thank you so much Waters Edge for your support - it made such a difference to the children to look the part in their competitions!

PTA Disco

The PTA are holding a disco on Friday 24th April - Tickets are £2.50 each and the PTA will be accepting cash payment at the door. Please do not send money into school, bring the payment with you on the day. All children need to be supervised whilst at the disco.  

You will need to complete a separate form for every child you wish to purchase a ticket for. The PTA are hoping to be paperless so will not be sending tickets home.  Please keep your email to hand and show this to gain entry to the disco.  The PTA will have a list on the door of all tickets ordered.

Tickets are allocated on a first come first served basis and are limited due to fire regulations. We cannot guarantee entry to anyone who has not pre ordered a ticket.

Drinks, sweets and snacks will be available to purchase at the disco.

PTA Disco Form April 2026

Attendance

We are committed to promoting good attendance at school and have a target of whole school attendance of 95.6%.  This week's attendance was 95%.  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 

Year 6 Psychedelic Cinderella 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. The t-shirts look fab!

Community Food Pantry

The food pantry is  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.

After School Sports / Mindfulness Clubs

The after school rugby club has now finished for the season.  The netball and mindfulness clubs will not take place week beginning 13th April due to parents' evening.  The clubs will start back week beginning 20th April.

Parents Evening Appointments

Parents evening appointments will take place week beginning 13th April 2026. You will have received an email from notifications@primarysite.net to book an appointment.

• Full time nursery - Monday 13th, Tuesday 14th and Wednesday 15th April

• Reception P - Tuesday 14th and Wednesday 15th April

• Reception R - Monday 13th and Wednesday 15th April

• Class 1 I - Monday 13th and Tuesday 14th April

• Class 1 M - Monday 13th and Wednesday 15th April

• Class 2 Y - Wednesday 15th and Thursday 16th April

• Class 2 H - Tuesday 14th and Thursday 16th April

• Class 3 O - Tuesday 14th and Thursday 16th April

• Class 3 L - Wednesday 15th and Thursday 16th April

• Class 4 D - Monday 13th and Tuesday 14th April

• Class 4 C Monday 13th and Tuesday 14th April

• Class 5 S - Monday 13h and Tuesday 14th April

• Class 5 A - Monday 13th and Tuesday 14th April

• Class 6 E - Monday 13th and Tuesday 14th April

• Class 6 T - Monday 13th and Tuesday 14th April

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.

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. 

Dance Success

Well done to Mared for your achievement in the Formation World Dance Cup last weekend.  We are very proud of your dedication and achieving fourth place - what amazing news!

Reception children were very excited to share what they have been learning about different habitats and the animals that live in them with their parents this week. Thank you to the parents / carers who were able to come in and see their brilliant dioramas!  

Year 1 have been busy learning about halves and quarters

Wren and Chloe have worked hard in their free time to create a lovely booklet. Well done girls.

Year 2 pizza making with Mrs Hemming

Year 3 have  been learning about creatures from nature and made a lovely Easter gift for our bird friends 

Toddler Group

At Oldcastle Primary School, we’re delighted to offer a welcoming toddler group designed especially for our babies, toddlers 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! Toddler Group starts back on Wednesday 15th April.

The Bridge Easter Arts and Crafts

The Rhiw Easter Event

Easter Holiday Scheme

Valleys 2 Coast Competition

• 27th March - Term Ends

• 30th March to 10th April - Easter Holidays

• 13th to 16th April - Parents' Evenings

• 18th April - Years 3 to 6 Schools Cross Country - CCYD

• 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.