We can't believe we have just completed week 3 of the school year how quickly is time going!  Children are enjoying their new classrooms and settling into the routine in their year group.  This week we sent parents a link to the year group newsletter for the autumn term. If you haven't seen the newsletter please take a look via this link as the newsletter will provide you with lots of information about your child's learning this term.  Year Group Newsletters

Seesaw for Nursery to Year 2

Nursery to year 2 parents will have received a QR code today which will provide access to your child's Seesaw account.  Here's a reminder of the instructions.  

How to Get Started

Your child’s class teacher will send home a unique QR code to access their Seesaw journal. This code is for your family only and should not be shared with anyone else.

To get started, follow these simple steps:

1. Download the Seesaw app from the Play or App Store. You can also access it on a computer by visiting app.seesaw.me.

2. Create your account after downloading the app or visiting the website.

3. Scan your unique QR code to link to your child's account.

If you have any issues connecting to your child’s Seesaw account, please do not hesitate to contact the school office.

Nursery Parents Coffee and Chat - thank you

Thank you to the nursery parents who stopped by to enjoy a cuppa and a chat at the recent coffee morning. We hope you found it useful. 

Community Family Engagement Officer

Carolyn Richards is a Community Focused Family Engagement Officer employed by the Local Authority to support schools and their families.  Carolyn will be based at Oldcastle on one day a week on a Wednesday.   

• 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 

Strengthening Our School Community : The Power of PTA Involvement

As we continue to develop and enhance our educational environment at Oldcastle Primary School, and we want to emphasise the critical role our Parent Teacher Association (PTA) plays in our school's success. Every parent is automatically a member of the PTA, and your participation is instrumental in creating an enriching experience for our pupils.

The PTA is far more than a fundraising committee; it is a vital conduit for community engagement and school improvement. In the past year alone, funds raised have directly contributed to significant enhancements such as leavers hoodies, rewards day events and the purchase of new main hall chairs, demonstrating the tangible impact of parental involvement.

Participation is remarkably flexible. Whether you can spare 30 minutes to help at an event, design a poster, distribute letters, or simply share an idea, your contribution matters. You need not attend formal meetings; our PTA welcomes input through various channels. The PTA have a What’s App group that shares ideas and you can easily be part of this.

The benefits of involvement extend beyond financial support. By engaging with the PTA, parents create a robust network, connecting with like-minded individuals committed to improving our school. It's an opportunity to make a meaningful difference, utilise your unique skills, and model community participation for our pupils.

Importantly, we welcome involvement from all parents  - mothers and fathers alike. Your diverse perspectives and skills can help us create a more inclusive and supportive school environment.

PTA events are not just about fundraising; they're about creating lasting memories. Our children's time at primary school is relatively short, but the memories and resources we create together will resonate throughout their lives. 

We  encourage every parent to consider how they might contribute to our PTA and, by extension, our school's continued success.

If you would like to become involved, please get in touch via this Google form.  A PTA meeting will be arranged shortly and all parents and carers may attend.

PTA Get Involved Google Form

Tesco Community Blue Token Scheme - look out for us in Tesco!

We are delighted to have been accepted to be included in the Tesco Community Blue Token Scheme from July to September this year. Our project is now live in stores so please support us! We are grateful to the support from Jessica Ennis-Hill in the video below!

Oldcastle Primary School, Community Pantry, Bridgend

Our food pantry ensures that our pupils and their families have access to nutritious food and essential supplies, all-year round.

The project with the highest number of votes across your region will receive £1,500, the second placed project £1,000 and the third placed project £500. 

Please see below a list of stores taking part in the voting on your project. Feel free to share this list of stores amongst your supporters and within your community.

• Bridgend 1 Superstore CF31 4AP

• Bridgend Extra CF31 3SQ

• Gentle Way Bridgend Express Express CF31 5EJ

• North Cornelly Express Express CF33 4LN

• Pencoed Express Express CF35 5NG

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.

Schools Cross Country - Years 3 to 6

The Schools Cross Country competition will start back on October 18th and will take place at Pencoed Comprehensive. The event is open to all children in years 3 to 6.  Children and parents should meet at the venue at 9.30am for a 10am start.  Mrs Evans and Mrs Littlewood will be in attendance to coordinate the events. Please note no dogs are allowed on site.

Parent, Carer and Visitor Code of Conduct

This week, we reminded parents of our comprehensive Parent, Carer and Visitor Code of Conduct, which describes the fundamental principles and expectations governing interactions within our school community.

Oldcastle Primary School is committed to fostering a collaborative educational partnership between the institution and families. Our primary objective is to establish an environment that facilitates parental engagement while ensuring the comprehensive safety and welfare of all individuals within our school.

The policy includes precise guidelines designed to maintain a professional, respectful, and constructive learning environment. We anticipate that all stakeholders will engage in interactions characterised by mutual courtesy and professionalism.

Key expectations include:

• Demonstrating respect towards all school community members

• Recognising the collaborative nature of educational endeavour

• Communicating with staff through appropriate, professional channels

• Scheduling formal appointments for substantive discussions

• Supporting the school's core l values and institutional ethos

The document comprehensively outlines unacceptable behaviour, including, but not limited to:

• Using threatening or aggressive communication

• Inappropriate social media interactions

• Conduct that potentially compromises the school's positive learning environment

We formally request that all parties responsible for pupil collection thoroughly review the attached policy. Through sustained mutual respect and collaborative engagement, we can optimise the educational experience for our pupils.

Parents, Carers and Visitors Code of Conduct

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 94.4%.  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. 

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 Esmé B from Reception who achieved her marathon band in Bridgend junior park run this week following her completion of 21 junior park runs.  

Well done to Reeve for achieving the Player's Player Award for the Bridgend Blue Bells Under 10's.

This week, Year 4 have enjoyed creating clay badges. These badges represent one of the important children’s rights as they find out more about the UNCRC and what it means for them. Pupils all worked so hard to master the techniques of joining, moulding and shaping the clay. Well done Year 4 - a great job! 

Reception being very busy!

Tennis

Enrichment Art Session

Flying Start

Bridgend Sports RFC Under 11's Recruitment

Toddler Group

• 15th October - Individual Child Photos

• 23rd October - Flu Vaccine Reception to Year 6 - more information will be sent home shortly

• 27th October to 31st October  - October Half Term

• 21st November - INSET Day

• 20th December to 6th January - Christmas Holiday

• 5th January - INSET Day

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 - Friday

• Year 5 - Friday

• 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.