How quickly has this half-term gone?!  We hope you all enjoy the half-term break next week.  We return to school on Monday 3rd November.  Have a lovely break.

Sporting Success

In assembly today we formally recognised the children who represented the school in the netball and rugby tournaments last week. Well done everyone.

Governor's Annual Report to Parents

Please find below a link to the Governors' Annual Report to Parents for the 2024/25 academic year. The report provides an overview of the school's progress, priorities, inspection outcomes, curriculum highlights, well-being initiatives, community involvement, and financial management. The report aims to keep parents informed about how the school is supporting pupils’ learning and well-being, and how the governing body is working to ensure continuous school improvement.

Parents are invited to attend a 'Meet the Governors' event on Wednesday, 19th November at 6pm to discuss the report.  If you are unable to attend and would like to provide feedback please do so by completing the Feedback Form in the report..

Governor's Annual Report to Parents 2024/25

Catering Team Success

Huge congratulations to Mrs Lever and Mrs Clatworthy our School Cooks in the Canteen who have been selected as finalists in the Welsh Government Food and Fun 10 year Celebratory Awards. The award identifies staff who support the Food and Fun scheme which aims to promote healthy living, support learner wellbeing and improve engagement with families during the school summer holidays. We are very proud of their dedication and achievement and wish them all the best of luck in the final in November. Great news for our fantastic Catering Team. 

Wellbeing Team 

Reminder the Wellbeing Team are looking for new members - see below for more detials.

The team are looking for new members for this school year and launched a competition for children who are interested in making a difference.  Children who are interested in becoming a member of the Wellbeing Team should design a poster or make a slide presentation which will be presented to their year group.  The entry should explain why you would be a good member of the Wellbeing Team.  You could also suggest ways in which the school can improve the wellbeing of pupils. 

You have until Monday 3rd November to prepare your entries, ready to present to your year group during the first week back after half term.   We will be looking for one new member from each year group - Years 2 to 6.

Parents Evening 

Thank you to all our parents who attended parents' evening appointments this week.  It was lovely to see so many parents in school.  

Reminder Reception P (Mrs Griffiths) parents evening will take place on  Monday 3rd November and Tuesday 4th November

School Photos

Don;t forget to order your child's photo with Tempest Photography before Friday 24th October if you would like to take advantage of having the photos delivered to school for free. There will be a delivery charge applied following this date.

Hello! I'm Bette, and I’m part of JLT. I love netball,football, swimming, and dance. I have represented the school in the Eisteddfod and school netball. In school, I have participated in school netball, tennis, and rounders. I love being JLT because it gives you lots of opportunities to put yourself forward.    

Hello my name is Gabriella, I am one of the year 6 JLT. I enjoy acting, netball, dancing and representing the school as a JLT. Outside of school I do stagecoach and l am also a part of a charity craft group. In side of school I run a craft group for year 3 children.    

Hi , My name is Izzy and I love being a member of JLT for year 6 and if you wanted to learn a bit about myself here's a bit about myself. In school, I enjoy expressive arts and highlighting issues that needs to be changed, I love running a comic club for Year 5 and seeing them develop throughout the weeks. Outside of school, I enjoy comic con and other conventions. I love making my outfits for comic cons and going to them with my friends. 

Hi I am Gracie Rose  and I would like to tell you about myself and what I do in my spare time.  I am 9 years old and I am in Miss Craven’s class in Year 5. I enjoy taking part in football for Bridgend town girls team and gymnastics for Penybont. In school, I love taking part in cross country for Oldcastle. and in school I am part of the choir, digital club, netball club and I am a Junior Leader.  I am looking forward to attending meetings and taking assembly.

Hello, I am Avya from Year 5A and I am part of the Junior Leadership team.  I enjoy being with my friends and never being alone, when someone is hurt or needs help I will give them support if they need it.  I love ball games and rounders and also I love motorsport, including Formula 1.      

PE Days - please note change to some year groups PE days

After half term PE will take place on the following days:

• Nursery - Thursday

• Reception - Monday

• Year 1 - Tuesday

• Year 2 - Thursday

• Year 3 - Wednesday

• Year 4 - Monday

• Year 5 - Tuesday

• Year 6 - Friday

Children should wear PE kit to school on their PE Day.

Years 1 to 6 Panto Trip Packed Lunch Order Form

Please complete this form by 24th November.

Children in primary schools are entitled to universal free School Meals and when your child takes part in a school trip they can be provided with a free packed lunch.  All children in years 1 to 6 will require a packed lunch on 17th December for the Pantomime trip.

Please complete this form to let us know if your child wants to order a free packed lunch from the school or if they will be bringing their own lunch on 17th December.  If you are ordering a free packed lunch please confirm the roll option required.

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.

Panto Trip School Meals

Remembrance Day

This year, our Remembrance Day display will be inspired by the famous installation at the Tower of London.  We plan to create an outline of our school on the stage and then drape netting from the windows. We will then attach the poppies created by our pupils to this netting. 

We would like to invite parents to help us create our display by creating a poppy at home. We would love to have any crafters help us out with a crochet or knitted poppy!  The template we will be using is detailed below.

Our display will be created in readiness for Remembrance Day and we would like to invite parents to view the display after school on Tuesday 11th November.

Nolton Church  Christmas Tree Festival

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.  

Christmas Concerts

Christmas concerts will take place on the following days and times.  There will be two performances per year group and parents / carers will be able to apply for up to 2 tickets for each performance.  Performances will take place in the School Main Hall.

Tickets will be £2 per person and payment can be made in cash on the door at the time of the concert.  

Due to health and safety reasons, we are limited in the number of people we can seat in the main hall so numbers will be strictly monitored based around the applications received via this form.

Please complete the Google form below each year group to reserve your tickets for the performances you wish to attend.

Nursery

• Monday 15th December 9.30am and Monday 15th December 2pm

• Nursery Ticket Application Form

Reception

• Tuesday 16th December 9.30am and Tuesday 16th December 2pm

• Reception Ticket Application Form

Year 1

• Friday 12th December 9.30am and Friday 12th December 2pm

• Year 1 Ticket Application Form

Year 2

• Wednesday 10th December 2pm and Thursday 11th December 9.30am

• Year 2 Ticket Application Form

Year 3

• Tuesday 9th December 9.30am and Tuesday 9th December 2pm

• Year 3 Ticket Allocation Form

Year 4

• Monday 8th December 9.30am and Monday 8th December 2pm

• Year 4 Ticket Allocation Form

Year 5

• Friday 5th December 9.30am and Friday 5th December 2pm

• Year 5 Ticket Allocation Form

Year 6

• Thursday 4th December 9.30am and Thursday 4th December 2pm

• Year 6 Ticket Allocation Form

Christmas Tree Donations

As we approach the festive season, we would like to share some exciting news and opportunities for you to get involved with our school community.

We are thrilled to announce that we will be decorating our school hall with a real Christmas tree again this year, and we need your help! We are kindly requesting monetary donations towards the purchase of a real Christmas tree to help us create a Christmassy atmosphere for our pupils, staff, and visitors in the lead up to Christmas.

Alternatively, if you are a local business that would like to sponsor a Christmas tree or Christmas activities in school, please do get in touch with Sara Peters at the school. By sponsoring a tree, or Christmas activity, you can have your name or business logo displayed, showcasing your support for our school.

Please get in touch via our email ask@oldcastleprimary.co.uk or by calling us on 01656 815790. Your generosity will be greatly appreciated and will help us bring the magic of the season to our school. 

Christmas Dinner Order Form

Christmas dinner will be served on Thursday 11th December. Please inform us if your child requires Christmas dinner, a packed lunch roll from the school or they will bring their own sandwiches.

A response is required for every child. Please complete a separate form for each child.

Normal school menu is not available on this day. Vegetarian and other dietary needs will be catered for.

Please return the form by 10th November to allow us to plan with catering services.

Christmas Dinner Order Form

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.  

Book a place here

Cash payment should be taken into the school office in an envelope clearly marked with your name and PTA Wreath Making.

PTA Disco - 18th November 

The PTA are holding a disco on Tuesday 18th November - 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 Google Form

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 started back on October 18th and took place in Pencoed Comprehensive. We were so impressed with the great turn out for the event. Fantastic to see so many children representing Oldcastle. Thank you parents for supporting the event.  The next event will be held at Bryntirion Comprehensive on Saturday 22nd November.

Oldcastle Rocks 2026!

We are being super organised and have popped a date in the diary for Oldcastle Rocks 2026!  Please keep the date free as we are promising a great family day with music and lots of activities.

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 95.1%.  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. 

Reception have learning about Diwali, the Hindu Festival of Lights this week.

Reception also enjoyed a visit from two local PCSO's this week.  The children loved learning about their job and how they help us in our community. 

Art Work of Barney

Chris Elmore MP Christmas Card Competition - closing date 4th November

We are pleased to share details of the annual Christmas card competition for Chris Elmore MP. This will be the tenth year of the competition and every year it’s getting bigger and better. Last year a pupil from Oldcastle was fortunate to win the competition! 

The winning design will be used as the official Christmas card for Chris Elmore MP and sent out to local businesses, community groups, politicians, and other friendly faces across the constituency. There’ll be prizes for 1st place and for two runners up. Every child who takes part will get a certificate, too – no one goes home empty-handed! 

This year’s theme is “What Christmas means to you” – a lovely chance for the children to let their imaginations run wild and show us what makes the festive season special to them.  Please use the template below to enter the competition. Designs can be returned to school and we will pass these onto Chris Elmore MP.

Here are a few handy tips:

• Keep it simple – sometimes less is more. If you are drawing a character, make sure it fills the space.  

• Try to use bright colours; try not to leave some of the space without colour unless it’s white for snow.  

• Stick to the template – it’s important for the printer that you stick to the size on the template. 

• Please keep your design in a Portrait format. 

• Make sure your name and class are clearly marked, this is so we can make sure we get your design back to you after we’ve announced our winner. 

• Don’t use glitter as it cannot be reproduced by the printers.  

• Don’t make your card too dark.  

• the printer can’t reproduce 3D cards. 

The closing date for entries is 4th November.

Christmas Card Competition Template

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.

Glamorgan Cricket

Glamorgan Cricket are  offering the chance to win a family ticket with food vouchers to Sophiaworks at Sophia Gardens Stadium on Wednesday 5th November. 

The competition is open to primary pupils in Years 1-6 and provides a fantastic opportunity to showcase your creativity by designing a firework-themed poster. Posters can be A4 or A3 in size, and any medium can be used, from drawing and painting to collage or digital art. All entries must be submitted in 2-D landscape format via email (a photo can be taken of your artwork) and will be judged by the team at Glamorgan Cricket. The final submission date is Monday 20th October, and the winner will be announced on Thursday 23rd October.

Participants can submit their posters by emailing to sophiaworks@glamorgancricket.co.uk.

Toddler Group

Returns after half term.

Local Panto

• 20th to 22nd October - Parents Evening

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

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

• 18th November PTA Disco

• 21st November - INSET Day

• 4th to 16th December - various Christmas concerts

• 17th December - Years 1 to 6 to the Pantomime

• 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 - 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.