Today in assembly our junior leaders did an excellent presentation to the school on the school values for November - Friendship and Forgiveness.  Well done Bette, Gabriella, Izzy, Avya and Gracie Rose.   Here's a copy of their presentation.

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. 

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.

Huge thank you to Peter Robinson for coming into school on Thursday to talk to our children from years 2 to 6 about his experience in the Welsh Guards. The children were delighted to hear about his experience and learn about the medals he had been awarded. Peter also talked about what Remembrance Day meant to him. We were so proud of the children and their knowledge and interesting questions. Diolch yn fawr Peter! 

Tesco Stronger Starts Blue Token Scheme

We are delighted to receive £1500 from the Tesco Stronger Starts Scheme thanks to the support of the local community in the blue token scheme. The funding will be used to support the School’s Community Food Pantry and help tackle food insecurity.  To boost funds for extra food and activity equipment, Tesco introduced a £5m grant programme, in partnership with charity Groundwork, to give children across the UK a stronger start in life.

We are thrilled to support our families and community by providing food and other essential items through our Community Pantry. Thank you Tesco and Groundwork.

Catering Team Success

We are delighted to learn that Sarah and Caroline from our School Catering team achieved an award in the Welsh Government Food and Fun Award Ceremony earlier this week.  Well done both we are so pleased for your recognition.

Nolton Church  Christmas Tree Festival - Make a Christmas Decoration

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.  

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

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

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

Thank you for all the donations we have received towards our Christmas tree fund we are very grateful for the support and can't wait to have our tree on display. 

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

Schools Cross Country Years 3 to 6

The next meeting of the Schools Cross Country Competition for children in years 3 to 6 will be held on Saturday 22nd November in Bryntirion Comprehensive School.  

School Choir

Our School Choir are looking forward to performing at two large events in the run-up to Christmas.  Firstly, the choir will be performing on the stage at the Bridgend Town Christmas Lights event on Saturday 29th November at 4pm. The children will then be performing at the annual Cor Bro Ogwr concert at the Tabernacle Church in Bridgend on Saturday 13th December. Exact details of timings will be emailed to parents shortly.

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. We hope you can enjoy this warm space to get together with friends or meet new people.

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. 

Year 5 went to Newbridge fields to take photos of human and natural features showing different angles. We classified the angles and on return used digital skills to create and measure them.  he children thoroughly enjoyed the visit.

Bridgend Town Council Remembrance Parade

As a school, we will be taking part in the ‘Children & Family Remembrance Parade & Service’ on Saturday, 8th November 2025.  The Service will take place in Bridgend Town Centre and is organised by Bridgend Town Council.  Our junior leadership team will be representing the school in a parade from the top of Wyndham Street to the War Memorial.  A short family friendly Remembrance Service will take place at the War Memorial and we invite members of our school community to join the service at the War Memorial.

The parade will start at 10.40am and the service will start at 10.45am.

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.

Toddler Group

• 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.