Week 15 - Thursday 21st December 2023
Barney Birthday
Today we celebrated Barney's 3rd birthday - his actual birthday is on Friday but as we are not in school we wanted to make sure we celebrated today. Barney loved the attention and enjoyed the whole school singing him happy birthday in our assembly. We are so lucky to have such a lovely, patient and kind dog in our school.
Christmas Concerts
Once again we thank parents and carers for all your support for our Christmas concerts. This year we put on 16 concerts for over 1350 people! Thank you so much for supporting us and the PTA. The PTA and their volunteers worked so hard to provide refreshments for all our visitors. Thank you all!
Choir Performance
We are delighted to share a very special school choir performance with you following a collaboration with the Those Damn Crows. Our choir performed beautifully and we are so pleased with the result. We would like to thank Those Damn Crows for providing our children with the opportunity.
We shared the video with the choir children on Wednesday afternoon and they were enthralled! We hope you enjoy.
PTA Countdown to Christmas event
What a lovely day we had on Tuesday thanks to our wonderful PTA. Children enjoyed a visit to see Father Christmas in his Grotto, made a Christmas decoration and enjoyed a disco with the Chopsy Elf! What a lovely day.
Christmas Productions
On Monday nursery and reception children enjoyed a lovely visit from The Littlest Elf to kick start their final week in school for 2023.
Pantomime
On Wednesday, children in years 1 to 6 enjoyed a visit to Porthcawl Pavilion to watch Beauty and the Beast. All 308 children were very well behaved and thoroughly enjoyed the performance. We were delighted to see a past pupil Ceri-Ann Thomas playing the role of Belle and the children were thrilled that Ceri Ann came out at the end of the performance to wave our school off.
Family Thrive Sessions
We are delighted to offer parents and carers the opportunity to attend the Family Thrive for Parents and Carers Course. This course will consist of six sessions and will introduce you to the key principles of the Thrive Approach in an accessible way so that you are better able to understand and support the work that is being done in Oldcastle.
It covers topics such as: How our brain develops, how to support your child in times of difficulty, and how to be a behaviour detective. It will start on Thursday 25th January and end on the 7th March, this will include a one week break for the February half-term holiday.
If you would like to attend please fill in the form below to express your interest. Numbers will be limited, but further courses will be run to meet demand. Please see the information leaflet attached for more detail and feel free to contact Mrs Diehl if you have any questions.
The session will run from 9am to 11.30am. Please complete the form below if you are interested in attending.
Don't forget we break up for the Christmas holidays on
Thursday 21st December and return to school on Monday 8th January.
Oldcastle Toddlers
From Wednesday 17th January we will be starting a new Toddler Group in Oldcastle Primary School. Pre booking is essential please message us through our new Oldcastle Toddlers Facebook page to book a place. Places are limited.
Please like and share the Oldcastle Toddlers page.
School Attendance
Attendance at school is important. Our whole school target for attendance is 95%.
BCBC Attendance Meeting
Parents are invited to attend an attendance meeting on Monday 29th January from 9.15am to 10am. The session will allow parents to understand the importance of good attendance. The session will be run by BCBC Early Help team.
If you would like to attend please complete this form BCBC Attendance Meeting
Well-Being Parent Questionnaire
We are seeking parents views on well-being in Oldcastle Primary School. As part of our overview of well-being we have sought opinions from pupils and staff, and we would now like to understand parental opinion. Please complete the short questionnaire and let us know your views.
Thank you for your support.
Schools Cross Country Years 3 to 6
Last Saturday the years 3 to 6 cross country competition took place in Porthcawl Comprehensive School. Well done to everyone that took part. It was a cold and wet morning and it is always lovely to see some of our pupils representing the school in these events.
Nursery Universal Free School Meals
Important message for Nursery parents – Universal Primary Free School Meals
All pupils attending Oldcastle's nursery class will be offered a free school meal under the universal primary free school meals programme from 8th January 2024.
All Nursery children will automatically benefit from the provision and there is no application process for parents and carers to complete. Reception class, and Years 1 to 3 already benefit from this provision and will continue to do so.
PLEASE NOTE - It is imperative that all nursery dinner accounts are brought up to date prior to the 8th of January, please ensure there is no outstanding debt on your child's account.
School Values
The school values for December is Compassion and Hope
Throughout the year we will implement the following values each month.
September - Determination and Perseverance
October - Respect and Responsibility
November - Friendship and forgiveness
December - Compassion and Hope / Understanding and Patience
January - Community and Service
February - Co-operation and being a good citizen within society
March - Learning and Effort
April - Showing gratitude
May - Care and Generosity
June - Honesty and trust
July - Taking and managing risks
School Vision
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
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.
Contact details
Please ensure we have up to date contact details for you to ensure 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.
School Photos
For their weekly project, Year 6 were tasked with using Minecraft Education to build a replica Home Alone house. They had zip wires, basement boilers, tarantulas, Christmas trees, presents, vans and other brilliant details.
3S took part in a protest today in school demonstrating through the corridors this afternoon to round off their concept where they have been learning about education for all and human rights.
Pupil Success
Tennis Success
Well done to Daniel OB from year 6 who has been recognised for his tennis achievements recently. Dan won the U10's, U14's and U18's doubles age groups in the recent Bridgend Tennis Club presentation event. Dan also plays tennis for South Wales and has been selected to play with the Wales national team in Cardiff. Well done Dan such great news.
Useful Dates
22nd December - Inset Day
8th January - Return to School
The next Parents Evenings are planned for week beginning 11th March 2024.
Inset Days 2023/24
Inset Days have been approved by Governors for 2023/24 and they are as follows:
Monday 4th September 2023
Friday 22nd December 2023
Monday 19th February 2024
Friday 22nd March 2024
Monday 3rd June 2024
Monday 22nd July 2024
P.E. lessons this term will take place on the following days. Children attending school should wear their P.E. kit to school on the day of their lesson.
Nursery - Thursday
Reception - Thursday
Year 1 - Wednesday
Year 2 - Monday
Year 3 - Thursday
Year 4 - Tuesday
Year 5 - Wednesday
Year 6 - Monday
Safeguarding
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.