What a busy week we have had with two new initiatives launched in the school.  

We were delighted to start the community food pantry, in partnership with Baobab Bach, on Tuesday.  We are very keen to support our families and identified a need to act as a hub to provide reduced cost food bags to families who may be struggling as well as help with food waste. Each bag costs £5 and a one off membership cost of £1.   Membership cards are available from Oldcastle Primary School and the Food Pantry will be open every Tuesday between 2pm and 3pm.

If we can help please do get in touch with us via the school office, ask@oldcastleprimary.co.uk email or speak to a member of staff.   

Please let us know if you would like to purchase a bag next week.  The bags are available to everyone and are not means tested.

We are also asking parents who may be able to donate food and toiletries to us for distribution to families in need.  We ask for donations of tinned, packaged, long life food or any toiletries.  If you are able to donate please drop the items into main reception.

Baby and Toddler Group

We also launched our brand new baby and toddler group this week.  The group will continue every Wednesday morning in the main hall.  More information is available on the Toddler Group dedicated Facebook page.  Baby and Toddler Group 

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.

Family Thrive Sessions Form

British Sign Language - Come learn sign language with us!

Week 2 of our British Sign Language lessons - this week Florence and Seren provide an introduction to sign language.  The aim is to continue with the sign language lesson in each weekly assembly and build upon whole school knowledge of sign language.  We wanted to share this video with parents to allow your child to show you what they have learnt and to practice at home.  

Reading Events

Thank you to those parents who attended our reading presentation events recently.  If you were unable to attend you can find out more information on reading at Oldcastle and view the presentations here.  Reading Presentations

Enrichment

We started a new enrichment programme today for all our pupils.  We have a range of exciting opportunities for pupils this term including:

• Nursery - Arts and crafts and outdoor den building

• Reception - Dance, Salt dough or cooking

• Year 1 - Climbing frame, painting or construction

• Year 2 - Dance, coding, STEM or board games

• Year 3 - Recorder, sketching or Minecraft

• Year 4 - Tennis in the Tennis Club or Fitness in the Recreation Centre

• Year 5 - Rugby or Netball / Ball Skills

• Year 6 - Stage design or digital production

Welsh Assembly

Today's assembly was a Welsh Assembly and Miss Craven and the Criw Cymraeg reminded the children how to say when their birthday is in welsh.  Hopefully children and parents will be able to practice at home.

• Pryd mae dy benblwydd di? When is your birthday?

• Mae fy mhenblwydd  ym mis _____.

Ionawr- January

Chwefror- February

Mawrth- March 

Ebrill- April

Mai - May 

Mehefin- June

Gorffennaf- July

Awst-August

Medi- September 

Hydref- October

Tachwedd- November

Rhagfyr- December  

Criw Cymraeg.

Criw Cymraeg have finally announced a name for our draig! It was a tricky decision but we have settled on .. Dewi!   As well as having a name for our Draig, we also chose a word of the week and a sentence of the week; 

• Pryd mae dy benblywdd di?

• When is your birthday? 

• Cerddwch.

• Walk 

Nursery Open Event for Prospective Parents

We are delighted to invite prospective parents to attend an Open Event at the school on Tuesday 30th January. We have two session times at 10am and 4pm available for parents and their children to call in to see our lovely facilities. You will also get a chance to meet Barney our well-being dog! For more information and to book a place please follow this link.

 Nursery Open Event Booking Form 

Applications for full time nursery September 2024

Applications for full time nursery from September 2024 are now open via Bridgend County Borough Council website.  Please click here to apply. https://www.bridgend.gov.uk/residents/schools-and-education/school-admissions/apply-for-admission-to-school/ 

School Attendance

Attendance at school is important. Our whole school target for attendance is 95%.  This week's attendance was 95.8%.

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

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

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.  

Fire Service Visits

Thank you to Bridgend Fire Service for visiting this week and speaking to our year 2 and year 6 children about fire safety.  Looks like we have some budding fire fighters!

Year 6 had a lovely visit to Newbridge Fields on Wednesday to look at tree heights, ages of trees using their estimation and calculation skills. Barney enjoyed the visit too!

Barney enjoyed a lovely sleep after his trip to Newbridge Fields!

Reception have had a busy week sorting and collecting natural objects from around the yard, and building  on their number knowledge.

Year 1 have been learning about body parts in a vary hands on way!

Year 2  have been learning about how the earth, sun and moon work together to make day and night.

This week in Nursery

We have been learning about mini beasts and where they live.  We also went on a bug hunt.  We have been practicing writing our names and ordering numbers to 5 and 10.

Enrichment Friday

Today in enrichment Reception H made sandwiches. We linked in with our story - I will not ever never eat a tomato. We chose our bread and spread butter onto the bread. We then had a choice of fillings including cheese, tomato, jam or a mixture of the different fillings. We then had to slice our sandwich in half. We chose either a rectangle or a triangle. We then enjoyed eating our sandwiches together at the end of the activity.

Year 6 have had an exciting day! Lots of the children auditioned for roles in Annie The Musical - the end of year production. We were asked to prepare a piece of dialogue and perform a song in the hope of winning the parts we wanted. We will find out soon who got what part!

During Enrichment we found out how our stage works at Oldcastle. We also found out about different roles in the theatre and learnt that every person in a show on stage and behind it has a special part to play.

BCBC Budget Consultation

Like all local authorities across Wales, and the UK, Bridgend County Borough Council is facing significant financial challenges and as a result the local authority are seeking the views of residents on the budget situation for 2024-25.  To provide your views please click on the link and complete the online survey.

BCBC Budget Consultation

Wales Young Poet Award

You may be interested in this competition run by Poetry Wales.  The award is open to anyone who is a minimum of 10 years old, as of the 31st Dec 2023. 

Theme for 2023 is Peace, which poets are encouraged to interpret in any way they choose. Poetry Wales are working together with the Wales Centre for International Affairs Peace Schools Scheme to provide resources and support for discussing and exploring this theme. 

Please follow this link for further information about the competition and how to enter. Poetry Wales Award

Free menstrual products subscription

If you’re under 25 years old and live or attend school in Bridgend County Borough, you could receive free menstrual products thanks to our partnership with Grace & Green, a leading provider of eco-friendly period products. 

Sign up to receive products directly to your home address or collect from a local pick-up point. 

https://www.bridgend.gov.uk/residents/children-and-young-people/bridgend-youth-support/free-menstrual-products-subscription/

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

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.