Week 23 - Friday 8th March 2024

Jambori

Year 6 took part in our first Jambori today in Bridgend Recreation Centre. Year 6 pupils from across our cluster schools took part in the event to join together in a celebration of Welsh singing, poetry and dance. The pupils have been practising for a long time and we were so pleased to see our pupils performing in the event. Da iawn pawb. 

Healthier Schools Campaign

Oldcastle Primary School has been working closely with our cluster schools to develop a Healthier Lunch Box campaign.  Through this campaign, we will be encouraging all pupils to make healthy food choices.

Children from our cluster schools which include Penybont Primary School, Tremains Primary School Brackla Primary School, Litchard Primary and Brynteg School, came together to learn about healthier lunch box choices and how to make lunch boxes more cost-effective.  The children researched food to help pupils and parents make improvements to lunch boxes that will save money and aid sustainability.

Carys and Henry, two pupils from Oldcastle Primary School said “We enjoyed working on the project and hope to encourage pupils to talk to their parents about their lunch box. For instance, parents could consider buying a large block of cheese and cutting this into portions instead of buying the pre-packaged individual cheese portions. These are much more expensive and have a lot of plastic wrapping’.

Please take a look at their video designed to offer advice on healthier lunch boxes.

VIDEO-2024-01-22-20-10-21.MP4

School Budget

You may be aware that following a BCBC Cabinet meeting last week school budgets will be cut by 3% for the next financial year April 2024 to March 2025.  For Oldcastle Primary School this represents a cut to our budget in the region of £48,000.  We will of course focus our efforts to ensure we provide the same level of learning opportunities for our pupils and look for alternative funding opportunities.  We are very grateful to support from our parents and local businesses.  If you would like to discuss funding / sponsorship opportunities with us please get in touch with Sara Peters - Grants, Media, Health and Safety Manager.

Parents Evening

Parents evening appointments will take place next week. Appointments will take place in your child's classroom.  

Appointments will take place on the following days for each class:

Year 6 End of Term Production

The year 6 end of term production is always memorable as children start planning and preparing for the production.  This year we are delighted to announce that the production will be Annie!  

We will be announcing all cast members over the coming weeks - this week we announced the roles of Pepper, Duffy and July. Please click on the clip below to reveal who will be playing this role.

Pepper

5. Annie Production Launch.mp4

Duffy

6. Annie Production Launch.mp4

July

7. Annie Production Launch.mp4

Food bags are available weekly (apart from school holidays) please do get in touch if you would like a food bag for £5.  Email us on ask@oldcastleprimary.co.uk 

International Women's Day

On International Women's Day, Mrs Littlewood attended a ceremony to unveil a plaque to commemorate Caroline Williams who was a champion of female education.   ‘Radical’ colliery heiress Caroline Williams – one of nine children – was instrumental in establishing women’s access to higher education in 19th-century Wales,  Described as a “radical”, her liberal mind and passion for the advancement of women were second to none known in Wales at that time. Throughout her long life she worked hard and did much to better the education of women. Caroline Elizabeth Williams was the first-born child of Dr John Morgan Williams and Caroline Whitesmith of Newcastle Hill, Bridgend. 

Schools Cross Country Years 3 to 6

There is a schools cross country competition this Saturday CCYD,  the comprehensive opposite the swimming pool in Ynysawdre.

We look forward to seeing you on Saturday please meet at 9.30 am for a 10 am start.  Staff will be on hand to provide the bibs

Lost Property and Free Uniform

We have a massive amount of lost property once again.  Please ask your child to take a look or pop into main reception if you have lost any items. 

Don't forget we also have lots of free uniform available - the rails are placed in the school reception area.  Please call in or speak to a member of staff in the yard. 

Baby and Toddler Group

Don't forget  we run a baby and toddler group every Wednesday morning during term time from 9am to 11am.  Baby and Toddler Group 

We love seeing the babies and toddlers coming each week to the Toddler Group - over the last couple of weeks the children and parents have been very creative!

School Attendance

Attendance at school is important. Our whole school target for attendance is 95%.  This week's attendance was 93.6%.

PTA Disco

Don't forget it is the PTA Disco next Friday 15th March.  If you have completed the google form your child's name will be on the list to enter.  The cost of the disco is £2.50 per child and this is payable on the door.  

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. 

Bins

We do apologise for the state of our car park area where our bins are kept.  We have been let down by our waste collection company Veolia who have failed to collect rubbish for a two week period.  Please be assured that we are addressing this and hope to have the issue resolved as soon as possible.  

School Values

The school values for March is Learning and Effort

Throughout the year we will implement the following values each month.












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.

 

 

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

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

 Numbers and Play Sessions

It was the last session of Numbers and Play this week.  The children and their grown ups had lots of fun listening to the story of ‘Tiddler’ and working on their cutting skills to make some brilliant jellyfish.  We also played a fishing game, did some lovely number printing and sang the song ‘Once I Caught a Fish Alive’.  Mrs Diehl would like to thank all the children, parents and carers who have attended over the past six weeks and also say a big thank you to Miss Lewis for all her help.  Make sure you look out for the next Nursery and Play sessions which will take place in the summer term. 

Forces Fitness Session

Years 4 to 6 were lucky to have a visit from Forces Fitness this week who delivered an exciting session on wellbeing, team building and resilience. The children provided some excellent feedback and obviously enjoyed the session. Here's some of the feedback comments received:


"I would like to say an amazing thanks because you made fitness fun and the fun and games"


"I loved it. It was the best."


"I enjoyed and want forces fitness to come back"

World Book Day

World Book Day is all about sharing the love of reading and on Thursday our older children enjoyed reading with our younger pupils.  What lovely photos we have to share with you. 

Enrichment - Ukulele

IMG_0637.MOV

Pupil Success

Well done to Lottie from year 5 who gained her 'ultra marathon' wristband for completing her 51st park run last weekend!  Well done Lottie on your commitment and achievement.

Squash Success

Heidi entered the South Wales Junior Open and played up a category in the U13 Girls. She had a great weekend achieving runner up.   The last major tournament of the British squash season is this weekend and Heid is off to Warwick this evening  for the girls  to compete in the England squash gold tournament.  Goodluck!

Community News

SHINE Sessions

We would like to invite parents and carers into school on Thursday 14th March to meet the SHINE team.  Staff will be on hand to speak to parents about the service they offer.

The new initiative works collaboratively with Children and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS), schools and other multi agencies to offer schools in reach emotional and well-being support.

The SHINE team will be delivering an introductory session on Thursday 14th March between 2pm and 3pm. Please see leaflet below for further information.


ALN Information Session

Bridgend and District Schools FA

Useful Dates

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:

Next inset day is Friday 22nd March

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.

Safeguarding

In the event that you have a concern regarding a child please follow this procedure:

More information on Safeguarding at Oldcastle can be found on our website.