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.
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:
Nursery - Tuesday and Wednesday evening and Thursday throughout the day
Reception Y - Monday and Tuesday
Reception H - Monday and Tuesday
1O - Tuesday and Wednesday
1L - Monday and Tuesday
2D - Tuesday and Wednesday
2C - Monday and Tuesday
3A - Tuesday and Wednesday
3S - Tuesday and Wednesday
4T - Monday and Tuesday
4E - Monday and Tuesday
5P - Monday and Tuesday
5R - Tuesday and Wednesday
6I - Monday and Tuesday
6M - Monday and Tuesday
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
Duffy
July
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.
Nursery & Reception - 3pm to 3.45pm
Year 1 & Year 2 - 4pm to 4.45pm
Year 3 & Year 4 - 5pm - 5.45pm
Years 5 & Year 6 - 6pm to 6.45pm
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.
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
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
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:
Monday 4th September 2023
Friday 22nd December 2023
Monday 19th February 2024
Friday 22nd March 2024
Monday 3rd June 2024
Monday 22nd July 2024
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.
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.