We are very grateful for all the support our staff and pupils have received following the upsetting news of the passing of Miss Williams.  You will have received an email from us on Monday informing you that the inset day for 3rd June has been moved to 2nd May to allow our staff to attend the memorial service and show their respects.  

We are grateful for your support and understanding with this change of inset date.

For those who have expressed an interest in donating in memory of Miss Williams, her family has requested that all contributions be directed to the Marie Curie hospice that provided care for her during her final days. Donations can be sent to the school, and we will ensure they are forwarded to the hospice.  Please send in any donations by Friday 3rd May.

Inset Days 2024/25

Inset Days have been approved by School Governors for 2024/25 and they are as follows:

• Monday 2nd September 2024

• Friday 6th December 2024

• Monday 17th February 2025

• Friday 11th April 2025

• Monday 2nd June 2025

• Monday 21st July 2025

Food Pantry

Our food pantry has been relocated to our Community Room in school.  This allows parents to come in and choose items you would use rather than be provided with food .  The food that has been donated by Baobab Bach is surplus food provided by supermarkets.  The tinned and dry goods are well within use by date and are simply items that the supermarkets no longer require.  Please do pop in and look at our community room and the food pantry - all we ask is that you bring your own bag for life.  For £5 you can choose 15 items from the shelves.  Below is an idea of the type of items available.  

Community Room - Invite to parents and carers

We would like to invite parents, carers and grandparents to visit our new community room on Friday 3rd May from 9am and enjoy a cuppa with us. The new community room will be a space for parents and carers to pop into and meet other parents / carers and enjoy a cuppa.  

The Community Room is stocked with surplus food from supermarkets and we encourage parents to pop in and fill a bag at a bargain price.  We are fortunate to have lots of lovely store cupboard food as well as some fresh items delivered on a weekly basis.  Please remember to bring a bag with you!  

We also wish to inspire parents in creating healthy and cheap family meals and we are hoping to start up a cooking course that will educate and motivate participants to create healthy and nutritious food for their family.   As part of the course we would offer a short cooking course instructing parents how to create nutritious and cheap meals for your family.  We have been fortunate to link in with a volunteer with a background in home economics who will offer a short cooking course advising parents how to create nutritious and cheap meals for your family

We do hope you can come along to our open session and enjoy a cuppa and find out how we want to help families in our community sessions. A number of staff will be on hand to chat to and find out more about our school.

We understand that not everyone is able to attend on the Friday 3rd May - if you are interested in any more information or want to offer us any advice please use the form below.

Please complete this short Google form if you would like to attend.

Community Room Invite

Break time snacks

Please can we remind parents that break time snacks should be fruit. Thank you for your support

Class Newsletters

The summer term class newsletters have been uploaded to our website.  Please follow this link and click on your child's year group to view the newsletter.

Class Pages

Years 1 to 6 Sports Day

The years 1 to 6 sports day will be held on Friday 17th May in the Athletics Track in Newbridge Fields.

Children in years 1 to 3 will complete their events in the morning and years 4 to 6 in the afternoon.  

The timings for the day are as follows:

• 9.30am to 12pm - Years 1, 2 and 3 events - Children will return to school for lunch.

• 12.30pm to 3pm - Years 4, 5 and 6 - Children will need to bring sandwiches on this day.

The PTA will be providing refreshments on the day.  

Nursery and Reception Sports Day

Nursery and Reception sports day is now confirmed for Friday 24th May in the afternoon.  The event will take place in Heronsbridge School.  Please ensure that all children attend school with a bottle of water, a hat and sun cream applied.   We will walk the children to Heronsbridge at 12.30pm and we are hoping parents / grandparents can walk with your child.  If this is not possible please let us know.

Children may leave with parents / carers at the end of the event which will finish by 2.45pm.

The PTA will be providing refreshments on the day.  If you are able to help out please get in touch.  The PTA will also be hoping for cake donations for the event.  If you are able to donate a cake please bring into the main office at school drop off (9am), homemade cakes will require a list of ingredients included.  Thank you for your support.

Cross Country Competition and Presentation - Years 3 to 6

The final cross country competition of the school year will take place on Saturday 18th May at Bryntirion Comprehensive School.  Races start at 10am so please arrive at 9.30am.  Following the races there will be a presentation ceremony.

We hope to see our years 3 to 6 pupils at the event.

School Attendance

Attendance at school is important. Our whole school target for attendance is 95%.  This week's attendance was 93.2%.

Reminder - if your child is off school please ensure that you notify us by 9.30am.  

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

Thank you Graham Loveluck-Edwards for visiting our year 3 pupils yesterday and inspiring our children in the history of Coity, Newcastle & Ogmore castles. They loved hearing how Oldcastle Primary School got its name! Diolch yn fawr. 

Year 6 Annie production

Every Friday, we work on the year 6 production of Annie.  Every week I will be taking pictures of what is happening behind the scheme.  This will give you a sneak peek into the exciting preparation.  Lucas Year 6.

Netball Match

Well done to our year 6 netball team who played Tremains Primary School today.  The team played two games - Game 1 16-1 (Player of the Match Seren) and Game 2 5-10 Player of the Match Esmay).

Rugby Match

A fabulous afternoon for a game of rugby at Tremains.  Superb performances all round.  Seren Y Gem went to Aaron for his 4 tries and great tackling.  Thank you to our parents for their support and lifts to Tremains.

Nursery

This week in Nursery, we have been remembering what we have learnt about The Three Little Pigs.  We tried making houses out of straw, sticks and bricks, and we predicted which would be the strongest.    We have enjoyed building Numicon Cities.    We have also been learning about healthy lunch box choices.

Outdoor mud kitchen and art fun in year 2

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!

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

• Thursday 2nd May 2024

• Monday 22nd July 2024

Friday 17th May - Years 1 to 6 Sports Days

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

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

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. 

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.