Friday 10th May - Cake Sale to raise money for Marie Curie Cancer Charity

We held a cake sale after school today to raise money for the Marie Curie Cancer Charity in memory of Miss Julia Williams.   We were delighted to receive so many donations - thank you for your support.

We haven't fully counted the money donations yet but we believe that there is in excess of £500 to be donated to Marie Curie from the cake sale.

Community Room

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.  

We will be requiring the help of parents to walk to the fields Years 1 to 3 will leave school at 9.15am and return at 12.15pm.  Years 3 to 6 will leave school at 12.15pm and may be collected by parents from the fields at the end of the day. Staff will walk the remaining children back to school following the events.

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.  They will be very grateful to receive cake donations on the day - these can be taken directly to the fields or dropped into main reception before 9am.

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.

Year 6 Annie production

Year 6 pupils are getting excited about their end of year production, Annie.  Cast members have been learning lines, scene designers are busy getting the stage design ready and digital leaders are documenting the process.  The children will be performing to their parents and carers on 16th and 17th July.  Parents will be emailed details of how to apply for tickets.

Year 6 Leavers Assembly

Year 6 parents are invited to a year 6 leavers assembly on Tuesday 16th  July at 5.30pm. The assembly will include a presentation and a bbq for the children and parents / carers.

Oldcastle Rocks 

We are delighted to announce that the PTA will be holding Oldcastle Rocks again this year.  The fantastic family event will take place on Saturday 6th July so save the date!

School Meals - change to dinner menu

The catering team will be changing the menu on Thursday 6th June for the one below to commemorate the 80th Anniversary of the D-Day landings.

School Attendance

Attendance at school is important. Our whole school target for attendance is 95%.  This week's attendance was 92.1%.

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

This week in Nursery

We have been reading The Gingerbread Man and talking about the story and the characters. Next week we are going to make gingerbread men, so we found a recipe and made a list of ingredients that we need. We have enjoyed painting gingerbread men. We have been understanding the concept of ‘one more’.

Outdoor Language and Play

On Thursday, the nursery children and their grown-ups attended their first Outdoor Learning and Play session and were lucky enough to have lots of beautiful sunshine.  The theme of the session was ‘Our Garden’ and our storybook was ‘The Extraordinary Gardner’.  This tells the story of a boy called Joe, who, by planting one tiny seed, changed his and his neighbour’s grey world into a beautiful garden.  The children planted their own sunflower seeds to take them home to look after and watch them grow.  They also made sunflower pictures using pasta, a potato masher, paint and some wool.  We ended the session with some lovely songs, including ‘The Sun Has Got Its Hat on’.  Mrs Diehl can’t wait to see how high the sunflowers will grow!  

We are planning to go on a nature hut walk down Newbridge Field next week, so if you have a little bucket for your child to put their things in, please bring one.

Year 2

5R enjoyed the sunshine playing cricket in Newbridge Fields this afternoon.

Well done to Oliver, Zach, Jacob, Reeve, Henry and Morgan of year 4 who took part in a charity football event at the Cardiff City Stadium last weekend, raising money for the Children’s Ward at the Princess of Wales Hospital. £3500 was raised for the event. Well done boys! 

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

Friday 24th May - Nursery and Reception Sports Day (Afternoon)

Half term -  Monday 27th to Friday 31st 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

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.