Happy Half Term holiday.  Have a lovely holiday. We welcome children back to school on Monday 3rd June.

We can't believe it is time for another half term break.  This term has been very difficult on occasions and we are very grateful to all the support we have received from our school community.  We hope that you all have a restful and relaxing week and recharge ready for the final part of the summer term.  We welcome children back to school on Monday 3rd June.

Nursery and Reception Sports Day

Today we held our Nursery and Reception sports day and what a lovely event it was.  The children all ran beautifully and really enjoyed participating in the fun events.  Thank you to our staff for ensuring the children were ready to have fun in the running race, obstacle course and egg and spoon race.  Thank you to our parents and carers for helping walk the children to Heronsbridge and supporting all the children throughout the afternoon.  Finally, thank you to our PTA for being supportive and providing refreshments at the event.

Cross Country Competition and Presentation - Years 3 to 6

Well done to our pupils who attended the Schools Cross Country Competition last Saturday morning. We were very impressed to see so many Oldcastle faces at the last race of the season considering we had sports day the day before!  We were delighted to learn that Oldcastle had success in the following events:

• 2nd place for Aaron - individual boys

• 1st place - boys years 5 and 6

• 3rd place - girls years 3 and 4

On Monday, we held a celebration assembly to recognise the success of all those we attended the cross country competition.

Celebration Assembly

During the celebration assembly we also recognised the children who represented the school in football and rugby tournaments.

Sports Day Winners Cup Presentation

Finally in the assembly, we presented the Sports Day cup to the winning house captains from the sports day.  Rosie and Esmay were delighted to receive the cup on behalf of Yellow House.

Year 5 Poetry Workshop

Year 5 took part in a Poetry workshop this week with Rhian Edwards as part of a hook lesson for their Governance concept. Each class wrote a collaborative poem highlighting topics they felt were injustices in our World. They worked incredibly hard and debated some complex subjects. Year 5 will have a rap battle soon in which they will perform the poems to each other. 

Thank you so much to Rhian for taking the time to come in and inspire the children to create their own poems and raps. 

Well done Year 5 the poems are great.

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.

Careers Week - 3rd to 7th June

When we return to school after half term we will be straight into our Careers Week.   Careers Week aims to inspire, motivate and educate children in the world of work.  This year, each year group will be completing a project and investigating a variety of careers. We look forward to sharing information with our visitors 

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!  The PTA are busy planning the event and we are looking forward to having a range of musical performances, a BBQ, bar, bouncy castles, and so much more.  

Universal Free School Meals - Year 5

We have been advised that Year 5 children will move to the Universal Free School Meal provision on June 3rd 2024 following the May half term. 

Your child will be entitled to a free school meal from this date onwards, if your child's account is showing a negative balance it is imperative that the account is brought up to date prior to May 24th, as this could affect the transfer.  If your child has a balance of £10 or more in their dinner account you will be sent a form in order to reclaim the payment, we are not able to send out the forms until after June 3rd.  Should you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact the school office.

Cooking Sessions

We would like to invite parents into school to take part in a cooking session.  We have been fortunate to link in with a volunteer who has knowledge of creating some exciting meals!  We want to help parents learn easy techniques to prepare some cheap and nutritious meals for your family.  We hope to be able to use some of the food from the food pantry too. We will provide all the food and the equipment for the session.

We are excited about these cooking sessions and we hope that you can attend.  Due to the nature of the session, the places are limited.    The session will take place on 25th June 9.30am to 11am.

Cooking Session Sign Up Form

Time Credits

We are delighted to let you know that we have signed up to Tempo Time Credits which is a scheme we can use to reward our volunteers.  We are always extremely grateful for the support of volunteers and we are delighted to be able to provide a reward for time provided to the school.  Volunteers earn Tempo Time Credits as part of a reward and recognition scheme for the invaluable work they do within their communities.  These Credits can be exchanged for a range of services and activities provided by local and national Recognition Partners.  We are in the process of setting up volunteers and look forward to being able to issue Time Credits.  Further information will be shared following half term.

Year 6 Market Place Bundles - Donations Required

Dear parents and carers of Oldcastle pupils,

Our Year 6 pupils have been working hard learning all about fast fashion and Year 6 teachers decided it would be a great idea to allow parents and carers to donate old and unwanted baby and children's clothes for those families who may need it.

After you donate any clothes your children have grown out of or don’t wear anymore we will put those donations together into a bundle by size. These bundles will be given to families in our community who are in need of clothes or can make use of them for their children or to a variety of local charities. The bundles will include information about the clothes inside (Sizes etc…) on the top so you know just what you’re getting!

These clothes will be donated to those in our community all with the help of your old clothes! We would be grateful if you lend a helping hand to our pupils who are giving to our community!

Donations would be much appreciated to start the children's journey of learning the importance of giving to others in need. Please drop clothes suitable for babies to aged 11 years into the school office.

Many thanks,

Year 6 Team.

The pupils have created a radio advert to promote the marketplace scheme - please listen here

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 93.7%.

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

Outdoor Language and Play

This week in our Outdoor Learning session, we read the book ‘Mad About Minibeasts’. The children used natural things they collected last week from Newbridge Fields to make a ‘Bug Hotel.    Other activities included making a wiggly worm out of cereal hoops, minibeast art from natural resources, ladybug number matching and a bug hunt.   Our last session will be Thursday 6th June. Have a lovely half-term! 

Year 3 has been learning about volume and capacity and making estimations, and they enjoyed learning outside this week.

This week in Nursery

We can’t believe that we only have 7 weeks left in Nursery, after half term!  The children have worked very hard and we are incredibly proud of them all.  This week we have been using 10 frames to practise our subitising skills and we have had lots of fun outside building a ball run.   We have made pictograms to show our favourite fruits and used numicon to complete addition sentences.

Barney wishes you all a happy school holiday. He is looking forward to more play time with sticks in the holiday!

Swimming

Well done to Gethin from year 5 who took part in the Tiger Bay swimming competition in Cardiff last weekend, representing Bridgend County Swim Squad with Swimming clubs from all over south Wales.  He entered 50m Freestyle and 50m backstroke, achieving a Personal Best in both and a bronze medal in freestyle. His next competition is next month. Good luck Gethin.

Netball

Well done to Sofia from year 5 for competing with her netball team the Bridgend Bolts in the under 10's Glamorgan Valleys Netball tournament last weekend. The team beat 7 other teams to win the tournament overall. Da Iawn Sofia!

Cricket Success

Well done to Aaron and Gethin from year 5 who have been selected to train with Cricket Wales South - well done both!

Squash Success

Well done to Heidi in year 5 who travelled to Macclesfield last weekend to compete in the England Squash Silver tournament. She achieved 1st place without dropping a game all weekend. 

Shine Emotional Support

The Shine team will be visiting Oldcastle Primary to host a coffee morning and workshop for parents and carers.  The session will be very informal and provide information for parents on how to ensure positive emotional well-being in children.  We do hope you can come and benefit from the session and help your child build resilience.  

The Shine team will host two sessions - Monday 10th June 2pm to 3pm, and Tuesday 11th June 9am to 10am.

Shine Emotional Support

Please see below information from the Shine Team

Nutrition Family Event at The Bridge

Community Room

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!

Football Club News

We have been asked to share this information with parents from Asthma and Lung UK.

10th June - 5P to Sony

10th June - Shine Session and Coffee afternoon at 2pm

11th June - Shine Session and Coffee morning at 9am

12th June - Class and Team Photos

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

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.