We hope you all had a lovely half term holiday and enjoyed the little bit of good weather we had to get out and about. We are now in the final part of the school year and we are looking forward to all the exciting learning and events that are planned this term.

Congratulations to Miss Hughes in Reception who got married over the May half term.  

Careers Week

We started off the term with a bang straight into our Careers Week!  Careers Week is a fantastic opportunity for children to learn about a variety of career choices.  This year each year group focussed on a project based approach and children have really enjoyed.  

There has been so many photos / videos collated by our teaching team that we have decided to document these in a Careers Week Google Sites.  Please click below to view what our children have learnt during Careers Week.

Careers Week 2024

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.  

Here's a taster of the cast, along with a reminder to year 6 parents to order your tickets.

Bump Up Day - Thursday 4th July

Bump Up Day is when we announce who your child's teacher will be for the next academic year.  Children will congregate in the main hall for a morning assembly, and we will announce the class teacher for each class.  Children will then be able to visit their new classroom and get to know their new class teacher.  Year 6 pupils will visit their new secondary school on this day.

Once our assembly has finished, parents will be emailed with details of the new class teachers and the location of their child's new classroom.  We always enjoy Bump U Day and know that children get excited to find out who their teacher will be from September 2024.

Wellbeing Team Poster Competition

We announced the winners of the Recycling Competition posters in assembly this morning.  Well done to Ava, Evie and  Isabella - we look forward to displaying your posters around the school.  It was a really hard choice for the wellbeing team  to choose the winning posters.

There was a fantastic selection of entries and here are just a small selection of the entries we received.

Enrichment

We started a new term of enrichment this week.  This term year groups are doing the following:

Reception - Outdoors and gardening, art and painting

Year 1 - clay, art and outdoor fun

Year 2 - Digital skills, construction and photogrpahy

Year 3 - Cricket / rugby, tennis or badminton

Year 4 - Karate, line dancing and short film review 

Year 5 - STEM

Year 6 - Annie Production

Football at break times

Class representatives have devised a new scheme for the playing of football at break and lunch times. The new system was launched to pupils in assembly today.  Class teachers will appoint a class referee every day who will be able to ensure that football is played in an appropriate manner. 

Bridgend Library Summer Reading Challenge

Bridgend Library visited Oldcastle this morning and launched the Summer Reading Challenge in assembly to all pupils.  This year theme is Marvelous Makers and children are encouraged to read a variety of books throughout the summer.  Children who sign up to the challenge will receive a prize every time they swap their book in the library, and following the 6 visits they will receive a certificate and a medal in a school assembly in the new school year.  The Library will be launching the challenge in a fun day on Saturday 13th July in Newbridge Fields.  Parents please check the library social media  pages for more information.  

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.  

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. 

If you volunteer with us we will be in touch with how you can register to receive time credits.

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

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.

Class and Team Photos

Tempest Photography will be in school next Wednesday 12th June to take class and team photos.  Please can children attend school in normal school uniform for the photos. Children who have represented the school in sporting events should bring PE kit to change into for the photo.

Headlice

We are being informed of a number of cases of headlice throughout the school. Please can we ask that parents check their child's hair over the weekend.  Thank you for your support.

School Attendance

Attendance at school is important. Our whole school target for attendance is 95%.  This week's attendance was 91.5%.

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 was the last of the Nursery Outdoor Learning sessions.  The theme was ‘birds’ and the book that we read was ‘The Dawn Chorus’ about a bird called Peep who wanted to join the other birds singing in the dawn chorus, only to discover that he was actually a Nightingale and his talent was to sing at night.  The children and their grown-ups made some bird feeders out of lollipsticks and some lovely bird pictures.  They also went on a bird hunt in the nursery outdoor area and had a visit from ‘Polly the Parrot’.  A big thank you to the parents and grandparents that have come along and supported these sessions and also to the nursery staff who have helped Mrs Diehl over the past 4 weeks. 

Enrichment

Year 5 enjoyed a walk to Newbridge Fields this week as part of their outdoor learning sessions.

Rugby Success

Congratulations to the following year 5 children who received an award during the end of season rugby presentation for Bridgend Sports Under 10's last weekend.

• Boaz D - Supporters Player of the Year

• Osian T - Spirit of the Sports

• Aaron D - Player of the Year Backs

• Aled H - Spirit of the Sports

• Frankie F- Participation Award

• Jackson H - Participation Award

• Henry W - Participation Award

• Freddie B - Participation Award

• Logan P - Participation Award

• Dominic Z - Participation Award

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 - Open Session

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

• Friday 21st 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.