Wow what a busy school year it has been.  2023/24 has flown by and its been another exciting year in Oldcastle.  We are so grateful to all your support over the past year. On occasions, it has been extremely challenging, but the support of our school community has been invaluable.  

Today, we say farewell to our year 6 pupils who will be starting their new school journey in September.  We will miss them but know they are ready to enjoy the next chapter.  

There are lots of lovely photos in this newsletter that we hope parents enjoy.

A look back at 2023/24

September

School values - Determination and Perseverance

September is always an exciting month when we return to school and we all get to know each other again.  Pupils learn to settle into their new class and new teacher and get to find out the exciting things planned for the school year.  September 2023 was no different. We relaunched enrichment with lots of exciting activities for pupils to take part in on a Friday afternoon.  We held interviews for our year 5 junior leaders and Seren and Florence from year 6 were delighted to welcome Harry and Ava to the JLT team.

October 

School Values - Respect and Responsibility

October was a busy month as we launched our first Discovery Week.   The first Discovery Week was amazing as children immersed themselves in STEM subjects.  All classes completed a specific project and showcased these to parents at the end of the week.  We achieved the Siarter Iaith Bronze Welsh Award in October.

November 

School Values - Friendship and Forgiveness

November saw us start a partnership with Baobab Bach and we started helping them develop the community garden in Ty Penybont on Merthyr Mawr Road. Our school governors published their Annual Report to Parents and held an open meeting for all parents.   We also achieved the Siarter Iaith Silver Award in November, the Criw Cymraeg worked so hard to ensure we achieved the award with very strong and attractive evidence clearly displayed and celebrated around the school.   

December 

School Values - Compassion and Hope

In December our year 6 pupils made their way to Culmington Manor to enjoy 3 days of fun and activities.  The residential is always a highlight of the year for our year 6 pupils and this year was no different with many children saying 'it was the best time ever!'  We celebrated Barney's 3rd birthday in December - he loves being spoilt and everyone singing Happy Birthday to him.

January

School Values - Community and Service

January saw the launch of our Community Food Pantry and Toddler Group.  We were so pleased to launch these initiatives, and we are delighted to see the number of people attending the toddler group and benefitting from the food pantry.  We are looking forward to starting these community initiatives back up again in September 2024. 

February

School Values - Co-operation and being a good citizen

Following half term, we launched Welsh Week to immerse children in all things Welsh.  Children took part in lots of activities in preparation for our Eisteddfod in March.    We launched our Wellbeing team in February.  The team are Year 2  - Libby, Year - 3 Evie and Harriet, Year 4 - Milena and Izzy, Year 5 - Henry and Year 6 - Carys and they had the aim to "Develop an ethos of happiness and kindness, whilst caring for each other, our community and the wider world".   We also acknowledged Children's Mental Week.

March

School Values - Learning and Effort

At the beginning of March we held our annual Eisteddfod. We are always delighted to see such talent in the children with performances, art, handwriting and poetry competitions. We always finish the day with a Chairing of the Bardd who is the year 6 pupil who has won the poetry competition.  Well done to Ty Melyn for being the overall winners of the Eisteddfod.  We were delighted to receive a very special handmade sword from Mr Price that will be used every year as part of our Chairing of the Bardd ceremony. Our amazing PTA arranged a very successful disco which raised much needed funds for the school.

April 

School Values - Showing Gratitude

In April we were devasted to share the sad news of Miss Williams', our year 5 teacher, passing. She was a cherished member of our school community. As a dedicated teacher, Miss Williams touched the lives of countless pupils, colleagues, and families during her teaching career. Her dedication to her pupils and her commitment to fostering a positive learning environment was evident to all who had the privilege of knowing her. Her presence is greatly missed by both pupils and staff alike. Her enthusiasm for education and warm demeanour has left a lasting impression on our school community.  We were incredibly grateful for all the support we received during the very difficult period.

May

School Values - Care and Generosity

Our year 5 pupils led a very special cake sale in May to raise funds in the memory of Miss Williams.  The cake sale raised in excess of £500 for the Marie Curie Cancer Charity.

Sports Days were held in May for all pupils.  The year 1 to 6 sports day was very successful, and the rain held off for us.  Well done to Ty Melyn for being victorious overall.  The nursery and reception sports day was held in Heronsbridge School and was a lovely event for all the children, parents and carers.  We were so grateful to have the support of our PTA at these events, providing refreshments.  We held an official opening of our Community Room as we launched the facility.  We do hope parents and carers will make use of this facility from September.

June 

School Values - Honesty and Trust

Careers Week was held in June with the aim to inspire, motivate and educate children in the world of work.  This year, each year group has completed a project and investigated a variety of careers.  It's always fantastic to see children inspired by a variety of careers.  We launched cooking sessions for parents in this month and we look forward to further developing these in September.

July

School Values - Taking and Managing Risks

What a busy July we have had. We started the month with the hugely successful Oldcastle Rocks event organised by PTA.  Every year we build on the success of the event and we were delighted to find out that the event raised a profit of £3300.  The event is a perfect way to bring our school and wider community together and we are very grateful for all the support we receive.  We hope to plan the event next year and we will share a 'save the date' message with you to ensure you can make it!  Our Wellbeing team worked hard to ensure that we retained the Eco Schools Platinum award.  Parents and carers were invited into school to view their children's books, and we sent home the end of year reports.  The last week of term is very busy for our year 6 pupils with three performances of their Annie production and a Leavers Presentation.  All children enjoyed an end of term reward on Thursday to round off a successful and happy year.

What an amazing end of year production our year 6 children put on for the whole school, their parents and carers this week.  The children have worked so hard over the last few months and we are so proud of them all. 

We held a really lovely presentation for our year 6 pupils and their parents on Wednesday evening.  We were fortunate to hold the event outside to recognise each and every one of our year 6 pupils.  Miss Lincoln and Miss Matthews spoke about every child following an introduction from Mrs Littlewood. Each child was presented with a leavers hoody, thanks to a donation from the PTA, and a digital copy of a year 6 yearbook.

A formal presentation followed when some pupils received individual awards and these are detailed below.  Well done all.

The evening finished with a BBQ and refreshments for the pupils and their families.  Thank you to everyone that helped make the event so special for our year 6 leavers and their parents.

Year 6 ringing the bell leaving school for the last time!  

To celebrate the end of the year, we held a Rewards Day on Thursday, and the children were treated to a fun-filled day of inflatables, activities, and ice cream! Throughout the year a staggering 132,599 reward points have been collected by children!

Click on the image to view all the images in the carousel

Nursery

Reception and Year 1

Year 2 and Year 3

Year 4, Year 5 and Year 6

Our school kitchen staff enjoying an ice cream!

PTA

We are so grateful to our PTA for everything they do for the school. An Annual General Meeting was held in November where the chair of the PTA stepped down from the role.  Angela Minton has been a driving force behind the PTA for a number of years, and we are very grateful for all that Mrs Minton has done for the school.  A new chair, Lowri George, was appointed at the meeting, and the excellent events and fundraising continued.  We are so grateful for all the support that we receive from all members of the PTA. We hope parents can continue to support us - if you would like more information on the PTA, please click here.

School Savings Club

If you have any queries regarding the school savings club during the summer holidays, they can be contacted through their website at Bridgend School Savings - Part of Bridgend Life Savers Union or by visiting the main Bridgend Lifesavers Credit Union office where they can continue to save their pocket money.

If you have any other questions, you can find lots of information at Bridgend School Savings - Part of Bridgend Life Savers Union. You can contact us through the website (including during the school holidays) or email at damianf@blscu.co.uk.

Resources Request

Our Nursery to year 2 classes will be looking for donations of some resources in the new school year. We will remind parents in September but here's an idea of the things we will be looking for.

Volunteer Army

As a school we are extremely grateful to the support we receive from parents, carers and members of our local community.  We would like to grow our Volunteer Army and are asking for you to complete this short form if you can help us at all. We understand that you may not be able to commit to every week so please let us know what you would be interested in helping out with, along with days and times that suit you.    

All volunteers will be rewarded with  Tempo Time Credits. For more information on Time Credits please follow this link.  Tempo Time Credits | Uniting Volunteers, Businesses & Charities (wearetempo.org)

Volunteer Google Form

Food Pantry throughout the summer holidays - The Bridge Community Hub

We are delighted to announce that we have partnered with The Bridge in Bridgend Town Centre who offer access to a food pantry.  The Pantry is available to all Oldcastle parents and carers, and operates on a membership system similar to our pantry.  Membership is £1, and you can choose 10 items for £4.  Please do pop into  The Bridge, which is situated in Dunraven Place in Bridgend.  

The Bridge also offers a variety of support for families throughout the summer holidays to promote social inclusion and community participation in events.  

Parents will be interested to know that the organisation provides a free packed lunch for everyone under the age of 16 throughout the school holidays.  Parents can simply pop in and request a free packed lunch.   In addition to the free packed lunch, The Bridge offers a 'Feed the Community' option every Wednesday, which allows you to receive a free meal between 11am and 2pm.

Every Monday in The Bridge, activities for children are organised, including t-shirt making, clay modelling and arts and crafts.  The activities are offered between 12.30pm and 1.30pm and should be pre booked.  More details are available on their social media accounts.  Please refer to the poster below.

We do hope you are able to make use of The Bridge Community Hub facilities throughout the summer holidays. As well as the free food and children's activities, they also operate as a child-friendly cafe and would love to see you there.

The Bridge also offers a range of volunteering opportunities. If you are interested, please pop in and chat with the friendly team.

School Attendance

Attendance at school is important. Our whole school target for attendance is 95%.  This week's attendance was 90.9%.

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

Pupils will learn the following as part of our Honesty and Trust school value throughout June : 

• Understand what their environment is and how to care for it

• Explore being honest and what happens if we are dishonest

• Discuss a time when they have been honest/ dishonest - explore feelings

• Discuss people who they trust - what makes them trustworthy? 

• Understand who to talk to if there is a problem - trusted adult/ friend

• Understand that everyone is different and has unique views and beliefs

• Explore music and share opinions and differences in musical preference

Huge congratulations to Boaz, Frankie and Aaron for getting into the Bridgend District U10 rugby squad. Well done boys.

Well done to Mared from year 3 who took part in the ‘Made in London’ StageCoach performance at the Sony theatre a few weeks ago. We are very proud of you Mared.

Nursery had a fabulous time on Wednesday afternoon at their very own Teddy Bears Picnic.  We made our own jam sandwiches and they were delicious. Our teddies had a fab time too! 

Year 3 Oldcastle Town Project

Last assembly of the year

We held our last assembly of the year this morning to send off our year 6 pupils and wish everyone a safe and relaxing summer holidays.  Barney made an appearance to say farewell to the year 6 pupils!

Last day of term Staff vs Year 6 Netball Game

As is tradition after assembly today staff played the year 6 netball teams in two thrilling matches!  It was very competitive. Well done to everyone who took part in very warm conditions! Player of the Match chosen by the year 6 pupils for Team 1 was Mrs Hemming (score 2 all), and Player of the Match for Team 2 was Mrs Harris (score pupils 3 - staff 10)

Click on the image to view the image carousel.

Summer Tennis Camp

Bridgend Libraries Reading Challenge

Don't forget to get involved with the Bridgend Libraries reading challenge this summer.

Awen Cultural Trust will launch the 2024 Summer Reading Challenge and their summer programme of library activities with a fun-filled, family event at Newbridge Fields in Bridgend on Saturday 13th July from 12 – 3pm. The event is supported by Bridgend County Borough Council.

‘Fun in the Park’ will include inflatables, movement and dance sessions, giant games, storytime and crafts, a treasure hunt and much more. Bridge FM will be broadcasting live from the event. All activities are provided free of charge.

This year’s theme for the Summer Reading Challenge, which has been run by The Reading Agency in partnership with public libraries since 1999, is ‘Marvellous Makers’. The aim is to fire up children’s imaginations and unleash storytelling and creativity through the power of reading.

Over the school summer holidays, Awen Libraries will run a programme of events including African drumming workshops, Craft Junction workshops, Zack Franks Movement and Dance workshops and Carl John, The Magic Man, workshops. Visit our ‘what’s on’ section or pick up a leaflet from your local library.

Fit, Fed and Fun camps will be run this summer out of rugby clubs in the Bridgend region with the emphasis being on the children being provided with breakfast and lunch alongside rugby activity.   For more information please follow this link. Ospreys in the Community Rugby Camp

School Uniform Exchange

The McArthurGlen Bridgend ‘School Uniform Exchange’ is a one stop shop for pre-loved school uniform where you can kit out the kids for the new term and recycle last years items all in one place.

Drop off your pre-loved donations at our Guest Services between 15th July and 16th August. Donations can include clothing, shoes, coats and bags and all we ask is that they are of good quality so that someone else can benefit from them.

On Saturday 17th August, our dedicated uniform shop will be open and all of the school uniform donated will be available for guests to collect for free. Guests are welcome to take anything they may need ahead of the new school term.  Opening times and location of the uniform shop will be announced shortly, keep an eye on our social media for updates!

More information is available here. Uniform Swap

Free places to eat in the summer

Children return to school on Tuesday 3rd September

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

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.