Don't forget it's half term  next week and we return to school on Monday 6th November.

What a busy half term we have had.  The last eight weeks have flown by and we are now at the half term break.  We know its been a busy term and we have been delighted to see children settling back into school and developing in their new school year.   We hope our families enjoy the half term break and we look forward to welcoming pupils back to school on Monday 6th November.  We have a jam packed newsletter this week we hope you enjoy.

Discovery Week - Monday 23rd October to Friday 27th October

What a busy week we've had in Oldcastle!  Our first Discovery Week has been amazing and we hope our children have been telling you about their exciting learning projects they have taken part in. Hopefully you were able to pop into the main hall today and see the wonderful display of all the work the children have been doing this week.  Don't worry if you couldn't make  it there are lots of photos below for you to see. Thank you to Miss Matthews for planning and developing the idea behind Discovery Week.

Our junior leaders have been around the school to see what the pupils have been doing this week. Please read on for their account of Discovery Week .......

In Nursery they’ve learned about the difference between loud and quiet musical instruments. They made drums and guitars out of different materials and talked about it and how to make it loud and quiet with playdough such as putting it on the end of the stick so when they hit the homemade drum with it it would be quieter. Talked about what might be inside of maracas to make the sound. Predict what material would be louder and quieter. Making maracas and then singing songs with them. The children liked making the maracas and being loud outside and seeing what they could hear. 

In Reception they have been making soap and volcanoes and have been working with lots of different chemicals. They have been making butter and tasting it. They made clouds in a jar using ice and lots of different materials. They enjoyed the butter making the most because they got to eat it! They are so excited to make ICE CREAM!! They have been doing lots of their work in teams so they are getting so good at working together as a team! The children have said they have had lots of fun and have learned something new.

In year 1  they have been learning about gravity and launching rockets. The children's favourite part was making the rockets. They rolled pumpkins down a slope to see how fast or slow they go which helped them to learn about gravity. They used milk bottles to shoot feathers up in the air! They learned about Issac Newton and rockets, such as how to make rockets, launching rockets and watching rocket videos when the rocket's gravity floats down not up. They have been making marble runs and diva lamps/candles for diwali! They have made different types of rockets like mouse rockets and straw rockets to see what ones they like best and what ones work the best! They learnt that there isn’t any gravity in space! They wrote a postcard to their families as if they were writing it from the moon! The children's favourite part was making the rockets. 

In year 2 they have been building houses out of different materials independently! The children said that they really enjoyed making the roofs and making the houses look realistic! The children have enjoyed the craft aspect of the week and being creative! They are very excited for their parents to see the houses they have been working hard to build! They have been doing word searches to learn about different types of houses! They told us all about the different houses they learnt about like, bungalows, cottages, semi detached houses and more! 

In year 3 they have been making lego street lamps, learning about electricity and how it works.  They have made and designed lanterns. To make the lamps they have been using paper and plastic. They have tried really hard to draw designs for their lamps. The children created electrical circuits and have liked connecting the wires to send electricity to the light bulbs. When things didn’t work they kept trying until they succeeded. They have been working together in teams to figure out how to make the crafts! They thoroughly planned out how they would make it work

In year 4 they have written instructions on board games that have to be magnetic. They sketched them , played with different magnetic board games and magnets. They have made games.  They made two board games after everyone has finished writing. They were really excited to make their board games with different magnets.

In year 5 they have been making race cars, and adding extra cardboard to make them more aerodynamic. They are also making car logos and merchandise like in F1 going online and customising t-shirts and creating mood boards. Also  making  parachutes and learning about forces and seeing how strong some are. Making paper parachutes to learn about forces and how they affect the world, made the parachutes out of natural resources.

In year 6 they have been dissecting flowers and learning about different parts of the flower. They have learned about male and female flowers. On Tuesday they dissected a flower, looking at it through a magnifying glass and peeling it apart to see the different parts of it to see how a flower’s seed is made. They dissected a lamb's heart to learn all about the human heart. They have learned about the heart and how it works and the different parts of it. They have labelled the heart. They made stopmotions about the heart and how it provides blood for our body! They discovered how to record their heartbeat! And have found lots of little tricks to find out more about the heart eg: if you put a fist in the middle of your chest then roll it to the left that is the exact position and size of your heart, year 6 has also learned about different heart diseases.

You can also listen to our Discovery Week radio show by clicking here. - Radio Show 

Governors Annual Report to Parents

Please click below to view the Governors Annual Report to Parents.

Governors Annual Report 2022/23

All parents are invited to a meeting on Wednesday 15th November at 6pm in the main school hall to meet the school governors and discuss any aspect of the report.

Parents Evening Appointments

Thank you to all the parents that attended parents evenings this week.  We know how valuable these appointments are for both parents and teachers and we are delighted to be able to welcome parents into school for these appointments.

Thank you to the nursery parents who attended our drop in the afternoon to find out how nursery children have been settling into school ife and finding out what they have been learning since September.

If you would like to provide feedback on parents evening please complete this short form.  Parents Evening Feedback Form

Christmas Dinner

Christmas dinner will be served on Wednesday 13th December. Please inform us if your child requires Christmas dinner or if they will be bringing their own sandwiches on the allocated day - a response is required for both options. Normal school menu is not available on this day. Vegetarian and other dietary needs will be catered for.

Payment for the Christmas dinner should be made to your child's dinner account via Bridgend County Borough Council website. The cost of the meal is £2.20. Please ensure payment is received before Monday 11th December. Christmas lunch will not be served to any child with no credit on their account.

Please complete a separate form for each child.

Please complete the form by 17th November to allow us to plan with catering services.

Christmas Dinner Form

School Swimming

6I will start a week of swimming from 6th November and 6M from 13th November.  

All children attending swimming lessons will require a packed lunch. Children will require a swimming costume, towel and goggles.

Christmas Concerts

We know its early to be talking about Christmas but we appreciate that parents like to be given plenty of notice regarding Christmas concerts.  Christmas concerts will take place on the following days and times.  There will be two performances per year group and parents / carers will be able to apply for up to 2 tickets for each performance.  Tickets will be £1 per person and payment can be made in cash on the door at the time of the concert.  Please complete the google form below to reserve your tickets for the performances you wish to attend.

• Nursery - Our First Nativity - Nursery Ticket Application Form

• Reception - Happy Birthday Jesus - Reception Ticket Application Form

• Year 1 - Christmas Show    - Year 1 Ticket Application Form

• Year 2 - Christmas Around The World - Year 2 Ticket Application Form

• Year 3 - Christmas Around The World - Year 3 Ticket Allocation Form

• Year 4 - A Star For Christmas - Year 4 Ticket Allocation Form

• Year 5 - Christmas in the 80's - Year 5 Ticket Allocation Form

• Year 6 - Christmas At The Movies - Year 6 Ticket Allocation Form

School Attendance

Attendance at school is important. Our whole school target for attendance is 95%. This week the attendance across the school was 93.1%.

Criw Cymraeg 

Shwmae! Macy ydw i ac Isla ydw i.  We are two Year Six Criw Cymraeg members, and we are going to tell you what we've been up to the past few weeks. 

We have been encouraging everybody to speak more Welsh. We are running our own assemblies where we welcome everyone into the hall by using Welsh. We introduced the phrase and word of the week and asked teachers who their Siaradwyr yr Wythnos (Welsh speaker of the Week) are.

Last week we had a coffee morning with parents to teach them more Welsh so that children would be encouraged to use Welsh at home and in the neighbourhood and not just in school. Our Criw Cymraeg hosted this event. 

On Shwmae Day our Criw Cymraeg encouraged everyone to learn Welsh and took our new mascot - the Draig Coch on the yard to teach games to the children.

This week we have been playing games on the yard with different year groups. 

On Friday afternoon we went to teach Nursery and Reception Welsh and played some games. 

We have announced our new competition to name the dragon on the radio station. Each class will be able to suggest a name for the dragon and Criw Cymraeg will decide the winner. We wonder what his name will be? 

Hwyl am nawr!

School Dentist Team

The school dentist team will be visiting on Monday 6th November to administer fluoride varnish to children in nursery, reception, year 1 and 2 whose parents have provided consent.

School Vacancies

We have a vacancy for a part time Administration Officer.  Please click here for more information.

Dinner Money

Payment for school dinners should be made via the Bridgend Council website.  Please ensure your child's account has funds at least 48 hours before they require a school dinner.

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

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

Nut Free School

Please can we remind parents that we strive to be a nut free school as we have a number of pupils who have a severe allergy to nuts.  

This includes nut products such as peanut butter and nutella. 

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.  

Christmas Wreath Making

The PTA are delighted to offer a wreath making workshop on Tuesday 28th November from 6pm to 8pm in the main school hall.

Entry is £35 and includes all materials needed to make your festive wreath, hot drinks and festive treats. Places are limited.

To reserve a place please complete the booking form below.  Places are limited and will be allocated on a first come first served basis. A booking form will need to be completed by each attendee. A £10 deposit will be required by 10th November and the remaining balance required by 24th November.  

Christmas Wreath Making

We love to hear about all of the exciting achievements of our pupils during out of school activities. Please share any successes with us at ask@oldcastleprimary.co.uk and include a photograph and details of the achievement to be included in future newsletters. 

Discovery Week Photos

Discovery Week Display

Keep Mi Sessions

Some Reception families have taken part in our Keep Mi sessions this week.  The project supports learning and play at home and provides families with a range of resources to use at home.  We were delighted to receive these photos to show how the boxes are being used at home.

Language and Play Session

This week we read the book ‘Rainbow Fish’, a lovely story about friendship and sharing.  The children and their grown ups had fun creating their very own CD Rainbow Fish and used celery sticks to print scales on their fish picture.  Mrs Diehl was very impressed with all the children’s work and their lovely singing.  Da iawn!  LAP will return after half term on  Thursday 9th November.   

• 30th October to 3rd November - October Half Term

• 6th November School Dentist Team

• 6th November to  10th November - 6I Swimming

• 13th November to 17th November - 6M Swimming

• 15th November - Governors Annual Report to Parents Meeting 6pm

• 4th to 6th December - Year 6 Residential Trip to Culmington Manor

• 21st December to 8th January - Christmas Holiday

The next Parents Evenings are planned for week beginning 11th March 2024.

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

• Monday 3rd June 2024

• Monday 22nd July 2024

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

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.