Over the past two weeks we have arranged 16 Christmas concerts and we can't be more proud of our children and staff for putting on such lovely concerts. We have been delighted to be able to invite parents and carers into school again to see the children perform. All year groups have been fantastic and unfazed standing on the stage in the main hall in front of so many people.

Thank you to our amazing PTA for providing refreshments at each of the concerts and arranging such lovely hampers for the raffle. Thank you to everyone that attended the concerts and showed support - we hope you enjoyed.

Next week is the last week of term before the Christmas break and it is going to be another busy week! On Monday we have a special event organised by the PTA which will kickstart the Countdown to Christmas - see below for more details. On Tuesday, Nursery and Reception have a special Christmas activity (children may wear Christmas jumpers if they wish).

On Wednesday, children in years 1 to 6 will visit Porthcawl to see the pantomime in the Grand Pavilion. We will be leaving promptly on Wednesday to ensure we get to Porthcawl in time for the performance. Please help us by ensuring the children are in school in time for registration at 8.55am. All children attending the Pantomime will need to bring a packed lunch on this day to eat on their return to school. Children will be able to take a small packet of sweets (not chocolate) and a carton of juice / water. Please ensure children wear school uniform on the day of the Pantomime.

We know the children will love all the exciting activities planned for next week!

School Christmas Dinner

This week, our catering team served 390 Christmas dinners to children in all year groups! What a feat it was to get all those children into the canteen and served a lovely hot Christmas dinner. We are very grateful to our catering team for the seamless delivery of the meal serving the children turkey (or a vegetarian option), sausages, roast potato, mashed potato, stuffing ball, broccoli, peas, carrots, sprouts and gravy! There was a lovely selection of desserts for the children to choose including Christmas pudding, chocolate cake, ice cream, or a cookie. Wow there were lots of full tummies after the Christmas dinner.

Countdown to Christmas Event

We are delighted to announce to parents and children that the PTA are arranging a very special day on Monday 19th December ! The Countdown to Christmas Event will hopefully mean that Father Christmas will be able to visit as long as the Grinch doesn't have his way!

Children may wear Christmas jumpers on Monday.

Children's Books

We hope parents are able to come into school on Monday and view your child's fantastic work. On Monday 19th December, we will hold a Parent Book Look where your child will be able to share all of their exciting learning with you. Staff will not be available on this night as we would like the children to lead the event. Members of the leadership team will be on hand should you have any questions throughout. The book look will take place from 3.15pm to 4.45pm.

After school there will be a PTA Cake Sale in the Main Hall if you wish to grab a cuppa and cake while you catch up with other parents.

We hope to hold other events similar to this throughout the year so don't worry if you can't make this one.

PTA Cake Sale -Monday 19th December

The PTA will be holding a cake sale after school on Monday 19th December for children, parents and carers. The PTA will be running a Christmas Cake competition on the 19th December and we hope that parents and carers will support by entering cakes into the competition. We've always been overwhelmed with the quality and variety of cakes that are entered so we hope you can support on this occasion. All cakes entered into the competition will be sold at the cake sale. Please can cakes be brought into school on the morning of the 19th December. If you are able to donate cakes but do not wish to enter into the competition this is fine just leave your name off the donation. Please can you label any homemade cakes with a list of ingredients. Please note we cannot sell any cakes with nuts in them.

Thank you for your support. The cake sale will coincide with the Children's Book Look - see details above.

House Rewards

The reward tokens for this term have been counted today and we look forward to sharing the results with pupils next week. The collection boxes have been very full this term so we can't wait to inform the children next week how many tokens have been collected. Children will also find out what the rewards are for this term next week.

House rewards will take place next week

PE Days

Children should wear P.E. kit to school on the day their class has a P.E. session.

• Reception - Monday

• Year 1 - Tuesday

• Year 2 - Monday

• Year 3 - Tuesday

• Year 4 - Wednesday

• Year 5 - Thursday

• Year 6 - Wednesday

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.

Cross Country Competition - Years 3 to 6

This Saturday (December 17^th) the third event of the cross country season will be held at Porthcawl Comprehensive School. Children in years 3 to 6 are invited to attend - please meet at 9.30am. Mrs Evans will be on hand to coordinate children and enter them into the events.

In the new year the following dates have been scheduled:

Saturday January 28^th – CCYD

Saturday March 11^th – Pencoed Comprehensive

Saturday April 29^th – Bryntirion Comprehensive

The organisers of the cross country will publish details of children's names and the results on their Facebook page - if you do not wish your child's name to be included please speak to Mrs Evans at the event.

Scarlet Fever

We have advised parents this week that we have seen an increase in the number of cases of scarlet fever present in school. Please familirise yurself with the symptoms and follow the advice from Public Health Wales.

The symptoms of scarlet fever include a sore throat, headache, fever, nausea and vomiting. This is followed by a fine red rash, which typically first appears on the chest and stomach, rapidly spreading to other parts of the body. On more darkly pigmented skin, the scarlet rash may be harder to spot, but it should feel like 'sandpaper'. The face can be flushed red but pale around the mouth.

If you think you, or your child, have scarlet fever:

• see your GP or contact NHS 111 as soon as possible.

• make sure that you/your child takes the full course of any antibiotics prescribed by the doctor.

• report the illness to the school.

Please inform the school if your child develops chickenpox or is diagnosed with Scarlet fever. If your child has an underlying condition which affects their immune system, you should contact your GP or hospital doctor to discuss whether any additional measures are needed.

Although scarlet fever is usually a mild illness, it should be treated with antibiotics to minimise the risk of complications and reduce the spread to others. If you or your child display symptoms of scarlet fever it is important to stay at home, away from nursery, school or work for at least 24 hours after starting the antibiotic treatment, to avoid spreading the infection.

Admissions to school

Please refer to the Bridgend Council website for details of applications to school, currently applications are open for children moving to secondary school and children moving from nursery to reception.

BCBC School Admissions

Contact details

We regularly email and send App messages to parents - please ensure we have up to date contact details for you to ensure you keep up to date with school news. You can either email us with change of details (ask@oldcastlprimary.co.uk) or complete the change of details form.

Christmas Concerts

Year 5

Year 5 have thoroughly enjoyed reading Cogheart over the past few weeks. Their ideas and thoughts have been collected on the working walls. Some fantastic ideas, Year 5, well done.

Inset Days 2022 / 23

Inset days for this academic year are as follows:

• Monday 5th September 2022

• Monday 7th November 2022

• Tuesday 8th November 2022

• Friday 31st March 2023

• Friday 26th May 2023

• Monday 24th July 2023

Term Dates - all term dates are available to view on our website

• Autumn Term finishes on Friday 23rd December 2022.

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.

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