Another week has flown by and we have been very busy in Oldcastle with lots of exciting and interesting learning happening throughout the school.

On Thursday we have celebrated our two year anniversary since we announced that Barney was coming to Oldcastle! How much has he grown since that day!!  It is so lovely to see and hear the children enjoying seeing Barney in school - it is definitely one of the best things about Oldcastle Primary School!

National Golden Retriever Day

We couldn't let Golden Retriever Day on Friday 3rd February go unnoticed either!  Today we invited some golden retriever friends into school for Barney to play with!  The other golden retriever dogs all belonged to children at the school and they all had a fantastic time playing on the yard.  We held a short online assembly for all our staff and children to see the dogs having fun. Thank you so much to the parents of the following dogs for bringing them in to have a play with Barney - he was certainly excited to have friends over to play in the yard!

• Molly 16 months old

• Lili 4 years and 6months old

• Cyril nearly 4 years

• Mila 1 years old

• Gus 1 year old

• Nala 2 years old

Assembly

We held a whole school assembly this morning and children were greeted into the hall by some beautiful piano playing by some of our pupils.  Teagan, Zoe, Eliza and Hannah were completely unfazed by the 400 children and staff in the hall whilst they were playing.  Well done girls.  

Mrs Littlewood congratulated the children on supporting the Velindre Wear Red fundraiser today as we had a sea of red in the hall this morning.  Miss Ellett led the children through some new and old songs for the singing assembly and we hope your child will remember some of the words to sing for you at home.  

Miss Craven joined Miss Ellett to teach the children the chorus from the Welsh National anthem.  It was a lovely moment to hear all the children and staff singing the chorus from the anthem.  Here is a copy of the chorus for children to to practice at home!

• Gwlad gwlad, Pleidiol wyf i'm gwlad

• Tra môr yn fur i'r bur hoff bau

• O bydded i'r hen iaith barhau  

Industrial Action

Thank you for your understanding on Wednesday in relation to the NEU strike action.   As previously mentioned we intend to look at each strike day individually based on the information we hold. We will write to you again on Wednesday 8th February to update you about the school's position on February 14th.  For information the strike days announced are as follows:

• Tuesday 14th February

• Wednesday 15th March

• Thursday 16th March

Wear Red for Velindre

Today we were a sea of red in Oldcastle as we supported the Wear Red for Wales and Velindre fundraising campaign.  Thank you for all your support we are delighted to announce we have raised over £328.60 for the Velindre Cancer Charity 

Eco Schools Platinum Award

We are delighted to announce that we have retained the Platinum Eco-Schools status!   

Keep Wales Tidy administer the scheme and said "Being awarded Eco-Schools Platinum status is a fantastic achievement. The school, staff and pupils should feel proud of their hard work and commitment.   I enjoyed reading your case study linked to outdoor learning, what a transformation and it’s great to see it being used by so many year groups."

Well done everyone!

Welsh Week

We are looking forward to celebrating Welsh Week during week beginning 13th February.  Our Welsh Week was hugely successful last year and we know children will be preparing entries, learning welsh songs and dancing in readiness for our Eisteddfod on 1st March.  Children will be working hard throughout the week producing some amazing artwork, writing poetry, learning welsh songs, and taking part in folk dancing to name a few of the activities!  They will also be dragon feeding which is always great fun!  

We will be launching Welsh Week with children on Friday 11th February.

Cross Country

Well done to all the pupls that took part in the schools cross county at CCYD (Comprehensive School opposite the swimming pool) last Saturday 28th January.  We had some great results as a school and it was pleasing to see so many pupils and parents supporting the event.

Safer Internet Day

Safer Internet Day will take place on Tuesday 7th February and as a school we will be raising awareness with pupil to remain safe online.  This year's theme is 'Making space for conversations about life online'. This focuses on encouraging the children to voice their views, stories and opinions. In their classes, pupils will be discussing age appropriate ways to understand how to keep themselves safe online.  

Nursery Open Day

We are delighted to invite prospective parents to attend an Open Event at the school on Thursday 9th February.  We have two session times available for parents and their children to call in to see our lovely facilities.  You will also get a chance to meet Barney our well-being dog!  For more information and to book a place please follow this link Nursery Open Day 

Eisteddfod

We are looking forward to our Eisteddfod on Wednesday 1st March when we will celebrate all the hard work that the pupils and staff have put into Welsh Week.  

The day will start with an assembly and we will learn who will be crowned this year's Bard.  This traditional ceremony has taken place in Oldcastle for a number of years and the Bard is awarded to a year 6  pupil who has won the poetry competition.  During the ceremony, the Bard is 'robed' by her fellow classmates.   Once the ceremony is completed the Bard will read their winning poem to the rest of the school via the online assembly.  All children will be able to celebrate the achievement to congratulate the Bard.  We look forward to sharing photos with you.

Throughout the day, all pupils will be showcasing their Welsh week performances in singing, poetry and folk dancing within their house colour groups and staff will judge and award points to the winning house.  Our house captains will be busy on the day announcing the winning house after each performance.  We will also be announcing the art and poetry writing competition winners. 

Finally, at the end of the school day, we will also be announcing the winning 'house' in an online assembly.  All points accumulated from children's participation in Welsh week and the Eisteddfod will be totalled and the winning house will receive our Eisteddfod trophy! 

Children may wear house colours or welsh costume to school on 1st March.

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. 

Past pupil success

So amazing to see our past pupil Joe achieve his dreams recently. Joe  was a dedicated pupil at Oldcastle in particular raising funds every year for the Poppy Appeal and starting up a pupil newsletter!  From a young age, Joe knew what he wanted to do in life, and we are so proud to see him taking part in his first Changing of the Guard in London earlier this month with The Band of the Irish Guards after completing military and musical training. This is a military ceremony well known around the world. How amazing Joe - we hope Joe will be able to visit us and inspire more pupils to follow his footsteps.

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.

Applications are open from 9th January for admission to nursery with a start date from September 2023

BCBC School Admissions

Headlice

Please can we ask that parents check your child's hair over the weekend as we have had reports of headlice.

Roller skating success

Well done to Gabrielle & Dominique from year 2 and 3, who participated in the Cardiff City Roller Skating Gala last weekend. 

• Gabrielle achieved Gold for New Comer Solo dance and Gold for Beginners routine

• Dominique achieved Bronze for New Comer Solo dance and Silver for Beginners routine 

Well done girls!

Football Sessions

We have been provided with information on football sessions in the local area which may be of interest

Tennis Sessions - Information received from Bridgend Tennis Club

Half-Term Tennis Camps

Monday 20th - Thursday 23rd February

Under 5's 10-11am

5-11 years 10-1pm

The popular Holiday camps combine fun and learning and are designed for all levels of players. Run by our professional, CRB checked coaches our Holiday camps take place every half term and during school holidays. Children will be put into age and standard specific groups to ensure every player gets the maximum out of their tennis experience. We advise players to bring plenty of drink and a snacks and we have rackets to borrow if you need.

Book through the club website: Bridgend Lawn Tennis Club / Holiday camps in bridgend (lta.org.uk)

Nursery

This week in the nursery the children have been learning about the importance of washing their hands,  discussing their emotions, practicing and recognising our numbers and writing letters.  They have also made Chinese lanterns.

Year 5

Year 5 playing capture the flag, inspired by our Literacy work from Percy Jackson. 

Mr Campbell came to visit Year 5 to share his wealth of knowledge and experience of flooding and flood defences to help with our environment concept. The children had a visit to see the River Ogmore and learn about the flood defence and wildlife habitats.

Enrichment

So lovely to see such lovely activities taking place throughout the school and beyond for our Friday afternoon enrichment programme.  This term we have such a variety of activities taking place including line dancing, cooking, gardening, lego, science experiments, fitness, tennis, fencing, felt, digital skills, textiles to name a few!

Inset Days 2022 / 23

Inset days for the remainder of the school year

• Friday 31st March 2023

• Friday 26th May 2023

• Monday 24th July 2023

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

• February Half Term - Monday 20th February to Friday 24th February

• Easter Holidays - Monday 3rd April to Friday 14th April

• May Half Term - Monday 29th May to Friday 2nd June

• School year finishes on Friday 21st July

Sony Workshop

Years 5 and 6 have been invited to attend a coding workshop in Sony, Pencoed, in February and March.  An email has been sent to parents today with more details of the free event.

• 5I will attend on 7th February

• 6Y will attend on 13th February

• 5M will attend on 14th February

• 6H will attend on 13th March

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.  

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