Don't forget there is an INSET day on Friday 31st March

Today is our last day of term before the Easter Holidays.  Don't forget Friday is an inset day and the school is closed to children.  Staff will be completing training in a range of areas during the inset day.

Children will return  to school on Monday 17th April.  We hope you having a lovely Easter holidays.

Enrichment

In the summer term we will launch new and exciting enrichment sessions.  We will have outdoor learning opportunities, puppet shows, lego. outdoor games, cooking, fencing, textiles, badminton, fitness, line dancing, film design, tennis, Spanish, production design and so much more.  Phew!  We can't wait to share details with you in the new term.

Rewards Day

During the last term children have collected over 15,300 tokens in school!  We are always amazed when we count the tokens and find out how many tokens have been given out to pupils.  The house colour reward scheme has been such a success in Oldcastle and children love finding out how many tokens their house has collected over the term.  They especially like the rewards at the end of the term too!

On Wednesday children were able to enjoy their rewards and each house participated in something different.

• Blue House - took part in a Treasure Hunt

• Green House - enjoyed hot chocolate

• Yellow House - decorated biscuits

• Red House - took part in activity games on the climbing frame

We look forward to finding out how many tokens are collected in the next half term!

Parents Evening

Thank you to all the parents who attended the parents evening meeting with your child's class teacher this week.  We enjoyed seeing parents visiting the school and having a face to face meeting with the teacher.  Thank you to the PTA for providing refreshments on Monday and Tuesday evenings.

Maintenance Work

We use our school holiday period to complete mainteance and building work and the Easter holidays is going to be a busy one for the school.  Phase 2 of the drains work programme will be taking place which will see the area outside area at main reception dug up and drains replaced.  We are also having new security fencing installed on the access to nursery and the main yard. The catering team are having new cooking and washing equipment installed to deal with the increase in the number of children who will receive Universal Free School meals after Easter.  Finally, we have pre-planned health and safety work taking place inside the school. 

Universal Free School Meals - Years 1 and 2

All pupils attending schools in Bridgend in Year 1 and Year 2 will be offered a free school meal from 17 April 2023, when they return after the Easter school holidays.

All Reception pupils have benefitted from a free school meal since September 2022 and the expansion of the offer to Year 1 and Year 2 pupils after Easter means that more than 4700 pupils in Bridgend schools will now be eligible for a universal primary free school meal.

All Year 1 and Year 2 pupils will automatically benefit from the provision, so there is no application process for parents and carers to complete.

Children may continue to bring in sandwiches should they wish.  More information on refunds or transfers of account balances will be provided after the Easter holidays. 

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. 

Governor Vacancy

We have a vacancy for a parent governor on our School Governing Body.  Governing bodies are essential to the success and continued improvement of today’s schools. You will be provided with training and on-going support.  For more information about the role please refer to our website. 

Nominations are invited from all parents, or those with parental responsibility, of registered pupils at the school. If you wish to nominate yourself, please submit a short personal statement of no more than 100 words via the Parent Governor Application Form and return it to the school by the closing date. Nominations received after this date will not be considered. Please email nominations to ask@oldcastleprimary.co.uk The term of office of a parent governor is four years from the date of appointment. A parent governor may serve out their term of office if their child leaves the school during the period of their term of office. If there are more nominations than vacancies, a secret ballot will be held.  

Please complete the Parent Governor  Application Form available on our website.  Closing date for applications is Friday 14th April at 12pm.  

Year 1 Weather Reports

Year 1 have been working really hard on weather reports recently.  Here's a sneak peek at one of the videos we will upload the rest to our website shortly.

Weather Report

Year 5 end of term topic 

Year 5 created some fantastic videos to explain all that they have learnt about their topic on pollution and rivers this term. The children used our 'green screens' to create some fantastic work showing how confident they are with their topic knowledge.   

Bug Hotel

Thank you to everyone who donated items for the nursery bug hotel.  The nursery team have worked really hard to create a fantastic bug hotel.

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.  

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

• 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

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