Summer Term Welcome

Welcome back to school following the Easter holiday break.  We hope our families enjoyed the break.  We are very much looking forward to the summer term and can't wait to share all the learning and activities we have planned.  

Over the Easter holidays we had new security fencing installed and we are pleased to hear positive comments from parents and carers .  

Enrichment

Today we launched our new enrichment timetable for all pupils.  We have another exciting range of activities planned and each year group will take part in something different.  Here is a round up of activities, children will be grouped and take part in a range of the activities over the term..  

• Nursery - outdoor learning, sports, yoga, Lego coding and cooking

• Reception - Gardening and Lego

• Year 1 - Outdoor games (rounders, circuit training and ball skills)

• Year 2 - Thai Cooking, Fencing and Textiles

• Year 3 - Badminton or Fitness in Bridgend Recreation Centre or line dancing in school

• Year 4 - Bridgend Library or film design

• Year 5 - Tennis in Bridgend Tennis Centre or Lego Coding Design

• Year 6 - Spanish or production props / design  

Careers Week

In June we will be holding our second Careers Week where we will invite visitors into school to tell us all about their job.  We launched Careers Week in 2022 and were overwhelmed with the support we received and the children absolutely loved learning about different career options.

Our aim is to inspire and educate our children and enthuse them about the array of different jobs that can be done.  We are hoping that we can encourage our parents to get involved in our Careers Week by coming along to school and talking or demonstrating what you do in your job.  If you cannot visit but are able to support us in another way, for instance a pre recorded session or other support, please let us know via the Google Form below. We are looking for a range of different job roles and this is the type of information we think would be useful :

• Explain what your job is and what your day-to-day responsibilities.

• How long have you worked in this job?

• What do you love the most about your job?

• When did you decide you wanted to work in this job role?

• Did you have to do any training for your job role?

• Was there something you learnt/did at school or someone that inspired you to pursue this line of work?

• Practical display - ie show something about your job or do a display for instance flower arranging - florist

We are looking for a wide variety of career / job options that will inspire our children.  If you can help out please let us know by completing and submitting this form.

Careers Week

If you require further information please get in touch with Sara Peters, Grants, Media and Health and Safety Manager on 01656 815790.

Coronation Event

We are planning an exciting event for our children and staff on Friday 5th May to celebrate the King's Coronation.  Our PTA are, as always, supporting the school with our celebrations and we are very grateful.  

On the day children will be treated to a celebration menu provided by Catering services.  The menu is detailed below and all dietary needs will be taken into account.  To help the catering team with their planning we would like parents to complete this short google form.  Please complete by 27th April.  

Coronation Sandwich Request

We are also pleased to announce a Coronation Cake competition to celebrate the coronation.  We will have a children's and adults competition and following the judging we will sell these cakes in a refreshment sale after school.  We hope you can get involved.  Cakes should be bought into school in the morning of the 5th May and clearly labelled with ingredient's and the entrants name and contact details.  

The refreshment sale will take place after school in the canteen.

As part of the event children will be planting red, white and blue flowers and we are looking for donations or sponsorship towards the planters, compost or flowers.  If you are able to help or would like to sponsor a planter please get in touch with us or the PTA.

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. 

School Attendance

At Oldcastle we believe that every student is entitled to the highest possible quality of education. We are committed to providing a full, rich, effective and appropriate education for all its pupils. We aim to celebrate achievement and it is recognised regular attendance plays a vital part in enabling children to take advantage of the educational opportunities offered to them.  Attendance is crucial to the continuity of learning experiences and hence effective learning.  

We encourage parents to arrange holidays during the school holidays to ensure that children's attendance is not affected.  Our Attendance Policy can be viewed on our website.

Reminder school starts at 8.55am.

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. 

Sports Day

Sports Day for children in years 1 to 6 will take place on Friday 30th June.  Children in years 1 to 3 will complete their events in the morning and years 4 to 6 in the afternoon.  

We are still finalising details for the nursery and reception children.

Reception have been busy today making porridge and mixing red, blue and yellow for their 3 bears pictures. 

Year 1 have been learning about King Arthur and the children have made their own castles!  They've even created knights of the round table inside. Da Iawn. 

6Y really enjoyed their visit to Sony UK this week.  The children all had a go at acting, runners, editing, behind the scenes, props and costumes, directing and camera work.  Thank you for a fantastic day @itsmyshoutproductionsltd.

Year 6 also enjoyed a sign language session this week.  Some fantastic signing! 

Reception looked like they enjoyed their literacy lesson this week. All the children were trees in the forest warning little red that the wolf was coming!!!

Nursery thoroughly enjoyed talking about and tasting fruit and vegetables today.  We even discovered new fruit and vegetables that we didn’t know we liked !

Oliver in year 3 recently came 2nd in a dance competition. Well done Oliver - great trophy!

Hannah from year 6 recently passed her Grade 2 Vio;lin exam.  Great news Hannah you should be very proud.

Emergency Alert

As you may be aware, the national UK Emergency Alert test is due to take place on Sunday 23rd April 2023 at 3pm. This is a test of the system which will be deployed in case of future national emergencies. It involves an automatic notification to all mobile phones, on all networks, in the form of an alert sound.  Parnets may wish to ensure older pupils who have mobile phones are aware of the alert.  Please note the alert will still sound even if a phone is on silent.

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 26th May 2023

• Monday 24th July 2023

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

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

• School year finishes on Friday 21st July

Monday 1st May and Monday 8th May are bank holidays and the school will be closed.

Wednesday 7th June - Class and Team Photos

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