Enrichment

A busy afternoon with enrichment today we've had cooking, board games, netball, fencing, weaving, mud kitchen fun, tennis, rugby and outdoor learning! Phew a busy time for all children and staff.

Class Newsletter

Class newsletter are available to view on our website. The newsletter will provide you with an overview on your child's learning. Please view them vis this link on the Class Pages.

Curriculum Vision

Our website has recently been updated with information on our Curriculum Vision. Please take a look to find out more about our vision at Oldcastle. We believe that high-quality education is a fundamental right for all children regardless of background or socio-economic factors. At Oldcastle, we are committed to ensuring our young people achieve their fullest potential by creating an ambitious, engaging and purposeful curriculum that will allow our pupils to become participants, not spectators, as they progress through life.

Curriculum Vision

Literacy at Oldcastle

At Oldcastle Primary School, we have a holistic approach to literacy, aiming for excellent readers, writers, speakers and listeners. We want all our pupils to become fluent, confident readers who love to read! Being able to articulate thoughts eloquently in written and oral form enables our pupils to be confident, capable learners.

We do this by using a range of approaches, including using:

• Read, Write, Inc.

• Oxford Reading Tree

• The Literary Curriculum

• Fresh Start (Extension of Read, Write, Inc.)

Read Write Inc (RWInc) is a complete phonics literacy programme which helps all children learn to read fluently and at speed so they can focus on developing their skills in comprehension, vocabulary and spelling. The programme is designed for children aged 4-7. However, at Oldcastle, we begin the programme in Nursery and will continue teaching RWInc through a Fresh Start programme to children beyond the age of 7 if they still need support in their reading.

RWInc was developed by Ruth Miskin, and more information on this can be found at https://ruthmiskin.com/en/find-out-more/parents/.

Alongside Read Write Inc, pupils in Nursery to Year 2 will access Oxford Reading Tree reading books. These books will be read in school and at home. Your child will bring a reading book home over the next couple of weeks.

As pupils progress through school, they will access learning through the award-winning Literary Curriculum, a complete, book-based approach designed to teach pupils literacy skills through high-quality texts. Teaching through a text creates a consistent, cohesive approach to literacy across the school and includes teaching spelling, grammar, syntax and editing.

The Literary Curriculum immerses children in a literary world. Creating strong levels of engagement to provide meaningful and authentic learning experiences. It encourages our pupils to become critical readers and acquire an authorial style as they encounter a wide range of significant authors and a variety of fiction, non-fiction and poetry. More information about The Literary Curriculum can be found at https://literarycurriculum.co.uk/how-it-works/.

Alongside teaching reading through our Literary Curriculum, pupils in Years 3-6 will have the opportunity to choose a book to ‘read for pleasure’. Pupils will be encouraged to choose a book they enjoy, and we hope pupils will widen their experience of reading a range of genres. Your child will read their ‘reading for pleasure’ book in school and at home. Books will be sent home over the next couple of weeks.

School Community Forum

We will be holding our next meeting of the School Community Forum on Wednesday 5th October. Please let us know if you are able to attend the School Community Forum which will take place at 9am till 10am. Please complete the form below to indicate if you are able to attend.

School Community Forum Form

The School Community Forum involves members of the school community meeting once each half term at school to give their opinions, suggestions and support as we review and develop aspects of school life and approaches to teaching and learning. We believe that discussing the proposals for the school with community members, will enable us to ensure the best provision for our children.

Discussions will focus on aspects of school life, such as:

• Vision and Values

• Curriculum, Learning and Teaching

• Outdoor Learning

• Parent engagement and awareness

• Family Engagement

• School Priorities

• National Education Agenda

We hope that the School Community Forum will support us to drive our school priorities and ensure that our links with the local and school community are firmly established. We welcome opinions, views and ideas and would be delighted to share our vision and values with you. School community opinion is important to us please get involved.

School Dinner Menu

A new school meal menu will commence Monday 23rd September 2022. Please click on the link below to view the menu and the weekly schedule. If your child has a special dietary menu you will have a copy of their new menu sent home to sign and agree.

Primary School Dinner Menu

Barney

Look how much Barney has grown! The first picture was taken in September 2022 and the second picture is from the same spot in Newbridge Fields in May 2021. Barney loves greeting all the children in the mornings and has also loved helping our nursery children settle in over the past few weeks. Barney is very loved by the Oldcastle Community!

Brynteg Open Evening - Years 5 and 6

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.