Welcome to the newsletter for week 11 of the school year.

Cost of the School Day Survey

Recently, we conducted a cost of living survey to better understand the needs of our school community. We were pleased to identify several strengths in our approach, as well as areas where we can further improve our support.

The school's efforts to support families during the cost of living crisis have been well-received and have had a positive impact. Feedback from parents has been overwhelmingly positive, with many expressing gratitude for the school's proactive approach and the practical assistance provided.

One of our key strengths identified from the survey is the way we support families and share information. We've been mindful of financial pressures and have consciously kept our requests for contributions low. Our free pre-loved uniform initiative has been a great success, helping families access school clothing free of charge. The survey also recognised our proactive approach in providing information about uniform grants and other financial support available.

We're proud of our good communication, advice, and signposting services, which have helped many families access the support they need. Our school food pantry has also been a valuable resource for many Oldcastle families. We are delighted that we can work in partnership with Baobab Bach to offer surplus supermarket food and grocery items to our families and the wider community at reduced cost.

We recognise there's always room for improvement. We're looking at ways to allow more time for payments and to extend our support to families who may be struggling. We are developing a cost-of-living calendar to help families plan for school-related expenses throughout the year. 

In January, we will hold a focus group with parents to explore additional ways to support our school community.

In addition to expanding our free pre-loved uniform offerings, we're considering including non-uniform school items to help reduce families' costs. We also plan to provide more information about the various ways the school subsidises activities and resources to keep parents' costs down.

At Oldcastle Primary, we're committed to supporting our school community through these challenging times. Your feedback and suggestions are always welcome as we work together to ensure every child has the best possible educational experience.

Benefits Calculator

Parents may find the following website to find out if you are entitled to certain benefits or government grants.  Turn2us Benefits Calculator 

Attendance

We are committed to promoting good attendance at school and have a target of whole school attendance of 95%.  This week's attendance was 90.8%.

Bridgend County Borough Council is committed to maximising the potential of all pupils who attend schools in the county borough.  Attending school gives children the best chance of success. 

Parents/carers can support the regular and punctual attendance of their children by:

• ensuring that their child arrives at school on time

• ensuring that their child only misses school for reasons which are unavoidable or justified, such as illness or days of religious observance

• notifying the school as soon as possible of any absence and confirm this in writing when the child returns to school

• not booking family holidays during term-time

• talking to the school if they are concerned that their child may be reluctant to attend

The following link provides really useful information on available grants that you may not know about.  Please click here to find out more. Grant Checker Eligibility.

Christmas Concerts

Christmas concerts will take place on the following days and times.  There will be two performances per year group and parents / carers will be able to apply for up to 2 tickets for each performance.  Tickets will be £1 per person and payment can be made in cash on the door at the time of the concert.  Due to health and safety reasons, we are limited in the number of people we can seat in the main hall so numbers will be strictly monitored based around the applications received via this form.

Please complete the Google form below to reserve your tickets for the performances you wish to attend.

Christmas Concerts Refreshments

The PTA will be providing refreshments at all of the Christmas concerts. We hope you can support them.

Christmas Concert Raffle

The PTA are asking for donations to create colourful Christmas hampers for each Christmas Concert Performance.

Please could each child donate an item based on the below colours for each class.  Donations can be whatever you wish in that colour such as, chocolates, sweets, smellies, candles, tea, coffee, drinks, biscuits or novelty items etc. 

Please hand donations to the office. The deadline for donations is Friday 1st of December.

A raffle will be held in each of the Christmas concerts . Tickets will be sold prior to each concert and the winner of the hamper will be drawn at the end of the concert.

Many thanks for your continued support.

Christmas Tree – School Cash Back Scheme

If you are trimming up this weekend, please remember that Ty Cerrig Christmas Teee Farm in  Bonvilston, CF5 6TR, currently have a scheme where our school can earn money. The scheme enables participating schools to receive money back from your tree purchase - simply select our school from the drop down in the appointment menu or mention our school name when you pay at the farm to earn cash back for Oldcastle school.

Please see the website for more information.

https://www.tycerrigchristmastrees.co.uk/

Christmas Tree Funding

We are thrilled to announce that we hope to decorate our school hall with a real Christmas tree again this year, but we need your help! We are kindly requesting donations towards the purchase of a real Christmas tree to help us create a Christmassy atmosphere for our pupils, staff, and visitors in the lead up to Christmas.

If you would like to donate towards a real Christmas tree please let us know via ask@oldcastleprimary.co.uk. Your generosity will be greatly appreciated and will help us bring the magic of the season to our school.

Alternatively if you are a local business who would like to sponsor a Christmas tree or Christmas activities in school please do get in touch with Sara Peters at the school.. By sponsoring a tree, you can have your name or business logo displayed, showcasing your support for our school.

We are excited to celebrate the festive season with our school community and are grateful for your continued support. If you have any questions or would like to discuss these opportunities further, please do not hesitate to contact the school.

We are very grateful to the following for sponsoring our Christmas Tree, and we are also thankful for all the parents who have donated to our fund pot at main reception.

Carpenter Property Services Limited

Food Pantry

Don't forget to visit the food pantry and tell your friends and family about the selection of items available.  Our food pantry is stocked with some lovely items. Pop in  and fill a bag for £5. Surplus food gets delivered to school every Tuesday but parents may visit the pantry on any day. 

On occasion we are also receiving some bakery items from Asda as part of our Fairshare allocation.  When we do we will have these items available on a Friday and are free of charge.  

Change to School Dinner Menu

11th December - The menu will be changed on this day to pork frikadellons or quorn sausage with beans and mashed potato.

20th December - The menu will be changed to sausage, quorn sausage, sweetcorn, peas and chips

• September - Respect and Responsibility 

• October - Compassion and Hope 

• November - Friendship and Forgiveness 

• December - Understanding and Patience

• January - Determination and Perseverance

• February - Honesty and Trust 

• March -Learning and Effort 

• April - Community and Service 

• May - Co-operation and being a good citizen within society

• June- Showing Gratitude and Care and Generosity

• July - Taking and managing risks 

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

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. 

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.  

Well done to Henry from year 5 who was awarded Player of the March for his football team.

️Important Announcement ️ Bridgend Christmas Event – Saturday 23rd November

Due to the forecast of very high winds and heavy rain on Saturday, we regret to announce that the outdoor Christmas event cannot go ahead as planned. This is not a decision that has been taken lightly. The safety of our community is our top priority, and unfortunately, health and safety regulations prevent the use of inflatables and temporary outdoor structures in these weather conditions. Despite this, Bridgend Town Council is determined to keep the festive spirit alive and is excited to share that some of our planned Christmas activities will now take place indoors.

 Indoor Elf School 

Join us at The Rhiw Shopping Centre from 1.30pm – 4pm for a free Elf School experience!

Children will be able to:

• Be transformed into elves with free facepainting and elf hats

• Decorate a Christmas bauble to take home

• Make reindeer food ready to use on Christmas Eve

• Earn themselves an Elf School graduation certificate

• Be awarded a special gold ‘Key to Santa’s Workshop’

The Elf School will be opened at 1.30pm by The Snow Sisters, who will stay in the Rhiw until 2.30pm

The Grinch will be making mischief in The Rhiw from 2.30pm – 3.15pm

Naughty Elves and Illuminated Christmas Presents will also be entertaining throughout the afternoon!

 Santa’s Grotto  at Carnegie House 

The grotto will be open on the following Saturday’s from 10am-3pm: 23rd Nov - 30th Nov - 7th Dec & 14th Dec

Children will meet Santa, choose a quality gift and you can take your own photos. 

Santa‘s Grotto is run by The Lions Club of Bridgend in Carnegie House and is supported by Bridgend Town Council. All proceeds of the Christmas Grotto will be distributed to local charities by the Lions Club of Bridgend.

Tickets cost £8 per child and bookings can be made in advance at www.bridgendlions.org.uk

Sadie and Franks

We have been supplied with the following information which may be of interest to you.  Please contact Sadie and Franks if you would like further information. 

Circuit Training Class in Oldcastle Primary - pop along on a Monday evening or view the information on Facebook. https://www.facebook.com/lizandtonyclass 

• 26th November - PTA Wreath Making - Booking required

• 27th November - Year 6 Residential meeting at 5pm

• 4th December - Panto Trip Years 1 to 6

• 4th December - Nursery and Reception Christmas show for children

• 6th December - Inset Day

• 12th December - Christmas Dinner Day

• 20th December - Last day of term

• 20th December to 5th January - Christmas Holiday

The next Parents Evenings meetings are planned for week beginning 24th March 2025.

Inset Days 2024/25

• Monday 2nd September 2024

• Friday 6th December 2024

• Friday 21st February 2025

• Friday 11th April 2025

• Monday 2nd June 2025

• Monday 21st July 2025

Health and Wellbeing / PE Days

• Nursery - Thursday

• Reception -  Wednesday

• Year 1 - Monday

• Year 2 - Tuesday

• Year 3 - Friday

• Year 4 - Friday

• Year 5 - Friday

• Year 6 - Friday

Year 1 held a Roman Banquet this week.

Fantastic Welsh in year 2 this week!

4S have had a fantastic afternoon orienteering with Mr Murdoch at Newbridge Fields. 

Language and Play

In this week’s LAP, pupils from Year 5 & 6 read the first few chapters from the book, ‘The Twits’ by Roald Dahl.  They had fun completing a quiz and designing and making Mr and Mrs Twit’s faces from paper plates, which looked amazing!  Da iawn!

This week in our Nursery LAP session, the children enjoyed listening to the story of ‘Elmer in the Snow’ by David Mckee.  The children made some amazing Emlers out of milk bottles and some Elmer ears, which was Mrs Diehl’s favourite activity of the session.  We ended with the children singing the rainbow song beautifully in Welsh.  If you would like some more fun activities, you can visit Elmer’s website, www.elmer.co.uk.

Year 3 Tennis Today

This week in the Nursery we have been reading about the first Christmas and then we dressed up as the characters from the story.   We have had lots of fun doing jigsaws.  We have been practising our sounds and writing the ‘m’ sound.  We have continued to explore numicon. 

Reception Walk to view local buildings

Reception had a lovely walk around the local area today. Thank you to all the parents who were able to help out.  The children were so lucky to see the fire engines in Bridgend Fire Station on their walk!  Reception children have been busy this week creating a mural inspired by Rhiannon Art, an artist specialising in depicting important places in Wales - 

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.