Wow what a busy school term we have had!  Thank you for all your support over the last few months.  

As we approach the end of another amazing year we are filled with pride of our school community over the last few months.  The Christmas concerts were a joy to watch, showcasing the talents and hard work of our pupils. Barney, our lovely school dog, continues to bring smiles and comfort to pupils and staff alike. His presence embodies the warm, nurturing environment we strive to maintain.

We are particularly proud of our food pantry initiative, which has made a significant impact in supporting our wider community. This project embodies our commitment to fostering a caring and supportive environment that extends beyond our school gates.

As we look ahead to 2025, we celebrate the strong sense of community we've built together. It's this spirit of togetherness that makes Oldcastle Primary truly special.  Thank you all for your continued support and engagement. Here's to ending the year on a high note and we look forward to new adventures in the 2025.

Last assembly of 2024

Today, we held our final assembly of the school year and celebrated all our successes.  The school choir performed beautifully in front of the whole school.

• Choir performance Video 

• Choir Performance Video

We also said farewell to Mr Prior, who is leaving Oldcastle for new pastures.  Good luck Mr Prior!

Barney's Birthday

Sunday, 22nd December, is Barney's 4th birthday, and we celebrated his birthday in our assembly today.  Happy birthday Barney - you are loved by everyone in our school community. The whole school sung happy  birthday to Barney in assembly today!  Happy Birthday Barney Video

Estyn Inspection

We are delighted to share with you the outcomes of our recent Estyn Inspection, which reflects the hard work, dedication, and commitment of our entire school community. The report highlights many aspects of Oldcastle Primary School that we can all be proud of, and it reaffirms our belief that we are providing a nurturing and high-quality education for your children.

A particular highlight of the report is the recognition of Oldcastle's strong sense of community. Pupils enjoy attending school, are proud to be part of it and engage positively with their learning. The report also spotlights our excellent work to support families and the wider community, which is a vital part of our school ethos. 

We are also pleased that the inspectors noted the good progress pupils make across the curriculum, especially in reading, mathematics, and creative activities. While there are many strengths, we are aware of the areas for improvement highlighted in the report, and it is important to note that these were already identified in our own development plans.

We are already taking steps to address these recommendations, as they align with our existing priorities. For example, we are working on strategies to give pupils more opportunities to take ownership of their learning and ensure our teaching practices are challenging and engaging for all learners. 

Finally, we want to express gratitude to you, our parents and guardians, for your continued support. The report celebrates the strong partnerships we have built with you, which play an important role in the success of our school and in supporting your children's thriving.

If you would like to discuss the report further, please don’t hesitate to contact us.

Below is a summary report for parents and carers and more information on the report can be found on our website please click here.

Estyn Summary Report for Parents and Carers

You can also access it at:https://estyn.gov.wales/latest-inspection-reports/

Christmas Concerts

Over the past two weeks we have arranged 16 Christmas concerts and we can't be more proud of our children and staff for putting on such lovely concerts.  We have been delighted to be able to invite parents and carers into school again to see the children perform.  All year groups have been fantastic and unfazed standing on the stage in the main hall in front of so many people.  We have thoroughly enjoyed seeing your children perform on stage over the past two weeks and entertain you with their Christmas stories.

This year we had a different approach with every year group developing a concert around a well known Christmas story.  We really enjoyed seeing how each year group interpreted the story and we hope you will agree that the children performed beautifully.  Here are a few photos from each of the concerts. 

Thank you to our amazing PTA for providing refreshments at each of the concerts and arranging such lovely hampers for the raffle.  Thank you to everyone that attended the concerts and showed support - we hope you enjoyed.

Barney had an important role in the year 5 Christmas concert! He did so well with a packed audience in attendance and looked fabulous. He was certainly worn out after his first 'acting' role!

School Choir Event

We are incredibly proud of our school choir and musicians performing in the Cor Bro Ogwr Christmas concert last Saturday. Well done, everyone. Thank you to all the parents who made our attendance in this event possible. 

Rewards Day

Our house captains have been busy counting the house tokens for this term and we are delighted to let you the token amounts for this term are as follows:

PTA Event - Christmas

What a lovely day we've had on Tuesday.  We were so lucky to have a visit from Father Christmas in his sleigh and his reindeers!  Each class also enjoyed a fun disco with Chopsy Elf! Thank you to our wonderful PTA for arranging. 

Parents may find the following links helpful.

• Behaviour Support Hub – Visit website

• Early Help Services – Visit website

• Silver Cloud (Mental Health Support) – Visit website

Christmas Tree Funding

We are very grateful to the following for sponsoring our Christmas Trees, and we are also thankful for all the parents who have donated to our fund pot at main reception. We hope you enjoy the trees when you visit for the Christmas concerts in the following weeks.

Carpenter Property Services Limited

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 92.6%.

Food Pantry

We had a wide range of new foods available in our food pantry this week There were plenty of items to help out at Christmas including fresh vegetables, cooked meats, cheese, yoghurt, and plenty of tinned items. We also had a selection of free from, vegan and Christmas items. 

The food pantry will be back open following the Christmas holidays. 

• 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.  

The violin teacher has praised the following children for their commitment to their violin lessons in school.  Da Iawn.

• GOLD - Heidi from year 6

• SILVER - Hannah G year 4 / Bella C year 6 for their contribution to the school concert

• BRONZE - Charles W year 4

• Monday 6th January - Back to School

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

Year 1 have been creating Friendship Rocks in their enrichment sessions.  The children have taken these home and plan to hide in our local community area to spread happiness and kindness.  If you do spot one please do let us know !

Icing biscuits in after school club

Chris Elmore MP Christmas Card Competition

Well done to Bradley in year 1 who won the Chris Elmore MP Christmas Card competition this year. We were delighted to have Mr Elmore present Bradley with his prize today. We love the design that has been sent to over 1200 people including the First Minister and Prime Minister. Da Iawn Bradley! 

Rewards Day

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.