Today we had the pleasure of visiting Y Bont to present the staff with the money raised from the recent Fashion Show.  The charity is one of the Mayor of Bridgend's chosen charities, and we were delighted to visit the setting today with the Mayor of Bridgend Town and Nicole from Venetia Steele Boutique.  Two of our choir members joined us for the visit.  Gracie-Rose and Scarlett enjoyed meeting the children who attend Y Bont and loved seeing the great facilities for the children.  

Y Bont offers a specific provision for children with complex medical needs, disabilities or additional needs and is funded solely by grant funding and fundraising efforts.  Their aim is to offer support to the children and their families through some of the most difficult times.  The centre has children fro all over South Wales and they are the only specialist setting of its kind in Wales.  Funds are very limited and we are so pleased to be able to help with the donation of £2700.  Thank you to everyone who supported the event.

Welsh Week - Invitation to Parents

We would like to invite parents and carers into school on Monday 17th March after school to view children's artwork they produced during Welsh Week.  We are delighted with the work the children produced and would love to showcase this to our parents.  The artwork will be on display in your child's classroom until 4pm on Monday 17th. 

Please note that the artwork will be displayed in the classroom not the main hall as per our earlier email.

Community Invitation - Every Tuesday

Don't forget to pop into our Community Room and enjoy a warm drink and warm up in this cold weather.  We are delighted to invite parents and carers to a Tea and Toast session every Tuesday during term time.  We look forward to welcoming parents and carers every Tuesday morning to enjoy a cuppa and a chat.

We truly want our families to feel welcome and make the most of our school facilities, especially during this season when managing heating costs can be a significant concern. Whether you are looking for a place to stay warm, some good company, or just a change of scenery, our doors are open to you.

Thank you for being part of our school community. 

Community Room - Barclays Community Ambassador

We were delighted to welcome Luke from Barclays Bank into school on Wednesday afternoon.  Luke is passionate about helping people and wants to support you in any way he can.  Luke will be able to offer advice on a range of subjects from setting up an electronic device  to staying safe online to all sorts of life money skills.  Luke does not provide any banking support and you do not have to be a Barclays customer to pop along.  

Luke will visit us again on Wednesday 19th March between 1.30pm and 3pm. We even provide you with a cuppa!

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 93.9%.

Schools Cross Country - Years 3 to 6

Well done to all the year 3 to 6 pupils who took part in the Schools Cross Country competition this morning. A lovely sunny morning. Thank you to the parents and carers for taking your children to the event. Finally, thank you to our staff who took time out of their weekend to ensure Oldcastle children are represented. 

Siarter Iaith Welsh Award

We were delighted to take Sophie and Aled from year 6 to the Vale Resort today to be presented with our Siarter iaith bronze and silver awards. The children were also thrilled to meet members from Cardiff City Football Club who were training in the area! 

Forthcoming PTA events

• Friday 9th May - PTA Disco. More information soon.

• Saturday 5th July - Oldcastle Rocks. Always a highlight in our school year as we bring the community together to enjoy some fantastic music and entertainment.

Take a look at the PTA Facebook page to keep up to date with events. Oldcastle Primary PTA Facebook Page 

PTA Disco  Registration Form

The PTA are holding a disco on Friday 9th May - Tickets are £2.50 each and this time the PTA will be accepting payment at the door. Please do not send money into school, bring the payment with you on the day. All children need to be supervised whilst at the disco.  

You will need to complete a separate form for every child you wish to purchase a ticket for. The PTA are hoping to be paperless so will not be sending tickets home.  Please keep your email to hand and show this to gain entry to the disco.  The PTA will have a list on the door of all tickets ordered.

Tickets are allocated on a first come first served basis and are limited due to fire regulations. We cannot guarantee entry to anyone who has not pre ordered a ticket.

Drinks, sweets and snacks will be available to purchase at the disco.

PTA Disco Registration Form

Food Pantry 

The food pantry has been particularly busy over the last week, and we are delighted that many parents and carers are able to benefit from the pantry.  We are still finding a way to ensure that there is food available to parents, no matter what the day of the week, and we hope to resolve any supply issues shortly. 

Just a reminder that the pantry is £5 for 15 items - we do ask that you limit to 2 fresh and 2 frozen items to allow more people to benefit from the items.

Grant Funding Thank You!

We are extremely grateful to receive grants from a variety of organisations for our Community Room and Food Pantry.  We have recently received funding from Rockwool, BAVO, and the Community Fund, as well as an ongoing donation towards the purchase of food from a donor.   The support and funding allow us to top up the food allocation we receive from Baobab Bach and purchase new equipment and furniture.  We are also able to offer additional sessions in the Community Room, such as the Tea and Toast Tuesday morning sessions.  

Sports Days

Sports Day for children in years 1 to 6 will be held on Friday 16th May in the Athletics Track in Newbridge Fields.  Children in years 1 to 3 will complete their events in the morning and years 4 to 6 in the afternoon.   

Sports Day for children in nursery and reception is still to be confirmed and we will let parents know the date soon.

Uniform Swap Shop

Don't forget we have plenty of pre-loved uniforms available for parents to help themselves. The uniform is free of charge and is located on clothing rails in main reception. Please pop in and take a look. We also have an ever growing mountain of lost property - please do call in to check if your child is missing an item.

Free School Meals

Even though your child is entitled to a free school meal in primary school, there could be other financial support available.  Check your child's eligibility for the School Essentials Grant via this link.  Get Help with School Costs. Visit, https://www.gov.wales/get-help-school-costs

Parents Evening - Week beginning 7th April 2025

Parents evening appointments are now live and emails have been sent to parents.  If you haven't received an email, please get in touch with us by email, phone or in person. The bookings have been sent via our website and emails will be from notifications@oldcastleprimary.co.uk 

Appointments will take place on the following days for each class:

• Nursery - Monday and Tuesday

• Reception I - Monday and Tuesday

• Reception M - Monday and Tuesday

• 1H - Monday and Tuesday 

• 1Y - Monday and Tuesday

• 2O - Monday and Wednesday

• 2L -  Monday and Wednesday

• 3C - Monday and Wednesday

• 3D - Tuesday and Wednesday

• 4A - Monday and Tuesday

• 4S - Monday and Tuesday

• 5T - Tuesday and Wednesday

• 5E - Tuesday and Wednesday

• 6P - Monday and Tuesday

• 6R - Tuesday and Wednesday

After School Club and Late Club Prices Increase from 1st September 2025

The following information has been emailed to all users of the after school and late club facility. Following a review of our Afterschool and Late Club provision, we find it necessary to make some adjustments to our pricing structure. The increase in fees is due to increases in our operating costs and will allow us to continue to offer the service you expect both now and into the future.

Prices will increase from 1st of September 2025 

• Afterschool Club will increase to £9.00 per session

• Late Club will increase to £2.50 per session

We thank you for your ongoing support and trust that these changes will help us to continue providing you with the service.  Should you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact the school office.

Thank You! 

Huge thank you to Apsee Removals who helped us out this week with the collection and delivery of a gifted piano for our main hall. We are extremely grateful to the Apsee team.

• 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 Bette from year 5 who came 2nd in the local Urdd Eisteddfod competition on Wednesday. Bette represented Oldcastle admirably and it was a very close competition. Da Iawn Bette.

As part of World Book Day 2025, Book Trust Cymru gave an advanced copy of the book Bun on the Run to selected children to read and then submit questions to the author. Jacob and Elliott Thomas (Year 4 and Year 1) had their "excellent and challenging" questions selected to be answered by the author.   Here's a link to the video where the author reads the story and then answers the questions. The boys were very excited to be involved and hear their questions, names, and Oldcastle Primary School get a mention!   https://youtu.be/6WU1uegn4_U?feature=shared

Great to hear that Reuben from year 3 was recently picked for a job role in the recent Cardiff Devils "kids takeover" home game. He was tasked with greeting the guests, handing out their VIP tickets and showing the guests to their seats  How fantastic!

Gardening Opportunity at Baobab Bach

Baobab Bach is looking for a gardener to work at their Ty Penybont site on Merthyr Mawr Road.  Baobab Bach aim to create a greener, more affordable solution to the food crisis and provide our communities with fresh, healthy food and encourage healthy eating across South Wales. With the funding we have received from The People’s Postcode Lottery has enabled us to develop our growing sites across the South Wales Valleys and created employment for the management of the project. We are excited to see our crops in full production and are already moving out to our pantries 

If you are interested in finding out more information, please email hello@baobab-bach.org  or call 07544 026265. www.baobab-bach.org

• Week beginning 7th April - Parents Evening

• Friday 11th April - Inset Day

• Monday 14th April - Easter holiday begins

• Monday 28th - Term Starts

• Friday 9th May - PTA Disco

• Monday 26th May to Friday 30th May - Half Term

• Monday 2nd June - Inset Day

• Friday 16th May - Sports Day Years 1 to 6

• Tuesday 10th June - Class and Team Photos

• Saturday 5th July - Oldcastle Rocks

• Friday 18th July Term Ends

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

Nursery Numbers and Play 

We had an Elmer-themed Number and Play session this week.  We read the story of ‘Elmer and Wilbur by Davis Mckee’, and the children made their own Elmer pictures from brightly coloured squared tissue paper.  They also played an Elmer dice game and sorted lots of different-sized Elmers from smallest to biggest.  You can find lots of free, fun activities to do at home on the Elmer website at elmer.co.uk.  Next Thursday will be the 6th and final NAP session.

Year 6 - Willmott Dixon

Willmott Dixon have been in to visit Y6 this week to discuss their new project of building Bridgend College by Aldi, talking about the architect's role and the budgeting involved. On Thursday, Y6 pupils visited the site of the new Bridgend College and had a tour of the building site.  Year 6 will now be working collaboratively to regenerate the space to be sustainable. They will choose between human development or preserving landscapes. Thank you Willlmott Dixon for inspiring our year 6 pupils. 

Netball match

Well done to our netball players who played Mynydd Cynffig today in school.  All the players had great games and we are very proud of the team.  Thank you to the parents who came to watch.  

• Game 1  - 15 Oldcastle 2 Mynydd Cynffig - Player of the Match - Henry D

• Game 2 - 14 Oldcastle 1 Mynydd Cynffig - Player of the Match - Llew

• Game 3 - 7 Oldcastle 3 Mynydd Cynffig  - Player of the Match - Elsie

Rugby Match

Well done to our rugby team who played Mynydd Cynffig in Newbridge Fields this afternoon.  The team fought hard and won a game and lost a game.  Congratulations to Jack C, Harry E and Henry D who played their first game for the school today.  Well done everyone.

Enrichment

Reception enjoyed cooking egg fried rice today!

Class 3 D enjoyed Outdoor Learning today creating animals and their homes from natural resources.

This week in the Nursery

We have been learning about the lifecycle of a butterfly. We remembered the story of The Very Hungry Caterpillar and using playdoh made an egg, a caterpillar, a cocoon and a butterfly. We have also been thinking about different types of animal habitats and sorting the animals into their correct habitats.  We are making fabulous progress with recognising and ordering numbers.

Year 6 used micro-bit & programming to make games such as rock, paper, scissors today.

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.