Class and Team Photos

The class and team photos were taken earlier this week by Tempest Photography, we are waiting for the proofs and once received we will email parents. Orders will need to be made directly with Tempest following the link in the email. 

Careers Week

We are looking forward to our Careers Week from 16th to 20th June.  We have a timetable of visitors for each year group and children will learn about a variety of different jobs and careers.  We are so grateful for the time that our visitors will be giving to the school - we can't wait to hear the fantastic questions our children will ask them!   We look forward to sharing photos with parents throughout the week.

Break Time Snacks

Please can we remind parents and children that we encourage children to bring a healthy snack for break time.  We do not encourage children to bring crisps and croissants.  Fruit is the ideal snack for break time.  Please remember no nut products should be brought into school as we are a nut free school.

Preloved School Uniform

At this time of year your child might start growing out of their uniform. why not pop along to the main reception and take a look at our preloved uniform rails.  All items  are free and we are grateful when parents take items off our hands!

No Balls to School

We have reminded children today that they should not bring balls from home into school. Thank you for your support.

Community Food Pantry

Our Food Pantry is restocked weekly and we encourage everyone to call in and take a look at the fantastic food we have available. We are extremely grateful to receive ongoing funding for the pantry along with donations of food from Baobab Bach.  The pantry is stocked weekly, mainly on a Monday morning, and this is available for all parents and carers to make use of.  The pantry works on the basis of 15 items for £5.

Online Safety Parent Workshop - Tuesday 24th June at 4pm PLEASE NOTE THIS DATE HAS BEEN CHANGED 

We are excited to invite you to our upcoming ‘Online Safety Learning Event’. The event aims to encourage thinking about child development and their everyday use of social media, mobile apps, and device habits while highlighting the increasing risks posed to children by the online and digital world. 

The event will be run by Mathew Jones, Digital Lead Officer for BCBC and will be held in school.

Date: Tuesday 24th June 2025. 

Time: 4pm-5pm

The parent/carer online safety learning session will cover:

• Mobile apps: categories of apps and age-restriction.

• Child-development and maturity: are children ready for social media and over-aged apps? 

• Monitoring apps: mobile apps to be aware of, emerging technology, restriction and configuration of devices.

• WhatsApp: what parents and carers need to know, risks and advice

• School Health Research Network (SHRN): Digital and social media concerns for primary-aged pupils (sharing of data)

• Bridgend context: research studies highlighting outcomes for children and young people in Bridgend

• Reporting and Removal: tools to share with children

• How families can support children: Family Agreement 

The intended outcomes of the session include: 

• The types of mobile apps children are using;

• Mobile apps to be aware of and those that pose risks;

• Mobile app age-restriction settings;

• Encouraging thinking – are children ready for social media and over-aged apps;

• Encouraging thinking around the use of WhatsApp;

• The concerns for Bridgend children who are engaged in in-appropriate

• online behaviour; 

• How to report and remove harmful content.

• Family agreement to build trust and promote online good habits

If you are interested in attending this session, register by completing the Google Form  - Online Safety Registration Form

Weekly 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 94.7%.

Closing the Gap Strategy

We are working with our cluster schools to help close the gap for pupils.  The information below signposts how we will do this. 

Oldcastle Rocks

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.  The event will start a 2pm and finish at 6pm.  Doors will open at 1.30pm.

We are really looking forward to the event and we hope you can join us.  We will have the usual music entertainment, raffle, children's activities, bars, bbq and other food.  

If you are able to donate a raffle prize or bottle for the tombola please get in touch or drop something into the main office.

We will have a variety of stallholders offering lovely items. If you would like a stall, please drop us an email on ask@oldcastleprimary.co.uk

Volunteers Needed - we need your help!  Oldcastle Rocks will only be a success with the help of volunteers.  If you can help with setting up, help out on the many stalls or helping with clear up, please let us know via this Google Form.   

Oldcastle Rocks Volunteer Form

Tesco Community Blue Token Scheme

We are delighted to have been accepted to be included in the Tesco Community Blue Token Scheme from July to September this year.  Please vote for Oldcastle when you see our project displayed!

Oldcastle Primary School, Community Pantry, Bridgend

Our food pantry ensures that our pupils and their families have access to nutritious food and essential supplies, all-year round.

The project with the highest number of votes across your region will receive £1,500, the second placed project £1,000 and the third placed project £500. 

Please see below a list of stores taking part in the voting on your project. Feel free to share this list of stores amongst your supporters and within your community.

• Bridgend 1 Superstore CF31 4AP

• Bridgend Extra CF31 3SQ

• Gentle Way Bridgnd Express Express CF31 5EJ

• North Cornelly Express Express CF33 4LN

• Pencoed Express Express CF35 5NG

Bump Up Day - Thursday 26th June

Bump Up Day is when we announce who your child's teacher will be for the next academic year.  Children will congregate in the main hall for a morning assembly, and we will announce the class teacher for each class.  Children will then be able to visit their new classroom and get to know their new class teacher.  Year 6 pupils will visit their new secondary school on this day.

Once our assembly has finished, parents will be emailed with details of the new class teachers and the location of their child's new classroom.  We always enjoy Bump Up Day and know that children get excited to find out who their teacher will be from September 2025.

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.

• 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.  

We love to hear about pupil success outside of school.  Please email us any achievements to ask@oldcastleprimary.co.uk

Gymnastics Success

Well done to Betsi Mai from year 4 for her success in a gymnastics competition recently. That's a lot of medals!!

Football Tournament

Today some of our football players represented Oldcastle in a school tournament in Litchard Primary School.  The children played really well in their group stages.  

• Oldcastle 3 - West Park 1

• Oldcastle 2 - Llangynwyd 0

• Oldcastle 3 - Bro Ogwr 0

• Oldcastle 0 - Pen Y Fai 0 

Netball Tournament

The netball players also represented Oldcastle in the tournament in Litchard Primary School today.  

• Oldcastle 5 - West Park 0

• Oldcastle 15 - Cynwyd Sant 0

• Oldcastle 6 - Bro Ogwr 0

• Oldcastle 2 - Penyfai 4

The staff reported that the football and netball teams were fantastic ambassadors for the school at the tournament today. The football team made it through to the quarter finals, losing on penalty number 8! The netball team made it to the final and lost 4-3 in a very close game. Dai Iawn - we are very proud of your achievement. Thank you to Miss Mathews, Mrs Williams and Mr Jones for encouraging the children at the tournament today.

Year 6 Fashion Show

Year 6 pupils took on an exciting creative challenge to design and create an outfit using only recyclable materials, inspired by the bold styles of Vivienne Westwood and Alexander McQueen, with the aim of challenging a chosen social norm. Year 6 pupils developed their own designs, carefully planning their outfit’s purpose and meaning. They used recyclable materials such as plastic bags, newspapers, and fabric scraps to bring their visions to life. Alongside their outfit, each group selected a piece of music and a backdrop that reflected their outfit. The project finished this week with a catwalk-style fashion show, where Year 6 pupils showcased their creations to their cohort with confidence. Using Voice 21 techniques, they clearly and proudly described their outfits.

Please scan the QR code or click on the link below to see the finale of our wonderful catwalk-style fashion show.

Year 6 Catwalk Show

• 4th June for 5 weeks - Year 5 swimming every Wednesday

• 5th June for 5 weeks - Year 6 swimming every Thursday

• Monday 16th to Friday 20th June - Careers Week

• 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

Inset Days for 2025 / 2026

The inset days for 2025 / 26 have been approved by school governors and these are as follows:

• Monday 1st September 2025 

• Friday 21st November 2025

• Monday 5th January 2026

• Friday 13th March 2026

• Friday 22nd May 2026

• Monday 20th July 2026

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

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.