As we approach the final week of what has been an exceptionally busy and productive school year, we take time to reflect on our achievements as a school community.  We are very grateful for all the support we receive from parents and carers.  Thank You!

Next week will be a busy one as we finish our learning in current year groups and prepare for the summer break and the next academic year.  It will be an emotional week for our year 6 children and parents as they perform their Grease production to their parents and carers on two occasions.  On Tuesday evening, we will be celebrating every year 6 child in their Leavers Presentation.  

All children in the school had an opportunity to watch the year 6 Grease production today - what a show year 6 we are very proud of you.  We can't wait for your parents to see the show next week!

Oldcastle Rocks

We were so disappointed to cancel Oldcastle Rocks last weekend but we were so glad we did with the weather that arrived on Saturday.  Don't forget to save the revised date! 

Lost Property

We have a large amount of lost property in school. Please call into the school office if your child has lost any items. Items left at the end of the school year will be donated to charity. Thank you. 

School Photos

The Tempest photos have started to arrive in school and these are being sent home with your child.

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. 

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 93.8%.

Tesco Community Blue Token Scheme - look out for us in Tesco!

We are delighted to have been accepted to be included in the Tesco Community Blue Token Scheme from July to September this year. Our project is now live in stores so please support us!

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

Contact Details

Please ensure that we have up to date contact details for you. You can let us know if you change your address or phone number by filling in this form. Change of Contact Details

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 What a busy week we have had with pupil success congratulations to you all!

Well done to Aurelia from year 3 for her two dance medals!

Well done to Sam from year 6 who competed his first ever Aquathlon on Sunday at Ystradgynlais, where he had to swim 200m and then run 2k and did amazingly well!  

Rhyleigh from year 5 was delighted to show off his medal to year 1 this week. Well done Rhyleigh.

Well done Marianne on your swimming achievement! 

Year 5 enjoyed the coolness of the Rec this afternoon!

This week in nusery

It might be almost the end of the term but we’re still very busy!

We have been measuring and discussing which objects were the tallest and the shortest.  We used cubes to measure and counted how many cubes tall the objects were and recorded our findings.  We have also been weighing and thinking about which objects are heavy and which are light.  We used the giant scales to test our ideas.  We had a real treat on Friday morning we got to watch year 6 perform their Grease production, we sat beautifully and watched it all.

The Bridge

We are excited to announce that we will be offering Healthy Packed Lunches for children under the age of 16 throughout the Summer Holidays. Packed lunches are available in our Community Hub from 11am - 3pm.  We are thrilled to introduce our Summer Kids Activity Planner! Throughout the summer, we will be offering a variety of engaging activities that kids are sure to love.  As the event dates come closer, tickets will be available for FREE on Eventbrite. Our Support Workers at the Community Hub are also here to help with your bookings.

Halo Swimming

Active 4 Life

Looking for an exciting, action-packed summer for your kids? Active 4 Life for ages 8-11 is back at Bridgend Life Centre — and it’s completely FREE!

In partnership with Bridgend Town Community Council, we’re bringing the fun at Bridgend Life Centre with:

Dodgeball
Dance
Art Attack
Football
Table Tennis

…plus loads more games, challenges, and creative activities to keep your child active, engaged, and smiling all summer long!

Location: Bridgend Life Centre
Dates: Sessions available between 28th July – 15th August
Time: 10am – 2pm, Monday to Friday

️ Pre-booking is essential!
Call us now on 01656 678890 or pop into the centre to secure your child’s place.

Spots are limited — don’t miss out on this fantastic FREE summer experience!

Summer Squash Camps every Tuesday and Thursday during the six-week summer holiday at the Sports Wales National Centre in Cardiff. The sessions run from 10am to 3pm and are open to children aged 5–13 of all abilities.

Each day is packed with fun games, skill-building, and active play — a great option for families looking to keep children engaged and moving over the holidays.

https://shop.squashwales.com/collections/summer-squash-camps

• 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.