september 2023

MAKING FRIENDS

OUTDOOR LEARNING

FESTIVAL FUN

It has been a pleasure to welcome back our staff, pupils and families for the start of the 2023-24 academic year. A particularly warm welcome is extended to our new pupils and families across the school, including our new cohort of nursery pupils who have settled in so well with Mrs Roberts and her team. 


This half term, the pupils will continue to build upon their knowledge, skills and experiences across the full range of curriculum areas with a particular focus on "Cynefin" - which broadly translates as "the place where we feel we belong, where the people and landscape around us are familiar, and the sights and sounds are reassuringly recognisable".  Over the coming months, we will be following on from our successful maths curriculum workshops for parents and carers last year with a new focus on literacy and specifically speaking and listening. Please see the dates later on in the newsletter. 


Many thanks for your continued support and cooperation,


Mr Raymond


Attendance & Punctuality

Bridgend County Borough Council Attendance Campaign 

BCBC have been working with children in primary and secondary schools across the county borough to highlight the importance of regular school attendance and the benefits of school beyond learning.

Attending school on time, every day, is not only important for a child’s learning, but also for their wellbeing, achievement, and overall development. Click on the link to find out more information about the campaign: Attend to Achieve  

Our school's priority is to ensure regular attendance which will in turn provide pupils with the best possible chances in life to succeed and to achieve their goals. 

Punctuality is also a legal requirement and pupils must attend on time. Persistent lateness has a detrimental effect on a child’s learning and also disrupts other pupils within the class and throughout the school.

Can parents and carers please ensure:


Many thanks for your continued support and cooperation with this vital aspect of school life. 

As of Monday 25th September, our current whole school attendance figure is 94.6%. 

Did you know?

A pupil who is late by just 15 minutes every day for a year will have missed two full weeks of school. 

If a child’s overall school attendance is 80%, they will have missed one day every week, six days every half-term, 12 days every term, 36 days every year and nearly one full year by the time they leave school! 

staffing updates

 school structure

As part of national curriculum reform,  Welsh government have phased out the terminology of Foundation Phase and Key Stage 2. We have renamed our phases to align accordingly:

 car park reminder

POLITE REMINDER: Our car park can only be accessed by registered users, therefore non-registered users should not access the car park. This includes dropping off for 'Breakfast Club' and picking up from school clubs. Non-registered users must still walk on to site. Thank you for your support with this matter. 

School news


welcome/Croeso

Mrs Roberts and the nursery team have been busy helping our new nursery pupils to settle in. It has been lovely to see them exploring their new classroom, indoors and outdoors, whilst building new friendships. We look forward to watching them grow and develop throughout the year. 

meet our school ambassadors 

aurora and Luca

Congratulations to Aurora and Luca in Year 6, who were recently elected as our new 'Ambassadors' for this academic year. As part of the election process, they had to write and deliver a speech about why they wanted to be an ambassador, explaining what skills they had to help them to fulfil the role. We are really proud of them both and we know they will do a fantastic job at representing the school. Da iawn! 


pps festival

Despite the rain showers, the rescheduled festival was a huge success last Friday! It was wonderful to see so many members of both the school and local community. Well done to the pupils who performed so well on the outdoor stage, it was really impressive to watch considering they have only had a few weeks to prepare. Unfortunately, some of the other music acts we had planned had to be postponed due to the looming black clouds. However, the weather didn't stop the ukulele band, as they took the opportunity to use our outdoor classroom as a base for their performance! A huge thank you to everyone who supported us with the festival, it certianly was a great start to the school year! 

harvest donations

This year as part of our Harvest celebrations we are collecting donations for our 'Cwtch Cupboard' and Pencoed Food bank. Please see the information below for more details about suitable items. If you would like to donate, please send in your contributions by Wednesday 11th October.  Thank you for your continued support with helping us to offer food where needed. If your family would benefit from using the 'Cwtch Cupboard' or Pencoed food bank, please contact Mrs Patrick. 

autumn clubs

cookery 

coding

Girls football 

art 

We were overwhelmed by the number of applications for after school clubs this term. It was fantastic to see so many pupils embracing the opportunity to attend a club. The large number of applications means that many clubs are now full. However, if you have any queries about clubs or want your child's name to be added to the reserve list for a club, please email clubs@pencoedprimary.co.uk 

A big shout out to staff to say thank you for giving up their own time to help run such a wide variety of clubs! 

pupil news


monster ball

Year 3 and 4  are invited to attend the 'Monster Ball' in the school hall on:

Thursday 26th October, @ 4.15PM -5.15 PM. 

Tickets: £3 including a crisps and a drink.

(Pupils will not need any extra spending money)

Pupils are welcome to wear Halloween costumes or party clothes, (we are asking for donations of costumes to share with our families for this event, these will be displayed outside the school). 

Please note: Each phase will have the opportunity to attend one of these after school enrichment events throughout the year. The School Council are currently working on planning the other events. 

family engagement

family learning - Parent/Carer workshops

In response to parent/carer feedback and following the success of the maths workshops last year, we will be offering new workshops with a focus on literacy. These sessions will focus on the importance of developing pupils' speaking and listening skills. Each pupil will need a parent/carer to attend the session with them. The sessions will take place in the school hall. Unfortunately, due to the nature of the workshops, younger siblings will not be able to attend. Please see the link here for the list of dates.

autumn term Parent/Carer meetings

As has been the case previously, we will be offering parents and carers the option of a phone call or face to face meeting during the week beginning Monday 16th October. The dates for phone calls will be shared by individual class teachers and the face to face meetings are as follows:

Monday 16th October:

Tuesday 17th October:

Class teachers will post a link to an appointment form on Class Dojo on Monday, appointment dates/times will then be communicated via a Dojo message. Please note, nursery parents/carers are not involved in these meetings. 

summer school success

We were delighted to see so many families over the course of the summer. Our summer school programme was a huge success; we ran 12 different sessions which were attended by over 150 children. Thank you to all staff involved for giving up their time to make summer school possible. 

uniform

The pupils have returned to school looking smart in their uniforms. Wearing uniform creates a sense of belonging and helps pupils to feel ready to learn. If you need any extra uniform please help yourselves to the uniform racks. Thank you to those families who have donated unwanted uniform, a great way to reuse and recycle.

Lost property

Lost property is located on the rail situated near the year 4/5/6 entrance. Please ensure that your child's clothing and property are clearly labelled with their name and class. Thank you.

Costume/Jumpers donations

Following the success of our uniform sharing, we are now looking to do the same for Halloween costumes and Christmas jumpers. If you have any suitable items which you would like to donate , please send them in ASAP. Many thanks. 

The 'Cwtch Cupboard' & pencoed food bank

With the cost of living on the rise, we are mindful that more of us may need some support. The school runs a 'Cwtch Cupboard', where food supplies can be shared. If you feel you would benefit from this, or you would like to donate food items such as pasta, rice, tinned foods, tea, coffee etc, please contact Mrs Patrick. 

Pencoed Foodbank also operates every Monday 1-3pm from the Church Hall. Mrs Patrick is able to pick up and deliver if needed. She can also issue foodbank vouchers. Please contact her via email or Dojo for further details, rpatrick@pencoedprimary.co.uk 

well-Being 

staff recognition award

Mrs Roberts & Mrs Patrick - for visiting and welcoming all of our new nursery parents. 

staff recognition award

Mrs Howells - for supporting the school community during the summer holidays. 

Well-being CERTIFICATE OF EXCELLENCE 

Mrs Brennan - for reorganising the  staffroom to create a welcoming and comfortable environment.

early help support


We have been very fortunate to receive support from our Early Help Team who are running four separate programmes.

There are more details about these programmes on Dojo. If you are interested in attending, please note your interest with the well-being team.

Dates for your diary



Inset Days:


*1 further date to be allocated which will be confirmed ASAP*

photos from this month

Safeguarding

Contact Us

Please let us know if you have any comments regarding the contents of this newsletter or any other matter relating to Pencoed Primary School. All issues will be dealt with in the strictest confidence. If you would prefer to make a personal appointment, please do not hesitate to contact us:

For regular updates 

please check Class Dojo