School Community Forum

We are keen to offer members of our school community the opportunity to become involved in the shaping of continuous school improvement at Oldcastle Primary School. In May we will re-launch our School Community Forum and invite you to join us.

The School Community Forum involves members of the school community meeting once each half term at school to give their opinions, suggestions and support as we review and develop aspects of school life and approaches to teaching and learning. We believe that discussing the proposals for the school with community members, will enable us to ensure the best provision for our children.

iscussions will focus on aspects of school life, such as:

Vision and Values
Curriculum, Learning and Teaching
Outdoor Learning
Parent engagement and awareness
Family Engagement
School Priorities
National Education Agenda

We hope that the School Community Forum will support us to drive our school priorities and ensure that our links with the local and school community are firmly established. We welcome opinions, views and ideas and would be delighted to share our vision and values with you. School community opinion is important to us please get involved.

Please complete the form below to register your interest. The first meeting of the School Community Forum will be held on Monday 16th May from 9am to 10am. We aim to hold meetings at various times so please indicate below if you cannot make daytime meetings.

School Community Forum - Registration Form

School Community Forum - October 2022

This week we held another meeting of our School Community Forum. We are grateful to the parents tht attended and provided us with valuable feedback. The aim of the forum is to provide a link between the school and our school community. The forum will meet every half term and discuss a variety of school related issues. We understand that not all parents / carers are able to attend the meetings but if you would like to be involved or provide any feedback to us please use this feedback form to pass on any comments or suggestions. Feedback Form

At this weeks meeting the following was discussed:

A discussion was had regarding the timing of the meetings and the attendees felt that that the morning time was most suitable for them. This will be regularly reviewed following any further feedback.
The Positive Behaviour Policy was approved by school governors towards the end of the summer term and Mrs Burr provided attendees with a short update on the changes made. The policy now includes more detail on consequences / steps following negative behaviour and links in with the reward scheme used in school. Parents were positive about the policy and felt that their children understood the policy.
This September we launched our new Literacy Scheme - Literary Leaves. The scheme is working really well in class with children engaging in the new books adopted by each year group. More information on the books being read in class can be found below. The teaching staff are currently completing training on a new speaking and listening scheme called Voice 21. Voice 21 is an oracy scheme designed as a powerful tool for learning;. By teaching students to become more effective speakers and listeners we empower them to better understand themselves, each other and the world around them.
Parents were asked if thy would find a parntal session detailing how maths is taught throughout the year groups. The teaching of maths has changed over the years and parents might find this a useful way of understanding how their child is taught maths at Oldcastle. All parents present suggested that this would be a useful session and suggested explaining maths terminology used in school would also be helpful. Mrs Burr will look into the sessions and provide details to parents.
Assessments were discussed and parents reassured that the welsh government assessment used in school provide a snapshot of the children's learning and a small part of the ongoing assessment process at Oldcastle. Results of the tests will be available to parents after all tests have been completed - more details will be provided at a later stage.
Positive feedback was received from parents regarding the enrichment sessions on a Friday afternoon. Parents said that the children were all excited to to take part in the sessions and value the variety of activities offered.
Mrs Diehl, Family Engagement Officer, provided an update on the Language and Play sessions offered to nursery parents last year when parents could come into school and take part in an activity session with their child. Mrs Diehl will circulate a short form shortly to determine demand for these sessions in the future.
Mrs peters provided an update regarding the PTA. Various events are currently being planned and these will be released to parents shortly. The school is fortunate to have an active PTA and encourage all parents to become involved.

The next meeting of the School Community Forum will be held on Tuesday 5th December at 9am - all welcome.