Latest News and Weekly Newsletters

• Christmas CD Music Clips

  Tue 11 Dec 2018 Sara Peters

  Our Christmas CD is amazing.  If you would like to hear a snippet of the songs you can listen by clicking on the link below.  We hope you enjoy.  CD's can be purchased through the Parent Pay website or directly from the school.  

   

  https://soundcloud.com/user-446470654/sets/old-castle-primary-school-christmas-recording/s-gdch3

• Our award winning school savings scheme

  Wed 21 Nov 2018 SP
  Click here to view a video regarding our recent ceremony to collect our award at the Credit Union of Wales presentation.

• Its a Magical Time of Year at Oldcastle this Chrismtas

  Wed 21 Nov 2018 SP

  Christmas is a magical time of year at Oldcastle Primary School

   

  Christmas is the most magical time of the year, a chance to dream and not just imaging the impossible but to make it happen!

   

  At Oldcastle Primary School we wanted to capture this spirit while also giving our pupils the opportunity to create life long memories, something to tell their grandchildren! Tied in with the day to day excitement that fills the school we have been working on a special musical project.

   

  All of our children have become recording artists!!

   

  For some pupils this, we hope, will inspire a journey into working with music, for others we hope it will foster a lifelong love of music, however our main aim is that there was at least one day in our children’s lives where they recorded their own Christmas music.

   

  Under the skilful instruction of our specialist teacher for music, Ms Charlotte Ellett, our children have been taught to sing and perform, and appreciate music. This mixed with the collective enthusiasm and motivation of our school community has produced a magical Christmas CD.

   

  The collective voice of the pupils singing together, and also the enchanting way the soloists and musicians perform make your hair stands on end. Six carefully chosen songs that capture the essence of this season and inspired by staff who looked back at their childhood. Tracks include Away in a Manger, It’s a Magical Time, Silent Night, Somewhere in my Memory, All I Want for Christmas, and Grandma We Love You.

   

  “Our Christmas CD truly is magical. The results of the performances and recording has far outweighed our expectation and we would like to thank Resonance Music Studio and Mr Ryan Wood for their support in producing the CD. We hope that parents, grandparents and the wider community enjoy listening to the CD and get a sense of how inspired and motivated the children felt recording the music”. Jeremy Malessa-Thompson, Headteacher Oldcastle Primary School.

   

  Parents and carers of pupils at Oldcastle Primary have been offered the opportunity to purchase the CD, which includes artwork from a number of pupils. The tracks are also available to download from the iTunes music store.

   

  Any profit generated by the sale of the CD will be used to continue to support the rich arts provision at Oldcastle, create a music and performance scholarship whilst ensuring that we keep making wonderful things happen for children in the School.

• Highly successful STEM week

  Wed 21 Nov 2018 SP

  Oldcastle pupils inspired in STEM subjects

   

  Children in all year groups at Oldcastle Primary had an amazing week recently with so many activities, trips and visitors inspiring and educating children in Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths subjects.

   

  Children in various year groups have been on trips to visit Bridgend College to take part in a food technology session learning how to use wonky or close to use by ingredients. Some of the dishes that returned to school has looked amazing and tasted lovely too. Thank you so much to Bridgend College for hosting our children this week - the children have learnt a great deal and hopefully will inform parents at home!

   

  Trips were also organised to Solcer House in Pyle. The specially built house is the first 'smart' carbon positive house. Children were also able to see wind turbines and solar farms up close and learn about the anaerobic digestive system. Some of our younger pupils visited Porthcawl and took part in a clean up of the beach to investigate plastic waste.

  
  Teachers have provided very hands on learning experiences throughout the week where children have made gloopy slime, made recycled paper, colour changing flowers, bottle explosions, built solar toys, dancing raisins, supersized marshmallows, bird feeders, dissection, to name just a few of the activities undertaken.

   

  Children who are part of our School Council, Eco, Newspaper and digital leader teams in years 2 to 6 took part in an incredible experience at the end of the week - creating a radio show about their STEM experiences. The show is absolutely brilliant and provides lovely feedback from the children about what they enjoyed throughout the week. The radio show can be listened to by clicking on the link on our website.

   

  ‘We are so fortunate to have had the support of many businesses, parents and staff throughout our hugely successful STEM week. Children loved the variety of sessions that were offered and it was satisfying to see children enjoying learning in a stimulating environment. I can’t thank enough all those that gave up their time to make this such an enjoyable experience for the children. We are looking forward to developing our STEM week further for 2019 with the aim of inspiring, motivating and educating children’, states Jeremy Thompson, Head teacher of Oldcastle Primary School.

   

  We have had many visitors this week and we are grateful for time taken to come into Oldcastle. Special thanks to Swansea University, Innovate UK, South Wales Police, STEM ambassadors, Clare Davies, Seaquest, CGI, Dr Mark Smith, Dr O'Malley, Royal Mint, John Laver, Alun Armstrong, Nat West, Boston Scientific, and Vesarian.

   

  The school would like to thank Madeleine Moon MOP for visiting and supporting our STEM week. Mrs Moon donated a ‘Tim Peak’s Spacecraft Mission Pack’. This pack was awarded to Jude from year 3 who showed an enthusiastic approach to all STEM activities.

• STEM Radio Show

  Fri 16 Nov 2018 S Peters

  Our School Council, Eco Newspaper and Digital Leader teams took part in a very special session yesterday and created a radio show that highlighted the best bits of their STEM week.  The result is fantastic - we hope you enjoy listening.

   

  Please click here to listen.

• Teacher Vacancy

  Wed 26 Sep 2018 Sara Peters
  The Governors of Oldcastle Primary wish to appoint a motivated teacher to join our supportive and forward thinking school on its journey to excellence.  Please view the job advert and job description here.

• Google for Education

  Fri 21 Sep 2018 Sara Peters

  Dear Oldcastle Community,

  We are proud to let you know that we have become a Google for Education School.

  What is Google for Education?

  Google Apps for Education (G Suite) is becoming popular within school environments and is an amazingly effective digital way of collaborating and communicating between teachers and pupils. It is a series of Apps that act as tools to help students and teachers to interact securely across digital devices such as iPads, Chromebooks and VR Goggles; equipment which we are lucky enough to have at Oldcastle! It has also revolutionised the way that staff communicate and collaborate in school.

  What does this mean for our learners?

  Learners across the school are accessing resources digitally as part of our drive to be eco friendly and reduce our use of paper. We also aim to provide children with the skills that are needed in order to operate effectively in our 21st century world. Apps that pupils are using include:

  ● Google Drive - learners will store and access work on a very secure online platform known as a ‘cloud’

  ● Google Sites - children have the ability to make a website, showcasing work

  ● Google Docs - similar to Word

  ● Google Slides - similar to Powerpoint

  ● Google Sheets - similar to Excel

  ● Google Classroom - the most exciting and innovative app. Teachers can create an online class and invite our pupils to join. We can then handout work, support pupils and receive their completed assignments all from one place

  Can learners access G Suite at home?

  All pupils have been given a log-on and they have independently created a password which they are responsible for remembering (these can be reset if they forget them!). Learners can access all of the Apps at home and have discussed e-safety elements (such as ensuring they log-out of their account when leaving a digital device) from staff.

  We look forward to working together and moving forward using Google for Education.

• Oldcastle Elections

  Wed 12 Sep 2018 Sara Peters

  Oldcastle Primary are delighted to inform pupils that we will be holding elections for our School Council, Eco Committee, Digital Leaders and Newspaper Team in the coming weeks.  Children have been informed today of the job roles and timescales today, and we hope parents can help children apply for the role they are interested in.

   

  Please look at the job descriptions on our website and download the application forms. Once completed, return to your class teacher by Monday 17th September.  

   

  Election presentations will be conducted during class the week of Monday 17th September.  Election Week will take place week beginning Monday 24th September.

   

  One person from each class from Reception to Year 6 will be chosen for each job role.  Children may apply for more than one role if they wish.

   

  For job descriptions and application forms please click here.

   

• Oldcastle Primary vacancies

  Sun 09 Sep 2018 Sara Peters

  Oldcastle Vacancies

  We currently have the following vacancies at Oldcastle Primary School.  

   

  Children’s Activity Co-ordinator (Permanent) 

  10 hours - 3:15pm to 5:15pm Monday to Friday 

  Grade 6 £19,819 pro rata term time only £10.27 per hour)

   

  The Governors of Oldcastle are seeking to recruit an Activity Coordinator for our children’s after school club held within the School. You should be able to demonstrate skills, experience and qualifications within play work, sports and recreation, arts and creative activities or a combination of these themes.

   

  You will have experience of supervising groups of children, capable of taking responsibility for them.  For further information and an application pack please click here.

  
  The closing date for this post is 17th September 2018.  Shortlisting will take place 19th September 2018
  
  THE SUCCESSFUL APPLICANT WILL BE SUBJECT TO AN ENHANCED DISCLOSURE AND BARRING SERVICE CHECK.

   

  Relief Lunchtime Supervisory Assistant 

  12:05pm - 1:05pm (5 hours per week)

  Grade 1 £16,394 pro rata term time only (£8.50 per hour)

   

  Oldcastle Primary School is seeking to appoint one Supervisory Assistant to work during the lunchtime period.  Working as a part of a team, the successful candidate will be required to undertake the supervision of children in all areas of the school, and actively engage pupils in playground games. Experience of working with children would be an advantage, but is not essential.

   

  For further information and an application pack please click here.

  
  The closing date for this post is 17th September 2018.  Shortlisting will take place 19th September 2018
  
  THE SUCCESSFUL APPLICANT WILL BE SUBJECT TO AN ENHANCED DISCLOSURE AND BARRING SERVICE CHECK.

   

  Premises Officer  - Permanent
  Hours of Work: Flexible but will include 6:45pm - 9-45pm (Thursday) 
  Grade 4 £17,972 pro rata (£9.32 per hour)
   
  The Governing Body at Oldcastle Primary School seeks to appoint a trustworthy, reliable & enthusiastic person to join the school team.

  
  The successful candidate will also be required to undertake porterage / caretaking duties & general repairs / decoration and maintenance. The post also carries some basic cleaning responsibilities.
  
  Candidates should be well motivated, show initiative and have a flexible attitude towards the duties of the post & work that needs to be carried out at the school. 

   

  For further information and an application pack please click here.

  
  The closing date for this post is 17th September 2018.  Shortlisting will take place 19th September 2018
  
  THE SUCCESSFUL APPLICANT WILL BE SUBJECT TO AN ENHANCED DISCLOSURE AND BARRING SERVICE CHECK.

• Rearranged World Book Day

  Thu 08 Mar 2018 SP
  We will be celebrating our rearranged World Book Day celebrations on Thursday 8th March.  Children may bring in their favourite book into school on this day.  Thank you for your support.