Head teacher:

Mrs Claire Orford - appointed September 2019.

Number of pupils and what age range:

197 pupils. Ages four to 11

Number of staff:

Nine teachers, one HLTA (higher level teaching assistant), TAs (teaching assistants) in the FP classrooms and some TAs who support pupils with additional learning needs.

Tell us a bit about the school:

Castle Park Primary School is situated in Caldicot, Monmouthshire and is a stone's throw away from Caldicot Castle. The school has been highly involved in the regeneration work taking place in Caldicot. We have been involved in planting trees and our art work is displayed on signs within Caldicot as part of the Green Infrastructure scheme.

Mud Kitchen

What sorts of things do your pupils get up to in the average school week?

Throughout the school week, learning incorporates the four Purposes and six Areas of Learning and Experiences.

After some initial research, children take ownership of their new theme by generating thoughtful questions and then, through a blended mixture of guided tasks, problem solving and independent research they find their answers. When a new theme is due to take place, the staff use their imagination to create an authentic experience for the pupils to engage in the new theme.

For example, during the most recent lockdown, Year 5 and Year 6 witnessed a space crash in the school grounds. They became detectives and treated the area as a virtual crime scene to deduce what happened and identify their new theme: Out of the World.

During the theme they were lucky enough to speak to scientists and learn how to train as an astronaut.

All this work culminates in an event, linking the local community, to celebrate our journey.

The outdoor areas are utilised throughout the school day and pupil led opportunities weave in through the themes.

Development of outdoor areas in Reception, Year 1 and 2 support learning throughout the school day.

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Creative School project

Tell us about your extra curricular activities:

Pre-Covid, every pupil in the school was assigned to a pupil group - School Council, Eco Council, Health and Wellbeing, Digital Leaders, Criw Cymraeg or Rights and Responsibilities.

Year 6 pupils led these groups and met with all of these pupils every half term.

We look forward to this starting again as soon as Covid guidelines allow.

Pre-Covid, pupils in Year 5 and Year 6 also led their own extra curricular groups that ranged from a puppet club and drama club to a snooker club and table tennis club.

Staff also give of their time during lunch and after school and run clubs such as Choir, Art, drawing, chess, cooking, welsh dancing, gardening, football and many others throughout the academic year.

Do you have a PTA (Parent-Teacher Association)?

Our PTA - Friends of Castle Park - has an active role within the school. They are always looking at innovative ways of fundraising, especially through the pandemic.

This Christmas they meticulously organised a successful virtual week of fundraising for the school. This included input from parents, staff and pupils.

Pupils shared Christmas riddles, parents and pupils entered the best dressed Christmas tree event and the staff made a collaborative video to celebrate the final day. The online raffle went down a storm and we are very thankful to the Friends of Castle Park for their continued support.

Enjoyment in Learning

What's the highlight of the school year?

We love it when we can invite families and the community to events.

Before the pandemic, every year group invited families to different events to share and celebrate their work.

Reception pupils sang nursery rhymes, Year 1 and Year 2 sang harvest songs and shared the Harvest soup they had made, Year 3 and Year 4 dressed up as rulers and servants for the day and shared their work and Year 5 and Year 6 invited their families and the local community to attend their 'Trashion Show' event.

We can't wait for these events to start again and we have lots of new ideas on how we can share and celebrate with our families and the local community.

In the meantime, staff love to Tweet what the pupils are up to during the week to keep our families connected.

Expressive Arts

Who is your chairman of governors and how does the board of governors get involved with the school?

Our current chairman is Cllr David Evans. The governing body meets regularly to discuss all aspects of the school. Different governors have different roles within the governing body.

What does the future hold for your school?

Our mission statement is 'Enjoyment in Learning'. We promote this daily and incorporate this into our vision for Castle Park Primary School.

Our vision is for everybody to be happy, secure, confident learners looking forward to attending school.

All pupils and staff need to be independent, think creatively and reflect upon their learning, in order to achieve their true potential and future aspirations.

When the class teachers and the pupils are planning for the New Curriculum for Wales, they have the school mission and vision in mind.

The pupil leadership groups and staff have lots of plans for the next three years, these include:

• Continuing to develop the outdoor space outside of the Key Stage Two classrooms and on the field;
• Design and create allotments on the school field, with the support of the local community;
• Develop networking through Google Meet with other schools in the Cluster, Monmouthshire, South Wales and further afield;
• New expressive arts area, music area and IT booths to be created.

The pupils are hoping to secure a grant to be able to set up these new areas within the school, to continue to make wellbeing the centre of our learning journey.

The Health and Wellbeing committee have worked on setting up a cookery room and choosing recipes for each class in the school to make.They can't wait to invite families in as soon as guidelines allow.

Parachute fun

How was it during the pandemic?

The school ensured that they communicated efficiently with pupils and families. Wellbeing was at the heart of everything we did.

We asked the opinions of pupils, parents and staff to refine our approaches and listened to these opinions and changed some approaches.

We embraced the changes and the staff were very quick to upskill in technology.

Various platforms were used across the school with different learning activities on a daily basis, while always continuing to prepare for the implementation of the Curriculum for Wales.

Staff made pre-recorded videos and also engaged with their pupils during live sessions. Most pupils excelled during Remote Learning, showing their independence and maturity during these difficult times.

We are so grateful to our parents and families for supporting their children through this time. Wellbeing and praising efforts from families was a priority for us. We had whole activities for Children's Mental Health Week and weekly celebration assemblies.

Head teacher Mrs Claire Orford

Anything else you think we should know?

The school was successful at achieving the Cymraeg Campus Bronze award in December 2019. We celebrated obtaining the Eco Council Platinum Flag for the fifth time in February 2020.

We are currently piloting a whole school Wellbeing project for the local authority.

The Bronze Ambassadors, Year 6 pupils, have continued to meet to discuss leadership in sport during Covid and since they have returned to school.

The Year 3 pupils have been busy with a grant secured by Creative School, Arts Council of Wales and Year 4 pupils are in the middle of making and achieving pledges to earn a green Blue Peter badge linked to being a Climate Hero.