Many thanks to those parents/carers who came along to the S2 Parents’ Reporting Evening last Tuesday. Your support at evenings like this makes such a difference to the progress of our young people.
I had the pleasure of attending the East Ayrshire Instrumental Service Gala Concert last Wednesday evening. There was such a wealth of talent on display from across the authority – there must have been a large number of very proud parents/carers in the Grand Hall that evening!
On Monday we had ‘Day of the Dead’ parade in the school. The Mexican fiesta of Día de los Muertos, or Day of the Dead, takes place over the first two days of November. It is a Catholic Christian ritual intermixed with folk culture. The Spanish Conquistadores introduced All Saints’ Day (Día de Todos los Santos) and All Souls’ Day (Día de Todos las almas) to Mexico. The conquered Native Americans took the opportunity to incorporate their own traditions for honouring the dead into these two days. The resulting holiday is a unique mixture of the two cultures. The fiesta includes spending time in cemeteries, making shrines to the dead, and displaying artistic skulls and skeletons. Many thanks to Mrs Kirkwood, Mrs Whiteford and Mrs McDaid for organising this event.
Tuesday was the Feast of All Saints. We had 3 Masses throughout the day in St. Matthew’s church and I would like to thank Fr. Martin Chambers and Fr. Stephen McGrattan for their help on that day and their general support to the school throughout the year. I would like to welcome Fr. McGrattan to Kilmarnock in his new role as Parish Priest of St. Joseph’s and St. Michael’s. A warm welcome to Fr. Philip Kitchen who has now taken over as Parish Priest in St. Johns in Cumnock, Our Lady & St. Patricks Auchinleck and St. Thomas’ Muirkirk. And a fond farewell, and many thanks, to Fr. Stephen Latham as he moves to Prestwick as Parish Priest of St Quivox and St. Ann’s, Mossblown.
November is a month in the Church when we remember and pray for our family and friends who have died. The photo at the top has some of the lovely messages from pupils that are displayed in the street area of the school.
The Inspire Day for S4 pupils took place on Wednesday. There is an Inspire day each year for all year groups looking at Personal and Social Development activities. The S4 day involved various talks and workshops for the pupils including Teambuilding, Navy Careers, Skills Development Scotland, and Personality Typing.
I met with our School Council this week. This is a group that is made up of 2 representatives from each year group Pupil Council. We discussed the issues raised at the Pupil Councils and how we can move forward in the school. We spoke about the learning and teaching taking place, the use of iPads and how we could involve this group in developing our Merit system in the school linked to the school values. What a great group of pupils who represented their colleagues so well!
Forthcoming Events:
- 7th November Parent Council
- 11th November Remembrance Service in school
- 13th November School represented at the Remembrance Service in Kilmarnock
- 22nd November S5/6 Reports issued
- 22nd November S1 Parents’ Evening (4 – 6.30pm)
- 23rd November S6 Inspire Day
