It’s certainly a day for good news here at St Bartholomew’s. The Primary 7’s took part in a Gaelic football tournament at St Ambrose today against five other schools and walked away with the winning shield! Well done on your fantastic victory, boys and girls! We’re so proud of you!!!

The impeccable manners, friendly smiles and expert bag-packing of our ten Primary 6’s managed to raise the fantastic sum of £360 at Asda this morning! Well done, boys and girls!.. not bad for two hours work! Many thanks to the team of parents who willingly gave of their time to supervise the children this morning – we couldn’t have managed without you.

First of all, thank you to our two parents who left our first ever comments on the blog: two about our successful sports day and one about the wonderful kindness of Erin in P6.  It was so encouraging to receive your feedback and I hope it gets the ball rolling – we’d love to hear from other parents and friends of the school!  You can view the comments by clicking on ‘comment’ underneath ‘Wednesday 29th May’.  Thank you again!

P7 are off to a Gaelic football tournament at St Ambrose High School this morning.  Good luck, boys and girls – do us proud!

We also have ten Primary 6’s heading off to Asda first thing this morning to do some bag-packing.  They’re aiming to raise much needed funds to help pay for next week’s P1-6 disco and the Primary 7 beach party at the end of June.  Hope it goes well, team!  Remember to smile!

Our new P1’s had the chance to spend part of yesterday afternoon in their new classroom with Mrs Carlin.  They were absolute superstars!  Mrs Carlin and I were ultra impressed with how well the boys and girls lined up, walked along the corridor, sat, listened and drew.  We can’t wait to welcome this fantastic new intake of pupils to St Bartholomew’s in August!

I will be away in York with some of our P7’s for the whole of next week.  We have a fantastic five days lined up including a trip to Eden Camp war museum, a river trip, a visit to the Yorvik Centre and a day at Flamingo Land theme park.  Mrs MacIntyre and Mrs Bolland will hold the fort in my absence and will be available to deal with any issues or queries.  Of course, my blog will continue to be updated on a daily basis (the wonders of the iPhone!) to fill you in on all our news from York.  

Have a great weekend, everyone.

Sports Day was a huge success yesterday. The rain stayed away, the sun even shone! The boys and girls behaved impeccably and competed like top athletes; the enjoyment and enthusiasm was written all over their faces! Well done, everyone, for being such good sportsmen and women.

Mums, dads, grandparents, other family members and friends: you were fantastic spectators! Thank you for coming along to support the children.

I’m sure everyone who was there will agree that Scott and Heather from P5 were outstanding comperes and did an absolutely sterling job keeping us up to speed with the various events. Well done both of you!

Of course, a slick event like this doesn’t happen by accident. A huge amount of planning and preparation went into yesterday’s Sports Day and this was largely down to Mr Hughes. Thank you for all your time and effort, Mr Hughes – we couldn’t have done it without you.

Another reminder of the final Sports Day results:

1st – DRUMPELLIER with 442 points
2nd – MONKLANDS with 430 points
3rd – LOCHEND with 402 points
4th – SUMMERLEE with 334 points

Well done to Drumpellier, our sports champions of 2013!

Sports Day has arrived…. and the forecast remains dry!  Things kick-off at 1pm and I look forward to seeing many of you at what is sure to be an exciting and fun afternoon!

Please excuse the foyer over the next couple of days.  The flooring was beginning to lift, so this has been ripped up and will be replaced this week.  Our new plants and statue have been temporarily relocated to just inside the front door.  However, everything will be back in place in our fully refurbished foyer in due course!  Thanks for your patience.

Many of our older pupils watched the film ‘Child 31’ last week which tells the story of the amazing work of ‘Mary’s Meals.’  One of our P6 girls, Erin, was so moved and inspired by what she saw, she went home, raised £40 by selling some of her toys, and then used the money to purchase a backpack, toiletries, stationery and other items to send to a needy child in Malawi.  What an amazing thing to do!  I’m sure Erin’s wonderful example will inspire  many more of us to support the work of this very worthwhile cause.  This week, we are collecting tennis balls and spoons to fill our backpacks.  However, the stationery and toiletries boxes are still outside the gym hall, so donations of these items can continue to be made.  Thank you, Erin, for being an inspiration to us all.

Welcome back, everyone. Hope you all had a great long weekend.

I’m delighted to announce that our non-uniform day and coffee morning on Thursday raised the fantastic sum of £240 for ‘Mary’s Meals’. Well done, everyone, and many thanks to Mrs O’Neill and the Prayer Group for organising these two fundraising events.

The Parent Council AGM takes places this evening at 6pm. Please enter the school via the back door on Deveron Street. It would be fantastic to see some new faces tonight as we look ahead to the various projects we have planned for next session.

Sports Day takes place tomorrow afternoon from 1pm and all parents and carers are very welcome to come and join in the atmosphere. I can’t guarantee glorious sunshine, but the forecast is looking dry. As usual, chairs will be set up on the Tarmac just outside the main entrance. To ensure the smooth running of the event and the safety of pupils, the children will be required to stay in their designated area with the rest of their class throughout the afternoon – please do not encourage your child to leave their class to come and speak to you. Thank you. Children should make sure they have a water bottle as well as a sweatshirt or jacket to keep them warm when sitting between races. Many thanks to Mr Hughes for organising the event – I’m sure it’s going to be a great day!

Please note that the Parent Council AGM is at 6.00pm on Tuesday, NOT 7.00pm as mentioned in an earlier blog this week. Thank you.

Only Thursday, but we’ve reached the end of this particular school week already.

Today’s a non-uniform day in aid of ‘Mary’s Meals’. The Prayer Group are also running a coffee morning at 10.30am in the Get Together Room. This will include the opportunity to view the film ‘Child 31’. I would encourage you to support this very worthwhile cause and look forward to seeing you at this morning’s coffee morning. Many thanks to Mrs O’Neill & the Prayer Group for organising today’s fundraising events.

Our second Nursery – Primary 1 transition event takes place this afternoon; Mairi Brady will lead a workshop with parents and children. Things kick off at 1.30pm in the Music Room. I look forward to seeing our new P1’s with their parents later today.

Please remember two important events taking place next week:
The Parent Council AGM is on Tuesday night at 6pm;
Sports Day begins at 1pm on Wednesday, weather permitting.

St Bartholomew’s will be closed tomorrow and Monday. Enjoy the long weekend, everyone… let’s hope the sun shines! See you on Tuesday morning.

As you know, we are collecting donations of toothpaste, toothbrushes and bars of soap for ‘Mary’s Meals’ this week. These can be placed in the box outside the gym hall. There will also be two special fundraising events in aid of ‘Mary’s Meals’ taking place during the school day tomorrow.  The Prayer Group are holding a Coffee Morning at 10.30am which will include a screening of the short film, ‘Child 31’.  This is a powerful and inspirational film which tells the remarkable story of ‘Mary’s Meals’ and the children the charity reaches through its work.  You can watch the trailer for the film at www.child31film.com.  Pupils are also invited to take part in a non-uniform day tomorrow for a donation of £1.00.  Please support the work of this very worthwhile cause and help make a difference to the lives of some of the poorest children in the world.  Thank you.

Sports Day takes place a week today (Wednesday 29th May).  This is the official call to St Bartholomew’s school and parish communities to start praying for sunshine!!!  I look forward to seeing many of our parents, carers and friends next Wednesday for the biggest sporting event since last summer’s Olympics!

I’m writing this from a Head Teachers’ conference in Glasgow. I’ve been here all day and it has been refreshing hearing what’s going on in schools around the country and being able to share the good practice that goes on in St Bartholomew’s on a day-to-day basis. I think I’ve probably got the message across to my fellow Head Teachers how proud I am of the pupils and staff of St Bart’s!

Mrs MacIntyre has let me know that it’s been a great day in St Bartholomew’s… and I’m sure you’ve made the most of the sunshine. Looking forward to seeing you all tomorrow morning.

Please remember that the Parent Council AGM takes place a week today.