Good morning, everyone. I hope you all had a great weekend.

Please remember that the school photographer will be in St Bartholomew’s tomorrow. He will take individual photographs of all children in the school (including the nursery) as well as group portraits of siblings. Please can you ensure that your child is in full school uniform tomorrow and that they practise their best smiles in front of the mirror as part of their homework tonight! Thank you.

Excellent progress is being made on the fitting of our new blinds. The entire upper school and offices are now complete and the contractor made a start on the infant classrooms on Friday. I’m also delighted to inform you (especially now that the autumn weather seems to have arrived with a vengeance!) that work on our new heating system is only a week away from being completed.

Mrs McAuley and I will be accompanying the Primary 7’s to a special outdoor Mass in Carfin this morning to mark the end of the ‘Year of Faith’. Every Catholic school in the diocese will be represented, with around 3000 young people taking part in what is sure to be a memorable celebration of the Eucharist. Although we will have raincoats and umbrellas at the ready, we’d still appreciate your prayers for dry weather!

Our new Promoting Positive Behaviour policy is now available on the website. The policy reinforces the procedures which have been in place in St Bartholomew’s over the past twelve months. These have proved to be very successful and now become fixed school policy from Primary 1-7. I would encourage you to find a bit of time to read the policy for yourself so you are familiar with the various approaches we use to reward and sanction pupils across the school. It can be accessed in the ‘Information’ section under ‘Policies & Documents’.

On the same theme, I would like to take this opportunity to thank parents and carers for their ongoing support in relation to behaviour and discipline. It’s a fact of life that we can’t be good all of the time (Mr Young especially!), but it’s always very much appreciated when the school receives backing and support from the home when dealing with misbehaviour. Of course, the vast majority of our pupils rarely, if ever, need to be told off. Their good behaviour doesn’t go unnoticed and many of them will be rewarded with a Pupil of the Week certificate, the House trophy or the Cool Class Cup this afternoon.

Although our dinner hall is as bustling as ever, it was brought to my attention yesterday that the actual number of pupils staying for a school lunch has significantly dropped this year. St Bartholomew’s kitchens are staffed by two fantastic dinner ladies who never fail to have a friendly smile for pupils and staff alike. There are always several delicious options on offer for lunch as well as a breakfast club first thing in the morning and a healthy tuck-shop at morning break. I’d like to take this opportunity to encourage parents and carers to take advantage of the services offered by our kitchens. If your child has never used the breakfast club, tuck-shop or stayed for a school lunch, it’s maybe something you’d like to consider. I’m a visitor to the dining hall morning, interval and lunch and can promise you that the food’s top-notch!

It’s taken a bit of time to reach the top of our to-do list, but the ‘Calendar’ section of our website is now being populated for the 2013/14 session and the months of September, October and November are now live. I hope this section will prove useful in reminding you of the various events happening in St Bartholomew’s and help you plan your diary in advance. Please visit the section regularly as additional events will be added as they arise.

Our Primary 5’s are off to the Time Capsule this morning for their first swimming session. Have a great time, boys and girls… Best behaviour, please!

New roller blinds have now been fitted in Primary 7 and Primary 6. What a transformation! The Primary 4 and 5 classrooms will be done later today.

Our annual sponsored walk has been scheduled for the second last week of term, with funds raised going towards out-of-school trips. Permission letters and sponsor forms will go out today.

The September/October edition of St BartholoNews will also go out today, so please check your child’s school bag. An electronic copy of the newsletter will be available in the ‘News’ section of our website.

Finally, we pause briefly today to remember the dreadful events of 11th September 2001 when the World Trade Centre in New York was attacked, with the loss of 2996 innocent lives. We also remember that we still live in a world divided by conflict and war, where innocent people continue to suffer and die. We pray in particular today for the people of Syria… and make a commitment to let love, tolerance and peace begin in our own hearts and form the building blocks of St Bartholomew’s Primary.

‘See that no one pays back wrong for wrong, but at all times make it your aim to do good to one another and to all people.’ (1 Thessalonians 5:15)

Two great pieces of news this morning:

Contractors will begin fitting our new blinds later today. Primary 7 will be the first room to be transformed with sleek new roller blinds.

The other REALLY exciting piece of news is that our good friend, Mark Millar, has purchased pantomime tickets for every pupil in the school. St Bartholomew’s will be off to the Pavilion Theatre in Glasgow on the 11th December to see Pinocchio! A huge thank you to Mark!

Good morning. As I mentioned last week, I had a very enjoyable and productive time at the Catholic Head Teachers’ conference on Thursday and Friday. However, it really does feel good to be back in St Bartholomew’s this morning. I’m looking forward to seeing the boys and girls at 9 o’clock and catching up on all their news. The Catholic Head Teachers’ Association gifted a portrait of Pope Francis to the school during the conference and this will be given a new home in our main entrance area later today.

I came across a thought-provoking quotation the other day; some food for thought as we begin a new week:

“Success is not the key to happiness. Happiness is the key to success. If you love what you are doing, you’ll be a success.”

Have an enjoyable and successful Monday, everyone!

Good morning, everyone. I was delighted to hear from Mrs MacIntyre and Mrs Bolland that it was a terrific Thursday in St Bartholomew’s yesterday. Well done, boys and girls!

I’ve had a very interesting and enjoyable time away at the Catholic Head Teachers’ conference. The highlight for me was yesterday’s inspirational speech on Catholic schools by Maureen McKenna, Director of Education for Glasgow City Council. It has also been good to meet so many other Head Teachers from across Scotland… several of whom are readers of this blog!

I noticed on their class page that Primary 1 have created some beautiful sparkly sea horses as part of this week’s art work. They’re going to look absolutely fantastic on the wall! Click on the ‘learning’ pencil on the website homepage to have a look for yourself.

Up the school in Primary 4/3, the boys and girls have been busy on our new computers learning how to import photographs onto a document. I’m very impressed!

I’m looking forward to popping onto the website at 3 o’clock today to see our Pupils of the Week… I wonder which names will be there! I’m equally excited about who’s going to win the House trophy and Cool Class Cup.

Have another great day, everyone. Looking forward to seeing you on Monday morning.

Good morning! It’s 6.40am and I am already en route to St Andrew’s for the annual Catholic Head Teachers’ conference. I’m a little bleary-eyed, but very much looking forward to what should hopefully be an enjoyable and productive two days. Mrs MacIntyre and Mrs Bolland are holding the fort in my absence and will be able to deal with any urgent issues or queries.

Boys and girls: I’ll be telephoning the school several times today to check up on you. I want good reports! Best behaviour, best work, best manners, please! Tomorrow’s Friday, so there’s still time to earn a Pupil of the Week certificate or win the House trophy… and remember that the Cool Class Cup is up for grabs right up to the end of the day tomorrow! So, do your very best today and make sure I have a smile on my face when I phone the school later on. Oh, and did I mention the hidden cameras I got fitted in St Bartholomew’s last week?!!!

Have a good day, everyone!

I just can’t help myself!
I need to put it on my blog for all the world to read!…
Our new Primary 1’s are absolutely FANTASTIC!
They’re whizz kids in class with their letters and numbers; they walk beautifully along the corridor; they are experts on our new computers; they sit like angels during assembly; they never forget to say ‘Good morning’ and ‘Good afternoon’; they stay out of trouble in the playground; they never stop smiling (and neither does Mrs Carlin)!!! Boys and girls, we are sooooo proud of you. Keep up the super work!

I’m at the annual Catholic Head Teachers’ conference tomorrow and Friday. Hopefully, I’ll have a phone signal up in St Andrew’s so I can post my blog using my iPhone (and so I can log onto the website on Friday to find out who gets a Pupil of the Week certificate and who wins the Cool Class Cup!).

Have a good day, everyone.

The ‘Pray for our school group’ will meet at 11.00am in the school oratory this morning. All parents, parishioners and friends are very welcome to attend. Further information is available in the Faith section of our school website, including the monthly prayer guide mentioned in yesterday’s blog. The time of prayer will be followed by a cup of tea and a biscuit in the wonderful company of some of our Primary 7 pupils!.. always a highlight of the monthly event! I have a very busy day of meetings ahead, but I look forward to seeing some of you this morning, if only briefly.