Today is All Saints Day, a feast when we not only remember the saints we see in pictures and statues or read about in books, but all those men and women down through the ages who served God faithfully on earth and are now glorified with Him in Heaven. All of us – young and old – are called to be saints. No matter how ordinary our lives may seem, God gives each of us the opportunities and the graces to grow in holiness. Among the list of Saints canonised by the Church, there are kings, beggars, slaves, soldiers, mothers of families, children… the list could go on. In other words, there’s hope for us all! On this All Saints Day, let each and every one of us remember that we are ‘loved by God and called to be saints’ (Romans 1: 7)

Our whole school community will gather together in St Bartholomew’s Church at 10.00am this morning for Mass. All parents, carers and friends are most welcome to join us as we celebrate the Feast of All Saints.

We had some fantastic Halloween costumes in school yesterday and I look forward to seeing them again tonight at our Halloween discos.

We have three separate Halloween events in St Bartholomew’s today. The morning nursery children have their Halloween Parade at 11.00am in the Music Room and the afternoon children at 2.30pm. I look forward to seeing nursery parents during the course of the day (please enter via the main entrance). The P1-7’s have their own Halloween Parade at 1.30pm. Although not open to parents, the children will have the opportunity to show-off their costumes to the rest of the school and a small prize will be awarded for the best costume in each class. The children will then head off to their individual classrooms for some Halloween activities.

The weather is looking more promising for our short walk to St Bartholomew’s Church tomorrow morning for All Saints Day Mass. However, please ensure your child comes suitably dressed for whatever the weather might bring – the rain is never too far away at this time of year!

A group of St Bartholomew’s pupils represented the school at a netball tournament yesterday. The children did extremely well and won most of their matches. Well done everyone – we’re so proud of you!

Many thanks to those parents and friends of the school who helped decorate the hall for Halloween last night. The hall’s looking fantastic and the decorations are sure to make Thursday’s Halloween parade and the discos on Friday all the more atmospheric. Thanks again for your help, everyone.

I’ll be teaching Primary 7 today and am very much looking forward to working with the boys and girls. Although I will be in the building for the full day, please would parents and carers bear in mind that I will unable to take phonecalls until after the children go home at 3 o’clock. Thank you.

Finally…
“Do your little bit of good where you are; it’s those little bits of good put together that overwhelm the world.”
(Archbishop Desmond Tutu)

The Parent Council meets today at 6pm. However, there’ll be no sitting round a table this evening – it will be all hands on deck to get the hall decorated for Halloween. Many thanks to everyone for giving of your time to get the hall looking SPOOKTACULAR for the children’s Halloween events!

As mentioned on the leaflet that went home last week, the boys and girls are invited to wear their Halloween costume on Thursday afternoon. They can either pop home to get changed at lunchtime or get ready once they’re back in class at 1pm. We’ll then have a short Halloween parade to showcase all the costumes, with a small prize for the best costume in each class. The children will then head off to their own individual classrooms for some Halloween activities.

The Halloween discos are this Friday evening. The P1-3 disco runs from 6.00-7.00pm and the P4-7 disco from 7.15-8.15pm. Tickets are available from the office, priced £1.50.

Friday is All Saints Day and our whole school community will be attending the 10.00am Mass at St Bartholomew’s Church. Light rain is forecast, so please ensure that your child has a suitable jacket for the 15 minute walk to church.

Finally, our first ‘Tea with Mr Young’ was an absolute pleasure yesterday afternoon. All seven children who were awarded a Pupil of the Week certificate last week popped along to my office for tea/juice, a biscuit and a blether. It was great to reward and give quality time to these seven children who worked so hard in class last week. I wonder who will be coming to tea this Friday??!!

It was wonderful to see such a great turnout at Primary 4/3’s class assembly on Friday afternoon. The boys and girls gave a very thought-provoking presentation on our local community of Townhead and also entertained us with two cheery songs. Well done, boys and girls, and thank you Mrs O’Neill for preparing the children!

I know from speaking to parents, carers, family and friends that a big highlight of the afternoon was the opportunity to spend a bit of time in the P4/3 classroom, including the treat of sampling some of the children’s home baking! It really was a great atmosphere on Friday afternoon – many thanks again for supporting the children.

This afternoon sees our first ‘Tea with Mr Young’. The seven pupils who received a Pupil of the Week certificate at Friday’s assembly have been invited to join me in my office at 2.30pm for juice and a biscuit (or a cup of tea!) as an extra reward for their super effort in class last week. See you at 2.30, boys and girls!

Please remember that tickets for Friday’s Halloween discos are now on sale, priced £1.50.

Primary 4/3 have their class assembly at 1.30pm this afternoon. The boys and girls have been busy preparing and rehearsing a presentation on their local community to share with their parents and carers. After the assembly, the children’s guests will have the opportunity to visit their classroom where they’ll be served tea or coffee along with a special homemade treat! These tasty nibbles wouldn’t have materialised without Mrs Laird, one of our P7 parents, giving so generously of her time on Wednesday. She worked with small groups of P4/3 pupils to bake mini quiches and iced cupcakes for this afternoon’s special event. Thank you Mrs Laird and well done boys and girls. I can’t wait to taste them!

A group of P4-7 pupils completed a Personalisation & Choice module on Crime Solving yesterday. They spent four sessions investigating the shocking crime of who stole the Cool Class Cup! Finger prints were dusted, descriptions taken, footprints studied and fibres analysed. The boys and girls looked closely at all the evidence yesterday afternoon and successfully solved the crime: the thief who stole the Cool Class Cup was…. MR YOUNG! Caught red handed! I just hope the police don’t turn up before I help P4/3 with their assembly at half-past one!

Father Doherty will be celebrating Mass with Primary 6 in the school oratory this morning. It’s sure to be a very peaceful, prayerful and intimate celebration of the Eucharist – one which I’m sure the boys and girls will gain a great deal from. The children will do the readings and have also written their own bidding prayers. We greatly appreciate Father Doherty’s input to the school this year and value the pastoral care he provides for our pupils. Primary 5 and Primary 7 will celebrate their own class Masses later in the year.

I’m delighted to announce that we have raised £900 from our recent sponsored walk! This money will help subsidise class trips for pupils across the school. Many thanks to everyone who helped raise this fantastic sum of money and for all those legs (young and not so young!) that made the journey around Drumpellier Park last month!

Finally, we had two good questions posted by parents on yesterday’s blog. The first question asked which disco P3 pupils from the P4/3 class should attend. Ideally, P3 pupils should attend the P1-3 disco at 6pm. However, if a particular child has a strong friendship group within the P4/3 class, there is no issue with them attending the later P4-7 disco. The only rule is they can’t attend both!.. Bouncers will be on duty!

The second question asked if a Halloween Parade is planned for next week. The children will be able to wear their Halloween costume on the afternoon of Thursday 31st October and our whole school community will gather together in the hall to show-off all the different outfits; there will be a prize for the best costume in each class. The children will then head off to their own classroom for some Halloween games and activities. Please note that the parade is not open to parents. However, we do have a St Andrew’s Day concert planned for the end of November which all parents are invited to as well as a special Christmas afternoon and an infant Nativity scheduled for the month of December.

I think we must have had one of our shortest Parent Council meetings ever last night, but I must say it was an absolute pleasure being amongst such an enthusiastic bunch of parents. Our meeting focused on arrangements for the Halloween discos which will take place on Friday 1st November. The P1-3 disco will be from 6.00 – 7.00pm and the P4-7 disco from 7.15 – 8.15pm. As always, there’ll be a live DJ and there will even be the chance to dook for apples! Many thanks to the Parent Council for organising the event. Tickets will go on sale tomorrow, priced £1.50.

We’re delighted to welcome Mr Joe McAvoy to St Bartholomew’s this morning. Joe is our school’s Quality Improvement Manager. His role is to support us in taking forward the priorities of our Improvement Plan and to act as a ‘critical friend’: someone who challenges us to look at things from a different angle, reflect on our practice and be the very best we can be. As part of his visit, Joe will be visiting P1 and P6 to enjoy some active maths with the children. We hope you enjoy your morning in St Bart’s, Mr McAvoy!

I’m delighted to announce that the installation of the new boiler is complete and our heating system is now fully functional… just in time for the winter!

Many congratulations to two former St Bartholomew’s pupils who received MBE’s from Prince William last week. Alice Docherty (Heather (P6) and Aidan’s (P3) great-aunt) received her award for services to the homeless and our good friend, Mark Millar, received his MBE on Tuesday. Congratulations, Alice and Mark!

It was fantastic to see the children back for the new term yesterday looking so smart in their uniforms. What a great start to the term! We have a new addition to the St Bartholomew’s team who, just like the boys and girls, turned up yesterday in his school uniform. His name’s Bart and he has been given the very important job of welcoming all our visitors when they arrive at the main entrance. He’s quite shy, but please do take the opportunity to say hello next time you visit the school. A special thanks to my mum and dad who rescued Bart from a shop in Scarborough and drove him all the way to his new home in Scotland!

Good morning, all! Hope you had a great October break and have returned refreshed for the term ahead. There’s LOADS happening over the coming weeks, so please keep a close eye on the Head Teacher’s blog and the website calendar to stay bang up-to-date with our various events.

Parents, family and friends of Primary 4/3 pupils will have already received their invitation to the special class assembly this coming Friday afternoon. I look forward to seeing you at 1.30pm in the school hall.

A very warm welcome back to Mrs McFarlane, who returns from maternity leave today. We’re absolutely delighted to see you back in St Bartholomew’s!

As we all embark on an exciting new term, here are a few words of encouragement from Pope Francis:

‘Our God is moving forward on the road with us. He is among us. He walks with us. He saves us. He makes history with us. Be mindful of all that, and life becomes more fruitful.’

Have great day, everyone!