Officially, I’m a day early. However, with this being the closest school day to 30th November, HAPPY ST ANDREW’S DAY to all pupils, staff, parents, carers, parishioners and friends! We have a truly Scottish day ahead of us to mark the feast day of our national patron saint.

Our whole school community will be wearing a ‘touch of tartan’ today. We’ll begin our celebrations by making the 15 minute walk to St Bartholomew’s Church to join parishioners for the 10.00am Mass. Alison and Liz in the kitchen will be serving up haggis, neeps and tatties as one of today’s lunch options. We’ll then be opening the doors to parents and carers for a special St Andrew’s Day assembly at 1.30pm. The boys and girls have been preparing a selection of Scottish songs and Primary 6 have been busy rehearsing Mr Young’s favourite poem, ‘A dug, a dug’! We even have a professional piper lined up to kick-off the proceedings. It’s guaranteed to be a relaxed, fun and very Scottish afternoon! See you at 1.30pm.

Please also remember that we have a special ‘coffee afternoon’ event today which is open to parents and carers from 1.00 – 1.30pm in the ‘Get Together Room’. This is to raise money for Father Ben’s parish in Uganda and will pay for Christmas dinner for the children. Please support this very worthwhile cause before you head into the hall for our St Andrew’s Day assembly. Many thanks to Mrs O’Neill, Mrs Morris and the Prayer Group Committee for organising this fundraiser.

Excellent progress was made yesterday on the painting of the school. The contractors are already well on with the upper school section and, even at this early stage, the building is starting to take on a new lease of life.

Today marks the end of Primary 5’s swimming lessons. The boys and girls have been receiving professional instruction for the past few months and have had great fun learning to swim for the first time or develop their existing skills. Well done, Primary 5! What an achievement!

Please remember that we have two special St Andrew’s Day events tomorrow which are open to parents, carers and friends. Our whole school community will gather together for Mass in St Bartholomew’s Church at 10.00am and then we’ll be taking the stage at 1.30pm to entertain our guests with a selection of Scottish poems and songs. I look forward to seeing many of you tomorrow as we honour our national patron and celebrate our Scottish culture and identity.

I am attending the area Head Teachers’ meeting in Bellshill today. However, Mrs Bolland and Mrs McIntyre will be available during the course of the day to deal with any urgent matters.

Finally, it has come to my attention that dogs are being brought into the school grounds at the start and end of the day. In line with North Lanarkshire policy, no dogs are permitted in St Bartholomew’s grounds under any circumstances. Thank you for your cooperation in this matter.

As mentioned in yesterday’s blog, contractors will begin painting the outside of St Bartholomew’s today. The choice of colour was very carefully considered by parent and staff representatives and advice was sought from the contractors. Most importantly, we took the time to investigate the colour palettes currently being used by architects on new-build schools as we are keen to ensure St Bartholomew’s is given as modern/contemporary a look as possible.

After much deliberation, the final choice is a silver-grey for the majority of the building, with selected parts of the school, such as the gable ends and around the main entrance, being accented with a darker grey. All of this will, of course, be complemented by the existing red doors. I realise this may be a bit difficult to visualise, so I have included photographs of some of the modern new-build schools which helped us reach our decision.

In only two or three weeks time, our much-loved school building will have been transformed. What a Christmas present!

FANTASTIC news! I had a surprise visit from the painters yesterday to say that they have been contracted to paint the outside of our school building. They had initially planned to paint the inside of the building too. However, as the re-wiring next summer will involve the major upheaval of removing and replacing the existing false ceilings, I requested that the internal painting be postponed until September 2014. Nevertheless, the external painting will absolutely transform our building. Indeed, combined with the new windows, main entrance and blinds, St Bartholomew’s will look like a brand new school!

The painters are keen to make a start tomorrow. Given the short notice, I have asked Colin McFarlane (Chair of the Parent Council) and a staff representative to help decide on the colour. It’s probably worth mentioning at this point that the colours of masonry paint available to us are very limited (variations of cream, grey or brown). Of course, the final decision on colour will take into account any professional advice given by the contractors (they will be painting some sample colours onto the wall tomorrow); it’s essential that we not only choose a colour which looks good in the short term, but which will be hard-wearing and continue to look good for many years to come.

I’m sure pupils, parents, carers, staff and neighbours will be as delighted as I am at the great news!

It’s hard to believe that yesterday was the solemnity of Christ the King, marking the end of the liturgical year; the season of Advent begins this coming Sunday. The end of term is now only four weeks away and, as I glanced through the school diary last night, I was reminded just how much is happening between now and the Christmas holidays.

Of course, before we begin our various Christmas events, we still have St Andrew’s Day to celebrate. I hope that many of you will be able to join our school community for the 10.00am Mass in St Bartholomew’s Church on Friday morning and for our special concert in the school hall at 1.30pm. Although very informal, it’s guaranteed to be an extremely entertaining hour of Scottish songs and poems. The Prayer Group will also be running a coffee afternoon on Friday to raise money for Father Ben’s parish in Uganda. This will take place in the Get Together Room between 1.00pm and the start of the St Andrew’s day concert. Please support this very worthwhile cause.

As we embark on the last four weeks of term, please make sure you pop the following dates in your diary:

Friday 29th Nov: COFFEE AFTERNOON (1.00pm) & ST ANDREW’S DAY CONCERT (1.30pm)
Friday 6th Dec: CHRISTMAS CRAFT FAYRE & P4-7 CAROL CONCERT (1.30pm)
Tues 10th Dec: P1-3 NATIVITY (1.30pm)
Wed 11th Dec: WHOLE SCHOOL TRIP TO PANTOMIME
Thur 12th Dec: NURSERY CHRISTMAS SHOW (am & pm)
Thur 12th Dec: St Bartholomew’s Church Jubilee Mass
Tue 17th Dec: Christmas Dinner
Friday 20th Dec: School closes for Christmas holidays

We welcome Sister Maria Goretti from The Society of the Innocents to St Bartholomew’s this morning.  Sister will join us for our whole-school assembly, at which she’ll be presented with a selection of baby items for her work with local young mothers.  Many thanks to Mrs O’Neill and the Prayer Group for organising the collection of donations.

I heard both the P1-3’s and the P4-7’s practising their Christmas songs yesterday. They’re sounding fantastic!  Make sure you have Friday 6th December (P4-7 Carol Concert) and Tuesday 10th December (P1-3 Nativity, ‘It’s a Baby!’) in your diary!

Well, I wonder who will be coming for ‘Tea with Mr Young’ today?!!  Log onto the website later today to find out our seven Pupils of the Week.

We’re now just over a week away from our St Andrew’s Day concert. As mentioned in the November newsletter, our whole school community will celebrate the feast day of our national patron a week tomorrow, Friday 29th November. The day will begin with Mass in St Bartholomew’s Church at 10am; parents and carers are welcome to join us. All pupils are asked to wear a ‘touch of tartan’ on the day and there will be haggis, neeps and tatties on the menu for lunch. In the afternoon, all parents, carers and friends are invited to a special St Andrew’s Day concert at 1.30pm when each class will perform a Scottish poem or song. We even have a piper to kick-off the proceedings! It’s definitely a date worth putting in your diary!

Please remember to return permission slips for the special P4-7 choir being formed for the St Bartholomew’s Church Jubilee Mass. Rehearsals will begin next week.

The November/December newsletter is now available in the ‘News’ section of the website.  It contains full details of our various Christmas events as well as important information on special arrangements should we experience severe winter weather in the months ahead.

We’ll be welcoming some of our nursery parents to St Bartholomew’s today.  The nursery boys and girls have been enjoying getting active and healthy over the past few weeks and their mums and dads will be joining them in the hall today to get involved in the fitness fun!

I will be teaching Primary 7 today, so won’t be in and around my office to take any phone calls or meet with parents.  However, any urgent messages or queries can be left with Mrs Smilie or Mrs Clare.

Have a good day, everyone.

Good morning, everyone. Hope you had a great weekend and enjoyed your long lie yesterday morning.

The Tae Kwan Do taster sessions were a huge hit with the children on Friday. The boys and girls were transfixed as the coaches performed a slick demonstration along to music. The children then had the opportunity to try out some simple moves for themselves and the instructors were extremely impressed with the children’s enthusiasm and effort. I actually got a bit of surprise when the instructors turned up at 9am as four of them were former pupils from my previous school. It was great to see them doing so well in their chosen sport – hopefully we’ll see lots of St Bartholomew’s pupils follow in their footsteps.

A letter about the special choir for the St Bartholomew’s Jubilee Mass on Thursday 12th December will go out to interested P4-7 pupils today. I would encourage as many pupils as possible to get involved in this special event.

The school newsletter will also go out tomorrow. A text will be sent to all parents and carers once the newsletter has been posted in the ‘News’ section of our website and a paper copy will be sent to those who have requested one. The newsletter contains details about our various Christmas events, so please take the opportunity to read it. Thank you.

As mentioned in yesterday’s blog, all P1-7 pupils will have a special Tae Kwan Do taster session today. The boys and girls are definitely set for a fun day!

Due to the hall being used today, this week’s assembly took place yesterday morning. Please take a moment to click on ‘Success’ (at the bottom of the website homepage) to find out this week’s trophy winners and Pupils of the Week. As usual, the seven Pupils of the Week popped along to my office yesterday afternoon for ‘Tea with Mr Young’. It was a really nice opportunity to have a blether over a cup of tea (or juice!) and a biscuit. I’ll not give the class away (click on ‘Success’ to find out!), but this week’s Cool Class are four-time winners, which earns them an extra playtime today. Well done, boys and girls!

Please remember that this coming Monday is an inservice day, so the boys and girls have a long weekend to look forward to. St Bart’s reopens to pupils at 9.00am on Tuesday morning.

Have a great weekend, everyone!