I look forward to seeing parents and carers at 1.30pm today for our Christmas craft sale, followed by the P4-7 Carol Concert at 2.15pm. Check out our class pages for a sneak preview of some of the amazing gifts that will be on sale around the school this afternoon!

Today is actually the perfect day for our special Christmas afternoon… find out why below!

In Germany, he’s Kriss Kringle. In France, he’s Pere Noel. Sometimes children call him Father Christmas… but most of us know him as Santa Claus!

However, he’s got another name. It’s an ancient one that goes back hundreds of years. It’s one of the very first names people called him: St. Nicholas. And today, 6th December, is his feast day!

Children tell lots of fun stories about Santa Claus, Pere Noel, or Kriss Kringle. All of these stories remind us of how much we’re loved and of how happy we are when we give. The earliest stories we know were told about St. Nicholas, the bishop of Myra.

Hundreds of years ago, Nicholas lived in a seaside town named Myra, which is in the country we now call Turkey. The people of Myra loved Nicholas so much that when their old bishop died, they immediately elected Nicholas to replace him. He served them well for a long time. Here is a story about Nicholas that has been passed down through many generations.

There was a man living in Myra who was very poor. This man had no wife, but he had three grown daughters who lived with him

In those days, when a young woman got married, she had to bring money or property with her into the marriage. This is called a dowry. If a woman didn’t have a dowry, she would never marry.

This man was so poor that he had no money for his daughters’ dowries. And he didn’t have enough money to support them either. He had, he believed, only one choice: to sell his daughters into slavery. Nicholas heard about this terrible situation. Late one night, Nicholas crept to the man’s home and threw something through the window. It was a bag of gold—enough to pay the dowry for his oldest daughter.

The man was overjoyed, and his daughter was too. She married, but her father was still left with a problem. Two, to be exact. What about the two younger daughters? Sadly, he prepared to send them away.

Nicholas returned one night and again threw a bag of gold through the window. The father rejoiced. But he wondered who was helping him and why.

Of course, Nicholas didn’t want the man to know. He knew that it’s best to help others without letting them know we’re helping them. If we help others in this way, we help because we truly want to and not because people will praise us for it.

But the father was determined. He had one daughter left and no money for a dowry. He certainly hoped he would be helped again, especially because he wanted to find out who was doing it. So he locked the windows and watched out the door.

Nicholas still wanted to help, but he didn’t want to be seen. So, in the back of the house, far from the father’s sight, he dropped the bag of gold for the third daughter right down the chimney!

St. Nicholas never paused for a minute to wonder what he should receive in return for his help. He only thought about what he could give to those who needed him. As we prepare for Christmas over the coming weeks, let’s try to be like St Nicholas and look for ways in which we can bring joy to the lives of others through our giving.

St Nicholas, pray for us.

The painting of the front of the school is now complete and the transformation is remarkable. We had two separate visitors to St Bartholomew’s yesterday who both commented that it looked like a new-build! The painters have now started on the back of the building and will also be painting the gable end at the nursery entrance today. Due to the painting, the nursery children will enter via the door into their outdoor play area (just inside the main school gate); there will be signs to direct parents and carers.

Only one more day to go until our special Christmas afternoon. I had a sneak preview yesterday of the gifts the children have made – they are absolutely fantastic and definitely not to be missed! Doors open at 1.30pm, with around half an hour allocated for parents and carers to visit their child’s classroom to buy a Christmas craft. The P4-7 carol concert kicks off at 2.15pm prompt in the hall (£1.50 entry at the door). It’s going to be a great afternoon!

John Wilson, our school photographer, will be in St Bartholomew’s this morning to take this session’s whole-school photograph. Fasten those top buttons, straighten those ties and practise those smiles!

I will be popping down to St Ambrose High School later in the morning for their annual patronal Mass (St Ambrose Day is this coming Saturday). We are very fortunate to have such a supportive associated secondary school, especially when it’s right on our doorstep. Mrs Douglas leads a fantastic team of staff at St Ambrose and we very much appreciate being able to work so closely with them. They also have a great bunch of pupils and we’re particularly grateful this year for the huge amount of practical help St Bartholomew’s has received from senior pupils working towards their Caritas Award – many thanks to Miss Smith and the Caritas candidates for all your support. So, on this special day in their school year, please take the time to remember Mrs Douglas and the pupils and staff of St Ambrose in your prayers.

Excellent progress is being made on the painting of the school. By the end of today, the front of the building will be finished and we will be able to get a real impression of how St Bartholomew’s will look once the work is complete. Of course, a school isn’t a building; it’s the fantastic children and adults inside it! However, it’s still great to have a fresh, pristine building that we can all feel proud of.

We are now only a few days away from our first Christmas event. All parents and carers will have the opportunity to visit their child’s classroom on Friday afternoon to purchase a handmade Christmas gift. Each class formed their own company to design and make their various products. The quality of the gifts is fantastic, so don’t miss out on the opportunity to snap up a Christmas bargain! Doors open at 1.30pm.

Following the sale of Christmas gifts, Primary 4-7 will entertain everyone with a special carol concert. The concert begins at 2.15pm in the hall and entry is £1.50.

See you on Friday afternoon!

All of us were shocked and saddened by the helicopter crash in Glasgow city centre on Friday night. Please can I ask our whole school community to remember those affected by this terrible tragedy during their class prayers today.

Lord,

Hail Mary…

We had a great time celebrating St Andrew’s Day on Friday. Many thanks to each of the classes for their poems and songs – you were all fantastic! Thanks too to the wonderful audience of parents, family and friends at our special assembly and also to the group of St Ambrose pupils who popped up to help us out.

I’m delighted to announce that the coffee afternoon on Friday raised the fantastic sum of £200. This money will go directly to Father Ben in Uganda to pay for Christmas dinner for the children in his parish.

Here are a few photographs from Friday’s St Andrew’s Day celebrations: