It’s hard to believe that we are now into the last week of term. Where does the time go?!

Pupils, staff, parents and friends will have the opportunity to pray the Stations of the Cross in the oratory each morning this week at 8.45am. The chairs have been removed from the oratory to accommodate numbers. Many thanks to Mrs O’Neill for leading this Lenten devotion.

We have a number of special events this week to raise money for our Lenten charities (SCIAF and Mary’s Meals). There will be a Cake & Candy stall in the main entrance area during tomorrow’s interval and, on Wednesday, the Prayer Group will run their annual ‘Rich man, Poor man’ snack during playtime.

Primary 5 emailed me last week to ask if they could have a special onesie/pyjama day for charity on Friday. This has now been extended to the whole school and all pupils are invited to donate £1 on Friday to come to school in their pyjamas or a onesie. I honestly didn’t think I would ever see myself standing in a shop queue to purchase a onesie… but that’s exactly what I did before Mass yesterday evening! Although I like wearing a shirt and tie to work, I’m looking forward to climbing into my onesie on Friday morning!

However, the fun doesn’t stop there on Friday. Each pupil is also invited to bring in a hard-boiled egg to decorate, along with any special items they need to bring their ideas to life such as a piece of fabric, a pair of googly eyes or some tin foil (the school will provide basic materials like paper, felt pens and glue). The children will be given one hour to decorate their egg from scratch and there will be a prize for the best egg in each class. THE EGG MUST NOT BE DECORATED AT HOME!

Finally, there will be an Easter egg hunt for each class around the playground on Friday morning, with a chocolate egg hidden away for every single pupil.

It’s going to be an exciting end to the term!

It was fantastic to see such a great turn-out at Parents’ Evening last night. There were certainly lots of happy smiles on the faces of both parents and pupils as they walked out of the hall – proof of just how hard so many of the boys and girls have worked this year and how well they’ve behaved. I’m really proud of you!

A HUGE thank you to the Parent Council who manned the Book Fayre, gift shop and raffle stall throughout the evening. It was extremely generous of you to give so freely of your own time to support the school. Thank you!

I’m absolutely delighted to announce that the raffle and gift shop raised the fantastic sum of £270. £200 of this has been donated directly to the school to help towards the P7 trip to York. Any money left over will be used to kick-start our campaign to raise funds to replace SMARTBoards in classrooms across the school. Thank you to the Parent Council for this very generous donation!

£770 worth of books were purchased from the Book Fayre this week. This money automatically earns St Bartholomew’s ‘book credits’ which we can use to buy reading books, library books and various other resources for the school. I’ll post the exact amount we have earned on Monday’s blog.

Once again, many, many thanks to the Parent Council for all their hard work last night. What an amazing boost to our school funds and resources! You’re absolute stars!

Parents’ Evening takes place from 3.15pm onwards today. This is a valuable opportunity for parents and carers to meet with their child’s teacher to discuss their progress and have a look at some of their work. P1-7 consultations will take place in the hall, with nursery meetings being held in the Music Room. All parents and carers (including those of nursery children) should enter and exit via the main front door.

As always, those pupils who are not sitting in on the consultation should proceed straight to the ‘Cinema Area’ and remain on the benches until their parents collect them. However, ALL PRE-SCHOOL CHILDREN MUST REMAIN WITH THEIR PARENTS AT ALL TIMES. Thank you.

Please remember that the Book Fayre will be open this evening, with a wide selection of books for all ages. There will also be a stall selling items for Mother’s Day (proceeds to Parent Council funds) as well as a raffle in aid of the P7 York trip.

Finally, as I fast approach the end of my second year at St Bartholomew’s, parents and carers will be asked to fill in a very short evaluation this evening. This will have two simple boxes: KEEP DOING THIS! and HAVE YOU THOUGHT ABOUT THIS? Your views and suggestions are very important to us, so please take the opportunity to fill in a sheet when you arrive at the school this evening. Thanks for your help.

Our weekly prayer service takes place in the oratory this morning at 8.45am. This is always a peaceful and positive way to start the day. It’s been good to see so many pupils taking the opportunity for some quiet prayer in the oratory before school each morning during Lent.

There was a real buzz of excitement in the Music Room last night as P7 pupils and their parents/carers heard about all the exciting activities planned for the York and Kilbowie trips next term. Please can I ask that consent forms are handed into the office as soon as possible. Thank you.

Finally, the P4/5 toilets open today. The Parent Council had a sneak preview last night and were very impressed indeed at the quality of the finish. The boys and girls have been waiting patiently for almost a month, so I’m sure they’re looking forward to the grand opening this morning!

Please remember that the Parent Council meets this evening in the staffroom at 6.00pm.

Two important meetings for Primary 7 parents will also take place from 6.30pm in the Music Room. The first is an information meeting on the Kilbowie trip which takes place in the second last week of the summer term. This will be immediately followed by a short information meeting on the York trip. I look forward to seeing P7 parents and carers this evening.

I was very impressed when I walked into Primary 2 last week and saw one of our pupils with a fantastic trophy which he won for his street dancing skills. I’m sure you’ll be as impressed as I am!

The nursery karaoke night was a great success on Friday and raised the fantastic sum of £1300 for nursery funds. Many thanks to everyone who helped organise the event and to nursery parents, carers and friends who supported it and helped raise such an impressive amount of money.

Our Book Fayre begins today and will run until Friday. This not only provides an opportunity for pupils to pick up a great book which sparks their interest, but also earns the school free books and resources. October’s Book Fayre raised enough credit for us to purchase over £700 worth of infant reading books. This was a real boost to our literacy resources. Please support this week’s Book Fayre and remember that it will also be open during Parents’ Evening on Thursday.

There will be three separate meetings in school tomorrow evening. The Parent Council meets in the staffroom at 6.00pm. There will also be a meeting providing information about the P7 trip to Kilbowie in the Music Room at 6.30pm, followed by a meeting about the York trip. Please could I ask all parents and carers to enter and exit the school via the back door on Deveron Street. Thank you.

I’ve been out of school for two days at the North Lanarkshire Head Teachers’ conference. Although it was really refreshing to listen to the various speakers and catch up with colleagues from across the local authority, it’s also great to be back in St Bart’s. I’ve missed the buzz of the place and I’m looking forward to catching up with the children and staff. Many thanks to Mrs Bolland and Mrs McIntyre for holding the fort in my absence.

The Nursery have their karaoke night this evening to raise funds for the children. Despite being a musician, karaoke is not something I’ve ever indulged in. However, I’m sure there’ll be plenty of willing volunteers tonight and that everyone’s in for a great time! As part of this fundraising event, the Nursery are also having a raffle. There are some great prizes, including a signed football top. Tickets will be on sale around classes today, with the draw taking place tonight.

Of course, with it being Friday, we have a new set of Pupils of the Week and trophy winners to recognise and celebrate at today’s assembly. As usual, names will be posted on the website later today.

We are now less than a week away from Parents’ Evening. This takes place next Thursday from 3.15pm onwards. Times of appointments have now been sent out; please notify the office as soon as possible if you are unable to make your appointment and we will endeavour to slot you in at an alternative time.

I heard an inspirational children’s choir at the Head Teachers’ conference in Motherwell yesterday. I’m not sure of its exact title, but the second song was about reminding ourselves that we can achieve anything we put our mind to. Although it’s good to have this sort of positive, optimistic outlook, it’s also important to remember that change in the world always starts with ourselves: something to bear in mind as each of us continue our journey through Lent.

This story was written by a monk who lived almost 1000 years ago.

‘When I was a young man, I wanted to change the world.

I found it was difficult to change the world, so I tried to change my nation.

When I found I couldn’t change the nation, I began to focus on my town. I couldn’t change the town and as an older man, I tried to change my family.

Now, as an old man, I realise the only thing I can change is myself, and suddenly I realise that if long ago I had changed myself, I could have made an impact on my family. My family and I could have made an impact on our town. Their impact could have changed the nation and I could indeed have changed the world.’

Food for thought.

There was a beautiful, peaceful atmosphere in St Bartholomew’s Church last night as our Primary 3 pupils celebrated their First Reconciliation. Despite feeling a little nervous as they arrived, the children did exceptionally well. Everything ran very smoothly and – most importantly – was carried out with a real sense of reverence and prayer. It was wonderful to see the children’s smiling faces at the end of the service! Many thanks to Mrs Deeney for preparing the children for the sacrament and thanks too to Mrs O’Neill for supporting the children during last night’s liturgy.

Today the Church celebrates the Solemnity of Saint Joseph, the foster father of Jesus and the husband of Mary. He must have been doing something right and been given a lot of grace to end up with such a huge responsibility.

St Joseph is the patron saint of fathers:
we pray for the dads of the pupils and staff of St Bartholomew’s.
St Joseph is the patron saint of workers:
we ask him to help us do our very best work in school today.
St Joseph is also the patron saint of carpenters:
we ask him to bless the workmen who have been fitting our new toilets and new classroom cupboards over the past few weeks.

St Joseph was a quiet, humble, hard-working man. There’s such a lot we can learn from him and we ask for his prayers today.

We pray for our Primary 3 pupils today as they receive the Sacrament of Reconciliation for the first time. The children, under the guidance of Mrs Deeney, have been preparing for their First Reconciliation for a number of months now and the liturgy will take place in St Bartholomew’s Church this evening at 7 o’clock. We ask God to bless the boys and girls on this special day.

Although they did not return with the winning trophy, our netball team did St Bartholomew’s proud at yesterday’s finals. Their excellent behaviour, enthusiasm and team spirit did not go unnoticed and one of our pupils (as you can see from the photograph below) was chosen as the overall ‘player of the day’. Well done, boys and girls!