The big day has finally arrived for our P7 pupils! The boys and girls will be jumping on a coach this morning and heading off to Scarborough for four days. They have a fun-packed week ahead, including visits to the Yorvik Centre, Flamingo Land and St James’ Park (the home of Newcastle United). Their first port of call (later on today) will be ‘Eden Camp’. This is an old World War II prisoner of war camp which has been transformed into an exciting interactive museum.

Have a fantastic trip, boys and girls, and many thanks to Mrs Bolland and Mr Hughes for giving so generously of their own time to accompany the children. Keep an eye on this week’s blog to read about the children’s daily adventures!

Yesterday’s First Communion Mass in St Bartholomew’s Church was really beautiful. The P4 boys and girls did themselves, their families and their school proud. I hope the rest of your First Communion Day was really special, everyone, and that the sun kept shining!

Well done to Primary 3, who put on a fantastic class assembly on Friday afternoon. Mums and dads were delighted with the special gift of the DVD the boys and girls produced. What a talented bunch you are!

As many of you already know, Mrs McBride will be leaving St Bartholomew’s this coming Friday after many years of service to the school. Mrs McBride will be sorely missed by both pupils and staff, but we wish her all the best in her new job. We’ll make sure your last week in St Bart’s is a good one, Mrs McB!

Friday already. What a quick week!

Primary 3 will be hosting their class assembly this afternoon for their family and friends. The children have been finding out about all the different people who help them and are very excited about sharing their learning with their special audience. The assembly will be followed by an opportunity for the children’s guests to visit the P3 classroom, where they’ll be treated to a cup of tea, biscuit and a TOP SECRET special gift!!! The assembly begins at 1.30pm in the hall.

Pupil of the Week certificates, the House trophy and the Cool Class Cup will all be awarded at this afternoon’s assembly. Please log onto the website this afternoon to find out who the winners are. Due to the school show, I’m a couple of weeks behind with ‘Tea with Mr Young’. However, I haven’t forgotten about you, boys and girls – we’ll get caught up next week!

Our Primary 4 pupils have their final rehearsal for their First Holy Communion this morning. The staff are looking forward to sharing this special day with the boys and girls on Sunday and our whole school community will say a special prayer for them at this afternoon’s assembly.

This afternoon, St Bartholomew’s will welcome the parents and carers of the thirty-seven children starting Primary 1 this coming August. This is the first of a series of transition events and will take place in the Music Room at 1.30pm (please enter the school via the main entrance). Our current Primary 1 pupils will be giving a short presentation to the mums and dads to show them just how grown-up, confident and articulate St Bartholomew’s pupils are after only nine months in Primary 1. Get ready to be VERY impressed by our P1 superstars!

Our Primary 4 pupils are only a few days away from making their First Holy Communion. The special Mass will take place this coming Sunday at 10.00am in St Bartholomew’s Church. This is a very important and special day for the boys and girls, so please remember them in your prayers over the coming days.

Welcome back, everyone! I hope you enjoyed the long weekend.

I’m delighted to say that ticket sales from ‘Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat’ raised the fantastic sum of £760. This money will go directly towards our fundraising campaign for new SMART Boards across the school. A ‘thermometer’ will be appearing in the very near future to keep you up-to-date with how close we are to our £6000 target. Our next major fundraising event will be the Summer Fayre on Saturday 7th June – please pop this date in your diary.

Primary 6 and 7 will be receiving input on fire safety from the Fire Brigade this morning. This is a vital topic for the children to learn about and I’m sure the boys and girls will find the input from the Fire Brigade both enjoyable and informative.

Despite a few technical difficulties with the microphones prior to the show, our opening performance of ‘Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat’ was a MASSIVE success last night. I’m so proud of the boys and girls for all their hard work and enthusiasm. You are all absolute stars! Many thanks to all the mums, dads, grandparents and friends who came to see the show; you were a fantastic audience! There are still a few tickets available for this afternoon’s performance. Don’t miss out on the chance to see the show! It’s out-of-this-world!

Please can I take this opportunity to thank St Bartholomew’s staff for all the hard work they have put into the show:
Mrs Smillie and Mrs Clare for dealing with the ticket sales;
Mr Lynch for preparing the hall for the show;
Mr Hughes, Mrs O’Neill, Mrs McLean, Mrs Bolland and Mrs McIntyre for all their work and support behind the scenes;
Mrs McBride for decorating the stage, along with numerous other practical jobs;
Mrs McNaughton for all her hard work with costumes and props, including the fantastic goat!
Mrs Dolan for all her expertise in creating the fantastic costumes, including the AMAZING multi-coloured coat (WOW!);
Special thanks to Mrs McFarlane for the massive amount of hard work she has put in with the children over the past couple of months. The staging, dancing, facial expressions and singing didn’t happen by accident… It would never have happened without your creativity, patience, enthusiasm and commitment. Thank you so much!

One more performance to go (which will be as fantastic as ever!) then we can all enjoy a well-earned rest over the long weekend. Please remember that St Bartholomew’s is closed to pupils on Monday and Tuesday of next week. We’ll see you back bright and breezy on Wednesday morning.

Our final two ‘Joseph’ wall displays are the creative work of our Nursery children and our Primary 7 pupils. I hope you’ve enjoyed seeing the artistic talents of St Bartholomew’s over the past week. Have a great long weekend!