Our Parents Information Evening is only a few days away. Beginning at 6.00pm this coming Tuesday, you will have the opportunity to find out about the national Getting it Right for Every Child (GIRFEC) policy as well as the new relationships and sexual health programme for Scottish Catholic primary schools, ‘God’s Loving Plan’. You will hear about some ways to keep up-to-date with and support your child’s learning and will also have the chance to ask any general questions about your child’s learning or wider school issues. It would be great to see a good turn out on Tuesday evening and I look forward to seeing you there.

The system we use for our school blog and class pages, GLOW, is receiving a major overhaul over the next two weeks, with all content being moved over to a new, more robust system on 3rd October. My understanding is that new material published on GLOW between today and 3rd October will not be saved or transferred to the new system. Mrs McIntyre is attending an ICT meeting this morning to find out more, but there is a possibility that there will be no Head Teacher’s blog or class pages for the next two weeks. I will inform Parents and carers via the blog and text as soon as I have a definitive answer.

Keep an eye out on the website later today for this week’s Cool Class, Pupil of the Week awards and winning House.

Fr Doherty will celebrate Mass with our Primary 7 pupils this morning. Our class Masses last year were very peaceful and prayerful celebrations and, despite our oratory currently being out of commission, I’m sure this morning’s Mass will be an equally special time for the children. This year’s Scripture readings focus on the theme of love. The first reading is from St Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians, where Paul tells us that love must be central to the Christian life and then goes on to describe what true love is like. The Gospel reading comes from St Matthew and includes Jesus’ famous words, ‘Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.’ We pray for our Primary 7 pupils today that they will feel the closeness of God as they gather together for this special Mass.

Please remember that, due to the Independence Referendum, St Bartholomew’s will be closed to pupils tomorrow. School reopens at 9.00am on Friday morning.

Today’s blog focuses on two stories of ‘before’ and ‘after’.

I popped into Primary 6 yesterday morning at the perfect moment. The children had just finished an 8 and 9 times-tables time challenge and every single pupil in the class had scored top marks! They were very proud to tell me that a mere two weeks earlier, only two pupils had achieved this level of success. Definitely a lesson in perseverance, hard work and ‘practice makes perfect’! Well done, Primary 6!

Of course, the other ‘before’ and ‘after’ story is the transformation of the main entrance area of the school. I’ll let the photographs speak for themselves!

As mentioned in Wednesday’s blog, our newly-formed Pupil Voice Groups met for the first time last week. Every P1-7 pupil is now a member of one of these groups, allowing all pupils across the school the opportunity to have an authentic say and influence on matters which affect them. Each group will meet approximately once a month in separate P1-3 and P4-7 cohorts, with a P7 chairperson and secretary overseeing both groups and feeding back information to the Head Teacher. I will be holding the first Pupil Voice business meeting with the six chairpersons later today. I’m very much looking forward to hearing about the issues and ideas which were discussed at last week’s meetings and working with the six chairs to plan how we can take these forward in the weeks and months ahead. Please keep an eye on the new Pupil Voice section of our website over the next week or so to find out the various initiatives and projects each group will be working on.

Please remember that there will be a Parents’ Information Evening a week tomorrow, Tuesday 23rd September, from 6.00-7.00pm in the school hall. A presentation will be given on the national Getting It Right For Every Child (GIRFEC) initiative and there will also be information on how you can support and keep up-to-date with your child’s learning. The evening will finish with a general question time where I will endeavour to answer any queries parents and carers might have. I look forward to seeing you there.

Our whole school community had a great time on the sponsored walk yesterday afternoon. It was a thoroughly enjoyable (and healthy!) way to spend the afternoon, with plenty of opportunity to enjoy the sunshine, breathe in the fresh air, admire the scenery and chat to friends. Of course, the main aim of the walk was to raise much-needed funds for our new SMARTBoards appeal, so please can I ask that all sponsor money is handed into the school office as soon as possible. Thank you.

Contractors are making great progress on the re-wiring of the school and have been working hard on the main entrance area throughout this week. The new ceilings are due to go up over the weekend, so we should return on Monday to a transformed foyer. I plan to post ‘before’ and ‘after’ pictures on Monday to help our blog readers get a taste of the huge difference the re-wiring is making to St Bart’s.

Check out the ‘Success’ section later today for this week’s Pupils of the Week, Cool Class and House Trophy winner… and have a great weekend once it arrives!

The sun is forecast to shine for our sponsored walk this afternoon. We’ll all be heading out just after lunchtime for our brisk trek around Drumpellier Park, so please give us a wave if you see us out and about! Despite the walk being today, there’s still a wee bit of time to grab a few last-minute sponsors.

As intimated in yesterday’s text, the Parent Council karaoke night on 19th September has been cancelled and rescheduled for FRIDAY 14th NOVEMBER. That gives everyone a couple of months to practise and perfect their songs!

St Bartholomew’s embarks on an exciting new venture today. The school has been supported by a number of dedicated pupil groups over the years including the Eco Committee, Prayer Group and Pupil Council and these groups have had a very positive impact on the school. Unfortunately, for practical reasons, membership of these groups has been limited to a relatively small number of pupils. However, as from today, every single Primary 1-7 pupil in St Bartholomew’s will become a member of one of six Pupil Voice Groups. This means that all pupils in the school will have the opportunity to express their views, share their ideas and contribute to decision making on issues that affect them. Information on each group will be added to the new Pupil Voice section of our website over the coming weeks.

Our sponsored walk is TOMORROW afternoon. There’s still time to secure a few last minute sponsors! As you know, all money raised will go directly to our new SMARTBoard fund.

John Wilson, our school photographer, will be in St Bartholomew’s today. Of course, St Bart’s pupils look smart every day of the week, but I’m sure they will look especially angelic and glowing for today’s photos! Proofs of photographs will be sent home later this week along with order forms. The school receives a small amount of commission on any photographs sold and all money raised this year will go directly to our SMARTBoards appeal.

Contractors are making good progress with the rewiring work in the central part of the building. I moved back into my own office yesterday and Mrs Smillie is also back at her own desk. However, as from tomorrow, Mrs Clare’s office will be out of commission. I will keep you posted on her temporary location once this has been decided. Visitors to St Bart’s will begin to see a huge difference to the main entrance area of the school within the next week. Thank you for your patience during the work.

We cannot know for certain the date Our Lady was born but for almost fifteen centuries, the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary has been celebrated today, 8th September. Some may wonder why this event is given a place in the church’s calendar. However, the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary is a key moment in salvation history: Christ needed a mother, and Mary’s conception and birth are events without which Christ’s own birth would have been impossible.

I had two very enjoyable and worthwhile days at the Catholic Head Teachers’ conference last week, but it’s good to be back in St Bartholomew’s. I’m really looking forward to catching up with the boys and girls.

The weather forecast is looking dry for our sponsored walk on Thursday afternoon. There are still a few days left for pupils to collect some last-minute sponsors to help towards purchasing new SMARTBoards. Every little helps!

Finally, please remember that the school photographer will be in St Bartholomew’s tomorrow.

Please remember that there are two important items in next week’s diary:

John Wilson photographers will be in school on Tuesday to take take individual and family photographs. This will include our nursery boys and girls.

Our annual sponsored walk takes place next Thursday afternoon (weather permitting). As you know, we’re hoping to put a brand new SMARTBoard in all eight classrooms this session, so the sponsored walk is particularly important this year to help us reach our fundraising target.

Check out our website later today to find out this week’s Pupils of the Week, Cool Class and winning House.

I’ll leave you with a photograph I took when I popped into P1 earlier this week. The boys and girls have only been in school for three weeks, but are already beginning to master their letters and sounds. What an amazing bunch!