Mrs McLean and Mrs Keirnan run a weekly cross-country club on a Tuesday and a team of St Bart’s runners participated in inter-school trials this week. The boys and girls did extremely well and, as you can see from the photographs below, had a huge amount of fun in the process. Well done, team!

The school photographer will be in St Bartholomew’s on Monday to take a Primary 1 and a Primary 7 class photo as well as our annual whole-school photograph. The photographer will begin at 9.15am prompt so it is essential that all pupils are in school on time to ensure no-one is missed out…. and don’t forget to straighten those ties, gel that hair and polish those teeth!

And, finally, the last section of the address I gave at last Sunday’s Education Mass. Have a great weekend once it arrives!

“When I was a child, a wise individual gave me a simple lesson on joy. J-O-Y. J – Jesus first; O – others second; Y – yourself last. That’s not always easy to do, but I’ve learned from experience that the key to real, authentic joy is, indeed, placing Christ at the centre of my life and considering the needs of others before my own. Let’s continue to also make this our mission in St Bartholomew’s, placing Christ at the very centre of our school and considering the needs of others before our own. In this way, true joy will fill the corridors and classrooms of our school and the task of proclaiming the gospel will come naturally.

In closing, please can I give you advanced notice of a special one-day ‘Festival of Faith’ we will be hosting on Friday 1st May. The wall displays in the entrance area will celebrate various aspects of our Catholic faith, there will be an exhibition of the different ways we live out our faith in our school community, the oratory will be open for quiet prayer, there will be a tea-room for visitors to relax and chat with some of our pupils, and I’m delighted to say that Bishop Toal will celebrate Mass in the school hall. This will be a wonderful opportunity for St Bartholomew’s to open its doors to the parish and local community and – returning to the theme for this week – boldly and creatively ‘Proclaim the Joy of the Gospel.’ “