There was a lovely, peaceful atmosphere in the church last night as our Primary 3 pupils made their First Reconciliation. Although a few of the children were very nervous as they entered the church, every single one of them came out with a smile on their face and saying, “That was easy!” I’m delighted that their first experience of the Sacrament of Reconciliation has helped the boys and girls understand that confession only takes a few moments, is simple to do, is nothing to be scared of and – most importantly – is a sacrament which brings an amazing sense of peace and joy. Many thanks to Mrs McLean for preparing the children for the sacrament and to parents and families for supporting the children in what, for many of them, was a daunting prospect.

Due to the painters working their way through classrooms in the upper school, cupboards have had to be emptied and their contents stored in the corridor. I was walking past the library last night and saw the strange and amusing sight pictured in the photo below. I had to check it wasn’t Mrs Bolland before I left the building!

Well, what a HUGE distance our netball team have travelled over the past couple of months. They’ve gone from being a newly-formed team of novices to netball champions! Yes, the St Bart’s team walked away with the winning trophy at yesterday’s netball tournament! Well done, everyone, and many thanks to Mrs Ruddy for accompanying the children over the weeks and being such an encouragement.

A bit of prior warning about a couple of fun events planned for the week leading up to the end of term. We’ll be holding a crazy hair/non-uniform day a week on Friday (27th March) in aid of SCIAF, with a prize for the whackiest hair-do in each class! We’ll also be holding an egg-decorating competition on the last day of term (Thursday 2nd April), when the boys and girls will have an hour to decorate a hard-boiled egg. Once again, there’ll be a prize for each of the eight winners. So, get those thinking caps on and let’s see how creative and crazy we can be with hair-dos and boiled eggs!!!

Finally, we pray for our Primary 3 pupils who will make their First Reconciliation this evening. Father Doherty will share a short prayer service with the children in the school oratory this afternoon and then the children will celebrate the sacrament in St Bartholomew’s Church tonight along with their families. This is a very special moment in the lives of the boys and girls and we ask Jesus to be especially close to each of them today.

As you can see below, the efforts of Primary 1 Stars didn’t go unnoticed by SCIAF last week and the boys and girls have been sent this special message via Twitter:

I’m delighted to announce that St Bartholomew’s has won an all-expenses outdoor adventure day for the equivalent of one class (33 pupils), valued at around £600. Rather than taking all the pupils from one class, however, we have decided to use this trip as a reward for those hard-working pupils who display outstanding behaviour, manners and a positive attitude on a daily basis. In other words, only pupils whose behaviour is exemplary (as is the case with many, many of the children in St Bartholomew’s) between now and the trip will earn a place on the bus. Priority will be given to Primary 7 pupils, followed by children in Primary 6. If required, we may offer places to some of our P5 pupils. Further details will be sent out by letter this week.

A HUGE well done to Mrs Carlin and Primary 1 Stars for raising the fantastic sum of £80 with their cake sale yesterday. This money will be added to the money we are raising for SCIAF during Lent. The UK Government has committed to match every penny donated this year, bringing the actual total raised through yesterday’s cake sale to a phenomenal £160! Well done, once again, to Primary 1 Stars and to the Faith in Action team who helped out with the stall.

Please remember those Primary 3 pupils making their First Reconciliation this coming Tuesday. Mrs McLean has been helping the boys and girls prepare for the sacrament over the past couple of months and the children have also had some special activities to do at home.

Finally, the painters are continuing to make good progress. They will finish in Primary 4/5 today, leaving Primary 4 the only classroom still to paint in the top corridor. Not long to go!

Primary 1 stars and Mrs Carlin are holding a cake sale at morning interval today to raise money for SCIAF. Please help the boys and girls raise funds for this very worthwhile cause.

An officer from the Scottish Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals will be in St Bartholomew’s today. Scottish SPCA inspectors and animal rescue officers save thousands of domestic, farm and wild animals from harm and danger every year, while their vets and staff in the charity’s wildlife rescue centre and animal rescue and rehoming centres look after, rehabilitate and rehome thousands more. All classes will receive a one-hour workshop today on the work of this very important charity.

Today’s blog is short and sweet because, quite frankly, I was absolutely blown away by the phenomenal talent of our Primary 7 pupils yesterday in their two performances of Divided City! The only word I can think of is

WELL DONE, BOYS AND GIRLS!…and a huge thank you to Mrs McFarlane for all her hard work behind the scenes (as well as her impressive wee cameo role!).

What a surprise everyone got when they walked into the hall yesterday morning. The space is unrecognisable with (as you can see from the photographs) a massive state-of-the-art stage built along one wall in preparation for today’s performances of ‘Divided City’.

The children rehearsed all day in Townhead Primary yesterday and will do one final run-through on stage this morning. Primary 7 parents and guests really are in for a huge treat at today’s performances (1.45pm and 6.30pm) and I have no doubt that ‘Divided City’ will go down as one of the most memorable experiences of the children’s seven years in St Bartholomew’s.

A huge thank you to Mrs McFarlane for all her hard work with the children and, of course, to the team from Citizens Theatre who have worked so tirelessly with the class over the past few months.

But, of course, the stars of the show are the children. I know they will do St Bart’s proud! Break a leg, boys and girls!

Primary 7 are now only one day away from taking to the stage with Townhead Primary for their performances of ‘Divided City’. The boys and girls have worked extremely hard over the past few months and the team from Citizens Theatre have really brought out the best in the children.

A team worked throughout the day on Saturday to build the professional stage that P7 will perform on tomorrow. The scale and cost of this staging is an indication of just what a fantastic opportunity Divided City is for the boys and girls!

Due to the size of the stage, there will be no hot school dinners served today or tomorrow. However, packa-snacks will be available for all pupils who do not bring their own packed lunch.

All the very best to Primary 7 as they head up to Townhead Primary today for a full day of rehearsals! I can’t wait to see the show tomorrow!

There was great excitement yesterday as Mrs McLean and Primary 6 stepped into their freshly painted classroom for the first time. The room has been absolutely transformed and really is like a breath of fresh air. It was all hands on deck from the word go yesterday with everyone – teacher, classroom assistants, pupils – getting the room organised and feeling like home.

Mrs McLean had already spent time discussing with the children what they would like in the room and what they wanted on the walls… so by the time the 3 o’clock bell went, the classroom was really starting to feel like their own!

Although there are a few things still to be done, the photographs below give you an idea of just how beautiful and calming Primary 6’s new learning space is – and of what’s in store for every St Bartholomew’s class over the coming weeks!

We were delighted to welcome a group of pupils from St Ambrose art department yesterday morning. They have teamed up with our P6 class to create stained glass windows for either side of the stage (one of the empty alcoves can be seen in the photograph below). It was particularly nice to see three pupils who were in our P7 class last year. What a surprise they got when they walked into our beautifully refurbished school!

Two very proud pupils tracked me down yesterday. This smiling P2 girl is chuffed to bits with her street dance trophy!

This P5 girl made a fantastic volcano at home which was ‘erupted’ in class on Tuesday afternoon. Thankfully, she recorded all the drama on an ipad so that I could share in the excitement!