PLEASE REMEMBER THAT THE SCHOOL IS CLOSED ON MONDAY FOR THE MAY HOLIDAY.

The day of our ‘Festival of Faith’ has finally arrived and we’re very much looking forward to welcoming Bishop Toal, our invited guests, parents, parishioners and friends. The day will begin with Mass in the school hall after which visitors will have the opportunity to wander around our wall displays, take some quiet moments in the oratory and enjoy a cup of tea in the Get Together Room. A friend of the school has very kindly donated enough ‘Miraculous Medals’ for every pupil in the school and these will be blessed by Bishop Toal during Mass before being distributed to the children.

I was surprised and delighted yesterday afternoon when the Primary 3 pupil pictured below turned up at my office to let me know she had raised £56.50 for our school funds. She took part in a four-hour sponsored dance-athon and decided to donate the money she raised to St Bart’s. Thank you for this enormously kind gesture. You’re a real credit to the school!

Have a great long weekend and keep an eye on Tuesday’s blog for our final three faith-inspired wall displays.

We received the sad news this week that today will be Mr Clark’s last day at St Bartholomew’s. Both the P3 pupils and the staff will miss him very much and we wish him all the very best as he moves on to new things.

It’s not too late to request a seat at tomorrow’s Mass with Bishop Toal; please simply phone the office to let us know you’ll be joining us. Please also remember that the school will be open until 11.45am for visitors to look round wall displays in the foyer, find space for quiet prayer in the oratory and have a cup of tea and a blether in the Get Together Room. I look forward to seeing you tomorrow.

Here’s a sneak preview of three more of our faith-inspired wall displays. Today’s displays are the handiwork of Primary 1 Rockets, Primary 7 and Primary 2.

St Bartholomew’s received a lovely gift yesterday which has found a home in our oratory. Liam in Primary 2 and his family made a special trip to Rome last week and brought us back the framed papal blessing pictured below. This is now displayed on the wall as you enter the oratory and is a beautiful reminder that our wee school is part of the worldwide Catholic Church and that Pope Francis is praying daily for all of God’s people across the world… St Bart’s included!

As you know, our Festival of Faith is now only two days away. The children and staff have been busy producing special wall displays for Friday’s event and I thought I would give you a sneak preview of these over the next few days. Today’s displays were produced by Primary 6 and Primary 1.

The Parent Council meets this evening in the Staff Development Base at 6.00pm.

The remaining Primary 4 parent consultations also take place this evening in Mrs O’Neill’s classroom. Please enter by the main door.

Unfortunately, the weather forecast is not looking particularly good for the remainder of the week, so we will need to put our big spring clean on hold. Let’s hope the spring sunshine comes back soon and that yesterday was definitely the last time we’ll see snow until the winter months at the end of the year!!!

Primary 4 parents and carers, please remember that parent consultations will take place today and tomorrow after school. These will be held in the Staff Development Base which is located in the central area of the school, immediately across from the assembly hall.

As mentioned in last week’s blog, Bishop Toal will visit St Bartholomew’s this coming Friday (1st May) for our ‘Festival of Faith’. If you wish to attend the Mass at 9.15am, please contact the school office to ensure we set out sufficient seats. I’m delighted that the parishioners who usually attend the morning Mass in St Bartholomew’s Church will be joining us for this special celebration.

Depending on the weather, I’m hoping to have a spring clean of the school grounds before Friday. Should this go ahead, any senior pupils who volunteer will be given notice to bring in some old clothes. We would also welcome any help from parents/carers who would be happy to assist us in tidying up the grounds. Further details will appear on tomorrow’s blog.

Existing wall displays are starting to be replaced in the main entrance area with faith-inspired displays in preparation for Bishop Toal’s visit a week today. Please take the opportunity to visit the school next Friday for our ‘Festival of Faith’ if you possibly can. Mass will be celebrated in the school hall at 9.15am, the oratory will be open for quiet prayer, visitors will be free to wander around the wall displays and there will also be a tearoom serving refreshments. The purpose of the day is to give all members of our school and parish community the opportunity to celebrate the Catholic faith which lies at the heart of everything we do and it’s guaranteed to be a special and memorable occasion. If you wish to attend Mass, please let the school office know so that we can ensure there are enough seats. Thank you.

I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but the fantastic weather we have been enjoying recently is due to break this evening, with next week forecast to be much cooler with a mixture of sunshine and showers. Don’t pack away your child’s winter jacket quite yet – it may come in handy next week!

Our whole school assembly will take place this morning rather than tomorrow, so please keep an eye on the website for the first Pupils of the Week, winning House and Cool Class of Term 4.

You may remember that we received a £5000 grant from the Scottish Government earlier this year to further develop the performing arts in St Bart’s. This money was put to good use and pupils are already benefiting from our investments:

We now have a suite of electronic keyboards in the Performing Arts Studio and our Primary 7 pupils are receiving weekly lessons this term from one of the music teachers from St Ambrose High School.

Part of the £5000 was used to purchase our new sound system. This has already been used for some of our class assemblies, but it will really come into its own when our summer show arrives at the end of June. This year’s production is called ‘Welcome to the Sixties’ and the children are already well down the road of learning the songs. Watch this space for further details!

I had a very interesting meeting in Edinburgh last night with Head Teachers from Holland. They’re over in Scotland to find out about our education system and curriculum and it was a great opportunity to hear about how things are done in the Netherlands. Despite hearing some interesting ideas, it’s good to be back in St Bart’s this morning with a fresh appreciation of all the good work that goes on in the school on a daily basis.

Please remember that Bishop Toal will be celebrating Mass in school on Friday 1st May at 9.15am. All parents and carers are welcome to attend. However, we need to know numbers in advance to ensure that we have enough seats. If you would like to attend, please return the slip that was sent out before the holidays or contact the school office by telephone. Thank you.

The children had a good first day back after the holidays and it was great to see the boys and girls settling back into the routine of school. I mentioned to all of the children how quickly this term will fly by and how important it is for them to work hard and make the most of every day. With just over a week of April to go, it’s probably worth reminding you of the pupil holidays that are scheduled for May. These are part of the reason why June will be here before we know it!

Monday 4th May
Thursday 7th (Inservice Day – holiday for pupils)
Friday 22nd May
Monday 25th May

I was absolutely delighted to see a new addition to the hall stage yesterday morning which Mr Lynch very kindly fitted over the holidays. When I arrived at St Bart’s way back in 2012, I saved a large school badge from a scruffy old sign which used to be at the front door – I had a feeling it might come in handy one day! Well, the badge may be thirty or forty years old, but, as you can see from the photograph below, it’s been given a whole new lease of life and has added the perfect finishing touch to our hall!

Welcome back! I hope you all had a very enjoyable and relaxing Easter break. It was great to see plenty of sunshine over the holidays. Spring has certainly arrived and Term 4 is set to get off to a warm and sunny start.

After nine months of contractors working in St Bartholomew’s, it’s wonderful to be returning this morning to a completed building. Although the electricians and painters were absolute stars, it has, nonetheless, been a very challenging year and I’m sure both pupils and staff are looking forward to a summer term without any disruptions. The skip we hired in the last week of term gave us the chance to have a final clear-out; we left no corner of the school untouched and the place really is looking fantastic!

Please can I take this opportunity to thank staff for their patience, help and support during the refurbishment. Particular thanks to Mrs Ruddy and Mrs Dolan who turned up with military precision time and time again to get each classroom back to normal once contractors were finished. I am especially grateful to Mr Lynch who has gone WAY beyond the call of duty throughout this year (even continuing to beaver away behind the scenes while we were on holiday last week). We simply couldn’t have got by without Mr Lynch during the refurbishment… a huge thank you from us all!