It’s our last day of activities here in Kilbowie. The weather is still beautiful and this has made the various outdoor pursuits all the more enjoyable for the boys and girls. The children have been extremely well behaved and have really done St Bartholomew’s proud. A huge well done to them all!

We are fast approaching the last week of term and there are a number of important events to remember. The nursery graduations will take place on Wednesday and the P7 Leavers’ Mass and Awards Ceremony at 1.30pm on the Thursday afternoon. Father Kelly, former parish priest and school chaplain, will be celebrating the Mass. The P7 Beach Party will be held on the Thursday evening… let’s hope this good weather continues for the Primary 7’s special night!

I am due to hear from Personnel today who our new members of staff will be. This will allow me to send out letters about classes at the beginning of next week. Once again, thank you for your patience.

The sun continues to shine here in Kilbowie and the boys and girls continue to smile!

The vast majority of the activities are completely new experiences for the children but they are launching into them with great enthusiasm and walking away with the satisfaction of having successfully faced new challenges. Gorge-walking has been a particular favourite (basically putting on a wet-suit and helmet, walking up a fast-flowing stream and jumping into a pool at the end!) and kayaking over the sea to the nearby island of Kerrera has also been another highlight for the children.

It’s been great seeing the boys and girls form friendships with pupils from the other schools. These children, of course, will be the new classmates of our pupils at St Ambrose High School in August.

I have heard from Mrs Bolland and Mrs McIntyre that all is well back in St Bartholomew’s and that you are enjoying the same sort of weather as we are here in Oban. Well done, boys and girls!

Finally, I heard last night that Mike Russell, the Cabinet Secretary for Education and Lifelong Learning, made a special mention of St Bartholomew’s in a speech at the SECC yesterday. He really was impressed with the school when he visited last Thursday and it seems he’s spreading the word! Well done, once again, to pupils, staff and everyone else involved in the Cabinet Secretary’s visit for helping show Mike Russell what a fantastic school St Bartholomew’s truly is!

Apologies for the delay in posting today’s blog. The internet has been playing up and the rural location also means it’s almost impossible to access the blog via my phone. However, here I am!

Primary 7 arrived safe and sound in Kilbowie yesterday and have had a fantastic time so far. The weather is absolutely glorious and this has made the various activities all the more enjoyable. Today has seen the boys and girls gorge walking, kayaking, skiing and exploring the local area. Smiles all round!

Hope the sun is shining in Coatbridge!

It’s hard to believe that we have reached the second last week of term. Time flies when you’re having fun!

Primary 7 are off to Kilbowie this morning. They have an exciting week of outdoor pursuits ahead of them including canoeing, gorge walking, ski-ing and mountain biking. The weather forecast for Oban is extremely good this week and this is sure to make the children’s time away all the more enjoyable and memorable. St Bartholomew’s is sharing the excursion with St Augustine’s and St Kevin’s primaries which will give the boys and girls the opportunity to get to know their new high school classmates.

I am in the process of writing comments on report cards and these will be distributed at the beginning of next week. Several parents have asked me about next year’s classes. The school will have several new members of staff in August, but I am still waiting to hear from Personnel who these new teachers will be. However, I will endeavour to send out details of classes at the same time as the reports go home. Thank you for your patience.

I am speaking at a conference at the SECC in Glasgow today but will be travelling up to Oban this evening, arriving at Kilbowie around 9.45pm. Mrs Bolland and Mrs McIntyre will be managing the school in my absence and will be able to deal with any urgent issues. I came across a photograph of the conference banner on Twitter last night. It includes the phrase, ‘Scotland: the best place in the world to go to school.’ What a great vision to have for our schools!

Mike Russell, the Cabinet Secretary for Education and Lifelong Learning, thoroughly enjoyed his visit to St Bartholomew’s yesterday and was extremely impressed by our fantastic pupils (no surprise there!). Mr Russell has posted a photograph and written about his visit on his own blog which can be accessed by clicking HERE.

Many thanks to all of those pupils, parents and parishioners who made a special contribution to yesterday’s visit and to staff for making the school look as good as ever. I’m so proud of everyone and absolutely delighted that St Bartholomew’s has received recognition and compliments from someone in such high a position. You all deserve the praise!

Primary 4 and 5 are off to the Primary Games in Motherwell today. A fantastic banner has been produced to cheer on the team (thank you Mrs Dolan and Mrs Payne for your help!) and I’m sure the boys and girls will have a great day competing in the various events.

A VERY WARM WELCOME TO OUR SPECIAL GUESTS!

St Bartholomew’s extends a very warm welcome this morning to Mike Russell, Cabinet Secretary for Education and Lifelong Learning, and to Andrew Sutherland, Executive Director of Learning and Leisure Services for North Lanarkshire Council.

The visit will begin with ‘A Taste of St Bart’s’, when our guests will have the opportunity to meet the cast of ‘Joseph’, our dance group, members of the tennis club, a few of our Gaelic footballers, some parents and parishioners and a team of pupils from the Prayer Group. Our guests will then have a tour of the school, including visits to Primary 1, Primary 5, Primary 7 and the Skill Force team. The visit will conclude with a short presentation on some recent work St Bartholomew’s has been piloting on behalf of the Scottish Government and then our guests will be treated to a well-earned cup of tea and a scone!

The boys and girls are very excited about showcasing their talents and achievements and I have no doubt that they will (as always!) do themselves, their parents and carers and the school proud!

It was great seeing our new Primary 1 pupils looking so happy and confident yesterday morning. They thoroughly enjoyed their tour of the school and wasted no time at all tucking into their school lunch. Well done to our P5 and P6 buddies who did such a fantastic job showing the boys and girls around the school and keeping them company during lunch.

We’re all set for tomorrow morning’s special visit from Mike Russell, the Cabinet Secretary for Education and Lifelong Learning. Tomorrow will be a great opportunity for St Bartholomew’s to showcase some of the fantastic work that goes on in the school from day-to-day. We’ve got so much to be proud of here in St Bart’s and I’m sure Mike Russell will be very impressed indeed!

It was like a scene from the story of Noah yesterday afternoon as the heavens opened and it poured with rain for the rest of the day. What a relief that that we opted to go ahead with Sports Day in the morning! Once again, well done to this year’s winning house, SUMMERLEE!!!

I’m delighted to announce that Saturday’s Summer Fayre raised the grand total of £950 for our SMART Board appeal. This money will be added to the ticket sales from our recent production of ‘Joseph’. What a great start to our fund-raising campaign! Thanks again to the fantastic team of parents who organised and ran the fayre.

We welcome our new Primary 1s to St Bartholomew’s this morning. The boys and girls will be pairing-up with their P6 and 7 buddies at 11 o’clock and getting a tour of the school. They will then head to the dinner hall and be treated to their very first school lunch!

Sports Day was a great success this morning and the rain stayed off right up until the last race. For once, the weather forecast was right!

Many thanks to Mr Hughes for organising everything with such precision and to the other members of staff for helping out with everything from supervising pupils to keeping the scores. A huge thank you to the Parent Council for purchasing the stickers and medals and for doing so much behind the scenes. Thanks too to all those adults who helped clear the field at the end of the morning… despite the pouring rain!

The results of St Bart’s Sports Day 2014 are as follows:

WINNING HOUSE: SUMMERLEE (463 points)
LOCHEND (363 points)
DRUMPELLIER (346)
MONKLANDS (312 points)

Well done to all the boys and girls for being such good sportsmen and sportswomen and many congratulations to our winning house, SUMMERLEE!!!

Today’s weather forecast is for rain in the afternoon. SPORTS DAY WILL NOW TAKE PLACE THIS MORNING. The long-term forecast for June is for the weather to stay unsettled, so it needs to be a case of grabbing whatever dry periods of weather we can. Apologies for any inconvenience this change of time may cause.

Our Summer Fayre on Saturday was a great success and we were blessed with unexpected good weather. Many thanks to everyone who supported the event, to staff for helping out and, once again, to the fantastic team of parents who organised and ran the Fayre. What a team! The total amount of money raised will be posted on the blog later today.