The Parent Council meets today at 6pm. However, there’ll be no sitting round a table this evening – it will be all hands on deck to get the hall decorated for Halloween. Many thanks to everyone for giving of your time to get the hall looking SPOOKTACULAR for the children’s Halloween events!

As mentioned on the leaflet that went home last week, the boys and girls are invited to wear their Halloween costume on Thursday afternoon. They can either pop home to get changed at lunchtime or get ready once they’re back in class at 1pm. We’ll then have a short Halloween parade to showcase all the costumes, with a small prize for the best costume in each class. The children will then head off to their own individual classrooms for some Halloween activities.

The Halloween discos are this Friday evening. The P1-3 disco runs from 6.00-7.00pm and the P4-7 disco from 7.15-8.15pm. Tickets are available from the office, priced £1.50.

Friday is All Saints Day and our whole school community will be attending the 10.00am Mass at St Bartholomew’s Church. Light rain is forecast, so please ensure that your child has a suitable jacket for the 15 minute walk to church.

Finally, our first ‘Tea with Mr Young’ was an absolute pleasure yesterday afternoon. All seven children who were awarded a Pupil of the Week certificate last week popped along to my office for tea/juice, a biscuit and a blether. It was great to reward and give quality time to these seven children who worked so hard in class last week. I wonder who will be coming to tea this Friday??!!

It was wonderful to see such a great turnout at Primary 4/3’s class assembly on Friday afternoon. The boys and girls gave a very thought-provoking presentation on our local community of Townhead and also entertained us with two cheery songs. Well done, boys and girls, and thank you Mrs O’Neill for preparing the children!

I know from speaking to parents, carers, family and friends that a big highlight of the afternoon was the opportunity to spend a bit of time in the P4/3 classroom, including the treat of sampling some of the children’s home baking! It really was a great atmosphere on Friday afternoon – many thanks again for supporting the children.

This afternoon sees our first ‘Tea with Mr Young’. The seven pupils who received a Pupil of the Week certificate at Friday’s assembly have been invited to join me in my office at 2.30pm for juice and a biscuit (or a cup of tea!) as an extra reward for their super effort in class last week. See you at 2.30, boys and girls!

Please remember that tickets for Friday’s Halloween discos are now on sale, priced £1.50.

Primary 4/3 have their class assembly at 1.30pm this afternoon. The boys and girls have been busy preparing and rehearsing a presentation on their local community to share with their parents and carers. After the assembly, the children’s guests will have the opportunity to visit their classroom where they’ll be served tea or coffee along with a special homemade treat! These tasty nibbles wouldn’t have materialised without Mrs Laird, one of our P7 parents, giving so generously of her time on Wednesday. She worked with small groups of P4/3 pupils to bake mini quiches and iced cupcakes for this afternoon’s special event. Thank you Mrs Laird and well done boys and girls. I can’t wait to taste them!

A group of P4-7 pupils completed a Personalisation & Choice module on Crime Solving yesterday. They spent four sessions investigating the shocking crime of who stole the Cool Class Cup! Finger prints were dusted, descriptions taken, footprints studied and fibres analysed. The boys and girls looked closely at all the evidence yesterday afternoon and successfully solved the crime: the thief who stole the Cool Class Cup was…. MR YOUNG! Caught red handed! I just hope the police don’t turn up before I help P4/3 with their assembly at half-past one!

Father Doherty will be celebrating Mass with Primary 6 in the school oratory this morning. It’s sure to be a very peaceful, prayerful and intimate celebration of the Eucharist – one which I’m sure the boys and girls will gain a great deal from. The children will do the readings and have also written their own bidding prayers. We greatly appreciate Father Doherty’s input to the school this year and value the pastoral care he provides for our pupils. Primary 5 and Primary 7 will celebrate their own class Masses later in the year.

I’m delighted to announce that we have raised £900 from our recent sponsored walk! This money will help subsidise class trips for pupils across the school. Many thanks to everyone who helped raise this fantastic sum of money and for all those legs (young and not so young!) that made the journey around Drumpellier Park last month!

Finally, we had two good questions posted by parents on yesterday’s blog. The first question asked which disco P3 pupils from the P4/3 class should attend. Ideally, P3 pupils should attend the P1-3 disco at 6pm. However, if a particular child has a strong friendship group within the P4/3 class, there is no issue with them attending the later P4-7 disco. The only rule is they can’t attend both!.. Bouncers will be on duty!

The second question asked if a Halloween Parade is planned for next week. The children will be able to wear their Halloween costume on the afternoon of Thursday 31st October and our whole school community will gather together in the hall to show-off all the different outfits; there will be a prize for the best costume in each class. The children will then head off to their own classroom for some Halloween games and activities. Please note that the parade is not open to parents. However, we do have a St Andrew’s Day concert planned for the end of November which all parents are invited to as well as a special Christmas afternoon and an infant Nativity scheduled for the month of December.

I think we must have had one of our shortest Parent Council meetings ever last night, but I must say it was an absolute pleasure being amongst such an enthusiastic bunch of parents. Our meeting focused on arrangements for the Halloween discos which will take place on Friday 1st November. The P1-3 disco will be from 6.00 – 7.00pm and the P4-7 disco from 7.15 – 8.15pm. As always, there’ll be a live DJ and there will even be the chance to dook for apples! Many thanks to the Parent Council for organising the event. Tickets will go on sale tomorrow, priced £1.50.

We’re delighted to welcome Mr Joe McAvoy to St Bartholomew’s this morning. Joe is our school’s Quality Improvement Manager. His role is to support us in taking forward the priorities of our Improvement Plan and to act as a ‘critical friend’: someone who challenges us to look at things from a different angle, reflect on our practice and be the very best we can be. As part of his visit, Joe will be visiting P1 and P6 to enjoy some active maths with the children. We hope you enjoy your morning in St Bart’s, Mr McAvoy!

I’m delighted to announce that the installation of the new boiler is complete and our heating system is now fully functional… just in time for the winter!

Many congratulations to two former St Bartholomew’s pupils who received MBE’s from Prince William last week. Alice Docherty (Heather (P6) and Aidan’s (P3) great-aunt) received her award for services to the homeless and our good friend, Mark Millar, received his MBE on Tuesday. Congratulations, Alice and Mark!

It was fantastic to see the children back for the new term yesterday looking so smart in their uniforms. What a great start to the term! We have a new addition to the St Bartholomew’s team who, just like the boys and girls, turned up yesterday in his school uniform. His name’s Bart and he has been given the very important job of welcoming all our visitors when they arrive at the main entrance. He’s quite shy, but please do take the opportunity to say hello next time you visit the school. A special thanks to my mum and dad who rescued Bart from a shop in Scarborough and drove him all the way to his new home in Scotland!

Good morning, all! Hope you had a great October break and have returned refreshed for the term ahead. There’s LOADS happening over the coming weeks, so please keep a close eye on the Head Teacher’s blog and the website calendar to stay bang up-to-date with our various events.

Parents, family and friends of Primary 4/3 pupils will have already received their invitation to the special class assembly this coming Friday afternoon. I look forward to seeing you at 1.30pm in the school hall.

A very warm welcome back to Mrs McFarlane, who returns from maternity leave today. We’re absolutely delighted to see you back in St Bartholomew’s!

As we all embark on an exciting new term, here are a few words of encouragement from Pope Francis:

‘Our God is moving forward on the road with us. He is among us. He walks with us. He saves us. He makes history with us. Be mindful of all that, and life becomes more fruitful.’

Have great day, everyone!

It was great to catch up with so many parents and carers at last night’s Parents’ Evening. It was especially nice to see smile after smile coming out of the hall… obviously lots of good reports from the teachers!

Many thanks to parents and carers for making our Book Fayre such a huge success and for supporting the raffle we held to raise funds for the P7 York trip. Please can I express special thanks to those parents and carers who gave up so much of their time last night to run the Book Fayre, sell raffle tickets and man the Parent Council stall. Each and every one of you are absolute stars!!!!

So, we’ve reached the end of Term 1. I’m SO proud of all of the children for the fantastic start they’ve made to the year. Well done boys and girls! I’m also extremely proud of our fantastic team of staff. There’s never a day goes by without the dedicated St Bart’s team pulling together to ensure the very best for our pupils. A huge thank you to the whole team… you all deserve a well-earned rest over the October break!

Have a fantastic holiday, everyone. Looking forward to seeing you back refreshed and ready for the new term on Monday 21st October.

I’m very much looking forward to seeing parents and carers at Parents’ Evening later today. Consultations for Primary 1-7 pupils will take place in the hall and nursery meetings in the Music Room. All parents and carers should enter via the main school entrance.

To ensure the evening runs smoothly, P1-7 children who do not accompany their parent(s) into the teacher-parent meeting must remain in our ‘Cinema Area’ at all times. Pre-school children must remain with their parents. The Book Fayre will be open throughout the evening. However, children will not be permitted to visit this without an adult. Many thanks for your support with these practicalities.

The Parent Council have a short questionnaire they’d like you to complete this evening. However, you won’t need to rummage around in your handbag or pocket for a pen – the questionnaire can be accessed on one of our iPads and completing it couldn’t be more simple! Thanks in advance for your valuable feedback.

Finally, a night in St Bart’s just wouldn’t be the same without a wee raffle! Proceeds will go towards the P7 excursion to York in June.

See you this evening!

Our harvest offerings of canned food will be gathered together in the oratory this morning to remind us of all God’s blessings and of those who are less fortunate than ourselves. I’ve noticed on my visits to classrooms this week that there’s been a great response from the children. The food will be donated to a nearby soup kitchen and distributed to some of the most needy people in our local community. There’s still time to bring something in for this very worthwhile cause – Mrs O’Neill will be collecting items up until Friday.

Primary 2 & 3 are off to Drumpellier Park again this morning to continue with their art project. As mentioned in last week’s blog, the children are working towards producing a piece of art in aluminium, based on the plants and trees found in the park. The final piece will be put on permanent display in the Drumpellier Park Visitors Centre as well as around the loch. This is a wonderful opportunity for our pupils to create something that will be enjoyed by the general public for many, many years to come.

As mentioned in the newsletter that was sent home yesterday, please can we have any remaining sponsor money into the school office as soon as possible. Unfortunately, we are currently sitting at almost £1000 less than we raised last year, so we will need to scale-down the plans we had for the money. If any parents/carers would like to help the school in raising much needed funds during the course of the year, please do get in touch. Many hands make light work! Thank you.

Please remember that the Book Fayre will be open throughout Parents’ Evening tomorrow. I’m looking forward to seeing you during the course of the evening.