Good morning, everyone. Hope you all had a great weekend.

Visitors to St Bartholomew’s never fail to comment on the fantastic wall displays that give the entrance area to our school such a welcoming feel. Every class, including the nursery, has a board in this area and this allows visitors to gain an instant snapshot of some of the super work going on across our school community. The current wall displays are particularly special as they contain a photograph of every single child in the school. It’s a real treat at the moment to have so many happy, enthusiastic faces smiling out at you when you walk through the school! Please take the opportunity to browse the wall displays next time you visit St Bart’s… your child’s photo will be in there somewhere!

Primary 6 and 7 are off to Edinburgh today to visit the Scottish Parliament. They’ve been learning about our Scottish political system in class this term, so today’s trip to the capital will be very worthwhile indeed. Have a great day, boys and girls. Best behaviour and manners, please!

Finally, a wee reminder that this is a four day week: St Bartholomew’s will be closed this Friday and next Monday for the September weekend.

Have a good day!

Our Personalisation & Choice modules started yesterday and it was a jam-packed afternoon of exciting activities from one end of the school to the other. We had jewellery making, clay work, music and drama. The delicious smell of scones was wafting from the Get Together Room while another group of children were keeping fit in the Music Room. Some pupils were busy in the ICT suite working on our school website, Mr Lynch was coaching our budding footballers in the hall and there was even a group of children in white coats investigating a shocking crime: who stole the Cool Class Cup?!! A fantastic time was had by all, both pupils and teachers, and a few of the boys and girls told me at the end of the day that they can’t wait until next week! Thank you to all the staff for taking the time to prepare such a variety of fun activities and well done to all the boys and girls for taking part so enthusiastically!

Despite the dreadful weather, P4/3 brought a ray of sunshine to the residents of Blair House yesterday morning. You can read about their visit on their class page (click on the ‘Learning’ pencil). Thank you for being such great ambassadors for St Bartholomew’s, boys and girls.

BUILDING UPDATE: The new blinds will be fitted in P1, the nursery and the ICT suite today. We still have temporary heaters in classrooms and working areas – I will continue to keep you informed about progress with the new heating system as information is released to me from the contractors. Finally, a particularly welcome piece of news on the refurbishment of the school building: contractors are making preparations to refurbish the boys’ and girls’ toilets outside Primary 4 and 5 in the very near future. These will be used as a ‘trial run’ before rolling out the refurbishment to the remaining toilets in the school. I’m sure you are as delighted as I am at the huge investment North Lanarkshire Council is making in our school building.

Have a good day, everyone, and a relaxing weekend once it arrives.

The boys and girls did us proud yesterday when we had our two special visitors in St Bartholomew’s. Andy Bathgate and Elizabeth McDowall from Scripture Union were extremely impressed with the children’s behaviour, manners, smart uniforms, Biblical knowledge and singing. Most importantly, they left without any doubt in their minds that faith is central to life in St Bartholomew’s. Andy and Elizabeth spent part of the morning observing RE in Primary 4/3. You can find out what they saw the children learning by visiting the P4/3 class page (click on the ‘Learning’ pencil).

I received an Email from Elizabeth McDowall not long after she left. She wrote:

‘Just wanted to say a big thank-you to you and all your staff for your hospitality towards Andy and myself during our visit today. You put in a lot of effort to give us a good overview of prayer and religious input in a Catholic school, and we now feel better informed.’

Well done, boys and girls! I’ve said it before, but I must be the proudest Head Teacher in the whole of North Lanarkshire! Also, a special thank you to Mrs O’Neill, Mr Hughes and Mrs McAuley for preparing the children for yesterday’s visit. It was very much appreciated.

Keep an eye on the Scottish Catholic Observer over the next few weeks for an article on Andy Bathgate and Elizabeth McDowall’s visit to St Bart’s.

We are delighted to welcome two special visitors to St Bartholomew’s Primary this morning. Andy Bathgate is the Chief Executive of Scripture Union, Scotland, a Christian organisation which works with young people in schools and through activity camps. He will be accompanied by Elizabeth McDowall, the co-ordinator of the organisation’s ‘Pray for Schools’ initiative, which aims to see every school in Scotland prayed for on a regular basis. Andy and Elizabeth will be observing the faith dimension of a Catholic school and will have lots to see during the course of the morning. They will join us for our weekly prayer service, meet with pupils and parishioners, observe an RE lesson in P4/3, speak to representatives from St Ambrose High School and join our whole school community for Mass. Welcome to St Bartholomew’s, Andy and Elizabeth! We hope you enjoy your time with us!

The weather has turned quite a bit colder and our new heating system is still a week away from being finished. As intimated in the text sent to parents and carers yesterday, temporary heaters have been brought in to heat the school and these have been located in all classrooms and other areas where pupils regularly work.

The school photographs ran like clockwork yesterday and proofs of the pictures will be sent to you in due course. John Wilson will return to St Bartholomew’s at the beginning of December to take a new whole-school photo for the foyer. He will also be available during Confirmations and First Holy Communions for those parents who wish photographs to be taken.

Finally, a transformation is underway in our nursery! Please be patient as we reorganise and revitalise the corridor area and playroom over the coming weeks. I’m sure both you and your child will love the changes!

The day of our school photographs has arrived! John Wilson will transform the music room into a temporary studio and it will be a non-stop day of top buttons being fastened, ties being straightened and cheesy smiles all round!

St Columba is sometimes given the credit for bringing Christianity to Scotland but it was actually St Ninian, whose feast we celebrate today. The traditional story is that Ninian was the son of a Christian tribal chief somewhere in what is now known as Dumfries and Galloway. He became a bishop and built a monastery in the town of Whithorn. It is said that St Ninian would often retreat to a cave on the beach near his monastery to be alone in prayer. I have fond memories of making the annual pilgrimage to St Ninian’s Cave as a child… Certainly a peaceful place, but definitely not the warmest!

Today is also the three year anniversary of the papal visit to Glasgow. Many of you, like me, will have very special memories of the Mass in Bellahouston Park, where 75,000 people gathered together in the September sunshine to celebrate the Eucharist in the company of Pope Benedict XVI. During his homily, the Holy Father addressed Catholic schools directly. It would be worthwhile for us to revisit these words and draw fresh inspiration and encouragement:

‘Scottish Catholic schools have taken up the challenge of providing an integral education to greater numbers of students, and this has helped young people not only along the path of spiritual and human growth, but also in entering the professions and public life. This is a sign of great hope for the Church, and I would encourage the Catholic teachers of Scotland never to lose sight of their calling to use their talents and experience in the service of faith.’

St Ninian, missionary to Scotland, pray for us.

Good morning, everyone. I hope you all had a great weekend.

Please remember that the school photographer will be in St Bartholomew’s tomorrow. He will take individual photographs of all children in the school (including the nursery) as well as group portraits of siblings. Please can you ensure that your child is in full school uniform tomorrow and that they practise their best smiles in front of the mirror as part of their homework tonight! Thank you.

Excellent progress is being made on the fitting of our new blinds. The entire upper school and offices are now complete and the contractor made a start on the infant classrooms on Friday. I’m also delighted to inform you (especially now that the autumn weather seems to have arrived with a vengeance!) that work on our new heating system is only a week away from being completed.

Mrs McAuley and I will be accompanying the Primary 7’s to a special outdoor Mass in Carfin this morning to mark the end of the ‘Year of Faith’. Every Catholic school in the diocese will be represented, with around 3000 young people taking part in what is sure to be a memorable celebration of the Eucharist. Although we will have raincoats and umbrellas at the ready, we’d still appreciate your prayers for dry weather!

Our new Promoting Positive Behaviour policy is now available on the website. The policy reinforces the procedures which have been in place in St Bartholomew’s over the past twelve months. These have proved to be very successful and now become fixed school policy from Primary 1-7. I would encourage you to find a bit of time to read the policy for yourself so you are familiar with the various approaches we use to reward and sanction pupils across the school. It can be accessed in the ‘Information’ section under ‘Policies & Documents’.

On the same theme, I would like to take this opportunity to thank parents and carers for their ongoing support in relation to behaviour and discipline. It’s a fact of life that we can’t be good all of the time (Mr Young especially!), but it’s always very much appreciated when the school receives backing and support from the home when dealing with misbehaviour. Of course, the vast majority of our pupils rarely, if ever, need to be told off. Their good behaviour doesn’t go unnoticed and many of them will be rewarded with a Pupil of the Week certificate, the House trophy or the Cool Class Cup this afternoon.

Although our dinner hall is as bustling as ever, it was brought to my attention yesterday that the actual number of pupils staying for a school lunch has significantly dropped this year. St Bartholomew’s kitchens are staffed by two fantastic dinner ladies who never fail to have a friendly smile for pupils and staff alike. There are always several delicious options on offer for lunch as well as a breakfast club first thing in the morning and a healthy tuck-shop at morning break. I’d like to take this opportunity to encourage parents and carers to take advantage of the services offered by our kitchens. If your child has never used the breakfast club, tuck-shop or stayed for a school lunch, it’s maybe something you’d like to consider. I’m a visitor to the dining hall morning, interval and lunch and can promise you that the food’s top-notch!

It’s taken a bit of time to reach the top of our to-do list, but the ‘Calendar’ section of our website is now being populated for the 2013/14 session and the months of September, October and November are now live. I hope this section will prove useful in reminding you of the various events happening in St Bartholomew’s and help you plan your diary in advance. Please visit the section regularly as additional events will be added as they arise.

Our Primary 5’s are off to the Time Capsule this morning for their first swimming session. Have a great time, boys and girls… Best behaviour, please!

New roller blinds have now been fitted in Primary 7 and Primary 6. What a transformation! The Primary 4 and 5 classrooms will be done later today.

Our annual sponsored walk has been scheduled for the second last week of term, with funds raised going towards out-of-school trips. Permission letters and sponsor forms will go out today.

The September/October edition of St BartholoNews will also go out today, so please check your child’s school bag. An electronic copy of the newsletter will be available in the ‘News’ section of our website.

Finally, we pause briefly today to remember the dreadful events of 11th September 2001 when the World Trade Centre in New York was attacked, with the loss of 2996 innocent lives. We also remember that we still live in a world divided by conflict and war, where innocent people continue to suffer and die. We pray in particular today for the people of Syria… and make a commitment to let love, tolerance and peace begin in our own hearts and form the building blocks of St Bartholomew’s Primary.

‘See that no one pays back wrong for wrong, but at all times make it your aim to do good to one another and to all people.’ (1 Thessalonians 5:15)

Two great pieces of news this morning:

Contractors will begin fitting our new blinds later today. Primary 7 will be the first room to be transformed with sleek new roller blinds.

The other REALLY exciting piece of news is that our good friend, Mark Millar, has purchased pantomime tickets for every pupil in the school. St Bartholomew’s will be off to the Pavilion Theatre in Glasgow on the 11th December to see Pinocchio! A huge thank you to Mark!