It was fantastic to meet our new Primary 1 parents yesterday, particularly those who are brand new to St Bartholomew’s. I hope you felt very much at home.

Primary 7 will receive a demonstration of various musical instruments this morning from St Ambrose High School. It is hoped that the demonstration will inspire the children to learn to play an instrument once they move to high school after the summer holidays. St Ambrose is renowned for its music and I’m sure we’ll see many St Bart’s pupils adding their musical talents to the school in the years ahead.

Please remember that St Bartholomew’s is closed tomorrow and Monday for the May holiday. The school will reopen as normal on Tuesday morning.

Enjoy the long weekend!

I am absolutely delighted to welcome our new Primary 1 parents to St Bartholomew’s this morning for the first of our four transition events. This morning’s session will provide new parents with key information about the school before we meet the boys and girls at a parent-child workshop next week. Today’s session begins at 9.15am in the Performing Arts Studio (please enter the school via the main entrance).

I had the privilege of attending a lecture at Glasgow University last night given by Angela Constance, Cabinet Secretary for Education & Lifelong Learning. Angela spoke passionately about her vision for Scottish schools and much of what she said was an inspiring reminder to me of the mission and vision we have here at St Bartholomew’s for our own pupils.

“My priorities are clear. I want Scotland to have an education system which ensures each child has every chance to succeed; that leaves no child behind; that promotes and supports excellence in learning through valued and supported teachers and a high quality workforce; that is ambitious for our children, that takes their aspirations for themselves and nurtures and develops those, so that they succeed in school and in life.”

Please remember that the weekly prayer service takes place in the oratory this morning at 8.50am. We are still in the month of May, so will be led in praying another decade of the rosary.

Primary 7 are now just over a week away from their induction days at St Ambrose High School. The children were busy writing their personal profiles yesterday in preparation for the transition; these profiles give the children the opportunity to outline their strengths and next steps in learning in each curricular area. Some of the children will receive their next keyboard lesson this morning from Miss McDonald, a member of staff from St Ambrose Music Department. I also notice from today’s diary that the children will be getting measured for their St Ambrose uniforms this afternoon. It’s an exciting time for the children as they prepare for this new chapter in their lives.

Primary 7 had an absolutely fantastic time in Yorkshire last week. It was a jam- packed week, with hardly a minute to spare. If you haven’t already done so, please check out Twitter to see photographs of the huge range of activities the children experienced during their four days away.

Our Primary 4 pupils made their First Holy Communion during the 10.00am Mass in St Bartholomew’s Church yesterday. The church was absolutely packed with parishioners, family and friends and the boys and girls did themselves, their parents and the school proud. Many congratulations to each and every one of you!

All teaching staff from St Bartholomew’s, St Augustine’s and St Kevin’s Primaries will gather together in our school hall at the end of today for input on assessment from Myra Young, a well-known education consultant. Myra has worked with us at various points throughout the year and this afternoon’s session will conclude her input. A very warm welcome to Myra and colleagues from our cluster schools.

Due to the Primary 7 trip to York, there will be no Head Teacher’s blog for the remainder of this week. However, please keep up-to-date with our adventures in Yorkshire throughout the next four days via Twitter. You can find us at @bartholomew_st, or simply click on the link on the website homepage.

Primary 5 presented an absolutely super assembly on the Romans on Friday. The boys and girls impressed the whole school with their singing and acting at the morning dress rehearsal before WOW-ing their invited guests in the afternoon. It was great to see such a fantastic turn-out; thank you to everyone who came to support the children.

It’s the Primary 7 York trip this week, so I will be out of school from Tuesday until we return on Friday evening. Although there will be no Head Teacher’s blog for the remainder of this week, you will be able to keep up-to-date with our adventures in Yorkshire via Twitter; photos and updates will be posted throughout each of the four days we are away.

Finally, Isabelle Boyd (Head of Service) shared the following with me at a meeting last week. It’s Pope Francis’ simple (but very wise!) approach to prayer. I know some of our pupils are already familiar with the Holy Father’s ‘Five finger prayer’, but this method is equally suitable for grown-ups, so I thought I’d post it on today’s blog.

Primary 5 have their class assembly this afternoon. The boys and girls have been very busy preparing their presentation on the Romans and it’s looking and sounding great! We look forward to welcoming parents and carers to the assembly at 2.00pm, followed by a cup of tea in the Primary 5 classroom.

One of our very talented P7 pupils took part in the Tae Kwon Do English Open in Manchester recently and came 1st in her section. What an amazing achievement! A huge well done from everyone at St Bart’s!

It was great to see a such a healthy turnout of parishioners yesterday for the monthly ‘Pray for our School’ group. As always, the group prayed the rosary in the oratory for the needs of the school before enjoying refreshments with some of our Primary 7 pupils. The group is a vital and valued part of our school community – many thanks to all of its members for their faithfulness and commitment to St Bart’s.

We are now less than a week away from the Primary 7 trip to York. I’ll be accompanying the children on the excursion and my plan is to replace next week’s blog entries with updates on Twitter throughout the four days we are away.

Please remember that tomorrow is an inservice day and St Bartholomew’s will be closed to pupils. See you on Friday.

Welcome back! I hope you had a relaxing and enjoyable long weekend.

I’m delighted to announce that we raised an amazing £802.73 during Lent for SCIAF and this money will be doubled to an incredible £1605.46 by the UK government. What a fantastic achievement! We also had a special collection on Friday for SCIAF’s Nepal earthquake appeal and raised a total of £100. Thank you so much for your generosity.

There was a fantastic atmosphere in St Bartholomew’s on Friday for our ‘Festival of Faith’. The hall was packed with pupils, parents, parishioners and friends for our special Mass with Bishop Toal and it was wonderful to see so many generations from the St Bartholomew’s parish community worshipping together. I’m not sure what the exact gap in age was from the youngest to oldest, but it must have been 80+ years! It was particularly encouraging to see pupils and visitors chatting together in the tearoom after Mass. Many, many thanks to everyone who turned up on Friday to support us!

Of course, a major highlight of Friday was to have the Blessed Sacrament reserved in our oratory for the very first time. As you can see in the photograph below, the sanctuary lamp is now lit next to the beautiful tabernacle donated to St Bartholomew’s last year by the Passionist community, Glasgow. What a huge privilege for our school!

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.