Hello to the JMAC team. Your work on the Zoolab visit featured prominently in the most recent school press report. Here is a draft copy of it for your perusal…
Beyoncé is Back at Saint Aidan’s….
Second year students at St Aidan’s High school had their rainforest topic brought to life by an exciting visit from The Zoolab Company. From the shadowy depths of the rainforest, all the way to Wishaw came Arthur the snail, Beyoncé the tarantula and many more exotic creatures. Eager, brave young students, fuelled by a mixture anticipation and dread were given the opportunity to interact with the creatures.
For the most part, the curiosity overcame the fear and the pupils learned fascinating facts about the miniature beasts such as Lily the millipede from the Congo and her 500 legs.
Zoolab has been running for 20 years and caters to several functions such as birthdays, school visits and public events. The company aims to ‘amaze, educate and inspire’ the public about the lives of animals. The Zoolab rangers care for the exotic creatures at home and show great care about each of their charges. The second year students commented enthusiastically, saying ‘It was a really good experience, which was totally unique and holding the animals was so much fun’.
Mental Health Awareness
Over forty parents attended an evening presentation given by Chris’s House that followed on from our presentations to all of our students. As part of our school community’s drive to break the stigma about mental health issues a group of our Student Mental Health Ambassadors have also attended the launch of the “Sound Minds” project in Coatbridge. You can get more information about the school’s progress in raising awareness of these issues on the Saint Aidan’s High Twitter account under the following hashtags: e #mentalhealthawareness #breakthestigma #partnerships #staidansfamily
Football Successes
The Saint Aidan’s High football teams have been enjoying a run of good form with notable victories by the first year boys and a sparkling performance by the fourth year boys against Our Lady’s High School.
The under 14 boys are also looking good in their new strips thanks to the generosity of the Parent Council.
Primary Seven Partnership Evening
Our annual P7 Partnership Evening took place on Tuesday 7th November and attendance was in excess of 340.
The evaluations completed are incredibly positive but also give a few suggestions as to how we can make it even better. Mrs. Elizabeth Fagan, Depute Head for first and second year commented on the success of the event, “This evening requires lots of planning, preparation but most importantly the willingness and commitment of both staff and pupils. I would like to offer my sincere thanks to every member of staff who came on Tuesday night and made the night such a memorable experience for both parents and pupils alike. The parents were extremely complimentary of our fantastic S2/5/6 helpers and found them to be polite, mannerly and confident. Parents also felt reassured by having the opportunity to meet and talk with many of our fantastic S1 pupils and welcomed the opportunity to speak to staff. Many stated that they felt much more comfortable about their child coming to high school.”
Parents of children about to make the step up to high school next year commented, “This was an amazing night with lots of information that put both my child and my mind at ease.” Another parent evaluation of the evening was very positive about the impact that our current first year students had on them, “Pupils did very well and using present S1 pupils was very helpful for the children.
Overall it was a highly successful night and we look forward to seeing the primary seven students as our new first year in 2018.
The School Library Becomes Hogwarts for a Day
The S1 Harry Potter Bingo and Spelling Bee which took place recently was good fun and a great success.
Harry Potter Bingo Two games of Harry Potter Bingo were played – the bingo uses images and words from the HP books instead of numbers. Tiernan Donohoe and Mikolaj Matusik won a game of bingo each and received chocolate skeletons and chocolate money as their prize.
Harry Potter Spelling Bee
A happy and enthusiastic audience of S1 pupils came along to the event to support their friends who were taking part. Molly Kelly and James Walsh were the joint winners of the competition which resulted in a tie breaker. James won the tie breaker with the correct spelling of the word quidditch. His prize was a copy of Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone.
The following fourteen good sports took part in the Harry Potter Spelling Bee: Molly Kelly, James Walsh Tiernan Donohoe, Luke Chambers Gabriel Woods, Kaitlyn Grayson, Millie Low, Amy McIntosh
Lauren Fuller, Kerri Anne Templeton, Holly Sweeney, Mikolaj Matusik, Olivia Sneddon and Valentina Joseph.
Saint Andrew’s Hospice Cheque
The school presented representatives from Saint Andrew’s Hospice a cheque for £1801.66. The funds were raised by a magnificent effort by all the students who took part in the 6K fun run in September. A great effort by everyone involved!
Good work it is really good 👍👍
Very well written pieces!
Well done.