Our Lady of Good Aid Cathedral Primary School

Our P3 learners have been developing their knowledge and understanding of Viking life and this learning has truly come to life through creativity, imagination and an impressive range of skills. Mrs Duffy has been particularly impressed by the wonderful Viking longships and Viking warrior illustrations created by our learners.

The high standards, effort and attention to detail evident in these pieces of work have been fantastic. From designing and constructing their longships to creating detailed Viking warriors, our learners have demonstrated skills in research, design, creativity, problem-solving, fine motor skills, perseverance and presentation.

It has also been wonderful to see so much learning continuing at home, with families supporting our learners to extend their knowledge and develop their ideas beyond the classroom. This partnership between home and school makes such a positive difference to our children’s learning experiences.

There is so much to celebrate in P3! Their work demonstrates not only what our learners know, but also the pride they take in their learning and their willingness to challenge themselves and produce work of a high standard.

Our little learners have been developing their early numeracy skills as they explored their environment and became number detectives, searching for numbers all around the nursery indoors and outdoors. They have been making important connections between numbers and their written numeral forms, helping to build confidence and develop their early mathematical understanding. Using a wonderful range of loose parts, our children then got creative, finding different ways to represent numbers. This provided fantastic opportunities for problem-solving, critical thinking, creativity and collaboration as they shared their ideas and learning with their friends.

Out in our garden, messy play has been a particular favourite. The children have loved exploring shaving foam, enjoying the different textures and sensations while developing their mark-making skills in literacy. These experiences encourage children to experiment, make choices, express their ideas and engage in meaningful conversations with one another. It has been wonderful to see their curiosity and creativity shine through as they learn through play.

Health and Wellbeing has also been a key focus this week. We have been learning about healthy food choices, safe ways to travel and how to cross roads safely. The children have been confidently sharing their own daily routines and talking about the things they do to keep themselves safe both at home and within our wider community. Some of our wonderful role models have also been demonstrating how to use safety equipment correctly and reminding their friends about the importance of keeping ourselves and others safe while developing new skills.

We are incredibly proud of the enthusiasm, curiosity, confidence and teamwork our children have demonstrated throughout the week. From discovering numbers in their environment to getting messy in the garden and developing their understanding of keeping safe and healthy, our Nursery children continue to show us just how much they can learn through play, exploration and shared experiences.

What a fabulous week of learning, discovery and fun!

Primary 6 and Mrs Irwin have an interesting reward system this year called ‘Beat the Teacher’, with the children choosing a monthly treat to work towards to reward fabulous learning. The September treat was a Starbucks-themed day, complete with hot chocolate and lots of fun, themed learning.

Learners took part in a range of activities inspired by a typical coffee shop, including Sudoku, crosswords, cosy reading and creative art activities such as designing coffee cups and creating their own coffee shop logos.

The children were fully engaged throughout the day and, by the afternoon, were confidently leading their own learning. Our Primary 6 learners took this a step further by creating their own coffee shop menus and pricelists.

It was fantastic to see the children developing their creativity, numeracy, literacy, teamwork and entrepreneurial skills while having lots of fun along the way.

We are absolutely delighted to celebrate an outstanding national achievement for Cathedral Primary School, with our learners winning 1st Prize across Scotland in the Bishops’ Conference of Scotland’s Design a Garden Competition.

Our winning design was created by our wonderful Ignite pupils, who demonstrated incredible creativity, imagination and teamwork. Their fantastic achievement was recognised at a special presentation at Cathedral Primary, where Bishop Toal presented the £250 first prize to Mrs Carroll and members of our Ignite group.

We were delighted to welcome June Clunie, Assistant General Secretary of the Bishops’ Conference of Scotland, along with Michael Roache and Des Hamill, and Joanna Sweeney from SCES, who joined us to celebrate this fantastic achievement.

A huge well done to our Ignite pupils for representing Cathedral Primary so brilliantly and achieving 1st Prize across Scotland. Please click on the link below.

 https://canva.link/lyk6b2wa4nbpumu

Bishop Toal visited Cathedral Primary on Wednesday 23rd September as he met with our Primary 7 confirmandi ahead of their celebration of the Sacrament of Confirmation.

He spoke with our learners about what they could expect during the celebration and took time to answer their questions, helping them to feel prepared and confident as they continue their faith journey.

As part of our preparations, members of our Primary 7 Ignite group also led a special assembly on the life and faith of Blessed Carlo Acutis, inspiring our learners through his example of faith, kindness and devotion. We are incredibly proud of our Primary 7 learners as they prepare for this important milestone in their spiritual journey. Please continue to keep them in your prayers as they prepare to receive the Sacrament of Confirmation on Monday 30th November 2026.

May the Holy Spirit guide, strengthen and inspire each of our young people as they take this important step in their faith journey.

Parents and carers of our Primary 6 and P7  learners joined us on Tuesday 22nd September for our first Family Learning session this year, exploring how we teach Mathematics at Cathedral Primary School.

The session began with an insightful presentation from Mrs Duffy, who shared how we are developing confident and resilient mathematicians through real-life applications, problem-solving and the Concrete–Pictorial–Abstract (CPA) approach. Families learned how our Active 8 approach provides a balanced mix of teacher-led, independent and collaborative learning, alongside differentiated numeracy and mathematics experiences.

Following the presentation, parents and carers had the opportunity to visit classrooms and work alongside their children, seeing first-hand how practical experiences, mathematical reasoning, discussion and problem-solving are woven into everyday learning. It was wonderful to see our families engaging so positively with their children’s mathematical learning and gaining a deeper understanding of the skills and approaches we use to build confidence, resilience and lifelong mathematical learning.

A huge thank you to all our parents and carers for joining us and getting involved. Family Learning at Cathedral is all about working together to help our learners thrive.

Our next Family Learning takes place next Tuesday 29th September for P7c, P6a and P5/6. 

Please click on the link below to access our August – December Parental Engagement & Family Learning leaflet:

Click to access Final-August-to-December-Family-Learning-2026.pdf

Our creative Primary 4 learners have been busy bringing their Scottish Landscapes topic to life and Mrs Duffy came across something rather impressive during her walk round in Winners Wynd.

Working together, the learners have been using plaster to create a giant Loch Ness Monster, developing their creativity, construction skills and artistic talents along the way. Their impressive teamwork, collaboration and attention to detail are helping this fantastic creation take shape.

Mrs Duffy cannot wait to see the finished article proudly displayed on their Learning Showcase Wall. What a talented bunch of young creators – Nessie is certainly making a splash at Cathedral!

An audience of family and friends was transported to Germany during Primary 5’s fantastic Learning Showcase on Friday 18th September.

The performance was packed with fascinating facts and interesting information about this vibrant European country, with our young learners showcasing their knowledge through a wonderful combination of singing, dancing, drama and, as always, plenty of humour. The audience also enjoyed discovering more about Germany’s rich culture, famous landmarks, traditions and history.

A huge well done to Primary 5 on such a fantastic Learning Showcase. Your confidence, enthusiasm and knowledge were a joy to see.

Many thanks to Mrs Irvine, Mrs Loose, Miss Quinn, Mrs Cassidy and Mrs Devanney for all their hard work, dedication and encouragement in preparing our young learners for their big day.

It has been another busy and exciting week in Nursery, with lots of opportunities for learning within our local community and developing our understanding of how we can keep ourselves safe, healthy and happy.

Our children have been developing their understanding of road safety, practising how to cross roads safely and discussing why it is so important to know and follow the rules when we are out and about in our community. We put our learning into practice by using the zebra crossing, demonstrating what we had learned. We were delighted to celebrate our achievements by receiving our very own Road Safety certificates.

Following on from last week’s special visitors, we were delighted to welcome police officers from Motherwell Police Station to Nursery. The children listened carefully as the officers explained their important roles and how they help to keep people safe within our community. We then had the exciting opportunity to explore the police van. We listened to the loud siren and watched the blue lights flashing, learning that these are used when officers are responding to an emergency. Some of our very brave children even had the opportunity to try on the handcuffs and explore some of the equipment used by the police.

Our community walks have continued to provide lots of opportunities for learning. This week, we took clipboards, paper and a variety of mark-making tools with us so that we could record what we noticed around us.

The children have been creating their own maps from Nursery to the park, thinking carefully about landmarks and the different things we might see along the way. Our autumn checklists encouraged us to become curious observers, looking closely for seasonal changes, including the beautiful changes in colour on the trees.

Understanding what health means to us has also been an important focus this week. We have been sharing what we already know and thinking about what we would like to find out, while exploring different ways to look after both our bodies and our minds.

Through Cosmic Yoga and mindful meditation, small groups of children have been developing strategies to help us relax, reset and feel calm. It has been wonderful to hear children beginning to describe how their bodies feel before and after these activities, developing their awareness of their own emotions, feelings and wellbeing.

What a fantastic week of learning, exploring, questioning and growing together in Cathedral Nursery!

Our new Primary 1 pupils were formally welcomed to Cathedral Primary School at a special Mass in the cathedral on Thursday 17th September. Following the opening hymn and the scripture readings, Fr Lamb said a prayer of blessing over the children, asking God to be with them throughout their journey through Cathedral Primary. 

During the Mass, Cathedral teachers renewed their commitment to their vocation as Catholic educators in the presence of the school and parish community.