Our Lady of Good Aid Cathedral Primary School

Cathedral Primary was delighted to welcome Mr Jack Rafferty, Grand Knight of KSC Carfin, and Mr Michael Roche from KSC Action and Youth on Monday 19th January. They joined Cathedral school community for assembly, where they presented certificates to three of our learners who excelled in last term’s Knights of St Columba Christmas art competition, achieving a 1st and 2nd place in the Junior category and a 1st place in the Senior group.

The Knights’ visit offered a wonderful opportunity to celebrate the children’s talent, creativity and success, and the whole school community took great pride in recognising their achievements.

A much‑loved feature of Cathedral’s weekly assembly is the opportunity for two or three pupils to share an aspect of their recent learning journey with the whole school. Cathedral learners understand that successful learning isn’t about getting everything right all the time, but about embracing challenge, learning from mistakes, and persevering towards each ‘Milestone Moment’ when they can proudly showcase what they can say, make, write or do.

On Monday 19th January, these two enthusiastic Primary 2 learners took their turn on the Cathedral throne to share what they have been learning in literacy and numeracy during the first two weeks of term. Both spoke with confidence and were delighted to show off their jotters.

We look forward to hearing many more exciting learning stories from across the school in the months ahead.

Primary 6 hosted another successful coffee morning on Friday 16th January. As always, it was great to see the hall filled with families and friends enjoying a catch up over coffee and cake. The event raised a fantastic £719.59 for school funds.

Many thanks to Primary 6 and the Fundraising Committee for organising and running the coffee morning.

This week in Cathedral Nursery, we were delighted to welcome new boys and girls, with our pre-school children acting as buddies to help them settle in. Our learners led their own learning through exciting discoveries across numeracy and health and wellbeing.

In numeracy, the children enjoyed hands-on activities sorting and matching objects into equal groups and counting totals, helping to build early confidence with numbers. We also explored how to look after our bodies, discussing the importance of handwashing and brushing our teeth to stay clean and healthy.

A fun paint activity helped the children understand how germs spread and why washing hands with soap is so important. They practised washing their hands thoroughly, learning how long to wash, why soap matters, and the importance of drying hands properly.

With Rabbie Burns Day approaching, we have also been learning about Scottish traditions, exploring Scottish words, traditional clothing such as kilts, and enjoying Scottish rhymes. The children loved sharing their knowledge and discovering more about Scotland’s rich heritage.

Our Primary 1 learners have reached an exciting milestone — writing their own sentences independently! On Thursday 15th January, these two enthusiastic writers were eager to share their work. This wonderful achievement highlights their growing confidence and understanding of how words come together to form sentences. As you can see, they are already experts at using capital letters and full stops!

Excitement filled Primary 6b on Wednesday 14th January as this year’s Minecraft Build Battles officially got underway. Supported by the NLC Digital Team and Minecraft Education Esports, Cathedral learners will take part in structured gaming sessions designed to develop problem‑solving, creativity, teamwork and digital skills.

In the coming weeks, pupils will work together to tackle a series of build challenges within Minecraft worlds, becoming part of the wider Build Battle learning community. Cathedral’s young designers are eager to showcase their talents and aim for a place in the NLC Build Battle Final 2026.

A fantastic opportunity for our learners to collaborate, think creatively and have great fun along the way.

Cathedral was delighted to welcome almost fifty Head Teachers, senior leaders and teachers on Tuesday 13th January, including Michael Roache, Head of Education in Inverclyde, who attended with all of his primary Head Teachers. Following the publication of Cathedral’s inspection report, colleagues travelled from as far afield as Greenock and Edinburgh to learn more about the school’s innovative Active8 approach.

The morning opened with a presentation from Mr Young, who explored the educational thinking behind Active8 and its place within modern Scottish education. The real highlight, however, came when visitors moved into learning streets and classrooms to see Active8 in action. Cathedral’s enthusiastic, confident and highly engaged learners quickly became the stars of the morning, showcasing Active8 far more powerfully than any presentation could.

Many guests left inspired and eager to consider how they might bring elements of Active8 into their own schools.

Children who turn 5 between 1st March 2026 and 29th February 2027 should be registered for primary school during the week commencing Monday 12th January 2026.

Here at Cathedral Primary, registration for our August 2026 intake will take place from Monday 12th to Friday 16th January 2026, from 1.30 – 2.45pm each day. Parents and carers should come to the main entrance and will be directed to the dining hall.

A birth certificate and a current council tax notice must be produced at the time of registration.

Information for parents/carers about registering their child for Primary 1 can be obtained by visiting https://www.northlanarkshire.gov.uk/schools-and-learning/school-admissions/primary-school-registration-p1

Information on submitting a placing request can be obtained by visiting https://www.northlanarkshire.gov.uk/schools-and-learning/school-admissions/placing-requests

Information on submitting an early entry request can be obtained by visiting https://www.northlanarkshire.gov.uk/schools-and-learning/school-admissions/early-entry

These eager young learners were very keen to show off their achievements to Mrs Duffy on Friday 9th January.  Not content with learning INSIDE school, these pupils are learning new skills outside of school such as team work, commitment and effort.  Well done!  Remember to add your achievements to your Rose Trainer Achievement record card.

Cathedral finished the first week of the new term with a flurry (albeit  a very small one) of snow.  Not put off by the lack of snowflakes, these young learners worked together and showed true teamwork to build this miniature snowman!