Our Lady of Good Aid Cathedral Primary School

After last week’s disappointment of cancelling our forest visit due to high winds, the beautiful sunshine on Thursday 19th March more than made up for it.

Our young learners took part in a whittling activity, developing a new skill and adding another string to their bow. They listened carefully and followed all safety instructions, both when using the tools and while toasting marshmallows over the fire.

During our session, we discovered an injured red-tailed bumblebee. The children showed wonderful care and patience, spending time trying to help it. After offering some sugary water, our tiny visitor began to drink and soon showed signs of recovery. It was a lovely opportunity to demonstrate empathy and learn how we can support our forest friends.

The ever-popular rope activities continued, with climbing skills and confidence improving week by week. Our young learners are also becoming increasingly responsible, embracing the challenges and opportunities that the forest environment provides.

The young learners of Cathedral, Firpark and Clydeview once again joined forces on Friday 20th March to support a local Motherwell foodbank. Guided by Miss Cawley, pupils helped organise and collect the many generous donations contributed across the three schools. Andrew Ewart from the Maranatha Foodbank expressed his gratitude and was, once again, amazed by the kindness shown by Cathedral, Firpark and Clydeview families. Thank you to everyone who donated so thoughtfully.

For Cathedral’s Muslim families, Ramadan, the holy month of prayer and fasting, is now over and today, 20th March, loved ones come together to celebrate Eid ul-Fitr. From everyone here at Cathedral, may this Eid be filled with peace, happiness and many blessings!

These two Primary 3 learners had a fantastic time taking on one of their class’s Explore & Extend challenges on Thursday 19th March. Their task was to design and build a leprechaun trap as part of this week’s St Patrick’s Day celebrations — and they rose to the challenge brilliantly.

Working together, they showed wonderful imagination, problem‑solving skills, and plenty of laughter along the way. Their final design was clever, colourful, and—no matter how cunning a leprechaun might be—almost certainly guaranteed to stop one in its tracks!

Mrs Cassidy led a targeted Health & Wellbeing Family Learning workshop on Wednesday 18th March, bringing together parents and carers for an engaging and informative session.

Attendees were introduced to our ‘Cool Connections’ programme, gaining a clear overview of its aims and impact, while also having the chance to take part in a range of interactive activities.

Our Cathedral learners played a key role in the session, confidently sharing their personal experiences of the programme and explaining how the weekly sessions have supported the development of their social and emotional wellbeing.

Our Primary 1 learners have reached an exciting milestone — writing their own dictated sentences independently with increased confidence and skill. On Wednesday 18th March, these enthusiastic  young writers were eager to share their work with Mrs Duffy.

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!

These three talented Cathedral swimmers made a big splash at a recent under‑12s swimming tournament in Falkirk. All three delivered outstanding performances across their events, showing determination, skill and fantastic team spirit throughout the competition.

Special congratulations goes to our female team member, who impressed the judges so much in the butterfly event that she has been selected to compete in the finals in Aberdeen — a remarkable achievement and testament to her hard work and dedication.

This week, our young learners have been diving into the colourful and delicious world of fruits and vegetables. The children have loved discovering where different foods grow, how they taste, and what we can make with them. Together, we worked as a team to prepare our very own homemade vegetable soup. Everyone had the chance to taste it—some were instant fans, while others were a little unsure, but trying new foods is an important part of learning about our likes and dislikes.

In our art area, creativity truly blossomed. Using recyclable materials, the children designed and built their own flowers, exploring the different parts and learning their names. Building on our spring learning, the children have also been spotting more weeds around the garden. They’ve been helping to de‑weed the planters, looking closely at the roots, leaves, and how weeds grow differently from the plants we choose to nurture.

We also spent time learning about Eid, working closely with families who are celebrating to understand the importance of this special occasion. The children listened to real-life stories and songs on the Smart Board, helping everyone develop a sense of belonging and appreciation for different beliefs and traditions.

Our Primary 6 buddies have been bringing the Book Nook to life as they support our nursery children in developing early reading skills. With patience, encouragement, and plenty of enthusiasm, they’re helping our youngest learners explore stories, recognise sounds, and grow in confidence as budding readers.

Shared reading strengthens far more than literacy. It nurtures friendships, sparks imagination, and builds a connected community of readers across the school — one story at a time.

This group of Primary 7 learners had the opportunity to delve into the world of engineering on Monday 16th March when they attended a STEM event at Motherwell Library, organised by North Lanarkshire Council in partnership with Clark Contracts.

Our young engineers were tasked with designing and building a stable tower while staying within a budget of £10,000. Drawing on knowledge and skills developed in Cathedral’s Investigation & Innovation Hub and their learning street’s technology area—along with their impressive maths skills—their company, Cathedral Contracts, successfully delivered their construction on time and under budget.

It was a fantastic experience that showcased the usual Cathedral creativity, teamwork and problem‑solving skills.