Our Lady of Good Aid Cathedral Primary School

1936 – 2025

On Monday 21st April, Cardinal Kevin Farrell announced the death of Pope Francis with these words:

“Dearest brothers and sisters, with deep sorrow I must announce the death of our Holy Father Francis. At 7:35 this morning, the Bishop of Rome, Francis, returned to the house of the Father. His entire life was dedicated to the service of the Lord and of His Church. He taught us to live the values of the Gospel with fidelity, courage, and universal love, especially in favour of the poorest and most marginalized. With immense gratitude for his example as a true disciple of the Lord Jesus, we commend the soul of Pope Francis to the infinite merciful love of God.”

Eternal rest grant unto him, O Lord,
and let perpetual light shine upon him.
May his soul, and the souls of all the faithful departed,
through the mercy of God, rest in peace.
~Amen~

What an incredible term it’s been here at Cathedral! You only need to scroll back over our website newsfeed to see the rich and varied learning experiences our pupils have enjoyed since returning to school after the Christmas holidays. There’s NEVER a dull or a wasted day here at Cathedral!

Please can I take this opportunity to thank and congratulate each and every one of our learners for all their hard work and enthusiasm throughout this term. It’s always an absolute joy walking through the school and seeing everyone so engaged in their learning, from our youngest learners in the Nursery and Discovery Drive to our senior pupils up in Ambition Avenue. I’m the luckiest Head Teacher in the land!

Please can I also thank our dedicated team of staff for their incredible hard work this term. You always give of your absolute best for the children in your care and I want you to know it never goes unnoticed. Thank you, Team OLGA!

And to parents and carers, clergy, parishioners and friends of the school: thank you for your ongoing support. It is very much appreciated.

Finally, best wishes to the Darroch family as they head off to Perth, Australia, next week to begin a new and exciting life down under. Keep in touch, Findlay and Isla!

I wish our entire Cathedral family a very Happy Easter and a restful spring break. See you on Tuesday 22nd April!

Learners and staff brought a burst of colour and fun to Cathedral Primary on Friday 4th April for this year’s Crazy Hair Day. As you can see from the photographs, everyone had great fun conjuring up an array of whacky hair styles!

This year’s Lenten almsgiving has raised a total of £1,177.42 for Missio and £470 (topped up to £1000 by Mrs McCarthy’s family) for Brain Tumour Research. Many thanks to Cathedral families for your generosity.

The North Lanarkshire Tackling Poverty Team attended Cathedral’s Parents Evening on Thursday 3rd April. As well as having a selection of goodies, including piggy banks, for our learners, the team were on hand to signpost parents and carers to a range of financial support such as debt advice and benefit assistance.

These two Primary 5 learners popped down to Mr Young’s office on Thursday 3rd April to showcase their amazing poster on neurodiversity. During an opportunity for learner-led learning, the girls researched autism, A.D.H.D, dyslexia, O.C.D, dyspraxia and Tourette syndrome, bullet-pointing what they learned in each of the six sections. What an impressive piece of collaboration!

People often have misconceptions about neurodiversity. Here at Cathedral, however, we aim to create an inclusive school community which celebrates difference and diversity, and empowers every individual to be the unique person God has created them to be.

Fr Lamb has celebrated Mass every Tuesday and Thursday morning throughout Lent and it’s been wonderful to see pupils, parents, staff and parishioners turn out in such large numbers. Faith is certainly alive and flourishing here at Cathedral!

Our final Lenten Mass takes place tomorrow, Friday 4th April, at 8.15am. Everyone is most welcome to join us as we give thanks for the many blessings of this term and continue on our journey towards Holy Week and Easter.

The latest artwork to appear in Cathedral GOMA (Gallery Of Magnificent Art) online exhibition comes from Primary 5/6.

Our Primary 5 and 6 learners’ eye-catching optical illusions feature a geometric background in felt pen, with a cut-out pencil sketch of a soft drinks can in the foreground. Our young artists drew carefully from observation, exploring where light and shade could be seen on the can.

Keep watching this space for more masterpieces from Cathedral’s talented artists.

Cathedral learners and staff made a prayerful journey around the school grounds on Tuesday 2nd April for our annual outdoor Stations of the Cross. Each station was led by a group of Primary 7 pupils and the 12th Station featured a large wooden cross on top of the hill. The children were extremely respectful throughout this special Lenten opportunity for our whole school community to pray and reflect together.

We adore you, O Christ, and we bless you. Because by your Holy Cross you have redeemed the world.

The latest artwork to appear in Cathedral GOMA (Gallery Of Magnificent Art) online exhibition comes from Primary 5b.

Our Primary 5 learners’ moving images of Good Friday were created using watercolours for the background and marker pen to draw the silhouette of the crucified Christ. What beautiful and inspiring images.

Keep watching this space for more masterpieces from Cathedral’s talented artists.

Cathedral’s 150th Anniversary Theatre was officially opened by Mr Charlie Miller from Forgewood Holdings on Tuesday 1st April. Following the ceremonial cutting of the ribbon, the ‘Gie it Laldie’ choir, accompanied by Mrs Campbell on guitar, performed three pieces, including the Welly Boot Song. Mr Miller then enjoyed a tour of the school and was absolutely blown away by Cathedral pupils’ behaviour, manners and enthusiasm for learning. Mr Young played a wee ‘April Fools’ on Primary 1a by introducing Mr Miller to the children as an inspector!

Many thanks to Forgewood Holdings for funding this fantastic new addition to Cathedral’s school grounds. We look forward to the stage coming to life with playtime and lunchtime performances now that the better weather has arrived.