Our Lady of Good Aid Cathedral Primary School

These Primary 6 learners recently rose to the challenge of an open‑ended Explore and Extend activity on their Active8 task-board: to create an ancient Egyptian artefact.

The group chose to make Ra, the sun god, and were excited to share their impressive creation with Mr Young on Friday 13th February. When asked which skills they had used, they confidently listed planning, communicating, collaborating, creating and time management.

They eager bunch have already set themselves an ambitious next step: constructing two more Egyptian gods to feature in their upcoming learning showcase. Great teamwork!

It has been a wonderfully busy and imaginative week in Nursery, with lots of rich learning happening through play. Our young learners have been exploring early maths by identifying and grouping objects into smaller sets, then using simple graphs to show their findings. This has helped us work out total amounts in a fun and practical way.

We have also been learning about the Rights of the Child, focusing on Article 31 – the right to relax and play. We’ve seen this right in action every day as children express themselves in our creative and imaginative areas. Favourite story characters have been springing to life as the children extend their ideas through role play and junk modelling.

In literacy, we have been discovering what postcards and letters are, who sends them, and where they travel. The children decided it would be exciting to write a postcard to their favourite characters, using their own mark‑making to create meaningful messages. After adding a stamp, we took a lovely walk along the road to the Royal Mail post box to send it on its way.

Primary 7 learners gave Mrs Duffy a run for her money on Wednesday 11th when she spotted them in the outdoor classroom collecting data to calculate each pupil’s average speed.

There is something powerful about taking mathematics outdoors. The moment learners step outside, numbers stop being abstract and start becoming something they can see, measure, and experience. This week’s outdoor learning session on speed, distance, and time was a perfect example. Instead of beginning with formulas on a whiteboard, the children discovered the relationships for themselves through movement, careful measuring and real‑world problem solving. Great teamwork!

Mr Young spotted a very energetic group of Cathedral learners on Tuesday 10th February. Thanks to a fantastic partnership between Active Schools and OLHS Sports Leaders, our Primary 5 learners have the opportunity to enjoy an exciting multi‑sports club right here at Cathedral.

Each week, participants try out a variety of fun, fast‑paced activities designed to build confidence, teamwork and a love of being active. With our enthusiastic sports leaders leading the sessions, it’s the perfect opportunity to learn new skills, make friends and enjoy a brilliant after‑school experience.

The highlight of Mr Young’s day is always his walk through Cathedral’s four learning streets, where he loves catching a glimpse of the children’s learning in action. On Tuesday 10th January, he came across these three enthusiastic learners in Ambition Avenue collaborating on a PowerPoint presentation about Egyptian gods.

Right beside them, another group was hard at work carefully cutting and arranging strips of gold and blue metallic paper to create a life‑size image of Tutankhamun, complete with his iconic mask. The artwork will take several days to complete and will rely on plenty of teamwork and creativity. Watch this space for the finished masterpiece!

As part of their learning on the Scottish Wars of Independence, our enthusiastic Primary 5 learners took on the challenge of constructing their own model of Stirling Bridge — the site of William Wallace’s famous 1297 victory. Using technology materials of their choice, they planned, designed and built this impressive structure that showcased both creativity and historical understanding. A fantastic display of teamwork and problem‑solving from everyone involved.

These Primary 6 boys demonstrated impressive teamwork and creativity as they took the lead in a learner‑led project to design and build a three‑dimensional model of the Egyptian god Anubis. Working collaboratively from the very beginning, they researched the features of the ancient deity, planned their design and delegated roles based on each person’s strengths. Their final model reflects not only their growing understanding of Ancient Egypt but also their ability to problem‑solve, communicate and support one another throughout the process. 

Parents and carers of children in Primary 3–7 joined us on Thursday 5th February for our second Active8 Family Learning session. The event opened with an insightful presentation from Mrs Duffy, who outlined the educational theory behind Cathedral’s approaches and explained the careful balance of adult‑led, adult‑initiated and learner‑led experiences. Mrs Duffy also highlighted the strong similarities between Cathedral’s approaches and those of primary schools in Finland, widely recognised as one of the world’s leading education systems.

Following the presentation, families headed into classrooms and learning streets where they explored a range of activities alongside their children.

Wednesday 4th February saw a visit from one of Cathedral’s music specialists, Mr Cruikshank.  Developing their instrumental skills, these young saxophonists are learning to play ‘Stand By Me’ and ‘Back to Black’ by reading musical notation and playing together as a band.  Mrs Duffy was lucky enough to be treated to her own personal recital!