Our Lady of Good Aid Cathedral Primary School

Cathedral’s twelve House Captains were thrilled to open a parcel delivered to the school on Tuesday 6th January. Inside, they discovered an impressive steel time capsule, ready to be filled with documents and objects to mark the end of our school’s 150th anniversary celebrations.

Over the coming week, the capsule will be carefully filled and sealed before being buried in the cathedral grounds towards the end of January — a lasting gift for future generations to discover and explore.

To mark the start of 2026, our welcome board at the main entrance was given a refresh on Tuesday 6th January, featuring brand new photos of some of our wonderful learners. Cathedral is a vibrant and diverse community, with more than twenty languages spoken across our school, and this richness is reflected in the array of smiling faces on the board.

Our updated welcome board is a daily reminder to learners, staff and visitors that EVERYONE is welcomed, loved, accepted, respected, included, listened to and celebrated in our Cathedral family.

January’s wellbeing indicator is ACTIVE. Please use the prompts below to talk to your child about this indicator. This will help them complete their wellbeing wheel in school.

Nursery and Primary 1

• I take part in P.E every week.
• I can follow simple instructions in P.E. 
• I can explain why being active is good for me. 
• I can describe what activity does to my body. 
• I take part in active after-school clubs. 
• I am active outside of school. 

Primary 2 – 4

• I enjoy taking part in P.E. and being active.
• I can describe different ways of being active. 
• I can explain why being active is good for my health. 
• I set targets and know what I need to do to improve my performance. 
• I take part in active after-school clubs. 
• I am active outside of school. 

Primary 5 – 7

• I take part in physical activity every day.
• I take part in a variety of sports inside and outside of school. 
• I know why being active is important. 
• I know exercise uses up energy. 
• I know that different forms of exercise challenge my body in different ways. 
• I understand that fair play is important when taking part in physical activity. 

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

Today in the town of David a Saviour has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord.

This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.

(Luke 2: 11, 12)

You only need to glance at our website newsfeed to see what an incredible and exciting term of learning it has been here at Cathedral. As we reach the last day of term, I want to thank all learners and staff for their enthusiasm and hard work; you make Cathedral the very special school it is!

I would also like to extend my thanks to parents and carers, clergy, parishioners, and friends of the school for your ongoing support. It is greatly appreciated.

I wish you all a Blessed Christmas and a very Happy New Year and look forward to welcoming everyone back on Monday 5th January 2026.

Cathedral classrooms were transformed into cosy cinemas on Thursday 18th December as learners arrived in their comfiest pyjamas, ready to enjoy one of our favourite Christmas traditions: Movie Duvet Day.

This year’s celebration brought an extra surprise. Inspired by Primary 3/4’s Christmas activities based on The Grinch — from Grinch selfies to “how to steal Christmas” instructions and Wanted posters — Cathedral welcomed a very special visitor: the Grinch himself! Of course, not even he could steal the festive Cathedral spirit!

The atmosphere throughout the day was pure ‘hygge’ — warm, cosy and a perfect end to the term.

After several busy weeks of rehearsals and performances, from the Primary 3–7 Christmas Concert to the Primary 1 & 2 Nativity, Cathedral learners finally had the chance to sit back, relax and BE the audience on Wednesday 17th December.

M & M Productions took to the stage with their lively retelling of Cinderella, packed with pantomime drama, colourful costumes, catchy songs and plenty of laughter (oh yes, it was!). The performance was a well-deserved treat for learners and staff alike.

A special highlight came when Mr Hamill and Miss Cameron made surprise guest appearances, much to the delight of the audience!

What a great end to party day!

Cathedral learners spent the morning of Wednesday 17th December celebrating in style at their year‑group Christmas parties. Dressed in their festive best, the children looked fantastic and threw themselves into the games and dancing with energy and laughter.

A special highlight came when Santa Claus dropped in to surprise our Primary 1 children, bringing smiles all round. Mr Young was delighted to hear that every Cathedral pupil has officially made it onto the nice list!

There ain’t no party like an OLGA party!

Creativity was in abundance across Cathedral’s three Primary 6 classrooms on Tuesday 16th December, as pupils proudly showcased their learning. As part of a learner-led homework task exploring the theme of Christmas, the children produced a wonderful range of imaginative outcomes. These included impressive 3D models, original Christmas games, PowerPoint presentations and even some catchy festive adverts.

The creativity, confidence and enterprise on display were great to see — who knows, perhaps a future Dragon’s Den star is already among us!

Cathedral is delighted to have been allocated free tickets for the Motherwell v St Mirren match at Fir Park Stadium on Saturday 3rd January 2026.

There was a real buzz in school when Motherwell’s mascot, Steelman, paid a special visit on Tuesday 16th December to deliver the tickets. These will now be entered into a prize draw, with winners announced before the end of term.