Our Lady of Good Aid Cathedral Primary School

This week, our young learners have been busily exploring the world around them through play, curiosity and imagination.

In the playroom, the children experimented with everyday objects as non-standard units of measure. Using blocks, wooden spools and colourful counting cubes, they compared the length and size of familiar items, even using their own hands and feet to compare with their friends.

During our local walks and indoor explorations, the children have also been spotting environmental print all around them. They eagerly identified signs, labels, logos and shop names they recognise from daily life. These moments sparked conversations about familiar places we visit, helping the children build on what they already know while encouraging them to think ahead and make choices in their learning.

We have also been tuning into sounds this week, focusing on hearing and identifying the initial sounds in our names. The children listened carefully to the first letter, practised saying the sound it makes, and enjoyed finding other words that begin the same way. We’d love our families to join in at home… keep an ear out for words that start with the same sound as your child’s name and share any discoveries with us!

Mrs Duffy happened upon some very enterprising elves on Wednesday 19th November, busy creating crafts to be sold at next week’s Christmas Fayre.  The learning street had been transformed into a festive workshop as the little elves from Primary 3b crafted their beautiful homemade decorations.

Make sure you pop along to the Christmas Fayre on Thursday 27th to see what else is on offer!

It’s Catholic Education Week, and Primary 2a have been enthusiastically taking on the challenges set by our ‘Ignite’ Junior Chaplaincy Team’s Faith in Action programme.

For their final challenge on Wednesday 19th November, Primary 2a learners created beautiful drawings of Our Lady. Well done, Primary 2a — your faith, creativity, and effort shine through!

Mr Young was delighted to encounter these Primary 7 learners on Tuesday 18th November as they rehearsed their hymns ahead of receiving the Sacrament of Confirmation. The sacrament will be celebrated in the Cathedral by Bishop Toal on Thursday 20th November and the children’s beautiful singing voices are sure to make it a prayerful and uplifting Mass.

We ask the prayers of the school and parish community as our Confirmandi enter these final days of preparation for the Sacrament of Confirmation. May the Holy Spirit guide and strengthen them as they take this important step in their faith journey.

Cathedral’s latest arrival, Marty the robot, has already been inspiring learning in Primary 6b. On Monday 17th November, staff took part in hands-on training with Mrs McCulloch, exploring how our ten new Martys can bring creativity, innovation, and fun to every Cathedral classroom.

Teachers left the training excited about working with Marty to make learning even more inspiring and engaging for Cathedral learners.

Cathedral is exceptionally proud of these Primary 6 learners, all dedicated members of the Motherwell & Wishaw Swimming Club. They each demonstrated fantastic skill and determination in a recent tournament, with one swimmer earning an incredible three gold medals across their events and another proudly lifting the cup for the 100m individual medley.

They all demonstrated commitment, teamwork, and sportsmanship: vital Cathedral qualities and definitely an accomplishment to add to their Rose Trainer Achievement Award record cards!

Fridays are often an opportunity for Cathedral learners to take a complete lead in their learning and explore the range of ‘continuous provision’ in their learning street. On Friday 14th November, these Primary 7 learners spent part of their morning in the Creation Station, and the results were truly impressive. Working together, they designed and built a moving and poignant 3D scene to mark Remembrance Day.

Well done on your imaginative and thoughtful teamwork!

The morning of Friday 14th November may well have started with a chilly bite in the air, but that didn’t stop this determined group of Cathedral learners wearing their shorts to school.

It’s a proud tradition here at Cathedral for some learners to wear shorts from their very first day in Primary 1 right through to the final bell of Primary 7. Sun, rain, frost or snow, they wear them with pride!

Now, that’s what we call Cathedral grit!

This week, our young learners have been busy developing their curiosity and understanding of the world through a wide range of playful and purposeful experiences. Outdoors, the children became safety assessors, carefully exploring their play areas to spot potential hazards. They discussed how to make the environment safe for everyone and recorded their findings through mark making, linking literacy with real-life risk assessments and growing as responsible citizens and effective contributors.

Across the nursery, discussions have focused on the wonders of the sky. Children have been learning about the difference between day and night, sharing their thoughts about the sun, moon, and stars, and deepening their understanding of how the world around us changes. This month, our focus has been ACHIEVING. Children have enjoyed walks around the school campus, meeting staff members—including our senior leadership team—and learning their names. These experiences are helping them build confidence beyond the nursery environment and develop a strong sense of belonging within our school community.

Our role-play areas have been alive with creativity. Learners visited their “local shop,” using coins to buy ingredients before preparing imaginative recipes back in the kitchen. This engaging play supported numeracy skills such as counting and money handling, while also encouraging rich communication and collaboration.

We were delighted to welcome back Hannah, who introduced us to her beautiful baby girl, Connie. The children were thrilled to meet baby Connie and showed curiosity and kindness as they talked about families and how we care for those who are special to us. Congratulations to Hannah and her family on their wonderful new arrival!

Good attendance makes a significant difference to your child’s progress and attainment. Every school day really does count!

Cathedral’s overall pupil attendance currently stands at:

94.62%

This is just below our target of 95%. With your continued support, however, we’re confident we can reach and exceed this goal.

We are very grateful to all parents and carers for helping us sustain high levels of attendance across the Cathedral school community. A helpful leaflet explaining attendance percentages is available via the link below.

Attendance table