Our Lady of Good Aid Cathedral Primary School

August 28, 2026
by Mrs Duffy
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Pope Francis Faith Award

 

“How beautiful it would be if each of you, every evening, could say:

‘Today at school, at home, at work, guided by God, I showed

a sign of love towards one of my friends, my parents, an older person!”.

 (Pope Francis, addressing young people, April 2013)

The POPE FRANCIS FAITH AWARD is an award of the Bishops’ Conference of Scotland, designed to help children to show “signs of love” in their daily lives and to be active members of their local Church.  It invites young people at the Primary 6 and 7 stages to use the Gifts of the Holy Spirit and to see how they can bear fruit in their homes, schools and parishes. It is directly connected to what young people are learning about the Sacrament of Confirmation.

What will young people do to gain the award?

There are 3 main activities for the young people enrolled for the award.

  1. At various points, mainly across P6 & P7, they will gather together to reflect on a short Scripture passages which will help them to LEARN and REFLECT about their Faith.
  2. After they reflect on each Gift of the Holy Spirit they will be asked to ACT by choosing a Faith Action which they will do at HOME, in SCHOOL and, if they are Catholic, in their PARISH.
  3. They will note their learning, their actions and their reflections on these in their personal FAITH Journal which will act as a scrapbook for collecting evidence – notes, photographs etc.

How will their achievements be judged?

Evidence must be gathered to show that each young person:
• has used all the gifts of the Holy Spirit when showing love of God and love of others.
• has reflected on how their actions have made an impact on their journey of faith.

For a Catholic child to gain the FAITH AWARD with a Parish Commendation, the Parish Priest must confirm that these young parishioners are playing their part in the life of the parish.

How will the FAITH AWARD be presented?

Following an assessment of the evidence gathered, the Faith Award will be awarded on behalf of the Catholic Bishops of Scotland. The Scottish Catholic Education Service, which administers the award, will provide a certificate and a badge for each successful entrant. In each local area arrangements will be made by schools and parishes to present these awards.

What is expected of Parents?

Parents are asked to support their child’s participation in the award by:
• attending a short service at which their child will be enrolled for the award
• encouraging their child to complete their chosen Faith actions at home
• reporting on the completion of the Faith actions at home
• accompanying their child (if Catholic) to Mass in their local parish.

What is expected of Parishes?

Parish priests are asked to:
• lead a short enrolment service in the parish
• encourage young parishioners by endorsing the faith actions which they will choose
• appoint a parish co-ordinator for the Faith Award
• encourage parishioners to support the young people involved
• ensure the monitoring of faith actions undertaken in the parish
• follow guidance from SCES on awarding Parish Commendations.

 

August 27, 2026
by Mrs Duffy
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Impressive turnout for Meet the Teacher

Cathedral Primary was a hive of activity on Thursday 27th August for our ‘Meet the Teacher’ event. Pupils had the chance to show their parents and carers their classroom and learning street, while parents and carers enjoyed the opportunity to meet their child’s teacher.

We look forward to welcoming parents and carers to our many events throughout the school year. The next scheduled event is our Mass to celebrate the start of the new school year. This will be led by our Primary 6 pupils and takes place on Friday 28th August at 1.45pm. We look forward to seeing you there.

August 27, 2026
by Mrs Duffy
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This week in Cathedral Nursery

This week, our young learners have been busy harvesting the vegetables they have grown in our garden. As part of our learning about where food comes from, we have spent the last few weeks observing our vegetables grow and develop. It was very exciting to finally harvest them, helping us make meaningful connections between the foods we eat and how they are grown.

We have also been exploring a variety of fruits using our senses to look, smell, touch and taste. This provided a wonderful opportunity for the children to share their thoughts and preferences. Some fruits were clear favourites, while others were certainly not to everyone’s taste!

One of our learners kindly brought in a beautiful sunflower from home, giving us the chance to closely examine its different parts. Inspired by our observations, we used pencils and paints to create our own stunning sunflower masterpieces.

Our counting bears have been helping us develop our understanding that quantities can be represented by numbers. We have been using number flashcards alongside the bears to create, recognise and continue patterns, while also strengthening our counting and number skills.

We also had a very special achievement to celebrate this week. One of our young learners proudly shared their medal after taking part in the North Lanarkshire Half Marathon events at the weekend. We were delighted to celebrate this fantastic accomplishment and hear all about their experience.

August 26, 2026
by Mrs Duffy
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Inspiring young writers in Primary 3

Primary 3 pupils have greatly impressed Mrs Duffy with their imaginative and engaging warning stories. They have demonstrated exceptional creativity, selecting ambitious vocabulary and developing their ideas with increasing detail, confidence and flair.

It has been wonderful to see the pupils expanding their ideas, sharing their work with enthusiasm and taking genuine pride in their achievements. They are becoming increasingly aware of their individual learning targets and are making excellent progress towards becoming confident, creative and independent writers. Keep up the outstanding work!

August 26, 2026
by Mrs Duffy
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Primary 7 excel on Bikeability level 1and level 2

Our Primary 7 young learners recently had the fantastic opportunity to participate in Bikeability Levels 1 and 2, led by the North Lanarkshire Outdoor Education Team from Strathclyde Country Park.

The programme catered for all abilities, allowing every pupil to develop at an appropriate level. Learners practised essential skills including bike safety checks, balance, control, signalling, braking, observation, road positioning and awareness of other road users. Our more confident riders were also able to put these skills into practice on local streets within the community.

All instructors praised our pupils for their excellent behaviour, application and cycling ability. We are incredibly proud of the enthusiasm, confidence and responsibility they demonstrated throughout the programme. Well done, Primary 7!

August 25, 2026
by Mrs Duffy
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Preparing for the Sacraments Information Meetings

Image result for cathedral primary church motherwell

The partnership of home, parish and school is particularly important when children are preparing to receive the sacraments of Reconciliation, First Holy Communion and Confirmation. Although the school plays a key role in preparing children for these three sacraments, these are not school ‘events’ but parish liturgies, celebrated within the parish community.

Father Lamb requests that those Cathedral pupils being presented for the sacraments be formally enrolled for each sacrament by their parent(s) and that their child attends Sunday Mass. As intimated in Sunday’s parish bulletin, all parents/carers intending to enrol their child for either First Reconciliation, First Holy Communion and Confirmation are invited to a short information evening on Tuesday 8th September in Cathedral Church at 6.00pm. Attendance at this meeting is strongly recommended as Father Lamb will outline details of the parish’s enrolment process.

 

 

August 25, 2026
by Mrs Duffy
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Celebrating learning journeys


A much‑loved feature of Cathedral’s weekly assembly is the opportunity for two or three pupils to share an aspect of their recent learning journey with the whole school. Cathedral learners understand that successful learning isn’t about getting everything right all the time, but about embracing challenge, learning from mistakes and persevering towards each ‘Milestone Moment’ when they can proudly showcase what they can say, make, write or do.

On Thursday, these enthusiastic Primary 7 learners took their turn on the Cathedral throne to share what they have been learning in literacy and numeracy during the first two weeks of term. They spoke with confidence and were delighted to show off their jotters.

We look forward to hearing many more exciting learning stories from across the school in the months ahead.

August 24, 2026
by Mrs Duffy
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Half Marathon Success

Sunday marked the exciting return of the North Lanarkshire Council Half Marathon for its second consecutive year, bringing together families and communities from across the area.

We were delighted to hear that many of our pupils and nursery children took part in the 1km Run, 400m Run and Toddler Dash. The children arrived at school full of excitement and pride, eager to share their experiences and achievements from the day.  Even at the weekends, our Cathedral pupils continue to shine, showing enthusiasm, perseverance and a commitment to making a positive difference in their community.

Well done to all — keep shining, keep striving and keep enjoying every moment of your sporting journey. Remember to record on your Rose Trainer Award!

Rose Trainer Achievement Award

 

August 24, 2026
by Mrs Duffy
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Eager learners impress Mrs Duffy

Mrs Duffy came across this eager bunch of Primary 7 learners in one of Cathedral’s ‘Attainment Team’ (A-Team) learning spaces. They were working with Mrs Findlay on improving their numeracy skills and were thinking about place value.  Mrs Duffy was very impressed with the group’s focus, engagement and jotter presentation and looks forward to seeing their numeracy skills develop and improve in the coming weeks and months.

You can find out more about Cathedral’s ‘A Team’ by clicking on the link below:

Personalised support |

August 21, 2026
by Mrs Duffy
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Pupils of the Week


This week at Cathedral Primary, we are thrilled to celebrate our Pupils of the Week at assembly.

Across literacynumeracyproblem solving and skills for learning, life and work, pupils excelled — showing curiosity, confidence and a willingness to challenge themselves.

We are proud to celebrate the richness of our broad general education, where pupils experience fabulous learning opportunities that help them grow academically, socially and personally.

A huge congratulations to our Pupils of the Week — keep shining brightly!

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