This week, our young learners at Cathedral Nursery enjoyed a wide range of creative and confidence-building experiences. Through the use of loose parts, children explored sorting and matching in their own unique ways, thoughtfully explaining how they grouped objects according to different criteria.
A growing interest in musical rhythm was also evident. The children became budding music-makers by creating their own instruments using recycled and junk-modelling materials. They delighted in experimenting with a variety of sounds and proudly used their instruments to perform for their friends.
Ring games, both indoors and outdoors, have been a key focus this week, supporting the development of movement, rhythm, and cooperative play as children learned how to work together as a group.
The children also shared this month’s story, The Gruffalo’s Child. They carefully explored the illustrations and discussed the characters, with some learners using mark-making tools to create their own story characters. Through imaginative play, they confidently retold the story in their own words. Amazing learning from everyone!
Primary 4 took to the stage on Friday 30th May with a vibrant and engaging learning showcase all about the Victorians. Their audience were treated to lively, toe‑tapping songs and a wealth of fascinating facts — from ground breaking inventions like the telephone and the bicycle, to the huge impact of industrialisation on life in Great Britain. Pupils also shared what it was like to attend a strict Victorian school, explored the harsh realities of child labour, and explained why some children turned to pickpocketing rather than face the workhouse. They rounded off their performance by highlighting the important changes in law that eventually helped to protect and improve the lives of children.
This week in our Investigation and Innovation Hub, Primary 7 learners took on an exciting sustainability challenge: to design and build a home for endangered species in support of local biodiversity. Rising to the task, these learners created a fantastic habitat for red squirrels and European robins (robin red-breasts to you and me), which they were keen to share with Mrs Duffy on Thursday 22nd January. Their creativity and commitment to protecting local wildlife made this project a real highlight of their week.
On Wednesday, 21st January, this small but committed band of Cathedral Parents joined the A-Team for a family learning session on the use of IDL. Mrs McMichael from Cathedral’s Attainment Team hosted a targeted family learning workshop, where parents and carers had the opportunity to learn alongside their child using the IDL programme. There was a great buzz around the room and parent/carer feedback on the sessions was exceptionally positive. Here are some of the comments from our ‘adult learners’:
Primary 1 have been enjoying the story of the Stick Man by Julia Donaldson in class. Towards the end of the story, Stick Man helps Santa on his Christmas journey, and he returns the favour by reuniting Stick Man with his family.
Cathedral Primary was delighted to welcome Mr Jack Rafferty, Grand Knight of KSC Carfin, and Mr Michael Roche from KSC Action and Youth on Monday 19th January. They joined Cathedral school community for assembly, where they presented certificates to three of our learners who excelled in last term’s Knights of St Columba Christmas art competition, achieving a 1st and 2nd place in the Junior category and a 1st place in the Senior group.
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.
Primary 6 hosted another successful coffee morning on Friday 16th January. As always, it was great to see the hall filled with families and friends enjoying a catch up over coffee and cake. The event raised a fantastic £719.59 for school funds.
This week in Cathedral Nursery, we were delighted to welcome new boys and girls, with our pre-school children acting as buddies to help them settle in. Our learners led their own learning through exciting discoveries across numeracy and health and wellbeing.
Our Primary 1 learners have reached an exciting milestone — writing their own sentences independently! On Thursday 15th January, these two enthusiastic writers were eager to share their work. This wonderful achievement highlights their growing confidence and understanding of how words come together to form sentences. As you can see, they are already experts at using capital letters and full stops!