Our Lady of Good Aid Cathedral Primary School

Excitement filled Primary 6b on Wednesday 14th January as this year’s Minecraft Build Battles officially got underway. Supported by the NLC Digital Team and Minecraft Education Esports, Cathedral learners will take part in structured gaming sessions designed to develop problem‑solving, creativity, teamwork and digital skills.

In the coming weeks, pupils will work together to tackle a series of build challenges within Minecraft worlds, becoming part of the wider Build Battle learning community. Cathedral’s young designers are eager to showcase their talents and aim for a place in the NLC Build Battle Final 2026.

A fantastic opportunity for our learners to collaborate, think creatively and have great fun along the way.

Cathedral was delighted to welcome almost fifty Head Teachers, senior leaders and teachers on Tuesday 13th January, including Michael Roache, Head of Education in Inverclyde, who attended with all of his primary Head Teachers. Following the publication of Cathedral’s inspection report, colleagues travelled from as far afield as Greenock and Edinburgh to learn more about the school’s innovative Active8 approach.

The morning opened with a presentation from Mr Young, who explored the educational thinking behind Active8 and its place within modern Scottish education. The real highlight, however, came when visitors moved into learning streets and classrooms to see Active8 in action. Cathedral’s enthusiastic, confident and highly engaged learners quickly became the stars of the morning, showcasing Active8 far more powerfully than any presentation could.

Many guests left inspired and eager to consider how they might bring elements of Active8 into their own schools.

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

These eager young learners were very keen to show off their achievements to Mrs Duffy on Friday 9th January.  Not content with learning INSIDE school, these pupils are learning new skills outside of school such as team work, commitment and effort.  Well done!  Remember to add your achievements to your Rose Trainer Achievement record card.

Cathedral finished the first week of the new term with a flurry (albeit  a very small one) of snow.  Not put off by the lack of snowflakes, these young learners worked together and showed true teamwork to build this miniature snowman!

Cathedral’s Primary 3/4 learners have been delving into the world of money, exploring how it works and why it plays such an important role in everyday life. To bring their learning to life, they set up their very own shop in the Learning Street during the first week of term, complete with products, price labels and daily opportunities to practise buying and selling.

Taking their understanding even further, the children also designed a secure vault to store their earnings, paying close attention to safety and how well their structure would hold up. Ingenious, real-life learning!

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.