Our Lady of Good Aid Cathedral Primary School

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

Cathedral’s Ignite Junior Chaplaincy Team launched an exciting new club on Tuesday 11th November. ‘Scripture Squad’ will meet each week to give Cathedral learners the chance to hear and reflect on stories and messages from the Bible, and to think about how these lessons can be lived out in their everyday lives.

Many thanks to Ignite for their commitment to keeping faith alive and active in Cathedral Primary.

The final Investigation & Innovation Hub family learning sessions took place on Tuesday 11th November. The two workshops began with a presentation from Mrs Duffy on how activities within the hub fit naturally into Cathedral’s overall Active8 approach. Mrs Duffy went on to explain the importance of Cathedral Primary helping learners develop skills for life and work in the 21st Century, including creativity, collaboration, adaptability and persistence/grit.

Following the presentation, parents and carers worked alongside their child to get a feel for the types of exciting, open-ended projects which take place in the hub.

Here at Cathedral, we’re always looking for new ways to make learning exciting and engaging — and our newest addition, Marty the robot, is doing just that! Over the past few weeks, Primary 6b have been leading the way by piloting the use of Marty in their classroom. On the in-service day, Monday 17th November, Mrs McCulloch will provide hands-on training for all teaching staff to help everyone get to grips with our ten new robotic friends.

If all goes to plan, our Family Learning Programme (January–June) will include a special session where parents and carers can meet Marty and enjoy some fun computer coding activities alongside their child. Watch this space!

Gillian has been a ray of sunshine in Cathedral’s kitchen for an incredible eighteen years, always ready with a smile, a laugh, and an occasional extra helping! On Friday 7th November, Gillian hung up her apron and hairnet for the last time to start an exciting new chapter as a Support Assistant at Firpark Primary.

Cathedral school community will greatly miss Gillian’s warmth and humour, but we wish her every success in her new role.

On Friday 7th November, an impressive array of Viking warriors and gods took to the stage for Primary 3’s learning showcase. The children led their audience on an exciting journey back in time, sharing fascinating facts about Viking daily life, jobs, clothing, trading, invasions and beliefs.

There was plenty of humour too, as the boys and girls demonstrated their Viking “skills” of raiding and pillaging, before striding down the catwalk in a lively Viking fashion show! The performance concluded with a rousing rendition of Vikings Rock, which had the whole audience clapping along.

A huge well done to Primary 3 for presenting their learning in such a creative and engaging way, and to their teachers for all their hard work in preparing the children for this special event.