Our Lady of Good Aid Cathedral Primary School marked a historic milestone on Tuesday 20th May with a special Mass in Motherwell Cathedral to celebrate the school’s 150th anniversary.
The Mass, led by Bishop Toal, was a highlight of a year-long programme of commemorative events and included the debut performance of the Mass of Jesus the Teacher – a new Mass setting composed by Head Teacher, Mr Young, and dedicated to pupils and staff of Cathedral Primary, past and present. Sung by the school’s choir, the music added a deeply personal and moving element to the celebration.
Following the Mass, historic stones from the school’s original 1895 building were formally dedicated in their new location within the Cathedral grounds. Guests then visited a fascinating exhibition in St Bride’s Hall, curated by Primary 7 pupils, which traces the proud history of the school from 1875 to the present day.
Provost Kenneth Duffy, who attended the Mass, said: “This was a truly special celebration, and expertly organised by Mr Young and his staff, of a school that has played a central role in the Motherwell community for generations. My warmest congratulations go to the entire school community, past and present, on 150 years of faith, learning, and service.”
The sun shone for our parish community’s First Holy Communions on Saturday 17th May when 41 Cathedral pupils received Jesus in the Eucharist for the first time.
Following a positive inspection week, Cathedral learners and staff got out into the sunshine on Friday 16th May to relax after a busy few days. As the inspection report will now go through a scrupulous quality assurance process at Education Scotland before being finalised and published, Mr Young is unable to provide specific details or potential grades to pupils, parents/carers or even school staff. This rigorous process also means it is unlikely the report will be published before the summer holidays. What Mr Young can say, however, is how hugely proud he is of Cathedral’s committed and hard-working staff and Cathedral’s PHENOMENAL learners who shone like stars throughout inspection week. He’s the luckiest and proudest Head Teacher in the land!
The sun shone throughout the week beginning 12th May and our third group of nursery learners enjoyed their first session in Cathedral’s forest area. Our outdoor explorers enjoyed the freedom to learn in the natural environment at their own pace and were very excited to be joined by Primary 5 pupils, who will be next year’s nursery buddies. Once back in the nursery, the children drew fabulous pictures in the floorbook capturing the exciting learning they’d enjoyed on their first day in the forest.
As part of their current topic on mini-beasts, these Primary 2 learners had great fun in Cathedral’s playzone on Thursday 15th May making their very own bee keeper outfits. After some careful planning, designing, cutting, painting and sticking, our young learners donned their fabulous outfits and buzzed along to Mr Young’s office to show them off. Fab-BEE-lous!
These Primary 7 learners worked together to make a fantastic life-size Anderson shelter on Wednesday 14th and Thursday 15th May. They used and developed a wide range of skills during the two-day project including collaborating, designing, planning, predicting, persevering, modifying, constructing, organising, solving and adapting. As you can see, even Miss Cameron and Mrs Shevlin were eager to try out the shelter!
Primary 5c headed to Cathedral’s forest area, just outside the school grounds, on Thursday 15th May for some outdoor learning linked to their current topic, The Scottish Wars of Independence. After learning how to build a campfire, the children discussed the sights, smells and sounds that soldiers would have experienced when camping out before battle and created a bank of rich vocabulary which they’ll use to write a diary entry of a soldier. During their time together, our young learners enjoyed some traditional Scottish food, including oatcakes, but also couldn’t resist toasting marshmallows over the fire as a special treat!
Cathedral was delighted to welcome the local community to an advance 
viewing of our 150th anniversary exhibition on Wednesday 14th May, including residents from the local sheltered housing, members of the Deaf Hub and some of our friends from Firpark Primary. Our guests had the opportunity to walk through a timeline of Cathedral’s history, from the Victorian era to the present day; browse old photographs; handle various artefacts; and read the school’s logbooks, dating back as far as 1925. Mrs McCarthy was also on hand to share photographs of her classes through the years, which was hugely popular with visitors. 
Primary 4b learners donned their lab coats on Tuesday 13th May and were provided with various materials to form a tornado in a bottle. Our young scientists had to make a hypothesis, plan their method and then use the materials to achieve their goal. Despite this being an adult-initiated task, with Mrs McCulloch stepping back to allow the children to work things out for themselves, it wasn’t too long before tornadoes were appearing all over Winners Wynd!
As part of an opportunity for learner-led learning on the class Active8 task-board, this Primary 7 learner selected a provocation card in the STEM area on Monday 12th May which led to the construction of a Lego Anderson shelter. She described her learning on her record card and also identified the skills she used and developed which included planning, adapting, modifying and recording.