Our first ‘universal’ Family Learning workshop of the year, for parents and carers of our new Primary 1 pupils, took place on Tuesday 9th September. The workshop focused on Primary 1 literacy, particularly Cathedral’s approach to teaching phonics.
Mr Young opened the workshop by talking about Cathedral Primary’s holistic approach to literacy:
- a rigorous synthetic phonics programme to give children the tools they need to read and write
- the use of decodable reading books during phonics lessons to give children instant success and build their confidence
- exposure to non-decodable reading books to develop vocabulary and comprehension
- access to ‘real’ books through regular visits to the school library
- daily opportunities for the children to apply their phonics and reading in meaningful ways across the curriculum
The remainder of the workshop was led by Mrs McCoy who gave a presentation on ‘Read Write Inc. Phonics’, followed by a live phonics lesson with a group of Primary 2 pupils. The children were absolute superstars and parents and carers were amazed to think that’s what their own child will be able to do in just a year’s time.
Our August – December Parental Engagement & Family Learning leaflet can be accessed via the link below:
As part of our targeted family learning programme, Cathedral learners have the opportunity to attend our Monday homework club and even bring along a parent/carer to join in their learning. The club, which supports learners across the school, provides a warm, quiet space for pupils to complete their homework, have access to any learning resources they need and get expert help from our Attainment Team if they get stuck. Of course, there’s juice and a biscuit to stop any rumbling tummies and a cuppa for the grown-ups!
“To always be close to Jesus, 
I am learning skills and strategies which will support me in challenging times, particularly in relation to change and loss. HWB 0-07a
Primary 2a had fun learning about germs on Friday 5th September and how easily they can spread if we don’t wash our hands. Our young scientists used a mixture of glitter and hand sanitiser for their experiment, with the glitter acting as pretend germs. Two children dipped their hands into the ‘glitter germ’ mixture and then shook hands with their classmates. This showed everyone how easily germs could spread around the class. Primary 2a will definitely be washing their hands carefully from here on in!
Cathedral’s nursery learners returned to the forest on Thursday 4th September to explore and learn in the natural environment. The children prepared well for their first adventure and carried out their forest duties confidently, including following the safety rules while using the hammock and tree swing. The new pop-up shelter to eat lunch in was a huge hit! Some children chose to climb up and down the trees before the session rounded off with a game of hide and seek with the Gruffalo, followed by a bear hunt.
Cathedral’s Primary 7 learners made the short journey to Carfin Grotto on Thursday 4th September to join pupils from all over Motherwell Diocese for a special Mass to mark the Year of Jubilee. Celebrated by Bishop Toal, the thousands of young worshippers were blessed with glorious sunshine for the uplifting liturgy of faith and hope.
Pupils in Primary 3/4 were very keen to show Mrs Duffy what they’d been learning in class on Wednesday 3rd September. Inspired by their reading book, ‘The Twits’, these Primary 4 learners from Mrs MacDonald’s class discovered that the Muggle Wump and his family came from Africa. They set about using their digital technology skills to research an African country to produce a fact file and then extended their learning by creating PowerPoints. Amazing learning!
Mr Young began his secondment with the new 
The first of this year’s targeted Family Learning workshops, focussing on IDL Literacy and Numeracy, took place on Tuesday 2nd September. IDL Literacy is a multi-sensory computer programme which supports learners to increase their reading and spelling ages. IDL Numeracy provides similar support to learners struggling with mathematics.