Our Lady of Good Aid Cathedral Primary School

Our Primary 5 Play Leaders officially started work in the playground this week! Following a full application process, including completing application forms and taking part in interviews with Mrs Duffy, our successful Play Leaders have taken on their new roles with enthusiasm, responsibility and pride.

Our Play Leaders are now helping to set up and manage playground equipment, support younger children and encourage positive play, friendships and connection across the yard. They are already showing fantastic leadership skills and are helping to make our playground an even happier, more inclusive and enjoyable place for everyone. A huge thank you to Mrs McCarron for organising the equipment and to Mrs Murphy for coordinating the Play Leader training sessions and supporting our pupils as they prepare for their important new responsibilities.

We would also like to extend a massive thank you to our Fabulous Fundraisers, who have provided an incredible £2,000 of funding to enhance our playground equipment and create even more opportunities for active, creative and collaborative play.

Our young leaders of the future! DYW Developing the Young Workforce |

It was a real pleasure to welcome our Primary 2 parents, carers and grannies to a special Family Learning Reading Workshop at Motherwell Library on Tuesday 15th September.

The afternoon provided families with a wonderful opportunity to spend time together enjoying books, developing reading skills and discovering more about the fantastic resources available within our local library. The session began by sharing a story together before enjoying a guided tour of Motherwell Library. Families then took part in a fun and engaging scavenger hunt, exploring the different areas of the library and discovering the many resources available for children and families. One of the highlights was seeing children choose a book, find a cosy nook and settle down to read with their parent, carer or family member. These shared reading experiences are so important in developing confidence, encouraging discussion and most importantly, nurturing a lifelong love of reading.

The workshop also focused on early reading skills and practical strategies that families can use at home, it was wonderful to see our families learning, laughing and sharing stories together. The enthusiasm and positivity throughout the session were fantastic, and I would like to thank everyone who took the time to join us and make the event such a success. Family Learning at its very best – absolutely fabulous!

Our August – December Parental Engagement & Family Learning leaflet can be accessed via the link below:

Final August to December Family Learning 2026

Cathedral Nursery was delighted to welcome our local firefighters from Motherwell Fire Station to Nursery for a special show-and-tell session. The children listened attentively as the firefighters shared their knowledge about their important role in helping to keep our community safe. We learned about the many different jobs firefighters do and had the opportunity to ask lots of interesting questions.

One particularly fascinating fact we discovered was that Motherwell Fire Station has its own rescue boat, which can be used to help people who find themselves in difficulty in the water. The children were fascinated by this and thoroughly enjoyed discovering something new about an important local emergency service.

We were also delighted to welcome Pets at Home, Coatbridge, to Nursery. They shared their expertise in caring for animals and taught us lots of interesting facts about a variety of pets. The children were highly engaged as they learned about the responsibilities involved in caring for animals and discussed how we can help pets to stay happy, healthy and safe.

The highlight for many of the children was the opportunity to meet two adorable guinea pigs, Foxy and Caramel, as well as Evie, a Syrian hamster. The children were fascinated by our furry visitors and enjoyed learning more about their needs, behaviours and care.

These special visits provided wonderful opportunities to extend our learning through real-life experiences and meaningful interactions with members of our wider community. Our visitors helped to bring our learning to life, inspiring curiosity, encouraging questions and giving our young learners the opportunity to learn directly from people with specialist knowledge and experience.

As part of their topic on Scottish Landscapes, Primary 4 have been busy exploring the fascinating features of lochs, heathers and glens. Mrs Duffy came across an enthusiastic bunch of young explorers, armed with magnifying glasses and their very own Explorers’ Passports, ready to investigate and record their findings.

The children took part in an exciting Scottish landscape scavenger hunt, searching both indoors and outdoors around the school for clues and examples linked to their learning. Their curiosity, teamwork and keen observation skills were on full display as they explored their surroundings and discovered more about Scotland’s unique natural landscapes.

After completing their expedition, the explorers were rewarded with some delicious Scottish treats, including Irn-Bru jellies, Irn-Bru and Scottish teacakes — the perfect way to celebrate a successful day of discovery!

This week, we have been learning about the different jobs people do within our community and the important roles they play in helping and supporting others. The children particularly enjoyed sharing their own ideas, experiences and knowledge with their friends. These conversations provided wonderful opportunities to develop communication and listening skills, while also strengthening our understanding of turn-taking, patience and respectful interactions.

We have also been focusing on dental hygiene and learning about the importance of looking after our teeth. The children enjoyed sharing their own experiences of brushing their teeth and talking about the healthy habits they have developed at home. This led to lots of interesting conversations about how we can keep our teeth healthy and why good dental hygiene is so important.

Working together has been a key focus throughout the month. The children have enjoyed collaborating to complete jigsaw puzzles, developing their problem-solving, perseverance and teamwork skills while encouraging and supporting one another. We have also been learning about the emergency services, exploring who they are, the important jobs they do and how they help to keep us safe within our communities.

Our Story of the Month has been ‘Sharing a Shell’ by Julia Donaldson. This delightful story has provided a wonderful context for exploring themes of friendship, kindness, sharing and working together. The children have shown great enthusiasm for learning more about Julia Donaldson and the illustrator, and the story has inspired a wealth of opportunities for creativity, imagination, discussion and reflection.

We are incredibly proud of the children’s enthusiasm, curiosity and willingness to learn. It has been wonderful to see them developing their confidence, sharing their ideas and supporting one another throughout their learning experiences.

We can’t wait to see where their curiosity, creativity skills  and imagination take us next!

Primary 7 hosted a very successful coffee morning  – the first of the year – on Friday 11th September, raising an incredible £660.15  for school funds. It was fantastic to see the hall bustling with so many parents, families and friends.

Many thanks to Primary 7 pupils and their teachers and to the Fundraising Committee, for coordinating the event.

This week, our Primary 7 young learners took part in the first of four live lessons delivered by Barclays Bank.

The sessions aim to deepen pupils’ understanding of key financial terminology and the value of money. They will also explore how to manage and use money responsibly in an increasingly digital and cashless society, while learning how to keep their money safe.

Alongside developing their financial awareness, pupils are strengthening essential transferable skills, including problem-solving, decision-making and communication—valuable preparation for learning, life and the world of work.

Our Primary 3 learners used their Explore and Extend opportunities to bring their Viking topic to life. They designed and built a longboat for travelling and a table for feasting in their longhouse.

Throughout the challenge, the children developed their creativity, teamwork and problem-solving skills. One learner even used digital technology to record evidence of their learning.

Our architects and engineers of the future! DYW Developing the Young Workforce |

In Our Lady of Good Aid Cathedral Primary School, we recognise the importance of raising achievement alongside raising attainment. The Staff of our school, parents and visiting specialists provide a wide variety of Lunchtime and After School Clubs for our pupils. These vary from term to term and pupils will be invited to participate where appropriate. Some of the ‘Come Clubbing @ Cathedral’ activities in the past have included:

Football,  Gardening Club, Scripture Club, Digital Club, Happy Hymn Club,

Cheerleading, Just dance, Games, OLGA Olympics, Rights Respecting Schools Club,

Cross Country, Choir, Hot chocolate Club, Social enterprise Club, Christmas storytelling Club 

 Our ‘Come Clubbing’ programme was highlighted by HMIe as an example of good practice. The activities often change on a termly basis. Our school APP provide details of all Out of School Hours Learning activities at the start of each term. Where clubs are over-subscribed, we will endeavour to ensure children are given fair access to opportunities.

Our first ‘universal’ Family Learning workshop of the year, for parents and carers of our new Primary 1 pupils, took place on Tuesday 8th September. The workshop focused on Primary 1 literacy, particularly Cathedral’s approach to teaching phonics.

Mrs Duffy 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 Tominey 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:

Final August to December Family Learning 2026