Our Lady of Good Aid Cathedral Primary School

Following a wee mix up of diary dates, Cathedral school community, along with a number of parents and parishioners, found themselves gathered in the hall for Mass on Friday 29th November… but without a priest! Mrs McLeish asked Mr Young what he was going to do, to which he replied, ‘I’m going to wing it!’. That’s exactly what Mr Young did, using the hymns and readings to improvise (with some help from pupils) a St Andrew’s Day prayer service.

Mr Young was very amused to find the above clerical shirt lying on his desk on Wednesday 4th December, courtesy of Fr Lamb! Although the joke did make him chuckle, Mr Young will DEFINITELY stick to being a heidie!

(This hopefully clears up the confusion caused by some children going home on Friday saying, “Mr Young said Mass today!”)

This Primary 5 learner, who is a member of the Motherwell and Wishaw swimming team, continues to excel in her sport. In a recent swimming competition, she came 1st in the 9 years and under front crawl, back crawl, breast stroke and butterfly. Well done on your amazing achievements and for being such a great sports ambassador for Cathedral!

To help our school and parish community prepare for the coming of Jesus at Christmas, Mass will be celebrated at 8.15am in the Music Room every Tuesday and Friday throughout the season of Advent.

All pupils, staff, parents and parishioners are very welcome to attend.

‘This time of Advent is a time of waiting for the Lord, who will visit us all on the feast of Christmas, but also, each one, in our own hearts.’ (Pope Francis)

Cathedral learners donned a touch of tartan on Friday 29th November to celebrate Scotland’s patron, Saint Andrew, and our country’s national day. There was the opportunity to taste some Scottish produce and the day concluded with a service in honour of Saint Andrew for pupils and families, led by Mr Young, Primary 4 and the choir.

PRAYER TO ST ANDREW

O Glorious St Andrew,

you were the first to recognise

and follow the Lamb of God.

With your friend St John you remained with Jesus

for that first day, for your entire life,

and now throughout eternity.

As you led your brother St Peter to Christ

and many others after him,

draw us also to him.

Help us to learn the lesson of the Cross

and to carry our daily crosses without complaint

so that they may carry us to Jesus.

Amen

Inspired by a range of stimuli, I can express and communicate my ideas, thoughts and feelings through drama. (EXA 0-13a)

I have explored numbers, understanding that they represent quantities, and I can use them to count. (MNU 0-02a)

Wellbeing Indicator: Achieving

UNCRC Article 19: You have the right to be protected from being hurt and mistreated, in body and in mind.

This week, our nursery learners have continued to develop their knowledge of characters and have revisited familiar stories with their friends. Each child has had the opportunity to retell a familiar story in their own words.

Playing outdoors during this week’s colder weather has got the children talking about the different things we do during the winter months and has inspired us to make our own hot chocolate and homemade soup.

Our young learners have been using their design and construction skills to create and build a variety of structures. The children have talked about safe ways to build with the wooden blocks and were able to explain why we should use just the right amount of blocks when building towers.

This week’s ‘focus children’ have been very proud to wear their red lanyard which reads: ‘Ask me what I have been learning about today’. Each child has demonstrated confidence when using their own words to talk about their recent activities, experiences and learning.

Here at Cathedral, pupils write independently for short bursts EVERY day of the week as this allows learners across the school to apply what they’ve been learning in phonics, spelling and taught writing lessons. Mr Young was absolutely blown away when these Primary 1 learners visited his office on Thursday 28th November to share the sentences they had written independently. What an amazing achievement after only three months in Primary 1!

SUPER sentences, SUPER spelling, SUPER letter formation, SUPER punctuation and SUPER enthusiasm for your learning!

This Primary 4 learner was exceptionally proud to walk onto the pitch as one of Celtic’s mascots at the start of the UEFA Champions League match against Club Brugge on Wednesday 27th November. Despite the chilly weather, he had an absolutely fantastic night at Celtic Park, particularly when Daizen Maeda scored during the second half, resulting in a 1 – 1 draw and being enough to earn the Hoops a point. What an incredible achievement to record on your Rose Trainer Achievement Award card!

Whenever Mr Young needs some inspiration or a wee boost during the course of the school day, all he needs to do is walk through Cathedral’s four vibrant learning streets.  No matter where his walk takes him, he always finds Cathedral pupils accessing different learning spaces and fully engaged in their learning experiences, whether adult-led, adult-initiated or learner-led.

Mr Young and Mrs Duffy discovered this enthusiastic group of Primary 5 learners working together to create a 3D model of the solar system on Tuesday 26th November. Although they were using their art skills at the time, our young scientists were able to share some fascinating facts about the planets including that although Mars is known as the red planet, it is actually very cold and has polar ice caps.

Parents and carers can access our ‘Talking to your child about their learning’ leaflet by clicking on the link below. Why not take a few moments to find out what learning your child has been engaged in today?

Talking to your child about their learning

To further promote and encourage reading for enjoyment, a new display has been set up outside our school library to celebrate individual ‘Bookworms of the Week’ and also showcase the class who have collectively read the most words in a week (this includes completing their comprehension quizzes). Primary 5a is our most recent winning class, reading an incredible 57,883 words in just four school days! Well done, Primary 5a, and keep up your reading for enjoyment, Primary 4 – 7… you could be next week’s Reading Class of the Week!