Our Lady of Good Aid Cathedral Primary School

Girls from Primary 5 to Primary 7 enjoyed an exciting introduction to rugby this week through our rugby taster sessions, led by Dalziel Rugby coach Grant Talbert. Mrs Duffy was delighted to see the pupils embracing new skills, growing in confidence, and discovering just how fun and empowering the sport can be.

Alongside the in‑school sessions, pupils can also get involved in our after‑school rugby club through Come Clubbing @ Cathedral, giving them even more chances to train, play and develop as a team. With Grant’s expertise and encouragement, who knows—perhaps we’ll see some of our girls representing the National Team in the future.

Mr Young discovered a fantastic Explore & Extend learning activity in Ambition Avenue on Tuesday 3rd March. As part of their Amazing Africa topic, Primary 7 learners suggested creating their own models of traditional African mud huts using real mud and straw.

The activity gave pupils hands‑on insight into how these dwellings are built across parts of Africa, and there was no shortage of enthusiasm as everyone got stuck into the mud! It was messy, creative, fun and full of brilliant learning moments.

One of the signs proudly displayed in Cathedral Learning Streets reads: “Some of the BEST learning is MESSY… but don’t forget to clean up afterwards!” Once the activity was complete, our responsible learners gathered cleaning materials and took great care to leave the floor and tables as spotless as they found them. By the time the school cleaners arrived, there was no hint of the messy fun and brilliant learning that had taken place earlier in the day!

This Primary 5 learner was so inspired by her current class topic, The Scottish Wars of Independence, that she spent time at home creating two fantastic models: one of Stirling Castle and one of Stirling Bridge. She proudly shared her intricate work with Mr Young on Monday 2nd March, and he was very impressed by the careful detail in both models.

March’s wellbeing indicator is RESPONSIBLE. Please use the prompts below to talk to your child about this indicator. This will help them complete their wellbeing wheel in school.

Nursery and Primary 1

• I can name some jobs in my local area.
• I can talk about the rewards of having a job. 
• I can help my teacher and other adults in the school. 
• I can control my behaviour in school. 
• I take responsibility for my actions. 
• I can find ways to solve problems.

Primary 2 – 4

• I can set and work on my own learning goals.
• I can talk about the skills needed for different jobs. 
• I can talk about the skills I have. 
• I can talk about the world of work. 
• I take responsibility for my actions. 
• I can recycle waste responsibly. 
• I can make decisions and explain them.

Primary 5 – 7

• I know how peer, media and other pressures can influence my decision making.
• I can describe what my rights and responsibilities are at home, in school and in my community.
• I know how to reduce and recycle waste.
• I am given opportunities to make connections between my own skills and the world of work.
• I can use my investigative skills to find out about different jobs/careers.

This week in Nursery, our young learners have been immersed in creative, collaborative, and musical experiences.

During music time, we explored rhythm and beat using the Smart Board, tapping along with colourful tubes to keep in time. These activities supported the development of listening skills, coordination, and an understanding of rhythm — all while having lots of fun!

In our block area, imaginations have been hard at work. The children used blocks to build letters, follow building plans to create structures, and even design their own seesaws. Through this hands-on play, they strengthened their problem-solving skills, shared ideas with friends, and showed wonderful resilience when things didn’t go to plan the first time.

Our new STEM grant resources have sparked great curiosity and encouraged early engineering thinking. The children have been using their knowledge to design, build, and test their ideas, developing confidence as young innovators. Exploring loose parts has also supported early numeracy skills as we counted, compared and created patterns together.

Primary 5 pupils combined Science and Technology brilliantly on Thursday 26th February by using Scratch to design and code animated sequences of a flower’s life cycle. From seed to full bloom, they planned each stage, created their own characters and backgrounds, and coded the growth process—testing and debugging along the way.

A wonderful showcase of creativity, collaboration and digital learning in action!

Some of our Primary 2 learners have been working enthusiastically with Cathedral’s Attainment Team to strengthen their sentence-building skills and develop greater confidence in independent writing. Through focused activities, the children have been exploring how to construct clear, well‑formed sentences using capital letters, full stops and ambitious vocabulary.

Our young learners have also been given opportunities to apply these skills in their own independent writing, where they are encouraged to think creatively, organise their ideas and take pride in their growing abilities as young writers. Great to see their confidence and skills grow!

On Tuesday 24th February, Cathedral welcomed visitors from St Mary’s Primary, Bo’ness, as part of our ongoing partnership work.

Four pupils, four teachers and the Head Teacher, Mr McPeake, carried out a learning walk of Cathedral to evaluate how effectively we use our various learning spaces to support high-quality adult-led, adult-initiated and learner-led learning. Six Cathedral pupils led the learning walk and there was some great bouncing around of ideas amongst the group.

It is an absolute pleasure working in partnership with St Mary’s to help them embed Active8 in their own school and we wish them success on the next part of their journey.

Our latest Pupil Parliament initiative has given Cathedral learners a voice in shaping their school environment and the activities that take place in it. Thanks to a generous £2000 donation from the Parent Council, pupils have had the opportunity to decide how this money should be spent on new indoor and outdoor resources. In addition, Mr Young has allocated £750 to each learning street to invest in something that will enhance learning and teaching.

Our Pupil Parliament action board—used to help drive ongoing improvement across the school—has now been updated with everyone’s ideas. Over the coming weeks, our two Cabinet Secretaries for Finance will lead and oversee this priority, including working with Mrs McLeish to place the orders.

You can find out more about Cathedral Pupil Parliament by clicking on the link below:

Pupil Parliament |

Primary 4 hosted another successful coffee morning on Friday 20th January. As always, it was great to see the hall filled with families and friends enjoying a catch up over coffee and cake. The event raised a fantastic £836.29 for school funds.

Many thanks to Primary 4 and the Fundraising Committee for organising and running the coffee morning.