Our Lady of Good Aid Cathedral Primary School

Primary 2 have been learning about knights and castles in class this term and have had the opportunity to extend their learning in the playzone. These pupils had great fun designing a shield on Tuesday 27th February and were able to tell Mr Young about the skills they used: designing, drawing, colouring and cutting. The boys and girls also did some joint problem solving when they worked together to design a handle for the back of their shields. Impressive!

‘Read Write Inc. Fresh Start’, which is delivered by our ‘A Team’, is a literacy programme which develops spelling, reading and writing skills. This hard-working group of Cathedral pupils have just completed module 8 of the programme and are also successfully applying their skills in their literacy work back in class. Well done to you all: we’re so proud of you!

Primary 3 are currently learning about natural disasters. So far, the children have found out about earthquakes, floods, tornadoes and, most recently, tsunamis. The above learner spent part of his weekend creating a fantastic Lego model of a tsunami which he was eager to show off to Mr Young. Well done!

Back in our Primary 3 classrooms, the children studied ‘The Great Wave’ by Japanese artist, Hokusai, before producing their own artwork inspired by the original masterpiece.

This Primary 4 pupil demonstrated impressive maths skills on Monday 26th February. During his class’s outdoor learning, he practised his division facts for the 4 times table and made it all the way up to ‘200 divided by 4’. WOW!

Primary 7’s recent Health and Wellbeing classwork focused on the important topic of substance misuse. The children were asked to capture their learning by producing an information poster, which they then presented to their classmates. These two pupils were particularly proud of their posters and were keen to share them with Mr Young. Well done to you both!

Primary 6 hosted another successful coffee morning on Friday 23rd February. It was great to see the hall filled with families and friends enjoying a catch up over coffee and cake. The event raised an incredible £807.94 for school funds.

Many thanks to Primary 6 and the Fundraising Committee for organising and running the coffee morning. Our final coffee morning of the year, which will be run by Primary 5, takes place on Friday 26th April.

As we continue to look ahead to our inspection from HMIe, which is likely to take place between now and the summer holidays, this week’s Friday Focus is on how Cathedral prevents and deals with bullying behaviour.

Cathedral’s first school value is Love and we are proud that bullying incidents are rare within our school community.

An anti-bullying poster competition took place in 2023 and the winning designs are displayed throughout the building.

Winners of anti-bullying poster competition revealed

‘Bullying drills’, which remind Cathedral pupils what to do if they are being bullied or witness bullying, as well as outline the consequences of all bullying behaviour, take place at the beginning of each term.

On those rare occasions when a Cathedral pupil makes a poor choice and bullies another member of our school community, this is dealt with meticulously, in line with our anti-bullying policy. This policy can be accessed via the link below.

Bullying information leaflet for parents and carers

Cathedral anti-bullying policy March 2023

Mrs Shevlin and the Rights Respecting Schools Committee ran a competition last term to create Cathedral’s very own Rights Respecting Schools mascot. The winners from each stage were announced at a special assembly on Thursday 22nd February and each pupil received a certificate. There was huge excitement when Niamh from Primary 7 was announced as the overall winner and an actual 3D replica of her design was revealed to the boys and girls. As you can see below, Niamh’s fantastic Rory, the Rights Respecting Rhino now has pride of place in our trophy cabinet.

Well done to Niamh, and please watch this space for further news of our Rights Respecting Schools journey as we continue to embed the UNCRC articles in the life and work of Cathedral Primary School and Nursery Class.

Rights Respecting Schools

“I can talk about and interpret pictorial representations of data collected.”

This week in the kitchen area, the children have been using visuals and signs to share their understanding and help them plan and make day-to-day choices. They have also been creating their own shopping lists and charts to add to the kitchen area.

“I can show how to care for others in a variety of situations.”

Elsewhere in the playroom, the children have been working as a team to construct a variety of models. They have been very good at following health and safety rules to keep themselves and others safe whilst also developing their understanding of caring, sharing and building positive relationships with their peers.

“I can listen when others speak.”

In the cabin, the children have participated in group games such as ‘Duck, Duck, Goose’ which have developed their listening and turn-taking skills. These skills were further developed when the children had the opportunity to express their thoughts and feelings in small group situations.

Many Cathedral pupils turned up to school in their Rainbow, Brownie and Guide uniforms on Thursday 22nd February to celebrate World Thinking Day. This simple gesture reminded the girls that they’re part of a huge family – the World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts (WAGGGS) – with World Thinking Day being an annual opportunity to connect with millions of Guides across the globe and celebrate the amazing things they do. The theme for 2024 is Our World, Our Peaceful Future.