Our Lady of Good Aid Cathedral Primary School

Audiences were absolutely blown away with Primary 6 and 7’s production of ‘The Lion King’ on Tuesday 21st and Wednesday 22nd May. The performance was a feast for the eyes, with a stunning stage set, beautiful costumes and creative and seamless choreography which all combined to bring the characters and the story to life. Every Primary 6 and 7 pupil was involved in the production and their collective singing instilled every possible emotion during the course of the show.

Many thanks to Mrs McCoy (Creative Director), Mrs Campbell (Musical Director), the entire Cathedral staff for the huge amount of hard work they put in in the lead up to, and during, the production (staging, costumes, face painting, practising lines and moves, selling tickets…) and friend of our school, Mrs Kelly, for making many of the costumes. Team OLGA shines again!

Most of all, HUGE congratulations to our amazing Primary 6 and 7 learners for taking their audiences on such a magical and moving adventure! You showed our school values of Love, Connection, Perseverance and Growth from Day 1 of your rehearsals to the final standing ovation on the closing night. We hope it’s an experience you’ll remember for the rest of your lives!

One of our Primary 3 learners, despite her young age, suffers from arthritis. We understand that the school show and our upcoming trips have resulted in some extra spending for parents and carers recently. However, Cathedral pupils are welcome to make a small donation to an arthritis charity over the next week and, if they so choose, wear something purple this coming Thursday to raise awareness about the condition. A collection box for the National Rheumatoid Arthritis Society will be situated at the main office until Friday 31st May.

We would not normally post photos and names together. However, the poster below is being displayed with the consent of Lailah’s parents.

The sun shone for our parish community’s First Holy Communions on Saturday 18th May when 58 Cathedral pupils received Jesus in the Eucharist for the first time.

The Cathedral was packed for the two Masses, celebrated by Fr Lamb, and the choir led the music beautifully. Each liturgy finished with the children singing their thanksgiving hymn, ‘Jesus, my Lord, my God, my all’, followed by the entire congregation lifting the roof with ‘Hail, Redeemer, King Divine’.

Many congratulations to all of those children who received their First Holy Communion and many thanks to their parents, families and teachers for preparing them for the sacrament. We keep the boys and girls in our prayers as they continue on their faith journey.

The A-Team base had a party atmosphere on the afternoon of Friday 17th May when six very proud children gathered with members of their family to celebrate the end of their ‘Seasons for Growth’ programme. ‘Seasons for Growth’ helps build knowledge and skills to strengthen the emotional wellbeing and resilience of young people following experiences of change and loss. Under the care of Mrs Murphy, the group have met weekly for several months and all of the children spoke at the celebration about how much the programme has helped them. 

Cathedral’s Mini Vinnies met with Mr McVeigh and Mrs Devanney from the Society of St Vincent De Paul on Thursday 16th May. Serving as a Mini Vinnie allows Cathedral learners to help other people as well as gain a better understanding of themselves. During the meeting, the boys and girls explored the difference between needs and wants and also discussed different ways they could help people in need during the next school year. Our Mini Vinnies, with the support of Miss Cameron, can’t wait to put their faith into action!

The sun was splitting the skies for this year’s Sports Day, which took place on Wednesday 15th May.

As always, the event began with a vibrant  opening ceremony which included an interview with Motherwell player, Stephen O’Donnell. Following the ceremonial cutting of the ribbon, each ‘country’ processed out onto the pitch and then the children headed off to compete in the various events.

Children across all stages showed incredible effort, enthusiasm and sportsmanship throughout the morning. Over the coming days, the children will participate in traditional races including sprints, three-legged and egg and spoon as part of their normal PE lessons.

Our Primary 4 pupils are now only a week away from celebrating their First Holy Communion. The April edition of ‘Flourish’, the newspaper of the Archdiocese of Glasgow, has an interesting feature on the sacrament. The articles encourage us to rediscover what’s truly important: not the dresses, the kilts, the parties or the gifts, but receiving Jesus in Holy Communion for the first time. April’s edition of ‘Flourish’ can be accessed via the link below:

https://www.flourishnewspaper.co.uk/downloads/Flourish-April-2024.pdf

One of the articles includes some thought-provoking words from Pope Francis:

“Dear boys and girls, now you will receive Jesus. Don’t think about anything else. Come to the altar with silence in your hearts. Think about how Jesus comes to your heart, and how he will do the same again and again.

“I hope that today is the beginning of many Communions, so that your hearts are always like they are today: celebrating, full of joy, and above all, full of gratitude.”

Let’s pray in the lead up to next Saturday’s First Holy Communions that Cathedral pupils and families keep Jesus front and centre throughout their special day.

Mr Young and Mrs Duffy made the hour-long journey to Lendrick Muir on Thursday 9th May to join P7 for dinner and their evening activity. Mr Young was absolutely delighted to hear from both Cathedral and Lendrick Muir staff how exceptional the children’s behaviour had been throughout the week.

Every pupil was eager to talk about their favourite activities and Sophie from P7b even mentioned she wished she’d brought a Cathedral skills-mat with her to check off all the skills she’d used and developed during her week at Lendrick Muir.

Many thanks to Mrs Campbell, Mrs McLaughlan, Miss Cameron, Mr Hamill, Father Colum and Mr Ross for giving so generously of their time and allowing our P7 Cathedral learners to have such an incredible experience.

Wednesday 8th May saw another fabulous day for Primary 7 at Lendrick Muir. Activities including archery tag, a nature walk and trail biking, which finished with a dip in the river! The children were joined by Mrs Findlay and Mrs Shevlin for their evening meal before after-dinner beach volleyball provided an energetic and fun end to Day 2 of the trip.

The first day of Primary 7’s residential excursion to Lendrick Muir finished off around the campfire on Tuesday 7th May. The children had spent the day trail-biking, bungee trampoling and some Cathedral learners had even overcome their fear of heights on the Leap of Faith! Pupils and staff alike are looking forward to a good night’s sleep to prepare them for another action-packed day tomorrow.