Our Lady of Good Aid Cathedral Primary School

Our school community gathered to celebrate Mass on Tuesday 31st January, the feast of St John Bosco. The Mass was led by Primary 6 and, as part of Fr Lamb’s homily, Primary 6b re-enacted the life of the saint.

Through words and mime, Primary 6b told the rest of the school how John had many dreams throughout his life.  When he was nine, he had one that was especially life-changing. In this dream, there was a crowd of boys, laughing, playing, and swearing.  John tried to stop the boys by fighting with them but Jesus appeared to him and said, “You will have to win these friends of yours not by blows but by gentleness and love.” St John Bosco became a priest and went on to start schools for poor boys. Don Bosco’s success lay in his gentleness and his ability to see through the poverty and dirt, into the hearts and souls of the many boys he helped. St John Bosco is the patron saint of teachers.

St John Bosco, pray for us.

The second of our ‘Talk for Writing’ family learning workshops took place on Tuesday 30th January. As before, Mrs Tominey and Miss Cameron delivered a presentation on the ‘Talk for Writing’ approach and then several Primary 4 and Primary 7 pupils read some of their own compositions to demonstrate how they had used an original text to support their ideas and writing. The session finished with the opportunity for parents and carers to visit their child’s classroom to see ‘Talk for Writing’ techniques in action and enjoy reading the pieces in their child’s Taught Writing jotter.

Many thanks, once again, to Mrs Tominey and Miss Cameron for preparing and delivering the workshop and a special thanks to the six P4 and 7 pupils who helped bring the presentation to life.

There was some very creative joined-up learning in Primary 4b on 29th January when these three Primary 4 learners programmed their Micro Bits to display their spelling words for that week. Well done, you digital wizards!

A HUGE well done to these two Cathedral pupils who completed a 4 mile walk for charity on Sunday 28th January. Along with their fellow walkers they raised an incredible £1500 for the Beatson cancer charity. We’re so proud of you, boys!

As part of the National Schools Singing Programme, four Cathedral pupils attended the first annual Head Choristers conference at Motherwell Diocesan Centre on Friday 26th January. The children enjoyed a workshop with renowned mezzo-soprano, Beth Taylor, input from Fr Morris on why singing at Mass is so important and an organ demonstration from Mr John Pitcathley… oh, and did we mention the Dominoes pizza for lunch?! The day concluded with the choir leading afternoon prayer in the cathedral.

Primary 2 pupils put on a fantastic Learning Showcase for their families on Friday 26th January. The theme was Robert Burns, Scotland’s national poet, and the children told the story of his life and achievements through words, song, poetry and dancing. Highlights included an enthusiastic rendition of the jeely piece song, Highland dancing, a display of beautiful ‘red red rose’ paintings and some amusing Scottish phrases. ‘Auld Lang Syne’ provided a rousing end to the proceedings. The children’s performance was made all the more special by our very own live piper, Uncle Dave!

Well done to the boys and girls and many thanks to Mrs Allison, Miss Tyrell and Mrs McDerment for all their hard work preparing the children.

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 for Cathedral parents and carers is the vital area of Child Protection and Safeguarding.

Cathedral Primary School & Nursery Class provides a safe, positive and nurturing environment in which children can grow in their physical, emotional, social, academic, spiritual and moral development. We recognise the vital contribution Cathedral Primary School & Nursery Class makes to safeguarding pupils
from harm and take great care to carry out our statutory responsibilities actively and conscientiously in partnership with all other concerned parties.

Please click on the link below and take a few moments to read through our Child Protection and Safeguarding leaflet which is given to all new visitors to Cathedral Primary School & Nursery Class:

Child protection leaflet

Cathedral’s full Child Protection and Safeguarding policy, based on the most up-to-date national guidance (2023), can be accessed via the link below:

Child Protection policy Aug 2023

All ‘Friday Focus’ posts can now be accessed on the ‘Looking ahead to inspection’ page in the ‘Parent’ section of our website:

Looking ahead to inspection

Cathedral pupils marked Burns Day on Thursday 25th January by wearing a touch of tartan and enjoying a traditional lunch of haggis, neeps and tatties… a nice warm-up to Primary 2’s Learning Showcase which takes place on Friday 26th and is all about our national poet, Robert Burns.

There was a great turnout for the first of our ‘Talk for Writing’ family learning workshops on Tuesday 23rd January. Mrs Tominey and Miss Cameron delivered a presentation on the ‘Talk for Writing’ approach and then several Primary 4 and Primary 7 pupils read some of their own compositions to demonstrate how they had used an original text to support their ideas and writing. The session finished with the opportunity for parents and carers to visit their child’s classroom to see ‘Talk for Writing’ techniques in action and enjoy reading the pieces in their child’s Taught Writing jotter.

Many thanks to Mrs Tominey and Miss Cameron for preparing and delivering the workshop and a special thanks to the six P4 and 7 pupils who helped bring the presentation to life.

This ‘Talk for Writing’ family learning session will be repeated for parents and carers of P3a, P3/4, P4b, P5/6, P7a and 7c pupils on Tuesday 30th January at 9.15am.