Our Lady of Good Aid Cathedral Primary School

On Wednesday 26th November, a team of Cathedral elves reached out to the local community with invitations to our Christmas Fayre, which takes place on Thursday 27th November. Santa’s little helpers delivered invitations along the length and breadth of Milton Street to residents, many of whom joined us for our 150th Jubilee exhibition back in May.

Miss Young has been a much‑loved member of the Cathedral Primary family since joining us two years ago. Always ready with a smile, a helping hand and a calm, diplomatic word on the football pitch, she has made a huge contribution to the life of our school.

Miss Young has decided to pursue a career in Early Years education and will take up a new post at St Timothy’s Nursery, Coatbridge, on Wednesday 26th November.

Cathedral will miss Miss Young’s warmth, patience and understanding. However, we extend our heartfelt thanks for all she has given during her time with us and wish her every success as she embarks on this exciting new chapter.

Pupils, staff, families, and parishioners came together to celebrate Education Sunday at the Vigil Mass in St Luke’s on Saturday 22nd November and the morning Mass in OLGA Cathedral on Sunday 23rd November. Cathedral pupils led the bidding prayers and offertory, while senior pupils from Our Lady’s High School delivered the readings and the Catholic Education Week address.

Across our schools and parishes, we celebrate and give thanks for the precious gift of Catholic Education which seeks to develop and nurture the whole person, build a community between home, school and parish and continue the Church’s mission of calling young people to discover and enter into a living relationship with Jesus Christ.

The four schools which make up Our Lady’s Cluster have put together an electronic newsletter for Catholic Education Week, which can be accessed via the link below.

https://sway.cloud.microsoft/ZZMPJduCPw0uKrJ6?ref=email

This enthusiastic Primary 3 learner proudly shared his persuasive letter to Santa with Mr Young on Friday 21st November. In his letter, he made a heartfelt request for a black and yellow bike this Christmas.

What made his writing especially engaging was the imaginative way he kept Santa entertained, asking thoughtful questions such as “How’s Mrs Claus doing?”, “Is my elf up to mischief?”, and “Is Rudolph ready for his big night?”

He told Santa about the icy weather here in Scotland before adding a special wish that it would snow really heavily this Christmas.

Having written such a fantastic letter, Mr Young is certain Santa will be persuaded to deliver that black and yellow bike!

Our Lady of Good Aid Cathedral was filled with family and friends as Primary 7 pupils received the Sacrament of Confirmation on Thursday 20th November. Every pupil participated attentively and prayerfully throughout the liturgy, and the beautiful music—led by Mr Greechan and the Cathedral School Choir—enhanced the reverent atmosphere.

Our sincere thanks go to Bishop Toal and Fr Lamb for celebrating the liturgy; to parents and families for accompanying the children on their ongoing faith journey; to Mrs Callaghan, Mrs Shevlin and Mrs Allison for preparing their classes for the sacrament; and to all those—both from the school and the parish—who worked diligently behind the scenes to ensure everything ran smoothly on the night.

We continue to keep all the pupils who received the Sacrament of Confirmation in our prayers.

This week, our young learners have been busily exploring the world around them through play, curiosity and imagination.

In the playroom, the children experimented with everyday objects as non-standard units of measure. Using blocks, wooden spools and colourful counting cubes, they compared the length and size of familiar items, even using their own hands and feet to compare with their friends.

During our local walks and indoor explorations, the children have also been spotting environmental print all around them. They eagerly identified signs, labels, logos and shop names they recognise from daily life. These moments sparked conversations about familiar places we visit, helping the children build on what they already know while encouraging them to think ahead and make choices in their learning.

We have also been tuning into sounds this week, focusing on hearing and identifying the initial sounds in our names. The children listened carefully to the first letter, practised saying the sound it makes, and enjoyed finding other words that begin the same way. We’d love our families to join in at home… keep an ear out for words that start with the same sound as your child’s name and share any discoveries with us!

Mrs Duffy happened upon some very enterprising elves on Wednesday 19th November, busy creating crafts to be sold at next week’s Christmas Fayre.  The learning street had been transformed into a festive workshop as the little elves from Primary 3b crafted their beautiful homemade decorations.

Make sure you pop along to the Christmas Fayre on Thursday 27th to see what else is on offer!

It’s Catholic Education Week, and Primary 2a have been enthusiastically taking on the challenges set by our ‘Ignite’ Junior Chaplaincy Team’s Faith in Action programme.

For their final challenge on Wednesday 19th November, Primary 2a learners created beautiful drawings of Our Lady. Well done, Primary 2a — your faith, creativity, and effort shine through!

Mr Young was delighted to encounter these Primary 7 learners on Tuesday 18th November as they rehearsed their hymns ahead of receiving the Sacrament of Confirmation. The sacrament will be celebrated in the Cathedral by Bishop Toal on Thursday 20th November and the children’s beautiful singing voices are sure to make it a prayerful and uplifting Mass.

We ask the prayers of the school and parish community as our Confirmandi enter these final days of preparation for the Sacrament of Confirmation. May the Holy Spirit guide and strengthen them as they take this important step in their faith journey.

Cathedral’s latest arrival, Marty the robot, has already been inspiring learning in Primary 6b. On Monday 17th November, staff took part in hands-on training with Mrs McCulloch, exploring how our ten new Martys can bring creativity, innovation, and fun to every Cathedral classroom.

Teachers left the training excited about working with Marty to make learning even more inspiring and engaging for Cathedral learners.