Our Lady of Good Aid Cathedral Primary School

Congratulations to our Primary 6 pupils who were successful in their interviews to become Nursery Buddies. Our enthusiastic and committed learners responded to Mrs Duffy’s job advert, completed an application form, and took part in a formal interview process.

The successful applicants graduated from Buddy Training School on Thursday 29th January, signed their contracts, and will begin their Nursery Buddy shift rota in the coming days.

You can find out more about how Cathedral develops the workforce of the future by clicking the link below.

 below.https://blogs.glowscotland.org.uk/nl/olga/developing-the-young-workforce/

On Thursday 29th January, Primary Seven learners visited another learning street to share their digital expertise with some of our younger pupils. They brought along a special guest — Marty the Robot — much to the delight of Mrs Loose and Primary 4/5.

Our senior pupils demonstrated their coding skills, helping Marty walk, talk and even sing. It was a fantastic example of leadership, teamwork and enthusiasm in action.

On Wednesday 28th January,  Cathedral’s Attainment Team hosted a targeted family learning workshop at which parents and carers had the opportunity to learn alongside their child using different numeracy strategies.  There was a great buzz around the room and parent/carer feedback on the session was exceptionally positive:

“Very helpful, being presented visually was great”

“It was very useful, full of ideas to work with [my child] at home.”

“The session was informative and interactive.”

“Was a joy to see the progression of all the kids.  Teacher is doing so well for them, really appreciated it.”

Our love of stories has continued to shine as we learned what a character is and began talking about our favourites. Children experimented with a wide range of writing and mark‑making tools, creating letter‑like shapes and using their imaginations to invent their own wonderful stories.

Maths has been woven through our play all week, with children spotting everyday objects and using them to count forwards and backwards, match quantities to numerals, and explore “how many” in meaningful, playful ways.

A special highlight has been welcoming our P6 buddies into Nursery, where the children loved spending time with them, sharing experiences, learning together, and beginning to build new friendships. We’re already looking forward to their next visit.

As part of their new class topic on natural disasters, these two Primary 3 geoscientists took on the challenge of designing a survival kit to withstand an extreme event on Tuesday 27th January. Their carefully considered items included a first aid kit, a torch, spare batteries and water. To deepen their learning, they then used the notes from their jotters to create a public information film using ScratchJr, showcasing their survival kit in action.

Two Cathedral learners you’d certainly want by your side during Storm Chandra!

Primary 1 parents and carers were invited to take part in a Play Family Learning session on Tuesday 27th January. Each of the three sessions began with a presentation from Mr Young, who explained the educational theory underpinning learning through play and how Cathedral Primary School structures play to provide a balance of adult‑led, adult‑initiated and child‑led experiences. Parents and carers then joined their children in the Play Zone to explore and enjoy learning activities together.

Primary 2 parents and carers will have the opportunity to attend a similar Family Learning session on Thursday 29th January.

Please click on the link below to access Cathedral’s January–June Family Learning leaflet:

Jan – June 2026 Family Learning programme

As part of our targeted family learning programme, Cathedral learners have the opportunity to attend our Monday homework club and bring along a parent/carer to join in their learning. The club, which supports learners across the school, provides a warm, quiet space for pupils to complete their homework, have access to any learning resources they need and get expert help from our Attainment Team if they get stuck. Of course, there’s juice and a biscuit to stop any rumbling tummies and a cuppa for the grown-ups!

Many thanks to our amazing Attainment Team for supporting Cathedral pupils’ learning beyond the end of the school day.

This Cathedral learner delivered an outstanding performance at a recent swimming tournament in Stirling. Over the course of the competition, she secured gold medals in the 50m front crawl, 50m back crawl, 50m breaststroke and 25m butterfly.

A remarkable achievement from a young athlete who continues to make Cathedral school community very proud!

This week, our young learners at Cathedral Nursery enjoyed a wide range of creative and confidence-building experiences. Through the use of loose parts, children explored sorting and matching in their own unique ways, thoughtfully explaining how they grouped objects according to different criteria.

A growing interest in musical rhythm was also evident. The children became budding music-makers by creating their own instruments using recycled and junk-modelling materials. They delighted in experimenting with a variety of sounds and proudly used their instruments to perform for their friends.

Ring games, both indoors and outdoors, have been a key focus this week, supporting the development of movement, rhythm, and cooperative play as children learned how to work together as a group.

The children also shared this month’s story, The Gruffalo’s Child. They carefully explored the illustrations and discussed the characters, with some learners using mark-making tools to create their own story characters. Through imaginative play, they confidently retold the story in their own words. Amazing learning from everyone!

Primary 4 took to the stage on Friday 30th May with a vibrant and engaging learning showcase all about the Victorians. Their audience were treated to lively, toe‑tapping songs and a wealth of fascinating facts — from ground breaking inventions like the telephone and the bicycle, to the huge impact of industrialisation on life in Great Britain. Pupils also shared what it was like to attend a strict Victorian school, explored the harsh realities of child labour, and explained why some children turned to pickpocketing rather than face the workhouse. They rounded off their performance by highlighting the important changes in law that eventually helped to protect and improve the lives of children.

With Cathedral Primary founded in 1875, this was a perfectly timed with the recent conclusion of the school’s 150th anniversary year. A huge well done to Primary 4 for their outstanding performance, and sincere thanks to Mrs McLaughlan, Mrs Cassidy, Miss Quinn and Mrs Loose for preparing the children so brilliantly for their big day.