Our Lady of Good Aid Cathedral Primary School

As part of our ‘Ca-Fi Connections’ programme, pupils from Firpark and Cathedral Primaries are getting the opportunity to enjoy a guided tour of the other school they share the campus with. This is a great way for the children to meet each other and begin to forge new friendships. It’s good to know that Mrs Webster and Mr Young, the Head Teachers from the two schools, aren’t missing out: they have their very own school tours organised for next week!

Lynda Keith, an educational consultant with a specialism in mathematics and early years education, was back in Cathedral on Thursday 8th September. Lynda modelled a play-based lesson in Primary 2a, engaged in professional dialogue with infant staff and then worked with the leadership team to write the next part of ‘Actve8: Let’s Play’, a bespoke document which will help Cathedral staff deliver play-based learning in their classrooms.

Lynda worked with Primary 7a in the afternoon on developing a ‘Publication Station’ in their learning street and also did a learning walk in the nursery to provide some input on how the playroom could be further developed. Lynda rounded off the day by joining our staff meeting, where Cathedral teachers received their next part of ‘Talk for Writing’ training from Miss Cameron.

Now that we are at a different stage of the pandemic, Cathedral Primary & Nursery Class are committed to being outward looking: learning from what’s happening elsewhere to challenge our own thinking. As well as Cathedral staff visiting other schools, an important part of looking outwards is opening the doors of the school to people who can see things with a fresh pair of eyes. We look forward to continuing to work with Lynda in the coming months.

Our School Improvement Plan for 2022/23 can be accessed by clicking on the link below:

Cathedral Primary & Nursery SIP 2022-23

We have three school priorities for the year ahead, along with a cluster and a Nursery priority.

Cluster Priority: To ensure equity for all learners & improve attainment.

School Priority 1: Raise attainment in writing across all stages through a review and refresh of teaching approaches.

School Priority 2: Raise attainment in reading by developing and embedding a culture of Reading for Enjoyment across all stages, reinforced by the use of ‘Accelerated Reader’.

School Priority 3: Establish a digital pedagogy across all stages of the curriculum which engages learners and delivers a high-quality learning experience for all pupils.

Nursery Priority: Raise attainment in writing through the introduction and embedding of ‘Talk for Writing’ approaches, underpinned by a culture of reading for enjoyment.

It’s been great to see our returning children take on the responsibility of being buddies to our new children and supporting them to settle in. They are proudly wearing their buddy badges as they go about their nursery day!

Our new children are starting to settle into the routine and are choosing to explore indoors and outdoors making choices to learn new things.  Our focus is all about building friendships, caring for others and sharing… all aimed at supporting our new-starts to respect others and the nursery toys and resources. This focus will continue over the next few weeks as the transition from home to nursery continues.

As a special thank you for getting the new school year off to such a fantastic start, Cathedral pupils and staff were treated to a special performance of ‘The Jungle Book’ on Thursday 25th August. M&M productions transported the children to a far off land, introducing them to Mowgli, Baloo, Shere Khan and other characters from Rudyard Kipling’s famous book.

A fantastic afternoon was had by all and, as always, Cathedral pupils behaved impeccably and participated with huge enthusiasm.

73 very eager and enthusiastic new Primary 1 pupils joined the Cathedral Primary family on Wednesday 15th August. The boys and girls have settled into school life exceptionally well and their learning in mathematics, literacy and all other areas of the curriculum is already well underway. Mrs Gillespie (P1a), Mrs Laird (P1b) and Miss Forsyth (P1c) are very impressed indeed and Mr Young is so proud of each and every one of them! Well done, boys and girls!

OLGA Cathedral Primary School and Firpark Primary School are privileged to share the same campus. Cathedral and Firpark staff came together on Tuesday 16th August to begin to reconnect after COVID and explore how the two schools might work more closely in the coming months and years.

Once established, our ‘CA-FI Connections’ programme will provide regular opportunities for Cathedral and Firpark pupils to come together, build friendships and engage in meaningful learning experiences. We will endeavour to ensure all CA-FI Connections activities are:

INCLUSIVE, allowing all Firpark & Cathedral pupils to fully participate.

MEANINGFUL, providing authentic learning opportunities, linked to Curriculum for Excellence Experiences & Outcomes, for pupils from both establishments.

COLLABORATIVE, planned and led equally by class teachers from both establishments.

MANAGEABLE & PROPORTIONATE, avoiding unnecessary workload for staff and protecting time for the children’s other learning.

SUSTAINABLE, able take place on an annual basis.

Staff from both schools are really excited about working together and are looking forward to helping Cathedral and Firpark pupils connect in fun and informal ways during the course of this term.

As Cathedral Primary arrives at the last day of the school year, with the summer holidays stretching ahead of both pupils and staff, our school community also bids a sad farewell to Mrs Munro. Mrs Munro has been part of the Cathedral team for twenty years and, as those who have encountered her will know, she never fails to have a smile and a kind word for everyone she meets. We will miss Mrs Munro a great deal and wish her a very long and happy retirement.

Cathedral also bids farewell to Miss Campbell, who has taught P6a this year, as she moves on to a new post at St Bernadette’s. We thank her for being such a great member of the team and wish her all the very best in her new school.

To everyone connected to Cathedral – pupils, staff, parents, parishioners, friends – HAVE A GREAT SUMMER! See you in August.