Our Lady of Good Aid Cathedral Primary School

Three Cathedral pupils travelled to Carfin Grotto with Mrs Duffy on Friday 30^th September for a special Mass celebrated by Bishop Toal, followed by an opportunity to venerate the Relics of St Bernadette Soubirous. The pupils then joined Bishop Toal at the Grotto for the traditional Lourdes Water Liturgy and blessing.

Prayer of Saint Bernadette

O My God, I beg You, by Your
Loneliness, not that You may
spare me affliction, but that
You may not abandon me in it.
When I encounter affliction,
teach me to see You in it
as my sole comforter.
Let affliction strengthen
my faith, fortify my hope,
and purify my love.
Grant me the grace to see
Your hand in my affliction
and to desire no other
comfort but You.
Amen.

As the month of October begins, a special display has appeared in the school library, dedicated to Black History Month. We hope the books on this display will help highlight to Cathedral pupils the achievements of the Black community, celebrate their contributions to our country and learn about the important Black historical figures who helped make Britain and the world what it is today.

After a decade of dedicated service to Cathedral Primary School, Miss Love waved goodbye to pupils and staff on Friday 30th September. Our whole school community surprised Miss Love at the end of assembly with a procession to the Cathedral throne, an interview with Mr Young, the presentation of a gift and a very enthusiastic rendition of ‘If I were a butterfly’.

Miss Love will be greatly missed by everyone here at Cathedral, but we wish her success and happiness as she jets off to Saudi Arabia to take up her new teaching post.

A number of visitors descended on Cathedral Primary on Friday 17th September for a photoshoot in advance of this year’s Catholic Education Week, which takes place in November.

Ten Cathedral pupils, along with Fr Mark, Mr Young and Mrs Carroll, our RE Co-ordinator, were joined by Barbara Coupar (Director of the Scottish Catholic Education Service) Louise Elliot (also from SCES) and Claire O’Neill (RE Advisor for the Diocese of Motherwell) for the publicity event. Paul Sherry took the photographs and these will be used to promote this year’s Catholic Education Week across Scotland.

Friday 16th September saw over two hundred family members fill Cathedral Primary dining hall for the first coffee morning of the year. The event was organised and coordinated by Primary 6 pupils and the boys and girls made sure every one of the guests was well looked after. As always, the raffle was very popular, with a huge array of prizes kindly donated for the event.

An incredible £1108 was raised for school funds and the money will be used to support and enhance the children’s learning experiences over the coming months.

A huge thank you to the Fundraising Committee for organising and setting up the event. Cathedral school community is very fortunate to have you!

We look forward to next term’s coffee morning which takes place on Friday 18th November.

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.