Our Lady of Good Aid Cathedral Primary School

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.

Primary 7 pupils gathered in Our Lady of Good Aid Cathedral on the evening of 22nd June to celebrate their Leavers’ Mass and Graduation. In his homily, Fr Mark spoke of the children being at an important crossroads in their lives and encouraged them to have the courage to follow Jesus in the years ahead. The music was led beautifully by the school choir, accompanied by Mr John Pitcathley on the organ.

At the beginning of the graduation ceremony, Mr Young encouraged the children not to waste their time and energy either trying to stand out or fit in, but to discover the unique person God has created them to be and learn to be happy and content in their own skin. This was followed by the presentation of graduation bags containing certificate, hoodie, mortar board, Pope Francis Faith Award and high school tie before awards for Academic Excellence, Sportsmanship, Citizenship and Wider Achievement were announced.

The children rounded off the occasion with a specially written song to the tune of ‘I’m a believer’. There was then time for photographs and socialising in the cathedral grounds, including mortar boards being ceremoniously thrown up into the air.

Cathedral school and parish communities wish all of this year’s Primary 7 pupils every success in the future.

To mark the end of their time in Cathedral Primary School, P7 pupils enjoyed an afternoon of fun together at their ‘C in the Park’ music festival on 23rd June. A live DJ kept the beats going throughout the afternoon and the children had the opportunity to get their face painted, visit the tattoo parlour, grab a drink at the cocktail bar or just chill with their friends. A pizza delivery kept the children’s energy levels up… just as well as the event finished with a massive water balloon fight!

The photos below give a glimpse into the fun had by all.

The weather was glorious for this year’s sports which took place on 20th and 21st June.

The two-day event began with a vibrant  opening ceremony which included an impressive routine from the school’s cheerleading team before each ‘country’ processed out to the pitch to their national anthem. Leonard the Lion, the main character in a story book written by P7 teacher, Mrs Rimmer, made a guest appearance, and the samba band from St Aidan’s High School entertained the children as they headed off to compete in the various events.

Children across all stages showed incredible effort, enthusiasm and sportsmanship in Day 1’s various events. Day 2 saw the children participate in traditional races including sprints, three-legged and egg and spoon.

The House which emerged as this year’s winner was DOUGLAS. Well done to Douglas House and to each and every pupil for participating with such enthusiasm.

As we approach the end of another school year, I have pleasure in sharing the 2021/22 School Improvement Report with you. This report outlines how we have taken forward the priorities in this year’s School Improvement Plan and the ways we have used our Pupil Equity Fund to improve outcomes for Cathedral pupils. It also sets out some of our next steps as we continue on our improvement journey. An updated Improvement Journey Timeline can also be accessed below, providing a useful visual diagram of the various developments and improvements over the past two years.

Cathedral Primary SIR June 2022

Improvement timeline

There is no doubt that the COVID-19 pandemic has brought significant challenges to Cathedral Primary School and Nursery Class. However, it has also brought opportunities, providing time and space to review and develop our curriculum, including the development of new progression pathways, strengthen our universal offer in literacy and numeracy, and put in place robust systems to gather data on attainment and use this to inform learning and teaching and improve outcomes for pupils. As we emerge from the pandemic, Cathedral Primary and Nursery Class finds itself in a strong position, with a shared ambition across the entire school community to be outward and forward looking in the months and years ahead.

Please can I take this opportunity to thank Cathedral staff for their commitment and hard work throughout this year, parents, carers and parishioners for their on-going friendship and support and, of course, Cathedral pupils for being such engaged and enthusiastic learners. There’s never a day goes by when I don’t feel privileged to be Head Teacher of such a very special school community!

Head Teacher