There was great excitement in Cathedral Primary on Monday 28th March when Ross MacKenzie, author of ‘The Nowhere Emporium’, visited the school for the official opening of our new library.
The morning began with a special launch event in the hall for Primary 4 – 7 pupils at which Ross read from his brand new book, ‘The Colour of Hope’. Given that the book has yet to be released, pupils and staff were absolutely thrilled when Ross gifted two copies of the book for our new library. The children then had the opportunity to ask Ross some questions to discover more about what it’s like to be an author and then one pupil from each year group became the lucky winner of one of Ross’s books, personally signed by the author.
After the proceedings in the hall, the entire school formed a walkway in the playground for Ross, a life-sized Book Bug and an entourage of pupils to walk through. The procession finished up at the new library where Ross cut the ribbon, accompanied by the cheers of 100+ pupils from Winners Wynd. Ross was the first to enter and explore our fantastic new library and was delighted to encounter a special ‘Ross MacKenzie’ display just inside the door, created by Primary 7 pupils. Pupils then had the opportunity to get their personal copies of Ross’s books signed.
The design of our new library was co-ordinated by our twelve House Captains, in partnership with Caledonian Furniture in Cumbernauld. Scotia
Books, Kilsyth, worked with the school to select and supply a wide range of brand new top-quality fiction and non-fiction books for the children to enjoy (of course, all of Ross MacKenzie’s books can be found on the shelves!). The new space includes an infant ‘reading wood’, a dedicated reference section down the centre of the room and comfortable, grown-up seating for older pupils.
The school has invested in an electronic cataloguing system so that books can be scanned in and out. The library is also ready for the introduction of ‘Accelerated Reader’ in August which will allow pupils to complete a quiz on the books they have read and will also provide the facility for each class teacher to monitor and track their pupils’ reading for enjoyment.
The photographs below give a small glimpse of the fantastic new space, housing literally thousands of brand new books, which Cathedral pupils will be able to explore and enjoy for many, many years to come.
On Friday 25th May, Cathedral pupils gathered together as a community of faith to pray for all those impacted by the war in Ukraine. As a reminder that Jesus walks with us through times of pain and suffering, Primary 7 pupils led the children in reflecting on each of the Stations of the Cross.
The makeover of Cathedral Nursery garden is now well underway, thanks to all the donations we have received. Over the past few weeks, the children have been busy learning the names of garden tools and how to use these safely. They have also been transporting the soil into the new planters, ready for planting. The boys and girls have worked together as a team to spread and rake the new bark and have even had a wee hurl in the wheelbarrow!
The young learners of Cathedral and Firpark campus teamed up on Friday 25th March to support a local Motherwell foodbank. Miss Cawley and Cathedral Primary’s Laudato Si’ Committee co-ordinated the gathering of items donated by the two schools and Andrew Ewart from the Maranatha Foodbank was utterly blown away by the generosity of Cathedral and Firpark pupils.
Cathedral pupils had great fun conjuring up whacky hair styles for this year’s Crazy Hair Day which took place on Friday 18th March. There were some absolutely incredible creations and all money raised went to our two Lenten charities, Missio and SCIAF.
Around fifty of our Primary 3 pupils celebrated their First Reconciliation in Our Lady of Good Aid Cathedral on Tuesday 15th March. Fr Chromy led the children and their families in the liturgy and Fr Mark, Fr Stephen and Canon O’Mahony were also present to hear the children’s confessions. It was a beautiful, prayerful occasion and the boys and girls lifted the roof at the end of the celebration with a new song called ‘Our God is a great big God’, which reminded the children that God knows and loves each and every one of them.
The launch of our new Rose Trainer Achievement Award, named after the very first Head Teacher of the parish school, took place on 11th March 
(Rose Trainer’s birthday). A special Mass was celebrated in the Cathedral, attended by a representative from each class and the entire Primary 7 year group. Invited guests included Roisin Coll, Director of the St Andrew’s Foundation at the University of Glasgow, and Dan Cardle, Head Teacher of Our Lady’s High School.
Gerard Gough from Missio Scotland visited Cathedral Primary on Friday 4th March to speak to Primary 4 – 7 pupils about the work of the charity. The children heard about various ways they can support the work of Missio (the pope’s personal mission charity) through prayer and giving.
