S3 History “Digging In” Field Trip

Over the past few weeks, all S3 History classes visited the ‘Digging In’ World War One exhibition in Pollok Country Park.  This field trip was in keeping with the Era of the Great War 1900-1928 unit of work.

Pupils toured a reconstructed trench to learn more about the structure of trenches, weapons used during WWI and soldiers’ uniforms and ration packs.  Each class also took part in a number of workshops including ‘Commemoration’, ‘Wounded in War’ and had the opportunity to use periscopes in the trenches.

S1 App Design Project

S1 pupils Maya McGonigle, Ciara McGrath, Kiera McLeod and Monica Pencovitch won a competition run by Strathclyde University to design a smartphone app.  Their winning app design allows users to access their contacts from another person’s mobile phone in the event of an emergency.

A team from the Computing Science Department of Strathclyde University consisting of Ruaridh Gallagher, Gillian Shanks and Dr John Devine have taken the girls’ idea forward and are developing it into a working app.

The team from Strathclyde University came to Our Lady’s on Thursday 9 March to work with the girls and to show them the work they have done on the app so far.  The girls were joined by a group of P7 pupils from St. Joseph’s in Cardowan who came to see how an idea can be turned into a working app.  Well done to the girls for their idea of the “Lifesaver”.

S5 Study Weekend

36 S5 pupils spent the weekend at New Lanark Youth Hostel from Friday 24 to Sunday 26 February where they followed a timetable of study tutorials to prepare them for their Higher exams in May.

The subjects tutorials on offer included English, Mathematics, Biology, Physics, Modern Studies and Geography. A huge thank you to all the staff who gave up their time to benefit our young people.

This is the third year we have organised the study weekend and every year pupils have commented on the huge amount of work they managed to do, how beneficial the tutorials are and how good the food was!

Pupils feel better prepared for their final exams and we wish them well.

Subject Champions

S6 pupils were chosen by departments to act as subject champions. They had to research their subjects and career paths to inform our S2 pupils as they begin their Options Process. Our subject champions then spoke to pupils and showed displays which they created.

Their displays and activities were fantastic and our S2 pupils thoroughly enjoyed learning from their older peers and commented how the information has prepared them for their option choices.

Residential Weekend in Arran

3 S4 boys James McElhinney, Matt McVitie and Connor Nicol enjoyed a fantastic weekend at Lochranza Outdoor Centre in Arran organised by NLC.

They participated in a variety of classroom based activities as well as outdoor activities such as abseiling and canoeing.

The boys had a fantastic time In Arran.

Knights of St. Columba High School Quiz

8 senior pupils attended the Knights of St. Columba High School Quiz on Friday 17 February as part of Catholic Education Week. They competed as two teams answering questions on Geography, Music, Film & TV, Sport and General Knowledge. Despite a great effort they sadly just placed outside the top three.

Team A was Ciara Bonner, Lewis Fotheringham, Rhiannon Maguire and Ryan McTurk. Team B was Adam Cowan, Michael McDonald, Jack Robertson and Paul Harbison-Smith.

S2 into S3 Course Information Booklet

Click on the image below to access the S2 into S3 Course Information booklet.

Click here to access a printable options form.

Study Saturdays

Click here to access a printable form.

Easter School

Click here to access a printable form.

Catholic Education Week

The Catholic Church in Scotland encourages schools, parishes and other agencies to work closely together in order to celebrate the successes of Catholic education particularly during one week each year.  The purpose of Catholic Education Week is to highlight the significance of education, not only for young people but for society as a whole. Developing Our Faith – Our Spiritual Journey Pupils celebrate Catholic Education Week in Our Lady’s Catholic Education Week 2017 has the theme “Developing as a Community of Faith and Learning” and we celebrated as a community of faith with pupil assemblies led by Caritas students, activities in RE classes and on Thursday 16 February all S3 pupils attended Mass concelebrated by our Parish Priests in celebration of the links between school and parish. Celebrating Our Lady’s Feast Day In September each year the community of Our Lady’s High School celebrates Our Lady’s birthday. This year, Caritas Students led S2 to S5 pupils in prayer reflection services, whilst S1 and S6 pupils gathered for Mass in the Assembly Hall. The beautiful Mass was celebrated by our school chaplain, Father McKay, joined by local Parish Priests Father John Campbell of Sacred Heart and St. Lucy’s Parishes and Father O’Brien of St. Joseph’s Parish Cardowan. Primary 7 Mass of Enrolment Each year in June we celebrate a Mass of Enrolment to welcome our Primary 7 pupils as members of the community of Our Lady’s High School. The Mass this year was concelebrated by our school chaplain Father McKay and Father John Campbell of Sacred Heart and St. Lucy’s Parishes. The Pope Benedict XVI Caritas Award The Pope Benedict XVI Caritas Award encourages and promotes the ongoing faith journey of young people. It recognises that some are already active and committed within their homes, schools, parishes and dioceses and it invites others to respond to God’s call of love. We have 21 S6 pupils working towards their Caritas Award this year and they attended an enrolment ceremony at Motherwell Cathedral. Archdiocese of Glasgow Mass for High Schools A number of pupils also enjoyed the opportunity to visit St. Andrew’s Cathedral to meet with young people from across the Archdiocese to pray, sing and chat together and listen to Archbishop Tartaglia’s address at the recent Mass for High Schools. “Breaking Open” Conferences for RE Teachers To further develop their own faith, teachers in Our Lady’s have participated in the “Breaking Open” Conferences for non-specialist RE teachers exploring the key themes from the Senior Phase of This is Our Faith. These professional learning conferences were organised by the Catholic Church and took place in the Conforti Institute in Coatbridge. Developing Our Faith – Our Faith in Action Interfaith Conference S4 pupils Challum Brown, Caitlin Clancy, David Hughes and Cara James represented Our Lady’s High at the recent Interfaith Conference in Alona Hotel, Motherwell. The theme of the conference was “Religion and the Media” and the students enjoyed the opportunity to discuss the ways in which religious diversity should be celebrated in Scotland. Christmas Hamper Appeal During the month of December all RE classes at Our Lady’s were asked to make a hamper of treats to be delivered to the elderly and needy residents of Cumbernauld. The young people and their families managed to collect enough food to make almost 60 hampers which was a fantastic achievement and demonstrates the faith of our young people in action. Pensioners’ Christmas Lunch In December the students of Our Lady’s hosted a party for 50 elderly parishioners from our local parishes as well as the Church of Scotland and St. Mary’s Episcopalian Church. The VIP guests were treated to a Christmas dinner and a Nativity play.  A wonderful time was had by all! Malawi Last June, 9 senior students visited our partner school St. John Bosco in Malawi. The pupils and teachers were warmly welcomed and the head teacher spoke very kindly about our partnership and highlighted the types of things they have been able to do with the kindness and support from the community of Our Lady’s High School.