Message from Mrs Cunningham

This has been a year like no other and we have adapted to restrictions that we never imagined were possible. As the Head Teacher of the Our Lady’s High School community, I could not be prouder of how everyone, staff and pupils, have pulled together to make this work.

On a brighter note, we as a school community have supported our wider community with outstanding generosity during Advent. We have sent 60 boxes and 50 bags of food to our local parishes and to the Chryston and Cumbernauld food banks. We also donated an overwhelming amount to the Cumbernauld and Kilsyth Baby Bank. I can’t thank everyone enough and feel very privileged to be leading the Our Lady’s community at this time. #TheOurLady’sWay

I hope that you all have a well earned rest over Christmas and manage to find some peace and joy in the season.

Warmest regards

Mrs Cunningham
Head Teacher

Christmas Card

Well done to Rosie Boyce (S5) who designed this year’s school Christmas card. The design focused on Our Lady and depicts ‘Madonna and child’. What a beautiful piece of artwork.

Also thanks to Jonathan Stockley, our Technical Technician who has designed and made a new Christmas crib. A fabulous addition to our nativity scene.

Christmas Giving

Some of our Senior House Ambassadors Jennifer, Aedan, Megan and Eva helping to organise all the items for the Cumbernauld & Kilsyth baby bank. We were overwhelmed by the generosity of the community of Our Lady’s. We received a huge amount of baby clothes as well as nappies, a baby bath and moses basket. The representatives from the baby bank were delighted to pick up so much from our school on Friday 4 December.

We have also been collecting food and toiletries for our local Food Bank. Our S3 Personal Development class helped organise the items for delivery. What a fantastic response from our community – 60 boxes and 50 bags packed full of groceries for families in our area!

Christmas Door Competition

Well done to all the staff and pupils who entered the ‘Christmas Door’ competition 2020.

The standard of entries this year was outstanding and the voting organised by Miss Erskine caused a real buzz on Friday 18 December!

The winning door was Mr Lester’s Christmas Fireplace with his S6 helpers Connor Coyle, Max Dunlop and Lewis Smith. The boys have decided to donate their prize money to Radio Clyde’s Cash for Kids Appeal. An incredible gesture!

In second place is Ms Thompson’s Santa Workshop and in third place is Miss Holme’s Christmas Film Premiere.

Thanks to all the work creating the fantastic Christmas doors!

Christmas Cakes and Gifts

Our senior pupils from the N5 Practical Cake Craft class have been designing and preparing their Christmas Cakes over the last few weeks.

They are now taking them home for their families to enjoy!

Our senior pupils from the Leadership class made some Christmas keepsakes for our local ASN Nursery children.

They delivered them to the Nursery in person last week. The young children were delighted with their fabulous gifts.

Welcome back to Our Lady’s

It is hard to believe that we are now in the month of September and we have been back at school for a number of weeks.  I was delighted to welcome our young people back to Our Lady’s High School after the summer break and to once again hear the sound of a school filled with pupils.  Although school is a little different just now, having our community together again is something we are very proud of.  We are especially pleased to welcome our new S1 pupils to Our Lady’s.

Our young people have been adjusting to all of the new protocols and procedures that are now in place. They are using their new entry and exit points, following the one way systems, responding to our staggered bells, accepting of our frequent hand sanitising, enjoying their new areas and yards for socialising while they are getting used to wearing face coverings.

Face to face teaching and learning is what we all want and our classrooms are alive again.  Staff have been reminding pupils about Microsoft Teams and Glow in the event that we need to resort to a blended learning programme in the future.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank all parents and carers for their support as we adjust to our new normal.

We thank Our Lady for keeping our community safe and pray that we are moving towards brighter times for everyone.

Mrs Cunningham, Head Teacher

SQA Achievements 2020

Once again pupils in Our Lady’s have achieved fantastic SQA results.

In S4, an outstanding 56% of pupils attained five or more National 5 Awards at Grade C or above. This is a fantastic achievement, and our students should be very proud of this.

Congratulations also go to 21 pupils in S4 who attained 7 As in their National 5 awards – a phenomenal achievement. They are Madison Adams, Imran Ali, Nicholas Colella, Patrick Connolly, Jessica Cox, Lily-Anna Govan, Mya-Qi Hunter, Keira Johnston, Keira MacDonagh, Calum Mackenzie, Flynn Malcolm, Aidan Malcolm-Gourley, Rebekah McDermott, Ciara McGrath, Mark McKay, Rachel McLennan, Alexander Peters, Roksana Putowska, Maria Roos, Liam Sharp and Katie Shearer.

Our S5 pupils also worked hard to ensure success this year. 15 pupils in S5 attained 5 As in their Highers, which was a fantastic achievement. Congratulations to Ganre Akpubi, Lauren Archibald, Sam Bryant, Katie Collins, Mia Docherty, Jennifer Foy, Riordan Gallagher, Eva Lorentzen, Emma McCurrach, Hannah McLardy, Louise McSherry, Eilidh Mitchell, Sam Pender, Eva Stewart and Devlin Tomlinson.

Additionally, 27% of our pupils achieved 5 Highers, 59% achieved 3 or more Highers, and 76% achieved at least one Higher in S5.

Well done to all our pupils for their SQA achievements this year. Even though we cannot recognise this formally at our usual Awards Ceremony we are still extremely proud of their achievements.

Our Lady’s Feast Day

To celebrate our Feast Day this year we have organised several activities in our school community. On Wednesday 9 September, Father McKay celebrated Mass in St. Joseph’s Church for staff to celebrate Our Lady’s Feast Day.  Pupils were involved in various tasks in class relating to Our Lady during the week.

On Tuesday 8 September, our S4 Personal Development class distributed prayer cards, candles and a small cake to all staff.

Digital Learning

Digital learning is ongoing in Our Lady’s High School. All pupils have Glow usernames and passwords which can be used to download and use Microsoft Teams on both computers and mobile devices. Senior pupils also now have access to their SCHOLAR accounts for online learning. If any pupil needs a reminder of their details then please see Mr Winning in the Maths Department.

UCAS 2021

All S6 students who intend to apply to University for entry in 2021 should now be registered on the UCAS website. They should be researching courses, working on their personal statements and should speak to their Pupil Support Teacher if they need any help.