Spotlight on Literacy Week

The main aims of the week were to focus on literacy, particularly reading, and all of the good practice we already have in Our Lady’s. Staff had ‘What I’m reading’ posters on their doors and sent ‘Shelfie’ pictures in for display. We had ‘Read a book week’ in English and in other classes too, where pupils in S1-3 got to read a book of their choice and hear readings from their teachers’ favourites.

S1 ICT classes did ‘All About Me’ presentations, linking the talking and presentation skills to literacy. In S3/4/5 Administration & IT they were all working on spreadsheets/word processing with an emphasis on the importance of proof reading and presentation so that they were suitable for any document or audience. Also, in S5/6 Business Management and Computing Science, pupils researched an entrepreneur or computing programmer they admired and used the research to create a biography. In Art, S1 pupils read from Theresa Breslin’s ‘Scottish Folk Tales’ and drew beautiful illustrations to match.

At lunchtime on Wednesday, it was ‘Storytime in the library’ where a number of teachers spoke about and read from books that meant something to them. Finally, on Friday and to round the week off, we had the ‘S1 Book Quiz’ where teams from every class in S1 (joined by staff from different departments) battled it out to see who had the supreme knowledge of books! The week was a tremendous success thanks to the enthusiasm of both staff and pupils.

Dragons’ Lair Enterprise Challenge – Winners !

“In October 2018 along with teams from 22 other schools in North Lanarkshire we entered the Dragons’ Lair Enterprise Challenge.  We attended a workshop with NLC, Business Gateway and business owners who talked to us about setting up and running your own business.  At the end of the workshop we had to come up with a business idea.

We came up with the idea of #Little Bag of Hope which is a rucksack containing the essentials a homeless person requires to survive the winter on the streets of Glasgow.  The products contained in the bag will be sponsored by well-known companies or donated by members up the public and they will be distributed by homeless charities.  There will also be “filling stations” throughout Glasgow for homeless people to get refills for the rucksacks once their original supplies run out.

On the day of the final we had to present our ideas to an audience made up of teachers, North Lanarkshire Council representatives, business owners and Business Gateway.

We couldn’t believe it when our names were called out as the winners!  It was a lot of hard but we all agree that it was worth it – not just for the prize we received, but also the problem solving, enterprising and presentation skills we gained through the whole process.”

Lucy McNee, Maria Roos & Erin O’Brien

Arran Residential

Three S4 boys had a terrific time staying at Lochranza Outdoor Centre on the Isle of Arran for a 4 day residential which included canoeing, abseiling, a nature walk and fire walk.

The boys James McWilliams, Philip Orifij and Reece Souch also participated in sessions from Tree of Knowledge on growth mindset and positive thinking. They all had a fantastic time.

S1 Football Team

Our S1 U13 boys’ football team won their 3rd round Scottish Shield match away to St Aidan’s HS Wishaw on Wednesday 14 November. The match ended 3-3 and our boys won 6-5 on penalties.

They showed great resilience again after trailing 1-0 to lead 3-1, but showed a slight lack of concentration to concede two very late goals for the match to end in a draw.

On Wednesday 21 November the boys recorded their fourth win from five matches in absolutely freezing conditions at Oak Road pitch, Abronhill against St Andrew’s High School in the first round of the Lanarkshire Cup. It was a close 4-2 win and very competitive match to watch.

Congratulations to the boys on their successes so far!

S4 Football Team

The U16 boys’ football team navigated their way to the 2nd round of the Clydesdale cup by winning the local derby match against Cumbernauld Academy 2-1 at Oak Road, Abronhill on Wednesday 14 November. Goals from Kyle Wright and Aaron Welsh in each half ensured victory in a game blighted by very strong winds.

Congratulations to all the players involved.

Our School Uniform

Here at Our Lady’s, as you know, we are really proud to set high standards in all aspects of our young people’s school experience both within the formal curriculum and beyond. This includes the commitment of parents and staff in ensuring all pupils are in full school uniform at all times in line with school policy. We believe uniform is essential in giving our young people a sense of identity, pride and belonging.

As the winter weather starts to set in, outdoor jackets are often required. Pupils must remove these in the school building and all pupils are required to wear their school blazer.

If your child does not have a blazer these can be ordered from our supplier LogoXpress (link given below).

Some families may be entitled to a Clothing Grant. This is at least £100 per child for those eligible. In addition, Free School Meals may also be available. Applications for both can be made through the link given below. Melanie Vernon, our Home School Partnership Officer, can be contacted at the school and will be very happy to assist with this.

Senior pupils who are over 16 may also be eligible for the Education Maintenance Allowance (EMA) Please use the link below or pupils can speak to Mr Brannan if they have any questions relating to EMA.

NLC also offers a range of information, support and advice to families in managing your money including recent reforms to benefit system– northlanarkshire.gov.uk/yourmoney

Please do contact the school if you have any questions or need any further assistance.

IMPORTANT LINKS (copy and paste link into your browser)

Uniform supplier: logoxpres-schoolwear.co.uk

Clothing and Free School Meals Grants: northlanarkshire.gov.uk/index.aspx?articleid=5452

Education Maintenance Allowance: northlanarkshire.gov.uk/index.aspx?articleid=5445.

North Lanarkshire: northlanarkshire.gov.uk/yourmoney

S1 SUMDOG October Winners

Congratulations to all the winners of our October Challenge. These pupils completed all 200 questions that were set on Sumdog last month.

Improvement in Maths and Numeracy is achieved through regular practice and Sumdog enables pupils to do this in a fun way. All S1 and S2 pupils have their own Sumdog login and can access it on computers, tablets and phones in school and at home. If your child has any difficulty accessing Sumdog, they should speak to their Maths class teacher or Mr Winning (Maths Department).

S1 Homework Time

Our school library is open for S1 who wish to do any homework during lunchtime every Tuesday and Thursday.

S1 have been making great use of this, working on all sorts of homework including accessing Sumdog practice.

Senior Mathematics Challenge

On 8 November, four of our senior pupils visited the University of the West of Scotland Paisley Campus to represent Our Lady’s in the UKMT Senior Mathematics Challenge.

Although we did not win a prize, the pupils involved (Ejiro Akpubi, Lucas Huggins (S5), David Hughes and Alexander Moffat (S6)) all had a great time and enjoyed the experience.

S4 Football Team

U16 boys football team won their Second Round Scottish Cup tie away to Bishopbriggs 5-4 (aet) on Wednesday 31 October. The boys showed real tenacity and team spirit coming from behind on more than one occasion. A fantastic result considering the game went to extra time and we only had 11 players. Congratulations to the boys on their fantastic performance and result. The scorers are:

Matthew Smith (2), Ross Hamilton, Aaron Welsh and Jamie Kinnear.