Pupils continue to settle in well and there is an element of normality around the school despite the circumstances. Staff and pupils continue to adhere to guidelines in place in order to help minimise the spread of the virus. This includes the wearing of masks inside the building, hand sanitiser at all the entrances, cleaning of desks between classes, staggered entry into the building at the start of the day (as well as after interval and lunch) and double periods (to minimise movement around the school and the number of contacts in a day).
I recently met with Principal Teachers to discuss results from last year as well as departmental plans for the coming years. These were all very positive meetings and it was great for me to have the chance to talk about where we have been and the direction we are taking. Hopefully we will be in a better position this year to take things forward without the same interruptions. Our whole school priorities this year are:
- Learning and teaching
- Health and wellbeing
- Digital
- Wellbeing, inclusion and equality
NLC have funded a Principal Teacher in the school to help with the running of the new ‘Future Fridays’ – congratulations to Mr McGurk in PE who was appointed to this position. We have a large number of pupils staying on for the Friday afternoon and hope to expand the offering that is there as we move forward. To keep up to date please follow the new Twitter account @FridayOlhs . There are also a number of lunchtime and after school sports clubs now running in the PE department throughout the week, which a number of pupils have signed up to. Pupils should get down to the PE department if they are interested and speak to one of the PE teachers.
Congratulations also to Mr McHugh who was appointed permanently to the post of DHT vacated by Mrs Moore who retired at the summer.
We had our first meeting of the Parent Council on Monday 6th September. The school is lucky to have such a strong group in place to support the school. If you are interested in joining, please contact the school office and we will pass your email on the relevant people. The next meeting is the AGM that will take place on Monday 4th October. Again, if you would like to attend the AGM, please contact the school office. The email address is:
enquiries-at-ourladyshigh@northlan.org.uk
We celebrate our Patronal Feast day around the 8th September, The Nativity of Our Lady. Normally this would include a whole school Mass with many guests, along with other activities. Obviously this could not happen due to restrictions but we were grateful to Fr Ness, our school chaplain, for celebrating class Masses for all our S1 classes as well as a Mass for the S6 Caritas pupils. On the Friday there were also activities and a quiz for pupils. Thanks to Mrs Smith for all her work in organising these activities.
This is the time of year when pupils, mainly in S6, start to think about their application for University, which is done using UCAS. A presentation about this was emailed to all parents of S5/6 pupils. Last week Mr McVeagh organised for Focus West, who support pupils into Higher Education, to have 1-1 meetings with pupils. We are hoping this has provided them with relevant information which will help them in this process.
Please note the following dates:
Friday 24th and Monday 27th September: September weekend holidays
Monday 11th – Friday 18th October: school closed for October week.
