Our Lady and St. Francis Primary School

Last week our children thoroughly enjoyed a STEM Challenge Day on Tuesday, and a huge thank you must go to Mr Rankin for organising all of this.

Most interim reports were issued on Friday, and the remaining reports will be issued on Monday.

Looking to our week ahead, willow structures (funded by Tesco’s Bags of Help) will be planted on Monday. This will add another natural resource for  the children to play, explore and benefit from.  Also on Monday, our choir will be performing at the Regent Shopping Centre at 11.30am, as part of the annual Christmas Choir Competition.  If you haven’t already done so, please vote for our choir at :  https://subzerorecordingstudio.co.uk/choir/

On Tuesday, our whole school will visit Motherwell Civic Centre to go to the pantomime.  Please remember there will be a late return to school for this (approximately 4.15pm) and a separate letter was issued with full details of this.

Our nursery nativity performances are on Thursday, which the children have been practising hard for.

On Friday, it is our first Friday Mass and coffee morning, led by P6.  As always, we will be looking for donations of shop bought baking and biscuits, and raffle prizes.  Our P6 pupils will be entertaining those of you who come along to the coffee morning with some Christmas tunes.

Last week we welcomed staff from South Lanarkshire schools to work alongside P1, P1/2, P4, P6 and p6/7 staff.

Two p7 pupils had the opportunity to say bidding prayers at the Annual Education Mass on Tuesday night in Cathedral Church, and P6 and P7 pupils attended the SCIAF Mass on Thursday evening in St. Francis Xavier.  Our children are enjoying a wealth of out of school hours clubs this term, including dance, rosary, music, cross country, football and netball.  We are in the very privileged position of having Claire Maxwell, the coach for Scotland’s national netball team, coaching our netball club!  A huge thank you to Claire for giving up her time to give our young people an incredible experience.

Looking to our week ahead, we have a Parent Council meeting on Monday at 6pm in school and everyone is welcome.

On Tuesday, we are having a STEM challenge day. Mr Rankin has organised all sorts of fantastic activities for our children throughout the school.

On Friday, interim reports will be issued, so please keep an eye on your child’s schoolbag for this.

Last week our Primary 7 pupils visited Taylor High on Tuesday again as part of the transition programme. Taylor High staff and pupils also presented to our Primary 7 pupils and parents on Wednesday evening in the school hall about what to expect when they move on to high school.  The flu vaccination programme took place on Thursday, and the majority of our children took part in this.

Looking to our week ahead, Monday is an in-service day and school and nursery are closed to pupils.  We will be visited by colleagues from South Lanarkshire Council schools on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday of next week as part of our inter-authority family group work.  On Tuesday evening, two of our Primary 7 pupils will say a bidding prayer at the annual teachers’ mass in Cathedral Church.  On Thursday evening, our Primary 7 pupils will participate in the SCIAF Mass in St. Francis Xavier Church.

Last week, our P7 pupils enjoyed their first visit to Taylor High School on Tuesday as part of the transition programme.

Teaching staff enjoyed visits to three schools in South Lanarkshire Council, and we will welcome them to our school in a few weeks.

Mrs Shearer, a parent and a P7 pupil enjoyed a lovely evening at the Civic Centre on Thursday evening to celebrate 100 years of Catholic Education.

Looking to our week ahead, on Wednesday evening Taylor High School staff and pupils will deliver a presentation to P7 pupils and parents in OLSF in the school hall.  A separate letter has been issued about this.

The flu immunisation programme will take place in school on Thursday.

There have been lots of spooky things happening in nursery this week!  The children have been experimenting with Halloween playdough and mixing colours to make new colours.  They have also used playdough to make facial features for witches, ghosts and jack-o-lanterns.  In art, spiders and witches hats have been the order of the day, we have some very creative children in the nursery!!

The children’s costumes were all great, with everyone arriving dressed and ready for the party. A good time was had by all with dooking for apples, Halloween songs and stories, not to mention fun games in the gym hall.  Our party snack was celebrated in the dinner hall giving it a sense of occasion.

We are beginning to develop our outdoor area with the addition of some new resources, which the children are enjoying exploring.  These consist of different sized guttering and other smaller tubes as well as bathroom tiles, which we have used to paint on outdoors.  Watch this space for news of more innovative additions to your child’s outdoor learning environment!  Mrs Douglas.

Last week, the dental nurse visited nursery and Primary 1 on Monday.  Our choir performed beautifully at the Family History Show on Saturday at the Civic Centre in Motherwell.  Many thanks to Mr O’Brien, Miss Newall and Mr Docherty for accompanying them.

Looking to our week ahead, the dental nurse will be in on Monday to carry out fluoride varnishing in Nursery, P1 and P2.  On Monday evening, it is the Parent Council Halloween Disco.  P1-P3’s disco is from 6.15pm until 7.30pm and P4-P7’s disco is from 7.45pm until 9pm.  Please remember, children SHOULD NOT bring money with them as their ticket price included a snack and drink.

The Halloween Parade is on Wednesday afternoon – children should come to school in their normal school uniform on Wednesday morning and should either go home at lunch time to change into their costumes, or bring them with them to school and a member of staff will assist with changing at lunch time.

On Thursday it is All Saints’ Day and our whole school will attend 10am Mass at St. Francis Xavier Church. The liturgy will be led by P6/7 and they will also lead the coffee morning following Mass.  As always, we are looking for shop bought donations of baking and biscuits and raffle prizes.

After our  holiday we are all refreshed and happy to be back. We are noticing the rapid change in weather with the trees in our outdoor area losing their leaves fast.  The children have enjoyed investigating the masses of coloured leaves outdoors and are having fun with them in the wind.

The changes in our environment have merged nicely with our Goldilocks and the 3 Bears theme creating a lot of discussion about the woods. We made a big tree which is displayed in the cloakroom and this has created further opportunities for discussion about size.  Measuring height has been a natural progression for us and this has been done alongside the tree.  Our tree story is also evolving within the cloakroom for you to see.

The computer has been displaying a variety of Autumn games over the week, allowing the children to develop their memory and matching skills while gaining knowledge about healthy fruit and vegetables.

Pumpkins have been sourced and the children enjoyed investigating them before making pumpkin soup for snack. These experiences have helped them develop their knowledge of healthy, seasonal foods.

Our literacy outcome for this month has encouraged the children to discuss stories they like and dislike, affording a floorbook to have been completed with their views.

Our Halloween party will be held at the normal session times on Wednesday 31st October, we look forward to seeing your children in costume.

Last week we welcomed Her Majesty’s Inspectors from Education Scotland to our school and nursery.  I am sure you won’t be surprised to hear that they commented most positively about our confident, respectful and articulate children.  I would like to take this opportunity to thank each and every member of our school team for their hard work, enthusiasm and commitment to our school and children.

On Thursday evening, our P7 pupils enjoyed a Mass and a tour of Taylor High School as part of the continuity programme.  On Friday, our P7s led the liturgy at our first Friday Mass and then hosted our coffee morning.  Our coffee morning raised £230 – thank you to all who contributed or helped in any way.

Looking to our week ahead, it is our Parent Council AGM on Monday evening at 6pm.  Please come along if you can as we are desperately looking for new members.

On Wednesday evening, it is Parents’ Evening and we look forward to welcoming you to the school.  Our book fair has already arrived in the school, so feel free to have a look at this on Wednesday evening when you are with us.

Friday is the last day of school and nursery before our October week break.  Both school and nursery will be closed next week and will reopen at the usual times on Monday 22nd October.

We wish you all a restful break.

Another busy week in the nursery with the introduction of our new context “Goldilocks & the Three Bears”. The children have been learning about their senses this week with many porridge related experiences. Dry oats were introduced  in the water tray with this evolving into a science experiment with the addition of water.
Our maths outcome for the month is based on size.  We have used a variety of different sized resources through out the nursery to encourage the children to look at amounts.  Measuring cups were used by the children to make their own porridge for snack with cinnamon as an added extra, the smell was something everyone found pleasant.
The story of Goldilocks has put the risk of stranger danger in a context that heightens their understanding. This is especially helpful at this time of year with Hallowe’en fast approaching.  Mrs Douglas.

Last week our P7 pupils had a wonderful time in Kilbowie Outdoor Centre in Oban.  As always, they were fantastic ambassadors for our school and staff commented on how well they represented themselves.  A real credit to their families and our school – well done!

Our school photographer took whole year group photographs on Friday for our school foyer; you will also get the opportunity to purchase these photographs if you wish.

Looking to our week ahead, we welcome Her Majesty’s Inspectors from Education Scotland.  They will be in our school all week observing the good practice that goes on in OLSF, and will get the opportunity to meet our fantastic children.  There will be a P7 Welcome Mass at Taylor High School on Thursday evening – letters will be issued tomorrow from Taylor High School regarding this.

On Friday, it is our First Friday Mass and coffee morning, led by our P7 pupils.  As always, we are looking for donations of shop bought biscuits and cakes (nut free, please) and raffle prizes.  We hope you can come along and join us for this.