Our Lady and St. Francis Primary School

Monday’s assembly was all about our new Strive to Thrive Policy.  This will replace our Promoting Positive Behaviour Policy and will be emailed to all parents/carers this week.

Our fish were delivered to P5 and P5/6 this week and they have shown great responsibility looking after them. Our children are thoroughly enjoying the Clyde in the Classroom project.

The children took part in The Big Question on Friday in their classes, where they decided on their Lenten Charities and Fun Days.  These will be included in the February Newsletter.

All classes will start preparing for our Financial Education days next week.  This year children will be responsible for spending a budget in a way that benefits the community.  They will take time this week to generate ideas, which will be put into practice the following week.

We hosted another successful Coffee Morning and Primary 6 wowed us with singing, dancing, a violin performance and a poem written and recited by one of our P6 girls.  Thank you to all who came along.

First Friday Mass was held in the afternoon and the children heard about the Holy Guardian Angels.  The singing was beautiful from all our children and we were delighted to see so many of our friends and family at the mass.

Primary 7 had their second transition visit to Taylor High School.  There was an air of excitement when they returned and it is clear they have been enjoying the activities prepared by the staff of Taylor High School.

Next week is Children’s Mental Health Week.  Our assembly on Monday will look at ways we can improve our mental health and the children will participate in discussions and activities throughout the week.  We will also place a focus on Internet Safety, as 7^th February is Internet Safety Day.  This year’s theme is ‘Want to talk about it?  Making space for conversations about life online’.

We have three Out of School Hours Learning Clubs this week: football, netball and The Carfin Choristers.

Tickets for the St. Valentine’s Disco will be on sale this week.

P5 and P5/6 were given an introduction to the Clyde in the Classroom project, which involves them hatching fish eggs and looking after them, before releasing them into the wild. A hatchery has been installed in each class and the children are using ice bottles to create the perfect temperature for the eggs, which will be delivered this Wednesday.   The children are very excited about the project, which provides a variety of learning opportunities and requires the children to show great responsibility.

The Parent Council met on Tuesday evening to discuss the latest events and future fundraising ideas.  There are still plenty of space on the PC for anyone else who would like to join – just turn up.

Our Committee Groups met on Friday to create their mission statements and to brainstorm ideas for moving forward.  The children have a good sense of what their groups are trying to achieve and hopefully we will see the final outcomes soon.

Looking towards next week, the children will come to assembly to go over our new school policy –Strive to Thrive.  The policy will be sent to parents/carers this week, please check your emails for this.

Kevin Cameron will lead a hymn practice on Wednesday to prepare the children for First Friday Mass, which is at the later time of 1:45.

Primary 7 will also visit Taylor High School for the second time as part of the transition programme.

The children learned about Chinese New Year at assembly this week.  I was very impressed by the children’s previous knowledge and their interesting questions.  We also had many Wider Achievers, Outstanding Citizens and Workers of the Week.  These photos will soon be uploaded to twitter.

We were delighted to welcome the parents of our new Primary Ones at this week’s enrolment.  We met some familiar faces and some new families.  It will be lovely to see you all at our inductions and even more so in August when you officially become part of our OLSF community.

Looking towards next week, the children will meet in their Committee Groups on Friday to discuss their aims and mission statements and the Parent Council will meet on Tuesday at 6pm in the school.  All welcome.

Thank you to our P7s who led our second Advent Service on Monday.  The P7 are doing a fabulous job leading our whole school through Advent.

We all participated in Christmas/Odd Sock day on Monday.  We had all sorts of colours, designs and patterns and I don’t think we had any duplicates.  Well done, everyone.  We also had our Christmas Lunch, Christmas Jumper Day and Movie Day this week.  We ae grateful to the Parent Council for providing the snacks for Movie Day.

P7 went to the Regent Shopping Centre on Tuesday to perform Christmas Songs.  Thank you to everyone who went to support them.  We are still sitting in 9^th place, so if you haven’t voted there is still time.

Our first live Nativity since 2019 was performed by P1-3.  They were amazing and made all of us very proud.  Each performance was very busy and the audience really contributed to the atmosphere.  Thank you to everyone who came along and also to the families who made it to the evening performances, particularly when it has been so cold and dark lately.

On Monday we celebrate the Third Sunday of Advent. Our service will be led by P7.

Tuesday is Pyjama Day and Enterprise Day.  Our children have each made a craft for our Enterprise Day and these will be available to buy on Tuesday.  Each class will be given a time to visit our enterprise stalls and make any purchases.

Our Digital Leaders will participate in an event organised by North Lanarkshire Council.  Most schools across the authority will participate in this event, where children will learn some fundamentals about ICT and development in schools.

P1, P2, P5, P6 and P7 all have their parties this week.  Children can be picked up from 12:15pm at the school office.

Thank you to our P7s who led our first Advent Service on Monday and a special thank you to Father Morris who blessed our new wreath.  It was a very positive start to the festive season.

P7 represented our school at St. Teresa’s Church on Wednesday at the cluster mass.  This is an annual event to mark the end of Catholic Education Week and to prepare for the transition to Taylor High School.  P7 started the transition on Friday afternoon where they participated in STEM activities, home economics and health and wellbeing.  The children spoke positively about their experience on Friday and are looking forward to their next transition event.

The children also gathered for a special assembly on Wednesday to mark the end of Catholic Education Week and St. Andrew’s Day.  We introduced our new Vision, Aims and Values to the children, based on the feedback from all stakeholders over the last few months.  These have been emailed to parents/carers and put on the school website.

Primary 4 lead our special mass for the Feast of St Francis Xavier and performed some Christmas songs at the Coffee Morning.   Our Christmas Crafters also sold products which they have been making at their after school club for the last few weeks, led by Miss Kane and Miss McLaughlin. Thank you to everyone who came along and supported us.

Our second Advent Service will focus on Peace as we light our second purple candle on Monday.

Monday is our annual Christmas/odd socks day.  There is no cost for this event.

P7 will make a trip to the Regent Shopping Centre on Tuesday and will perform a medley of Christmas Songs at 11:30.  Please come along and support them if you can.  This is part of The Regent Shopping Centre Competition where 10 schools compete to win vouchers for the centre.  Our Lady and St Francis were holding on to 8^th position but have slipped to 9^th.  Please vote for our choir if you have not already.

Our Christmas Lunch will take place on Tuesday.  This is pre-ordered by children.  If you have not pre-ordered your child’s dinner, please do this by Monday or provide your child with a packed lunch on this day.

Our Nativity will be performed by P1-3 on Wednesday and Thursday (1pm and 6:30pm each day).  Tickets are now on general sale.

Friday is our annual Christmas Movie and Jumper Day.  Our Parent Council are generously providing snacks and drinks for all children.

Taylor Cluster Catholic Education Week Newsletter 2019

Primary 7, led by Mrs Crooks and Mrs Taggart, performed a song for the Regent Shopping centre Competition.  This has now been uploaded to the website ( https://musicdance.co.uk/choir/ ) and voting will go live tomorrow.  Please vote for our school and children – spread the word to all friends and family.  We would very much appreciate the votes.

On Wednesday we held a special assembly where the children learned about Scotland’s National Discussion for Education.  This was a unique live opportunity for everyone involved in education to have their say.  The children got a shout out at the start and then answered various questions using the website Menti.  If you have time I would encourage everyone to have their say on education today.  Please visit https://consult.gov.scot/national-discussion-scottish-education/

We also held our Prayer Breakfast led by our MISSIO Champions.  We said prayers, ate together and sang hymns.  It was a lovely occasion to slow down the pace of the day and take some time to thank God and worship as a school community.

On Friday we held our Annual Day of Dance organised and led by Miss O’Donnell.  We were delighted to see so many parents/carers, grans, grandads, aunties and uncles and even more delighted to see so many join in the Hoolie.  The children had a ball and we hope you did too.

Looking towards next week, the P7s will lead the school in the first Advent Service and Father Morris will come over to bless our wreath.  This will be our first of four Advent Services and this week’s theme is Hope.  This will be followed by our whole school assembly, which will focus on the lives of St Andrew and St Francis.

P7 will visit St. Teresa’s Church at 1:45pm on Wednesday to participate in the cluster mass.  This is an annual event to mark the end of Catholic Education Week and look forward to the P7 transition.  P7s first transition day will be Friday 2^nd December.

Primary 4 will lead our special mass for the Feast of St Francis Xavier and will perform for us, along with the P4s from P3/4, at the coffee morning.  The return of our coffee morning has been hugely successful and we look forward to welcoming you all again on Friday.

Allocated tickets for the Nativity must be purchased by Friday, after this they will go on general sale.  We will give each family 2 tickets for a daytime performance and 2 for an evening performance.  We will attempt to give you the day you want, however if it is oversubscribed we will draw from a hat.

Last week began with a holiday for the children and an inset day for the staff.  Inset days are a great opportunity for staff to complete important development work together.  On Monday we did some work on nurture and self-evaluation.

Our Out Of School Hours Learning Clubs continue, with the Gardening Club having to face some very wet weather.

Thank you Mr Maxwell and Mrs Rimmer who took P4-7 to the Cross Country last week.  They were so proud of our children who represented the school well and showed great sportsmanship. A special congratulations to the following children who made it into the top 16 of their category:

Rose Downs – 4^th place in P4 girls

Nadia Wegrzyn – 8^th place in P4 girls

Noah Ferrie – 1^st place in P4 boys

Nathan Owen – 11^th place in P4 boys

Freddie Mushet – 11^th place in P5 boys

Ava Rose Kearney – 1^st place in P5 girls

Myla Crainey – 2^nd place in P5 girls

Sofia Savage – 4^th place in P5 girls

Freya McKenna – 15^th place in P5 girls

Elysse Gustinelli – 16^th in P5 girls

Michelle Igunma – 1^st place in P6 girls

Lucy Brownlie – 4^th place in P6 girls

Ninna Okwor – 13^th place in P6 girls

Farmil Gomez – 4^th place in P7 boys

Thank you to the Carfin Choristers, our Altar Servers and the children who participated in the offertory on Sunday at mass for Catholic Education Week.  We are so proud of you and the special commitment you show to our catholic faith.

Looking towards next week, the P7s will perform a Christmas song which will be recorded for the Regent Choir Shopping Centre competition.  It will soon be time to vote and we need all the votes we can get as we would like to improve on last year’s position, 8^th.  Good luck, P7.

The Parent Council will hold a face to face meeting in the school at 6pm.

On Wednesday we will have a special assembly where the children will participate in the National Discussion for Education.  This is a unique opportunity for everyone involved in education to have their say.  To find out more visit https://consult.gov.scot/national-discussion-scottish-education/

We will also have our Prayer Breakfast on Wednesday, where the children will come together to enjoy a croissant and a drink whilst offering our prayers and learning a little bit more about Catholic Education Week.

There is possible industrial action on Thursday, as the teachers of Scotland negotiate pay.  This may mean the school will be closed to pupils, however the nursery will remain open.  We will keep you up to date with this, please check Twitter for these updates.

The Annual Education Mass will held in the Cathedral at 7pm on Thursday.

On Friday we will resume our Annual Day of Dance.  This is a fun filled day, where parents/carers are invited to the school to watch the children perform traditional Scottish dances, a special ‘strictly’ dance and the unique and wonderful OLSF Hoolie (please join in).  Parents/Carers are also welcome to have a tea/coffee before or after the performances.  We ask for a small donation on this day to help raise funds for Expressive Arts in OLSF.  The times for class are as follows:

P6a and P6b – 9:20-9:50

P7a and P7b – 9:55-10:25

P3/4 and P4 – 11:10-11:40

P5 and P5/6 – 11:45-12:15

P2 and P2/3 – 1:40 – 2:10

P1a and P1b – 2:15-2:45

Children can wear their uniform with tartan/sparkle or can choose to wear non-uniform with tartan/sparkle.