Our Lady and St. Francis Primary School

We continue to welcome children into our nursery and I am delighted to say they are settling in so well.  The nursery boys and girls made banana and raspberry muffins this week.  They were delicious and healthy and lots of fun to make.

Our Primary One children had their photograph taken for the Motherwell Times this week.  It is a beautiful photograph and should be in the paper over the next few weeks.

Our whole school waved and cheered for the procession for the Relics of St Terese.  The procession was led by a pipe band and attracted many visitors from all over.  Our Primary 6 children were lucky to participate in Holy Mass and venerate the relics.  Their behaviour was outstanding and we are immensely proud of them.  It was a special and reverent occasion, which we are sure they will always remember.

Next week some of the staff will continue their inter-authority moderation work by visiting South Lanarkshire and making plans for this academic year.

On Friday we will celebrate First Friday Mass as a whole school at 10 o’clock in St. Francis Xavier’s.  We warmly welcome friends and family back to the school for our coffee morning, hosted by Primary 7.  If you would like to contribute to the raffle, it would be very much appreciated.  Any offerings of home or store bought baking would also be welcomed.

I hope you have had a lovely weekend and I look forward to seeing everyone again on Monday morning – bright eyed and bushy-tailed, as they say.

Miss Lewis

The children made it through their first whole week back and must have been very tired by Friday night.  I hope everyone had a lovely weekend in the sunshine and will be fresh and ready for tomorrow.

We introduced a theme of the month at assembly.  This month’s theme will be ‘Community’ and we would like the children to think about the communities they are part of and how they can contribute positively to that community.  I would also like to encourage the children to tell me how they are doing this, so I can display their wonderful efforts and hopefully motivate others.

Last week our new P5’s started Kodaly.  Mrs Ewart said they are very enthusiastic and she is looking forward to working with them.

The choir has also started again.  Thank you to the boys and girls who have decided to continue choir this year.  We will lots of events for you and wish you every success.

P7 attended mass at Holy Family to honour Mother Angeline.  I heard they represented the school well and should be very proud of themselves.

The nursery continue to welcome new children and I am delighted to say, they have all settled well.

Looking forward to next week, our new P1’s will have their photograph taken for the Motherwell Times on Thursday.  All children should wear a shirt and tie and a blazer, if you have one.  I am sure they will look very smart as they have since the start of term.

On Friday there will be a mass for the Relics of St Terese.  Many schools across North Lanarkshire will send representatives to St. Francis Xavier’s and our P6 will attend.  Other children in the school will watch the procession and wave flags.  It will be very busy and visitors will be coming from all over to visit the parish and the grotto, to this end, there will be no additional parking in the grotto for school traffic – please make allowances for this.

This week we have welcomed back all our boys and girls from P2-7 and our nursery children.  We also welcomed 45 new Primary 1’s, who have settled in wonderfully.  They have already learned how to hang up their bags and jackets, line up for break times and have enjoyed lots of Big Play.

On Thursday we joined Fr Mark at mass to celebrate The Solemnity of the Assumption.  The children sang beautifully and represented our school well.  Our next mass will be the first Friday in September.

I would like to say thank you to all our parents/carers for supporting our school.  The children look fantastic in their uniforms and have settled into their new classes well – they are a credit to you.  I look forward to continuing to work together throughout the next academic year.

Next week, P5 will begin Kodaly with Mrs Ewart.  Kodaly is a method of teaching music that is interactive and fun for children.  They will learn about beats, rhythms and tempo.

Choir will also start again on Wednesday with Mrs Ewart and Mrs Cahill.

On Friday, Primary 7 will celebrate Holy Mass in Mossend by Canon Fee, along with the Mother Angeline Society.  Venerable Mother Angeline was born in Ireland, however it is said she made all her sacraments in St. Francis Xavier.  Mass will start at 12 o’clock.

I look forward to seeing everyone on Monday, ready for the first full week.

Miss Lewis

Last week we welcomed His Lordship, Bishop Toal on Tuesday to speak with our P6 and P7 pupils who will be making the Sacrament of Confirmation.  On Wednesday, our children enjoyed an author visit from Chris Duke; he read his book, ‘Lucy’s Blue Day’ to our children and reinforced the important message that it’s okay not to be okay.  We finished our week on Friday with a very successful Sports’ Day – a massive thank you to Mr Maxwell for coordinating this.  Thank you also to our Parent Council members who came along to organise the ‘tuck’ stall.

Looking to our week ahead, it is our Nursery’s Sports’ Day on Monday.  Our Confirmandi pupils will also go over to Church on Monday afternoon and Wednesday afternoon for confessions in preparation for Thursday.

It is Transition Afternoon on Tuesday; all children will find out their new teachers and class mates.  Please check your child’s bag for a letter with full details on Tuesday.  Please also note that staffing and classification are always potentially subject to change, but we minimise this wherever possible.

On Wednesday afternoon we have our Nursery Inductions.

On Thursday evening, our P6 and P7 pupils will continue their faith journeys by making the Sacrament of Confirmation at St. Francis Xavier Church at 7 pm.  Please keep all of them in your prayers.

Our Primary 6 and Primary 7 Confirmandi pupils enjoyed a retreat that was led by Mrs McMahon over at the Grotto last week.  Our Primary 7 pupils then took part in the annual Wear Yellow Walk at Strathclyde Park on Wednesday.  Primary 7’s busy week continued on Friday afternoon, when a group represented our school at Taylor High School to compete in the Public Speaking Competition.  They did very well and Mrs Crooks was very proud of their efforts.

On Saturday we had a very successful Summer Fayre.  This was organised by our Parent Council who worked exceptionally hard to ensure the event was a success.  A massive thank you to our Chairperson, Mrs Cashill, for overseeing the whole thing and ensuring it ran so smoothly.  A massive thank you to all parents and members of the community who came along to help or support this event.  A final thank you also to the hard-working staff who attended and helped out at the event, and their extended family members too!

Looking to our week ahead, His Lordship, Bishop Toal will be visiting our Confirmandi pupils on Tuesday morning.  Our pupils will have the opportunity to ask any questions they may have regarding the Sacrament of Confirmation which takes place on Thursday 20th June.

On Friday, weather permitting, we are hoping to host our annual sports’ day.  As you know, this was rescheduled due to weather, so fingers crossed mother nature will be kind to us on Friday and we can go ahead.

Children enjoyed our first week of Health Fortnight last week and were outdoors enjoying the sunshine and warmer weather.  We are really enjoying seeing all of your family outdoors learning homework tweets – please keep them coming!  I think it’s safe to say that this active approach to homework is a hit with our pupils!  Our Pope Francis Faith Award pupils also represented our school very well at the Fatima Mass on Monday, and the remainder of our P4 pupils enjoyed a retreat over at the Grotto on Wednesday, led by Mrs McMahon.

We welcomed back our new P1s on Wednesday afternoon, and our P6 pupils made excellent buddies to them and helped them to settle very well.  Well done, P6!  On Friday, all of our children enjoyed taking part in Outdoor Learning Day activities – many thanks to Mr Maxwell for organising and overseeing all of this.

Looking to our week ahead, Health Fortnight continues. Our whole school will take part in a Daily Mile on Monday, and weather permitting, we will have a whole school picnic in the yard on Tuesday – please send in a packed lunch for your child (or they can choose a sandwich for lunch on Tuesday from the dinner hall).  On Wednesday, all pupils will take part in an active/dance session with either Mrs Rimmer or Miss O’Donnell.

Pupils’ jotters and final reports will be issued tomorrow and we look forward to welcoming you to Parents’ Evening on Tuesday.  P4 and P4/5 will enjoy a post Communion Retreat on Wednesday afternoon, again led by Mrs McMahon.

Please remember that we have an exceptional closure on Thursday due to the European Elections, therefore school and nursery will be closed to pupils.  This is followed by the holiday weekend, so again the school and nursery will be closed to pupils on Friday 24th and Monday 27th May.

Last week was a short week for the children as they were only in school from Wednesday to Friday.  On Wednesday, we had the first of our Infant Inductions and welcomed our new starts and their parents.  P6 rose to the challenge of being excellent buddies to them and are looking forward to meeting them again this week.  On Saturday, some of our P4 children made the Sacrament of First Holy Communion and did very well during the Mass.  They were a credit to themselves and their parents, and thanks goes to Mrs Taggart and Mr Rankin for preparing them so well.

Looking to our week ahead, Health Fortnight begins.  Children will be enjoying cookery sessions across the week and we will certainly be taking advantage of the nicer weather and will be learning outdoors as much as possible.  Please remember to put sunscreen on your child before sending them to school in better weather.  On Monday, our Pope Francis Faith Award pupils will attend the annual Fatima Mass in St. Francis Xavier Church and Processions from 10am onwards.  On Tuesday, second level staff will visit Blackwood Primary as part of our North/South Family Group partnership.  On Wednesday, it will be the second of the Infant Inductions, and this week our new children and a parent will enjoy a school dinner as part of the induction programme.  On Thursday, we will welcome staff from North and South Lanarkshire schools to celebrate the successful year we have enjoyed, working in partnership with each other.  Friday, it is Outdoor Learning Day.   The Health Committee have organised fantastic outdoor activities for our pupils throughout the day.

Children were encouraged to walk to school at assembly last Wednesday and were made aware of the badges they can earn by walking, cycling or ‘scooting’ to school.  Taylor High staff visited our P7 pupils last week and pupils were given the opportunity to speak individually to staff about going to High School.  Children learned lots about Rights Respecting Schools on Friday during our awareness day.

Looking to our week ahead, we have a Parent Council on Monday at 6 pm in our staff room; as always all are welcome.  Our infant staff will be starting their visits to local nurseries to meet with our new starts in advance of our Induction Days this month.

On Thursday, the Motherwell Times will be in to take photographs of our Primary 7 pupils; full school uniforms for this please.

On Friday, it is our First Friday Mass and coffee morning, led by our P4/5 pupils.  As always, we are looking for donations of shop bought cakes and biscuits and raffle prizes.  We hope you can join us at this.

Last week staff from across the school visited and worked alongside their Family Group colleagues in South Lanarkshire schools.

Pupils from P6 and P7 represented our school beautifully on Wednesday at the Primary Reading Quiz.

SCIAF visited our school on Wednesday to tell our children at assembly about all the great work that they do; they are one of Lenten Charities this year.

Looking to our week ahead, Father McGachey will be hearing Confessions all week from our P4-P7 pupils; he will hear P3 Confessions during Holy Week. The Beatson Charity will visit our school on Wednesday to talk to our children about their fantastic work as they are also one of our Lenten Charities this year.

On Wednesday evening, we are having an information evening for parents of P6 and P7 pupils will who make the Sacrament of Confirmation in June.  This is at 6.30pm in our school hall and a letter was issued a few weeks ago with further details.

On Thursday, it is our Lenten ‘Fun Day’.  Our children voted for this as a change to our usual Lenten fundraisers and it promises to be a great day. A letter will be issued tomorrow with further details.

Please note that school closes at 2.30pm on Friday for our Spring Break.  (Nursery closes at the normal time).  We will welcome back pupils on Monday 15th April at the usual times.

We wish everyone a very restful break.

Last week our pupils enjoyed a visit from the SPCA on Monday; also on Monday our choir sang beautifully at the Glasgow Music Festival – many thanks to Mrs Cahill and Miss Newall for preparing them so well.

On Tuesday, we enjoyed great success with our Cross Country team – well done to all pupils involved, and many thanks to Mrs Rimmer and Mr Maxwell for all of their hard work.

Mary’s Meals spoke with our pupils at assembly on Wednesday about all the great work that they do and they are one of our Lenten Charities this year.

On Thursday, Mr Dorris from the Maths Department at Taylor High School spent time with our P7 pupils and on Friday our pupils enjoyed structured Golden Time in the afternoon.

Looking to our week ahead, our P1 and P2 pupils will be involved in the fluoride varnishing programme on Tuesday and we will also be visited by Mrs Anne Munro, Head of Service for south locality schools.  I am sure she will be very impressed by our fantastic ‘wee people’.  Throughout the week, staff from P1, P4 and P7 will be visiting our family schools in South Lanarkshire Council to team teach and moderate various aspects of teaching and learning.

Please remember that Mass is on every morning at 8.25am in St. Francis Xavier Church, and this is a lovely way to start the day during the season of Lent.