I attended the annual Catholic Head Teachers’ conference in St Andrew’s on Thursday and Friday last week. The theme of the conference was ‘Teaching Scotland’s Catholic Future’ and speakers included Archbishop Tartaglia, Graham Donaldson (former Chief Inspector of schools) and John Swinney, the Cabinet Secretary for Education. However, the highlight for me, as always, was the opportunity to meet Head Teachers from Catholic primary schools across Scotland. To quote the Faith section of our school website, I return to St Bartholomew’s today ‘deeply conscious of the huge responsibility that rests on each of us to be positive Christian role models for our pupils. Jesus was the ultimate teacher and we, as Catholic educators, must constantly endeavour to mirror and imitate Him in all we say and do so that our daily words and actions genuinely reflect the character and perfect example of Christ.’

Please can I take this opportunity to thank you for bearing with us at this time when we are short staffed in the office. As you know, Mrs Smillie retired before the summer holidays and her replacement will not be in post until sometime next month. There are pockets of the day when we are struggling to man the phones and, as I know you’ll understand, a cut knee or upset child always takes priority. Once again, thank you for your patience.

The nursery extension is nearing completion and the Care Inspectorate are scheduled to visit and sign things off two weeks on Thursday.