St Bartholomews

Fr James very kindly celebrated mass in the Oratory on Thursday of last week. This was a lovely start to the day and the children were delighted to be involved with the liturgy. Fr James has agreed to celebrate mass again this Thursday and next. He will let me know about dates for March in the very near future. I would encourage as many of our school community to make the effort and pop along to 8.30am mass, during this very special time in the Church’s calendar.

As always, on a Tuesday, we have cookery lessons from Mrs McGinness and the Primary 5’s will continue with their swimming lessons at the Time Capsule. I hear that there is great progress with skills in swimming across our Primary 5 boys and girls. What a great life skill to have. Well done boys and girls!

Mrs Bolland

Yesteday was the first Sunday of Lent and included the shortest gospel in the entire lectionary. However, although this gospel is brief, it contains a very important message on  temptation. During His forty days in the wilderness, Jesus experienced temptation and turned to the angels to support and guide Him. This brings the message home to us, as mere mortals, that we should be calling on our own Guardian Angel to assist us when we experience and /or are unable to resist temptation. If Jesus needed the help of the angels, then how much more so we need their help?

Clare from the NHS dental team is visiting St Bartholomew’s today and will check that we have everything that we need to successfully carry out toothbrushing, across the school. We appreciate Claire’s help and support with this very important task.

A wee reminder that the dance after school club is on today and that children are appropriately equipped with kits and water etc.

John Wilson photography will be visiting us on Thursday this week to take  the annual Primary 1 photograph,  this will provide a very special momento of this important stage of the children’s lives . They will also take a class photograph  of  our Primary 7 pupils , which will again provide an invaluable means of being able to look back at this special time in St Bartholomew’s Primary School.Finally, they will take a whole school photograph. It is worth noting that individual photographs or nursery photographs will not be taken at this time.

Mrs Bolland

As you can see from the photographs above, our boys and girls had a fabulous time at the Valentine disco last night. The children danced the night away, had fun with their friends and enjoyed some light refreshments. Again, a huge thank you to the parent helpers who organised this event, supervised in the hall and ensured that all the children had something to eat and drink. We couldn’t do it without you!

There are a number of upcoming events that this loyal group of parents will be organising in the very near future. As always, we will keep you posted.

Keep your eye on this site for news of pupils of the week, they will be posted later on today. Congratulations in advance to the well deserving pupils who win this fantastic award.

Mrs Bolland

The Valentine disco is on this evening! If you have not already purchased your ticket/s ,then please do so from the office. Both Mrs Dunn and Mrs Clare will be delighted to help you with this. Our infant pupils, (P1 -P3) will enjoy music, dancing, games and refreshments from 6pm until 7pm. Our junior and senior pupils, (P4-P7) will enjoy their celebrations from 7.15pm until 8.15pm. As always, this is an event that is organised and supervised by our parents. We very much appreciate all of our parent helpers who support such events as without them, these events would not take place. It is very much appreciated that our volunteers give up their time to support our pupils. Please contact the office if you wish to volunteer your services this evening.

Our staff enjoyed professional development activities yesterday, some of them related to growth mindset. This is not a new concept and is widely used in the private sector, in addition to the public sector. The emphasis is very much on cultivating a positive and honest approach and has given us some food for thought. All of our staff are consistently  interested in improving outcomes for children and I  know that this training has contributed towards this.

Mrs Bolland

Primary 1 – Erinann

Prmary 1/2 – Talia

Primary 2/3 – Amy

Primary 3 – Kaidyn

Primary 4 – Amaranth

Primary 4/5 – Mia

Primary 5/6 – Alyssa

Primary 6/7 – Justin

Primary 7 – Paul

Cool Class: Primary 1

Winning House:  Drumpellier

A wee reminder that the Valentine’s disco takes place on Thursday 15th of February. As always, this is an event organised by our parent fundraising group. It is essential that we have enough volunteers, or the disco will not take place. We are reliant on your support as this is not a staffed event. Please contact the office or let Trish Woods know of your intent to help out.Tickets are on sale from the office and include the cost of a drink and treats. Your child does not require any money as everything that they need is provided. The infant disco starts at 6pm and finishes at 7pm. Our junior and senior pupils disco starts at 7.15pm and finishes at 8.15pm. Please be advised that only volunteer helpers are permitted in the hall, when the discos are taking place. Thank you for your support with this matter.

Primary 4/5’s assembly takes place today at 2pm and as always, parents and carers are encouraged to join the children in their classroom, thereafter, to a look at their work and  enjoy a wee refreshment.We are all looking forward to welcoming you.

A wee reminder that school is closed to pupils Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. We look forward to seeing you back at school on Thursday the 15th of February. I hope that you enjoy  a lovely rest over the next few days.

Mrs Bolland

Our  Confirmandi looked positively glowing with the gift of the Holy Spirit last night and may it stay it with them forever and lighten their hearts! The children participated well and were a true credit to themselves and their families. Many of St Bartholomew’s staff shared in this wonderful celebration of the sacrament of confirmation in order to support our senior pupils in their faith journey. Well done boys and girls. Again, a big thank you to both Mrs MacFarlane and Mrs Crielly for preparing the children so well. We couldn’t have done it without you.
Mrs MacLean will be joining us tomorrow for a short visit in order to introduce us to her new baby boy, Alfie. We are all looking forward to meeting the new arrival to the MacLean family and wish them the very best.

Mrs Bolland

A wee reminder that our weekly prayer service is on this morning at 8.45am. This is such a special service as it is lead primarily by the children, and allows them the opportunity to be independent and confident individuals. As always, all members of our school community are more than welcome to attend, and is particularly meaningful at this time,as our Confirmandi will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit this evening. The service will take place at 7pm in St Bartholomew’s Church, where Bishop Toal will preside over this very special sacrament. Fr Kenneth O’Brien will be Master of Ceremonies and as my own Parish Priest, I am delighted that he will be able to share in this sacrament with our pupils. We respectfully ask that you keep these children in your prayers.Thank you.

Primary 4/5 pupils are working hard in rehearsals for their assembly performance this week. This will take place on Friday at 2pm, and as always, an invitation is extended to parents and carers to join the boys and girls and Ms Allington in the classroom thereafter for some light refreshments. We look forward to welcoming you.

Mrs Bolland

Two senior pupils will represent St Bartholomew’s at a ‘ Safer Internet ‘ event held at Motherwell Civic Centre this morning. We have chosen one boy and one girl from the ‘Health for Life’ group, who are already well versed in this area and will be able to contribute to any discussions. We know that you will be a credit to yourselves, family and the school. Well done  and I look forward to hearing about it on your return.

As you know, our senior pupils from Primary 6 and Primary 7 will receive the sacrament of Confirmation on Wednesday evening at St Bartholomew’s church. This is a wonderful opportunity for the children to deepen and develop their faith , with a more mature  understanding and approach than in previous sacramental preparation.A huge thank you to both Mrs MacFarlane and Mrs Crielly for preparing the children incredibly well for this very important sacrament. All of your efforts are very much appreciated and I would urge our entire school community to pray for our Confirmandi. Thank you in advance for your support.

Mrs Bolland

As you can form the photograph above, our Primary 4 boys and girls performed their assembly for parents and carers on Friday afternoon. The children were fantastic and a huge thank you to Ms Connor for rehearsing the boys and girls so well. Mums and dads were very impressed with the children’s topic related work in class. Well done boys and girls!

I attended mass at St Bartholomew’s church on Sunday and was delighted to see  so many pupils from sacramental classes. Long may that continue.It was also a lovely surprise to share in the baptism of one of our pupils’ younger siblings. Baby was very well behaved and I am sure that his family are delighted to support this young man on his faith journey. Congratulations!

There was so much going on in church that the an appropriate opportunity didn’t present itself for me to speak on behalf of the school in respect of Catholic Education week. A representative from St Ambrose spoke to the congregation last week and I would have simply added to those sentiments. I think it is worth mentioning that in January,  Pope Francis said that education should;

“train young people to be open and interested in the reality that surrounds them, capable of care and tenderness, free from the widespread preluding where you must be competitive, aggressive, and hard towards others, especially towards those who are different, foreign or in any way seen as an obstacle to one’s own affirmation “.

Mrs Bolland