St Bartholomews

Our Primary 7 pupils and Primary 4/5 pupils will be enjoying some exciting experiences in the kitchen today! Mrs McGuiness will be teaching the children some vital culinary skills and imparting a great deal of important knowledge for the future. I am pretty sure that we have some budding chefs amongst us. The lovely aromas coming from the kitchen prove very tempting and I am looking forward to sampling some of the wonderful creations.

Our Primary 5 boys and girls will be visiting the Time Capsule this afternoon in order to enhance their techniques in both swimming and ball skills. I am looking forward to another wonderful report from the staff at the Time Capsule and parent helpers who have very kindly volunteered their time . Well done boys and girls.

Could I please respectfully remind parents and carers that Breakfast Club starts at 8.15am. There have been reported incidents of children arriving unsupervised before 8am in the morning. Breakfast Club is supervised with staff from 8.15 am until 8.50 am, where children can be looked after safely and leave with a full tummy for a great start to the day.Thank you in advance for your cooperation with this matter.

Mrs Bolland

Welcome back everyone! I hope that a good time and a well deserved rest has been had by all over the past two weeks. It’s now back to business as usual at St Bart’s, where lots of fun and hard work will be in store, this term. As always, we will will keep you up to date with events and important dates for your diary.

As you know, Sunday was the feast of the Epiphany and could be in fact, be called the Feast of the Stars. A star guided the wise men to the stable in Bethlehem; stars have guided travellers and sea- farmers through the centuries.Stars represent the glory of God.The bible is full of references to the stars. In their multitude, the stars represent the multitude of the angels, God’s special servants. It was not that long ago that we witnessed our infant pupils performing on stage, many dressed as angels, with many stars decorating the stage. Everything created comes from God’s hand, so every created thing speaks to us with a richness of meaning which the scriptures, inspired by the Holy Spirit, open up to us.May we all be open to the Holy Spirit, this year, and for the foreseeable future.

Mrs Bolland

It’s the last day of school, before the Christmas holidays! As tradition has dictated for the past few years, it’s a fun filled day. The ‘Forward Together’ pupil voice group have organised our ‘Movie Duvet Day’. Children are invited to come to school, dressed in Christmas jumpers, or at least, in comfortable clothes. There will be a choice of dvd’s to choose from and the fun starts first thing in the morning!

Morning mass at St Bartholomew’s church, yesterday , was lovely. Fr O’Kane took time to speak to our pupils and ask them about the gifts that Jesus has bestowed on all of us. The boys and girls talked about knowledge, joy, wisdom, understanding, caring, kindness and many others. Our pupils were a credit to themselves and their families, both during mass , and also in walking to church and back.Thank you to our parent helpers- we couldn’t do it without you. We all felt suitably blessed and filled with God’s love in order to truly appreciate the  special day, that is Jesus’ birthday.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank all of our Parish community for their continued support,this year, and I am sure, in many more years to come. It is indeed, a privilege, to serve the community of Townhead and one that all of our staff are delighted to do.

A very happy and Holy Christmas to all.

Mrs Bolland

St Bartholomew’s Primary school staff and pupils will be joining our Parish community this morning at 10 O’Clock mass in St Bartholomew’s church. This is to mark the end of term and to bless all of our school community in a happy and Holy Christmas. Mrs MacFarlane will lead us in singing some beautiful hymns that we all know well and some Primary 7 pupils will read the prayers of the faithful. We appreciate Fr O’Kane welcoming us to share in morning worship, and will provide us with a wonderful start to the holidays.

A big thank you to our parent helpers, who are supervising the children in the walk to church. Fingers crossed that the frost stays away until our safe return from church.

Primary 6 and Primary 7 pupils will enjoy their Christmas party in the afternoon. Again, I know that they have been working hard on their ‘dashing white sergeant ‘ and other traditional dances that they will have the opportunity to demonstrate. Enjoy the party games and fun back in class!

Mrs Bolland

Some very talented boys and an equally talented  girl, appeared in my office recently. As you can see, they are all laden with rewards from their sporting activities. The boys were very successful in demonstrating their skills in football. Their club will be delighted with their contributions, as are their friends at St Bartholomew’s.Well done boys. Our young lady from Primary 1, has demonstrated her skills in dancing, yet again and has won some fabulous trophies. What a superstar.

Christmas parties for Primary 4 and Primary 5 pupils, takes place today. The children are looking forward to showing off their newly practiced skills in Scottish country dancing. Rehersals have been taking place recently and great fun has been had by all. After some dancing in the hall, boys and girls will go back to classes where they will enjoy party games and some delicious treats. Have fun everyone!

Mrs Bolland

It’s the nursery and Primary 1 to Primary 3’s parties today!

The parties will take place in the afternoon and I know that mums and dads sometimes prefer to take the children home at lunch time to get changed into their party clothes. Lunch time will be the usual time today, 12.30pm until 1.15pm. I know that everyone looks forward to the dancing, music, party games and delicious treats. A special visitor with a red suit near a white beard might make an appearance today…

The Faith in Action pupil voice group have raised a fantastic £230.20 from their cake sale and Christmas accesssories day. The Forward Together group donated their contribution of Big Bingo money to this total. Thank you very much for your generosity. This all goes towards a fantastic donation to Missio, who are a very worthwhile and deserving charity.

Mrs Bolland

It’s our last week in school, before the Christmas holidays! We have the Primary 1- Primary 3 Nativity play on this afternoon. The children have been working hard on their lines, singing and actions. I know that this will be a huge hit with all of our parents and carers. Please ensure that you bring your tickets along and place buggies outside of the hall, this is due to fire regulations and subsequently, everyone’s safety. Thank you for your support with this matter. We will, as always, sell raffle tickets before the show and your support would be very much appreciated.

The ‘Faith in Action’ group hosted a cake sale and ‘wear Christmas accessories ‘ day on Friday in order to raise money for Missio.This was very well supported and we had queues of children taking part. Thank you boys and girls. I will keep you up to date with the final figure of monies raised through this event.

As you know, we have wonderful singers in St Bart’s and news of this has obviously travelled. Mark and Lucy Millar asked our senior pupils to sing Christmas carols for the pensioners of Coatbridge on Sunday at St Bartholomew’s church hall. Mrs MacFarlane very kindly, led the children in their singing and I know that their talent was very much appreciated. Thank you.

Mrs Bolland

It’s our nursery nativity play today! As you can see from the photograph above, the children looked absolutely great. This is our morning children and they sounded and looked amazing. The audience were so impressed with the beautiful singing, fabulous actions and lots of lines to remember- some with tricky words included. They were all superstars and we definitely have some budding XFactor or Britain’s Got Talent prospective candidates amongst our groups of children.

Thank you to all the ladies in the nursery, who have worked so hard over the past few months to rehearse the children to this wonderful standard. We couldn’t do it without your dedication and commitment. It is much appreciated.

Our Faith in Action pupil group have organised a cake sale and ‘wear Christmas accessories day’ in order to raise money for Missio, which is a very worthwhile charity that supports those in need. This is particularly important at this time of year. Thank you to every who supported this event and of course, to our Faith in Action group!

Mrs Bolland

The photographs above, illustrate a glimpse into the fun that some of our parents and carers had during ‘Big Bingo’. It was wonderful to see so many families working together, working out mental maths sums and having a go at bingo. The children were delighted with their prizes, which was the icing on the cake to a great morning. Well done boys and girls and thank you to all of our parents and carers. We appreciate your support.

It’s the Primary 4 to Primary 7 concert this afternoon, the show will begin at 1.30pm and last just over an hour. I was at the dress rehearsal yesterday and the children are sounding great. The Townhead community are certainly in for a treat! Doors will open at 1.15pm and could we please ask that parents and carers do not enter the yard before this time. Your support with this matter is much appreciated.

As has been the tradition for a few years, we will hold a raffle at the end of the concert and raffle tickets will be available, on entry to the school. Fingers crossed that you are a winner!

Mrs Bolland

North Lanarkshire Council is hosting toy giveaways,taking place in many locations across North Lanarkshire. The next event takes place in Coatbridge today. If your family, or any family you know,needs some extra help this Christmas tell them about the council’s free toy giveaway today. Come along to the Kings church on the 13th December between 4pm- 7pm. Please spread the news!

Our boys and girls thoroughly enjoyed  their Christmas lunch yesterday. All hands were on deck,as staff very quickly served every pupil in the school. It was the fastest service yet! A huge thank you to Susan and Sandra for cooking such a delicious meal. The children ate up all of their turkey and steak pie, with very little waste. They finished off with ice cream and a chocolate treat. I think many of our pupils were incredibly full up in the afternoon and were probably a little tired when they left at 3pm.

Hopeful everyone will be full of energy today as it’s dress

rehearsal day, for our Primary 4 – Primary 7 pupils, and their last opportunity to practise their Christmas carols and songs before performing in front of mums and dads on Thursday. Please purchase tickets from the office, prior to the event. Thank you.

Mrs Bolland