St Bartholomews

Priamry 1 – Talia

Primary 1/2 – Elyse

Primary 3 – Ella

Primary 4 – Brodie

Primary 4/5 – Stuart

Primary 5/6 – Nathan

Priamry 6/7 – Wiktor

Primary 7 – Carly

Cool Class Cup: Priamry 5/6

Winning House: Summerlee

I will be visiting Fr Doherty, who , as you know, has recently retired as our Parish Priest from St Bartholomew’s RC Church. Pupils representing our upper school, will come along with me to pay him a visit. We will also be armed with the beautiful cards that all of our pupils have made for him, to mark his retirement. The boys and girls will also present Fr Doherty with a gift, as a token of our appreciation for all of his years of service. I have it on good authority that Fr Doherty is very well settled in his new home and we are all looking  forward to visiting him later on this afternoon.

Again, this is a wonderful opportunity for our senior pupils to represent the school and in true curriculum for excellence fashion,be ‘responsible citizens’. Thank you boys and girls.

This has been a very busy first week back and thank you to all of our staff and pupils, who have worked incredibly hard. I hope that you all enjoy a restful and well deserved weekend.

Mrs Bolland

Our boys and girls will be super excited today! It’s the Halloween disco this evening. I know that the main focus of conversation at break and lunch time will be centred around the costumes that the boys and girls will be wearing tonight. Our Primary 1 to 3’s disco starts at 6pm until 7pm. Primary 4 to 7’s disco starts at 7.15pm until 8.15pm. Our parent fundraising and events group have managed to book the same DJ that we’ve had at the last few discos. The children love the set up and party games. We are all looking forward to it!

Tickets are, as always, available from the school office and Mrs Dunn and Mrs Clare are delighted to help you with this.

Mr Mark Millar is popping in to St Bart’s today as a journalist from the Sunday Times will be interviewing him in the school,later on in the afternoon . We are looking forward to welcoming him to St Bartholomew’s and appreciate his continued support towards the school and Parish Community.

Mrs Bolland

I previously  mentioned that we had visitors in the school, Sancta Familia Media, who were very impressed with our wonderful senior pupils. Both Primary 6 and Primary 7 pupils were represented with 5 children from each year group, answering a variety of questions, whilst being filmed.The main focus of the project is the Pope Francis Faith award and the prayer life of the school. All of our pupils, without exception, answered very articulately and gave a great account of the school. They should all be very proud of themselves!

The organisation are visiting 32 schools throughout Scotland, to report on the progress and impact of the Pope Francis Faith award. They were particularly impressed with our beautiful Oratory and all the more, as we are the only Primary school in Scotland with one. The experience of taking part in filming is a very unique opportunity and one that will stay with the children for some time. We are delighted to be in a position to offer such unique and meaningful experiences to our pupils.

Next week ,we are hosting a variety of ‘Developing the Young Workforce’ events in St Bart’s. There is a huge variety of activities and experiences that have  been carefully organised by Mrs McLean. Some of these activities take place in school and some are out with school. The children will learn so much about themselves and others and hopefully, inform future decision making. We will keep you up to date on a daily basis and as always, keep you informed on twitter. A big thank you to the parents and carers who have volunteered their time to help escort the children to a variety of trips out of school.

Mrs Bolland

A company called Sancta Familia Media will be visiting St Bart’s today. They are particularly interested in speaking to our Primary 6 and 7 children , who are currently working towards the Pope Francis Faith award. They will film the children during an interview and also in class, whilst working hard! Representatives from this organisation will be asking the children about their ambitions and also how prayer features in their lives. I know that our pupils will do themselves, families and the school proud. I am looking forward to seeing the finished article and will keep you up to date. Again , we are very lucky to gain recognition for the wonderful ethos that we have cultivated in our school and this is very much a testament to the wonderful input from our entire faith community .Thank you.

Halloween disco tickets will be on sale today, from the school office. Mrs Dunn and Mrs Clare will be happy to assist and tickets are priced at £1.50. Our younger pupils disco, Primary 1 to 3, will take place from 6pm- 7pm. Primary 4 to 7 ‘s disco will start at 7.15pm and finish at 8.15pm. Again, a big thank you to our parent helpers who are instrumental in organising our discos. Without this crucial input, we wouldn’t be able to provide our pupils with such fun events. We are always looking for more parents to get involved in such events- please pop in to the office and pass on details of your availability. Thank you in advance for your support.

Mrs Bolland

Welcome back! I trust that everyone has enjoyed a lovely break and are now looking forward to returning to school and work. The weather has certainly taken an Autumnal turn and darker mornings and evenings are preparing us for the winter. Warm coats, hats and scarves will undoubtedly be the order of the day.What a thought!
Our second term, as always, is a very busy one, with lots going on. Please refer to the newsletter given out last term to remind yourself of important events and dates for your diary. The blog and twitter will keep you up to date, so don’t worry too much about missing out, we will remind you on a daily basis.
A big thank you to Mrs MacFarlane and Primary 6/7 for entertaining and informing parents and carers about their topic, on the last day of term. The children were very well rehearsed and created a wonderful assembly for everyone to enjoy. Well done boys and girls!
Our annual Halloween disco will take place on Thursday and again a big thank you to the parents who have organised the entertainment and refreshments for all of our pupils. We couldn’t do it without you…
Claire, our dental hygienist will be visiting us today and organising all of our nursery and infant children with fluoride treatment. This maintains and protects healthy teeth and is a very worthwhile project. Thank you Claire.
I have organised for the shrubs and bushes at the back of the school to be cut down and removed. This area has become very overgrown and has potential to be hazardous. This should make the area both safer and more presentable. As you know, we have worked hard over the years to improve the presentation of the inside of the school and thought that the outside of the building was also due a bit of a makeover!
Mrs Bolland

Our sponsored obstacle course was a great success. The children all loved their experience in the gym hall and enjoyed trying out new equipment and resources. A huge thank you to Vikki, from NLC Active Schools who organised this event. We will inform you of a final total from sponsorship contributions, after the deadline at the end of the month. I know that it will go to very good use and enhance learning experiences for all of our pupils. Thank you in advance for your donations.

Today, our Faith in Action pupil voice group are holding a wonderful event to help those in need. As you know, children are invited to wear non uniform and bring along a tin of soup for the helping hands soup kitchen in Coatbridge. This is a great idea that includes being a good citizen, whilst having fun, wearing a choice of clothes. It’s a win win situation!

School closes today at 3pm for the October break holiday and will reopen on Monday 23rd October at 9am. All the staff at St Bartholomew’s wish you all a wonderful holiday.

Mrs Bolland

Our pupil Council business meeting was a great success. Mrs McLean and I were incredibly impressed with the wonderful ideas that the children have devised in order to make St Bartholomew’s an even better place to learn. Some of the actions that the group have agreed, include; organising a litter busters rota and moving one of our bins nearer the football areas, after a recent survey suggested that the majority of rubbish gathers in that area. The re introduction of fruit bags and the introduction of ‘healthy homework’and also bringing back the buddy stop in the playground. These are only a few of the many great ideas that were discussed.
In yesterday’s blog, I mentioned that a little bird had told me that something exciting was afoot. The Faith in Action group have organised a special treat for all of our pupils in St Bartholomew’s. On Friday, boys and girls can come to school dressed in non uniform and as always, no football colours please. The group have also respectfully asked that children donate a tin of soup, as a contribution towards the Helling Hands Soup Kitchen in Coatbridge. This would help provide something warm to eat for the soup kitchen’s visitors, and would be especially useful at this time of year when the weather is getting colder. Your generosity, as always will be very much appreciated. Thank you in advance for your cooperation with this very important matter.
A quick reminder that it’s our sponsored obstacle course today. Any donations, however small, are very much appreciated and will go to good use. We will keep you posted on what our plans are for the contributions from this fundraising event. Children are permitted to come to school dressed in gym clothes. Long sleeved tops and track suit trouser/ jogging trousers would be advisable due to the nature and set up of the equipment . Check out our class pages and twitter for photographs of this exciting event!

Mrs Bolland

The lovely , smiling faces in the photograph above, belong to some of our Primary 1 pupils! They were first to arrive in my office with ‘ It’s time to take your jotter to see Mrs Bolland’ stickers. They are randomly placed in both daily writing and maths jotters so that I have the opportunity to make a comment in all of our pupils jotters. This allows me to keep up to date with core learning and catch up for a quick chat with the children. It is a lovely time, in a very often, hectic day!
As part of the feedback included within our comment board on Parents Evening, the new appointment booking system that NLC introduced was mentioned. The vast majority of people have been very positive about its use and the convenience of making appointments from the comfort of your own home. It is very much appreciated that there have been teething troubles, as there are with most new systems.In the future, please be advised that anyone experiencing difficulty gaining access online, please remember that the local library has constant internet access, and it’s free, which is even better! Failing that, Mrs Dunn and Mrs Clare are always happy to help and will organise your appointment manually.Thank you for your patience during these initial teething troubles and I am hopeful that this will not be the case in March, for our next Parents Evening.
Pupil voice groups all meet today and our leaders from Primary 7 will chair both the senior and infant meetings. I know that our groups have some wonderful ideas and a little bird tells me that our Faith in Action group may have a treat in store for everyone on Friday. Watch this space…

Mrs Bolland

St Bartholomew’s is a very busy place, even in the last week before the end of term! Our pupils are busy, both in and out of school. As you can see from the photograph above, some very talented young ladies have achieved fabulous success in dancing competitions. They popped in to my office, laden with the fruits of their labour. We are continually reminded, in St Bartholomew’s that our boys and girls have opportunities to develop their talents and gifts out with the classroom. Well done girls!

Our Primary 6/7 pupils are very busy rehearsing for their assembly on Friday. Their theme is based on recent topic work about the Scottish Parliament, which I know they have thoroughly enjoyed, and I am sure that you do too! Parents and carers are certainly in for a treat as I had a sneak preview ,yesterday, when children were taking part in rehearsals. As always, tea, coffee and treats will be available after the assembly and we look forward to welcoming you then.

All of our pupils are excited about taking part in the sponsored obstacle course on Thursday. You may remember that in years gone by, all of our pupils and staff walked around Drumpellier Loch as part of our annual sponsored event. This was very much dependent on the weather , hence the reason we decided to change it to a more reliable , indoor event where no umbrellas are required! Each class will now have the opportunity to enjoy some fun and try out some new sporting equipment at the same time. A huge thank you to Vikki from NLC Active Schools for organising this event.
Pupil Voice groups meet this week and I know that our newly elected leaders are looking forward to chairing meetings and reporting back to myself and Mrs McLean. We will keep you up to date with the outcome from the meetings.

Mrs Bolland