St Bartholomews

And a man crippled from birth was carried and placed at the gate of the
temple called “the Beautiful Gate” every day.
—ACTS 3:2

I heard about a book by Katherine Boo called Behind the Beautiful Forevers, about a slum in Mumbai. The title comes from a giant billboard that marks the edge of the makeshift settlement. In sunshine yellow, the sign advertises ceramic tiles by repeating the words “Beautiful” and “Forever.” Today’s reading has a similar irony. The lame and deformed and hungry gather under “the Beautiful Gate.” But it’s only ironic to those who can’t see beyond what people look like on the surface. Peter walked right up to the crippled man and “looked intently at him” and saw the man’s “jumping and praising” spirit. So he “took him by the right hand and raised him up.” The man stood and walked around and everyone else could finally see what the gate had already proclaimed.
Acts 3:1–10
Psalm 105:1–2,3–4,6–7,8–9
Luke 24:13–35

I think we can all learn something from looking beyond the surface and try to see ‘the contents page’ instead of simply looking at ‘the title page’…

Mrs Bolland 😀

 

What a fabulous first day back after the holidays! All of our boys and girls looked like new pins and were extremely well turned out. The enthusiasm from the children as I visited the classes was tremendous. I think that two weeks of relaxing was more than enough for a lot of our children and they were more than delighted to get back to work and learning new things. Long may it continue….

A meeting was held last night regarding Kilbowie and York for our Primary 7 parents. This was very well attended and the boys and girls were visibly excited about both of these very important excursions. I have been to both Kilbowie and York and can thoroughly recommend them as valuable opportunities to develop new skills, increase self confidence and to meet new friends. It is also a crucial step in developing maturity and independence through staying away from home, with the added bonus of being within a safe, secure and structured environment, with familiar faces. They will remember both of these excursions for a very long time!

 

Mrs Bolland 🙂

A huge welcome back to everyone and I hope and pray that all of our pupils, parents, carers and staff have had a happy and Holy Easter. As it is the most important feast within the Catholic calendar and allows for a prolonged period of reflection, forgiveness and new beginnings, it is quite apt that St Bartholomew’s is experiencing change and new beginnings at this time. As you know, I will be taking over from Mr Young and I am very much looking forward to the exciting challenges that lie ahead. As always, my door is continually open in order to spend time with parents and carers that may need to discuss concerns or share important information with me. I look forward sharing your news after the holidays!

We have a very busy term ahead and a meeting for Primary 7 parents and carers begins at 6pm this evening regarding the forthcoming Kilbowie trip next week. I look forward to seeing you then.I know that our senior pupils are very much looking forward to this and great fun and adventure are in store for all. We can’t wait to hear about it!

Mrs Bolland 😀

The children were absolutely fantastic in our school show, ‘A Night on Broadway’, last night. ‘THANK YOU FOR THE MUSIC!’, boys and girls, and thank you to all the staff for doing such a fantastic job in the lead up to the show and behind the scenes yesterday. What a brilliant way to round off the term!

As it’s the last day of term, we have a non-uniform and crazy hair day today, with all £1 donations going to SCIAF. The children will be taking part in our annual egg decorating competition and there’s a prize for the winning egg from each class. We’ll also be squeezing in an Easter egg hunt before our assembly. Please remember that the school closes at the slightly earlier time of 2.30pm today.

I can’t quite believe that, after five years of sharing daily news on the school website, this is my last blog. I took the opportunity last night to look back at some blog entries from the past few years and it was a reminder of just what a special and vibrant school community St Bartholomew’s is. There’s never a day goes by without something exciting going on up and down the corridors of our fantastic wee school and I will be taking so many special memories with me as I hand over the reins to Mrs Bolland at the end of today.

Please can I take this opportunity to thank all pupils, staff, parents, carers and parishioners for their love and support over the past five years. You are an absolutely amazing bunch! Although I’m going to really miss being around the school every week, my full-time role in Headquarters will include giving support to St Bartholomew’s, so I’ll still be popping in from time to time. As the wee phrase says: Goodbyes are not forever, goodbyes are not the end, they only mean “I’ll miss you!” until we meet again.

Have a wonderful Easter holiday, everyone, and see you soon!

Mr Young 😘

Welcome to ‘A Night on Broadway’, our phenomenal whole-school show for 2017! The weeks of practice are now over and the boys and girls are all set to take to the stage at 1.30pm and 7.00pm today to entertain a packed hall of parents, carers, family and friends. Our audiences really are in for a treat!

Please remember that both performances are now sold out and that strict fire regulations mean we are unable to admit anyone without a ticket. Thank you for your co-operation.

We have two final show-themed wall displays to share with you today. Primary 4’s display illustrates their two songs from ‘Oliver’ and Primary 2’s display sets the scene for their two songs from the Sound of Music. Many, many thanks to all of the boys, girls and teachers throughout the school for their beautiful wall displays. Please take the opportunity to wander round our wall displays before and after today’s show performances.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Our displays are from Primary 7, who are performing two songs from Grease and Primary 5, who are performing two songs from  Mama Mia.

We are certainly becoming a much healthier school, with two of our classes today receiving sports tuition . Primary 2/3 are lucky to have Mini Sports Athletics today as part of their PE input. I know that the children will really this! Primary 5 will have Badminton tuition today and I know that both the children and their instructor thoroughly enjoy this experience.Fingers crossed that St Bartholomew’s produces future athletes!

Our  Parent Council met last night and we were delighted to see Dennis Fallon back from a short absence. We discussed many important items that will benefit both our pupils and community. A survey that was sent out regarding the outdoor area and playground had a limited response and the Parent Council agreed that re sending this would help gather information and evidence for funding such projects. We would all appreciate your support with this important matter. Thank you in advance for your cooperation.

Mrs Bolland 😀

 

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

We’ve arrived at the week of our whole-school show, ‘A Night on Broadway’, with performances at 1.30pm and 7.00pm this coming Thursday. Tickets for the evening performance are now sold out, but there are still a few seats available for the afternoon show.

Each class has prepared a fantastic wall display linked to the songs from their musical. Today we have ‘Let’s go fly a kite’, courtesy of Primary 3 who will be performing songs from Mary Poppins, and ‘Somewhere over the Rainbow’ from Primary 1 who (no prizes for guessing!) will be performing two songs from the Wizard of Oz.

Pupils should arrive at 6.30pm on Thursday evening and go straight to their classroom. If you don’t happen to be coming to the evening performance, the children will be ready for collection (or to walk home) around 8.15pm. It’s very important that we have as many children there on Thursday night as possible (ideally, all 220 of them!) as every class’s performance is very much a team effort and just one or two missing pupils could have an impact on things.

In preparation for their First Holy Communion in May, Primary 4 will be visiting St Bartholomew’s Church today for Eucharistic Adoration. I’m sure it will be a very special time of prayer and reflection for the boys and girls.

A few things to make a note of for this coming Friday, which is the last day of term:
– We’ll be having a non-uniform and crazy hair day in aid of SCIAF
– We’ll be holding our usual egg decorating competition, so all pupils should bring in a hard-boiled egg (and maybe a spare!), along with any special things they need to create their masterpiece
– The school closes at the slightly earlier time of 2:30pm

Finally, the Parent Council meets tonight at 6pm.

Priamry 1 – Caiden

Primary 2 – Liam

Primary 2/3 – Monique

Primary 3 – Findlay

Primary 4 – Amylee

Primary 5 – Camerson

Primary 6 – Jennifer

Primary 6/7 – Nathan

The Faith in Action group are running a cake sale today in aid of SCIAF. This is always a popular event and never fails to raise a good amount of money for our Lenten charity. Thank you in advance for your support.

I had to make sure I was early to bed last night as I knew I would need every ounce of energy to play all twenty songs on the piano for today’s school show rehearsal. All eight classes will be taking to the stage to perform both of their songs to the rest of the school. I’ve caught a glimpse of quite a few of the classes practising and the boys and girls really are sounding fantastic… you’re definitely in for a treat next Thursday! PLEASE REMEMBER THAT TICKETS ARE NOW ON GENERAL SALE AND ARE GOING FAST!