St Bartholomews

A reminder that the Valentine disco is on this coming Thursday and tickets are still available from the office priced £1. Primary 1 to 3 ‘s disco is at 6pm until 7pm and the Primary 4 to 7 ‘s disco is at 7.15pm until 8.15pm.

As always we have a brilliant DJ with a fantastic lights show, party games with  drinks and treats included. A big thank you again to our parent helpers who have organised this for all of our boys and girls. We look forward to seeing you then…

Our netball after school club is on today and I know that the team enjoyed their recent outing. Well done boys and girls. Mrs MacFarlane was very proud of all of you.

Mrs MacIntyre has been busy scheduling all of our classes into allocated time slots for ‘Zoo Lab’ on Friday. This is again, another activity that we have paid for from school funds, through generous contributions and fundraising that our St Bartholomew’s community have created.  This organisation has visited us before and it is something that the children really enjoy – finding out about, looking at and touching ‘creepy crawlies’. I have to admit that I don’t share the children’s enthusiasm for ‘creepy crawlies’ and might avoid the Performing arts studio that day…

Finally,  congratulations to Carlos from all of your friends at St Bartholomew’s for receiving the sacrament of Confirmation last night at St Brigit’s church in Baillieston. We send you and your family love and prayers at this special time.

 Mrs Bolland 🙂

Our two year old’s nursery opened yesterday! The two smiling girls in our picture were very reluctant to leave as they had enjoyed themselves so much. They are very much looking forward to coming to nursery today….well done girls.

The ‘Pray for our school’ group meet for the first time this year in our Get Together room. Thank you ladies and gents for all of your support- we appreciate it.

Running after school club is on today- I hope that the rain stays off so that the boys and girls can enjoy the fresh air…

Mrs Bolland 😀

Catholic Education Week began yesterday, with the theme for this year being ‘Developing as communities of Faith and Learning’. Please make a special point of praying for St Bartholomew’s Primary over the coming week. You may also wish to visit the ‘Faith’ section of the website to find out more about the Catholic ethos and faith dimension of our school.

It was great to see such a high turn-out at yesterday’s Education Sunday Mass. I could see lots of St Bart’s pupils and parents dotted around the church and I very much appreciate those pupils who welcomed people at the door, sang in the choir, did the offertory and read the bidding prayers. You were stars, as always!

Many congratulations to Carlos who received his First Holy Communion during Mass yesterday. Please continue to pray for Carlos as he receives the Sacrament of Confirmation at St Bridget’s church, Garrowhill on Tuesday evening.

I had the opportunity to give the Head Teacher’s address during yesterday’s Mass. The full address will be posted in the Faith section of our website later today. However, I thought I’d share an excerpt from it on today’s blog as our school community embarks on Catholic Education Week 2017.

“If faith is the bedrock which permeates all aspects of St Bartholomew’s Primary and St Ambrose High School, then learning and teaching is our core business, our ‘bread and butter’. Put simply, we have a responsibility – and, for those of us who teach in Catholic schools, this is our God-given vocation and calling – to provide the children in our care with the very highest quality of education. The Catholic Church has a strong tradition of educating the young, from the early monastic schools, to the world-class places of learning run by religious orders such as the Jesuits. Following in their footsteps, St Bartholomew’s and St Ambrose cannot only be about getting along as a caring community or developing the faith dimension of the school, vital as these two things are. We must also be about academic excellence, delivered by teachers of the highest calibre and supported by the absolute best facilities and resources. God, who wants the best for all of us, wouldn’t expect anything less.

This I can say with absolute certainty: St Bartholomew’s staff are collectively the hardest working and most dedicated team of people I have encountered in my 24 years in the job. They set themselves the highest of standards and never fail to go the extra mile to provide a wealth of exciting learning opportunities for the children of St Bart’s. You only need to walk through the corridors and look at our fantastic wall displays, or stand at a classroom door and listen in to one of the creative lessons that fill each and every school day, or cast your eye over Twitter or the school website to see evidence of the unwavering energy and commitment of the St Bart’s team. Please can I express my sincere thanks to the staff of St Bartholomew’s for your dedication, hard work and genuine personal faith. I’m so fortunate to lead such a talented and committed team and I know that Mrs Douglas will have the same sentiments about the dedicated staff of St Ambrose High School.”

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As you can see from the above photographs, Primary 2 have absolutely loved using our new STEM Zone this week. The boys and girls have been busy building a whole range of moving models and took the time to write about their learning as part of their taught writing yesterday.

Primary 4 are all very excited about their class assembly this afternoon. The boys and girls are looking forward to welcoming their parents and families at 2.00pm today to tell them all about the Victorians. I’ve caught a few wee glimpses of P4’s assembly and it looks as if it’s going to be very entertaining, indeed!

Primary 5 and 6 have a real treat in store today. The children are off to Coatbridge library for a Harry Potter workshop, marking 20 years since the first book in the series was published. Have a MAGICAL time, boys and girls!

Please remember that our annual Education Mass takes place this coming Sunday at 11.00am in St Bartholomew’s Church. One of our P7 pupils, Carlos, will be making his First Holy Communion, so it will be an extra special day this year.

Finally, as you will have read in last Friday’s blog, St Bartholomew’s donated £150 to the Apostleship of the Sea at last week’s assembly. Euan McArthur from the charity shared this news with the Catholic press and, as you can see below, we have appeared in this week’s edition of the Catholic Observer.

Primary 1 are off on a trip to Summerlee Heritage Centre today. The boys and girls have been learning about old toys (some of which Mr Young had when he was a boy!) and today’s trip will give them a chance to find out and learn more about how children kept themselves amused in times gone by. Primary 1 have won the Cool Class Cup numerous times, and I know they’ll do St Bart’s proud with their behaviour, manners and enthusiasm when they visit Summerlee today.

I attended the annual Education Mass in Motherwell Cathedral on Tuesday evening. It was great to join with others from across the diocese to give thanks for Catholic education. Two of our P7 pupils, Heather and Olivia, read the bidding prayers; thank you, girls, for representing the school so confidently.

Our own Education Mass takes place this coming Sunday at 11.00am in St Bartholomew’s Church. Please join us if you possibly can.

Tickets for our annual Valentine’s disco will be on sale from the office, priced £1 from Thursday of this week. The disco is on Thursday 9th February.A big thank you to the parent helpers who have organised this.

Mrs MacIntyre has organised boxing and fitness sessions to take place today. This is part of our Health & WellBeing programme and allows the children to try out new sports and activities in order to increase fitness levels and improve health. All classes will be scheduled in throughout the day. Have fun boys and girls!

A reminder to Primary 1 parents and carers that a whole day trip to Summerlee is taking place tomorrow. I hope that the rain stays off – make sure that the children are suitably wrapped up just incase. This is a wonderful facility and we are very lucky that it is located so near the school in Coatbridge! I am looking forward to hearing about it and finding out what the children have learned.

Mrs Bolland 😉

Our ‘Running After School ‘ club is on today – hopefully it will be dry outside so that the children can experience the fresh air and the natural ‘ups and downs’ of the local terrain… Good luck boys and girls and thank you to Mrs McLean for organising this great club!

Just a wee reminder to parents and carers to phone the school when your child is absent, especially after a text has been sent as we have regulations to comply with if we don’t hear from anyone. Thank you in advance for your cooperation with this matter.

The annual education mass is on at the Cathedral this evening at 7.30pm. As always, everyone is welcome and would encourage you to attend. A number of St Bartholomew’s teachers will be there and in fact two of our Primary 7 pupils have the privilege  of reading  the prayers of intercession during this very special service.

Mrs Bolland 🙂

 

Many of you will know that Mrs O’Neill currently works part-time as Primary RE advisor for Motherwell Diocese and has split her week between her two different jobs over the past two years. Although it’s very sad news for the school, I’m delighted for Mrs O’Neill that Bishop Toal has asked her to work full time for the diocese from mid-February. I imagine this will have been a difficult decision for Mrs O’Neill to make after teaching for almost 25 years in St Bartholomew’s. However, she has been flourishing in her role as RE Advisor and is very excited about the opportunity to devote more time and energy to supporting primary schools across the diocese. Mrs O’Neill’s last day will be Friday 10th February, just before the long weekend. We’ll have the opportunity to say cheerio and wish her well in a couple of weeks and, of course, will still see Mrs O’Neill in St Bartholomew’s every so often as our RE Advisor. Well done on your new full-time position, Mrs O’Neill!

The parish Pray for our School group meets in the oratory tomorrow morning. With me being out of school two days a week, it’s been some considerable time since I’ve had the chance to pop in to chat to members of the group. Please can I take this opportunity, then, to thank this group of parishioners for continuing to give of their time to pray for our school. You play a vital role in the success of St Bartholomew’s.

Finally, just a wee reminder of some important dates this term:

Valentines Disco: Thursday 9th February
Holiday: Monday 13th and Tuesday 14th February
Inservice Day: Wednesday 15th February (school closed to pupils)
Parents Evening: Thursday 9th March
First Reconciliation: Tuesday 14th March (exact times to follow)
School Show (‘A Night on Broadway): Thursday 30th March (afternoon and evening performances)

Primary 1 – Guy

Primary 2 – Amy

Primary 2/3 – Rhys

Primary 3 – Lucie

Primary 4 – Stuart

Primary 5 – Ami

Primary 6 – Kiera

Primary 6/7 – Heather

 

Cool Class Cup: Primary 1

Winning House: Lochend

Thanks to the generosity of St Bartholomew’s pupils, Euan McArthur from the Apostleship of the Sea will be popping along to our whole school assembly this morning to collect a cheque for £150. The Apostleship of the Sea was our Advent charity last term and we pray that our small donation will help further their important work with seafarers around the coast of Scotland.

Please can I remind all blog readers that our annual Education Mass, marking the opening of Catholic Education Week, takes place a week on Sunday, 5th February. The Mass will begin at 11.00am in St Bartholomew’s Church and it would be wonderful to see the pews filled with pupils and parents.

I wonder who our Pupil of the Week line up will be today? Keep an eye on the website to see the list of proud winners, along with the winning House and Cool Class.