St Bartholomews

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.

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I’ve very much enjoyed following one particular class on Twitter during my two days out of school this week. Primary 1 have been busy using our brand new STEM Zone over the past few days and it’s been great to see them so engrossed in the fantastic construction materials, designed to inspire and challenge their inquisitive minds. I also noticed on Twitter that the second Primary 1 GLOW homework club has taken place, giving pupils and parents the opportunity to learn together in our Digital Learning Zone.

As you know, we had enrolments for new Primary 1 pupils last week and there was a very healthy turn-out. With our new Primary 1s, our projected school roll for August 2017 is approximately 220, an increase of almost 80 pupils in five years. We’ve still to take a close look at numbers across the school, but it’s almost certain we’ll need to form a ninth class. It’s really encouraging to see St Bartholomew’s flourishing.

St Bartholomew’s is also about to become a busier place due to the arrival of some very young additions to our school community. Our nursery extension for 2 year olds is now complete and is just about ready to receive its first child. I retweeted a photograph from St Thomas’s Primary in Wishaw earlier this week; they welcomed their first two year old on Monday.

Happy Burns Night.I am sure there will be some celebrations this evening that may involve haggis, neeps and tatties….Enjoy!

Our Primary 7 pupils will be looking forward to their visit from St Ambrose High School staff this morning. I know that they will be keen to impress…the staff were full of compliments for behaviour , manners and appearance on the previous visit. I am confident that the children will receive a very similar report.

Ms Allington is very kindly taking some of her after school club pupils to a gymnastics festival later on this morning to Airdrie Academy. I am looking forward to hearing how the boys and girls got on. Good luck everyone!

As scheduled, both the Glow and Netball after school clubs are on later this afternoon. I know that the boys and girls are eagerly anticipating these fantastic clubs. Thank you to Mrs Carlin and Mrs MacFarlane for committing their own time to this.

Our Primary 1 children had a fantastic time in our newly created STEM zone. They were the first class in the school to experience some of the new resources. Mrs MacIntyre has been working hard on setting up this area and it is a huge success. There are lots of opportunities to create wonderful models. Check out the photographs on Twitter- they are awesome…

Our first Parent Council meeting of the year occurred last night, where we discussed how we are intend to implement the next three year’s plan for the school. As always ,exciting ideas are on the horizon…

Mrs Bolland 😀

We’re sending a netball team to a tournament in Bellshill today. Good luck, team! Staying on the theme of keeping fit and active, the Zumba club for Primary 2 and 3 pupils takes place after school.

Our annual whole-school photo will be taken today. John Wilson photographers will work their usual magic by taking 200+ individual photographs and painstakingly combining them into one photograph that looks as if we were all standing perfectly in rows in the hall. Clever stuff, indeed! A class photograph will also be taken of Primary 1 and Primary 7 for those parents/carers who would like to purchase a keep-sake of these two milestone years in their child’s education.

Finally, the Parent Council meets at 6.00pm this evening in the staffroom.

Primary 1 – Lucie

Primary 2 – Kalinka

Priamry 2/3 – Maddison

Primary 3 – Layla

Primary 4- Grace

Primary 5 – Wiktor

Primary 6/7 – Paige

 

Cool Class Cup : Primary 1

Winning House: Summerlee

Ach aye the noo, Primary 3 are all set to welcome their parents, families and friends to their Scottish-themed assembly this afternoon which will include a few Scottish songs to get your toes tapping. The assembly begins at the usual time of 2.00pm, and I look forward to catching up with the children’s guests over a cup of tea and biscuit afterwards.

Primary 6 are off to the Scottish Parliament in Edinburgh today. They’ve been learning about Scotland’s political system in class, so today will be a fantastic opportunity to see the parliament building for themselves and hear about what goes on inside from day to day. Have a great trip, boys and girls!

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As always on a Friday, keep an eye on the website later in the day for this week’s Pupils of the Week, winning House and Cool Class.

Enrolments for new Primary 1 pupils (August 2017) continue from 9.30-11.00am and 1.30-3.00pm today. Please note that tomorrow is the last day for you to register your child.

The infant gymnastics club takes place after school today. Great to see the children kicking off 2017 with some healthy activities!

I’m very much looking forward to Primary 3’s assembly tomorrow afternoon. The boys and girls wrote lovely letters to me last week asking if I’d play the piano for them. I said ‘yes’, of course, so have sneaked a very small preview of the children’s presentation. With it being Burns Night next week, Primary 3 have opted for a Scottish-themed assembly. It’s sure to be a real treat for the audience!

Finally, please note that this year’s Education Mass, marking the beginning of Catholic Education Week, takes place two weeks on Sunday (5th February). Pupils and staff will join the parish for their usual Sunday Mass at 11.00am in St Bartholomew’s Church. The Education Mass is always a special highlight of the school year and I would encourage all of our blog readers to join us on the 5th February as we mark the opening of Catholic Education Week and give thanks for our school.