St Bartholomews

I’m not quite sure how we’re going to manage to fit in all our various activities today!

First of all, some of our Primary 1 parents and carers will be taking part in a ‘Stay and Read’ session in the school library this morning. Many thanks to Mrs Carlin and Miss Duffy for organising this. On the topic of our library, Mrs MacFarlane has been busy choosing new furniture and rugs to make this a really special space for our pupils to enjoy a book. There’s going to be a bit of an underwater theme… watch this space!

Our six Pupil Voice groups have their first meeting of the session this morning. All 212 of our P1-7 pupils are a member of a group and whether it’s Eco, JRSO, Citizenship, Faith in Action, Forward Together or Health for Life, there’s plenty to talk about and lots of things to plan!

Primary 5 will be celebrating Roald Dahl’s 100th birthday with a special party this afternoon. There will be lots for the boys and girls’ parents to see as well as a performance of Pure Imagination from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory… and, of course, some delicious cakes to enjoy! I’m looking forward to joining Primary 5 for their special event.

In amongst all of the above, John Wilson photographers will be in school to take individual and family photographs.

Finally, I need to squeeze in a VERY quick assembly to give out Pupil of the Week certificates AND catch up on four weeks of ‘Tea with Mr Young’! The plan is for the 32 certificate winners to have an extra playtime and a choc-ice… a perfect solution for what’s forecast to be a sunny day!

It’s good to be back in St Bartholomew’s this morning after two days at Headquarters.

A new after school club begins today. A number of our Primary 5 pupils and their parents have signed-up for ‘Make Some Noise’, an opportunity to use our fantastic music facilities to create and record some music together. The club will be run by Raymond McCabe, our new Community Learning & Development Worker, but I imagine I’ll be sticking my nose in now and again too!

The Coatbridge Advertiser will be in St Bartholomew’s today to take a class photograph of our new Primary 1 pupils. Then tomorrow, it will be the turn of all of our pupils, including the nursery, as John Wilson makes his annual visit to the school to take individual and family pictures. Don’t forget to do up those top buttons and tighten your ties, boys and girls!

I have been in and out of classes today and been amazed at some of the wonderful work going on! It would have been Roald Dahl’s  100th Birthday today and as result, children all over the country have been producing some fantastic work during their literacy lessons in commemoration of this. St Bartholomew’s children will be hard to beat on the creative front and I would encourage you to check out our Twitter page to see for yourself….

As you know , over the past four years , we have improved the quality of our school building – inside and out. Further refurbishments are on their way, in the form of lovely new carpets in the classrooms and new lino in the corridors.Measurements were confirmed yesterday and an order will be placed shortly – we can’t wait for them to be fitted.

Talking about refurbishments… our new nursery extension is looking good and the contractors have made great progress over the past weeks. Finishing touches are being added and hopefully furniture and resources will follow shortly. We will keep you posted.

Mrs Bolland 🙂

Hopefully, you checked your child’s bag at the end of the day yesterday and found the ‘Dates for your Diary’ sheet which lists our various events over the coming months. I have included the sheet on today’s blog and, if you happen to lose your paper copy at any point, a copy can also be found in the ‘Information’ section of the website under ‘Diary Dates’.

Please can I draw your attention in particular to the dates of our class assemblies, the first of which is the Primary 1 Prayer Service on Friday 30th September.

Primary 1 – Kaiden

Primary 2 – Ava

Primary 2/3 – Calvin

Primary 3 – Eva

Primary 4- Daniel

Primary 5 – Declan

Primary 6 – Oscar

Primary 6/7 – Olivia

Cool Class: Primary 2/3

Winning House:  Monklands

I attended the annual Catholic Head Teachers’ conference in St Andrew’s on Thursday and Friday last week. The theme of the conference was ‘Teaching Scotland’s Catholic Future’ and speakers included Archbishop Tartaglia, Graham Donaldson (former Chief Inspector of schools) and John Swinney, the Cabinet Secretary for Education. However, the highlight for me, as always, was the opportunity to meet Head Teachers from Catholic primary schools across Scotland. To quote the Faith section of our school website, I return to St Bartholomew’s today ‘deeply conscious of the huge responsibility that rests on each of us to be positive Christian role models for our pupils. Jesus was the ultimate teacher and we, as Catholic educators, must constantly endeavour to mirror and imitate Him in all we say and do so that our daily words and actions genuinely reflect the character and perfect example of Christ.’

Please can I take this opportunity to thank you for bearing with us at this time when we are short staffed in the office. As you know, Mrs Smillie retired before the summer holidays and her replacement will not be in post until sometime next month. There are pockets of the day when we are struggling to man the phones and, as I know you’ll understand, a cut knee or upset child always takes priority. Once again, thank you for your patience.

The nursery extension is nearing completion and the Care Inspectorate are scheduled to visit and sign things off two weeks on Thursday.

I think that some of our Primary 1 pupil’s have suddenly realised that school is a full five days a week operation! Some of our boys and girls, ( not just P1’s) are getting tired and are adjusting to the busy schedule – the holidays are definitely a dim and distant memory. As I have been in and out of classes, I have experienced the fantastic work that goes on in St Bartholomew’s. In actual fact, some of our pupils have brought their work up to the office so that I can have a good look at it –  a huge well done to all of our boys and girls for having a super start to the new school year.

Rebecca Nash from NLC Active School’s is popping in today, at Assembly in order to speak to all of our pupils about after school clubs at the Time Capsule. There are a number of different sports to choose from, and I know that gymnastics is one of them. Remember to ask your child about it over the weekend – there are some great , fun opportunities to be involved in.

The Coatbridge and Airdrie Advertiser’s photographer is visiting our school on Thursday 15th of September to photograph all of our fabulous Primary 1 children. Keep a look out for them in the paper!John Wilson photographers are visiting the folowing day on Friday 16th of September to take photographs of all our pupils – including the nursery. I know that all of our boys and girls are consistently smart , however, I know that mum’s and  dad’s appreciate a little bit of notice for this type of event. Best smiles boys and girls! Mrs Clare is drafting a letter to this effect and will be with you shortly.

Mrs Bolland 🙂

Today is a very special day! It is Our Lady’s birthday…. or to give this feast day it’s ‘proper’ title, we would say today was the Feast of the Nativity of  the Blesseed Virgin Mary. We are reminded today that one of the very many important things that Our Lady does for us is to intercede for us in prayer and is a truly remarkable and exceptional person. She was  very quiet and thoughtful and we could learn so much from her humble approach to life…

We know so little about Mary’s life. Caryll Houselander mused in her wonderful book The Reed of God if this lack of detail isn’t also part of God’s plan. The one thing Mary does in the Gospels is the one thing we must all do: bear Christ into the world. Wrote Houselander, “If we had a picture of Our Lady’s personality we might be dazzled into thinking that only one sort of person could form Christ in himself, and we should miss the meaning of our own being.”

Micah 5:1–4a or Romans 8:28–30
Psalm 13:6ab, 6c
Matthew 1:1–16, 18–23 or 1:18–23

Mrs Bolland 🙂

As the September weekend approaches, you may be starting to think of activities to fill the days. Walking is one of the easiest ways for us to become more active and maintain a healthy lifestyle. North Lanarkshire Council is running a Walking Festival this September weekend, with lots of opportunities for adults and children to explore new places on foot and get fit at the same time.

One of the walks on offer is the Seven Lochs Trail, a 5 1/2 mile trek starting at Frankfield Loch and finishing at Drumpellier Park. The walk will take place on the afternoon of Monday 26th September and includes a free mini bus from the Visitors Centre at Drumpellier Park to the start of the route. Keep an eye out for the special leaflet which lists all of the walks, or email greenspac@northlan.gov.uk to book a place.

I’m presuming it was one of our parents who handed in a whole case of Thorntons chocolates to the school yesterday morning. However, it was such a busy time of the day, neither Mrs Clare nor I can remember who actually handed us the bag! If you’re reading this morning’s blog, THANK YOU! We’ll put your generous donation to good use in the raffles we do to purchase items for the Christmas Fayre.

On a similar note, many thanks to two of our parents, Mrs Woods and Mrs Linnen, for very kindly donating and wrapping our first two raffle prizes. These will be raffled off over the next two weeks. What a great bunch of parents we have!

Finally, you may have noticed that I have been in St Bartholomew’s every day this week. This is because I will be attending the annual Catholic Head Teachers’ conference in St Andrew’s on Thursday and Friday. As always, Mrs Bolland will at the helm in my absence.

As mentioned in last week’s blog, we are planning a sponsored obstacle course later this term. The provisional date is Wednesday 12th October, just before the holidays. Our school roll has now risen to 210, so even a small amount of sponsor money from each pupil could help us reach our best total yet and allow us to subsidise trips and treats throughout the coming year. Letters and sponsor forms will be distributed soon.

Things are progressing with the new flooring for the school. Classrooms and corridors were measured up yesterday and we are hoping to choose carpets and vinyl next week.

Contractors continue to be busy with the new nursery extension and it shouldn’t be too long before this is finished, along with an extended carpark. The management team and the police are continuing to monitor the increased traffic at the top gate, so please can I ask all parents/carers to continue to park and drop-off children safely and legally. Thank you for your cooperation.