St Bartholomews

Our Primary 1 pupils (and their families!) have a particularly busy day ahead. The second ‘Stay and Read’ session takes place in the library first thing: a really enjoyable chance for each child and an adult to choose and read a book together. The children will then be welcoming their parents and families to a special Prayer Service at 2.00pm. This is an opportunity to give thanks to God in song, words and art for the children’s new start at St Bartholomew’s Primary. The boys and girls have settled in exceptionally well and are powering ahead with their learning, so we have much to be grateful to God for. The Prayer Service takes place in the hall at 2 o’clock and refreshments will be served in the P1 classroom afterwards.
Every primary school in North Lanarkshire is part of a ‘Family Group’. The purpose of these groups is to connect similar schools to support ongoing improvement and ensure that all establishments reach their full potential. Our family group consists of St Bartholomew’s, St Edward’s, Golfhill, St Bernadette’s and Keir Hardie Memorial. I’ll be visiting Keir Hardie Memorial Primary this morning to see what St Bartholomew’s can learn from their good practice. It will be my first time in the school, so I’m very much looking forward to my visit.

Although I’m not in St Bartholomew’s this morning, Mrs Bolland will take a short assembly to award our usual Pupil of the Week certificates. Names will be posted on the website later today.

Although there remains quite a bit of work to do on the outside, the interior of our nursery extension is now more or less complete. A representative from the Care Inspectorate will visit St Bartholomew’s this morning to inspect the new space and sign things off. Hopefully, the work on the outside won’t take too much longer and we’ll have things (including the car-park) back to normal before too long.

I do hope you found the report card that went out before the September weekend helpful and that we were successful in providing you with information on your child’s progress relevant to this early stage of the school year. I know many of our parents and carers will have taken the opportunity to chat things through with their child and I’m sure this will give many St Bart’s pupils the encouragement and incentive they need to make any necessary changes before Parents Evening which takes place in two weeks time.

Please can I take this opportunity to thank staff for their input in developing the new reporting format and for the time, thought and care they put into completing their reports. St Bartholomew’s is blessed to have such a dedicated team of teachers who want the very best for their pupils and who are always willing to go the extra mile to keep parents and carers up-to-date with their child’s learning and progress. This is the eighth school I have worked in over the years, so I know what a good teacher looks like: the teachers in St Bartholomew’s really are quality with a capital Q!

It was a lovely surprise over the weekend to receive an email all the way from Detroit, Michigan in the United States. Maria Meszaros had come across our school website and was particularly taken with the selection of prayers in the ‘Faith’ section. ” I love your website page with the prayers on it!”, Maria writes. “Your school is so very blessed! Good Catholic Schools are so difficult to find! May God continue to bless you all!” How encouraging to know that someone at the other side of the Atlantic has heard about St Bartholomew’s and is, I am sure, now praying for our school community. Thank you for your email, Maria!

My days in St Bartholomew’s are a bit of a mix this week. I’ll be here all day today, tomorrow morning and Friday afternoon. Thank goodness for the very capable hands of Mrs Bolland!

After going around the classes this morning, I noticed that all of our pupils were highly motivated and working hard. They have obviously benefited from their well deserved rest over the September weekend and of course, the ‘wee extra’ day on Thursday… Keep up the great work boys and girls!

A reminder to all of our Primary 1 parents and carers that the class prayer service will be on Friday  the 30th of September at 2pm. An invitation is extended to all parents and carers of Primary 1 pupils  to join us for a cup of tea and maybe a wee biscuit in the area outide of the primary 1 classroom. We are all looking forward to seeing you then!

Our International Day of Peace celebrations were a great success last week and beautiful displays have been created by all of the children to mark the occasion. Thank you to our ‘Faith in Action’ pupil voice group for organising this.

Mrs Bolland 🙂

Today is International Peace Day and we are very fortunate at St Bartholomew’s Primary to have a beautiful Oratory to celebrate this as a faith comunity and I would urge you to join us. Our weekly prayer service is on at the usual time of is of 8.50am and as always, everyone is welcome!

Vikki, our NLC Active School’s coordinator has provided me with a comprehensive list of activities that children can sign up for , over the October break. This will allow you the opportunity to have a think about how to plan your holiday! Please see below for all relevant information…

MULTI-SPORTS

Our action packed multi-sports programme incorporates a wide variety of activities ranging from group sports, to face painting & creative fun. NL Leisure holiday programmes provide a safe and sociable experience for young people that promote a healthy and active lifestyle in a safe and vibrant atmosphere!

Ages: 5-12 years

Venues: Airdrie, Birkenshaw, Broadwood, Iain Nicolson, Kilsyth, Ravenscraig, Shotts, Sir Matt Busby, St Ambrose High School, Tryst & Wishaw.

View Multi Sports Timetable

ATHLETICS

Suitable for athletes of all abilities. For beginners it gives a great introduction to different disciplines while more experienced athletes can hone their skills in a relaxed, fun environment.

Ages: 3-16 years

Venues: Ravenscraig

View Athletics Timetable

RUGBY

Learn everything about rugby in a fun, social environment with expert coaching provided by fully qualified coaches.

Ages: 13-14 years

Venues: Broadwood

View Rugby Timetable

DANCE

Each day will see children participating in different workshops such as cheerleading, hip hop and creative dance; showcasing the new skills learned at the end of the week.

Ages: Primary 1 – 16 years

Venues: Broadwood & Ravenscraig

View Dance Timetable

FOOTBALL

The programme is structured and planned with themed days throughout the week for the players to develop and have fun!

Ages: Primary 1 – 16 years

Venues: Broadwood, Ravenscraig

View Football Timetable

GOLF

Ideal for both an introduction to golf and for those with some golf experience, kids will get valuable coaching from our PGA pro.

Ages: Under 6 & 6 – 16 years

Venues: Lochview Family Golf Centre

View Golf Timetable

CRASH COURSE SWIMMING

Our swimming crash courses over the October break give a great opportunity for all levels to get in the water

Groups: Pre-school & Level 1-4 Swimmers

Venues: Tryst, Wishaw Sports Centre, The Time Capsule, Kilsyth, John Smith Pool

View Swimming Timetable

MUSICAL THEATRE

Musical Theatre teaches dancing, acting and singing with a show performance at the end of the week.

Ages: 7 – 16 years

Venues: St Ambrose High School

View Musical Theatre Timetable

TENNIS

Each daily session changes theme to allow children to develop their tennis understanding and ability.

Ages: Primary 1 – 16 years

Venues: Broadwood (Outdoor Courts) & Ravenscraig (Indoor Courts)

View Tennis Timetable

Mrs Bolland 🙂

Three ex-pupils from St Bartholomew’s are helping out on a Monday afternoon in P6/7,P2/3 and P1. Pupils and  staff are delighted to have an extra pair of hands from the St Ambrose senior pupils in the classrooom and I have heard that they are already proving to be an asset to the class! A big thank you for all your help from everyone at St Bart’s.

From tomorrow and until the rest of week, there will be no after school clubs. This is a result of the By- Election on Thursday, where the school building has to be vacated shortly after 3pm and the school is closed to pupils on Thursday. Friday and Monday are obviously the September weekend and school is closed to staff and pupils alike. Our staff and pupils certainly deserve a well earned break as the start of term is always incredibly busy! After school clubs will resume as normal the following week.

The Parent Council met last night, with the addition of Councillor McPake, who has been a great support to the school . We would like to take thos opportunity to extend a  huge thank you for managing to pop along to our school during  such a busy schedule. It is much appreciated.

Mrs Bolland 🙂

Our two parent/family events were a huge success on Friday. It was great to see Primary 1 parents and carers choosing and reading a book with their child and it was equally fantastic to see Primary 5 mums, dads, grannies, grandpas, aunties and uncles getting stuck into some Roald Dahl activities (with a little help from the boys and girls!). Check out Twitter and the Primary 1 and Primary 5 class pages for photographs of these two events, and please keep your eye out for more opportunities to join in your child’s learning in the coming months. Many thanks to Mrs Carlin and Mrs MacFarlane for open their doors on Friday.

I can now confirm that the entire corridor, from the infant department all the way up to Primary 7, will be fitted with new vinyl flooring and that all classrooms and offices will be fitted with new carpet. I am absolutely delighted the decision has been made to re-floor the entire school: some of the floors have been down since the school opened in 1950 and the new vinyl and carpet will transform the interior of St Bart’s, bringing our four years of refurbishment to a close. Work will begin during the October holidays. Please can I express the sincere thanks of our whole school community to North Lanarkshire Council for their financial investment in St Bartholomew’s over the past few years and particularly to Counsellor Michael McPake for his ongoing commitment to our school. I popped onto Google maps to remind myself what St Bartholomew’s looked like when I walked up the playground for the first time back in 2012…I still can’t quite believe the transformation, both inside and out! Take a look for yourself:

Priamry 1 – Jasmin

Primary 2 – Kaidyn

Primary 2/3 – Lilianna

Primary 3 – Harrison

Primary 4 – Leah

Primary 5 – Leon

Primary 6 – David

Primary 6/7 – Andrew

Winning House: Drumpellier

Cool Class Cup: Primary 1

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!