St Bartholomews

Today has been a red-letter day in my diary for a number of weeks and the special invitation on my desk has helped me count down the days. It’s the day of Primary 1’s Bumble Bee Tea, a summer-themed event in the children’s classroom which is sure to be a real treat for mums, dads and other invited guests. It’s going to be a HIVE of activity at 2.00 o’clock!

Counsellor McPake will be visiting St Bartholomew’s this morning, along with Dennis Fallon, Chair of the Parent Council. Counsellor McPake has been a great supporter of the school over the years, particularly in campaigning for the various renovations we have had done to the school building.

The nursery have their fun day today, complete with bouncy castle! Have a great day, boys and girls (and the grown-ups!).

Finally, keep an eye on the website later today for this week’s Pupils of the Week, Cool Class and House Trophy.

The parish ‘Pray for our School’ group will be visiting St Bartholomew’s this morning to share a chat and some refreshments with our Primary 4 pupils, who received their First Holy Communion last month. We greatly appreciate and value this faithful group of parishioners who meet to pray for our school every month.

Please remember that St Bartholomew’s will be closed to pupils a week today, Thursday 23rd June, due to the European Referendum. The school will open again as normal on Friday 24th.

I am currently in the process of reading and writing a comment on all 200+ report cards. Despite being a mammoth task, it’s a real pleasure reading about the progress and achievements of our fantastic pupils. What a clever and talented bunch they are! Reports will go out a week tomorrow, Friday 24th June, so please check your child’s school bag on this day.

Our primary 5/6 pupils had a wonderful trip  to Stirling Castle yesterday, where they enjoyed a wide variety of activities and had great fun learning about Scottish history.Follow us on Twitter to see for yourself! Primary 7 also had a fun morning at St Ambrose where they enjoyed being part of the audience for the dress rehearsal for the end of term show,’Grease’. A big thank you to all of our parent helpers who volunteer their time to escort our pupils to these events.  I know that the children are eager and excited to start their new journey at St Ambrose High…

Remember that both our Gardening after school club and Reading after school club is on today  and that next week is the final date. Well done to all the boys and girls for contributing their gifts and talents and to parents and Carers for their support.

Mrs Bolland 😀

As always our prayer service is on today in the Oratory. I would encourage our entire school community to pop along as there is now a limited opportunity to meet because school is closing on the 29th of June for the summer holidays.

P5/6 are going to Stirling today for an educational trip to the castle. There are many activities lined up for the children to enjoy and I am sure that they will have a super time. Fingers crossed for sunshine. A big thank you to our parent helpers for volunteering their time to escort the children. I am looking forward to seeing the fabulous pictures on Twitter…

Our Primary 7 children are also out of school this morning as they have been invited to attend the end of term show at St Ambrose. It is always a fantastic event with lots of talent on display and I’m sure there are a few St Bart’s pupils amongst the cast.

Mrs Bolland 😀

I’m absolutely delighted to welcome our new Primary 1 pupils and their parents to St Bartholomew’s this morning for their final induction event. The boys and girls, along with their parents and carers, will receive a full tour of the school, led by our Primary 6 pupils who will be next year’s ‘buddies’. The children will then have the chance to try out their very first St Bart’s school dinner in the dining hall. What a treat!

We have two other important visitors to the school this morning, both of whom will become familiar faces over the coming year. A warm welcome to Ms Allington and Ms Seggie who will be joining the teaching staff for the 2016/17 session.

With confirmation of our staff for next year, I’ll be in a position this week to inform pupils and parents of class teachers for next year. Letters will be prepared and go out on Wednesday or Thursday.

Primary 1 – Cody

Primary 1/2 – Emma

Primary 2 – Jim

Primary 3 – Mia

Primary 4 – Aiden

Primary 5 – Rhian

Primary 5/6 – Nicole

Primary 7 – Amber

Primary 4 are looking forward to their trip to Motherwell today, where they will be representing St Bartholomew’s  at ‘Primary Games’ sporting event. This is held every year and is a North Lanarkshire initiative where all the Primary school’s compete in a variety of sporting events such as running and badminton. Every year, as part of the event, there is a highly prized banner competition, where the school that has created the most eye catching and effective banner to represent their school, wins a prize.Our school won the banner competition last year and were awarded a monetary gift that contributed towards one of our after school clubs. Fingers crossd that we are as successful this year!! The very best of luck to everyone in their events!

Primary 7 are very happy to welcome to Ms Alison Smith from St Ambrose today, who will be speaking to the children about the R.E curriculum this morning. I am sure that the children will be delighted to hear about how the subject is taught at High School. I know that our primary 7’s will make Ms Smith feel very welcome and make a super impresion as future pupils.

Mrs Bolland 🙂

As we are nearing the end of term, it means that our wide selection of after school clubs will be coming to a close. I would like to take this opportunity to thank all of our dedicated staff for volunteering their own time to ensuring that our pupils have the chance to experience such a fabulous variety of activities. Both the gardening club and reading club will finish up on the 22nd of June and the Cheerleading club will finish this Monday.

A very ‘smiley’ primary 2 pupil arrived in my office today. This young lady had a ‘Reading Challenge ‘ medal, that she had won from the library. Well done!! We love congratulating our friends at St Bartholomew’s…

Mrs Bolland 😀

Sports Day ran like a dream yesterday afternoon and we were blessed with glorious weather. The winning house this year was Summerlee and you can see the House Captains proudly showing off their trophy in the photograph. Many thanks to parents, carers, families and friends for turning up in such huge numbers to support the children. Thanks too to all of the staff, particularly Mrs McLean, for helping make the afternoon such a great success. And, of course, well done to each and every St Bart’s pupil for taking part so energetically and enthusiastically. You are all winners in my eyes!

St Bart’s FC have their final football fixture of the year this afternoon. The team has gone from strength to strength over the past few months and I’m sure they’ll do brilliantly well in their final match. Good luck, everyone!

Finally, please can I take this opportunity to thank St Bartholomew’s staff for their continued commitment this session to after school clubs. I’m extremely grateful, as I’m sure all of our pupils and parents are, that St Bart’s teachers are willing to give so generously of their time to organise and run such a fantastic range of clubs during the course of the year. Cooking, gardening, art, running… the list is huge! It’s very much appreciated. Thank you, Team!

St Bart’s Sports Day has (we hope!) finally arrived! As always, Sports Day is weather permitting. Today’s forecast has been constantly changing but, at the moment, is looking dry and warm. Hopefully, we can make it to the last race without the heavens opening! SHOULD THE FORECAST CHANGE, SPORTS DAY WILL BE POSTPONED UNTIL TOMORROW (WEDNESDAY). IF TODAY’S SPORTS DAY NEEDS TO BE CANCELLED, A TEXT WILL BE SENT TO PARENTS AND CARERS AT 11.45am . If you don’t hear anything, or see any announcement on the blog, please turn up at 1 o’clock, as planned!

The children do not need to wear school uniform today and can come in at 9.00am in their sports kit. Once again, please can I ask all parents and carers to apply sunscreen to their child this morning and to provide them with water to keep themselves hydrated. It’s going to be hot!

Lunch will be from 12.00 – 12.45pm today, with Sports Day beginning at 1.00pm. Please can I ask that parents do not enter the playground until lunchtime is finished and all pupils are back inside the school building. Thank you for your cooperation.

A huge thank you to Mrs McLean for organising and coordinating Sports Day as well as to the rest of the staff (particularly Mr Lynch!), our older pupils and the team of parent helpers who will do so much behind the scenes today to ensure everything runs like clockwork. What a team!.. Mr Hughes would have been proud of you all!