St Bartholomews

A MASSIVE well done to our badminton team who came first in Friday’s tournament!

Wasn’t it great to see the beautiful sunshine over the weekend! The good weather will continue today and, according to the latest forecast, tomorrow’s Sports Day should also remain warm and dry. Things kick-off at 1 o’clock, with an earlier lunch from 12.00 – 12.45pm to facilitate the starting time.

Now that summer has arrived, please can I remind all parents and carers to ensure they apply sunscreen to their child before they leave for school on sunny days. The children spend at least one hour each day in the playground, so it’s vital they are protected from the sun as they enjoy the good weather. A hat is also a good idea, especially if your child has particularly fair skin.

I should receive final confirmation this week of our staff for next year and I hope to be in a position to let both you and your child know their new teacher for August no later than the beginning of next week.

A HUGE well done to our badminton team who came first place in a competition on Friday. We’re really proud of you!

Finally, I’m delighted to inform you that Mark and Lucy Millar have, once again, managed to find time in their busy schedule to attend the Primary 7 Leavers’ Mass and prize-giving. This takes place on the second last day of term, Tuesday 28th June, at 1.30pm.

Our final class assembly of the year takes place today. Primary 5 have been practising hard and are looking forward to welcoming their guests at 2 o’clock this afternoon. The rest of the school will get the opportunity to see Primary 5’s assembly after playtime today.

Today is the Feast of the Sacred Heart, when the church asks us to honour and reflected upon the unconditional love that Jesus has for each and every one of us. Today’s gospel at Mass is the parable of the lost sheep, when the Good Shepherd leaves the ninety-nine to go in search of the one lost sheep… and then carries it home with great rejoicing! May each member of our school community open their heart to the love of Christ today so that they, in turn, may share the love of God with others.

“Though we are incomplete, God loves us completely. Though we are imperfect, He loves us perfectly. Though we may feel lost and without compass, God’s love encompasses us completely. … He loves every one of us, even those who are flawed, rejected, awkward, sorrowful, or broken.” (Dieter F. Uchtdorf)

Have a wonderful weekend, everyone – enjoy the sunshine!

Following the AGM of the Parent Council on Tuesday evening, Mr Dennis Fallon was voted in as the new chairperson and Mrs Anne-Marie Kelly was voted in as the new treasurer. It was a very productive meeting, and plans were made to begin the 2016/17 school year by taking a fresh look at the curriculum offered to St Bartholomew’s pupils as well as beginning work on developing the playground and school grounds. Next year’s meetings will take place on the last Monday of each month at 6.00pm. Please contact Dennis Fallon or the school office if you would be interested in joining the Parent Council.

We welcome our new Primary 1 children to St Bartholomew’s this morning. The boys and girls will have the opportunity to visit their new classroom and do some activities with Mrs Carlin. While the children are having a wee taster of P1, mums and dads will have the opportunity to meet our Community Learning Development worker, Mhari Brady. Mhari will be offering parents further suggestions on how to support their child’s learning once they start school and will also be seeking their ideas and views on the sort of home-school activities parents would like to see offered in St Bartholomew’s next session. We look forward to welcoming our new P1s, along with their parents and carers, at 9.15am this morning.

Apologies for the missing blog yesterday! Needless to say , technical issues were involved…However, we are up and running today with all the latest news from St Bartholomew’s.

We had a fabulous treat at yesterday’s assembly when Angela Proctor, a novelist, read her latest book, ‘Thumble, Tumble and the Ollpheist’. The children were enthralled and demonstrated good manners and brilliant behaviour throughout Angela’s visit. A number of children pre ordered the book and received personally signed copies. Angela has very kindly volunteered to offer this service for the next few days and if children hand in £5.99 before Friday, then they can receive a personally signed copy of the book! Thank you Angela for this very kind gesture.

Our Primary 3 pupils are also in for a special treat today and are looking forward to their picnic in Drumpellier park! Just a gentle reminder to parents and Carers to pop sun cream on in the morning as the beautiful weather is set to continue and we don’t want anyone to be burned! A big thank you to Mrs McLean for organising this.

Mrs Bolland 😀

Although it wasn’t one of my usual St Bart’s days yesterday, I managed to spend the full morning in school. It was good to catch up with pupils and staff and hear about all the great work that has been going on this week, both in classrooms and at our various after-school clubs. Of course, it was slightly quieter without our Primary 7 pupils… we wish them all the best for their second induction day at St Ambrose today.

I will be attending the annual Motherwell Diocese Catholic Primary Head Teachers’ conference today. Bishop Toal will be celebrating Mass and it will be good to catch up with other Head Teachers from across the diocese.

The Parent Council AGM takes place this coming Tuesday at 6.00pm. The First Minister, Nicola Sturgeon, announced significant plans for Scottish education in parliament yesterday, including increased parental involvement in schools. This is an exciting time to get involved in the Parent Council and contribute to ongoing improvement in St Bartholomew’s.

As intimated in the slip that went home yesterday, this year’s Sports Day will take place (weather permitting!!!) on Tuesday 7th June at 1.00pm. There will be an early lunch on the day from 12.00 – 12.45pm.

Please remember that the school is closed tomorrow and Monday for the long weekend. Let’s hope the sun shines! Have a great holiday weekend and see you back bright and breezy on Tuesday morning!

Our ‘Faith in Action’ group hosted a coffee morning at morning break for staff and invited guests in order to raise funds for Mary’s Meals. It was a great success and £135.34 was raised. This is a fantastic sum of money and will be put to good use for this very worthy cause. A huge thank you to Mrs O’Neil, Mrs Carlin and the children from the Faith in Action group for organising this event.

In the photograph below you can see some of the boys and girls selling cakes and biscuits to the children at interval time.

We had a bit of excitement in the afternoon, when we had two Fire Engines at the school! This was a false alarm, however we take the safety of all of our pupils very seriously and ensured that we got the ‘all clear’ before escorting the children back into the building. The children thoroughly enjoyed seeing the firemen and especially appreciated them driving around the school waving at the children and tooting their horns.

We wish all of our Primary 7 pupils the very best of luck today and Thursday when they are visiting St Ambrose and having a ‘trial run’ at being a first year pupil. I’m looking forward to hearing all about it on Friday…

Mrs Bolland 😀

As always, a very warm welcome to everyone in our faith community to join us for our weekly prayer service in the Oratory. The more the merrier!

We have Logo Xpres in today to measure our P7’s for their High School uniforms, what an exciting time for them.The two day transition event to St Ambrose is this Wednesday and Thursday and I know that St Bartholomew’s pupils will do themselves, their families and their school proud. Good luck boys and girls.

There are 3 after school clubs on today and again, a big thank you to our staff who devote their own time to organise this and further contribute to the children’s learning.

Having spoken to quite a few P7’s yesterday, the recurring theme on York is most certainly a very positive one. Everyone had a fantastic time and both the Chocolate shop and Flamingo Land were firm favourites. I think there were certainly a few sleepy heads on Saturday morning after the weeks’ exertions!

Mrs Bolland 🙂

Primary 7 had an absolutely fantastic trip to Yorkshire last week, packed with an array of exciting activities. As well as enjoying a comfortable stay in the Greno hotel, complete with stunning sea views, the children had the opportunity to find out about World War II at Eden Camp, see some of the world’s great locomotives at the National Railway Museum, find out where chocolate comes from and how it is made at York’s Chocolate Story, hear some gory tales on a ghost walk, fill an entire day with unlimited rides at Flamingo Land theme park and enjoy a science show, motion ride and the planetarium at the Life Science Centre in Newcastle. If you didn’t manage to follow us on Twitter last week, please take the opportunity to browse through the photographs of our trip… the children’s smiles tell the story!

It’s another important week for Primary 7. The boys and girls will be off to St Ambrose High School on Wednesday and Thursday for their two induction days. The children are very excited and I know that they’ll impress their new teachers with their good manners, positive attitude and hard work.

It’s hard to believe that we’ve reached this stage in the year again, with the summer holidays now only five weeks away. Please remember that the school will be closed this coming Friday and next Monday for the May bank holiday.

Primary 1 – Kaidyn

Primary 1/2 – David

Primary 2 – Sophie

Primary 2/3  – Arron

Primary 4 – Ellie

Primary 5 – Keira

Primary 5/6 – Andrew