St Bartholomews

Primary 1-3 take to the stage this afternoon for their nativity, ‘It’s a Baby’. The boys and girls have been working exceptionally hard and looked and sounded fantastic at yesterday’s dress rehearsal; you really are in for a treat! Today’s performance begins at 1.30pm.

Christmas parties begin tomorrow, starting with Primary 4 and 5. Primary 6 and 7’s party is on Friday afternoon and Primary 1-3 on Monday afternoon, which will include a visit from Santa! As always, each child is asked to bring a contribution for their class ‘buffet’ such as a packet of biscuits, bag of crisps or some Haribos. Pupils can either bring their party clothes to get changed into after lunch or, alternatively, pop home at 12.30pm to get into their gear.

I’m absolutely delighted to announce that St Bartholomew’s has raised the fantastic sum of £320.75 for Mary’s Meals. Our original aim was for each class to raise £12.20, the amount it costs to feed one child in a developing country for an entire year. £320.75 allows us to feed 26 children – the equivalent of an entire class! If this isn’t good enough news, the government has pledged to double any money raised for Mary’s Meals, bringing our actual St Bart’s total to a phenomenal £641.50: 52 children fed for an entire year! A huge thank you to pupils and staff for your incredible fund-raising efforts. What a fitting start to the ‘Year of Mercy’ when we are called to give food to the hungry and drink to the thirsty.

Our P1-3 nativity, ‘It’s a Baby’ is now only a day away. The dress rehearsal takes place this morning, giving us a chance to iron out any last minute issues. I got a big surprise when I walked into the hall at the end of the day yesterday. Mrs Ruddy, Mrs Dolan and Mr Lynch had been busy adding finishing touches to the stage, including a beautiful star of Bethlehem. The photograph below doesn’t do it justice… you’ll need to wait until tomorrow’s performance to see it in all its glory!

Finally, two very proud Primary 3 girls appeared at my office yesterday afternoon to show me the dancing awards they won over the weekend. What a talented bunch of children we have in St Bart’s! Well done, girls!

We are now into the Third Week of Advent, with Christmas less than two weeks away. I attended a friend’s ordination to the priesthood on Saturday and there was a beautiful Advent quotation on the back of the order of service. Part of this read:

‘I would like you to celebrate the coming feast of Christmas in the poor stable of your heart where the gentle Jesus will be born spiritually.’ (St Paul of the Cross).

As a school community, let is continue throughout the coming week to prepare our hearts for Christmas.

The Nursery nativity on Friday was wonderful! The children looked absolutely fantastic in their costumes and had the audience transfixed as they retold the Christmas story in words and song. Well done boys and girls (and thank you to the nursery staff for all your hard work)!

We embark on the final two days of rehearsals for the Primary 1-3 nativity; this takes place on Wednesday at 1.30pm. Tickets are still available from the office, priced £1.00.

Our nursery children take to the stage today for their Christmas show, ‘The Nativity Party’. The boys and girls have been practising hard over the past few weeks and are sounding absolutely great! You really are in for a treat! Performances are at 10.30am and 2.00pm.

There was a lovely festive atmosphere in the dinner hall yesterday for our school community Christmas dinner. The catering staff prepared an absolutely delicious meal and Mrs Clare and Mr Lynch did a fantastic job preparing the tables with festive tablecloths and napkins. Many thanks to staff for helping serve the boys and girls at their tables; it made the occasion all the more special for the children. Check out Twitter for photographs of St Bart’s Christmas Dinner 2015!

A huge well done to Primary 4-7 for a fantastic Christmas concert yesterday afternoon; you truly brought Christmas to St Bartholomew’s with your beautiful singing. What a talented bunch you are!

Despite it only being the 10th December, it’s our school community Christmas dinner today. To create a relaxed, festive atmosphere, only two classes will be in the hall at any one time, with younger year groups being paired with older classes. The children will also have the special treat of being served food at their tables by the grown ups… just like a restaurant, but without having to leave a tip! Keep an eye on Twitter for photographs of our festive feast!

The day of the Primary 4-7 Christmas concert has finally arrived. The concert starts at 1.30pm and tickets, priced £1.00, are still available from the office. There will be the usual raffle as well as an opportunity to purchase our special St Bart’s 2015/16 tea-towel, priced £3.00. See you this afternoon!

There was great excitement amongst the St Bart’s football team yesterday as they got together to select a new football strip. The recent boost to our school funds from the Christmas Fayre gives Mr Fowler the opportunity to replace the current kit, which is a bit tired, with a new modern strip, complete with badge (see below). The strips should hopefully be with us in time for the January fixture at St Ambrose and I know the team will wear them with pride!

Our nursery had an unannounced visit from Care Inspectorate yesterday and I’m delighted to say that we were graded ‘very good’ in all areas. Well done to our hard-working, dedicated nursery team… and, of course, to our fantastic nursery children who the inspector was ultra impressed with!

We are only one day away from the Primary 4-7 Christmas concert. The children have been working hard preparing a selection of songs and carols; you are in for a real festive treat! To allow Mr Lynch to set up the hall for the concert, only pack-a-snacks will be available tomorrow lunchtime. This will also be the case on Friday for the nursery nativity as well as for the P1-3 nativity on Wednesday 16th. Of course, we will have Christmas dinner on Thursday to make up for all those sandwiches!

Primary 5 were decanted from their classroom for two days last week to allow timber cupboards to be fitted in place of the old tin lockers. This work is now complete and Primary 5 have moved back into their smart new room. The final room to have the tin lockers removed is the library. Contractors are in the process of removing these and replacing them with purpose-built open shelving. Once finished, we will have a library which will be the envy of many other schools.

Finally, today, the feast of the Immaculate Conception, marks the opening of the ‘Year of Mercy’, a year in which Pope Francis invites each of us to encounter the unconditional love, kindness, generosity and acceptance of God. What better way to begin this special year of grace than by joining us for our weekly prayer service in the oratory at 8.50am.

We are now into the second week of Advent. Members of our school and parish community are continuing to prepare their hearts for the coming of Christ at Christmas.

You may have already noticed that, as from today, there is a handy Twitter feed on the right-hand bar of our school website. I hope you’ll find it helpful having the blog, class pages and Twitter posts all in the one place.

The Primary 4-7 Christmas concert takes place this Wednesday at 1.30pm. Don’t forget to pick up your tickets from the office, priced £1.00.

Primary 1 – Jada

Primary 1/2 – Maya

Primary 2 – Junior

Primary 2/3 – Sean

Primary 4 – Sean Michael

Primary 5 – Shakira

Primary 5/6 – Paige

Primary 7 – Jason

Winning House:  Summerlee

Cool Class Cup: Primary 2/3

The children and staff had an absolutely fantastic time at the Pavilion Theatre pantomime yesterday. The show was jam-packed with amusing story-lines, lively songs, hilarious jokes, stunning special effects, delicious ice cream and lots of general nonsense! Once again, a huge thank you to Mark Millar OBE for funding our special day!

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The boys and girls recently took part in a Christmas art competition organised by the Knights of St Columba. I’m delighted to announce that one of our pupils is a winner and that a trophy will be awarded to them at this morning’s assembly by members of the KSC. What a great achievement!

Please remember that tickets are on sale, priced £1, for this coming Wednesday’s P4-7 Christmas concert as well as for the infant Nativity on Wednesday 16th December. Please also remember to order your St Bart’s tea-towel, priced £3… they’re going fast!

Finally, many of you will have noticed the police presence around the school at the end of the day yesterday. This was in response to complaints from concerned members of the public about unsafe and inconsiderate parking around the school, including in the car-park. The police informed me before they left that they had witnessed and spoken to a number of drivers who were in breach of the Highway Code. Although the police’s aim yesterday afternoon was simply to educate and warn car users, they informed me that they will continue to monitor the situation around St Bartholomew’s and, if necessary, take more serious action.