St Bartholomews

Following the beautiful invitations I received from the boys and girls last week, I’m very much looking forward to visiting Primary 1/2 this morning to join in with some of their learning. P1/2 always have huge smiles to greet me and never fail to be brimming over with enthusiasm, so it’s sure to be an inspiring visit!

As mentioned last week, we have commissioned a special 2015/2016 St Bartholomew’s tea-towel which features a self-portrait of every single pupil in the school. The tea-towel will be printed in red and white and available to purchase in time for Christmas. Order forms will go out later this week, so please check your child’s school bag.

I bumped into Mark Millar on the way to Mass yesterday and he was asking after everyone here at St Bartholomew’s. I took the opportunity to pass on the thanks of our whole school community to Mark for his generosity, once again, in paying for this year’s trip to the pantomime. The trip takes place a week on Thursday, 3rd December, and it’s guaranteed to be a fantastic day for everyone, young and old alike!

Our Christmas Fayre is this coming Saturday. We have an absolutely AMAZING team of parent helpers beavering away behind the scenes getting ready for our main fund-raiser of the year. Thank you so much for all your hard work! We would still really appreciate any donations for the Christmas Fayre; these can be handed into the office anytime up until Friday morning.

Primary 1 – Ava

Primary 1/2 – Ava

Primary 2 – Emily

Primary 2/3 – Emily

Primary 4 – Harvey Jo

Primary 5 – Des

Primary 5/6 – Olivia

Primary 7 – Wiktoria

I got a lovely surprise from Primary 1/2 yesterday when I was handed a whole pile of colourful, beautifully-written invitations (see below) asking if I’d make a special visit to their classroom next Tuesday. I accepted straight away, of course! If that wasn’t enough of a surprise for one day, Primary 2/3 wrote me persuasive letters, asking if I’d come to see some of their learning next Friday. The boys and girls’ letters were so compelling, I was persuaded in an instant! I’m very much looking forward to my visits to P1/2 and P2/3 next week.

If you’re reading this today, you’re probably a regular blog reader. However, are you remembering about our class pages? They’re packed with photographs and information about the children’s recent learning and there’s also the facility to leave a comment. Simply click on the link on the right to start exploring!

Mr Fowler and I were so proud of our football team last night. They played fantastically well, working as a team and staying positive throughout the match. Unfortunately, a controversial penalty resulted in St Bart’s being beaten by one goal rather than the match ending in a 4-4 draw. However, a HUGE well done to the team… you did us all proud!

The fruit bags sold by the Health for Life group were a huge success last week and orders are being taken for next week’s delivery. The Health for Life group are committed to seeing St Bart’s pupils eating lots more fruit and these bargain fruit bags (5 pieces of fruit for only 50p!) are sure to bring a huge health-boost to the school.

The date of our whole-school trip to the pantomime at the Pavilion Theatre has now been finalised. Our special day away will take place two weeks today, Thursday 3rd December. Further details will be sent out in due course.

Throughout the remainder of this week, Miss Connor and Primary 2 will be running a ‘guess the number of sweets in the jar’ fundraiser in aid of Mary’s Meals. It will be 20p for one guess and representatives from the class will locate themselves in the open area outside the gym hall during break times.

An exciting whole-school project reached an important milestone yesterday. Every single St Bart’s pupil drew a miniature self-portrait last week and these have now been carefully arranged and stuck down by Mrs Ruddy and Mrs Dolan. The finished collage, which you can see below, will be sent away today and turned into a fantastic tea towel! A total of 200 will be produced and these will be available to purchase in time for Christmas. Watch this space!

Welcome back everyone. I hope you had a great long weekend, despite the atrocious weather!

Our prayer service takes place as usual in the oratory this morning at 8.50am. All pupils, staff, parents and parishioners are most welcome, especially as we pray for the many innocent people caught up in the terrible events in Paris on Friday.

Flu vaccinations, in the form of a nasal spray, will be administered by NHS staff today. Last year’s vaccinations ran like clockwork and I’m sure today will be no different.

Pupils of the Week

Primary 1 – Olivia

Primary 1/2 – Rhys

Primary 2 – Charlie

Primary 2/3 – Sarah Louise

Primary 4 – Nathan

Primary 5 – Amy

Primary 5/6 – Heather

Primary 7 – Daniel

I’m delighted to announce that P1/2’s cake sale on Wednesday raised the fantastic sum of £122 for Mary’s Meals! A huge well done to P1/2 and Mrs Carlin for organising this fundraiser and to the Faith in Action group for helping man the stall.

As announced on Wednesday’s blog, the boys and girls are in for a special treat today. ‘ZooLab’ will be in St Bartholomew’s and all eight classes will have the opportunity to view and handle some exotic animals. You can see photographs below from several other schools, but keep an eye on Twitter today to see photographs of our own pupils enjoying finding out about some fascinating creatures. You can find us at @bartholomew_st

Although there’s no whole-school assembly today, Pupil of the Week certificates, House points and the Cool Class Cup will be awarded as usual. Keep an eye on the website for names of our proud winners!

Poor Miss Connor and Primary 2 have had to put up with a very tatty classroom carpet, long past its best. However, that’s all about to change today when a brand new carpet is fitted. The boys and girls have been decanted to the Performing Arts Studio for the day, but they can look forward to returning to their posh new classroom tomorrow morning!

Primary 1/2’s cake sale attracted a massive number of customers yesterday and the Faith in Action group raised almost £80 for Mary’s Meals during morning break alone. The stall was opened again over lunchtime, raising even more money for Mary’s Meals. Well done P1/2, Mrs Carlin and the Faith in Action group! The grand total will be posted on the blog later today.