St Bartholomews

Today, 11th November, is Armistice Day, when we remember those who gave their lives in the two World Wars and more recent conflicts. Our school community will pause to mark a one-minute silence at 11.00am.

Please remember Primary 1/2’s cake sale this morning, in aid of Mary’s Meals. Many thanks to Mrs Carlin and the Faith in Action group for organising today’s event.

You may have noticed scaffolding around part of the building yesterday. This is in place to allow contractors to fit solar panels to the roof today. This is great news for the Eco Committee and will greatly reduce the school’s energy consumption (as well as our electricity bills!).

Finally, the BIG announcement about the BIG surprise which I know all St Bart’s pupils have been patiently waiting for: I’m delighted to announce that Zoo Lab will be in St Bartholomew’s on Friday to work with all 202 Primary 1-7 pupils. The children will have the opportunity to see and handle (optional!) some exotic animals as well as take part in a workshop. Primary 1-3 will be learning about autumn while P4-7 pupils will be finding out how they can be more Eco-friendly. It’s another well-deserved treat for our phenomenal pupils! Keep an eye on Twitter for photographs of our special day.

The rain that suddenly appeared just before the 9 o’clock bell yesterday morning was like something out of the story of Noah and I’m sure many of our pupils and parents would have appreciated an ark to get them to the front door! Primary 5’s new wall display (below) made me smile when I saw a line of soggy pupils trudging past it on the way to class!

Primary 1/2 are holding a cake sale in aid of Mary’s Meals tomorrow (details on the poster below). Please support this very worthwhile cause.

There are still a couple of dates to confirm before the newsletter goes out this week. I’m waiting to hear back from Mark Millar about the definite date for this year’s trip to the pantomime and I’m still in discussions with the diocese about the date for confirmations.

We have the final three stories from some of our current Primary 2 pupils, published in the book, ‘My First Story’. I hope you’ve enjoyed reading them over the past few days. Today’s stories are by Gracie, Rhys and Aimee.

Pupils of the Week

Primary 1 – Ellie

Primary 1/2 – Carla

Primary 2 – Emma

Primary 2/3 – Stephanie

Primary 4 – Ellie

Primary 5 – Justin

Primary 5/6 – Lauren

Primary 7 – Ryan

Winning House:  Summerlee

Cool Class Cup: Primary 1/2

St Bartholomew’s reached a special (and very encouraging) milestone earlier this week when a new pupil started in Primary 7. For the first time in many, many years, the Primary 1-7 school roll officially reached 200 pupils: up by 60 children from this time three years ago. And with prospective parents looking around St Bart’s yesterday afternoon, it looks as if the roll is set to increase even more. This is great news and testament to our phenomenal pupils, talented and committed staff and supportive parents and carers. What a team!

The authors of today’s adventure stories, published in the book ‘My First Story’, are Cara and Connor.

A beautiful book arrived in the post yesterday afternoon and it turned out to be very special, indeed. Seven of our current Primary 2 pupils wrote space adventure stories at the end of Primary 1 and these were so impressive, they were actually published! The book is called ‘My First Story’ and I thought you’d enjoy reading the children’s stories on the blog over the next few days. Here are the first two stories, written by Brogan and Skye:

The ‘Pray for our School Group’ met in the oratory yesterday morning. We are extremely grateful to this faithful group of parishioners for their commitment to praying for the needs of St Bartholomew’s each month. It’s also a great opportunity for some of our P7 pupils to chat with parishioners over a cup of tea (or juice!) and a biscuit.

Although the 5th November is not until tomorrow, most fireworks displays have been moved to this evening due to tomorrow’s match between Celtic and Molde. Local fireworks displays are being held at the following venues:

We will be welcoming staff from St Ambrose High School this morning to begin their transition work with those Primary 7 pupils who will be transferring to St Ambrose next August. I know the boys and girls will give a great first impression, even more so now that they’re looking so smart in their new P7 tie!

I’m planning to get the Term 2 newsletter out by the end of this week. However, in the interim, please note the following dates for the remainder of this term:

Monday 16th November: Inservice Day (school closed to pupils)
Saturday 28th November: Christmas Fayre, 10.00am
Monday 30th November: St Andrew’s Day, including Mass at 10.00am (children asked to wear a ‘touch of tartan’ on this day)
Wednesday 9th December: Primary 4-7 Christmas concert
Friday 11th December: Nursery Nativity
Wednesday 16th December: Primary 1-3 Nativity
Tuesday 22nd December: School closes for the Christmas holidays, 2.00pm

The date of the whole-school trip to the pantomime at the Pavilion Theatre should be finalised this week. The date of Christmas dinner and the class Christmas parties will be printed in the newsletter.

I met with the chairperson of each of our six Pupil Voice groups on Friday afternoon. These six Primary 7 pupils articulated extremely well the latest news, ideas and plans from their groups. The minutes from Friday’s meeting will be posted in the Pupil Voice section of our website later today.

Today is All Souls day, when the church remembers all those who have died and gone before us. Today, and throughout the month of November, St. Bartholomew’s school community joins with the whole church in praying for family and friends who have died.

Pupils of the Week
Primary 1: Cody
Primary 1/2: Connor
Primary 2: Kaitlyn
Primary 2/3: Andrew
Primary 4: Lucie
Primary 5: Ally
Primary 5/6: Niama
Primary 7: Declan

Winning House: Drumpellier
Cool Class Cup: Primary 5