St Bartholomews

I’ll be spending most of today in Primary 1/2. I’m very much looking forward to joining in with the children’s learning activities and hearing the boys and girls’ thoughts and views about being a pupil in St Bartholomew’s. Many thanks to the P1/2 parents/carers who completed and returned the questionnaire; we really appreciate your feedback and comments.

During our Primary 4-7 assembly today, I was extremely impressed with the quality of  the responses to my questions about Lent. The children were a credit to themselves and their families with the wonderful insight that they demonstrated. I was particularly pleased when the children made heartfelt comments about the extent of Jesus’ suffering and sacrifice for us, and they were then able to reflect on the small sacrifices that we are all asked to make during Lent. Well done boys and girls!

On another note, St Bartholomew’s football team have another fixture later on this afternoon and I believe it’s with St Bernard’s in Shawhead. We all have our fingers and toes crossed boys and girls! I can’t wait to hear how they get on and look forward to a positive result which would be very well deserved as there has been a lot of hard work dedicated from both Mr Fowler and the team. Good luck!

Mrs Bolland 🙂

We have arranged for a number of different organisations to come in to our school to provide the children with knowledge and experiences that will certainly benefit them in their daily lives. Firstly, in our nursery we have a ‘Minibeasts’ workshop, where children are learning about life cycles through some small furry friends and creepy crawlies…. I know that our young pupils will love it.

Then, all of our boys and girls, from Primary 1 to 7 enjoyed learning about how to look after their pets and some interesting facts about lots of other animals, in general. We were very lucky to have Lindsey from the SSPCA in yesterday and she even gave out rulers to all of the children to take home as a momento of the visit. Thank you Lindsey!!!

One of our younger pupils had an extra big smile on his face yesterday. He was playing football as part of the NLC football festival and won a gold Medal! A huge well done from everyone at St Bartholomew’s.

We are all very much looking forward to a visit tomorrow from the financial organisation, Santander. Their staff will be working with our children to make sure that they are ‘money savvy’ – I am sure you will agree that this is something we can all benefit from, especially at this time of year.

Mrs Bolland 🙂

St Bartholomew’s is delighted to welcome the SSPCA to the school today. A representative from the charity will be working with all classes and the children will have the opportunity to learn about animals – familiar and unfamiliar – and their various habitats.

We are now into the second week of Lent. Lent is not simply about giving things up. It’s also about doing those small extra things that bring us closer to God, and prayer is at the heart of this. Please remember that our weekly prayer service takes place in the oratory tomorrow morning at 8.50am. It would be wonderful to see a ‘full house’!

‘Our prayer cannot be reduced to an hour on Sundays. It is important to have a daily relationship with the Lord.’ (Pope Francis)

Primary 1 – Liam

Primary 1/2 – Monique

Primary 2 – Aiden

Primary 3 – Leah

Primary 4 – Katie

Primary 5 – Charlie Joe

Primay 5/6 – Liam

Primary 7 – Kaitlin

Cool Class Cup: Primary 5/6

IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT! Head-lice are out and about in St Bart’s. Please take the time to check your child’s hair over the weekend and, if necessary, treat them before they return to school on Monday. Together, we can beat the little blighters!!!

Wasn’t it fantastic to see the sunshine yesterday! The boys and girls really appreciated the opportunity to get out into the fresh air at playtime and lunchtime… a welcome change from the recent stormy weather!

Primary 6 and 7 thoroughly enjoyed the input they received from the NSPCC/Childline yesterday. It gave them a lot to think about and our guests were very impressed with the children’s mature attitude. Mrs MacFarlane posted a few pictures of the workshop on Twitter which you may wish to check out.

As this is one of my days in headquarters, there will be no assembly today. However, Mrs Bolland will be popping round classes to award Pupil of the Week certificates and will also be choosing the Cool Class. As usual, winners will be posted on the website later today.

Finally, in this first week of Lent, some words to reflect on from Pope Francis:
“God wants to live amidst his sons and daughters. Let us make space for him in our hearts.”

Let’s make time and space to grow closer to God in these coming weeks.

Mr Young 🙂

Welcome back, everyone! I hope you had a fantastic February break and enjoyed the long-awaited sunshine we were blessed with.
We welcome representatives from the NSPCC (National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children) to St Bartholomew’s today. The charity will be delivering the ChildLine Schools Programme to our Primary 6 and 7 pupils which will include input on the important issue of internet safety.

Our Valentine disco takes place this evening. Tickets are still available from the school office and can also be bought at the door. The P1-3 disco runs from 6.00-7.00pm and the P4-7 disco from 7.15-8.15pm. Many thanks to the fantastic team of parent helpers who have organised tonight’s disco. You’re absolute stars!

There was a beautiful atmosphere in St Bartholomew’s Church last night for the confirmation Mass. Many congratulations to our Primary 6 and 7 pupils. I hope you felt God’s presence with you in a special way; we’ll be praying for you as you continue on your journey of faith. The closing words from my address at last Sunday’s education Mass are of particular relevance to those pupils who were confirmed last night:

Head Teacher’s address for Education Sunday, 2016: Part 4
“I want to leave you this morning with some powerful words from the Bible, words which recently inspired Primary 1/2 to create a beautiful wall display. They’re from the prophet Micah and, for me, capture what the Year of Mercy is about, what the Church is about, what St Bartholomew’s is about and, indeed, what each and every one of us – pupils, staff, parents, families, parishioners – should be about as we endeavour to live out our Catholic faith:

‘The LORD has shown you what is good, and this is what he requires of you: to act justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God.’ “

As the children are only in school on Thursday and Friday next week, we are holding off awarding Pupil of the Week certificates, house points and the Cool Class Cup until next Friday.

And this brings me to the last piece of information on today’s blog: please remember that St Bartholomew’s will be closed to pupils on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday of next week. Have a fun and relaxing long weekend, everyone, and see you back in St Bart’s on Thursday morning. Enjoy your pancakes on Tuesday!

Today is sure to create special memories for our Primary 6 and 7 pupils. Bishop Toal will celebrate Mass in St Bartholomew’s Church at 7.00pm, during which he will confer the Sacrament of Confirmation on the children. Please can I invite our whole school community, along with parishioners and friends, to pray for the boys and girls in these final hours of preparation.

Spirit of the Living God, fall afresh on those receiving the Sacrament of Confirmation this evening.
Grant them:
the gift of WISDOM to see the world through Your eyes;
the gift of COUNSEL to make difficult decisions;
the gifts of KNOWLEDGE and UNDERSTANDING to use their minds to know You and to love You;
the gift of FORTITUDE to have the courage to live out their faith, despite difficulties and disappointments;
the gift of PIETY to be able to express their love and commitment to You;
the right kind of awesome FEAR that makes them pause each day to wonder at and revere God’s amazing love.
Amen

Another brilliant day in St Bartholomew’s… every time I was in a classroom today, the quality of work and wonderful ‘can do’ attitude was very apparent. Well done boys and girls.
It also seems like there is a constant stream of new faces, with new pupils joining us all the time. We are delighted to have you!
Primary 6 and 7 walked down to the church today to ensure that they know exactly what to do and what is expected of them on Thursday evening for their confirmation. Mrs MacFarlane and Mrs MacIntyre reported that the children were brilliant and listened very attentively. I am sure that the whole school community is praying for our confirmandi.
Following on from the last couple of days, an extract from Mr Young’s address on Education Sunday is as follows:
Our love for God should always, of course, lead us to love others: ‘Love the LORD your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your strength, and all your mind’, Jesus said… ‘and love your neighbour as yourself.’

In today’s reading from 1st Corinthians, St Paul hits home the message that love is an action, not an emotion. The kind of love Paul talks about is seen, experienced, and demonstrated. This is contrary to our culture that puts huge value on personal feelings. We do what we want when we want because we “feel” like it. And if we don’t “feel” like it, we don’t do it.

In contrast to this mindset, Pope Francis encourages each of us in this Year of Mercy to reflect upon and practice the ‘works of mercy’, both corporal and spiritual. Each of us has a responsibility to feed and clothe those in need; we should all welcome the stranger into our communities, our parishes, our schools. We also have a responsibility for the spiritual care of others: helping those trapped in despair or loneliness, showing love and patience towards those who might cause us harm, remembering all – whether living or dead – in our prayers.

During this Year of Mercy, St Bartholomew’s staff will make a special effort to help pupils make sense of these ‘works of mercy’ and to connect them to the words and actions of Jesus. We will be exploring the parables of mercy – the Lost Son, the Lost Sheep, the Lost Coin – and will learn what they teach us about the unfailing mercy of God.

Mrs Bolland 🙂