St Bartholomews

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

The boys and girls had a great time at the Halloween disco last night and, as you can see from the photographs below, their costumes were absolutely fantastic! Check out Twitter (@bartholomew_st) for more photographs from the disco. A MASSIVE thank you to the team of parent helpers who decorated the hall, prepared the party bags, supervised the children, served the refreshments and helped tidy up afterwards. You were amazing!

Friday means Pupils of the Week, Cool Class, winning House and, of course, tea with Mr Young. Check the website later this morning for the proud winners.

The end of another action-packed week in St Bart’s! Have a great weekend, everyone!

After waiting patiently since the middle of last term, our Primary 7 pupils have finally received their dedicated P7 tie. This tie has been specially designed and produced in recognition of the children’s maturity, enthusiasm and outstanding work, manners and behaviour. It is very well-deserved and I know the children will wear it with pride throughout their remaining time in St Bartholomew’s. The boys and girls look absolutely fantastic in the photograph… we’re so proud of them!

Our Halloween disco takes place this evening and I know the boys and girls have been busy getting their costumes ready for the big event. The P1-3 disco runs from 6.00 – 7.00pm and the P4-7 disco from 7.15 – 8.15pm. Halloween snacks are included in the price of the ticket, as well as the opportunity to dook for apples! Tickets are still available from the office and can also be bought at the door. CHILDREN SHOULD ENTER AND EXIT THE SCHOOL VIA THE BACK DOOR ON DEVERON STREET. Thank you.

Our whole school community thoroughly enjoyed yesterday’s theatre production, ‘The Hunchback of Notre Dame’. The stage set, costumes and lighting transformed the hall and the children absolutely loved the story as well as all the songs to sing and clap along to. I was delighted when the cast approached me after the show to say that it was one of the best-behaved, enthusiastic and participative audiences they’d encountered…. a lovely compliment for our fantastic pupils! Check out Twitter (@bartholomew_st) for photographs of yesterday’s show.

We have six Pupil Voice groups in St Bartholomew’s: Forward Together, Faith in Action, Impact, Eco, Health for Life and Rights Respecting Schools. Our six upper school Pupil Voice groups met yesterday morning and new chairpersons and secretaries were appointed. The infant groups meet later today and then the six chairs will attend a business meeting in my office on Friday to feed back to me the discussions, ideas and decisions of their group. There is a dedicated Pupil Voice section on the school website, so please keep an eye on this to stay up-to-date with the work of our Pupil Voice groups.

The Halloween disco takes place tomorrow evening. The P1-3 disco runs from 6.00 – 7.00pm and the P4 – 7 from 7.15 – 8.15pm. Tickets are still available from the office, priced £1.50.

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Our special visitors from the Scottish Government, Paul Johnstone and Fiona Robertson, thoroughly enjoyed their visit to St Bartholomew’s yesterday. They were extremely impressed with the fantastic writing in P1/2, the mature discussion about skills for the world of work in P7 and the magnificent maths in P4. The rest of the children didn’t go unnoticed and it was great to see everyone so busy and well-behaved as the visitors made their way through the school. Well done, team!

M & M Theatre company will be transporting the pupils and staff of St Bart’s to the city of Paris today as they re-tell the story of the Hunchback of Notre Dame. Here’s a taste of the exciting tale the boys and girls will be treated to this morning:

‘Poor Quasimodo has no friends. Even his own brother, the evil Mayor De Vile, despises him. After being abandoned on a cathedral doorstep as a baby, because of the way he looks, life doesn’t seem to have dealt him a fair hand. He does meet a beautiful girl called Esmeralda who is the first person ever to be kind to him but thinks she could never love some like himself. It becomes worse when his flamboyant mother is framed for stealing the famous golden chalice. This chalice has the power to transform a person who drinks from it, but only if that person has a good heart. Quasimodo knows he has been set up by his nasty brother but is locked up in the bell tower of the cathedral so he can’t tell anyone. All seems lost until he meets an unusual character….’ ENJOY THE SHOW!

St Bartholomew’s will welcome two special visitors from the Scottish Government this morning. Paul Johnstone, Director General for Learning & Justice, and Fiona Robertson, Director of the Learning Directorate, will arrive at St Bartholomew’s at 11.00am. As part of their tour of the school, Paul Johnstone and Fiona Robertson will make special visits to Primary 1/2 to see the children engaged in literacy activities, Primary 7 to talk to pupils about developing skills for the world of work and Primary 4 to join the children for a maths lesson. Our visitors will be accompanied by David Craig and Lorraine Fisher, two Education Officers from North Lanarkshire Learning & Leisure Services. A very, very warm welcome to you all; we hope you’re inspired by your visit to St Bart’s!

Please remember that tickets are now on sale for Thursday’s Halloween disco, priced £1.50. A meeting for parents/carers who have volunteered to help out with the disco takes place in the Get Together Room this afternoon at 3.30pm. Many thanks in advance for your help!