St Bartholomews

Our Prayer Service takes place at 8.50am this morning in the oratory. October is the month of the rosary and I would encourage pupils, parents, parishioners and staff to set aside these few moments before the start of the school day to pray this special prayer together. Please note that the mysteries of the rosary are available in the Faith section of our website. Simply click on ‘Faith’ then scroll down to ‘Prayer and Liturgy’.

There are only two days to go before the superstars who are the pupils of St Bart’s take to the stage for, ‘Welcome to the Sixties’! There are still tickets available from the school office, priced £3.00. Today’s 1960’s-inspired wall displays are by Primary 2 and Primary 7.

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Our end of term show, ‘Welcome to the Sixties’, is fast approaching and the next few days will be filled with final rehearsals. All eight classes had the opportunity to take to the stage and perform their songs to the rest of the school on Friday afternoon. They were all fantastic! Tickets are going fast, with evening performance tickets almost sold out. Don’t miss out on your chance to catch what is sure to be a great show!

Each class has produced a wall display in the main foyer to accompany their two 1960s songs. You will have the opportunity to see these for yourself on Thursday, but I thought I’d give you a sneak preview of each display via my blog between now and the opening performance. Today’s fantastic displays are the handiwork of Primary 1/2 and Primary 5.

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There was the usual high turnout at Parents’ Evening last night and it was great to see so many parents and carers leaving the hall with big smiles on their faces…. not surprising, given the super bunch of pupils St Bart’s is blessed with!

There has been a change to the athlete visiting St Bartholomew’s today. We are very privileged to be welcoming Judo 3rd Dan black belt champion, Theo Spalding, to the school. Theo, from East London, competes in the +100kg category all over the world. He is 5 X British Champion, European Cup medalist and a Commonwealth champion. The children will have the opportunity to take part in a sponsored circuit training event and will then be treated to an inspirational assembly led by Theo. It’s guaranteed to be a great morning!

Primary 1 and Primary 1/2 are off to the Riverside Museum in Glasgow today. There’s lots to see and explore in this fantastic museum, including the tall ship, so the boys and girls are set for a super day… especially with the weather forecast to be glorious again! Have fun, everyone!

Six Primary 7 pupils were fortunate enough to have their names picked out of a hat on Tuesday and will be off to a special event in Ayrshire this morning, accompanied by Mrs Bolland. The enterprise event has been organised by entrepreneur, Sir Tom Hunter, and will give our pupils the chance to meet boys and girls from Ayrshire schools who have been involved in setting up their own business. Our invitation came about through our good friend, Mark Millar, and will be a valuable opportunity for the children to gather ideas for organising an enterprise event of their own later in the year. Once again, we’re extremely grateful for Mark’s generosity as he is very kindly paying for the transport to and from Dundonald.

Parents’ Evening takes place from 3.15pm onwards today in the main hall, with nursery consultations being held in the Performing Arts Studio. I realise there are lots of new faces among the staff this year, but I’ll be around in the foyer to point you in the right direction of your child’s teacher.

A group of Primary 7 pupils will be inviting you to fill in a very brief feedback sheet about the school when you arrive for Parents’ Evening. Your views and ideas are very important to us, so please take a few moments to tell us what you think.

The Book Fayre opened yesterday and stocks a wide range of books for all ages. As always, this will be open during Parents’ Evening, manned by a dedicated team of volunteers. The Book Fayre always raises a substantial amount of money for new library books, so please take the opportunity to have a browse through the shelves.

I look forward to seeing you later today.

We will be welcoming two of our new Continuous Improvement Officers to St Bartholomew’s this morning. Mr Jim Beers and Mrs Gillian Hanlon will receive a tour of the building before meeting with me to discuss how they can support our school community in ongoing improvement.

Father Doherty will be in St Bartholomew’s this afternoon to celebrate a special Mass with Primary 5/6. The P6 pupils from this class will be embarking on the Pope Francis Faith Award next term and today’s Mass will give the children the opportunity to formally commit themselves to this special venture. The Pope Francis Faith Award is an award of the Bishops’ Conference of Scotand, designed to help children to show “signs of love” in their daily lives and to be active members of their local Church. It invites young people at the Primary 6 and 7 stages to use the Gifts of the Holy Spirit and to see how they can bear fruit in their homes, schools and parishes. It is directly connected to what young people are learning about the Sacrament of Confirmation. Keep an eye on the HT blog and the P5/6 class page over the coming months to keep up-to-date with news on the children’s progress.

Our newly-formed football team plays their first match after school today in the new Coatbridge primary schools’ football league. I know the boys will do St Bart’s proud, no matter the result. Many thanks to Mr Lynch for giving up his time to coach the team.

Finally, please don’t forget to purchase your tickets for our end of term show, ‘Welcome to the Sixties’. These are now on general sale and are being sold on a first come, first served basis. The boys and girls are sounding fantastic, so don’t miss out on your opportunity to see this colourful, toe-tapping show!

Welcome back, everyone! I hope you all had an enjoyable September weekend.

We have a busy week ahead of us here at St Bart’s. Amongst other things, the first Parent Council meeting of the session takes place this evening at 6.00pm, tomorrow sees the first fixture of the new Coatbridge Primary Schools’ football league and Thursday, of course, is Parents’ Evening.

There was a great turnout at last Thursday’s Primary 1 Prayer Service. The boys and girls led a beautiful service and were also fantastic hosts during the classroom reception afterwards. Many thanks to Mrs Carlin and Miss Duffy for preparing the children and to Mrs Ruddy, Mrs Dolan and Mrs McNaughton for organising the refreshments.

There has been a slight mix up in the arrangements for the delivery of our Book Fayre, so this will not begin today as originally planned. However, the fayre will be open for Thursday’s Parents’ Evening and will then run into the beginning of next week. Apologies for any inconvenience, especially to those parents who have volunteered to help man the fayre.

Primary 1: Amy
Primary 1/2: Marysa
Primary 2: Brogan
Primary 2/3: Grace
Primary 4: Katie
Primary 5: Stephen
Primary 5/6: Sophie
P7: The whole class for being absolute STARS at Kilbowie!

Have a great weekend, everyone! Mr Y 🙂

Primary 7 will arrive home from Oban this afternoon after a fantastic few days in Kilbowie. As you can see from the photographs above, the boys and girls have been kept busy with a whole range of exciting activities and their huge smiles show just how much they’ve loved their time away. Once again, a HUGE thank you to Mrs McLean and Mrs Smillie for giving up their time to accompany the children… if anyone has earned their September weekend, it’s you two!

Primary 1 pupils will be welcoming parents and other invited guests to their special prayer service this afternoon to give thanks for the great start they’ve made to school. The children will play a lead role in the service with prayers, songs and a presentation of photographs of their learning; it’s sure to be a very special time. The prayer service will take place in the main hall at 2.00pm and guests are invited to the P1 and P1/2 classrooms afterwards for refreshments. Here are the P1s after yesterday’s rehearsal… they’re looking forward to seeing you later today!

Please note that the first Parent Council meeting of the session takes place this coming Tuesday at 6.00pm in the Staff Development Base.

It’s hard to believe that the September weekend is upon us already. It’s been a great start to the year and I’m so proud of the children for their enthusiasm, hard work and manners. Well done to you all! Please can I also take this opportunity to thank staff for all their hard work. The school show has made it a particularly busy term for all members of staff and starting in a new school has made it especially hectic for our six new teachers. I know the whole St Bart’s team will welcome the arrival of the long weekend – have a very enjoyable and relaxing few days, everyone.

I got a lovely surprise when I walked into St Bartholomew’s yesterday morning. I was greeted by a colourful line of footprint prayer cards, leading all the way from the oratory door, to mark International Day of Peace. Many thanks to Mrs O’Neill, Mrs Carlin and the Faith in Action group for organising this special event. Donations of £1 are still welcome, with all money going to SCIAF.

I noticed a misprint on the tickets for our school show yesterday. The correct time of the evening performance on 8th October is 7.00pm rather than 7.30pm. New tickets have now been printed, but old tickets will still be valid. Apologies for any inconvenience this error may have caused.

Primary 7 had another great day in Kilbowie yesterday and I have heard nothing but praise for their behaviour, manners and level of enthusiasm. Mrs McLean summed it up in a short text last night: ‘They’re amazing kids!’. I agree!

Primary 7 had a fantastic first day at Kilbowie yesterday. I left the children around 8.00pm in the very capable hands of Mrs McLean and Mrs Smillie, with the boys and girls still enjoying an energetic treasure hunt in the fresh air. Photographs have already been posted on Twitter (@bartholomew_st) and more will be added during the course of the week.

I received an email yesterday confirming that St Bartholomew’s is on the current list of schools to be fitted with solar panels. Great news for the Eco Committee!

Finally, please remember to grab your tickets for our end of term show, ‘Welcome to the Sixties’. Although tickets are restricted to two per family at the moment, all remaining tickets will be sold on a first come, first served basis after the September weekend.