St. Brendan's Primary School and Nursery

We are voyaging together in a community of faith, love and learning.

September 19, 2025
by Mrs McKendrick
0 comments

Whole School Weekly Blog

St Brendan’s make it to Parliament

We are thrilled to share that St. Brendan’s Primary made it to Parliament!

As a follow up from our visit from MSP Jenny Gilruth, Cabinet Secretary for Education and Skills on the 17th of June, we were highlighted as a school of excellent practice for the relationships we have developed here in St. Brendan’s. During her visit here at St. Brendan’s MSP Jenny Gilruth met pupils, parents and staff as part of the national action plan on behaviour and relationships in schools, which was published last August.

 

St Brendan’s bring home the trophy!

Last week our A team successfully defended their trophy, winning 6 games, drawing 1 without conceding a goal. Wow! We are so impressed with these impressive scores and look forward to seeing what the next game has in store.

Our B football team took part in the first round of the Motherwell Fair Play Cup at Fir Park winning 1 game, drawing 1 and losing 2. We are so proud of their effort and determination, and we look forward to the next round!

 

Cleaning up our community!

We are so excited to announce the success of our whole-school litter pick which took place last week.

As part of our commitment to making St Brendan’s an eco-friendly school pupils were provided the chance to make a positive impact on our school grounds and local community whilst raising funds for pupils to attend The Glasgow King’s theatre pantomime at Christmas. Every class had so much fun taking part in collecting litter and we are so grateful for all the donations which have been made, thank you once again. A special thank you to the lovely man who kindly donated whilst P4 were out on their litter pick, we greatly appreciate it!

From our litter pick we collected around 187kg of rubbish from our school grounds and local community. A whopping amount of rubbish!

We are so thrilled that we can make such a difference to our local community!

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

 

Golden Time clubs have started back!

Today we are so excited to announce that our Golden Time Clubs have started back. Here in St. Brendan’s pupil voice is so important. We take a whole-school commitment to listening to the views, wishes and experiences of all children and young people.

Last week our primary 7 pupils visited each class, providing pupils the opportunity to select their three top choices for their selected golden time club. Our clubs place focus on developing a range of meta skills whilst having lots of fun!

Here is a wee overview of the clubs we have on offer to our pupils!

September 12, 2025
by Miss Mitchell
0 comments

Primary 5/4 Class Blog

Primary 5/4 have settled in very well to their new class, quickly building positive relationships and a strong sense of community. Together, they created a class charter using boats inspired by St Brendan, reflecting on their rights and responsibilities to help steer their class in the right direction. Each pupil has been given a class job that changes weekly and they are really enjoying taking on these roles and contributing to the smooth running of their classroom. At the start of term the class also took part in fun ‘getting to know me’ activities, helping everyone learn more about each other and feel welcome.

 

Our learning so far

Literacy

In Literacy, the children have been engaging enthusiastically with the Active Literacy spelling programme, where they are introduced to a new phoneme each week. They have been using magnetic boards to help build and break down phoneme words, which is developing their understanding and confidence. Alongside this, they are becoming more secure in using a range of spelling strategies to learn their common words. As part of their reading, the class has been working through a Modelling Block on ‘The Best Dog In The World’, learning how to approach and lay out tasks using the new Active Literacy guidance. In writing, the focus has been on narrative, where the children have explored character and setting descriptions. They have been applying their grammar learning, particularly the use of powerful adjectives, to make their writing more descriptive and engaging.

 

Maths and Numeracy

In Maths and Numeracy, the children have been developing their understanding of place value, exploring aspects such as the value of digits, ordering and comparing numbers and identifying numbers in both digit and written form. To help bring this learning to life, they applied their knowledge within the context of the rainforest, creating eye-catching displays featuring rainforest plants and animals, each labelled with numbers written in digits and words. This real-life context has helped deepen their understanding and made their learning both meaningful and creative. The children are also developing their Number Talks strategies with a focus on addition, becoming more confident in explaining their thinking and sharing how they have solved sums orally with the rest of the class. They are learning to use a range of mental strategies and are beginning to explain their methods clearly and confidently. Alongside this, they have been taking part in active tasks to help reinforce their knowledge of the 3 and 4 times tables, making their learning both engaging and effective.

Learning across the curriculum

As part of their Health and Wellbeing learning, the children have been exploring the concept of a growth mindset. They worked on identifying fixed mindset statements and successfully changed these into positive, growth mindset alternatives, creating detailed and colourful visualisers to show their understanding. They also looked at how Usain Bolt demonstrated a growth mindset throughout his journey to success, using him as an inspiring example. In P.E, the focus has been on athletics, where the children have been developing their skills in various types of races, including exciting relay races on the MUGA. They have also enjoyed practising their throwing skills using sponge javelins, which has been a fun and active way to build their coordination and strength.

 

 

In R.E, the children began the year by writing thoughtful prayers, thanking God for the skills they already have and asking for His guidance in the areas they hope to improve during the school year. They have also been learning about the Ten Commandments and how these teachings help guide their actions and choices in daily life. The class explored the importance of the Bible, understanding why it is treated with respect and reverence in the Church. To reflect this learning creatively, they produced beautiful paintings of the Bible on the lectern, inspired by the pointillism style of artist George Seurat.

 

Primary 5/4 are also excited to be taking part in the music project with the Diocese this year, where they are taken out every Friday to develop a range of musical skills. They have been learning about singing, keeping a steady beat, recognising rhythm patterns and working together as a group to create music. We are also proud to share that some new members from our class have successfully joined the school choir this year and are already showing great enthusiasm and talent in their singing.

 

 

We recently enjoyed our first Community Friday, which was a wonderful way to come together as a school. We celebrated our first ‘First Friday Mass’, taking time to reflect and pray as a community. As part of our ECO day, we learned all about pond habitats, exploring the different plants and animals that live there and why they are important. We also took part in Outdoor Learning, where we had fun discovering and identifying different types of leaves, helping us to connect with nature and learn more about the world around us.

 

Primary 5/4 took part in a sponsored litter pick this week to help raise money for our Christmas Pantomime and we had a great time doing something positive for our community. We collected an impressive 3 bin bags of litter, weighing a total of 15 lbs! The children enjoyed using the litter pickers and wearing hi-vis vests to stay safe while out and about. It was a fun and rewarding way to help our school while also looking after our local environment.

 

Celebrating our successes

Our class was delighted to win ‘Rover the Dog’ at assembly this week for showing excellent behaviour. This special award recognises how well we have been following our class rights and responsibilities, showing respect to others, making good choices and helping to create a positive learning environment. We were very proud to welcome Rover for the week as a reward for our hard work and great attitude.

September 5, 2025
by Mrs McKendrick
0 comments

Celebrating every step of the journey as we voyage together!

Welcome back – School Blog One of our new academic year!

Welcome back to our first whole school blog for the new academic year which will be updated regularly throughout the year to share all the exciting things happening across our school community, from classroom learning and wider achievements, to special events, celebrations of faith and extra-curricular opportunities.

It has already been a very busy and positive start to the term. Our learners have settled quickly into their new classes and routines and there has been a real sense of enthusiasm and energy throughout the school.

We look forward to keeping you updated on all the highlights, big and small, that make our school such a special place to be.

 

St Brendan’s celebrate 20 years of GIRFEC

Getting it Right for Every Child (GIRFEC) is Scotland’s national framework to make sure every child gets the right support to grow, learn and succeed. It was first introduced in Lanarkshire in 2006 and this year it reached its 20th anniversary.

As part of the celebrations and review of GIRFEC, our school was very proud to be chosen as an example of good practice. Education Scotland and Mr McPartland, Chief Officer for Education South in North Lanarkshire visited on Tuesday 9th September to see GIRFEC in action and talk with our pupils.

This is a wonderful recognition of the hard work of our staff, pupils and families in putting GIRFEC into practice every day.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

 

Celebrating the year of the Jubilee

On Thursday 4th September, our Primary 7 learners voyaged together to Carfin Grotto to join pupils from across the Motherwell Diocese for a special Mass celebrating the Year of Jubilee. The celebration, led by Bishop Toal, brought together thousands of young worshippers who were blessed with a beautiful day during this uplifting occasion of faith and hope.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Community Friday

On the first Friday of each month, our school comes together to celebrate Community Friday. Each month has a different theme or focus, giving our learners the chance to explore how they can make a positive difference both within school and in the wider community. Activities are designed to encourage our pupils to develop as responsible, caring citizens who contribute positively to their community and the wider world.

This week our focus is Eco. At assembly this week Mrs Ferns spoke with the children about the importance of looking after our local environment and wider world. Mrs Ferns has been working closely with pupils of all ages and stages within the school who are part of our Eco Committee with the aim of making St. Brendan’s Primary an eco-friendly, sustainable school for us to enjoy now and for future generations. Today our pupils took part in a range of activities focussed on supporting and improving water in our local environment and wider world. Pupils learned more about the water cycle, saving water, marine and freshwater habitats.

 

Whole school sponsored litter pick

We are excited to announce a planned whole-school litter pick to take place from Monday 8th September – Friday 12th September

As part of our commitment to  making St Brendan’s an eco-friendly school pupils are being provided the chance to make a positive impact on our school grounds and local community whilst raising funds for pupils to attend The Glasgow King’s theatre pantomime at Christmas. Every class will take part in collecting litter and will be provided with a sponsor form to take home and complete, alternatively donations can be made through our just giving page.

We look forward to seeing our pupils’ enthusiasm and commitment to making a difference and thank you in advance for supporting this great cause.

Pupil Council

We are delighted to congratulate our newly elected Pupil Council, chosen by their classmates to represent the voice of the St. Brendan’s pupils this year. These young leaders will play an important role in sharing ideas and help to shape school life. We are confident that they will approach their responsibilities with enthusiasm, creativity and a strong sense of citizenship. We look forward to seeing the positive impact they will make throughout the year.

 

Celebrating our successes

At this week’s assembly, we were thrilled to celebrate our pupils’ outstanding achievements as they received awards for being successful learners, confident individuals, effective contributors and responsible citizens. As always it is inspiring to see their hard work, determination and kindness being celebrated. Congratulations to all our award winners—you truly embody the values we strive for every day here in St. Brendan’s.

Celebrating Father James

Tonight, Friday 5th September at 7:00pm a thanksgiving Mass will be held at St Patrick’s, Shieldmuir, followed by a reception in the Parochial Hall to celebrate Father James who will be retiring after an extraordinary 52 years of service in missions and parishes across the Diocese. To celebrate his remarkable ministry, Father James, originally from Carfin, was ordained in 1973 and has served in Angola, Portugal and Scotland, touching the lives of countless parishioners along the way. We give thanks for his dedication and wish him every happiness in his retirement.

 

Report a Glow concern
Cookie policy  Privacy policy