St. Brendan's Primary School and Nursery

Primary 1 & 2/1 have had such a lovely and busy Term 2. We have been working hard on our performing skills as we prepared for our St. Andrew’s Day performance and we continue to practise for our Carol Service. St. Andrew’s Day was the first time some of the children got to perform on St. Brendan’s stage and I think you will agree they were amazing and did us so proud!

Literacy

We have been continuing to learn our initial sounds and common words this term. The children have been enjoying exploring some new activities during Literacy time as their confidence in using their sounds and words continues to grow. The children have also started to do story writing in class and love using their imagination to create new stories.

Numeracy

This Term we have been learning about patterns in class. The children have had lots of opportunities through play to continue patterns and to create their own patterns. Using the unifix cubes and compare bears to create patterns has been a firm favourite!  We are currently learning all about shapes around us. We have learned about 2D shapes and their properties and have now moved onto learning about 3D shapes. We have been learning all about the properties of 3D shapes as we explore new vocabulary to describe the shapes, such as, edges, corners and faces. The children love exploring these shapes through their tasks and especially enjoy investigating whether the 3D shapes can roll or stack.

IDL

In Term 2 we have been learning all about ‘People Who Help Us.’ The children understand that there are a range of different jobs that people have to provide us with help. They have thoroughly enjoyed exploring some of these jobs through role play within the classroom. We were also very lucky to have Alan, our very own janitor, come and speak to us about crossing patrol. We created questions to ask him and learned a few interesting facts! Some of us even got to try on the uniform!

Carol Service

We have been working so hard in preparation for our Carol Service in the Church. We have been taking our roles very seriously and practising our singing skills. We cannot wait to share our lovely performance with you in a couple of weeks!

A Spectacular St Andrew’s Day Celebration at St Brendan’s

St Andrew’s Day is always a much-loved highlight of the year here at St Brendan’s and this year’s celebration was nothing short of spectacular. Our talented pupils took to the stage this afternoon with confidence, enthusiasm and pride, showcasing a memorable programme of Scottish songs, poems and dances. From traditional ballads to lively reels, they honoured Scotland’s rich heritage and the incredible artists, poets and performers who have shaped it.

The hall was filled with a sold-out audience of parents, carers and family members eager to support the pupils. Their applause and encouragement created a warm, joyful atmosphere that made the event even more special.

Alongside the performances, a successful stall was run with proceeds going toward St Andrew’s Hospice. Thank you to everyone who supported it, your generosity helped make the day even more meaningful and will go a long way in supporting the operations of the hospice.

St Andrew’s Day continues to be a favourite for both pupils and parents at St Brendan’s, and this year truly reminded us why. A huge well done to all our incredible pupils for their hard work and brilliant performances. And of course, a heartfelt thank you to our dedicated teachers, support staff and janitor whose time, effort and preparation ensured the day was a resounding success.

Here’s to another unforgettable celebration of Scottish culture—well done, everyone!

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Mini Vinnies – Caring for our community

This Advent season, our Mini Vinnies have truly stepped into their leadership roles by organising and leading our weekly assembly services. With maturity, kindness and a strong sense of faith, they have helped guide the school community through this special time of reflection and preparation. From planning readings to welcoming classes and setting up the hall, they have brought a calm and thoughtful atmosphere to each gathering.

In addition to their work during assemblies, our Mini Vinnies are also continuing their wonderful initiative to support our local Baby Bank. They are collecting donations to help local families during the festive season, and we warmly invite anyone who is able to contribute.

Donations of clean, warm winter items in good condition can be placed in the boxes at the front entrance of the school. The Baby Bank is currently looking for:

Hats

Gloves

Winter jackets (ages 2–16)

Winter footwear (such as boots)

Warm blankets

Onesies

Oodies

Unopened toiletries

We are incredibly proud of our Mini Vinnies for showing such compassion, responsibility and leadership—both in school and in the wider community. Thank you to everyone who supports this important cause and well done to our Mini Vinnies for making a real difference this Advent.

A huge thank you to Paul Flanagan Joinery!

A huge thank you to our generous sponsor; Paul Flanagan Joinery for providing brand-new football kits for our boys’ and girls’ teams. The pupils are thrilled and the kits have already brought a boost of pride and excitement to training and matches.

Your support makes a real difference, helping our young athletes play with confidence and represent our school in style. We truly appreciate your generosity and look forward to an exciting season ahead in our fantastic new kits!

Celebrating Sporting Success Stories here in St. Brendan’s

Introducing Our New ‘Sportsperson of the Month’ Award!

Our sports Committee have been working hard this term, and we’re excited to share their fantastic new idea—the ‘Sportsperson of the Month’ award! This award celebrates pupils who consistently shine in sports and physical activity across the school.

Each month, one pupil will be selected from each class who demonstrate the true spirit of school sport. When choosing a winner, they will be looking for someone who:

Shows great effort and determination

Demonstrates strong teamwork and fair play

Encourages others and keeps a positive attitude

Represents their class with pride in every activity

Gives their best in every game, supports teammates, and shows outstanding sportsmanship

This award is a wonderful way to recognise pupils who work hard, inspire others and help make PE and sport enjoyable for everyone. We’re proud of the Sports Committee for leading this initiative and we congratulate our first group of winners!

Well done to all pupils who continue to show passion, respect and energy in every sporting opportunity—keep it up!

Celebrating our weekly successes here in St. Brendan’s

This week’s assembly was once again a fantastic celebration of our learners’ achievements. We recognised many pupils who have shown excellence as Successful Learners, Responsible Citizens, Confident Individuals and Effective Contributors. Their hard work, positive attitudes and dedication to learning truly stood out.

Well done to everyone involved!

Strengthening Community Bonds: P6 Pupils Visit Our Local Care Home

This week, our P6 pupils enjoyed a heart-warming visit to our local care home—one of our most valued community connections. Pupils spent time singing carols with the residents, bringing plenty of smiles and warm moments.

We are so proud of how kindly and confidently our pupils represented the school. Visits like this remind us of the importance of friendship across generations and the positive impact simple acts of kindness can have.

Well done to everyone involved—we look forward to our next visit!

Primary 7/6 have continued through Term Two where they left off after Term One, returning to school with a determination and enthusiasm to continue their learning. The children continue to work hard in their preparations for the St Andrew’s Day celebrations and are excited to share their performance with you all!

Literacy

The children are coming towards the end of their novel block and have thoroughly enjoyed the novels they have been working on: The Last Bear and The Boy at the Back of the Class. The novels have provided opportunities for the children to apply their understanding of Active Literacy strategies modelled in Term One. We have taken the opportunity to ‘Hot Seat’ with our peers, taking on the role of a main character of the novel and answering questions they have prepared from their point of view. We really enjoyed preparing for this and recording our conversations.

This week, we also had the pleasure of welcoming Mrs Oates to class to learn more about Topical Science linked to our topic for the term, World War Two. Working in different groups, we learned about four different scientific discoveries, inventions and advancements from the Second World War and how they have impacted the modern world. We learned about the role of radar, the development of penicillin, the key contributions of codebreakers and the birth of nuclear physics. After this, we visited the Digital Den to help turn this learning into a digital information report co-written with one of our peers.

Numeracy

Having completed our Number learning on Multiplication and Division, we have moved on to broadening our understanding of Money. Having begun to look at our understanding of budgeting, we are really excited to continue this learning further. Within non-number, we are continuing to develop our knowledge of symmetry.

Physical Education

We absolutely love to push and challenge ourselves during our Physical Education lessons. This term, we have been focusing on basketball. We have looked at a variety of passes, improving our dribbling and working on our shooting. We have worked on these in game-like scenarios, participating in different drills with passive defenders to help us improve our decision making. We have had very competitive games and love to compete against one another.

Primary 7 Bible Experience

Last week, Primary 7 pupils in the class were given the opportunity to visit the bible experience! The children had a great afternoon with the interactive opportunity to expand their understanding of key bible stories and messages. They thoroughly enjoyed the competitive element and enjoyed a strong 2nd place finish in the standings.

The class have had a fun-filled, jam-packed beginning to Term Two, with things only looking to get busier as we head towards St Andrew’s Day and December. We are excited to see what the next few weeks have instore for us.