A very busy, festive week ahead of us this week! Here is all the information you need!

DONATIONS FROM G71 GROUP

We took delivery of some shopping bags filled with lots of items of food, toiletries and household goods.  These are available outside the main door of the school ALL DAY TODAY.  Please come and take some if this would be of help.  You can come at any time.

In some cases you need to take two bags.  Others, just one.  Look at the labels on the bag and it will say ‘Bag 1 of 2’.  The bags are organised next to each other for ease.

At the Christmas Fayre, there will be a stall with various items which have been donated by the same group.  We have already circulated what we can and these are now available for anyone to take away for FREE.  There are brand new trainers, pants, socks and other items.

CHRISTMAS FAYRE

See the flyer below!  We look forward to welcoming you.  There is a rough guide so that you know when your child is going to be attending the Fayre with their class.  If you arrive at another time, we can try and accommodate this.

ENTRY TO THE FAYRE is Free, but we would ask you to bring ONE item for the Food Bank by way of an entry fee.  

9:30 – 10am  P1 and P6

10am – 10:30am  P2 and P3

Break between 10:30 and 11am

11am – 11:30am  P4 and P5

Our wonderful P7 children will be working the stalls.  They will spell each other so that they have a chance for some shopping themselves!

From 11:30 – 12noon, any child wishing to spend leftover money can come back to the Fayre.

Santa will visit P1-3 in their Class Bases this year.

A NEWSLETTER FOR DECEMBER AND THE END OF TERM WILL BE ADDED TO OUR WEBSITE TODAY OR TOMORROW.

FRIDAY 21st NOVEMBER is NOT a Non Uniform Day!

Please see the information below for our donation appeal for P1-3 and P4-7 tomorrow.  All donations are gratefully received!

CHRISTMAS LUNCH ORDERS

Christmas Lunch will be served on Thursday 11th December.  Have you ordered Christmas Lunch for your child/children yet?  Please click HERE to make the order.  Please note that no other choices will be available on this day.

CHRISTMAS PANTO

Have you managed to pay for your child’s Panto ticket yet?  You can pay in instalments!  You don’t need to pay all at once.  If you need support with this, please just let Mr Thomas know.  Online payments being taken now.

Information about our Halloween Activities for this week:

PARENT COUNCIL HALLOWEEN RAFFLE!

Due to our Parent Council being unable to have their Yearly Halloween Disco this year, they will be having a HALLOWEEN RAFFLE instead full of Spooktacular prizes!

Tickets will be on sale from the office from tomorrow until the end of the week. £1.00 per Strip.

HALLOWEEN PARADE – Friday 31st October

We will have a Halloween Parade in school on Friday.  This is for children only.  

Children are invited to dress up for the parade and the information for this is as follows:

• Children can be collected from the MAIN GATE at 12:15pm.  Please do not come to the office earlier!
• Children should come back to school at 1:20pm.  Please keep your child at home until then as we do not have enough people to supervise both indoors and outdoors, therefore children will need to be in the playground and we wouldn’t want their costumes to be damaged in any way.
• PLEASE BE MINDFUL – we cannot take responsibility for costume extras/props, etc.  going missing.

If your child is NOT going home to change, they can bring a simple costume to school and staff will do their best to assist them in changing.

Our photographer has all of the School & Nursery photos (Individual & Family) live online and ready to view/order.

The batch order deadline for free delivery to the school is Friday 9^th November 2025.

After this date, orders can still be placed, however, these will be shipped directly to a chosen address for an additional charge.

There is also a voucher for 10% off £40 or more. This is automatically applied in the webstore and is valid until 27th October. The date on the paper proof card stated the deadline for the voucher code was 21st October, however, this has been extended. There is a message on the webstore to advise of this.

Please follow the link below to order your photos:

HTTPS://ORDER.CHRISMCINTYREPHOTOGRAPHY.CO.UK

You will need your access code to enter the site, There is a separate code for sibling group photos.

If you need a replacement code, please contact the school office and they can give you it.

Welcome back!  I hope you all had a lovely week off.  It was great to welcome the children back to school this morning.

I am writing with some information for the beginning of term.

AFTER SCHOOL CLUBS:

The following clubs begin this week:

Monday:  Netball (P6/7)

Tuesday:  Cross Country (P5/6/7)

Thursday:  Drama (P4-7)  and Football (P6/7)

THE FEAST OF ST. JOHN PAUL II

On Wednesday 22nd October, you are invited to join us for our school Feast Day Mass in the Assembly Hall.  This will take place at 11am.  Our school Feast Day is an important annual celebration for our school community, and it would be amazing to have a good representative of Parents, Carers, Grandparents, etc. at our Mass.  Our new P6 Pope Francis Faith Award Candidates will also be enrolled during this Mass.  All Welcome!

In the afternoon, the children will celebrate further with a Cinema Afternoon and sweet treats.  All children should wear full school uniform on Wednesday, as there will be no P.E. lessons that day.

DOES YOUR CHILD STRUGGLE WITH THEIR ATTENDANCE DUE TO THEIR EMOTIONS?  PARENT/CARER ONLINE WORKSHOP:

A free 45 minute webinar for parents and carers on 23rd October 2025.

Kooth is a charity that works to support young people with their mental health.

Emotionally Based School Non-Attendance, or EBSNA for short, refers to young people who struggle to attend school because of a range of emotional factors.

These can include struggling with issues like low mood, anxiety and loneliness. The impact of EBSNA can range from the young person experiencing an occasional reluctance to attend school, to complete non-attendance. It can start suddenly or develop gradually over time.

Kooth has developed this free webinar for families to explore EBSNA as a complex issue and will give guidance on how digital mental health support can help.

Click HERE for more information on how to join.

CAR PARK AND BUILDING SITE:

I know that many of you will have noticed that there has been some movement in the planned works to build houses directly opposite our school campus on Laburnum Road.

I met with the Site Manager, as well as representatives from North Lanarkshire Council this morning and they shared the plans with myself and Mrs Martin.

It goes without saying that having such a site in close proximity to the school will be challenging, but I am assured that those associated with the project will do everything they can to ensure that things runs smoothly.  We hope to build a positive relationship with the Site Manager.  The aim is that all deliveries will be co-ordinated out with busy times (i.e. 9am and 3pm).

As with all projects such as this, there may be teething problems to begin with, but we will work together to ensure these are kept to a minimum.

WHAT DOES THIS MEAN FOR CAR PARK USERS?

• There will be 20 fewer parking spaces in the overflow car park whilst the building work takes place.
• Once the site has been completed, we will return to having the full use of the car park, with some additional spaces created.
• Once completed, the new access road will be the only way into the car park.
• In the meantime, space will be tighter and people will need to be more considerate and patient when using either of the car parks.
• It also means that more people will want to park on Laburnum Road

HOW CAN I HELP?

• If at all possible, do not drive your child to school!
• If at all possible, park elsewhere and walk the final bit of the journey.
• If at all possible, use the church car park and walk round.
• Our neighbours in Heather

THIS WILL MEAN THAT MORE DRIVERS MAY WISH TO USE THE SCHOOL CAR PARK, SO PLEASE TAKE EXTRA CARE.

Information will be circulated by the builders to neighbouring properties in the coming weeks.  As soon as we receive this, we will also share it through our usual channels.

In the end, all we can do is be patient, show courtesy to each other and make safe choices in the Car Park space that we do have!

Many thanks,

Mr Thomas.

Please see the image below for all the information you need for our school photographs this coming Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday.

Please note: Sibling Photos will only be taken for those who have registered for them.

We have a busy week ahead as we approach the October Holiday.

Please remember that the School Photographer will be in school on Tuesday 7th, Wednesday 8th and Thursday 9th October.

FUN DAY – FRIDAY 10TH OCTOBER

Please see the flyer below which gives information about our upcoming Fun Day.  We are looking for some donations for a Tuck Shop which will run throughout the day.  Details are below.  Nothing which contains nuts.

OCTOBER HOLIDAY

School closes at 3pm on Friday 10th October and reopens on Monday 20th October at 9am, with Breakfast Club available from 8:15am.

Please see the flyer below for a free Craft Session during the holidays.

Family Crafts Oct 25

OFFROAD BIKES & SIMILAR VEHICLES – NLC SURVEY

Local communities have told us through our Community Boards that they’re increasingly concerned about the potentially illegal and inconsiderate use of off-road bikes and similar vehicles in their areas.

People have raised different types of complaints, but most are about how these bikes are being used in ways that cause a range of problems in local communities.

Riders are seen driving through residential areas, town centres, pavements, parks and in open and green spaces and complaints have been received that they are putting themselves and others in potential danger.

Have you experienced any issues regarding off-road bikes in your community? Please take a few minutes to fill in the survey linked below. This survey will close on the 10^th October 2025.

https://forms.office.com/Pages/ResponsePage.aspx?id=O5WPqRjWQ0uKZQOCaBvSg2ZfmL7uyINOkSlEro2Sy1RURjE2QUZRRkFLRjBBRVZOQVA5NkhDQlQ4Si4u

Your feedback will help us and our partners – including North Lanarkshire Council, Police Scotland and the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service – to:

• Measure how serious the problem is
• Identify areas where it’s happening most
• Work together with communities to find practical solutions

If you’ve been affected or have ideas to help, we’d really appreciate you completing the survey.

Our School Photographer will be visiting St John Paul II Primary from Tuesday 7th – Thursday 9th October 2025.

If you wish to have Sibling Photographs, can you please complete the Registration form, accessed using the link below:

https://forms.cloud.microsoft/r/QLshtDffjX

Please note, we can only take requests from children who attend: St John Paul II Primary School, St John Paul II Nursery or those who have a sibling in Laburnum Nursery.

We cannot photograph any child who does not attend one of these establishments.  This includes children who are from another school or below nursery age.

You must complete this form prior to the deadline date below if you wish your children to be photographed together. We cannot accept any late requests.

Registration Deadline Date: Friday 3rd October 2025 at 8PM

This form is to request sibling school/nursery photographs for between 2 – 4 children only. Please do not complete this form to request individual photographs of your children. These will be taken automatically.

Due to time restrictions and to ensure minimal disruption to learning please only submit sibling requests for direct family members (i.e brother/sister). All requests will be submitted to the school for verification.