St. John Paul II Primary School & Nursery Class, Viewpark

Ash Wednesday – 5th March 2025

Father Morris will join us for an Ash Wednesday Service.  This will not be Mass.  There will be a Liturgy of the Word with Blessing and Distribution of Ashes.  The Service will begin at 11:15am and all are welcome to join us (as previously announced in our February Newsletter).

Weekday Lenten Masses

As is our Tradition, Father Morris will celebrate Mass each morning during Lent at 8:20am.  We start Mass sharp in order to allow time for the children to be able to attend Breakfast Club.  So please do try to be on time!  Mass generally lasts about 20 minutes and it is a great way to start each day during Lent!

Our first Mass will take place on Thursday 6th March 2025, then Friday 7th March.  From then on, they will be every week day unless otherwise announced.

We invite all Parents/Carers, Grandparents and parishioners to join us for our morning Masses.

I am giving you some very early notice of the lunch men for next week, as we have quite a few

changes.

We are on the Week 1 Menu, and Monday and Friday will run as normal.

Tuesday:

🔴: Chicken Curry

🟢: Vegetable Curry

All other options as normal.

Wednesday:

🔴: Macaroni Cheese

🟢: Tomato Pasta

All other options as normal.

Thursday – Special World Book Day Menu (see picture!)

🔴: Spanish Chicken

🟢: Quorn Nuggets

🟡: Chicken Burger

NO BAKED POTATOES

Sandwich options as normal

Please remember, these changes will NOT show up on the Fusion app.

All Primary 1 to 5 children are automatically entitled to receive a free school meal.

However, only those who make an application in P6 and P7 are entitled.

Currently, at St. John Paul II, children in P6 and P7  have around £2,300 in unpaid school meal payments.  This is rising everyday.

North Lanarkshire Council have asked us to contact Parents and Carers regarding this.  They are asking Parents and Carers to top up their child’s online account.  If you are worried about this, or cannot clear the outstanding amount, please contact Mr Thomas for support.

Could your child be entitled to Free School Meals?  See below!

Scottish Child Payment

All P6 and P7 children who receive Scottish Child Payment who do not receive free school meals under the eligibility entitlement can apply by completing the application form. The scheme opens on 20 February 2025. Please complete the application form and provide proof of award letter from Social Security Scotland.

Click HERE to apply.

If you need advice or help with the application, please contact us at the school.

Mrs McGhee and the Support Staff spent some time during the INSET Day (when they weren’t completing their training courses) gathering all of the lost property which has been left behind by the children.

Anything that had a child’s name on it has been left safely in their class base or hung on their peg in the cloakroom.

HOWEVER… everything in the photographs below has NO NAME.  This means we cannot return them to their owners.

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ON THURSDAY 20TH AND FRIDAY 21ST all of the items will be displayed on table outside the school.  This will be available before school, during the school day, and at the end of the day.

Please come and take anything you think your child has lost.  Everything must go!

Going forward, please do put names on everything that belongs to your child.  This has been another enormous task for our staff to do and the amount of lost property is something we need to reduce.

Thank you!

Sorry for the late notice but we have a wee menu change for tomorrow. There will be no lasagne.  It will be beef bolognaise instead.

Hope you’re all ok and keeping cosy and safe in weather!!

A wee early heads up. On Monday of next week (27th January) there will be a special Burns Supper Menu. The options will be:

🔴 Haggis, Neeps and Tatties
🟢 Vegetarian Haggis Neeps and Tatties
🟡 Meatless Meatballs
🔵 Cheese or Ham Sandwich

Please note there will be NO baked potatoes available on this day.

A Red weather warning has been issued for Friday 24 January 2025, between 10am and 5pm as Storm Éowyn is expected to bring very strong winds and widespread disruption.

The Council has taken the decision to close all schools and education establishments including early learning facilities on Friday 24 January.

We understand the impact this may have on parents and carers, however the safety of people is paramount. No school transport or breakfast clubs will run.

We will provide updates on the impact on other services through the normal Council social media channels and the website here: northlanarkshire.gov.uk/weather

As always, we would like to remind you that learning resources are available via NLC’s Virtual Classroom for P1-S3 pupils, and eSgoil and Scholar are available for senior phase pupils.

Our Parent Council is a vital part of school life.  Not only do they help fundraise to support school activities and resources, but they also contribute to the ongoing development of our school, which helps our children.

What is the commitment expectation if I join the Parent Council?

• There are 4 meetings per year
• Each meeting lasts between 1 and 1.5 hours
• You do not need to attend all meetings – we know that life is busy!
• There are various events throughout the year (discos, etc.) which we would ask you to support in the preparation and organisation.  Again, you only commit to what you can!

Who can become a member of the Parent Council at St. John Paul II?

• Anyone who has a child in attendance at the school.
• As soon as you have no child at the school, you step down from the Parent Council.
• Of course, you can step down at any time!  We know that circumstances change and that, at times, you may need to reduce your commitment.

DOUBLE CHECK YOUR DATE!

Please note the dates below.  We are aware that there was a typo in the last newsletter.  Mr Thomas apologises for any inconvenience caused by this.