The Summer Holidays are fast approaching!  Here are a few highlights from the last week or so.

Sports Day

Sports Day was a huge success and it brought our Health Week to a very fitting close.  Sincere thanks again to all of those who contributed in any way.

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Civic Week Highlights

This year, Civic Week was a very successful and enjoyable week.  We were delighted to be involved in so many activities and competitions.  Congratulations to all of our children who took part and represented our school with pride.

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Health Week Highlights

Taekwando was very popular…

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This visit from Scottish Fire & Rescue was enjoyed by everyone…

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Staff from The Coachman Hotel led a great workshop on healthy eating…

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Coprus Christi Procession

A beautiful day for a beautiful moment and some time in prayer before the Blessed Sacrament.  Again, a large number of parents, family members and parishioners came along to join us.

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Congratulations to Colzium House!  Our winning house for 2017

The children and staff of Colzium House enjoyed their Winning House Treat today, with a visit to The Burngreen which included a choice of activities and a picnic lunch.  There was also a visit from an Ice Cream Van!  Tennis, cycling, swings, slides, pitch n putt were the order of the day.  The children’s behaviour today was outstanding!  Well done boys and girls.

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Click here for our latest newsletter:  June 2017

Health Week gets underway…

This week is Health Week at St. Patrick’s.  You will find more detail of what is happening in this week’s June Newsletter, which is coming out to you today.  Today, we had Stephen Lavery from ‘Future X’ providing sessions for P2 – P7.  The wee ones are slightly too wee to take part in these sessions!

There are activities for everyone available this week!

Some children enjoying Future X this morning…

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Primary 1 were getting into the spirit of things…

Congratulations to our Civic Week Footballers!

Our footballers took part in the Civic Week Tournament yesterday and for the third year in a row, returned with the overall winners’ trophy!  Congratulations and well done boys.  Thanks to Mr Higney and to James Bollan for their work with the footballers throughout the year.

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Nursery/P1 Transition Event

We welcomed our new P1 children to the school last Wednesday and they cam along for lunch.  It was a great opportunity for our new P1s to get an idea of what life at school will be like.  Thanks to our Catering staff for all of their hard work.  Thanks also to our merry band of Buddies (currently our P6s) who came along to show the little ones how things are done!  They were a huge help!

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This boy brought his medal to show me last week!  They relate to his work in the Boy’s Brigade.  Well done to him!

This boy brought a clip on his iPad to show me his Volcano experiment.  I don’t think I would want to be in the way of the hot Lava coming from the volcano!  Well done!  Super Science!

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I hope that everyone enjoyed the holiday weekend (for those who had time off).  It was nice to have the time before a very busy period commences at school what with Health Week, Civic Week, P7 Graduation, P7 and P1 Transition, Reports to issue… and so on!

Over the last week or so, we have had quite a few events and many of these will be available for you to check up on within the individual class blogs.  However, firstly, I would like to draw your attention to the PTA Summer Fayre…

The PTA are still looking for donations of brick-a-brac and also for the raffle, bottle stall, tombola and home baking.

They also require helpers on the day and are looking for someone to take on the face painting stall!  Please get in touch if you think you can help.

BOTTLE STALL

Donations of bottles can be any kind of bottle which can also mean shampoo, water, ketchup, soft drinks, plus all of the obvious tipples which make a bottle stall that wee bit more appealing to the grown ups!

BRIC-A-BRAC

Donations of Bric-a-brac can be handed in and anything left over will be given to charity.

Home Baking can be handed in on the morning of the fayre.

Here are some of the highlights from the last week and a half…

National Outdoor Learning Day

Our Class Teachers planned some wonderful outdoor learning opportunities for all of our classes.  Numeracy, Literacy, Art, PE and Orienteering were some of the activities the children got involved in.  Using the outdoor environment is an excellent way to engage children in their learning and there certainly seemed to be lots of engagement going on!

I was at meetings in the morning and so only managed to catch up on what was going on in the afternoon.  Of course, all of this outdoor learning was planned as part of the ongoing learning experiences of each class.  Activities were related to what children would be learning indoors! Here are some of the highlights…

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P1 Induction

Our Primary 1 induction continues and it was great to see so many at the first event.  We had talks from Active Schools, Speech and Language Therapy and Logo Expres who are our uniform provider.  The children were great at going off to their class with their excellent buddies and the Teachers.  This will ensure that, come August, our children will be ready and equipped to deal with the challenges of Primary School!

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Scottish Government & North Lanarkshire Assessments

As part of the Scottish Government National Improvement Framework, our P4s and P7s have sat the New Group Reading Test (NGRT) and this online assessment allows the Government to gauge progress in Literacy at these stages.

North Lanarkshire also assess our P1s, P3s, P5s, P7s and S2 children using the CEM online assessment.  This assess Literacy and Numeracy skills.  The children are in the process of completing these assessments as are all children in NLC at these stages.

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Ascension Thursday

We celebrated the feast of the Ascension on Thursday of last week with a beautiful Mass in the church.  Many thanks to Father Daniel and the parishioners for their warm welcome.  Well done to P4/3 and Mrs Nicolson for leading such a prayerful liturgy.  The singing was exceptional and many parishioners have contacted Father Daniel to pass on their appreciation to the school, but mostly to the children!  Well done everyone!

First Communions

On Saturday 13th May, the first group of children from P4 received Jesus for the first time in Holy Communion.  The sun may not have shone outside and the heavens may have opened, but it certainly shone inside the church!  Our children looked smart, beautiful, amazing and they certainly showed all of us how to approach the Table of the Lord with prayerfulness and respect.

Many thanks to Father Daniel, the servers, passkeepers, those who prepared the hospitality, those who prepared our beautiful church and also to our choir and organist.  Without your support, the day would not have been so special.

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The arrival of our eels…

It was very exciting yesterday as we welcomed our new guests.  Willie and David dropped them off and they are now settling into their new home.  P3/2 seem to have wakened them this morning when the children arrived in the class, as they were all sleeping at the bottom of the tank!

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Primary 1 Induction

We are looking forward to welcoming our new P1 children from out partner nurseries tomorrow (Wednesday) at 11am.  All parents are invited to bring their children along and then to join us for Tea and Coffee in the Hall where our uniform provider (LogoExpres) will be available with samples of the uniform and blazers, along with representatives of Speech and Language Therapy.  Active Schools will also be joining us to give you some information about the work they do with us and what they offer in terms of after school and holiday clubs.

PLEASE NOTE:  If your child is already attending St. Patrick’s Family Learning Centre at 11am, you are still invited to come along.  Staff from the FLC will bring your child through to the school.

We have had a very busy week this week.  Our final preparations for the first group of P4 First Holy Communions are over and the children are ready and are very excited.  We wish them well and keep them in our prayers.

Tuck Shop

Our Tuck Shop has opened and will be operating during interval in the morning.  If your child is using the Tuck Shop, they must try to remember to leave money on their cards for lunch!  Those children who receive a Free School Meal also have to add money for Breakfast Club or Tuck Shop.  The money for their lunch is added to their card at 11:30am each day and removed at 2pm.

New Summer Menu

The new summer menu is looking nice and tasty!  Please encourage your child to have a school lunch, even from time to time.  Here are some of the fresh fruit options on offer…

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Please remember that a school lunch is now £2 and that, if your child choses Option 1, they are charged for all of the items in that option.  They cannot buy single items!

Our eels are arriving on Monday…

Here are some photos of P3/2 and P4/3 talking to our visitors as they installed the tank for our Scotland to Sargasso project…

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The children are very excited about the arrival on Monday and they impressed our visitors with their enthusiasm and knowledge!

Download our May Newsletter by clicking here…May 2017

DHL Competition Winners

These children were delighted to be presented with their prizes from DHL for the competition before the Easter Holiday.  Well done to everyone who entered.

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P6 Visit to St. Maurice’s

Our P6s have been visiting the Technical Department at St. Maurice’s over the last few weeks as part of our efforts to start the transition programme a little earlier.  They have been thoroughly enjoying their time there.

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Congratulations to these children who were successful in a recent Cheerleading Competition…

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And to these dancers also…

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Tea with Mr T…

Congratulations to the 22 children who joined me for Tea with Mr T in recognition of their HT Award!  We had a lovely time and they had lots of good chat to share!  Well done boys and girls.

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Well done to these footballers who attended a competition in Blackpool recently…

P6 Maths After School Club with St. Maurice’s

Our P7s were offered an opportunity to attend an after school club by Mrs Rae, the Principal Teacher of Maths at St. Maurice’s.  A good number of children volunteered and they seemed to enjoy their first session last week.  We are very grateful to Mrs Rae and the two S3 children who came along to join in for giving up their time.

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Girl’s Football Competition

Well done to the girls who represented St. Patrick’s at the Football Competition in Chryston today.  It was a great day for playing out in the sunshine and the girls played very well!

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Please remember that you can view our most recent Newsletter by clicking below…

March 2017

My Learning Visits have continued this week, with visits so far to P4 and P4/3.  I will conclude with P1/2 and P3/2 tomorrow and continue after the Easter Holiday.

Primary 4 Learning Visit

I thoroughly enjoyed my visit to P4.  They were hard at work using Loop Cards to improve their times tables.  They were also using ‘Maths on Track’ and the Numeracy Map to help them learn the facts of the 4 times table.  Primary 4 have been working very hard in class learning all about Fractions.  They began their lesson with some interactive games on the SMARTBoard.  They were then challenged to find a variety of fractions.  The children used some ‘Formative Assessment Strategies’ to let Miss Ballantyne know how the lesson had gone for them and how successful they had been.

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Primary 4/3

Primary 4/3 were demonstrating their knowledge of the times tables by playing a game called ‘All Around the World’.  This kicked their brains into gear and got them thinking about mental calculations!  They were then learning all about measurements and the correct units to measure particular things with (cm, m and km).  The children were using ICT and more traditional methods to explore these concepts.  I asked some of the children about why they peer and self assessed each other and I was delighted with some of their answers…

Self assessment lets my Teacher know how I feel about my work…

Self assessment means that my Teacher knows how confident I am and it tells here if I am ready to move on or not!

Peer assessment is a chance for me to be the Teacher! Sometimes I can help my friend understand things better

What a great ethos there was in P4/3.  Thanks to everyone!

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Kirkintilloch and District Dog Training Club

Today we were delighted to meet the trainers and their beautiful furry friends.  They approached me some time ago asking if they could come in and demonstrate to the children.  The children were all delighted with their visit today.  They put on two demonstrations and this gave the children an insight into the hard work and dedication needed to train and look after a dog or any pet.  Many thanks to everyone who came along to the school from the Dog Training Club.  We were so happy to welcome you!

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Arrangements for the Last Day of Term

Please note the following for Friday 31st March 2017…

• We will join the parish for Mass at 9:30am in the church.  This is in place of our usual Easter Service which we have had in the school for the past couple of years.  Normally, we are in school for Holy Week, but as Easter is a little later this year, we will attend Mass instead.  If you can join us to walk the children to the church, please let the office know!
• Friday is Bring a Toy to School Day!  £1 donation to SCIAF if you bring a toy  We will also have a Cake and Candy, a Juice Café and an Easter Raffle.  Therefore, some additional pennies may be necessary on Friday!  All proceeds to SCIAF.
• SCHOOL CLOSES AT 2:30PM ON FRIDAY – Not 3pm as previously advertised in the Newsletter!

This week, I began my Learning Visits to various different classes.  By the end of the term, I hope to have visited every class to observe the Learning and Teaching of Numeracy.

Primary 5

Primary 5 were revising their multiplication tables using Loop Cards.  Each card has a question and an answer on them.  When you hear the question which has your answer, you say it aloud and then ask the next question.  It is a fun way to learn tables!  The children were very motivated by this and even I joined in!

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P7B

Primary 7B were participating in a variety of tasks relating to time.  It was great to see them working in groups and individually, using technology and more traditional methods.  One group was using iPads and completing tasks which the Teacher had set on Study Ladder, the other was answering word problems, another had a series of challenges to do using a digital Stopwatch and the other was using a Loop Card game.  The children were very motivated and engaged in all of the tasks and they worked extremely hard.

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Primary 6

Mrs Gilmour had linked the P6 Numeracy lesson to their topic on the Victorians!  This was a brilliant example of Inter-disciplinary Learning.  Again, the children were consolidating the block of work they had been engaged in over the last few weeks relating to patterns and sequences.  The Victorian them allowed the children to explore Morse Code, Braille, Questions on the timeline of the Victorians and the design of a Victorian Garden using patterns and a grid.  However, to begin the lesson, the children were using a new resource called ‘Number Talks’.  This is being introduced across all NLC schools and is part of the Attainment Challenge.  It encourages the children to talk about HOW they calculate and solve problems.  Already I could see the benefit of using this resource!  They children were growing in confidence around the various strategies they had learned to carry out mental calculations.  Well done boys and girls!

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Primary 7B

Primary 7B were also using Number Talks to help them with their mental calculation strategies.  It was great to see them really discussing problems and sharing a variety of strategies.  It is clear that they have learned that there is not only ONE way to solve a problem!  They then moved onto the hard business of fractions and decimals!  The children were very keen to share their learning with me and talk to me about what they were doing.  It was a really enjoyable time to be in their class.  I loved seeing the art work they had produced relating to World War II.  Well done P7!

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Primary 6/5

P6/5 have been working hard learning all of the more difficult Times Tables in their mental maths.  They were impressive with their rapid recall of the 6,7, 8 and 9 times tables.  They have been learning about the properties of a circle (radius and diameter) as part of a wider topic on shape.  They were using compasses to draw the perfect circle to a given radius or diameter.  It took a lot of concentration!  Again, it was great to see the children so motivated by their learning and fully engaging with the lesson.  Keep up the good work P6/5!

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Congratulations to our friends at Kilsyth PS!

Mrs Parkinson and Mrs Murphy accompanied some of our Eco Group as they accepted and invitation from Kilsyth Primary School to attend their Eco Flag Celebration.  Mrs Parkinson said that our Continuous Improvement Officer, Mrs Pandolfi, was delighted to meet them again and that our children were so confident and a credit to the school.  Mrs Pandolfi also passed on her compliments to the children.  However, the main reason the children were there was to celebrate with their peers.  We know how much hard work goes into achieving a Green Flag!  Our hosts were very welcoming and gracious.  We presented them with a lovely framed gift.  Here are our children pictured before they presented the gift!

Eco Group – Earth Hour Talk

Our Eco Group gave a talk at assembly today about Earth Hour, which takes place on Saturday 25th from 8:30pm – 9:30pm.  They encouraged us all to take part and switch off for that hour.  Thank you boys and girls!

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Stars of the Week

Congratulations to this weeks Stars of the Week!  Well done everyone!

SCIAF Fundraising Cinema Afternoon

The children enjoyed an afternoon at the movies with a choice of viewing throughout the school.  Many thanks for your support of our SCIAF efforts this Lent.  More information will be sent out next week regarding our arrangements for the final day of term and our final fundraiser.

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Please note that our Photocopier has broken down.  This month’s newsletter is available to download from here.  Click on the link below.

March 2017

Happy St. Patrick’s Day to everyone!

We have had a lovely celebration which I have mentioned in the Newsletter.  Here are some highlights from our Day of adoration…

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Here are some highlights from the P1-4 Disco…

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Here are our P5-7s busting some moves at their Disco…

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Mass was beautiful this morning and the children were outstanding…

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Here are some pics from the production of The Jungle Book this afternoon…

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Congratulations to these lovely children on achieving last month’s HT Award!

Click on the pictures below to find out about our St. Patrick’s Day Celebrations…

P6 Buddy Conference

Our P6 Buddy Conference was another great success. I led the children in a number of mini workshops to get them to think about what being a P1 Buddy is all about.  They were all excellent and very enthusiastic about this role.

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We have a visit from some of our Nursery children… they were very entertaining!

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Our P7 children cam to tell us about their experiences.  They certainly had some ‘pearls of wisdom’ to pass on to their successors!

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We then had some of our current P1 children come along to share their perspectives.  They were very supportive of the Buddy Programme and it was nice to hear how they still consider their buddies as friends even now!

Cross Country Finals

Congratulations to these boys who attended the Cross Country Finals in Coatbridge.  Not a bad finishing places out of over 120 children!  Well done boys!

Enterprise visit to DHL

Another very successful visit to DHL took place today with the group going along to sell some Mother’s Day goods they have made.  Thanks to everyone at DHL once again.

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Sharing an achievement

This lovely girl came along to show me her trophy she won for dancing!