143 new S1 pupils began their secondary school education on Thursday 16th August supported for the first two days by guides from last year’s S1 cohort.  The first day went really well thanks to the excellent preparation carried out by Mrs. McGraw, Depute Head Teacher supported by colleagues from the Pupil Support Team. We wish our new generation of Taylor pupils well as they begin the next phase of their educational journey and also offer our thanks to all colleagues in associated primary schools for the hard work they have done over the years to prepare the young people for a successful  transition into High School.

Information for Parents and Carers

Tuesday 7th August 2018 – 2018 SQA Exam Results published

Thursday 9th August – date for students entering S5 and S6 to be interviewed regarding possible changes to their curricular choices for session 2018-19.

Thursday 9th August: 10am – S5 students

Thursday 9th August: 12noon – S6 students

The school restart dates for session 2018-19 are:

Tuesday 14th August 2018 – In-service Day 1 (Pupil Holiday).

Wednesday 15th August 2018 – In-service Day 2 (Pupil Holiday, Feast of the Assumption, Holy Day of Obligation).

Thursday 16th August 2018 – First Pupil Day.

12-Day Zambia Trip

Good luck to Taylor High Sixth Year students Olivia Brennan, Caitlin Mullen, Dionne Neilson, Niamh Provan and Erin Toolan who left for Zambia yesterday as part of a larger group of young people from both Taylor High School and St. Mungo’s Academy, Glasgow.  The students involved in the trip will be volunteering at a school and orphanage in Zambia supported by Missio Scotland. A massive donation of over £7,000 has been raised to support the trip. This is money which has been raised over the course of the past year. The trip has a 12-day duration. Very well done to all involved and huge thanks to Sister Stacey Cameron of Missio Scotland for providing this opportunity. Thanks also to all those individuals and companies who supported the fundraising activities over the past year.

Paris – The Culinary & Cultural Experience June 2018

Staff and pupils left yesterday on the long awaited excursion to Paris. Forty S3 and S4 pupils, along with four members of staff led by Mr. Scott Russell, are set to explore the Opal Coast and Paris from 17th to 22nd June. Pupils will get the opportunity to sample some French cuisine throughout the trip. They will visit a goats’ cheese farm, a biscuit factory and a French boulangerie. Back in Paris, the group will be taking selfies at L’Arc de Triomphe, walking along Les Champs-Élysées with ice cream, taking a cruise on the river Seine, indulging in chocolate making at a chocolate workshop & museum. The high point of this trip will be visiting the Eiffel Tower and the Tour Montparnasse! To top it all off, pupils will spend a whole day at Disneyland.

 

The school’s Celebrating Success programme is being revised and the decision has been taken to conduct all of  this year’s Celebrating Success ceremonies (S1 – S6) early in session 2018-19 once the work to update this programme has been completed.  At that time there will also be an opportunity to showcase the impact of the refurbishment on the fabric of the school building.

The work being undertaken to refurbish the school is nearing completion and it will be important to provide an opportunity for parents and friends of the school to see the improvements carried out by North Lanarkshire Council  as part of its programme of investment in Motherwell area schools. This will be undertaken in tandem with the Celebrating Success ceremonies shortly after the Summer Break.

We look forward to the new session when we will use the platform of a new Celebrating Success Programme allied to a much improved building to take the school forward!

Very shortly we will showcase photographs of the refurbished school building on the website – watch this space!

 

Carnegie Medal is awarded annually to the writer of an outstanding book for children. Each year thousands of reading groups in schools and libraries in the UK and overseas get involved in the Awards, with young people ‘shadowing’ the judging process. They read, discuss and review the books on the shortlists and get involved in reading related activity in groups and online. Shadowing groups are encouraged to publish their own creative response to the books, including reviews, blogs videos and the enclosed magazine. This is the fourth year that Taylor High School has taken part in the Carnegie Shadowing Scheme and the Groups love compiling their funky magazines, hopefully you will agree once you read the 2018 copy attached below.

2018 shadowing-magazine (a)-11860

 

Unfortunately the national Scottish Schools’ Mass scheduled for 1pm at Falkirk Stadium today has been cancelled due to adverse weather conditions.  All 43 pupils due to attend this mass will attend class as normal for the rest of the day and dismiss at the normal time, 3.45pm. Apologies for any inconvenience caused by this very late cancellation. The adverse weather conditions today have proved decisive in terms of Health and Safety.

The Taylor High Cluster of schools has been allocated 150 places at the Scottish Schools’ Mass in Falkirk Stadium on Thursday 14th June.  Taylor High itself will have a party of around 50 staff and pupils at this event as part of this allocation with the remaining places shared among the school’s five associated primary schools.

This event will mark one hundred years since the 1918 Education Act which established Catholic schools in the state sector in Scotland. It will be a historic occasion attended by around 8,000 staff and pupils from all over Scotland. The Mass itself will take place from around 1 – 3pm approximately. The Taylor party will leave for Falkirk around 10.30am and return to the school around 4.30pm (return timing approximate). A great day is in prospect for the school which will take its place among schools from all over Scotland as part of the Scottish Catholic community.

Link for live streaming of the event on Thursday 14th June:

https://www.facebook.com/sanctafamiliamedia/

The school’s new entrance area has now had the icon of Jesus Our Teacher installed within a map of Scotland in a prominent position in the new visitor entrance area. The icon celebrates 100 years of Catholic Education within public sector provision since the 1918 Education Act saw Catholic schools taken into the public sector in a bold move by the then representatives of both Church and State.

 

The map of Scotland was created by Robert Stewart, Senior Technician, supported by the school’s other technicians and features embedded sections of the school’s original copper roof, now replaced as part of a significant and welcome external refurbishment of the building by North Lanarkshire Council.

Following extensive work undertaken to renew all windows and cladding on the school, the new front entrance for visitors will be open for business for the first time from Wednesday 30 May 2018.  This is a highly visible addition to the right front  of the school and should be much easier to access than the previous entrance on the side of the school. Normal opening hours in term-time for this entrance will be 8.15am – 4.30pm.

Outwith these hours, entrance via the old front entrance adjacent to the janitor’s office will continue to be the norm. For example, this would apply in relation to all lets in the building in the evening.

The annual school prom will take place at the Westerwood Hotel, Cumbernauld on Wednesday 6th June 2018. Buses will leave the school at 6.30pm and all pupils must travel on official school transport to the prom. Parents must avoid parking on the school driveway as the departing prom buses will park there facing out of the school gates.

We look forward to a great Taylor night to cap the last six years for our outgoing Sixth Year students and that those in attendance from Fifth Year also enjoy the occasion.

Any enquiries regarding the prom should be directed to  Mr. McQuaid, acting Depute Head Teacher or Miss Evans, Principal Teacher of Pupil Support.