As part of the Holocaust Educational Trust’s “Lessons from Auschwitz” program, two of our Sixth year students recently visited Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camps along with 200 other pupils from across Scotland. Our students, Freya Mitchell and Mariyah Arif,  were accompanied by Ms. McMillan of the Social Subjects department.

They flew to Krakow alongside First Minister Nicola Sturgeon, pupils and teachers from other Scottish schools.

The visit itself involved a tour around both Auschwitz and Birkenau camps from a guide who had worked there for over 40 years. The trip culminated in a memorial service with speeches from First Minister Nicola Sturgeon, Karen Pollock MBE Chief Executive of the Holocaust Educational Trust and Rabbi Daniel Epstein.

Our students expressed their gratitude for the opportunity to be a part of such an important initiative and spoke of the profound experience they had there, which will soon be used to educate other pupils at the school about the Holocaust as part of Holocaust Memorial Day in January 2019.

‘Catholic Schools: Good for Scotland’

The annual Diocese of Motherwell Education Mass will take place in Our Lady of Good Aid Cathedral on Tuesday 20th November at 7pm. Parents/carers and pupils are welcome to attend this Mass.

Taylor High School choir will sing the musical liturgy at the Mass under the direction of Mrs. Kerry McKinlay, Acting Principal Teacher of Music supported by colleagues from the school’s  Music department. The Mass takes place on the eve of the hundredth anniversary of the Royal Assent for the1918 Education Act which occurred on 21st November 1918.

Recently, as part of the Motherwell Diocese celebrations marking one hundred years since the 1918 Education Act, Sixth Year students studying for the Caritas Award, undertook the role of tour guide for 50 pupils from primary 7 in our associated primary schools taking the pupils round Motherwell Cathedral. The tours highlighted important architectural and other features of the Cathedral and they were voted a big success by all who took part who now know much more about the background and history of this important church and Motherwell landmark. The photograph shows our tour guides on either side of the Icon, Jesus Our Teacher, which was a important part of the tour itinerary.

A freaky and fantastic night for all who attended the S1/S6 Halloween Disco!

Here are some of the many brilliant costumes from everyone that came along.

The Icon of Jesus Our Teacher, commissioned by the Scottish Catholic Education Service to mark the hundredth anniversary of the 1918 Education Act which established Catholic state schools in Scotland, was received into the Diocese of Motherwell from the Archdiocese of Glasgow at a service held in St. Bartholomew’s Church, Coatbridge on Wednesday 10th October 2018. The service was led by Bishop Toal of Motherwell Diocese and Archbishop Tartaglia of the Archdiocese of Glasgow.

The Icon, pictured above right, will reside in a number of churches across the Diocese during the next few weeks.

The Taylor High School Choir sang at the service held in St. Bartholomew’s Church which is the home parish of the Icon’s creator, Bernadette Reilly, who also spoke at the service about the reasons for the inclusion of various aspects of the imagery incorporated into the Icon.

The picture shows the Taylor High Choir in St. Bartholomew’s Church, Coatbridge on either side of the Icon. The musical liturgy was led by Mrs. Kerry McKinlay, Acting Principal Teacher of Music supported by Miss Suzanne Evans, Principal Teacher of Pupil Support. The event was also attended by the Head Teacher, Mr. Gerry McCormick.

 

Letters have been issued to all pupils in S1 regarding the forthcoming annual S1 pantomime Aladdin which is scheduled for the afternoon of Thursday 6th December.

The school has only a limited allocation of 100 tickets for this event so early booking is essential to avoid disappointment. All parents/carers should have received this letter when pupils came home on Friday 12th October. Any parent who did not should contact the school office, Tel. 01698 274976.

 

The annual Taylor Hallowe’en Disco for S1 and S6 pupils will take place on Tuesday 30th October 2018 from 7 – 9pm.

As usual this will be a Hallowe’en costume dance for our S1 and S6 pupils with a range of prizes for the best costumes in both stages and for the best teacher costume!

Tickets will be on sale immediately after the October Break! Book early to avoid disappointment!

The Annual General Meeting of the Taylor High School Parent Council will take place in the school on Tuesday 30 October 2018 at 7pm. At this meeting the election of office bearers and the filling of one vacancy will take place.

Letters were issued to parents and carers today via pupils which provide more details of this meeting.  The draft agenda for the meeting is shown below.

A G E N D A

1. Prayer and welcome
2. Sederunt
3. Questions from Parents
4. Election of Office Bearers
5. Head Teacher’s Report
6. AOCB

Any member of the Parent Forum (all current parents/carers) who intends to come to the meeting is asked to return the tear-off slip on the letter issued today timeously and not later than Friday 26th October 2018.

The school closes today, Friday 12th October for the schools’ annual October week holiday at the normal time of 2.55pm

School reopens as normal on Monday 22nd October 2018 at 8.55am.

Have a great Break!