This week we had a taste of China in the school, as pupils and staff celebrated the Chinese New Year. Pupils and staff were invited to wear red as this is regarded as a lucky colour in China. The school was bedecked in beautiful, traditional Chinese decorations. There was a full timetable of activities but the whole day was launched by performances of  ‘fan’ dances by Taylor from P3 and some of the boys and girls from P4 and P5. There were Chinese challenges in the school hall and the playground, including the Chinese Dragon obstacle course! In the kitchen, the children prepared and cooked traditional Chinese cuisine including dim sum, noodles, spring tolls and chicken feet!! There was also freshly prepared mandarins, Asian pears and lychees for dessert! In the classrooms the children were learning about the Chinese language and practised writing characters to create their own messages. To round off the day, the children were given a lucky red envelope containing sweets. It was a fantastic learning experience and I would like to thank Mrs Wong for organising and overseeing the day, as well as the rest of the staff who manned all the activities. Videos and photos from the day have been posted on the school Twitter page. I would also like to thank you for your contributions to our first Lenten Fundraising event.

On Thursday the 8th of February, we had a wonderful celebration of our faith, when 15 of our senior pupils were confirmed by Bishop Toal. The whole community of Our Lady & St. John’s parish gathered together to make this a very special occasion. Special thanks must go to Bishop Toal, Father Stephen, Mrs Seagrave, Mrs Macneil and Mr Lynch, the musicians, the choir from St. John’s, the altar servers, our parents and carers, sponsors and members of the parish community. Thank you to the staff who came along to support our children, with particular thanks to Mr Hall, for preparing the children so well for this important sacrament. However my biggest thanks goes to the pupils, who were a credit to themselves, their families and the school. The children participated so well in prayer and song, which was commented on by many. A huge well done to Caitlyn and Noah who sang the psalm so beautifully. I hope our young people now find the strength from this sacrament to continue to live their lives in faith and be an example to those around them.

As you will have probably noticed the Mobile Teaching Unit has arrived! It is almost up and running and we hope to arrange a time soon for you to come and have a look. It will be used as break out space for the classes until work on the extension begins and we have to decant the classes.

Finally, the Partnership Group have organised another drop in for a chat and a cuppa on Friday 23rd of February at 2.00 pm in the school. Please try to pop along if you are free.

Thank you for reading my blog.

Mrs McCart