On Thursday 31^st of March, pupils, staff and parents took part in a celebration of Spanish Culture as part of St. John’s Primary School’s development of teaching Spanish throughout the school. It was an opportunity for children to showcase their learning, with pupils from Primary 4 to Primary 7 leading the activities. We were also delighted to welcome along Elizabeth Clingan, a Languages Development Officer from South Lanarkshire Council. Parents and pupils had the opportunity to get hands on with lots of aspects of Spanish culture featuring Spanish cooking, which included homemade churros, pinchos, paella and magdalenas.

In the Spanish Art class, parents and pupils worked together to create their own Pablo Picasso drawings. We had Spanish storytelling in the library and a very interactive Spanish language lesson! A fantastic time was had by all and a huge well done to our dedicated staff and pupils for organising and leading the activities. Thank you also, to all the parents and carers who took part so enthusiastically in all the activities. The feedback received on the day gives a flavour of how much everyone enjoyed the event.

” Great morning! Enjoyed seeing and learning about the Spanish teaching. Excellent experience.” P2 mum

“What a fantastic morning! Great fun and a brilliant day of learning with the kids. I wish I was back at school!” P2 mum

“Thoroughly enjoyed our Spanish experience today. Very impressed with how much the staff and children know about all things Spanish!” Parents of P1 and P5 pupils

“Really enjoyed this afternoon. It was lovely to see everything Taylor is learning. You have inspired me to look into Spanish lessons!” P1 mum

Happy Easter everyone! Just a brief Blog this week to let you know our total for the Lenten Fundraising. A fantastic amount of £810 was raised for our three chosen charities, Mary’s Meals, SCIAF and Avon, Nethan and Clyde Food Bank. Presentation of the cheques will be organised at a later date. Thank you to everyone for your support and generosity to our Lenten appeal.

Mrs McCart

It is hard to believe that we have almost finished this term. It is a true saying that time flies when you are having fun and once again it has been an action packed week at St. John’s Primary. On Wednesday of this week we had a visit from the SSPCA who visited all of the classes to speak to the children about animal welfare and the role we play in protecting their natural environment. It was a very informative and interesting visit.

On Thursday, we had a visit from one of South Lanarkshire Council’s Development Officers, Lesley Stewart, who was looking at the teaching of P.E. across the school. The children from Primary 1 to Primary 7 have been focusing on developing their hand/eye co-ordination skills through playing badminton. Lesley was very impressed by the level of skills and the focus and concentration of the pupils, particularly during some of the competitive rallies!

Meanwhile the Spanish cookery classes continued, with the focus this week on Tapas. The classes were busy making a variety of tasty bites throughout the day, which culminated in a tasting session at the end of the day. Lesley was eager to get involved with the Primary 1/2 children when they were cooking and was astounded by the skills for learning, life and work being developed across the school. Of course none of this would happen without the enthusiasm and dedication of the talented teaching and support staff in St. John’s, so it is a huge thank you and well done to one and all!

On Friday we had our penultimate Lenten fundraising event with the children taking part in a sponsored obstacle course/Easter egg scavenger hunt. Our final fundraising event will be our Easter bonnet parade/ Easter egg competition.

We also announced the winners of our Science Week competition to design a paper airplane. The winners were, Mariana (P6) in 1^st place and Chloe and Caitlyn (P5) in 2^nd and 3^rd place respectively. The girls created the models which stayed airborne the longest and travelled the furthest. Well done girls, possible aeronautic engineers of the future!

Also on Friday, ten of our Primary 6 and 7 boys and girls took part in a cross country running event at Lanark Race Course. Mrs Quadrelli was delighted with the effort and stamina of our runners. Well done!

Today begins Holy Week and we prepare for the Easter Triduum of Holy Thursday, Good Friday and Easter Sunday. Each class will take part in Stations of the Cross this week and on Holy Thursday, we will come together as a school to take part in a Holy Week reflection.

Just to remind everyone that the school closes at 3.00 pm on Thursday and re-opens at 9.00 am on Tuesday the 29th of March. I would like to take this opportunity to wish you all the joy and peace of this Easter season.

Next week’s blog will be brief, with an announcement of our Lenten fundraising total.

Thank you for reading my blog.

This week pupils took part in all things scientific as St. John’s focused on science, technologies and engineering as part of our celebration for National Science Week. We kicked off with a special launch assembly on Monday afternoon when the children launched their aerodynamic ‘o’ rings, which they created in class. We had class and House competitions to see whose creation flew the furthest. On Wednesday the children took part in a Science carousel where they rotated around various science experiments including ‘Fantastic Flight’, ‘Cracking Chemistry’ and ‘Feel the Force’.

On Friday, to conclude our science week, the whole school visited Dynamic Earth in Edinburgh. The children thoroughly enjoyed their day and found out lots of interesting information on the Rainforest, glaciations, space and so much more. The children’s behaviour was excellent and they represented the school so well. Well done!

A huge thank you to Mrs Wong who led the science events throughout the school all week.

Our Lenten fundraising continues with Crazy Hair Day taking place on Wednesday. There was a range of wild and wacky hairdos and a huge thank you to everyone who took part.

The delicious aromas of the Mediterranean continued on Thursday as Mrs Kelly led cooking lessons for every class. The pupils were making Paella this week which tasted delicious. Also on Thursday, the Primary 5 pupils began their swimming lesson block at Coalburn Leisure Centre. They were accompanied by Mrs Birtles who commented on how well the children conducted themselves.

Thanks for reading my blog.

Once more we have had a week full of learning, fun, achievement and special events!

On Tuesday evening, eight of our Primary 3 children made their First Reconciliation in Our Lady and St. John’s Church. It was a wonderful celebration of faith and a very special moment for each of our young pupils as they made a significant step on their faith journey. The parish, families and school came together to join the boys and girls as they made their confession with Father Stephen. Well done to all involved.

Our footballers took part in a football tournament on Wednesday morning at Blackwood Primary School, where they competed against local schools in the area. Mr Whyte and Gregor were delighted with the application and attitude of our players. Well done!

Our Lenten Fundraising Friday celebrated World Book Day and I was delighted with the number of children who took part and did their bit to contribute to our Lenten total for our very worthwhile charities. Almost all our pupils participated, helping to raise money for those less fortunate than ourselves.

In Primary 1/2 the boys and girls have been learning about Measure in their maths. They have been using scales and cubes to find ‘heavy‘ and ‘light‘ objects. In writing, the children have been learning to use adjectives to describe their friends and their day.

In P3/4/5, the boys and girls in  P3 and 4 have been focussing on their money skills, learning about money in decimal form. The P3 children have been applying these skills, as they have responsibility for collecting and counting the weekly fundraising donations, an excellent way to consolidate their learning. The Primary 5 children have been working on some challenging number sequences. In their writing the whole class have been developing their skills for life and work by composing a letter of complaint as part of their topic ‘Kids Saving Planet Earth’.

In Primary 5/6/7 the children continue to develop their higher order reading skills through their study of the novels, ‘Divided City’ and ‘The Owl who was Afraid of the Dark’. All pupils have been working on using more ambitious vocabulary and good sentence openers in their creative writing and are currently applying these skills in letter writing.

Thank you for reading my blog.

Another busy week in St. John’s! On Thursday we held our Fairtrade coffee morning. I was delighted with the turnout of parents, grandparents and members of Our Lady and St. John’s parish. A huge thank you for supporting this event. Many thanks also to the parents/carers who donated Fairtrade goods and home baking. I am very grateful to Mrs Cairney, Mrs Kydd and Mrs Tops who helped out on the morning. We made over £100, which will be added to our Lenten fundraising total.

All children from Primary 1 to Primary 7, also enjoyed free karate taster sessions with Kihonkai Karate Academy. The classes will have a further session this Friday.

In the classes it’s been business as usual!

Primary 1/2

In Art, the children have been earning about the mosaic artwork of Spanish artist, Antoni Gaudi. They have looked at examples of his work and used this as a stimulus to create their own animal mosaics.

The Spanish theme continues with the boys and girls learning how to describe the weather in Spanish, and they have even recorded their own weather reports! Fantastico! Let’s hope we get weather like Spain!

Primary 3/4/5

On Wednesday afternoon the Primary 3 children held a prayer service as part of their preparation for the Sacrament of First Reconciliation, which will take place this Tuesday. They were supported by the boys and girls of Primary 4 and 5. We also welcomed Father Stephen, who led the service and by the parents of the children who will make the sacrament. It was very prayerful and reflective afternoon.

Primary 5/6/7

The pupils of P5/6/7 have been learning about global warming. The children researched the cause and effects of this and presented their findings in a Powerpoint or written piece of work. These were then shared with the whole class. In Health and Wellbeing, the children have been further developing their cooking skills by making delicious Spanish omelettes! I think Mrs Kelly and the boys and girls will be setting up their own catering company soon!

Thank you for reading my blog.

We had a wonderful celebration of our faith on Monday evening, when 16 of our senior pupils were confirmed by Bishop Toal. The whole community of St. John’s Parish gathered together to make this a very special occasion. Special thanks must go to Bishop Toal, Father Rooney, Mrs Seagrave and Mr Lynch, the Primary 5 pupils in the choir, the altar servers, members of the parish community and our parents and carers. Thank you also to Mrs Kelly who worked very hard to prepare the children for this most important sacrament. However, my biggest thanks goes to the pupils  who were a credit to themselves, their families and the school. The excellent participation of the pupils, both in prayer and song, was commented on by many. I hope our young people now find strength from this sacrament to continue to live their lives in faith and be an example to those around them.

It has been a busy week in the classes as usual:

Primary 1/2

The children have been learning about vertebrates and invertebrates with Mrs Wong and made models of a variety of vertebrates using mints! The children continue to develop their creative skills under the careful watch of Mr Hall. This week they used watercolour paints and droppers to create beautiful rainforest butterflies. The rainforest is growing week by week and I wouldn’t be surprised to walk in and find Sir David Attenborough in the classroom!

Primary 3/4/5

Hot on the heels of the celebration of the Sacrament of Confirmation, the children of Primary 3 are busy preparing for their First Reconciliation, which they will make on the 1st of March. They are being ably supported by the children of Primary 4 and 5, as they prepare for their prayer service which will take place this Wednesday. Mrs Quadrelli has been very impressed by the good mentoring work going on in the class.

Primary 5/6/7

Mrs Kelly had the boys and girls of Primary 6 and 7 straight back to work after their Confirmation on Monday evening. The children developed a variety of cooking skills while making delicious Spanish gazpacho as part of their Health and Wellbeing. The aromas of the Mediterranean certainly brought a little bit of Spain to our cold Scottish winter!

During Lent the children will be attending Mass on a Thursday morning and will take part in the Stations of the Cross in school on a Friday morning with their teacher.

Our Lenten fundraising has begun with our non-uniform day on Friday and we look forward to welcoming parents, carers and parishioners to our Fairtrade Coffee morning this Thursday.

Thank you for reading my blog.

This week, we had a taste of China in St. John’s as the pupils and staff celebrated the Chinese New Year on Thursday.

Chinese people love the colour red, and regard red as the symbol of energy, happiness and good luck, and so all pupils were invited to wear a piece of red clothing. The open area in the school was bedecked in traditional Chinese decorations. The children were busy in the kitchen, the classrooms and the gym hall as they sampled all things Chinese.

In the kitchen the children prepared  and cooked traditional Chinese food including dim sum, chicken feet, rice, noodles and traditional cakes. These authentic, delicious treats were washed down with a cup of green tea.

In the classrooms, the children were learning about the Chinese language and were practised writing the traditional characters.

In the gym hall the girls and boy demonstrated their flexibility and agility as they played Chinese elastics.

To round the day off, the children received lucky red packets containing sweets,  called ‘Hong Bao’.

It was a fantastic learning experience and my thanks to Mrs Wong who organised the whole day and to all of the staff for providing such engaging and fun activities.

Thank you for reading my blog.

I’m glad to report a less eventful week at St. John’s Primary but the classroom have been as busy as usual with lots of learning taking place.

We celebrated St. John’s Feast day, by attending Mass on Wednesday. Father Rooney was impressed by the children’s knowledge of our school patron. Primary 5 have been developing their creative skills this week as they have begun their music instruction with Ms Cunningham; I look forward to hearing their musical talents in the future. We have also launched our Spanish phrase of the week and Mrs Wong has displayed this throughout the school. The children can earn House points by using the phrase in school and at home! Our phrase this week is ‘Que tiempo hace?’  (What’s the weather like?) I’m sure there are a wide variety of answers but I would say  ‘Hace frio’!

In the classes this week:

Primary 1/2

The children continue to hone their creative skills by creating collages of macaws for their classroom rainforest display. They also learned about Robert Burns on Monday and wrote a poem on the theme of ‘Tae a Moose’. In R.E. the children have been learning about other world religions and have been finding out about  Judaism, in particular the Torah and the synagogue.

Primary 3/4/5

The class have opened up their paper exchange stall where pupils bring in old books and magazines to trade with one another. Staff have got involved too and I will certainly be visiting to pick up some light reading for the midterm break!

Primary 5/6/7

As part of the Robert Burns celebrations, the pupils enjoyed baking their own shortbread and eating it! Mrs Kelly tells me it was delicious and there were certainly mouthwatering smells emanating from the kitchen that day! The children also created a beautiful art display of shields using the symbols of the Holy Spirit, as part of their Confirmation preparation.

Finally, our school was represented at Our Lady and St. John’s Church this weekend as it is the beginning of Catholic Education Week. Niamh and Oliver took part in the offertory procession and Ania, Jan, Noah and Caitlyn read the bidding prayers. We were also joined by senior pupils and staff from Holy Cross High School. The children, in full school uniform, were as always, a credit to everyone. We look forward to continuing the theme of ‘Learning to be Merciful’ this week in school.

Thank you for reading my blog.

It has been an eventful week in St. John’s Primary and my blog will start at the end of the week!

On Friday there was an unannounced fire alarm, resulting in two fire engines being dispatched to the school, which was the cause of great excitement. When we were given the all clear to go back inside, we were greeted by a burst water pipe in the kitchen and water flowing into the main hall! Fortunately the firefighters managed to turn off the water and kindly stayed behind to help us mop up! We are very grateful to them for their help and a huge thanks to all the staff for pulling together to get the kitchen and hall tidied in time for lunch.

On Wednesday evening we held the AGM for the Partnership Group. Election of office bearers took place and I am delighted to announce that Mr Dennis Tops is  Chairperson with Mrs Jennifer Cairney as Vice-Chairperson. The Treasurer is Mrs Gayle Tops, the Fundraising Co-ordinator is Miss Emma Livingstone and Miss Suzanne Sherry is the Clerk. Look out for the Partnership Group newsletter and information on the school website, coming soon.

The classes have also been very busy this week.

Primary 1/2

The boys and girls have been carrying out investigations in Science to find out how plants grow. In Art, the children have begun to create different leaves and plants to build their own rainforest in the classroom!

Primary 3/4/5

The children have been very inventive by upcycling t-shirts into new designs and new useful items. For example, a handy bag and toys for dogs. They have also set up their paper exchange stall in the classroom.

Primary 5/6/7

The pupils of Primary 5/6/7 have had a focus on Literacy this week as they have been developing their reading comprehension skills focussing on inference and how to answer inferential questions.

Finally, we were delighted to welcome back  Mrs Carty to school this week.

Thank you for reading my blog and hopefully it will be a little less eventful next week!