On Monday our primary 4 – 7 pupils listened to a very interesting and educational  presentation by representatives from Stroke Association Scotland.  This charity was one we supported during our Christmas fundraising and we are very proud to have helped their cause and raise awareness to ‘Make May Purple’.

On Tuesday, 44 primary 6 pupils walked to and from Chatelherault Country Park for an exciting day of outdoor learning.  Our pupils took part in activities such as numeracy, literacy, R.E. and Health and Well Being.  Led by Mr McManus and Miss Graham, they had a fantastic time building dens, climbing trees and gathering round the campfire!  In order to protect the local environment, a condition of any outdoor learning experience is to ensure that the surroundings are restored to their original condition when they are finished, this alone was a valuable lesson for our children to learn.

We continued our winning streak this week, when our school netball team came first place in their group at the Hamilton Schools Netball Tournament!  Well done everyone!

Our pupils had an exciting taster session from McGowans Blackbelt Academy, Hamilton this week.  Primary 1 – 6 all took part in an introductory session and were commended for their behaviour and listening skills throughout.  We are very grateful to Mr McGowan for giving our pupils this opportunity.

Room 6 and Room 9 planted space seeds this week, sent from astronaut Tim Peake!  This is part of an innovative national experiment to compare the growth of seeds that have been in orbit with him, in comparison to those that have remained on earth.  10,000 schools across Britain are participating in the experiment, which will provide valuable results to help scientists grow plants in space!

Primary 6 were our latest stage to visit Hamilton Library at Hamilton Townhouse.  All of the pupils in the school have been involved in library visits to enhance their ability to research information and interrogate the data they find.

On Friday our pupils took part in an outdoor learning experience arranged by South Lanarkshire Council’s Development Officer for Outdoor Learning, Caroline Pitcathley.  Our children had lots of fun and used various resources to enhance skills such as team building, resilience, co-operation and creative thinking.

I was extremely proud to be the Head Teacher of St. Mary’s on Saturday to watch our Primary 4 children receive the sacrament of their First Holy Communion.  Our children were fabulous as they took part in this special service in front of family and friends.  Special thanks to our First Communion teachers, Mrs Cotter, Mrs Campbell, Mrs Feeney and also to Mrs Cluckie who helped prepare them for this special sacrament.

Thanks for reading,

Mrs. Fitzpatrick