Monthly Archives: March 2017

20.3.17

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It is nearly our Easter holidays and the days are flying past!  Our pupils have been involved in preparation for ECO week and have been showing off their marvellous ‘upcycling’ creations.  On display we have lots of amazing items such as lamps made from bottles and dresses made from umbrellas!  Earth Hour was on Saturday night and I’m looking forward to hearing about the candle lit evening our pupils had!

It was a busy week for Primary 7, which began on Tuesday when they delivered their STEM presentations on Waste Management.  They worked hard to research and create a very comprehensive presentation which they delivered professionally to our STEM ambassadors.  Primary 7s were also involved in the Hamilton Rotary Quiz on Tuesday evening where 8 schools from across Hamilton competed by answering questions on general knowledge, popular music, geography, riddles, local knowledge and recent news.  On Friday, our Primary 7s visited Holy Cross for their Team Building Day.  This was an excellent chance for them to get to know other pupils who will be in first year with them at secondary school.  A huge thank you to the S6 pupils from Holy Cross who organised the day, along with SLC Active Schools.

Pupils from Primary 5 – 7 also travelled to Lesmahagow on Thursday to compete in a South Lanarkshire chess tournament.  Our chess club runs every Tuesday after school and competing in tournaments gives the pupils the perfect opportunity to test the skills that they have developed.

Parent’s evening on Thursday gave our parents the opportunity to find out how their child is progressing in school and how they can help in their child’s learning.  It was also an opportunity for parents to see their child’s jotters and work on display in the classroom.  Room 4 also had an extra opportunity to show parents their work when they delivered their learning showcase on the Egyptians to their parents and grandparents.  It was a wonderful afternoon, where pupil shared their learning about the Egyptians and even tested their parents knowledge of heiroglyphics!

We were extremely honoured this week to be awarded  ‘Sporting School of the Year’ by Hamilton Sports Council at their award ceremony on Thursday evening.  This is a huge honour for us and is due to the opportunities that our pupils receive in sport through our P.E., extra curricular clubs and pupils own achievements outside of school.  A massive thank you to our staff and volunteers who give up their time to work with pupils in the many clubs we have.

One more week to go until our Eater Holidays and a busy week it will be!

Thanks for reading,

Mrs. Elaine Fitzpatrick

 

 

 

13.3.17

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We began the start of our ECO celebrations this week, with Mrs Seenan and our ECO Committee delivering a presentation on Waste Week.  All week our pupils have been ‘upcycling’ by bringing in objects they have made at home by creating new from old.  We have had some wonderful and some wacky creations and can’t wait to display them for all to see!

On Wednesday night some of our Primary 3 pupils were joined by a few children from other primaries to receive the Sacrament of Reconcilation.  This is our second night celebrating our pupils receiving this Sacrament due to the number of pupils we currently have in Primary 3.  I was very proud of all of our children, who showed reverence throughout the service, and of our Pope Francis Faith Award pupils who joined them as our choir.  Thanks also to Fr. O’Brien for leading the service and to Mrs Cluckie, Mrs McDougall, Miss Whelan and Mrs Smith for preparing our children to receive this Sacrament.

Our pupils in Primary 4 – 7 have been enjoying participating in Golden Time each week.  They have been developing skills such as curling, football, ICT and ukulele!  Our Twitter feed has been keeping parents up to date on some of the activities their children have chosen.

On Thursday afternoon we hosted the Hamilton Burns Club Musical Competition. 6 of our pupils competed against Hamilton College for a place in the Lanarkshire heat on the 28th of this month.  Our pupils entertained the audience with ‘Please Don’t Go’, ‘Caledonia’ and ‘Scot’s Wha Hae!’, whilst our musical pieces on clarinet and guitar were ‘The Skye Boat Song’ and ‘Ye Banks and Braes’.  Our entrants sang and played beautifully and all will be competing at St. Aidan’s High on the 28th!  Well Done!

Thanks for reading,

Mrs. E. Fitzpatrick

 

 

 

6.3.17

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Our prayers were with our Primary 3 pupils from Room 4 and 5 this week when they received the Sacrament of Reconciliation on Tuesday night.  We were extremely proud of all of the pupils who received the sacrament for the first time with the support of their family and friends.  Thanks also to members of our school choir who supported the pupils on the night.  Please keep our Primary 3 pupils from Rooms 4 and 6 in your prayers as they prepare to receive the sacrament on Wednesday night this week.

Rooms 3, 4 and 10 all participated in their sponsored event for Lenten charities this week, with Room 9a continuing to run their daily mile.  Thank you very much to our families who support us with our almsgiving during Lent.

Our football team and our Cross Country runners all participated in events this week.  They showed commitment and determination from training weekly to taking part in the actual events.  Thank you to Mr McManus and Mr Russell for giving up their time after school to organise these clubs.

Mrs Seenan attended a moderation event for the Pope Francis Faith Award this week.  Our Primary 6 and 7 pupils participate in the Pope Francis Faith Award, showing  commitment to their faith and helping others.  The moderation event, involving teachers from many other establishments in Motherwell Diocese, allowed professionals to discuss and compare the booklets pupils record their evidence in to ensure a high standard of work to award a pass.

As always, thanks for reading

Mrs. Elaine Fitzpatrick

 

27.2.17

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This week saw the beginning of Fair-trade Fortnight where each of our classes will discuss  and take part in various activities, raising awareness of Fair-trade.  As we are a Fair-trade school, our Easter Coffee morning at the end of term will obviously be a Fair-trade one!

On Monday, I attended a Head Teacher’s conference at Celtic Park to discuss the Government’s Pupil Equity Funding.  The Pupil Equity Fund has been introduced to schools to close the attainment gap between the lowest and highest achieving pupils.  Schools have received funding dependent on how many pupils are entitled to free school meals within their establishment.  With our Parent Council, pupils and staff we will create an Equity Group to discuss the best use of this funding for St. Mary’s.  Exciting times ahead!

Mrs Phillips continued to visit nurseries this week as part of our Early Years Transition programme.  We take pupils from 17 nurseries across South Lanarkshire in Primary 1, therefore in order to make sure that we know the strengths of each child we talk to key workers and observe the pupils during play.  This helps create a smooth transition for pupils from Early Years establishments to Primary School.

The whole school attended mass this week to celebrate Ash Wednesday, beautifully led by our Pope Francis Faith Award pupils.  This marks the beginning of Lent for us.  Parents received information on the various Lenten activities we will have as part of our charity work, culminating with our Easter Bonnet parade at the end of term.

On Wednesday evening, we were very proud to watch Michael, Owen, Justin and Eilidh represent St. Mary’s at the Hamilton Burns competition.  Michael and Owen recited ‘Scots Wha Hae’, whilst Justin and Eilidh delivered ‘Tam O’Shanter’.  The competition was very tough with St. Elizabeth’s Primary, Townhill Primary , Woodside Primary and Hamilton College all involved.  Congratulations to Justin, who came Second place and will proceed to the next round of the Lanarkshire Burns Competition at the end of March!

A smile was on everyone’s lips on Thursday as we watched our pupils come to school dressed as their favourite book character for World Book Day 2017!  A huge effort was put into creating the costumes and we are extremely grateful to our parents for their help with this.  Dressing up as a book character lets children explore novels and encourages discussion of favourite books!

As always, thanks for reading,

Mrs. Elaine Fitzpatrick