This week, representatives from SYSTRA, an international engineering and consulting group, worked with Primary 6 and 7, discussing sustainable transport and the effects that different modes of transport have on our environment.  They will return next week for a whole school action day where our senior pupils will raise awareness of these issues and how we can help.  This action day fits perfectly in with our ECO priority of transport and is an excellent follow up to Walk to School week.

The discussion on the work that SYSTRA does was also an excellent follow up to our Skills for Work week.  Our Skills Week was a great success, with many of our parents volunteering to come into classes to talk about the skills they use in their chosen career.  A massive thank you to our parents, who inspired and captured the interest of our pupils.  We now need to think how we can improve on this success for next year!

Our girls took part in a 5 a side tournament on Friday, competing for the ‘Belt Up Cup’ against various other Hamilton schools.  As we are the reigning trophy winners we were over the moon when they returned home with the trophy, however that was not the main reason why I was bursting with pride on Friday afternoon.  The girls played in a very close final against Chatelherult Primary.  Initially St. Mary’s were winning 2-0 but then Chatelherault scored 2 goals which resulted in a penalty shoot out, at which we won.  Our girls showed true sportsmanship by being extremely graceful when winning by shaking hands with the losing team and waiting until they had left the pitch before celebrating.  This shows that our pupils truly live by the values we try to instil by being empathetic to the feelings of others and by the lessons Mr McManus continually teaches all of our footballers.  I am extremely proud.  Well done girls!

On Saturday we held our yearly Summer Fair.  Once again, it was a roaring success due to the support of our family and friends who came to take part in activities such as tombola, hook a duck, mega ball games, St. Mary’s Bake Off, bouncy castles, glitter tattoos and many more.  The event could not have been such a success if it had not been for our amazing Parent Council who organised and worked tirelessly throughout the day!

The weeks are flying past and it will soon be our Summer holidays, however our children and staff will continue to work hard and develop their skills until the last day!

Thank you for reading,

Mrs. Elaine Fitzpatrick

Our footballers had a busy week this week.  After competing in the Davey Cooper Cup last Sunday, our girls played on Wednesday at Hamilton Palace Grounds, whilst our boys competed in the Shinwell Cup on Friday afternoon, successfully qualifying for the next round.

Our Study Skills club after school on Monday continues to be very popular with nearly 30 pupils attending each week.  Mrs O’Neill, Mrs Devine and Mrs Benson have been working with pupils from Primary 5 and 6 to help them with their homework or work on an aspect of their learning that they wish to develop.  Huge thanks goes to our members of staff who give up their time each week for pupils to take part in after school activities such as football, netball, recorder, choir, dance, cross country and study skills.

Our Primary 7 pupils have been involved in Literacy and Numeracy assessments this week to prepare them for secondary school in August.  All pupils from schools in the Holy Cross Learning Community undertake these assessments during the same week in order for staff from Holy Cross to gain an insight into the strengths is extremely thorough with team building days, induction days, primary visits and joint assessments.  All of this means that the staff at Holy Cross will know our pupil’s strengths and development needs by the time they begin secondary school.

On Thursday we joined together as a school to say a decade of the Rosary in honour of the 100th Anniversary of Fatima.   The pupils and staff also watched a cartoon telling the story of the  3 children visited by Our Lady.  The date was particularly poignant for us as the anniversary occurred on 13th May, the date when pupils of our school received their First Holy Communion.  Saturday, 13th May was a fabulous day.  50 of our pupils, mostly Primary 4, received the Sacrament of the Eucharist for the first time.  The children were wonderful throughout the service.  There was not a dry eye in St. Mary’s church listening to the pupils and choir sing throughout the mass and watching them on the altar receive their First Communion and then sing their Communion Thanksgiving Hymn.  They were joined by family and friends to help them celebrate this special day.  Thanks to Mrs Cluckie, Mrs Feeney and Mrs Campbell for working with our pupils to prepare them for their special day and to members of our choir for giving up their time to join us.

Thank you for reading our weekly blog,

Best wishes,

Elaine Fitzpatrick

With May Day and an Inservice Day, our pupils may have had 2 days holiday this week but some of our children have also had a busy weekend representing St. Mary’s Primary!

Thursday was a Staff Development Day in South Lanarkshire, one of 5 days throughout the year when pupils are absent from school and staff work together on taking the school forward.  We had Marion Graham from Soul Success in working with staff on Thursday morning.  It was an excellent morning of team building and self evaluation.

We continue to develop our sporting skills at St. Mary’s with our Primary 3 pupils now enjoying taking part in hockey each Friday, learning a new sport and building their skills in playing the team sport, whilst our Primary 6 pupils continue with their swimming lessons every Friday afternoon.

On Friday evening several of our pupils represented St. Mary’s at Hamilton Primary Schools Swimming Gala.  The children all performed exceptionally well, working hard with excellent results!  A huge thank you to the Mitchell family who have gifted us with St. Mary’s swim caps, allowing us to easily spot our pupils as they race through the water.

On Saturday, 2 of our senior girls represented St. Mary’s at the Burns Federation Final at St. Athanasius Primary School, Carluke.  The girls both sang well and faced very tough competition throughout the day.

On Sunday some of our Primary 6 and 7 boys and girls took part in the Davey Cooper Memorial Cup.  It was a glorious morning for football and the members of both teams played great.  Unluckily, our girls never made it through to the semi finals, missing out by one point!  Our boys played a good game but unfortunately lost one-nil in the semi finals.

We are very proud of all of our pupils for giving up their own time to represent St. Mary’s and try their very best.  I am also extremely grateful to our staff and parent helpers for giving up their own time to support and encourage our children.  Without them, taking part in events such as these would not be possible.

Our Primary 4 pupils have a busy week ahead as they prepare for their First Communion on Saturday, 13th May.  Please keep them all in your prayers.

Best wishes,

Mrs. Elaine Fitzpatrick