Our Lady and St. Francis Primary School

The whole school attended church on Friday for First Friday Mass which was led by P7a.  They later sang a medley of Christmas songs alongside P7b at our Coffee Morning.  Thank you to everyone who attended and thank you for the tremendous generosity shown.  The Parent Council raised over £200!

P7 had their first taster of a high school maths lesson on Thursday when two members of Taylor High School maths Department came to visit.  This will continue in to next week.

Looking towards next week, we will start the week with a whole school Advent Service and Assembly.  Monday is also non-uniform day to raise funds for our church.  We will gather to celebrate the 50^th Anniversary of the Church on Monday 4^th December at 7pm.  All welcome.

P5/6 and P6 have been successful in reaching the Top 10 in the Regent Choir Shopping Centre Competition.  Please vote for them at musicdance.co.uk/choir.  They will perform at the shopping centre this Tuesday at 11 o’clock.  If you are available please come along and support them.

We also have the performances of our Infant Nativity, which the children have been practising for many weeks.  We are delighted to have sold so many tickets and hope everyone enjoys the show.

Friday is Christmas Jumper and Movie Day.  Children can bring a small snack for the afternoon movie.

4 children and Mrs Taggart represented our school at the annual MISSIO mass on Monday.  We will soon be collecting for our MISSIO appeal.

The whole school will attended church on Friday for First Friday Mass which was led by Mrs Crooks and P6.  P5/6 joined P6 for some throwback singing at the Coffee Morning afterwards.   Thank you to everyone who attended and thank you for the tremendous generosity shown.  The Parent Council raised over £300!

Looking towards next week, we have two assemblies (P1-3/4 on Monday, P4/5-7 on Friday).

The school closes on Friday 13^th for the October Week and reopens on Monday 23^rd October.

We enjoyed celebrating all things maths during Maths Week Scotland.  The children participated in challenges, quizzes and outdoor maths – please check our photos online.  We have also put the details of some of the competitions on our website.

Many of our fantastic pupils participated in the Outstanding Citizens Party.  Each week a child is chosen from each class (or randomly) for reflecting our school values – caring, kindness, respect, fun, hardworking, faith, honesty and friendship.  These children come together to celebrate their achievement together at a dedicated party.  We are so proud of the children who participated last week and look forward to announcing more Outstanding Citizens over the next few weeks.

Looking forward to next week, we have many Out Of School Hours Learning Clubs (Football, Netball, Basketball, Choir and Multi-sports).

Our weekly assembly will focus on The Rosary and Mrs Taggart will take 4 P6s to the church on Monday to participate in the annual MISSIO Mass.  The whole school will return to the church on Friday for First Friday Mass which will be led by Mrs Crooks and P6.  P5/6 will join them for singing at the Coffee Morning afterwards.  Primary One and Two will receive a visit from Childsmile who will apply fluoride to their teeth.

Why not try some of these ideas as part of Maths Week Scotland.  These have been taken from the Maths Week Scotland website.  Why not upload a photo to X and tag @olsfprimary ?

Maths inside is a photo competition open to everyone living in Scotland hosted by the University of Glasgow. Can you see the maths inside?

There are three categories

• Oot an’ aboot
• The ‘why’of shapes
• In motion

Upload your photo to X and tag @olsfprimary and #mathsinsideAndOot, #mathsinsideShapes and #mathsinsideMotion

Find out more here https://mathsinside.com/#about

I hope all our families have enjoyed the September Weekend.

Thank you to everyone who came to our Curriculum Night on Tuesday.  It was lovely to see so many of our families interested in our curriculum and the feedback received was very positive.  I will be sending out an email soon to gather opinions on our curriculum and Annual Improvement Plan.

We were delighted to receive the North Lanarkshire Enterprise Award on Wednesday.  Thank you to Mr Rankin who led this project and worked hard alongside all the staff to achieve this award.

Looking to next week, we will be celebrating all things maths during Maths Week Scotland.  Our theme this year is Maths in Motion and we will start with a whole school assembly.  Please ask your child what they having been learning specifically in maths this week and keep an eye on twitter for our photographs.

Our lunch menu will change this week.  On Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday there are only sandwiches and soup available.  Friday is a normal menu of Fish and Chips, Vegan Nuggets or Baked Potatoes.

Our Assembly last week was packed full with awards and I believe the most Wider Achievers at any one assembly.  We also gave awards for Outstanding Citizens and Workers of the Week – we are so proud of all of you.  Our assembly focus was Roald Dahl Day and many children had an impressive knowledge about some Roald Dahl books.

Thank you to everyone who attended Taylor High School on Monday evening for mass.  Our Lady and St Francis Primary were well represented and it was lovely to see you all there, dressed smartly in our uniform.

The rugby taster sessions went well on Thursday and although the heavens poured, P7 enjoyed Rugby Festival on Friday at Brannock.

Looking towards next week we will start the week with a short assembly for the whole school.

Our Curriculum Night takes place in Tuesday from 4:30, starting with an information session in the gym hall and moving on to Meet the Teacher.  We hope many of our families will be able to join us.

Nursery photographs will be taken on Tuesday 19^th and the school photos will be taken on Wednesday the 20^th.  There will be no PE on those days and children should wear full school uniform.

The Carfin Choristers will meet on Wednesday.

The school will be closed on Friday 22^nd and Monday 25^th for the September Weekend.

Mrs Semple

The Parent Council met on Tuesday for the AGM.  All office bearers were appointed as follows:

Chair – Mrs Gillian O’Donnell

Vice Chair – Mrs Debbie Murphy

Treasurer – Mr Mark O’Hara

Secretary – Mrs Kathryn Mushet

If you are interested in joining the Parent Council, please attend the next meeting on the 24^th October or contact the school office.

Primary 7 had an online meeting with Kooth, a mental health support community.  The children heard about how to login to Kooth and seek support when necessary.

Next week we will start the week with our whole school assembly celebrating Roald Dahl Day which is on the 13^th September.

Our Primary 7s have been invited to Taylor High School on Monday evening for mass along with the current S1s as part of the transition programme.  We hope to see many of our P7s there.

All classes from P1-6 will participate in a rugby taster session on Thursday.  Children do not require an additional gym kit for this.  P7 will then visit Brannock High School on Friday for a Rugby Festival.

I hope everyone had a relaxing and enjoyable weekend.   I look forward to seeing you all tomorrow.

Mrs Semple