Summer School

Twenty new S1 pupils took part in a highly successful summer school organised by Partnership Officer, Mrs Deborah King and staff from the school.

Pupils took part in a number of environmental and physical activities, working in the Sensory Garden, preparing their own lunches, and playing softball and Swedish longball.

Over the week, the group visited Strathclyde Park for kayaking and mountain biking, and Fordell Firs for caving and archery, before preparing a fabulous presentation lunch for parents and guests.

Thanks to our 6th year helpers: Craig Johnson, Colleen Walker, Olivia Carson, Colette Maguire, Natalie Tierney and Marie McInerney; and staff Mrs Deborah King, Mrs Mary Mulholland, Mr Brian Meehan and Mrs Lorraine McNeish.

 

Buddying

Our new 6th year pupils have been involved in Buddy Training in preparation for the arrival of our new 1st year pupils after the holidays, discussing stereotyping, confidentiality and practicing listening skills.

The Buddy scheme provides an older friend for every new 1st year pupil: someone to listen to their worries or ask for information.

The training was organised and provided by Partnership Officer, Mrs Deborah King and the Pupils Support team.

 

Scottish Youth Parliament Elections

The Scottish Youth Parliament Elections are taking place all this week (20th-24th April). Pupils have a chance to vote during their Social Subjects classes in S1-5, with additional periods organised for 5th  and 6th year.  

The manifestos for each candidate are on display in the LRC. You can vote for TWO candidates. If you click on this link, you will reach the Young Scot voting page. You will need to log in with your Young Scot card number to see the candidates and to vote. Mrs Macfadyen has extra card numbers for anyone without a Young Scot card. Please see Mrs Macfadyen or Mrs King if you want more information. 

NB: You must CONFIRM your votes before leaving the Young Scot site or they will not count.

 

Baby Ben

4th, 5th and 6th year pupils are signing up to watch  a very special baby.

“Baby Ben” cries at random times but the difference is that this baby can be calmed with the turn of a key. The virtual baby programme models are designed to demonstrate the reality of life with a real baby.

Our Lady’s has invested in a number of these virtual babies to meet the heavy demand. They are all called “Ben” in honour of the first model purchased, which was named by a pupil.

Further details are available from Mrs King or Mrs Zambonini.

 

Confidence boost at Fordell Firs

Eleven Summer School pupils enjoyed a day of team-building at Fordell Firs, along with three 6th year Buddies. The Partnership Officers, Deborah King and Angela McDonald, organised the day to help boost pupils’ confidence while providing an opportunity for staff to ensure they were happy and progressing well at Our Lady’s.

The pupils spent the day doing archery, caving, climbing and abseiling with pupils receiving massive praise for conquering their fear of heights or their fear of enclosed spaces or simply applying themselves to the tasks.

It was a valuable experience all round: in particular, the 6th year Buddies were able to support and encourage the 1st years and provided real examples of what they could achieve.

 

Comic Book Bonanza

Partnership staff organised a treat for the Summer School pupils today as artists and cartoonists, Mark Baines and Geraldine Greene, came along to Our Lady’s today as part of North Lanarkshire’s Youth Arts Festival.

The class started by drawing their own A3 size cartoon characters, which then became the basis for a whole class comic strip.

Each person drew one frame, and then passed on the strip to someone else and so on until the strip was completed. The class were generally surprised to see how their original frames had ended up.

For the final stage, each person created their own six frame story, for a class comic called Weird and Wacky, and everyone got their own copy of the completed comic to take away.

 

Open Night

Tonight, Our Lady’s is open to all pupils and parents of our associated primaries and any other families considering educating their children at OLHS.

There are all kinds of activities taking place tonight in Performing Arts, PE, Technical, Home Economics, Science, Pupil Support, Maths, Modern Languages, English, Social Subjects, Art and the Library Resource Centre. You can also visit our Memorial Chapel and the Cardinal Winning Memorial Lecture Room. Refreshments will be available on the ground floor.

We are looking forward to welcoming you to Our Lady’s. Please feel free to come and have a look around.

 

Careers Convention

Our first Careers Convention takes place today, Thursday 9th October, with exhibitors from over 30 local employers, universities, colleges and training organisations taking part.

Future Firefighter?

Pupils from S2, S4 and S5 have been allocated time during the school day to attend the exhibition, while other pupils are able to visit at lunchtimes and after school. Parents/Carers and staff are welcome at any time. 

Many thanks to both Mrs Stemplis’ Hospitality class for assisting in the preparation of the food, and to Mrs Zambonini’s 5th year Personal Development (PD) class.

Also, thanks to the staff who organised the event (Mrs Mulholland, Mrs Darroch, Mrs King, Mrs McDonald, Mrs Macfadyen, Mr Murray, Mrs Zambonini) and to all the OLHS staff who supported it.

If you have visited the Careers Convention, please fill in our survey by clicking here.

 

Buddying

Working on collages at Buddy training.

6th year pupils took part in Buddy training after school on Tuesday afternoon with Partnership staff, Deborah King and Angela McDonald, DHT Mrs Mulholland and Pupil Support staff, Mrs Connor, Mrs Darroch and Mr Martin.

Following much giggling during the initial ice-breakers, the mood became more sombre as the group watched a brief video made by Glencryan and Firpark Schools about the suicide of a bullied child. This really demonstrated to the pupils the importance of the Buddying Scheme, as it provides an older friend for younger pupils, possibly a shoulder to cry on or a listening ear. Everyone was silent as the video ended.

The group then got organised into pairs to practise listening skills – the first person spoke for two minutes while their partner listened attentively. On the second occasion, the second person spoke, but their partner ignored them. This caused a fair bit of hilarity, but a lot of discomfort for the speaker. The second group noted that being ignored made them feel as if what they had to say was unimportant.

After analysing what made a good listener, the group set to work on a pile of magazines, looking for images to create a collage looking at how people are taken at face value and the dangers of judging from first impressions.

The group then worked on the importance of confidentiality, followed by a look through the Buddy Training Manual, which describes the skills and qualities of a Buddy as well as the benefits of Buddying for both 1st and 6th years.

 

S1 Induction

The current Primary 7 pupils from our associated primary schools enjoyed their Induction Day today.

In previous years, pupils have followed their brand new timetables for two days, meeting some of their teachers for the first time and finding out where classrooms are.

This year it was agreed to give the P7s a different type of introduction to their new school. Helped by the new S6, the pupils enjoyed games of badminton, building turtles and towers and drama sessions.