January 2007 Archive
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27th January 2007
S6 Fund-raising for Rome

The 6th year pupils heading for Rome have been raising funds for their trip in the local community again, this time at the Morrison’s supermarket in Bellshill. After all their hard work, the team were elated with the money raised. We would like to say a huge thank you from our pupils to the generous folks who have helped.

25th January 2007
ALMA coffee morning

S5 pupils taking part in the Duke of Edinburgh Bronze Award organised a Robert Burns-themed coffee morning. As part of the service section of the Award, the pupils are raising funds for ALMA, the interdenominational association based in Motherwell diocese.

ALMA provides support to people with special needs by providing friendship, trips and activities. The coffee morning raised £120 which will be used to buy equipment for use by the Motherwell association.

Many congratulations to the pupils for all their hard work.

24th January 2007
Stock Market Challenge

A group of 3rd year pupils represented OLHS at the Stock Market Challenge 2007. The event, held at the Mitchell Library last week, was organised by Careers Scotland.

Pupils were given an opportunity to invest and make money on the stock market. Working as a team, they had to analyse business information, the effects of company decisions and economic conditions quickly and accurately. News reports had to be assessed for risks and benefits to their shares. With an initial investment of £15,000, the team successfully made a £6,000 profit.

The pupils thoroughly enjoyed the experience. Many thanks to Mrs Osei-Oppong, Enterprise Co-ordinator, for organising the visit.

22nd January 2007
Welcome to new students

The school welcomed another group of students this week for their first information gathering visit. The students represent a wide variety of subjects and will return to OLHS next week for their six week placements.

22nd January 2007
Outward Bound

Groups of pupils from OLHS have again been enjoying the outdoor life at Loch Eil over the last couple of weeks. The pupils have an opportunity to experience activities such as rock scrambling and gorge walking while learning how to challenge themselves, help others and work as a team.

Pupils returning from Outward Bound trips have commented that the week is very wet, very dirty and very exciting.

22nd January 2007
Fund-raising for Rome continues

The combined OLHS / St Aidan's 6th year visit to Rome in February has received a tremendous boost from recent fundraising events held in school and the local community.

At a coffee morning in Our Lady's, real Italian coffee was accompanied by Italian biscuits and ice cream! Any New Year resolutions were quickly forgotten. Many thanks to the pupils who organised the event and the staff who supported their magnificent efforts.

Our Lady's pupils also organised an Italian quiz night in St Bernadette's hall and a day's bag-packing in Hamilton.

As a result of all this hard work, the total currently stands at just over £2000. A further bag packing day is being held this weekend.

19th January 2007
HMIe Report Launched

School and Education Authority staff welcomed the publication of the HMIe report this week. Copies of the report have already been delivered to parents and are available online.

Amongst the many strengths of the school, HMIe noted our commitment to increasing achievement and strong attainment, staff care for pupils' wellbeing and some highly effective teaching and learning.

The report also noted the important impact of specialist support on pupils' learning, including the support team for children with additional needs, the Library Resource Centre and the Partnership Officers.

The report can be viewed online or downloaded as a pdf from the HMIe website.

18th January 2007
Eco School Committee

The Eco School committee recently held its first meeting with a new group of pupil recruits. Our Lady's has already been granted the Eco School Silver Award for our achievements in raising the standard of the school grounds, recycling and healthy living in collaboration with the Health Promoting School Committee.

The new committee are already hard at work on their targets, which include further recycling ventures, additions to the school website and continuing to develop the sensory garden in collaboration with Bothwellpark High School.

Full details of the Eco School Scotland programme can be found on their website.

15th January 2007
Reading Trail

All S1 pupils are working on the Reading Trail this term as part of their English classes. The Reading Trail encourages all pupils to make greater effort with their leisure reading, from five minutes every night to completing several novels over the term.

Teaching staff and the LRC Manager help pupils identify an appropriate reading target to be achieved before Easter and prizes are awarded for the greatest effort. The individual prizewinners are nominated by their own class.

The Reading Trail has been very successful over the last five years and was recognised in the North Lanarkshire Spotlight on Success Awards last year. Pupils in S2 will take part in the Reading Trail next term. The winners from each class are given the responsibility of selecting books for the school Library Resource Centre.