Bishop leads special Mass
Busy time for St Aidan’s pupils
The staff and students of St Aidan’s have celebrated the annual patronal feast day with a certain style this year.
First and sixth year students joined together with invited guests to participate in Mass led by Bishop of Motherwell, Joseph Toal.
The service saw the school’s youngest and oldest students join together to represent the whole school community in the packed assembly hall.
The service was enriched by the contributions of many members of the school music community, with the sound of the concert band and choirs filling the air.
Addressing the congregation in his homily, Bishop Toal spoke about the life of St Aidan and his mission to bring light and understanding into the world, linking St Aidan’s journey through life to the journey of the students through their studies and life in school.
Mrs Margaret Barton, principal teacher of religious education, commented: “This is such an important day in the life of the school involving our parish priests, the primary head teachers and the parent council. It’s a very special thing because St Aidan’s has been part of the community for so long.
“This day recognises everyone who has sent their children here and it contributes greatly to the ethos of the school. The nature of the celebration spread across the whole school though and away from the celebration of the Mass.”
Mrs Claire Connelly, headteacher, had arranged the delivery of bouncy castles and each of the year groups had a period away from their studies to expend some energy in the fairground atmosphere.
Following some decidedly unwelcome rain over the last few days the sun shone on the students for the feast day. The festivities were definitely added to by the gift of a free ice-cream for all the students - ideal if you have just worked up a sweat with all the jumping around on a bouncy castle.
Following a rigorous process that involved both voting and extensive interviews, a group of young people who represent the very best aspects of the community in St Aidan’s was selected to fill the captaincy roles.
The new captains are Niamh Giffen and Eamonn Kelly.
Niamh and Eamonn will be joined in their role by our new vice captains Alison Brawley, Victoria Drain, Lauren McCulloch, Rhys Cassidy and JohnPaul Cahill.
Eamonn commented: “It is a great honour to be given such a prestigious role in the school.”
Niamh added: “I feel really proud to be captain and very happy that it is something that I have achieved.
“It is also a little scary to have all this responsibility on your shoulders but representing the school in the best way that we can, and making sure that we are a presence within the school will be important.
“We need to communicate with different year groups and teachers and make sure that everybody is part of one big community and feels happy.”
The captains’ first official duty was to represent the school at the annual Vocations Mass in Motherwell Cathedral on Monday, August 28.
Third year pupil Vivian Duruh continued her very successful progress in athletics when she recently competed at the Scottish Athletics under- 15 championships in the shot put.
Vivian threw the three kilo shot an impressive 11.80 metres, resulting in her placing first.
She has been involved in athletics from a young age, having been introduced to the sport while a primary school pupil. She was recognised for her outstanding performance in athletics, excelling in shot put.
The talented teen then began training twice a week at both the Ravenscraig and Wishaw Sport Centre, for an hour and a half to two hour sessions each time.