St Patricks R C Primary School

For over one hundred years, St Patrick's Primary School has served the Catholic community of Lochgelly. We maintain a strong tradition of welcoming pupils of other faiths and ethnic backgrounds who have chosen to attend our school and we work hard to promote a positive ethos, where every child is valued and cultures and differences are respected.

Our aim is to enable all pupils to be happy, confident, independent, responsible individuals, who are fulfilling their potential. We hope to attain this by providing a well planned, balanced, broad general curriculum and sound programmes of study that engage all of our learners. We also strive to support the physical, social and emotional needs of each individual pupil and maintain a safe welcoming environment that encourages self respect and responsible citizenship. Pupil success is celebrated through a wide range of certificates. There are 5 Houses within St Patrick's, these are Navitie, Clune, Harelaw, Harran and Dunmore. Throughout the school session we ensure opportunities for pupils to take part in House events and to contribute towards winning the House shield for that term.

As a Catholic school we, strive to promote the characteristics as listed in "The Charter for Catholic Schools in Scotland" which is printed in full on the previous page. As with all Catholic primary schools in Scotland, we use "This Is Our Faith" which is the primary programme for religious education. The school also takes part in local interdenominational services such as Remembrance Sunday and other joint activities.

St Patrick's is one of three primary schools in Lochgelly, the other two being Lochgelly West P.S. and Lochgelly South P.S. Unlike the other two schools, St Patrick's does not have a nursery class and so the vast majority of the pupils transfer to us from the Sunflower Family  Nurture Centre. St Patrick's pupils normally transfer to St Andrew's RC High School in Kirkcaldy, but pupils also have the option of attending Lochgelly HS which is the catchment high school.

The school can access the support of many outside agencies and services. These include:

• Medical - through the school doctor or nurse, speech therapy, physiotherapy and occupational therapy.
• Educational - Psychologist, Social Work, ICT Support and other groups who support pupils with specific learning difficulties
• Emergency Services and other Specialists  - Police, Fire, Road Safety, Community Wardens, SSPCA etc.

School roll: 196

St Patrick’s Primary School is situated at the north end of Lochgelly on Station Road, which links Lochgelly to the Benarty area. The original building was opened on the 30 November 1903 and soon afterwards a further extension including 2 first floor rooms was added to facilitate the growing numbers of pupils. During 1991/92 the falling school roll allowed renovations to take place which changed 2 ground floor classrooms into a kitchen and small dining room. Since then, however, school numbers steadily increased to a point where the school was sitting at almost maximum capacity with no spare classrooms or breakout space.

In July 2010 a purpose-built PE hall and an additional classroom was added to meet our rising roll. This facility allows us to not only promote PE, health and wellbeing, but also to showcase the talents of the pupils in our school, through concerts, shows and assemblies. The school playground has also been resurfaced, and outdoor play facilities have been erected which include soft pour bases. In 2016 our school gardens were developed to allow pupils easy access to green spaces and wildlife gardens to enhance experiences in Outdoor Learning.

We also make good use of the local area, including Lochore Meadows. Please note that for health and safety no pedestrian access is allowed through the car park entrance.

Daily Timetable

SCHOOL HOURS

• Morning Session
  P1-P7   09:00
• Interval
  P1-P7   10:40 - 10:55
• Lunch
  P1-P7   12:35
• Afternoon Session
  P1-P7   13:20 - 15:00

School Uniform

St Patrick’s school uniform is yellow and black in colour with the option of grey or black trousers/skirts.

There is ONE main supplier of the St Patrick’s Primary School uniform who provide a simple process and ensure that all uniform colours and items fit with our uniform policy. My Clothing online are our main suppliers for the reasons stated below.

Firstly, My Clothing online are able to provide all of the items in one place that fit perfectly with our colours and emblem in a very cost effective and easy way. These include shirts, polo tops, jumpers, jackets, hats, bags and much more.

Secondly, My Clothing will contribute 5% cash donation on every purchase back to the school which in turn will benefit all of our pupils.

At St Patrick's we believe our school uniform promotes a sense of pride in our school and that it fosters a feeling of community and belonging for all who attend. The uniform is practical and smart and allows children to feel equal to their peers in terms of appearance. It also sets a certain standard of appearance for all, while being practical and cost effective.