Scottish Catholic Observer

The school in Milton, Glasgow, was formed in April 2009 after St Augustine’s and St Ambrose’s primaries amalgamated and pupils celebrated the anniversary on Wednesday May 1 in St Augustine’s Church, a short walk from the school.

Headteacher Martin Broadley, who took over at the school in 2017, members of staff and pupils packed into halls with Archbishop Philip Tartaglia of Glasgow who celebrated a Mass of thanksgiving for the school’s achievement.

Broad community

“It was a really good way to mark the 10 year anniversary, I was really impressed with how the day went with the archbishop,” Mr Broadley said.

“The previous headteacher came along as well and a couple of other staff members did too.

“There were even headteachers from some of the other Catholic schools in the area who came to mark it with us.”

School choir

The school choir impressed the archbishop through singing hymns in Spanish and in Gaelic—something the school take pride in.

The school enjoyed an afternoon of ice cream, sweets, and partying to properly bring in the next decade of teaching at St Monica’s, something the staff are equally looking forward to.

A growing school

“The school has really grown over the years,” Mr Broadley said.

“When I started here there were 341 pupils, now we’ve got 389, and next year there’s to be 412.

There’s been many things we’ve managed to achieve in that time, such as win awards—not that it’s all about those—but we’ve brought in a lot of Spanish, shown by the children in the choir.

“They’re being asked to sing in various places across the city.”

Regarding the school’s future, he added: “We were saying at a staff meeting, ‘let’s see what the 20th anniversary will send us’ — I think until then we’ll continue to grow and give children the best education possible.”