Keep up to date with all the latest news happening in school at the moment.

• Macmillian Coffee Morning

  Fri 29 Sep 2023

  Many, many thanks to all who organised and supported our Coffee Morning for Macmillian Cancer Care. There were so many beautiful cakes, tray bakes and buns on display. There was a great atmosphere in the hall with so many staff (past and present), parents, grandparents, volunteers from 'The Friends of St Joseph's', past pupils and friends from the local community who popped in to show their support.  We finished off the morning with a bun sale in school with lots of treats being enjoyed by the boys and girls.

   

  Our PM Nursery children got involved too ...... they called into the school hall on Friday afternoon and had their very own tea party complete with some piano playing and dancing!

   

  We will announce the final total collected next week.  Again many thanks to all - what a team effort and what a great morning!   

  

• September Golden Assemblies

  Wed 27 Sep 2023

  Today we celebrated our September Golden Assemblies.

   

  Mrs O'Doherty's Year 3 class led our Year 1-3 Assembly on the theme of  'Friendship' and Miss Walsh's Year 4 class led our Year 4-7 Assembly on 'Kindness'.  The children were excellent and their assemblies entertained us with readings, drama, poetry and music and delivered very timely messages about the new school year.

   

  Pupils were presented with certificates for Pupil of the Month/Accelerated Reading and the newly elected Pupil Council, Eco-Council and Faith Group were presented with their badges.  We also had a number of pupils who brought in medals, certificates and trophies from home to celebrate achievement outside of school.  

   

  Well done to all our boys and girls - a great start to the school year.  We are very proud of you all!

  

• An Alien Visits Year 3

  Tue 26 Sep 2023

  The boys and girls in Primary 3 have been learning all about space in their topic work. Today they had a very special surprise, as an alien named Zog, landed its spaceship on the roof of our school and came to visit all the children! The children thought of lots of Who, What, Where, When and How questions to ask the alien. What a great visitor to have .......... it was truly out of this world! 

  

• European Day of Languages

  Tue 26 Sep 2023

  Bonjour, dia dhuit, guten tag, hola!

   

  Today we celebrated European Day of Languages.  Pupils engaged in a variety of activities; there was art, singing, dancing, dressing up, visits to our local Shared Education partner schools and lots of children learning and speaking a variety of European languages.

  A fun day of learning was had by all!

  

• BBC micro:bits

  Mon 25 Sep 2023

  Today we took delivery of our 30 micro:bits, USB cables and battery holders.  These were presented to Miss Walsh (our ICT co-ordinator) and her Year 4 class.The resources have been created with 8 to 11 year-olds in mind and will help to promote coding work throughout the school.  The staff, pupils and Digital Leaders look forward to exploring the potential of this new ICT resource throughout the school year.   

  

• Year 4 'Think Chocolate'

  Sat 23 Sep 2023

  Year 4 children are really enjoying exploring their new topic ‘Chocolate’. They have been investigating how chocolate is made and have explored the journey of the cocoa bean.

   

  As part of this topic, they have been looking at the artist Jackson Pollock who used ‘Drip Painting’ to create artworks. They melted chocolate and used it to create Jackson Pollock style artworks! It was great fun and the best part was eating the chocolate artwork once the chocolate had returned to it’s solid state.Y

  

• Week 1: Nature Rangers After School Club

  Fri 22 Sep 2023

  The focus during week 1 was on building shelters outdoors - the girls and boys had great fun and came up with some very creative ideas.

  

• Gaelfast Programme

  Fri 22 Sep 2023

  We are delighted to welcome Gerard back to St Joseph's  to work with our Year 3, 4 and 5 children on the development of many fundamental skills as part of the Gaelfast Programme. 

   

  We are very fortunate here in St Joseph's to be part of this programme and the many benefits it has for the children and staff in our school.  Today all the boys and girls had great fun indeed!

  

• Calling All Pupils - It's Election Time at St Joseph's!

  Fri 22 Sep 2023

  Election fever hit St Joseph's this week with the first of out two election campaigns for Pupils Council and Eco Council.  Next week we have elections for Digital Leaders and the Faith Group.

   

  Congratulations to all those who have been elected so far and good luck to all next weeks candidates!

  

• Friends of St Joseph's AGM

  Thu 21 Sep 2023

  The Friends of St Joseph's held their AGM on Wednesday 20th September.  Our elected committee for members for 2023/24 are:

   

  Chairperson Mrs Jennifer Kerr

  Vice Chairperson: Mrs Rachel Lee

  Treasurer/Secretary: Ms Jennifer McLernon

  Teacher Rep: Mrs Louise O'Doherty

   

  First Fundraiser of the Year - BLINGO!

  The Friends first fundraising event this year get your bling on and join us for a night of Blingo with a sprinkle of  sparkle in St Claire's Hall Glenavy on Friday 6th October! Ticket order forms will be sent home in schoolbags very soon.  We hope lots of you will join us and make our first fundraiser of the year a resounding success!  Bring your drinks and nibbles, gather up your friends and come along for some fun and the chance to win some super prizes! 

   

  We would like to thank all those who came along this evening.  If you feel you could help in some way, please telephone the office and leave your name and a contact number and a member of the Friends Committee will be in touch.

   

  Thank you for your continued support!