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

• Crumlin Residents Group Christmas Class Hampers

  Thu 11 Dec 2025

  A huge thank you to all the children and families in Years 2, 4, 5, and 6 who contributed items for our Christmas Class Hampers. The response to this appeal was truly fantastic!

   

  Today, Maria visited the school to collect the hampers and was delighted with what she received. These hampers will now be distributed to support members of our own community who are vulnerable and in need during this difficult time.

   

  Your kindness and generosity are deeply appreciated, especially as we approach the Christmas season.

   

  “For it is in giving that we receive.” – St Francis of Assis

  

• Creative Journeys with Artist Sinead McDermott

  Wed 10 Dec 2025

  As part of the For Arts Sake project, Primary 5JC  have spent the past six weeks working with artist Sinead McDermott on exciting art and design activities.

   

  They began by exploring their Ancient Egyptian topic, creating impressive 3D masks of Tutankhamun and designing detailed sarcophagi.

   

  With the festive season approaching, the focus shifted to Christmas-themed art. Pupils used watercolours to bring vibrant images of Santa and robins to life, learning how line and shape form the foundation of great drawings. They also discovered techniques for blending and shading with water to achieve beautiful effects in their paintings.

  Their Santa paintings were transformed into Christmas cards, which have been posted to our link school in Spain. Feliz Navidad!

   

  This has been a wonderfully creative experience, and the children have developed new artistic skills they will carry forward.

   

  A huge thank you to Sinead McDermott for sharing her talent and inspiring our pupils throughout this project!

  

• Defibrillator Training – Prepared to Protect

  Wed 10 Dec 2025

  We were delighted to welcome Mr Damien Barkley from Essential Life Support Training to St Joseph’s recently to deliver training for a group of our staff on how to use a defibrillator. A defibrillator is a simple, life-saving device designed to help restore a normal heartbeat in an emergency. While we hope it’s never needed, having trained staff and the right equipment gives us peace of mind that we can respond quickly and confidently if the situation ever arises.

   

  Thanks to a very generous donation, we are now fortunate to have a second defibrillator in our school – an incredible resource that enhances safety for everyone in our community. Congratulations to all staff who successfully completed the training and received their certificates, and sincere thanks to Damien for sharing his expertise.

  

• A Feast of Festive Joy!

  Tue 09 Dec 2025

  Today, pupils and staff enjoyed their Christmas dinner together in the school canteen. It was a lovely opportunity to share a festive meal with classmates, colleagues, and friends.

   

  A big thank you to Rick and the canteen team for preparing and serving such a delicious meal for everyone. It was certainly appreciated and enjoyed by all.

   

  The perfect recipe for festive joy: good food, great friends, and lots of laughter!

  

• Tots and Tea – Festive Finale!

  Mon 08 Dec 2025

  Join us for our final Tots and Tea session before Christmas on Friday 12th December, from 10:30–11:30am in the Minor Hall at St Joseph’s.

  All parents and carers are welcome with children aged 0–3 years.

   

  We’ll have festive fun, warm company, and a very special visitor… Santa Claus!

   

  We can’t wait to see you there. Ho Ho Ho!

  

• Celebrating the Feast of the Immaculate Conception

  Mon 08 Dec 2025

  We were delighted to welcome Canon Colm to our school today as he celebrated Mass with our Year 5-7 pupils and staff in the school hall. This special occasion marked the Feast of the Immaculate Conception, an important date in the Church calendar, observed each year on 8th December. Thank you to Canon Colm for joining us and helping our school community come together in prayer and reflection.

  

• Nursery Shared Education Programme - Our First Adventure!

  Fri 05 Dec 2025

  Our nursery pupils were delighted to meet the children from Crumlin Integrated Pre-School for the very first visit as part of our new Nursery Shared Education Programme. The meeting took place at Crumlin Library, where everyone enjoyed a magical, interactive Christmas storytelling session led by Claire, the librarian.

   

  The children also had the chance to introduce themselves and chat about what they’ve put on their Santa lists this year!

   

  We’re looking forward to lots more meetings and adventures together, with the next get-together planned for the New Year.

  

• Daily Mile Santa Run

  Fri 05 Dec 2025

  Today, Friday 5th December, St Joseph's joined hundreds of schools from across Northern Ireland to take part in the Daily Mile Santa Run.  The Daily Mile currently has over 3 million children running a Daily Mile across 13,500 schools.

   

  The children had a great time and puts lots of energy into ensuring they had a good workout.

   

  #healthybody #healthymind

  

• St. Joseph's Open Evening

  Fri 05 Dec 2025

  Many thanks to all those who came along to our recent Open Evening.  All those in attendance were taken on a guided tour of our school and its facilities by our excellent Year 7 tour guides.  Staff were on hand to answer any questions as our visitors moved throughout the school. Many thanks also to our Digital Leaders  who showcased a wide range of mathematical and ICT topics and skills and to our wonderful choir who sang so beautifully in the main school hall.  We look forward to our prospective new pupils joining our school and nursery unit in September 2026. 

   

  If your child is starting pre-school or primary school in September 2026, you can apply online from  midday Wednesday 7th January 2026 to midday on Wednesday 21st January 2026. 

   

  Further information is available on the EA website under the Admissions section at:

  https://www.eani.org.uk/parents/admissions

  

• Year 5 Explore Ancient Egypt with Professor Murphy

  Thu 04 Dec 2025

  Year 5 had an amazing opportunity to step back in time and discover the wonders of Ancient Egypt! Professor Eileen Murphy, a renowned specialist in Egyptology and former parent visited our school to deliver an engaging and educational workshop.

   

  The children were captivated by her fascinating insights and interactive activities, and they left with a much deeper understanding of life in Ancient Egyptian times.