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

• Cumann na mBunscol Week 2025

  Mon 14 Apr 2025

  At St. Joseph's we embrace the Cumann na mBunscol spirit. We endeavour to provide lots of in-school opportunities and activities to promote Gaelic games and foster an ethos and atmosphere in which everyone can learn, play and grow together.

   

  During Cumann na mBunscol Week we continued with this vision and used this week as an opportunity to reflect upon the many benefits that being part of SW Antrim Cumann na mBunscol has for our pupils and school as a whole.  As a school community we are proud of this rich tradition and the successes both individually and as a school St. Joseph's has achieved since the beginning of Cumann na mBunscol back in 1971.  On a beautiful sunny week it is great to see and hear the children engaged in coaching, after-school football, hurling and camogie, in addition to taking part in the 'Fun for All' Gaelic football sessions.

   

  We extend congratulations to our Year Group winners of the various Cumann na mBunscol competitions ongoing throughout the week and look forward to many more years as part of this remarkable community!

   

  #WhereWeAllBelong

  

• Year 1 Hungry Caterpillar's Picnic

  Mon 14 Apr 2025

  Our Primary One children were treated to a fabulous picnic with so many new foods to try at their caterpillar's picnic. The boys and girls had a wonderful time nibbling at all the tasty pieces of colourful food on the table. What a wonderful way to spend a Monday morning as we begin our final week of Term 2.

   

  “One Sunday morning the warm sun came up and – pop! – out of the egg came a tiny and very hungry caterpillar.”
  ― Eric Carle, The Very Hungry Caterpillar

   

  Listen to the story by clicking on the link below:

   

  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=75NQK-Sm1YY

  

• Faith Group Mark the Beginning of Holy Week

  Mon 14 Apr 2025

  Now that Spring is truly upon us and the days are getting sunnier and brighter, our Faith Group have been working very hard with Mrs. Loughran to ensure that our outdoor sacred space is ready for the season of Easter. 

   

  Firstly they completed a Spring tidy up.  Next using their Forest School skills and a selection of natural materials they created some beautiful art to depict the events of Holy Week.  At our Easter assemblies this week they will use their art work  to ensure that all within our school community are familiar with the events of this special week and remind all within our school community that they are welcome to come and pray, reflect, relax, or simply unwind in our peaceful outdoor sacred area.   

   

  "All the darkness in the world cannot extinguish the light of a single candle.” — St. Francis of Assisi

  

• St Joseph's Chess Tournament 2025

  Mon 14 Apr 2025

  From 42 competitors across Key Stage 2 we are down to the final 4 of the St. Joseph's Chess Tournament 2025.  During the first week of Term 3 our final four will battle it out to decided 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th place in this year's tournament.

   

  Congratulations to:

   

  Ryan: Favourite Chess Piece - The Rook because you can 'castle' and you can use the 'ladder mate' move.

   

  Oisin: Favourite Chess Piece - The Pawn because you have eight of them and you can promote them to another piece when moved to the end of the board.

   

  Emily: Favourite Chess Piece - The Pawn because you can promote it and it is very good for defence.

   

  Noah: Favourite Chess Piece - The Knight because I can 'fork' with it.

   

  We look forward to the 2025 St Joseph's Chess Final! 

   

  "Chess is everything: art, science, and sport.'' - Anatoly Karpov

  

• Term 2 Nature Rangers @ St. Joseph's

  Fri 11 Apr 2025

  Today our Term 2 Nature Rangers Club finished for Term 2.  Nature Rangers have been very busy this term. We have been problem solving and getting creative while building our dens. This was done in teams so not only did we have to learn to work together and compromise, we also had to articulate our own vision and ideas to others.

   

  We have also been bug detectives, armed with our magnifying glasses and going on a minibeast hunt. Lots of insects and bugs were found and we were very careful not to disturb any of them or destroy their natural habitat. We also talked about where the minibeasts tend to live and this led to us building some new bug hotels the following week, providing some well thought out habitats for all the minibeasts we had discovered.

   

  To celebrate St Patrick's day we once again got creative and used natural materials we found outside to create homes for our leprechaun friends. Not only were fantastic little houses created from sticks, stones and grass but some of our nature rangers even made a whole village to keep those leprechauns entertained!

   

  As Spring arrived we talked about the birds who are singing all around us now. We went looking for some nests and talked about what made a good one and what materials the birds were likely to use. We designed our own nests and then used clay to make one as a little treat to take home to our own gardens. We painted them and filled them with natural materials foraged from our nature garden. 

   

  Our nature rangers love their art and bark rubbing was a big hit with everyone. We brought crayons outside and explored all the trees to create a lot of differing colourful patterns. Great fun was had exploring all the different textures of the wonderful variety of trees outside. We also developed our whittling skills every week, using sticks we foraged from the ground and enjoying seeing the colour and texture change as we worked away. 

   

  We learned a lot and developed a lot of new skills, but more importantly we explored our wonderful outdoor area and had a lot of fun with our friends every week. 

  

• Year 1 & 2 Principal Awards

  Fri 11 Apr 2025

  Congratulations to our girls and boys in Primary 1 and Primary 2 who received this weeks Headteacher Award for a variety of wonderful traits.  We are very proud of them all! 

  

• Annual Music and Orchestra Recital

  Fri 11 Apr 2025

  Congratulations to all those boys and girls who took part in our Annual Music Recital in the school assembly hall.  We enjoyed a range of performances from our School Orchestra, Guitarists and groups and individual soloists.  A wide range of musical instruments were represented to include the violin, cello, trumpet, clarinet, flute, guitar and piano.

   

  What amazing talent we had on show - we were all very proud of the girls and boys today.  Many thanks to our school's music team; Mrs. McDonnell (Music & Orchestra Co-ordinator), Mrs. Lawlor, Mrs. Matthews and Mrs. Downey.  Thanks also to Mr. Heron and Mr. Tohill (EA Music Tutors)  for all their hard work with the boys and girls throughout the year.   Well done to all involved!

   

  'One note does not make a symphony; one artist does not make an orchestra. Symphonies begin with one note; fires with one flame; gardens with one flower; and masterpieces with one stroke.'

  

• Girls' Soccer League

  Thu 10 Apr 2025

  Today our girls played their final games as part of the Antrim and Newtownabbey Girls' Soccer League.  As always great enthusiasm, sportsmanship and skill were displayed.  We are delighted to announce that the girls have finished in third place in this years soccer league.  This will stand them in great stead for the Antrim and Newtownabbey Girls' Soccer Cup to be held in June.

   

  Well done girls - we are so proud of you all! 

  

• Friends of St. Joseph's Annual Fun Run

  Thu 10 Apr 2025

  Many thanks to everyone who sponsored our children for the recent Friends of St Joseph's Fun Run. The sun shone brightly and we had a great day and all our boys and girls enjoyed the exercise as they lapped the playground to raise funds for school resources. 

   

  Many thanks to Shane and Catherine from Oaktree who donated the juice and refreshments for the children and to the parents who came along to serve them to the children.

   

  Sponsorship money can still be returned to school up to and including Thursday 17th April.  Please remember every penny helps and will be spent directly on interactive resources for all of our children.  Thank you - the support as always is much appreciated!

  

• A&N Healthy Kids Programme Fun Day

  Tue 08 Apr 2025

  We were delighted to be one of 29 schools chosen in the Antrim and Newtownabbey Borough Council to partake in the Healthy Kids Program.  Our Year 7 pupils have thoroughly enjoyed the 10 weekly sessions which have had a focus on nutrition, mindfulness and physical activity. 

   

  To celebrate the end of the program, our coach Paul arranged a fun morning for all of the Year 7 children.  Today they had an opportunity to meet at Tescos in Crumlin for an onsite nutritional visit.  This was followed by a visit to Crumlin Leisure Centre  for some fun recreational time.  The mayor was also present to open the new gym at the leisure centre and the children had an opportunity to meet and chat with him.

   

  Many thank to Paul from the council for delivering our weekly sessions and for organising a fun morning of activities to conclude our participation in the program.

   

  #KnowYourselfGrowYourself