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

• Annual School Chess Tournament – Round 1 Draw

  Wed 04 Mar 2026

  Chess continues to be a hugely popular pastime for our Key Stage 2 pupils, especially during wet lunchtimes, and with good reason. Playing chess helps children develop visual memory, attention span, spatial‑reasoning skills, and social interaction. It also encourages critical thinking, logical decision‑making, and the ability to evaluate alternatives — all invaluable lifelong skills.

   

  This year, 56 pupils from Year 5 to Year 7 have signed up for the second year of our Annual School Chess Tournament. Excitement is already building as the Round 1 draw took place today. Matches will begin next week, giving our young competitors a few more days to practise their strategies.

   

  We wish all our players the very best of luck as the tournament begins!

  

• Learning, Leading, and Creating with Dream Space Ambassadors

  Tue 03 Mar 2026

  Our Digital Leaders took part in a Dream Space Ambassadors workshop on AI safety, coding and online responsibility.  This training strengthens their role as tech leaders in our school and will help build positive inter‑generational links.  We are so proud of the enthusiasm they bring to helping our school community.

  

• Engineers Ireland STEPS Programme

  Mon 02 Mar 2026

  The Engineers Ireland STEPS programme gives children a fantastic opportunity to explore and discover the world of engineering, with the overall aim of inspiring future engineers. Today our Year 7 pupils were fortunate to welcome Carly and Johnny to school for a series of hands‑on workshops that brought engineering to life and highlighted the importance of the profession. Many thanks to both of you — your time and expertise were greatly appreciated!

  

• Peace Proms at the SSE Arena 2026

  Mon 02 Mar 2026

  Congratulations to all the choir members who represented the school so beautifully at the Peace Proms in the SSE Arena. They were absolutely amazing — such fantastic singing, dancing and participation. It was a wonderful opportunity for them to perform as part of a 3,000‑strong choir. Sincere thanks to the family and friends who attended to support the children, and to Mrs. McDonnell, Mrs. Matthews, Mrs. Campbell, Mrs. Dean, Mrs. Steven, Ms. Taranenko for their support on the day. A great time was had by all!

   

  #HarmonyInTheArena

  

• February Adventures at St Joseph’s Nursery – Caring, Creating, Celebrating

  Fri 27 Feb 2026

  February has been a wonderfully busy month in nursery as we explored People Who Help Us. We enjoyed an exciting visit from Crumlin Fire Service, created fire‑engine art, and welcomed several fantastic parent helpers—including a nurse, a hairdresser, a data scientist, another nurse, and an engineer training to be a pilot—who all shared their skills with the children. Enya’s talented Mum also helped each child create a self‑portrait on fabric and sewed them into two beautiful buntings now decorating our front porch. The children learned about many helpful community roles through play, made pancakes with Miss Brazier on Pancake Tuesday, and celebrated Chinese New Year with a colourful dragon. A big thank you to Ellie’s Granny for the lovely flowers and to Amelia’s Mum for the delicious fruit platters. Much appreciated!

   

  We were also delighted to receive our TinyLearners Award, recognising our support for the specific developmental needs of preterm children and our commitment to helping every child thrive.

  

• February Year 1 and 2 Principal Awards

  Fri 27 Feb 2026

  Congratulations to our girls and boys in Primary 1 and Primary 2 who received the weekly Headteacher Award during the month of February for a variety of wonderful traits. 

   

  Everyone Matters, Every Moment Counts – and our February Superstars are deserving proof of this.

   

  We are very proud of them all! 

  

• Celebrating Success in Paired Reading

  Fri 27 Feb 2026

  Over the past number of weeks, our Year 3 pupils have been paired with enthusiastic and supportive Year 7 reading buddies as part of our Paired Reading Programme. Meeting three times each week for half‑hour sessions, the children explored a specially selected range of books designed to nurture confidence, enjoyment and a lifelong love of reading.

   

  Paired Reading, which includes two key stages — Reading Together and Reading Alone — is widely recognised for its positive impact on pupils’ fluency, comprehension and attitudes towards reading. Throughout the programme, it was wonderful to see our older pupils model expressive reading, guide discussions, and encourage their younger partners to take the lead.

   

  Today, we were delighted to mark the end of the programme with a celebration event. Year 3 and Year 7 pupils received certificates recognising their commitment, teamwork and progress, followed by some well‑earned treats.

   

  A huge well done to every child involved — your dedication and enthusiasm have made this initiative a great success.

   

  “A word after a word after a word is power.” — Margaret Atwood

  

• Year 5 Creative Connections

  Fri 27 Feb 2026

  Mr. McKenna’s Year 5 pupils have been taking part in the Creative Connections Project, an arts‑based programme designed to develop children’s creativity, confidence and collaboration through hands‑on experiences in visual art and drama.

   

  As part of the project, pupils worked with Emma, exploring a range of art techniques. They learned how to create their own charcoal, used it to produce expressive drawings, and also designed and decorated their own masks. These sessions encouraged creativity, experimentation and enjoyment in art-making.

   

  The class also had the opportunity to collaborate with Ciaran, who led engaging drama workshops.  Pupils explored performance through movement, role-play and group activities, with a focus on participation, being active and building self‑confidence. They learned about the drama process and enjoyed working together in new and imaginative ways.

   

  Year 5 are looking forward to continuing their work on the Creative Connections Project over the coming weeks. We would like to thank Emma and Ciaran for their enthusiasm, expertise and the wonderful experiences they have provided so far.

  

• Year 4HF Shared Education

  Thu 26 Feb 2026

  Year 4HF visited CIPS yesterday for another fantastic ICT session. Their Digital Leaders led us through coding with Micro:bits. We worked in groups to write code for our names and even got to experiment with drawing scripts blocks and sound blocks! 

  

• Year 7KL Shared Education

  Thu 26 Feb 2026

  During our visit to CIC, the Year 7 pupils from Mrs Lawlor's class explored this year’s theme of languages and transition to secondary school. Mr Tracey introduced the children to a range of Spanish words and phrases, and the Year 8 pupils supported them through games and activities that helped build confidence in using the language.

   

  For our second session, the partner schools visited St Joseph’s. Shirley from Ulster Scots delivered an engaging workshop on Ulster Scots history, language and culture. The pupils loved learning new words, phrases and songs — and were amazed at how many Ulster Scots expressions they already use without realising!

   

  Both sessions offered meaningful learning experiences and supported the children’s transition work.