Many thanks to Mark from Trócaire for visiting school today and joining us for our February Golden Assemblies.  Mark delivered a presentation to our Year 1-3 and Year4-7 pupils which focused on:

• A general overview of Trócaire’s work;
• An introduction to this year’s Lenten theme (water: too much & too little);
• An introduction to the children/family featured in this year’s Lent campaign;  
• The impact of Trócaire’s work and how pupils’ support is making a real difference; 
• How students can get involved in the campaign.

Our February assemblies also provided us with an opportunity to sing Happy Birthday to all of our February girls and boys; present our February Pupil of the Month Awards and Accelerated Reading Certificates; celebrate success outside of school; award pebbles points for our February character trait of honesty and deliver some important messages. 

Well done everyone - it's nearly March!

Congratulations to the boys and girls in Year 7 who celebrated their Service of Light on Tuesday evening.  It was a beautiful service which added so meaningfully to the final preparations for the Sacrament of Confirmation which will be celebrated on Thursday 6th March in Mater Dei Church.

'Come Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of your faithful and kindle in them the fire of your love.'

There was great excitement today when the fire service came to visit the nursery children.  They had  a great time learning all about the work of a fire fighter, trying on some of the equipment, using the hose, seeing inside the fire engine and hearing the siren sound.  Many thanks for coming along today - the children had a great experience!

Congratulations to the four representatives from St. Joseph's PS who displayed lots of skill on the field at the Cumann na mBunscol half time game during the Antrim v Waterford Hurling League match in Corrigan Park, Belfast on Sunday afternoon.  They were a credit to their school, families and clubs.  Thank you to Antrim GAA and Antrim Cumann na mBunscol for giving the children the opportunity. Well done girls and boys!

There are many benefits to playing chess.  Chess has been shown to improve visual memory, attention span, social skills and spatial-reasoning ability. Because it requires children to make a series of decisions, they learn to think critically, evaluate alternatives, and use logic to assist in their decision-making.

Indeed chess is proving to be a very popular board game enjoyed by many of our Key Stage 2 children at wet lunchtimes.  A group of children have approached Mr. Traynor and asked about the possibility of organising a chess competition in school.  42 children form Year 5 to Year 7 along with a few members of staff have now committed to taking part and a date for the competition has been set for week commencing Monday 10th March.  We have a few weeks to 'brush up' on our chess playing skills and will keep you updated as to how the competition progresses!     

At St Joseph's we are very proud of our Forest School Status.  We believe that Outdoor Learning:

• Provide a context for learning;
• Complements indoor learning;
• Supports emotional and physical wellbeing;
• Impacts positively on attitudes and self-esteem;
• Increases knowledge of and care for the natural environment.

Over the past few days Mr. McKenna who is a qualified Outdoor Learning instructor has been modelling and leading a number of outdoor learning lessons with our teachers and pupils.  All involved have found this most beneficial. 

As we make the move into Spring time we intend to have a greater focus on learning outdoors and reap the benefits its has for learning across the curriculum.  Let's hope the weather is kind to us over the coming months - let the sun shine!

“The classroom of the future should not be limited to a classroom at all – an ‘excellent' curriculum would go beyond the traditional boundaries and offer real-world learning experiences outdoors.” Taking Learning Outdoors – LTS 2007

Today Noel from Arc21 (the waste management group for 6 councils in the eastern part of Northern Ireland) visited our school. 

Noel led a series of talks and crafts workshops with our Year 3-5 pupils which centred on waste and recycling and linked in with our curriculum.  The children found the workshops very interesting and informative and were thoroughly engaged in the arts and crafts which involved paper pot making, origami and creating Egyptian Death Masks.  Many thanks to Noel and we look forward to welcoming him back to St. Joseph's in March to work with our Year 6 and 7 pupils.

Many thanks to Stephanie from Time Steps for delivering a very informative and enjoyable workshop to our Year 7 classes today. 

The programme looked at the background to and events surrounding the Titanic.  Pupils looked at and discussed the year of 1912 and the social and economic factors which led to the building of Titanic, through major events and people of this period.  Popular theories and myths about its sinking were explored, in addition to the follow on effects from this tragedy.  Pupils finished the workshop by participating in a competitive boat building workshop.

Congratulations to all those boys and girls who represented our school at the recent Camlin Credit Union Quiz.  Our Year 6 team finished as Runners-Up and our Year 7 teams finished in first place overall.

Team members were:

Year 6 Team (Runners-Up) - Aoibhinn Benstead, Oliver Brady, Oran Gilliland and Noah Peoples.

Year 7 Team B (First Place) - Scarlett Collins, Sarah Donnelly, Jenna Gibson and Joseph Owens.

Well done girls and boys - super representatives for St. Joseph's!  

Many thanks to everyone who supported our 'Wear it Red' Day for defibrillator and mental health first aid training .  There was a sea of red across St. Joseph's. A great day was had by all. 

Enjoy the Mid-Term Break!  School will reopen for all pupils on Monday 17th February.