To celebrate our World Book Day theme of 'Characters', our Year 1 and Year 2 pupils spent the day exploring their favourite storybook heroes and enjoying a range of activities. The children were thrilled to discover that a very special guest would be joining them — none other than Cinderella herself!

Fresh from her enchanting performance of Rodgers & Hammerstein’s Cinderella with Fusion Theatre Lisburn, Cinderella kept her fairytale promise and arrived at St Joseph’s in true magical style. Year 1 and 2 gathered in the hall as she made a dramatic entrance in her sparkling ball gown and famous glass slippers.

Cinderella read her much‑loved fairytale, answered the children’s carefully prepared questions, and even sang for them — creating a truly unforgettable morning where stories came to life before their eyes.

A heartfelt thank you to our past pupil Ella Matthews, who brought Cinderella to life so beautifully. We are incredibly proud of her wonderful performance in Fusion Theatre’s Cinderella last week and delighted to welcome her back to St Joseph’s. It is always special to see former pupils returning and watching their talents continue to flourish.

A magical morning from start to finish — the perfect way to celebrate the joy of reading and the characters we love.

To raise awareness, the Pupil Council have been visiting classes to talk about Fairtrade and what it means for us in St Joseph’s. They have also shared a range of resources with teachers to help further promote Fairtrade in each classroom during Fairtrade Fortnight.

More information on Fairtrade can be accessed at:
http://www.fairtrade.org.uk/schools

Our Year 6 Pupil Council members also hosted a Banana Break Fairtrade Tuck Shop to celebrate Fairtrade Fortnight. The children in Year 6 were delighted to purchase a Fairtrade banana and, in doing so, support farmers in developing countries.

Well done to our Year 6 Pupil Council for organising this meaningful event, which helped raise awareness of the importance of choosing Fairtrade products.

Congratulations to our Credit Union Group A and B Competition Winners from the Camlin Credit Union Round 1 event, who travelled to Stranmillis University College, Belfast, on Sunday to take part in the next stage of the competition.

Both teams performed exceptionally well, representing St Joseph’s with confidence, teamwork and great determination against very strong competition. Unfortunately, it just wasn’t their day this time—but we are incredibly proud of each and every one of them.

Well done, boys and girls… wonderful ambassadors for St Joseph’s!

Today, Year 4 had a very exciting visit from Catherine from the Amazon Jungle Show! She came to school to teach and entertain us with an amazing presentation all about the world of reptiles as part of our topic on dinosaurs.

Catherine helped the children explore the rainforest canopy, mini beasts, different habitats, and the importance of looking after our world through conservation. The boys and girls also had the chance to handle and feel lots of incredible creatures, including a lizard, snake, frog, gecko, spider, tortoise, and even a chameleon!

The children were fascinated from start to finish and learned so much—while having great fun along the way

Today the Friends of St Joseph’s held a Coffee Morning to celebrate   International Women’s Day and Mothers’ Day.

It was a lovely opportunity for our school community to come together to share conversation, enjoy high tea, and celebrate the important women in our lives.

We are so grateful to the Friends of St. Joseph's for their continued support and for helping to make events like this such a success.

Everyone Matters, Every Moment Counts — and today’s moments truly reflected that.

On Thursday 5th March, we celebrated World Book Day in St Joseph’s. Of course, for us in St Joseph’s, every day is World Book Day! We have been so busy this term with our Silent and Accelerated Reading, pairing up with Reading Partners in Primary 3 and Primary 7, and enjoying reading time with our teachers in class.

On World Book Day itself, the children from Nursery to Year 7 took part in a wonderful variety of events and activities based on the theme of 'CHARACTERS' as we celebrated our love of books and reading.

• Nursery children painted or drew their favourite book characters.
• Years 1 & 2 enjoyed a storytelling session led by much‑loved story characters.
• Years 3 & 4 participated in an online art lesson with Sinead McDermott, inspired by Julia Donaldson’s The Snail and the Whale.
• Years 5–7 created their own Paper Bag Characters, which they brought to school on World Book Day and wrote a matching blurb for.

We hope the children enjoy spending their World Book Day tokens and treat themselves to a new book. Tokens are valid until Sunday 15th March.

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!

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.

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!