Many thanks to Father Rory for celebrating our beginning of the school year Mass with our pupils from P4–P7, our staff and the wider school community this morning. We are delighted to welcome Father Rory to our parish and school community, and we look forward to working closely with him in the years ahead.

It was a very fitting way in which to ask for God's blessing on our school community as we embark on another school year.

We pray that it will be another successful year in St Joseph's, bringing good health, happiness and God's blessings to all.

We were delighted to begin the new school year by coming together for our first assemblies in the school hall. It was a special occasion where we had the opportunity to listen, reflect, sing and pray as a school community. 

As part of our Personal Development and Mutual Understanding (PDMU) programme, we introduced our character trait focus for September and October: Respect. This important value will be explored and celebrated throughout the coming weeks, helping our children to grow in kindness, understanding and consideration for others.

To encourage and recognise respectful behaviour, Pebble Points will continue to be awarded as part of our whole-school reward system. We look forward to seeing our pupils demonstrate respect in their words and actions, both in school and beyond.

We were also delighted to welcome Stella, our school mascot, to the assemblies. Stella spent time with all classes today as we reflected on our school vision and our core values. This was the start of Stella's journey around the school, and she will be making more in-depth visits to each class over the coming days and weeks to help pupils further explore what our vision and values look like in everyday school life.

We are excited for the year ahead and all the opportunities it will bring as we continue to learn, grow and thrive together.

Our Year 2 and Year 3 children from the Afterschool Crèche Club recently enjoyed a wonderful visit to our Forest School area alongside Mr Traynor and Ms McLernon.

The children began by checking on the young apple tree planted last year and were delighted to discover that it had produced its very first apple. They then turned their attention to our more established apple trees, which have enjoyed a particularly successful year and are laden with fruit.

The boys and girls carefully counted the apples before helping to pick a selection from the trees. Excitement grew as they gathered the fruit and talked about how it might be used. The apples were then delivered to our canteen manager, Rick, who was delighted to receive this home-grown harvest.

Rick thanked the children for their efforts and promised to create a delicious treat using the school's freshly picked apples. We can't wait to see what he comes up with and, more importantly, to have a taste!

It was a lovely opportunity for the children to learn more about nature, food production and the rewards of caring for our outdoor environment.

We couldn't have picked a better day!

We are pleased to announce the installation of a second defibrillator (AED) at St Joseph’s. This valuable addition enhances the safety of our school community and provides access to potentially life-saving equipment in the event of an emergency.

The defibrillator is located on the school premises near our minor hall and is accessible when required. While we hope it will never need to be used, its presence offers reassurance to pupils, staff, parents, and visitors.

As a school community, we remain committed to promoting the health, safety, and wellbeing of everyone who learns, works, and visits our school.

This month's theme is 'Back to School'.

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It was wonderful to see all of the children back in school again for a new school year.  Everyone looked so well in their school uniforms and were so well prepared for the year ahead.  There were lots of smiles and friendship rekindled. 

A special welcome to all our Nursery and Primary 1 pupils and those who join year groups from new schools.  

We wish all our pupils, staff and parents every blessing, good health and happiness for the year ahead!

A Prayer for our New School Year

Heavenly Father,

We thank you for the opportunity

To begin this new school year.

We ask that you bless our families,

the staff and children

So that we can work together

To make our school a great place.

We pray that You will guide us in all ways

So that we will seek Your will

in everything that we do.

We ask this in the name of Jesus, our Lord.

Amen