Today, Mr McKenna’s class led our Year 4–7 May Golden Assembly with a vibrant and uplifting focus on ‘Finding Your Roar’. They reminded us that a ‘roar’ is the unique talent or kindness within each of us — sometimes bold and loud, and sometimes gentle and quiet, but always important.

We are very fortunate in St Joseph’s to have so many talented and thoughtful boys and girls who achieve so much, both in and out of school, and this assembly captured that spirit beautifully through its energy and positive message.

The assembly also provided a special opportunity to celebrate our pupils’ successes. We presented ‘Pupil of the Month’ and Accelerated Reading certificates, and recognised a wide range of achievements across school life and beyond. There was certainly much to be proud of and thankful for.

As we look ahead to June — our final full month of the school year — this assembly was a timely reminder of the many ways our staff and pupils continue to shine.

The nursery children enjoyed a wonderful day visiting Ark Open Farm in Newtownards with their shared education partner, Crumlin Integrated Preschool.

They had great fun on a tractor ride around the farm and enjoyed the opportunity to handle and feed a variety of animals, including reptiles, chicks, rabbits, goats and lambs. After a delicious lunch with their friends, the day ended happily with playtime in the park.

#LearningTogetherGrowingTogether

Today we brought our Reading Partnership Programme to a close for this school year. Coordinated by our Literacy co‑ordinator, Mrs. Matthews, this valuable initiative provides one‑to‑one reading support for a number of children across the school.

We are incredibly grateful to our dedicated volunteers for giving their time so generously each week. Their encouragement and support make a real difference to our pupils’ confidence and enjoyment of reading.

A special word of thanks to John, Brenda and Amy for their commitment and enthusiasm throughout the year. We truly appreciate all they have contributed and look forward to working together again when the programme resumes next year.

Congratulations to our amazing Year 4 pupils who celebrated their First Holy Communion on Saturday 16th May in Mater Dei Church. 

The sun shone brightly and the children all looked fantastic and played their parts so well. 

Thanks to our school choir and staff for their lovely music on the day, to Canon Colm for a beautiful service, to all our staff who helped with refreshments in the school hall after the service and to our Year 4 team for all their hard work in preparing the children.

A very special and memorable day for our wonderful Year 4 girls and boys, their families and our school community! 

Lord Jesus, come to me.

Lord, Jesus, give me your love.

Lord Jesus, come to me and give me yourself.

Lord Jesus, friend of children, come to me.

Lord Jesus, you are my Lord and my God.

Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ.

Amen.

On Sunday morning, 71 children and their families enjoyed a fantastic junior parkrun at Moira Demesne. It was wonderful to see such great participation, with Evie’s dad kindly volunteering to support the event.  Evie from Miss McMullan/Miss Ayre’s P6 class secured an impressive PB!

Mrs. Campbell took on the important role of tail walker, accompanied by her daughter Lucy. As tail walkers, they made sure everyone finished safely — it also means they came last so everyone else was in front.

Junior parkrun is a free, fun, and friendly weekly event, and we encourage all families to get involved.

Our next outing will take place on 7th June at Antrim Castle Gardens, and we would love to see even more of our school community there.

https://images.parkrun.com/blogs.dir/2023/files/2019/10/junior-parkrun-code.jpg

https://www.parkrun.org.uk/antrimcastlegardens-juniors/

Our netballers displayed excellent skill, determination, and teamwork during their matches at Crumlin Community Centre on Friday 15th June.  The girls played three games in total, beginning with an impressive 7–0 victory against Loanends Team 1. Their second match against Loanends Team 2 proved more challenging, finishing with a score of 0–3. In their final game, the team showed great resilience to secure a well-earned 0–0 draw against St Aloysius.

Throughout the day, the standard of teamwork and skill was outstanding, and the girls represented the school with pride.

We look forward to seeing them in action again on 19th June

We were delighted that Johnny from Sustrans was available to come in to school today to offer a 'Learn To Cycle' afternoon to some of our Year 6 pupils.

He demonstrated the importance of getting good balance on your bike by removing the pedals and everyone had a try at moving around the playground simply by balancing.

Once everyone was feeling a bit more confident, the pedals were put on the bikes again and it was wonderful to see how happy and confident everyone was at trying to cycle, with some of the group able to do this very quickly.

Everyone was very proud of themselves and are looking forward to trying this out at home and building on their cycling skills.

We had a fantastic day at the Ballymacricket Cup tournament, where forty children proudly represented St. Joseph’s. All of our players performed exceptionally well, demonstrating excellent skill levels and outstanding sportsmanship throughout the day.

One of our girls’ teams progressed to the semi-final, where they were narrowly defeated by Moneynick, whom they had previously beaten during the group stages. One of our boys’ teams finished joint top of their group alongside St. Oliver Plunkett’s and Ballymacricket, but unfortunately missed out on a semi-final place due to goal difference. Our other boys’ team reached the final of the Shield competition and were narrowly beaten by the host team.

We would like to extend our sincere thanks to Ballymacricket and Glenavy GAC for organising such a superb tournament and for their warm hospitality. We are also very grateful to our amazing parents for their support with transport, their encouragement on the day, and, of course, the much-appreciated extra supplies of Jaffa Cakes.

Mr. Traynor, Mr. McKenna and a group of our P5 pupils had a very enjoyable and memorable experience at the Creative Connections Celebration Day, held in the stunning Guildhall in Derry.

From the outset, it was clear this was a very special occasion. We were warmly welcomed and treated to a delicious breakfast, alongside pupils and staff from schools right across Ireland. With over 40 schools and more than 160 pupils present, the atmosphere was vibrant, celebratory and full of creativity.

The day was packed with exciting opportunities for our pupils to explore and express their creativity. They took on the fun challenge of designing and making their own ducks in under a minute, explored the Guildhall on a guided tour capturing unique patterns and architectural details through photography, and enjoyed an exclusive visit to the Derry Girls exhibition.  A standout moment was the lively and interactive Human Orchestra, which brought great energy and excitement to the group, before the day concluded. 

In the lead-up to the event, Mr McKenna’s Year 5 class took part in a Creative Connections filming project, where a professional crew captured the pupils sharing their artwork and drama and reflecting on their creative journey. They spoke confidently about their experiences, and we were very proud to see them featured in the official Celebration Day video.

We would like to extend our sincere thanks to Kelly, Alanna and all those involved in organising such an inspiring and memorable event. It was a wonderful day that celebrated creativity, collaboration and confidence—leaving our pupils with experiences they will treasure for years to come.

Well done, Year 5—you should be incredibly proud of your creativity!