We were delighted to be one of 29 schools chosen in the Antrim and Newtownabbey Borough Council to partake in the Healthy Kids Program.  Our Year 7 pupils have thoroughly enjoyed the 10 weekly sessions which have had a focus on nutrition, mindfulness and physical activity. 

To celebrate the end of the program, our coach Paul arranged a fun morning for all of the Year 7 children.  Today they had an opportunity to meet at Tescos in Crumlin for an onsite nutritional visit.  This was followed by a visit to Crumlin Leisure Centre  for some fun recreational time.  The mayor was also present to open the new gym at the leisure centre and the children had an opportunity to meet and chat with him.

Many thank to Paul from the council for delivering our weekly sessions and for organising a fun morning of activities to conclude our participation in the program.

#KnowYourselfGrowYourself

Well done to our Credit Union team who reached the All-Ireland 2025 Credit Union Quiz Final in the RDS, Dublin on Sunday 6^th April.  The hotly contested event is run by the Irish League of Credit Unions (ILCU) each year and attracts more than 25,000 participants. From across the 32 counties.

Our school quiz team were in Competition B competing against some teams from post-primary schools.  The questions challenged the children to dig deep into their reserves of knowledge and they did indeed do our school, themselves and their parents proud.   So well done to our four Primary 7 pupils Jenna, Joseph, Sarah and Scarlett and to their parents for their support on the day.  A great achievement competing against over 80 school from across the country!

Our Faith Group had a difficult time selecting the entries from St. Joseph's to be sent to the Missio Ireland Easter Colouring Competition.  They worked well in groups to choose the final entries to be sent off for judging.  Well done to all who entered and to our Faith Group for their judging skills and promotion of Lenten values throughout this special season in the lead up to Easter.

Congratulations to our girls and boys in Primary 1 and Primary 2 who received the weekly Headteacher Award for a variety of wonderful traits.  We are very proud of them all! 

Congratulations to Mr. McCartan, St. Mary’s University College student, on the completion of his recent teaching practice placement in Mrs. Downey’s Year 5 Class. We thank him for all his work over the past seven weeks, and wish him every success in the future.

Stephanie from Time Steps visited  school on Tuesday 23rd April to deliver an interactive workshop with our Year 6 pupils.

During the course of the workshop, pupils had an opportunity to learns lots of Viking facts, engage in storytelling and drama activities and view Viking artefacts to include some weapons and shields they used during the course of their battles and journeys.

A very interactive, informative and enjoyable workshop for our Year 6 pupils on their topic of 'The Vikings'.  Thank you Stephanie!

Congratulations to the Boys' Gaelic Football Team who travelled to Creggan to take part in the SW Antrim 7-a-side Gaelic Football Tournament. 

There was great team work and skill displayed and the boys did St Joseph's proud.

Thank you to Creggan for hosting such a great tournament.

Well done boys!

Our Year 3 pupils have been paired with a Year 7 pupil for the duration of our Paired Reading Programme. The children engaged in three half-hour paired reading sessions per week.   Year 3 children, with the support of their Year 7 partner, selected their Paired Reading books from a stock of books especially chosen for the programme. 

Paired Reading which has two distinct parts - Reading Together and Reading Alone - has been shown to have excellent results for helping children to read, enjoy reading and to develop a positive attitude to reading. 

Those children involved with the programme did indeed have an enjoyable and rewarding literacy experience.  We were delighted with the mutual benefits this paired reading programme has had for both our Year 3 and Year 7 pupils and were delighted to present all those involved with their certificates today.

Congratulation girls and boys - well done!

"A word after a word after a word is power."

This Sunday 30th March is Mother's Day.  Today we marked this special event to honour those special ladies in our school community by hosting a Coffee Morning in school. 

Many thanks to the Friends of St. Joseph's who sponsored the treats and to Rik in the canteen for baking the delicious fresh scones and many traybakes on offer.

A Very Happy Mother's Day from all at St Joseph's!