Dr Bike (aka Johnny from Sustrans) was in school today to inspect and check all the bikes in the bike stands to ensure that they were safe to cycle. 

It was great to see so many bikes and thankfully they’re mostly all in working order – some needed a bit of air in their tyres, some needed the brakes tightened – but it was lovely to see everyone collecting their bike at the end of the day knowing that it was safe and ready to use.

Johnny worked all morning checking the bikes and was delighted to see so many bikes in school today!

Here’s to lots of safe cycling over the next few months!

Well done to our pupils who represented St. Joseph's at the SW Antrim Allianz Cumann na mBunscol Quiz 2025 hosted today by St. Brigid's Ballymena.  The children performed very well and showed a wonderful knowledge in Irish culture, politics, history, geography and Gaelic games. 

Our attendance at the quiz does indeed show the commitment of St. Joseph's to supporting the ethos and events of Cumann na mBunscol both on and of the pitch.

We were delighted today to be presented with a cheque for £3,600 from the Friends of St. Joseph's.  This money will be used to purchase two new interactive whiteboards for our Year 7 classrooms.  

Many thanks to our PTA for all their efforts and to our school community for supporting all the various activities!

#TogetherEveryoneAchievesMore

Today we gathered together for our Year 1-3 and Year 4-7 assemblies to mark the beginning of a new Term in school.  By gathering together we had an opportunity to say Happy New Year to each other and pray that 2025 would be a year filled with lots of blessings for ourselves and our families.  

We also had an opportunity to reinforce the message 'Be Bright, Be Seen'.  Indeed as part of the Education Authority Campaign we will be encouraging all children to wear reflective clothing and high visibility items especially during the dark mornings and evenings.  

At our assemblies we also celebrated our Christmas and New Year birthdays and collected our Pebble Points from each Year Group as part of our whole school reward system.  Mr. Traynor spoke about our character trait for January which is 'Honesty'.  We will develop this further in our classrooms and will discuss the following points in class:

• Compare and contrast the words ‘honest’ and ‘dishonest’
• The consequences of taking other people’s belongings.
• Telling tales - why some are important to discuss and others not.
• Cheating in games - how this leads to children not wanting to play

There was lots to celebrate with many of our Year Groups achieved their first Year Group targets and will therefore have the opportunity to choose a Year Group reward.  We look forward to collecting lots more points towards our Year Group targets throughout January.   Well done girls and boys!

Here's wishing everyone a New Year filled with health, happiness, and new adventures!

There have been lots of amazing individual and class achievements with our Accelerated Reading Programme during Term 1.  The word count continues to rise along with the number of Word Millionaires. 

It was the turn of Mrs. Wray's Year 6 class to celebrate as deserving class winners from Term1.  They were rewarded with a class party for their efforts. 

Keep up the excellent reading ...... who will be our class winners in Term 2?

#watchthisspace #lovetoread

As we begin Term 2 we were reminded today of the importance of the charity work we do in St. Joseph's and the immense impact it has on the lives of those who we help and support. 

Today we received our certificate from Team Hope, who help vulnerable children overseas.  By being part of the 2024 Shoebox Appeal the St. Joseph's school community has ensured that children in Kosovo will not only be receiving essentials like toiletries, clothes and school supplies but the joy of toys, sweets and other creative wows!  What a lovely thought as we begin a new year to know that we as a school community have had such a meaningful impact on those less fortunate than ourselves.  Many thanks to our school community for your generosity and continued support!

Today, Monday 6th January, we celebrate the Feast of the Epiphany. 

The Epiphany is a special date when we celebrate how a star led the Magi - also known as the Three kings or the Wise Men - to visit the baby Jesus after he had been born.  On the Feast of the Epiphany members of our Faith Group added the Three Wise Men to our school crib to mark this special occasion. 

A prayer for this Special Day:

Father of light,
Today you reveal to people of faith your Word made flesh.
Your light is strong, your love is sure.
Draw us beyond the limits of this world into your eternal life.
We make this prayer through Christ our Lord.

Amen.

Please find below a link to our Christmas News @ St Joseph's for 2024.

https://sway.cloud.microsoft/upL8bihkRDlOzBNf?ref=Link

We would like to wish our school community a happy, peaceful and safe Christmas break and every blessing for good health and happiness in 2025!

From all at St Joseph's!

FRIENDS OF ST JOSEPH'S CHRISTMAS BALLOT

Many thanks to all those who bought tickets to support the Friends of St Joseph's Christmas Ballot. 

The draw took place in school today.  Santa's elves were present along with representatives from the pupil council and the Friends of St Joseph' s to draw the lucky winning tickets. 

The winning tickets were:

1st Prize – Bike (Hickland Cycles) - Oaktree Daycare: Scarlett Collins

2nd Prize - Omniplex Voucher and Nando's Voucher: Danielle Lavery

3rd Prize – Lily's Voucher: Tracy Herdmann

4th Prize – Greedy Goat Voucher: Clare Mallon

5th Prize – The Chip Factory Voucher: Sinead Doyle

6th Prize – The Flower Bee Voucher: Adam Bell

7th Prize – Swedish Massage Voucher: James McConaghy

8th Prize – Fiddler's Inn Voucher: Lucy Campbell

9th Prize – Family Photo by Mark McCullagh Photography: Anne Burnett

10th Prize – £25 Crown Paints Voucher - Ross Farm Supplies: Lucy Campbell

11th Prize - £30 Voucher - Donna's Hair: Ava Murray

12th Prize - £20 Meat Voucher - B. Price Butchers: Reuben Fee

Many thanks to all those who donated prizes - your support is much appreciated! 

And - many thanks to all those involved in the Friends of St Joseph's.  

All monies raised will be used for the benefit of all the children in the school. 

Children's Christmas Hampers

Congratulations to Brendan McGarry and Grace McPhillips, winners of the Children's Christmas Hampers.  Well done and enjoy!

Thank you for your continued support.  Happy Christmas!