This week we marked the end of another month in school with our May Golden Assemblies.  This month it was the turn of Mrs. McCallum's Year 1 class to lead our Year 1-3 Assembly and Mrs. Campbell's Year 6 pupils to lead our Year 4-7 Assembly.

Mrs. McCallum's boys and girls delivered an assembly on the theme of 'Our Lady; Queen of Peace' and the assembly from Mrs. Campbell's girls and boys enabled us all to focus on the theme of 'Water Wise Challenges'.  All of the children were wonderful representatives for their class and school.

We also had time to sing Happy Birthday to all of our May boys and girls as well as present our monthly awards, celebrate success outside of school and deliver some important messages.  Well done everyone - it's nearly June and the Summer Holidays are getting even closer!

Congratulations to our amazing Year 4 pupils who celebrated their First Holy Communion on Saturday 18th May in Mater Dei Church. 

They 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 and the Friends of St. Joseph's 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.

SEAG Registration opens on Wednesday 20th May at 9.00am and closes on 20th September 2024.  Only pupils who are registered can sit the Entrance Assessment.

Steps involved:

• Register for a parental account online at www.seagni.co.uk
• Register the pupil and select the centre you would like your child to take the test at.
• Upload a passport sized photograph and a copy of the child's birth certificate.
• If required, provide information for access arrangements. (this can also be completed at a later date)
• Make the £20 payment or provide evidence of Free School Meals entitlement.

If you require any support with this, please do not hesitate to make contact with the school.  Thank you.

A excellent display of skill, determination and teamwork were on display from our boys' and girls' football teams who attended the Ballymacrickett Football Tournament at St. Joseph's GAC.  A wonderful day was had by all in attendance made even better by lots of sunshine and great hospitality.  Congratulations to all for taking part and many thanks to Ballymacrickett Primary School for organising this festival of primary school football!

On Thursday 16th May pupils from the four partner schools came together to celebrate another successful Shared Education Project this year.  They had a great day doing drama, music, team sports, Irish Haka and songs, dance and a movie quiz.  We received hot food and snacks from Crumlin Hub, ice-cream from Mr. CoCo and party bags from Crumlin Residents Collective. It was truly a community event. We would like to thank these organisations for their donations and continued support for our Shared Education Work.

All students received a certificate to praise their efforts following all the work they have completed with their friends in our established partnership.  We look forward to next year and the continuation of our successful work to date.

St. Joseph's marked Mental Health Awareness Week by hosting a Community Partnership Event in school under the guidance of Mrs. O'Doherty.  The very successful evening was an opportunity for the community to come together to find our what services and organisations are available to support individuals and families in the Crumlin area with adult and child well-being; family mental and physical health; health sport and leisure; childcare; library and finance services and developing resilience in children.

Mr. Frank Diamond from ALPS (All Lives Are Precious) opened the evening with an excellent presentation which was emotional and uplifting but very informative.  Frank is renowned across Ireland for working with individuals, families, communities and organisations to help make a difference to their physical and mental health.  He certainly made a very positive impact on all those present on the evening.  As a school we were delighted to be able to present him with a cheque for £400 from our Lenten Charity Campaign which will go same way to supporting the excellent work completed by ALPS. 

We extend a massive thank you to all the wonderful organisations who came along and supported our event by setting up a variety of very informative stalls and providing lots of very beneficial information to those in attendance. Such a wonderful array of support for the families in our school and beyond and so many experts who can provide a wide range of opportunities to enhance the lives of the young and not so young in our homes, school and parish community.  

#supportingmentalhealthawarenessweek

Today we said farewell to Baby Oisin and his mum as we celebrated the end of another very successful Roots of Empathy Programme. 

The children have thoroughly enjoyed getting to know Oisin over the past 27 weeks and watch how he has developed and grown during this period of time. 

We thanks Oisin's mum Ciara for sharing the precious first year of Baby Oisin life with us and for the valuable contribution their presence has made to the lives of the children in our Year 5 class.  We also thank Mrs. McDonnel for co-ordinating and delivering the programme in school.

#wewillmissyou! 

Our Eco-Council organised a Summer Dress Sale in the school hall today, thanks to a generous donation of school dressed from Crumlin Community Collective.  The dressed were on sale for £2.00.  There are still dresses available for purchase from the school office with many sizes available.  With the summer weather approaching the Eco-Council encourage you to call into the school office and grab yourself a bargain while the stock lasts!

Great fun was had by the boys and girls today on Gaelfast Friday.  We as a school really appreciate these sessions which are so beneficial for fundamental skills development. 

The emphasis on today session was on kicking and then on to a conditioned game using the kick pass.  Many thanks to Ryan and Oisin both senior footballers with St James Aldergrove who have also been attending Friday sessions and coaching the children - a really good example of club school links.  Also great to have a spell of really good weather which means we can make good use of St James Aldergrove pitch - thank you!  

We are delighted to announce that we have been successful in being awarded our Eco-Schools Green Flag. This is the 6th Green Flag we have been awarded by Keep Northern Ireland Beautiful.  The Eco-School’s team were very impressed with our school’s work.

They conveyed their congratulations in writing to all concerned - staff and pupils alike, and not forgetting the caretaker and many parents who helped our school achieve its environmental targets.  We will hold the flag for two years and will be reapplying in March 2026.

The assessors made the following comments about the strengths of our school evident in the assessment visit:

• The implementation of different waste initiatives throughout the school has seen a considerable reduction in the use of SUPs with more pupils using refillable bottles, and more recycling bins have been placed in key locations around the school.
• Following the successful Hallowe’en costume and Christmas jumper swap, the uniform swap was a fantastic way of not only reducing textile waste but also helping with the current cost of living crisis. Cash for Clobber is yet another way of ensuring unwanted clothes don’t end up in landfill while offering a financial incentive.
• Excellent use of the outdoor spaces to grow your own produce with every class having their own particular area. The introduction of the after schools Forest Schools club is a further way to improve pupils’ experience of learning outdoors.

We look forward to attending the Awards Ceremony in Belfast for the presentation of our Green Flag on Wednesday 19th June.