Today Year 7EA came together with our partner schools to celebrate the diversity in our culture.  Following on from our Irish and Spanish lessons,  we invited a few members from the Ulster Scot’s Society to join us today to explore the musical and costume traditions and the history of the language and how it is incorporated into how we speak today.

Alan played the bagpipes and showed us the traditional costume for parades and special events.  Matthew explained the history of the Ulster Scots settlements, origins of the language and how we use these words nowadays and he taught us a funny song called 'Ye canne push yer Granne off the Bus!'  We enjoyed a tasty breakfast too and got out to play in the outdoor learning area.

We had great fun learning and playing together!

 As part of our World Book Day celebrations a number of our Year 6 and 7 pupils had the opportunity to participate in an Adobe Creative Workshop led by Adobe trainer George.

The children used the online programme Adobe Express to create posters of their favourite books.  This provided them with an excellent opportunity to develop their skills in utilising different design tools, text editing and picture formatting.  The children thoroughly enjoyed the workshop and produced some excellent posters to highlight and showcase some classic books which they have enjoyed reading.

Year 5 had a visit from NI Water.  The workshop provided all of the Year 5 children with an opportunity to learn first hand about the vital services NI Water provides  .The presenters were keen to tell the children lots of interesting facts about water, how they deliver it to our homes and then treat the wastewater before returning it safely to the environment.  A very informative and engaging session - Thank you NI Water!

The Pharmacy in Schools programme raises awareness of self-care and community pharmacy services for common childhood ailments such as common colds, diarrhoea, hay fever, head lice and sore throats.

Using a health literacy approach and considering the importance of medication safety the lessons enable  children to understand health professionals and health services, the role of a pharmacist, common childhood ailments, and how we can access and understand health information. Co-produced with a range of organisations across pharmacy, education, health, community and voluntary sectors and academia the programme   includes lesson plans and resources to support delivery of    Personal Development and Mutual Understanding area of   learning of the Northern Ireland Curriculum.

With staff having been trained in the delivery of this programme, during the week commencing Monday 4th March we had a focus on the delivery of this programme to all classes throughout the school.

Year 7 were very lucky to participate in an online Art Project for 'World Book Day'.  Artist Sinead Mc Dermott lead the online workshop on the theme of the novel, 'The Secret Garden'.  This was a wonderful opportunity to engage the pupils in the magic of literature through art. 

Using pastels, pencils and paint, Sinead helped the children to shade, design and blend colour and effect.  It was a wonderful experience which was full of joy, imagination and inspiration.  The end result - some absolutely amazing works of art! 

Today is International Women's Day followed by Mother's Day on Sunday.  Today we marked these special events 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 the canteen for baking the delicious fresh scones and shortbread on offer.

Happy International Woman's Day

and

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

On Thursday 7th March we celebrated World Book Day in St. Joseph's.  For us in St. Joseph's, EVERY DAY is World Book Day.  We have been so busy this Term with our Silent and Accelerated Reading, pairing up with Reading Partners in Primary 3 and Primary 7 and reading with our teachers in class.  

On World Book Day, the children participated in a variety of events, to include:

• Some Year Groups joined hosts Maddie Moate and Joe Tasker, alongside a line-up of incredible authors including Alex Falase-Koya, space scientist Dr. Sheila Kanani, comedian and author Rosie Jones and official World Book Day illustrator Vivian Truong for the World Book Day Live lesson.  Pupils were able to 'dive deep' into fiction and non-fiction and explore different genres to help them design a pop-up library space where we can all come together to read.
• Other classes created comic strips of their favourite books, read their favourite stories in class or listened to audio stories and tips from famous authors.  

We hope the children enjoy spending their World Book Day tokens and treat themselves to a new book.  Tokens are valid until

Congratulation to our wonderful Primary 3 boys and girls who celebrated the Sacrament of Reconciliation with Canon Colm on Wednesday 6th March, in Mater Dei Church.  They were just amazing - a real credit to their families and their teachers and classroom assistants and indeed their school.  Well done boys and girls.

Following First Confession the pupils celebrated as a year group with cake and a party on their return to school.

• Primary 7 visited Antrim this morning to take part in the 2024 Bee Safe Event. This event is tailored towards Year 7 pupils and informs them about how to react and deal with challenging situations that they potentially may be faced with over the coming years, as they move on to their new schools.  Each agency present used interactive scenarios and role-play exercises to encourage the pupils to think for themselves. 

   

  BeeSafe covered: bus safety; fire safety; safety in the home; safe use of the Internet; staying safe around electricity; personal safety; farm safety; water safety and how to act if approached by strangers.  Pupils were also provided with a healthy snack and received a goody-bag filled with stationary for their pencil cases. An afternoon well spent!

   

Many thanks to the Run-Anon Running Club in Crumlin for their very kind donation of £400 towards school funds.  The £400 will be used to support the introduction of Freckle in Year 6. 

Freckle is an online mathematics programme which support pupils to achieve their best results through personalised maths practice and with activities tailored to pupils' individual abilities.  

Many thanks again - we really appreciate the support!