Tomorrow, Saturday 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 eve of 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.

We are delighted to begin our New Year by announcing that the Down and Connor Catholic Schools' Support Service have been in contact with us to inform us that we have been awarded the Spirit of Catholic Education Award for the development of our Sacred Space in school.

We are so proud of our school.  Our caring and inclusive Catholic ethos puts our children at the centre of all we do - what lovely news to begin 2024!

Please find below a link to our Christmas News @ St Joseph's for 2023.

https://sway.office.com/CU8DHhX02HeJdX4P?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 2024!

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 with representatives from across the school and the Friends of St Joseph' s present to draw the lucky winning tickets. 

The winning tickets were:

1st Prize – Children's Bike from Hickland's Cycles donated by Oaktree Day care - Jack Mallon Year 5

2nd Prize - £30 Ballymac Voucher - Evelyn Doyle Year 2

3rd Prize – Omniplex Voucher and Nando’s Voucher - Mrs. Cowan (Leia Cowan Year 3)

4th Prize – The Chip Factory Voucher Glenavy - Jaxon Doyle Nursery Unit

5th Prize – Fiddlers Inn Voucher - Coirle wall Year 6

6th Prize – 3 Months Membership (The Little Gym) - Mrs. Okpan (Tokini Okpan Year 1)

7th Prize – Crooked Glen Voucher - Mrs. Lemon (Sarah Lemon Year 1)

8th Prize – Christmas Hamper - Emily Magee Year 6

9th Prize – HP Printer (Tesco) - Katie Canning Year 6

10th Prize – Christmas Bouquet ( The Flower Bee Crumlin) - Mrs. Fleming - Madisyn Fleming (Year 4)

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. 

Crumlin Community Residents Draw

Many thanks to Crumlin Community Residents for the donation of prizes to be used in a free school draw.  Winners were:

£50 Smyths Voucher - Floyd Finnegan Year 2

£30 Dan's Fruit Voucher - Aoife McCabe Year 1

£20 Tesco Voucher - Tokini Okpan Year 1

Christmas Hamper - James Batchelor Year 7

Children's Christmas Hamper

Congratulations to Logan Grummer (Year 5), winner of the Children's Christmas Hamper.  Logan is pictured here with his teacher, Mrs. Downey and Mrs. Doran who drew the winning ticket. 

Congratulation Logan and Enjoy!

Russell's Food & Drink Colouring Competition

Congratulations to the winners of Russell's Colouring Competition.  They were:

Niamh Phelan Year 2

Caleb Quinn Year 3

Daire McLarnon Year 6

Hannah Avarachan Year 7

Thank you for your continued support!

What an entrance Santa made to St Joseph's, all the way from the North Pole, for our whole school community on Christmas Jumper Day. 

Santa's sleigh was in getting repaired this morning for Christmas Eve so he decided to use the Winters' Limousine Company for that added touch of comfort.

Thanks Santa for coming along and meeting and chatting to the boys and girls - they loved it!  They have all been soooo good!

What an array of glitz and Christmas glamour there was present in school today when both pupils and staff donned their Christmas jumpers, with lots of accessories to complete the look and add to the Christmas cheer!  

There was lots happening today in school with the day kicking off with a visit from Santa, our Christmas Ballot being drawn, a special Christmas lunch in the canteen, a balloon party in the nursery unit and lots of Christmas class parties. 

We certainly are getting into the festive spirit!

#onlyfourmoresleeps

We celebrated the end of another very successful term with our End of Term Christmas Golden Awards for Years 1-3 and Years 4-7.

These assemblies included the presentation of subject awards, December Pupil of the Month, Term 1 Principal Endeavour and Accelerated Reading Certificates.  Mr. Traynor also spoke to us about the importance of staying safe during the Christmas Break and wished all the pupils and staff a very Happy Christmas.    Achievement in a variety of extra-curricular areas outside of school was also acknowledged and celebrated. Well done everyone - a super talented bunch of children we have here at St. Joseph's! 

Our boys and girls have been busy over the past few weeks singing within the community.

Here they are at Tescos doing what they do best ..... singing their hearts out!

#Away in a Manger ..... #Silent Night

“The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.” — John 1: 14

Congratulations to our Year 7 pupils who led a beautiful Carol Service in Mater Dei. Those who attended were so impressed with the reading, singing, and dramatic talent of the boys and girls.

Thank you to the Year 7 team who organised the event and well done to all involved.

"I heard the bells on Christmas Day

Their old familiar carols play

And wild and sweet, the words repeat

Of peace on earth, good-will to men."

Our Friday Forest School After-Schools Club celebrated the end of another successful programme by reflecting on the different activities completed over the past few weeks whilst enjoying Christmas smores around a campfire.  With adult assistance the children melted marshmallows and sandwiched them in between chocolate biscuits - these were all vegan to accommodate those with a milk allergy.  The children also enjoyed some free exploratory play making outdoor decorations in our Eco Garden to complete the final week.  A great time was had by all.

Merry Christmas from all our Nature Rangers!