Our Faith Group have been hard at work today.  After deciding on their chosen area for our outdoor sanctuary area and sacred space they got to tidying.  This project led by the Faith Group is in direct response to Pope Francis' Beatitudes - Beatitude Number 4; 'Blessed Are Those Who Care For The Common Home'.  Some of their parents and grandparents were there to give a hand and we thank them for giving up their time and coming along to help.  We also thank Dobbies Garden Centre for their donation of a real Christmas tree which will add a touch of festival spirit to this special area.  We are sure that this space will look amazing when the group have finished all their planned work.

After all this hard outdoor work, the boys and girls enjoyed some treats in Mr. Traynor's office whilst judging the Christmas Nativity Colouring Competition.  They had a difficult time judging with so many wonderful entries but they worked very well together to choose the final entries to be sent off to Missio Ireland in Dublin.  Well done to all who entered the competition and to our Faith Group for their commitment to these projects.

Many thanks to all those who came along to our recent Open Evening.  All those in attendance were taken on a guided tour of our school and its facilities by our excellent Year 7 tour guides.  Staff were on hand to answer any questions as our visitors moved throughout the school. Many thanks also to our Digital Leaders  who showcased a wide range of mathematical and ICT topics and skills and to our wonderful choir who sang so beautifully in the main school hall.  We look forward to our prospective new pupils joining our school and nursery unit in September 2024. 

If your child is starting pre-school or primary school in September 2024, you can apply online from  midday Tuesday 9th January 2024 to midday on Friday 26th January 2024. 

Please note the existing statutory Nursery provision at St Joseph’s Primary School Nursery Unit will be modified to provide 52 full-time nursery places only with effect from 1^st September 2024.  Places for both the nursery unit and main school are not allocated on a first come, first served basis and applications will only be considered after the closing date.

Further information is available on the EA website under the Admissions section at:

https://www.eani.org.uk/parents/admissions

Following on from the success of our Nursery Unit, we are delighted to announce that our primary school has been presented with the Autism NI Impact Award by the NI charity. The award now takes pride of place in our school foyer.  This is indeed a wonderful achievement for our school community and recognition of all the hard work completed!

Many thanks to Julie from BEAM Creative Network and Antrim and Newtownabbey PCSP for delivering 2 very interactive Internet Safety Workshops to our Primary 6 pupils today.

Antrim and Newtownabbey have wriiten to our school to thank us for our contribution to the Peace IV Programme.  The letter thanked our school for the time and commitment we have invested in our local community and how this work during our Summer Scheme 2023 has contributed towards building a legacy of peace and reconcilliation within the Borough. 

Many thanks to the Borough for the resource allocation to facilitate the delivery of this project,  Miss Agnew our Shared Education Co-ordinator for her work in developing and promoting community links and to all the boys and girls who took part in this project.

This Sunday 3rd December marks the First Sunday of Advent.  Today Friday 1st December, Canon Colm called to school to bless our Advent Wreath.  During our Prayer Service we had a number of special readings from Miss Agnew, Mr McCarthy and members of the Year 7 Faith Group.  To conclude the service our Year 7 pupils sang a beautiful rendition of Silent Night.  

After the Service the Advent Wreath was moved to the foyer of our school.  Here the Year 7 Faith Group met to discuss the proper upkeep of our wreath and to share responsibilities for delivering our whole school Advent messages to each class during the month of December. 

After the Blessing of the Wreath, Mr Traynor and Mrs Loughran also presented Canon Colm with two Christmas Hampers donated by the school staff to be used as prizes for the Parish Christmas Bazaar this Sunday 3rd December.

This week we celebrated the beginning of Advent at our November Golden Assemblies.  Our Year 1 pupils lead our Year 1-3 Assembly with a beautiful selection of Christmas songs from their upcoming nativity 'Simply Nativity'.  They certainly put us all in the Christmas mood.  Mrs Haughian's Year 4 class led our Year 4-7 Assembly on the theme of Advent which focused us all on how we can use this time in the build up to Christmas to prepare for the special day.  It reminded us of the importance of love, joy, hope and peace during this festive season. 

In addition to this some important messages were delivered and there was lots to celebrate with the presentation of our monthly awards, some fabulous achievements in our Accelerated Reading Programme and lots of the children shared with us success they had achieved outside of school.  We certainly have a lot of very talented boys and girls.  A massive well done to everyone involved!

Congratulations to The Girls' Football Team who won 3 out of their 5 matches in the recent SW Antrim Primary Schools Indoor Football Tournament reaching the quarter finals.  Great skill, team work and determination was on display today and the girls did an exceptional job representing their school today.  We are very proud of them!

The decorations are up and Christmas rehearsals are in full swing .... it is indeed beginning to look, feel and sound a lot like Christmas at St Joseph's!