What a star Mark Weed has been to St. Joseph’s this year! A Sports Coach student and former pupil of the school, Mark has more than paid back what we gave him by giving of his free time to help with sporting activities. Mark has come into school every Tuesday and Friday this session to help teachers deliver the sports programme and this term he has turned his talents to Golf. P5 and P7 are both learning the technical aspects of the game and Mark has ably assisted Mrs McLean and Miss Boyd to deliver the programme.
Continue reading Golf comes to St Joseph’s!
Tag Archives: St. Joseph’s
St Joseph’s lift the Challenge Cup!
Excitement ran high on Thursday 24 May when a number of local schools put forward a team to play for the local ‘Challenge Cup’ with the P6 & P7 boys of St. Joseph’s Primary School bringing home the trophy. The final game was a 2-1 win for the team with Robbie Livingston setting up the school to claim victory with the first of 2 goals. However, the winning goal came in the last few minutes of the game when Ben Malone placed the ball firmly in the back of the net.
Samba at St. Joseph’s
Friday 17 May was a fantastic day at St. Joseph’s with P6 having their first of three lessons on ‘Samba Drumming’. So good was P6 on their first day of lessons that Ms England (drumming teacher) commented on the speed of their progress. It was such a beautiful day that Ms England took the children outside to practise their drumming. That, in turn, brought out the whole school as Ms Collins invited everyone to enjoy the session and join in with some dancing.
iCycle training at St Joseph’s Primary
Parents are leading the way at St. Joseph’s in iCycle training. A group of parents: Mrs O’Hara, Mrs Russell, Mrs Moy and Mrs Greig have been involved in ably instructing the P6 children in the practical aspects of the programme whilst staff have looked on and learned. The teaching staff have approached the theory of iCycle training in class sessions with a fine balance of practical skills being taught mainly by previously trained parents.
St Joseph’s Holy Communion
Saturday 11th May was a day of massive celebration for the P4 children of St. Joseph’s Primary School and their families as the children received the Sacrament of Holy Communion for the first time. Rain did not dampen the spirits of the excited youngsters as they turned out in their finery for this very special day at St. Joseph’s Church. The children were ably supported by many family members and the church was full to bursting.
Miss Boyd receives a Blue Peter Badge
It is not unusual for teaching and support staff to receive letters of praise and thanks from the pupils at St Joseph’s in Helensburgh – the ethos and pastoral care is almost palpable and many who visit us often comment as much. Everyone’s a winner and the children greatly appreciate the staff. However, so impressed with her teacher was Isobel in P7 that she wrote to Blue Peter to ask for Miss Boyd to be given a Blue Peter badge because, as Isobel said, ‘Miss Boyd is just great!’.
Continue reading Miss Boyd receives a Blue Peter Badge
A Hearty Thanks from P.7 at St. Joseph’s!
Primary 7 children thoroughly enjoyed their Outdoor Residential Week at Ardlui. Not only did they thrive in the great outdoors but they have returned with a qualification in first aid training! They learned about the skills required, from dealing with minor cuts to responding to emergency situations. This was carried out in a very practical way with the children being involved in role play scenarios. The staff from Loch Lomond Outdoor Centre were delighted to put their own recent first aid training into practice.
Continue reading A Hearty Thanks from P.7 at St. Joseph’s!
INNOVATIONS IN LEADERSHIP
Spearheading the authority’s priority of developing leadership in schools, St. Joseph’s in Helensburgh has already started on the journey. With reports soon to be distributed to children, the staff were treated to a refresher course on the process of on-line reporting on SEEMIS by a member of the clerical team! Staff gathered for a twilight session as Mrs Diamond used her excellent ICT skills to lead the teaching staff through a presentation. Teaching staff were once again grateful for her input and willingness to share her skills.
Continue reading INNOVATIONS IN LEADERSHIP
CONCERT FEVER
Excitement hit fever pitch last week at St. Joseph’s in Helensburgh as the children began auditions for the end of session concerts ‘Oliver’ and ‘Peter Pan’. After a week of ‘rehearsals’ by the children in the playground, they were ready to audition. Excellent renditions of ‘oom pah pah’ and ‘ you’ve got to pick a pocket or two’ among other songs saw some very talented children perform to their audience of peers and judges. Confidence was bubbling over – evidence in abundance that children at St Joseph’s are ‘Confident Individuals’.
Continue reading CONCERT FEVER
Greeen Flag erected at St Joseph’s Primary
The children, parents and staff of St. Joseph’s Primary were delighted to see their Green Flag finally erected this week. A very enthusiastic Eco Group were very pleased as they are very committed in their mission to make all things ‘Eco-Friendly’ at St Joseph’s. Each year the Eco Committee encourage all children and staff to audit the school for ‘green’ capacity and from this audit produce their own ‘Eco Plan’ for the school.
St Joseph’s P.3 visit to the Fire Station
Primary 3 of St Joseph’s Primary enjoyed a visit to Helensburgh fire station as part of their interdisciplinary topic, “Emergency Services.”
The crew were very welcoming to us, allowing the children to see their training buildings, spray water from the hoses, try on real uniforms and sit in the fire engine. The children enjoyed every moment of their visit and we have the photographs to prove it!
Continue reading St Joseph’s P.3 visit to the Fire Station
P4 Weather Report
As part of P4’s Weather topic , the children had the opportunity to present their own forecast, which was filmed by one of our children’s dads, Mr Mark Heathcote, a Video Journalist. The children were full of encouragement for each other and those who couldn’t be persuaded to present, became sound technicians instead. After filming, the children asked numerous questions of their guest, who was very impressed with the range of enquiries being aimed at him. One child wanted to know how old a person has to be to get started in this line of work, so maybe we have a budding Video Journalist in our midst! Continue reading P4 Weather Report
Fairlyand
The children of Primary 2 in St Joseph’s Primary, Helensburgh really enjoyed their interdisciplinary topic on ‘Fairyland’. They met many fairyland characters and participated in a wealth of active learning experiences. The final outcome of the topic was open day for parents which was very successful. Parents participated in activities with their own children and wrote their positive comments in the visitors book.
World Book Day at St Joseph’s Primary
World Book Day at St. Joseph’s Primary School in Helensburgh on Thursday 7 March was a wonderful success. The children came dressed as a character from their favourite book which prompted lots of discussion in all classes about books and literacy. New literary interests were sparked as children were given various opportunities to share their knowledge on their favourite books and other children were able to question them on their choices.
Catholic Education Week
February 3 – 8 February was catholic education week and it was greatly celebrated at St Joseph’s in Helensburgh. The focus began on Education Sunday with the Head Teacher speaking to the parish congregation at Sunday Masses about the benefits of catholic education and, more specifically, about the community of learning and faith at St Joseph’s Primary school. In addition, an invitation was extended to all parishioners to join the children at prayer in school during this year of faith at various monthly masses and rosary prayers. Continue reading Catholic Education Week
St Joseph’s P7 Trip to Ardlui
P7 of St Joseph’s Primary in Helensburgh arrived safely at Loch Lomond Outdoor Centre on Monday for their residential week of ‘outdoor learning’. After some refreshments, they were on course for a full day of activities. On offer for groups the first day was archery, hill walking and compass work. The children were enthralled by the hill-walking in particular as they were lead up the hills and passed by a waterfall, with one of the children describing the experience as ‘Epic’. One other child commented that he hadn’t understood the term ‘hill-walking’ until he was involved in it himself! Continue reading St Joseph’s P7 Trip to Ardlui
St Joseph’s Primary nativity concert
This year’s Christmas concert at St Joseph’s Primary, Helensburgh saw the children enjoy another successful production. With much fun involved, the children were sometimes unaware of the expert professionalism of the staff in incorporating just the right mixture of personalisation and choice, relevance, coherence, challenge and enjoyment, breadth, depth and progression. Continue reading St Joseph’s Primary nativity concert
Crazy Hair Day
Advent is a time for giving to charities and the children of St. Joseph’s very much rose to the occasion on ‘Crazy Hair Day’ on Friday 7 December. The children themselves had instigated this fund raising event for the Guide Dogs for the Blind charity, hot on the heels of a visit by one of its benefactors, Mrs Carr and her adorable golden retriever, Michelle. In total the children raised £144.30 by paying for the privilege of coming to school with as crazy a hair ‘do’ as possible. Much laughter was had by all as the staff joined in the fun sporting some questionable hair styles for the day! Continue reading Crazy Hair Day
St Andrew’s Day at St Joseph’s Primary
What a wonderful start to St Andrew’s Day at St Joseph’s Primary, Helens burgh as Colin Smith, a local pipe teacher, ‘piped in’ to school the boys and girls …….and that was just the beginning! Colin then went on to give a presentation on ‘the bagpipes’ and was met with some deep and meaningful questions at questions time like, ‘What was your inspiration to learn the bagpipes?’ (CIA ran P5). EVERY class then went on to perform to each other, everything from poetry to drama of Scottish history, to song……………and even a wonderful rendition of the Canadian Barn Dance by P7. All the staff and pupils joined in the celebration by sporting tartan to school and the celebration of Scottish culture and heritage was alive and kicking……an excellent whole school example of Scottish culture at its best!
Countdown to launch
Children of P.5 in St Joseph’s showcased their excellent creativity and design skills as part of the solar system topic. Children were challenged to design and create a space shuttle, rocket or satellite. As you can see, the finished products are out of this world! Continue reading Countdown to launch
