Welcome to my new blog, where I hope to give you regular updates on what is happening in St. Joseph’s.   There will be newsletters throughout the school year and Ms Ramsay in the English department has a great team of pupils working away on the first edition.

We are now back at school 2 weeks and it has been a great start for many of our pupils. Our new S1 have settled in well and reports from teachers have been very positive so far.

iPad evenings took place for the remaining year groups who had not yet received them. These have now been distributed across the school and on the whole are proving to be very successful.  There are a few glitches but we have the authority’s IT department working with us to smooth these out.

School photographs took place on Monday 22^nd August.  Parents who wish to purchase photographs should complete the form and return to the school office.

A lovely Mass took place in St. Matthew’s for the investiture of our Pupil Leadership Team and our Caritas pupils. Fr. Martin celebrated the Mass and we were lucky enough to be joined by Fr. Stephen Leathem, Fr. Ben Lodge, Fr Stephen McGrattan and some parents and family.  Pupils had an opportunity after the Mass to hear from the priests some of the opportunities they could help out with in the community.  We have had great success with pupils achieving the Pope Benedict XVI Caritas award over the years and so we are delighted that around 30 young people are undertaking this once again – a great number for a school of our size.

An information evening for parents took place for pupils applying to UCAS this year. We have been very successful with pupils going on to Higher Education and this year does not look any different. Many of the pupils also attended a UCAS Higher Education convention in Ayr to gather more information.

On Sunday 28^th August, a number of staff and pupils went ‘Off the Beatson Track’, raising money for this great cause.  Everyone managed to finish successfully with no injuries – only a few tired legs!  So far we have raised almost £1300.  Many thanks to those of you who have already supported us so generously. If you wish to donate, follow the link:

https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/st-josephs-academy-kilmarnock

Some Upcoming Events:

• Parent Council AGM:                                                     5^th September
• S1 Retreats                                                                      September
• S4/5/6 Awards Ceremony                                            13^th September
• September Weekend                                                    16^th – 19^th September
• P7/S1 Mass of Welcome                                               23^rd September

Dan Cardle

HT