On Friday we had the great pleasure of welcoming most of the Primary 7 pupils from our Learning Community to the school. They came from St. Andrew’s and Mount Carmel in Kilmarnock, St. Patrick’s in Auchinleck and St. Sophia’s in Galston. It started off with Mass in St. Matthew’s Church followed by a period in the Modern Languages Department and a period in the PE Department. The transition from Primary to Secondary can be a big step for many pupils and this is the start of a programme in order to ease that as much as possible.
A group of our Higher Modern Studies pupils had a fantastic opportunity to spend last Saturday morning at Kilmarnock Sheriff Court involved in Mock trials. They got fully involved, playing parts as solicitors for the defence and prosecutors as well as ‘the accused’.
Monday 26th was the European Day of Languages and the department organised a number of activities including Home Room tasks and quizzes. There was also a bit of dressing up going on across the school!
I had the pleasure of attending the Saltire and Summit Awards presented by Annabelle Ewing MSP, at Council Headquarters on Monday evening. Pupils from St. Joseph’s and Grange Academy were recognised for the great anti-sectarian work they participated in along with New Farm Community Council.
The school’s Saint Vincent de Paul group presented the ‘Stick your labels’ pledge for the Poverty Alliance to Mr Lang (DHT) and myself this week and I signed the pledge on behalf of the school. This pledge is about challenging the stigma that surrounds poverty.
- Poverty is not inevitable.
- Attitudes matter
- Actions impact attitudes.
This is fantastic group of young people, overseen by Miss Curran in the RE department, who are now away to look at how this can be taken forward across the school.
We have a number of pupils once again participating in the Pope Benedict XVI Caritas Award. Essentially this involves voluntary work being undertaken in the school and in local communities, particularly Parishes. There are 4 Catholic secondary schools in the Galloway diocese and pupils involved in the Caritas Award from St. Joseph’s in Dumfries, St. Matthew’s in Saltcoats and Queen Margaret Academy in Ayr met together here in St. Joseph’s on Tuesday afternoon for a social event and to share experiences and plans for the award.
Finally, well done to all our young people who participated in and represented the school so well in the recent Ayrshire cross country event and thanks to the PE department for preparing them.
Forthcoming Events
- October Week: Monday 10th – Friday 14th October
- Staff Inservice Day: Monday 17th October
- S2 Parents Evening: Tuesday 25th October 4 – 6.30pm
