It been fairly busy the last week or two with pupils involved in a number of different activities. S1 enjoyed a trip to the cinema with the Social Subjects department while some of S2 also had a trip to the cinema with the Modern Languages department. Meanwhile, a groups of S3 pupils enjoyed a tour of Hunterston B Power Station.

With the Feast of St Margaret on 16^th November our pupils from St. Margaret House enjoyed an assembly giving information on St. Margaret, celebrating the success of some pupils in the House as well as a wee game of ‘stand-up’ bingo! This was then followed by a Mass celebrated by Fr. Ben Lodge.

We are working towards becoming a Rights Respecting School and as such were delighted to have been awarded with the Recognition of Commitment Award, the first step in this process. There’s still lots of work to do and we look forward to getting more involvement from pupils and parents as well as staff.

The S1 Parents’ Meeting took place and once again we were delighted with a big turn out from parents. The S1 pupils have settled in well and this was reflected in the many positive reports to parents/carers on the evening.

Congratulations to Emily Johnstone in S3 who recently won the SB Future Chef Ayrshire final with her chicken stir fry and lemon tart. Emily now goes on to the regional final in Glasgow.  Meanwhile Tamzin Corrins in S4 won the Kilmarnock Rotary Club competition with her spicy carrot and parsnip soup, chicken stir fry and lemon tart.  A great achievement for both girls!

We were recently visited by one our former pupils, Olympic Silver medallist Mark Bennett. He came in and showed off his medal and gave a talk to a group of pupils in the PE department.

The group White Eskimo came to the school to perform for our S1 – 3 pupils. Part of the performance was about drug education and addressing peer pressure.

There is a group of pupils involved in an Art mural in Kilmarnock and attended a launch recently.

The Disability Football tournament took place on the school campus recently and a number of our S5 pupils doing the Community Sports Leaders Award did a fantastic job of refereeing the games. A credit to the school!

Forthcoming Events:

• Tuesday 29^th November                 Art Portfolio Presentation
• Wednesday 30^th November           St. Andrew’s House Assembly & Mass
• Thursday 15^th December               Christmas Concert

We had a successful P7 Information evening and S1 Settling in evening recently and were pleased with the turnout from parents. All the departments in school were represented and there was an opportunity for S1 parents to go round the school and see the work that has been taking place so far.  P7 parents were given information on how we will ensure a smooth transition for the pupils as they look towards joining us in August 2017. Part of the induction for the P7 pupils involved a Numeracy Challenge when all the pupils from P7 gathered in the assembly last Wednesday and were led by a group of S3 pupils in some challenging Maths problems.

The Parent Council met recently and at that meeting discussed the plans for consulting on changes to the curriculum and a move to a 33 period week. This has now been issued to all staff and parents and we are in the process of consulting with pupils.

Thanks are due to a group of pupils taking on the role of Poppy Ambassadors, not only going round classes with poppies but also their work on a Remembrance display and helping at the service. Thanks also to the Social Subjects department for their assistance in this. A 2 minute silence was observed in the school at 11am. Mrs Shearer represented the school at opening of the ‘Then and Now’ project on WW1 at Kilmarnock Railway Station along with Zara Ainsworth, Sophie Gallagher, Ava Hepburn and Ann McGiffen who were involved in the project.  And on Remembrance Sunday the school was once again represented at the Cenotaph.     

The Teachers’ Mass for Galloway Diocese took place on Tuesday in St. John’s in Stevenston. This was a lovely Mass celebrated by Bishop Nolan. I had the pleasure of reading the Bidding Prayers at the Mass – see what happens when you turn up early!

Our Christmas Parcel Campaign has now been launched and our initial target is 700 tins by the beginning of December.

Forthcoming Events:

• Tuesday 22^nd November:                              S1 Parents Evening
• Tuesday 22^nd November:                              S5/6 Reports issued
• Wednesday 23^rd November:                       S6 Inspire Day

Many thanks to those parents/carers who came along to the S2 Parents’ Reporting Evening last Tuesday. Your support at evenings like this makes such a difference to the progress of our young people.

I had the pleasure of attending the East Ayrshire Instrumental Service Gala Concert last Wednesday evening. There was such a wealth of talent on display from across the authority – there must have been a large number of very proud parents/carers in the Grand Hall that evening!

On Monday we had ‘Day of the Dead’ parade in the school. The Mexican fiesta of Día de los Muertos, or Day of the Dead, takes place over the first two days of November. It is a Catholic Christian ritual intermixed with folk culture. The Spanish Conquistadores introduced All Saints’ Day (Día de Todos los Santos) and All Souls’ Day (Día de Todos las almas) to Mexico. The conquered Native Americans took the opportunity to incorporate their own traditions for honouring the dead into these two days. The resulting holiday is a unique mixture of the two cultures.  The fiesta includes spending time in cemeteries, making shrines to the dead, and displaying artistic skulls and skeletons. Many thanks to Mrs Kirkwood, Mrs Whiteford and Mrs McDaid for organising this event.

Tuesday was the Feast of All Saints. We had 3 Masses throughout the day in St. Matthew’s church and I would like to thank Fr. Martin Chambers and Fr. Stephen McGrattan for their help on that day and their general support to the school throughout the year. I would like to welcome Fr. McGrattan to Kilmarnock in his new role as Parish Priest of St. Joseph’s and St. Michael’s. A warm welcome to Fr. Philip Kitchen who has now taken over as Parish Priest in St. Johns in Cumnock, Our Lady & St. Patricks Auchinleck and St. Thomas’ Muirkirk.  And a fond farewell, and many thanks,  to Fr. Stephen Latham as he moves to Prestwick as Parish Priest of St Quivox and St. Ann’s, Mossblown.

November is a month in the Church when we remember and pray for our family and friends who have died. The photo at the top has some of the lovely messages from pupils that are displayed in the street area of the school.

The Inspire Day for S4 pupils took place on Wednesday. There is an Inspire day each year for all year groups  looking at Personal and Social Development activities. The S4 day involved various talks and workshops for the pupils including Teambuilding, Navy Careers, Skills Development Scotland, and Personality Typing.

I met with our School Council this week. This is a group that is made up of 2 representatives from each year group Pupil Council. We discussed the issues raised at the Pupil Councils and how we can move forward in the school.  We spoke about the learning and teaching taking place, the use of iPads and how we could involve this group in developing our Merit system in the school linked to the school values. What a great group of pupils who represented their colleagues so well!

Forthcoming Events:

• 7^th November              Parent Council
• 11^th November            Remembrance Service in school
• 13^th November            School represented at the Remembrance Service in Kilmarnock
• 22nd November          S5/6 Reports issued
• 22^nd November            S1 Parents’ Evening (4 – 6.30pm)
• 23^rd November            S6 Inspire Day

We are all back now after an enjoyable week off school. Staff and pupils appear well rested and up for the busy stretch to Christmas!

Before the holidays we had our Parent Council meeting at which we discussed this year’s results, and more importantly the plans that PTs and departments are putting in place to work towards improving them further this year.

The Modern Languages department have now launched their trip to Barcelona and have a group of pupils now looking forward to a trip at the end of June 2017 – it will be here before we know it! The English department have also now organised their trip to London again next June with another group of our pupils.

Staff returned on Monday for an Inservice day. The day started by looking at the new document Developing in Faith, a resource for evaluating the work we do in Catholic Schools, moving on to look at the Charter for Catholic Schools.  A group of staff met to discuss how the school moves forward in achieving the Rights Respecting School Award.  This was a positive meeting, discussing how we get pupils and parents involved as well.  All the staff came together again for an excellent presentation from Kevin Clancy on ‘The power of leadership in improving learning and teaching’.  Departments then worked together in the afternoon in taking forward aspects of their departmental improvement plan.

Tuesday saw the last of our S1 retreats.  These have been very successful and we are grateful to Fr. Martin for his involvement in these.

On Tuesday S1 pupils were treated to the fantastic road safety drama ‘The Nine Lives of Roddy Hogg. This was a great performance by the Baldy Bane Theatre company.

Forthcoming Events:

• w/b 24^th October              Pupil Council meetings
• Tuesday 25^th October     S2 Parents Reporting Evening
• 25^th October                       S4 Reports issued

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 26^th 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

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