February 2011

Mrs. Karen Ridley and Mrs. Majella Hatzer with the students who helped run the event.

Romance is in the air in St. Joseph's

Romance was certainly in the air in St. Joseph's. The school was a wash with roses on Friday last, as the school ran its annual charity rose sale. The sale of roses and their distribution was organised by Mrs. Karen Ridley and Mrs. Majella Hatzer with the wonderful assistance of Year 14 students. Hundreds of roses were sold, raising several hundred pounds which will be donated to a local charity. This event which has been running now for several years was a great success, proving that romance is not dead; rather it is alive and kicking in St. Joseph's.

Some of the pupils who attended the DOGS TRUST TALK at St Joseph's,

with education Officer Cathy Clyde assisted by education dog 'Jed'

'DOGS TRUST' VISITS ST. JOSEPH'S

Mrs. Burns, Head of the Learning for Life & Work Department at St. Joseph's, recently invited the charity 'DOGS TRUST' to visit the school to speak about its work. 'Dogs Trust' currently have centres in Dublin, Cork and Ballymena as well as other parts of the UK.
In Citizenship and LLW classes, pupils learn about different aspects of social responsibility. Our collective responsibilities towards our pets was literally brought to Crossmaglen by Dogs Trust Education Officer Cathy Clyde and her rescued stray/education dog 'Jed'.
The work of the Dogs Trust is outlined below and in order to support their efforts, pupils at St. Joseph's had brought in either a tin of dog food or an old blanket. Cathy was overwhelmed at the generosity of the pupils and staff and would like to sincerely thank the people who donated something.

About Dogs Trust

Here's what we do in a nutshell...

　 Each year we care for around 16,000 dogs at our nationwide network of 17 Rehoming Centres. No healthy dog is ever destroyed.

　 We run subsidised neutering campaigns in areas of the UK with the most acute stray dog problems.

　 Our Education Officers give thousands of classroom presentations every year. Free teaching resources are made available to all schools in the UK.

　 Our FREEDOM Project helps pet owners who are fleeing domestic violence by fostering their animals while they start a new life.

　 The HOPE Project gives preventative veterinary care to dogs belonging to homeless people.

　 We advise government on any matters concerning dog ownership.

　 We have established a charity in Ireland that runs a rehoming centre in Dublin.

　 We assist overseas animal welfare charities by training their staff in best practice.


All our work is funded by public generosity.

　

Students preparing for their orienteering task.

ST. JOSEPH'S  STUDENTS WORKING TOWARDS THEIR PRESIDENT'S AWARD

As part of their Presidents Award Programme students from St. Joseph's recently made a visit to Castlewellan Forest Park.  Here they took part in orienteering, map reading and compass skills. They also visited the nearby  Peace Maze in the Forest Park.  It has been recognised as being both the largest and longest maze in the world. The maze was planted in 1998/2000 and it has been noted that at that time pupils from  St. Joseph's were involved in the planting of some of the trees which are now fully matured. The visit was enjoyed by all.