St Joseph’s schools hoist a new Rice flag
On Friday, May 5th, the students of St. Joseph’s C.B.S. Primary and Secondary Schools were raising a new, specially designed flag to celebrate the unique spirit of the school and to mark the start of a focus on positive mental health for students.
The new Edmund Rice Flag, was also being raised across the country by the 95 schools who are also members of the Edmund Rice Schools Trust (ERST).
The flag was designed by a Corkbased first year student attending Edmund Rice College Carrigaline. Across the country, the individual crests of the other 94 schools within the network are represented on the common Edmund Rice flag.
May 5th is marked as Edmund Rice Day across the ERST network of secondary and primary schools. The day is celebrated by the network of schools, including St. Joseph’s, to focus on the core values of equality, diversity, student wellbeing and social justice.
This year, the focus of St. Joseph’s and the network is positive mental health within the student community. Over the coming year, students, working with their teachers, are being encouraged to initiate and develop activities and programmes to spread the word that mental health matters and that it is important that students who may be feeling worried or anxious can share their concerns within their school environments and look for support.
“We are constantly working to ensure that St. Joseph’s is a positive, welcoming, learning home for all of our students. Edmund Rice Day gives us an opportunity to celebrate the inclusive spirit of our own school and the spirit of the network to which we belong.” said St. Joseph’s Primary School principal John Clayton.
‘At St. Joseph’s, we strive to create a caring and safe environment for all students where they know that they can raise concerns or worries they may have and that they will be supported to thrive physically and mentally.” said secondary school principal, David Madden.