Cousins together at St Joseph's

With 74 pupils on the school roll, it might seem like a misprint to read that ten of the pupils in St Joseph's NS Halverstown come from the same family.

But that's the case — ten pupils ranging from the youngest child Mary in Junior Infants to her sister Róisín in Sixth Class are all cousins from the extended McGrath family.

From three different houses, the cousins all live side by side and each classroom has a number of cousins on roll. James and Ciara were two of an original class of three when they started in Junior Infants. Now Fifth Class has six pupils.

Grace is on her own in Third Class in the Middle Room while Ms O'Brien teaches the other six cousins in the Junior Room catering for Junior Infants to First Class.

Thomas is one of the first pupils in the country who is on a dual enrolment placement. Thomas attends St Anne's School on the Curragh four days a week but attends St Joseph's NS every Tuesday. To date the programme is proving very successful and rewarding for all pupils involved.