St Joseph's Catholic Primary School

As a Catholic school community, we believe that all learning is about God, His world and our role within it. Our calling is to know, love and serve God, therefore we also have a duty to help our neighbour towards human wholeness; to nurture each other and bring out the best of our God-given gifts in one another in a loving and forgiving environment. This is reflected in our daily relationships and made explicit in our Mission Statement.

St Joseph’s is a joyful community which follows the example of Jesus, helping, accepting and respecting everyone, as we learn and grown together, safe in His love. Positive relationships are the aim of every school. At St. Joseph’s we strive to work with parents and carers to help each other to do our best for all children, reflecting the sentiments of our mission statement.

At school we are concerned with the ‘whole child’ and not just academic achievement. After all, if your child isn’t happy at school or at home, it is likely that he/she won’t do very well. For this reason, each class teacher will be concerned with how children are getting on with each other and how they get on with adults. If a child appears to be unhappy or different from normal, the class teacher will probably contact you to discuss the matter. Please see teachers after school as before school they are very busy preparing for the school day.

Staff members have a duty to safeguard and promote the well-being of the children in their care. The Local Authority requires that staff refer any serious concerns that they might have about any children to the Head Teacher or a senior member of staff.

To support us in this responsibility it would help if you would keep the school informed of any unusual or serious injuries which your child has suffered and of any circumstances at home which might cause a change in your child’s behaviour at school. This helps to monitor the welfare of our children so we can better meet their needs. Staff may sometimes want to speak with you to clarify the cause of a particular injury, explore any reasons for a marked change in your child’s behaviour, or raise other concerns they may have. Where staff members have serious concerns we are under a legal obligation to make a referral to staff at the Social Services Child Protection Team.

First and foremost, our school is a faith community and is a place where children will have the opportunity to develop their faith through acts of worship and through the Catholic life of the school. Daily prayer, the celebration of Mass and regular assemblies will help the children to develop a deeper understanding of their faith and we will share with them the Gospel values that will guide them throughout their lives.

St. Joseph’s is a happy, caring, spiritual, respectful and hardworking environment, where as a Catholic community we celebrate the successes of our children in all areas of school life through our broad and balanced curriculum. Whilst we aim to ensure all children reach their full potential academically, we recognise the uniqueness of every child and strive to provide opportunities for each one to be successful in many different ways and to take advantage of opportunities to be a fantastic musician, sports person or artist. Children should come to discover that it is equally important to be successful as a good friend and a faithful member of both our community and the world beyond. We are especially proud of all the staff and would like to thank them for their dedication and hard work.

The primary years are very special ones, where life-long learning and friendships will be formed. Together, we need to work hard to ensure that all the pupils here get the very best that we can offer them during these important years.