St Joseph's Catholic Primary School

At St Joseph's Primary School, we believe that all members of our community are entitled to a positive, safe, caring and happy environment. All the children are supported and encouraged to achieve high individual targets. Everyone will be respected, valued and motivated. Their individual needs met and their successes celebrated.

We are a popular and thriving school in the heart of the Rotherhithe and Bermondsey community where everyday we have the pleasure of welcoming in our pupils from Nursery to Year 6.

Our school is proud of its successes both academically and holistically. Through our strong links to St Peter and the Guardian Angel's Church and St Gertrude's Church, we work together to give all the children in our care the best possible chance at achieving their potential through excellent teaching, love and forgiveness with the guidance of the scriptures and gospel teachings of Jesus.

In our school, we provide a happy, family atmosphere and a secure environment, so that the children will develop spiritually, morally, intellectually and socially. We endeavour to treat each child as an individual, recognising their personal needs, aptitudes and abilities.

We hope that your child will benefit in every way from the education received here in St Joseph’s School and we encourage you all to come and get to know us.

Christian community, where everyone will be nurtured in the growth of their faith. Parents and carers will be supported actively and positively in their role as first educators of their children.

We seek to share with each other the richness of our Catholic faith and provide a safe, happy and caring environment, where we all grow in the love of God and each other with Jesus Christ as our model.

We aim to inspire a love of learning in our children

• Encourage them to have enquiring minds
• Involve the children to promote a sense of responsibility for their own learning
• Develop in them a sense of their own self-esteem and self-worth
• Celebrate our many different cultures and work to deepen our understanding of and respect for other faiths
• Encourage them to participate actively in their local parish life
• Prepare our children for the challenge of leading a Christian life, so that they will become good and honest citizens in today’s world
• Provide excellence in education so that each child reaches their full potential

St Joseph’s is a child centred school where children are given the opportunity and responsibility to help shape the ethos of our community. Throughout their time at this school they are helped to become reflective and work out what it means to live a Christ centred life and put the school’s mission statement into practice. There are many topics, discussions and question times for children to explore who they are and their place in the world. They are keen to express their ideas about their backgrounds and culture to other children and are inquisitive when listening to others. In proportion to their years they show a capacity for community praise and celebration, and ability to listen, to give thanks, to forgive and be forgiven. During lessons and when interacting socially, children are happy to share their views, ask questions and make links between the teachings of the Bible and their own daily lives.

Rich learning experiences take place outdoors as well as in the classroom and cross-curricular opportunities are provided as appropriate alongside school trips as a stimulus for learning.

We follow the guidance of the Catholic Religious Education Curriculum Directory. We use the framework of the Come and See scheme following the liturgical year. Alongside the RE curriculum we celebrate mass in school and hold Spiritual, reflective assemblies in both KS1 and KS2.

The school follows the Early Years Foundation Stage curriculum, which is based on active, creative, indoor and outdoor learning. Children play in, and explore, the world around them and develop critical thinking skills.

We follow the 2014 Primary National Curriculum for Speaking & Listening, Reading, Writing and Spelling. Guided reading takes place daily across the school; Grammar, handwriting, spelling and story time are also planned. This year, throughout the school we have introduced Talk for Writing whereby each class uses a book as a stimulus for writing. This incorporates Speaking & Listening, Reading and Writing across a 5/6 week period.

Key Stage 1 use the Oxford Reading Tree Scheme. Phonics - Letters and sounds from the Primary National Strategy is taught through Jolly Phonics.

A key part of our plan for education at St Joseph’s Primary School has always been to ensure children become valuable and fully rounded members of society who treat others with respect and tolerance, regardless of background. Through SMSC provision and the values of Christ, as witnessed through the Gospels, we actively promote and reinforce these ‘British values’ that have their roots in the Christian values and beliefs that were in existence at the time our country was moving towards a wider understanding of what government and the rights of the people were.