St Joseph's Catholic Primary School

St. Joseph’s Catholic Primary School is a school that works hard to ‘follow Jesus, recognise the Holy Spirit and nurture gifts’.   The mission statement is well known and all in the community do their very best to live it out on a daily basis. S48 Validation Report April 2016

At St Joseph’s our Mission Statement is at the core of our school identity and is known and valued by all.  We recognise the importance of British Values and root these in Christ’s central message of love for all.  Our diversity is celebrated through the curriculum, with our visitors and with our many events held throughout the year, for example, International Day.

We are fortunate to participate in a wider Catholic Community with two churches and this allows us to share our gifts, enrich our faith and celebrate our Christian beliefs. The relationship with our two parish priests is extremely important to us and our regular celebration of Mass at St Joseph’s Church is a vital part of our school community.  Termly celebrations include Mass, Advent Service, and Stations of the Cross

We enjoy excellent relationships with our community and these are enriched through opportunities within the wider life of the school. In our report from the Diocese in November 2015 it stated that “St Josephs is a welcoming, united Catholic Community.”  Local members of our parish come into school to read with the children as well as help with our worships, they also join us for our Advent Spaces event and PTFA events.

At St Joseph’s we have a strong pupil voice with our Pupil Leaders and School Council contributing the life of the school.

We have clear channels of communication through our newsletters and our email and texting service.

The Catholic ethos of the school is celebrated widely in the environment through the use of beautiful displays and interesting areas.

Pupils develop a global conscience and celebrate diversity of others through our PHSE/RE curriculum and events.  We invite leaders from other faiths to come to school to share their beliefs.

We have conducted joint events with our Catholic Cluster Schools, such as Good Shepherd Mass in Portsmouth, Leavers Mass at Douai Abbey and sporting events.

We have established links with local and wider charities such as CAFOD & Loose Ends.

The RE Curriculum

RE is taught at St Joseph’s through all the year groups and for a minimum of 2 hours per week.  It is taught through the Diocese RE Curriculum.

Our curriculum provides engaging and enriching lessons, which follows themes from the liturgical year, including, Advent, Lent, Easter & Pentecost.

The Worship Timetable

Every day the school worship, this may be whole school collective worship, House worship or Class Worship.

MONDAY – The GOSPEL

TUESDAY – HYMN PRACTICE

WEDNESDAY – IN CLASS OR HOUSE WORSHIP

THURSDAY – CLASS LED WORSHIPS (WHOLE SCHOOL AND PARENTS)

FRIDAY – DIAMOND AWARDS

Sometimes we welcome visitors to the school that lead a whole school worship or assembly.

Please see here a link to our latest S48 Validation Report conducted in April by Bishop Phillip's representatives from the Portsmouth Diocese.