Diocesan Prayer
God our Father,
open the horizons of our minds and hearts
so that we can see what hope your call holds for us.
Pour out the overflowing gifts of your Spirit
so that we, your Church,
may become a people of hope for our world.
We ask you this through Jesus Christ our Lord,
who lives and reigns with you
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God for ever and ever.
Our Lady, Woman of Hope,
pray for us.
St Peter, Rock of Hope,
pray for us.
St Paul, Apostle of Hope,
pray for us.
NEW - Section 48 inspection - June 2023
First of all, we would like to thank our St Joseph's families, our parish, our staff and everyone who supports our wonderful school to 'be the best that is can possibly be'. We are so lucky to be surrounded by such supportive individuals who make our school the place it is today.
As you will be aware, we have recently had our Section 48 Inspection at St Joseph's, and we would like to share the findings of this report with you.
Catholic Life and Mission - Outstanding (1)
The Catholic Life and Mission of the school is at the heart of St Joseph's and we have been recognised that we are 'Outstanding'. It's the mission of the school, which originally came from the children, and is woven through all that we do. It is a team effort and this has been recognised within our glowing report.
'Staff are excellent role models for pupils, demonstrating by their commitment and support for each other the school’s values in action. They understand and live out in their interactions compassion and support for the vulnerable.'
'Leaders and governors clearly articulate the mission of the school and are committed to developing, supporting and nurturing the Catholic nature of the school. The development of the Catholic life of the school is seen as a core responsibility and their commitment to this is inspiring.'
Collective Worship - Outstanding (1)
The prayer life of St Joseph's is stunning. The children lead prayer, retreats and other acts of worship across the school. Mrs Barron and Mrs Hill have worked tirelessly to support the school's Chaplaincy team, and we are now in a position to enable all children to have the opportunity to lead prayer. This too, has been recognsised as 'Outstanding' in our inspection report.
'Pupils respond with enthusiasm to opportunities provided to participate in and lead prayer and worship. Even the youngest pupil has a knowledge of some basic prayers and their use throughout the day reinforces pupils’ understanding.'
'The centrality of prayer and liturgy to the life of the school is clear and integral to all aspects of school life.'
Religious Education - Good (2)
Finally, we are incredibly blessed at St Joseph's to have the most hardworking staff, some of who are not Catholic, who ensure that they work tirelessly to secure their own subject knowledge to deliver consistently high quality RE lessons. During the visit, good and outstanding teaching was observed and the children's behaviour was 'exemplary'. We are so proud to be awarded a 'Good' for this part of our inspection.
'Pupils enjoy religious education, and their behaviour is always exemplary. They are confident in expressing their views and speaking about their learning in religious education.'
'Staff are increasingly confident in their subject knowledge and are extremely committed to developing this even further.'
We are delighted with our report and feel that it has captured our school really well. Please read the report and know that every person within our school family has contributed to such a glowing inspection.
Our Diocese
St Joseph's Catholic Primary School is part of the Clifton Diocese and we work under the leadership of our Bishop, Bishop Declan Lang. Clifton Diocese is the Catholic diocese covering the West of England and includes the City and County of Bristol, the counties of Gloucestershire, Somerset, Wiltshire, North Somerset, South Gloucestershire and Bath and North East Somerset.
There are 107 parishes within 13 deaneries serving a Catholic population of around 190,000. Around 33,000 people attend Mass around the diocese every weekend. More than 2,000 people are actively involved in Catholic associations in the diocese.
We visit Clifton Cathedral in Bristol twice a year, for the commissioning of our new Chaplaincy Team members and as part of the Year 6 Leavers Mass in July.
We work closely with our partnership schools within the diocese so that regular training and high quality networking opportunities are in place for our staff.
For many years now, we have also worked closely with Louise White who is very much part of our school family. We are immensely thankful for her continued support and professional development opportunities to ensure that we provide our children with an outstanding RE curriculum, as well as developing their own prayer lives within school.