A very warm welcome to St Joseph’s Catholic Primary School and Footsteps Nursery website. Thank you for virtually visiting us!
St Joseph’s is one-form entry primary school situated just north of Bracknell Town Centre, off Larges Lane and down Gipsy Lane- just a short walk away from the town centre. Our school serves the Parish of St Joseph’s and St. Margaret Clitherow in the Diocese of Portsmouth and is maintained in partnership with Bracknell Forest Local Authority.
In 2007, Ofsted inspection graded us as an outstanding school.
As a Catholic School community, we strive to provide the very best experiences for our children, providing them with the knowledge, skills, values and attributes to develop and fulfil their potential and live their lives to the full. Celebration of our faith through prayer and worship is a key feature of the life of the school and, whenever possible, parents are encouraged to join us.
We have high expectations for all our pupil. Whatever a child’s background or starting point, we want to make sure that they finish Year 6 with the academic knowledge, social skills and faith necessary to succeed – we want our children to be the person God called them to be. As a Catholic school, we provide a calm, nurturing learning environment where teachers genuinely know their pupils and parents, and every child can flourish.
We intend for every pupil to develop a deep love of learning and be well prepared for the transition to secondary school. We focus on academic attainment in all subjects and have an ambitious and holistic curriculum. Our curriculum acknowledges the importance of creativity and affords opportunities for each and every pupil to develop their own unique talents and skills. Our staff are highly committed to teaching stimulating and engaging lessons, concentrating on making sure that children acquire all basic skills, as well as stretching every child with our rich curriculum. We are passionate about the arts and competitive sport. Rigour and a desire to improve are integral in our approach to teaching and learning. We offer a variety of after school activities and clubs to further enhance the school’s curriculum offer.
Our Nursery, Footsteps and Reception Year provide a play-based learning environment – one that promotes happiness and a desire to learn. Our Early Years acknowledges the importance of the establishment of relationships between children and teachers and children and children and how this is fundamental to each child’s future academic, social and emotional success.
From Year 2 upwards, classrooms are formal in their approach with a focus on teacher instruction. Aspiration, our Catholic ethos and mission statement ensures pupils are consistently kind and friendly and this leads to the excellent behaviour we enjoy across the school.
We are also a National Support School – where we share our skills and experience with other educational settings.
School Ethos
We see God at the centre of the day-to-day life of the school and this is expressed through the concern and respect we have for the efforts and achievements of everyone. We value and develop the qualities of each unique individual and strive to enable all to live the life God created them for.
School Behaviours & Values
Our three core behaviours of our inclusive school are our 3 Cs –
- Christ at the Centre: Christ is at the centre of all we do
- Continuous Improvement: We all are on a continuous improving learning journey
- Consistency: Consistency in all our behaviours is valued.
These behaviours are underpinned by the gospel values of service, sacrifice, truth. humility, integrity and justice.
Mission Statement
‘We are growing together
on our journey of achievement
with Jesus in our hearts, heads and hands’.
Our journey
Our school seeks to develop the God-given gifts and talents of each pupil. We seek to form attitudes and values which are based on the gospel teaching and actions of Jesus Christ. We provide a large range of extra-curricular activities which promote the physical, creative, social, spiritual and intellectual development of the children. We encourage all in the school to learn to be the best they can be, both in their academic work and in their relationships. Service is at the heart of the school and we have taken to the heart our diocesan message to be true stewards of God’s creation by using our time, talents and treasure to serve God and one another.
Growing Together
Our school promotes the emotional and spiritual growth of all our children. We build strong and appropriate relationships with the children that go beyond academic achievements – we listen to their cares and concerns, share their hopes and fears, successes and failures and we are there for them as they journey through St. Joseph’s School. This can be seen and experienced throughout the school and especially in the welcome all visitors receive to the school, whether it is their first time visiting the school or if it is a daily experience.
Achievement
We give our pupils rich and varied ways of exploring learning and our school is a place where a spirit of enquiry and achievements are celebrated. The Religious Syllabus used throughout the school is the RE Programme, ‘God Matters’ which is recommended by the Portsmouth Diocese. The curriculum at St. Joseph’s is cross curricular and therefore Religion can be taught through other subjects i.e. English, Science, Geography, Art and Design.
Jesus in our hearts, heads and hands
Our practice of our catholic faith is not separate from the rest of our daily lives. We believe:
– in coming together in prayer
– celebrating the liturgy of the Church
– teaching about justice, acting justly and seeking to promote the common good
– reaching out to the suffering an marginalised
– in welcoming people of other faiths and of no faith
Our assemblies are a very important part of the school day. They are religious in character and regularly include readings from Scripture and well-known Catholic prayers. These are all part of the children’s faith heritage. The assemblies also try to bring home the Gospel values. A range of services, including school Masses, are regularly celebrated in school, where the children prepare these with the help of their teacher and priest. Parents are very welcome to attend Masses and Liturgies held in school. The school maintains very close links with its main feeder parish of St. Joseph and St. Margaret Clitherow.
Contact Details
If you have any queries or questions, please do contact us by calling the school office and speaking to Mrs Baumgart (morning secretary) or Mrs. Champion (afternoon secretary), who will be very happy to help you.
Any information found on this website can be provided in paper form free of charge. Please ask at the school office for more details.