Our Catholic Faith
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At St Joseph’s Catholic School Jesus remains central to every aspect of our school life. We make time in our days to connect with God through our Gospel assemblies and class Collective Worship. We come together for important Feast Days and celebration times during the Liturgical Year. Our parents are welcomed into our school for class assemblies and for Nativity plays and concerts throughout the academic year.
We celebrate as Year Groups and as individual classes. Our focus for prayer and reflection comes into many parts of our days throughout the school year. Each class has their own dedicated prayer area which acts as a focal point for individual class Collective Worship. We have Gospel Assemblies on Mondays and Fridays when we focus on the Sunday Gospel and our Year 6 Faith Leaders help to prepare the areas for our time of worship. We also come together as Year Groups for Hymn Practice each week to enhance our liturgies and assemblies. Whole School celebrations have included a beautiful outdoor May procession.
To foster school-parish links we ensure the children have the opportunity to visit our local parish church for mass. This not only gives them the opportunity to experience liturgy and worship outside of the school environment but also to build our sacramental community. Our local parish priest makes regular visits to St Joseph’s to assist liturgies and to build relationships with the staff and pupils and for the Sacrament of Reconciliation.
Our Faith Leaders enjoy putting together and leading our times of worship for Feasts such as Advent, Lent, Christmas and Easter and for Saints such as St Peter & St Paul and for our school patron Saint Joseph.
From time to time we are able to arrange visits to faith-based opportunities within our Diocese of Arundel and Brighton including the annual Good Shepherd gathering with other primary schools. We have also made connections with Wintershall, a local drama group who have provided excellent interactive experiences that bring to life the Gospel stories both at their site in Bramley and during visits to our school.
