Published September 16, 2022
It’s been an absolute pleasure visiting classrooms this week and seeing the excellent teaching and learning that is happening. There is a really focused and purposeful environment in classrooms and the pupils have been superb at articulating what they are learning.
This year we are having a real focus on The St Joseph’s Way – the things we do, how we expect them to be done and why we do them to aid learning – and we will be sharing this in due course with parents at the Aiming for Excellence evenings later in this half term.
Queen Elizabeth II
We have been marking the passing of the Queen’s death this week with assemblies touching on the theme of faithfulness and the Queen’s life of duty. We’ve also created books of remembrance for the pupils and staff to record their personal memories of the Queen. This morning we also marked the passing with a minute’s silence and a special reflection in form time led by Mr Blaho, Mrs Reynolds, Mrs Jones, and Mr Bazen.
As you are aware, school will also be closed on Monday, the day of the funeral. We also have an online memorial book if you would like to add any messages yourself, and you can also view the presentation that was shared with the pupils. Please see the homepage of the school website.
Clubs
There’s been a very healthy turnout at the PE extra-curricular clubs this week and with fixtures being arranged this year there’s even more incentive to attend! The PE department are super excited to be competing again against other schools and we’re in no doubt that the pupils will proudly represent us and thrive at competing!
Click here to see the full list of extra-curricular activities this term »
Enrichment Day
Last summer, the first of our enrichment days was postponed until Friday 23rd September. Unfortunately, we will have to postpone this enrichment day as we will be moving the Year 11 mocks from Monday 19th September to Friday 23rd September due to the closure of school on Monday. We will be looking at suitable alternative dates for this in the future.
Please note: The Year 8 trip to Corfe Castle will still be going ahead on Friday 23rd September.
Year 11 Mocks
We’re halfway through the Year 11 mock exam window and they are going very well. The pupils are taking them in their stride, and I think (although they won’t admit it) that they are quite enjoying them!
Year 11 pupils will receive all their mock grades on a mock results day early in October (date to be confirmed). This will be a good experience for the pupils as it will replicate the feelings of opening an envelope full of results in August – it will be a good chance for them to reflect on what worked well for them and what they need to do to further improve. We will be sharing results with parents and hosting an Aiming for Excellence evening on the back of these results to inform you on how we can work together this year to ensure the best possible outcomes for your child.
Year 9 Options Process
Mr McGuinness held a very informative virtual information evening on the GCSE options process. All the information you need can be found here.
Homework Timetables
Homework timetables have now been compiled and can be found on our website here.
As a guide each piece of homework for each subject should take a minimum of:
- Year 7: 15 minutes per subject
- Year 8: 20 minutes per subject
- Year 9: 30 minutes per subject
- Year 10: 40 minutes per subject
- Year 11: 45 minutes per subject
Should the HW not take the amount specified above, then pupils should use the remaining time to develop as independent learners by reviewing their notes, consolidating their learning and/or creating revision resources. The more pupils revisit work they have done, the more it will stick in their long-term memory.
HW Club at school is running in Room 26 from 3:35–4:30 every Tuesday, Wednesday & Thursday after school, and on Thursday morning from 8:30.
Open Evening and Morning
For the first time since 2019 we’ll be holding our normal Open events! If you know of any families who are considering applying for a place at our school for the forthcoming academic year, please let them know about our upcoming Open events:
- Open Evening: Tuesday 27th September 5:30-7:30
- Open Morning: Wednesday 28th September 9:30-12:00
There’s been an avalanche of pupils wanting to volunteer to help out at the events which is a testament to the school in itself!
Learn more about our Open events and our transition programme »
Achievement Points Race
- 1st: Margaret with 3,410 points
- 2nd: Teresa with 2,847 points
- 3rd: Vincent with 2,642 points
- 4th: Francis with 2,542 points
Have a lovely weekend.
Mr Rooney