St Josephs’ School is a Catholic School and as such has a specific Catholic Education curriculum. This curriculum is delivered in all Catholic schools in New Zealand.

Catholic Special Character External Review Report 2020.

The programme ensures students learn knowledge about their Catholic Faith including what the Catholic church believes and teaches and believes, understanding about how the Catholic Church celebrates, lives and prays and how people can respond freely to God according to their gift of faith.

Students learn through the different strands of:

• God, te Atua
• Jesus Christ, Hehu Karaiti
• Communion of Saints, Te Kotahitanga o te hunga Tapu
• Sacramanent, Hakarameta
• The Holy Spirit Te Wairau Tapu

Each day time is given to teaching of this programme using a range of good teaching practice as used in other curriculum areas. Students have an RE work book in which to complete their written tasks but there is a wide variety of drama and ICT used for students to show their understanding.

There is also a daily prayer programme in each classroom starting the school day as well as prior to lunch and at the end of the day. This programme includes learning the traditional Catholic prayers as well as students learning to create their own prayers about personal or communal needs.

Staff assists parents with helping their children pray at home by sharing class prayers on the school Ultranet page. Senior classes also have an aspect of RE in each weekly homework sheet.

One of the four main areas of our curriculum is to develop our student as Actively Catholic. This means encouraging students in many ways to become part of and involved their parish. Senior students earn points towards their St Joseph’s Challenge by taking an active role in the Sunday masses. Our Yr 7-8 students also take part in the annual St Canterbury Catholic Young Leaders day with the other local Catholic schools. We also meet with the other St Joseph’s schools in celebrating Mary Mackillop and St Joseph’s feast days. The school also works closely with e parish in the delivery of the sacramental programmes of Holy Communion and confirmation.

Our school values programme is solidly based on the Charism of St Mary MacKillop , our foundress, whose life and mission strongly portrayed her devotion to Jesus, lived out in a life of service to others. To make this more easily understood for students these values are broken down into the four main areas of

“Never seeing a need without doing something about it”

• Doing your bit
• Attitude of Gratitude
• Listen to God’s call
• Making room for all

These values are woven into our daily life at school with classes looking at one aspect each term, breaking it down to what that might look like in everyday life at school weekly and practising these values in their relationships with others. There are also assembly awards that recognise students who have excelled in demonstration this in their relationships with others. Our Right On mantra is also strongly based on these beliefs.

Students are also involved in social action in our community living their faith in their words and deeds. This happens as part of our inquiries and includes community days when students work in the community helping others, assisting with local projects such as planning out in the environment and a hands of tasks in which student sear to give of themselves in the service of others.

When enrolling your child at our school you will be asked to sign to agree to uphold the Catholic beliefs, practises and policies of our school.