About Us
AT ST JOSEPH’S OUR GOSPEL CARE VALUES ARE:
At St Joseph’s School we CARE
Manaaki te Katoa - Be kind to all
C - Community/Whanaungatanga
A - Aroha/love
R - Resilience/Manahau
E - Excellence/hiranga
COMMUNITY: ethic of community and caring relationships which allow whanaungatanga and manaakitanga to be expressed in a reciprocal manner
AROHA: respect, ethic of love & compassion for self, for others, for community, for land, for learning
RESILIENCE - Build spiritual well-being to work through the challenges and stresses of life that contribute to the common good.
EXCELLENCE - excellence for all endeavours – learning, sports, achievement and being the best version of who God made you.
Mary Mackillop Charisms
-Make room for all
-do your bit
-Listen to God’s call
-an attitude of gratitude
CATHOLIC CHARACTER OF THE SCHOOL
Our school, established in 1916 is now, by law a Catholic School integrated into the State system. It is for boys and girls from Year 0 to Year 8, and it offers education with a Special Catholic Character. This is defined in the integration agreement entered into between our Bishop, who is the proprietor of the school, and the Minister of Education, acting for the Crown, on the 2nd March, 1983, and reads as follows:
“The school is a Roman Catholic School in which the whole school community through the general programme and in its religious instruction and observances, exercises the right to live and teach the values of Jesus Christ. These values are as expressed in the Scriptures and in the practices, worship and doctrine of the Roman Catholic Church, as determined from time to time by the Roman Catholic Bishop of the Diocese of Palmerston North.”
Our parish school then, provides a Catholic Education for all pupils enrolled, and it requires the active involvement of parents living and teaching the same Catholic Faith. Parents do this by the good lives they lead, the way they love each other at home, praying together with their family, the way they show they put God first each weekend by attending Mass and the way they support the meetings and activities of the school.
Our Education-in-Faith Programme follows the National Catholic Religious Education Curriculum. There is ample provision for the celebration of Full School Masses and for Class Masses, for the Sacrament of Reconciliation and other liturgies whether they be in the school or in the Church. Children enjoy having their parents present on these occasions. It is especially important the parents of Year 3 – Year 4 children are deeply involved in their children’s’ First Communion programme and attend meetings arranged within the Parish.