Community

At St. Joseph's School, we are very much community orientated and have strong links with our local community.

St Joseph's Church

Children making Confirmation at St. Joseph's Church.

Our Parish community is very important to us, and helps us to grow in faith together.

We have weekly Masses in school, which are open to the parish, and regular school Sunday Masses in church. We welcome parishioners into our school for a variety of events, including joint parish and school Bazaars, and many Masses and services throughout the year. Father Solomon and Sister Catherine are regular visitors in school, and often works with the children in their RE classes.

Caritas Christe in Urbe

The minibus shared by our school and St. Chad's.

St. Joseph's is part of a cluster of local primary and secondary Catholic schools that have entered into a partnership to enhance opportunities for our families. This has enabled us to share good practice with regular meetings and exchanges of staff. We have also been able to enhance links and friendships between children in other schools with regular shared liturgies, concerts and sports activities between member schools.

As part of the Caritas programme we have entered into a contract with the NHS School Nurse service, which now provides each member school with a weekly half day visit from a School nurse. This enables parents and carers to drop in to discuss any concerns they may have regarding their child's health.

We have a particularly strong link to St Chad's School in Newtown. Again, this has helped us to share good practice between the schools and to provide greater opportunities for our children. We have been fortunate to have been able to enter into a shared lease of a minibus, which is used by both schools for many events.

The POD

The POD is a local community hub which is open to everyone.

The POD is the base for our Education Action Zone. They organise numerous multi-school events for the children and training for staff. They also get funding for schools to run various projects, and have organised holidays for children under the CHICKS scheme. All of the local schools in this group regularly work together on various projects.

The POD are able to help families with a variety of issues, and even provide a 'Food Share' service, which helps some of our families by giving them access to food donations. They also run many events for parents and carers, and the community as a whole. These include advice sessions on benefits and financial issues, keep fit, English and Maths courses, ESOL classes and nail art and beauty sessions.

The POD also offers half term and holiday provision and afterschool groups for children and young people.

You can find out more about the POD on their website: www.nechellspod.com

Inspire Workshops

Children and dads enjoying archery at a 'Father's Day' Inspire Workshop.

We have termly 'Inspire' Workshops for parents and carers. These follow different themes, such as Mother's Day, Father's Day, Advent or Lent. An Inspire workshop is an opportunity for parents and carers to spend some quality time with their child sharing fun activities, such as arts and crafts or sports.

We also hold regular workshops for Maths, Phonics and English. These workshops help parents and carers to have an input into their child's education by working with their children and developing a shared understanding of the strategies that we teach in school.

Aston Villa

Aston Villa Football Club provide curriculum lessons for pupils as well as supporting our after school Football club. Year 5 have also taken part in the 'Villa Vitality' Programme. This is a which teaches pupils about healthy lifestyles and making healthy choices. It includes activity sessions, healthy eating sessions and a visit to Aston Villa Football Club.

Unite through Sport and Arts

We are affiliated with Unite through Sport and Arts who provide us with coaches to work with the children in a variety of activities and support our PE curriculum.

The children take part in lunchtime activities, half-term playschemes and after school clubs run by Unite through Sport and Arts.

Birmingham Royal Ballet

Learning some essential skills during a ballet workshop.

We work with Birmingham Royal Ballet, who provide us with a 'Dance Track' programme for our Year 1 children every year. This has led to some children being selected to join the Ballet school.

Community Police Officers and Fire Service

Our Local Community Police officers work closely with the school. They visit school regularly in order to establish good relationships with our children, and also come in to talk to the children about topics such as Road Safety, 'Stranger Danger' and 'Internet Safety'. The Fire Service comes into school annually to talk to our KS2 children and also bring their fire engines to visit KS1.

Other Organisations

We also have a number of organisations that come into school to work with the children on activities such as dance, drama and arts and crafts.

There are currently a number of outside providers that come in at lunchtimes to teach Zumba, Multiskills and sports classes. We also currently offer a variety of after-school clubs, which differ each term.