Religious Life of the school
Inspired by the teaching of the Gospel, the Church and Edmund Rice, founder of the Christian Brothers we seek to develop a community where all can develop their religious, spiritual and moral values. Opportunities for this development go beyond pupils' Religious Education lessons and can be found in all subjects, a wide range of extra curricular activities and the everyday life of the school. There are, of course, regular and varied formal liturgies for all year groups, but equally important is the way in which we as a community live out our Christianity in everything that we do. We are very proud of the centrality of our faith and encourage all students to develop in their own faith and understanding of the Christian Gospels through a wide variety of means.
In our mission statement are the following words from the Prophet Micah:
In striving to fulfil this mission we continue the work of the Christian Brothers and its founder Blessed Edmund Rice in the following ways, each of which is fully supported by the pastoral team:
Act Justly
All students are actively encouraged to be stewards of God's creation through our Eco-Schools programme. They are made aware of their responsibility to use their gifts and talents to nurture themselves, the people around them, the wider global community and the environment. There are recycling stations in every classroom and these are maintained by a group of Eco-schools representatives.
There are a number of formal projects advocated in school that require significant Christian action. Sierra Leone, has over the last three years, become our major school project, but the students are also encouraged to act by partaking and supporting the Lasallian World Projects, Operation Christmas Child, as well as Lenten and Advent fundraising for CAFOD and the Fr Hudson's Society. When global catastrophes strike, we also pull together to support these cause (e.g. Haiti earthquake appeal). Our students are both enthusiastic and passionate about acting justly. There is also an Edmund Rice summer camp that is organised by school and there are a variety of student and staff volunteers who run this programme. Our school's SVP also play a role within the local community, as do all Year 12 student's through their enrichment programme. An example would be those students who go to volunteer at the homeless shelter in the city or the children's hospice.
Love tenderly
Jesus' greatest commandment was to 'Love God and love your neighbour as yourself'. At St Joseph's college we take each of the three points in this commandment very seriously. We believe that learning to love yourself is fundamentally important and indeed vital to the success of the other two parts of the commandment. We encourage self development in very many ways, but most formally through our extensive retreat programme. Each of the centres that we use has been enjoyed by thousands of young people, and our students are no exception. They invariably come back feeling better able to be themselves and therefore more able to love those around them. Often through the activities on retreat students also develop a more meaningful and deeper relationship with Christ.
Walk humbly with God
Prayer is central to community life at St Joseph's. Pupils attend one full school and one Key Stage assembly each week. These assemblies begin and end with prayer and create opportunities for pupils to reflect on their personal experiences, share common concerns and show respect for the rights and beliefs of others. Form time begins with prayer and reflection. Each pupil will be given the opportunity to lead their fellow pupils in this prayer time throughout the year. There is also a parent and staff prayer group that meets weekly to pray for the whole school community. School Masses are held on Holy Days of Obligation and on other special occasions such as the beginning of the academic year, Year 7 Family Mass and Leavers' Mass. Pupils in key stages 3 and 4 also prepare and celebrate a Class Mass during the academic year in their Religious Education lessons. The sixth formers get their own opportunity to celebrate mass together too. These liturgies offer an opportunity to reaffirm, interpret and put into practice the values of the school and thus aid the further religious development and growth of all members of the community.
In short, The Religious Life of St Joseph's College is not just one sub-heading in a long list of things we do well; it is in fact in everything that we do, as we try to put Christ at the centre of all College life.