Could it be the Catholic ethos or the multi-cultural community? Is it that we can provide education for girls and boys from the ages of two to 12 years in the Junior School (and until Grade 12 in the Senior School)? Is it that we run Mainstream and Montessori classes alongside each other? Is it the family atmosphere or that we recognise each child as being unique?

Firstly we are a Marist school and as Marist educators we heed the words of our founder, Marcellin Champagnat: "to teach children well, you must first love them, and love them all equally".

It was in keeping with this Marist ethos that the school opened its doors to all so many years ago. This has resulted in the wonderful diverse community we have today. As each child is unique, it is important that children work together by respecting and celebrating one another’s differences.

Working within the Marist ethos encourages us to continually evaluate our values. We are always proud of our academic achievers but we are as proud of all the children who reach their own potential. We are very excited when our teams win their matches, but what is also important is how we win those matches… and how we lose those that we do. Everyone is talented in some way and we feel it is important that children are assisted to nurture these talents and to share them with one another. We encourage children to participate fully in all that is available and to do everything to the best of their ability – be it a project, playing the drum in the steel band, swimming in the gala or getting a dance routine right. Our hope is that this involvement, coupled with our comprehensive life skills programme, will result in their being able to enjoy their school life to the fullest and assist them to face the future with confidence.

WELCOME TO OUR CIRCLE OF CARE

What is this all about?
This is a school initiative for all role players at St Joseph’s – children, teachers and parents - to heighten our awareness of what it means to care for those with whom we work and play as well as for those people outside our school community.

Objective
To heighten and develop an awareness of what it means to care so that all role players can be identified by the values they uphold.

The Launch
Early in 2004 all children from Playschool to Grade 6 attended a special Chapel service. Parents, representatives from the administrative and estate staff as well as the Marist Brother were invited. We recited our pledge and sang our Circle of Care song for the first time. We then went out and formed a semi-circle outside the school grounds symbolising that when you enter St Joseph’s you enter the Circle of Care. We now also have a Circle of Care banner depicting the logo.

The Pledge
Each morning at line up we recite the pledge directly after saying our prayers.

"As a member of the St Joseph’s Marist Family, we make our pledge to care about you, to care about ourselves, to care about the environment and to care about others."
What does this all mean if you are at St Joseph's Marist Junior?

We care about you... means we are kind to you, we help you and so we do not bully you.

We care about ourselves… means we believe in ourselves, we have manners as this reflects who we are and we wear the correct uniform. Each fortnight we have a different manners focus eg. "Say please and thank you", "Greet adults", etc. Posters are put up around the school and in the classrooms and parents are notified via the circular.

We care about the environment… means we keep our classrooms and the grounds clean and we recycle.

We care about others… means we get involved in outreach projects. Three years ago each class adopted an organisation, last year we fundraised for the Montessori Pre-school in Delft and bought the teachers a laminator and some equipment. We collected items for "The Homestead" and also joined Bread Buddies - children bring extra sandwiches on a Friday and these are distributed to poorer schools. Last year we have collected toys for the poorer pre-schools and have been involved in the fundraising initiative that is being run by the Salesian Institute. We have continued with these kinds of initiatives this year.

Teachers have developed lessons incorporating the above concepts and we have also linked them to the outcomes in the national curriculum.

We hope that above initiatives will instill positive values in the children positive in an affirming manner.