On Thursday 21st March 2024 we were blessed with a visit from 53 students and staff from the Netherlands who came to experience life in our school. As a Catholic community we are passionate about sharing our faith with all our neighbours so we invited them to take part in our St. Joseph’s EVENT faith retreat.

Students took part in ‘Jesus keep fit’, liturgical dance, faith based games like, reflections on John 3:16, candle-lit prayer and examined how we can be lighthouses of faith in our communities during Lent.

It was an absolute pleasure and honour to work with these students and share our faith with our brothers and sisters from Europe and we hope they will join us again for more faith, fun and fellowship.

From 11-25 March 2024, students at St Joseph’s will join tens of thousands of young people across schools in England and Wales taking part in a national campaign to promote legal literacy.

Now in its fourth year, The Big Legal Lesson aims to help teachers start a conversation about the law in schools by providing a free pack of age-appropriate resources.

Created by education charity Young Citizens, with the support of Mishcon de Reya and The Law Society, the lesson plans and assemblies explore what the law is, who has the power to change it, and how these changes affect society.

Over 200,000 learners have taken part in the campaign since 2020, with thousands more expected to take part this year.

Mr. Mather, Head of Law and Politics, has created a House Cup competition for all students which can be accessed on the year group Google Classroom page. All who enter will get a credit and get points for their House too!

Year 9 will also do the Big Legal Lesson in their PSHE programme later in the year.

Nick Emmerson, President of The Law Society, said: “Ensuring young learners know their rights and responsibilities, whilst respecting the Rule of Law, is vital to securing access to justice for all. Whether or not they go on to practice law, The Big Legal Lesson is a fantastic opportunity for pupils and students to understand how our justice system works and why it matters to them. The Law Society is delighted to support this Young Citizens initiative, which we know will make a huge impact on young people, teachers and legal professionals alike.”

More information about the Big Legal Lesson can be found on the Young Citizens website.

Staff and students at St. Joseph’s have been celebrating the amazing achievement of some of our amazing Year 13 students who have spent the past year undertaking their Pope John Paul II award.

Students have worked phenomenally hard to serve in their parish and their wider-communities to take part in parish and social action earning them the highly esteemed Pope John Paul II award. Students have dedicated 40 hours in total to the award and have been involved in Altar Serving and leading liturgy through to charity fundraising, supporting in primary schools and volunteering.

We are truly proud of their efforts. As well as attending an awards ceremony hosted by the Diocese of Hexham and Newcastle at the Hilton in Gateshead with Bishop Stephen, senior leaders also held an awards ceremony in school today to celebrate and recognise the fabulous work they have been doing.

On Friday 8th March 2024 we were blessed by a visit from HMP Durham’s Catholic Prison Chaplain, Felicity Penny.

Felicity came in to talk to our students in years 11 and 12 about her vocation as a Catholic Prison Chaplain in one of Britain’s most secure prisons.

She talked about her faith, her vocation story, her ministry in prisons and students asked interesting questions regarding forgiveness, reconciling good and evil and the role of God’s love in helping offenders to deepen their faith.

We are really grateful for this amazing opportunity and thank you to the Catholic Prison service of England and Wales for their amazing support.

Fr. Adrian has been a priest in our diocese for 36 years and reflected with students about his life, his calling, the highlights and challenges of being a priest and his ministry in schools and in the local community. Students posed excellent, thought-provoking questions to him ranging from exploring his views on the nativity stories in Matthew and Luke’s Gospels and questions ranging from what are his hobbies, interests, favourite football team and favourite colour. We are very blessed to have the support of Fr. Adrian who does so much to support our students.

Mrs. Lewis-Dale’s CORE RE group also had a vocation talk from Paul Waugh from the Newcastle Street pastors too on Monday 18th December. Paul works in a multi-denominational group of Christians who patrol the streets of Newcastle on a Friday and Saturday evening being the face of Christ and ‘loving thy neighbour’ by supporting party-goers through practical help such as space blankets, chocolate bars for energy, flip flops and first-aid support when people are most in need. Thank you to Paul for his fantastic support too.

This Advent students, staff and parents across the school have collected an amazing 647 tins, packets, boxes and items for the food bank and sixth formers and Pope John Paul II students parceled these up and delivered them to Hebburn Helps on Wednesday 20th December.

At St. Joseph’s we believe in living out our Catholic Social Teaching and following Jesus’ call to ‘love thy neighbour’ in anyway we can and we love supporting Hebburn Helps who do phenomenal work in our local community. Thank you for all your constant support.

God bless and have a lovely Christmas.

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