St. Joseph’s Catholic Primary School is a vibrant and historic part of the neighborhood of Hendon in North West London. Founded in 1882 initially as a boarding school, the school has survived two World Wars and gone from strength to strength. We work to give our children the best possible education in the fullest sense of the word – academically, spiritually, and emotionally.
The gospel principles of loving your neighbor, compassion, and justice permeate all aspects of our school life. We are a friendly and outward-looking school community, welcoming families from all parts of the world. We are proud of our success in academic exams and achievements on the sports field, and we also have good links with local, national, and international charities and organizations.
Our achievement in being graded “Outstanding” in every area by OFSTED in 2006 and 2009, as well as in our R.E. inspections, supports our commitment to high standards and academic excellence. We are a happy and caring community with a dynamic, inspiring, dedicated, and experienced teaching staff who see their role very much as a partnership between you and your child. The quality of the relationship between pupils and staff is exceptional and at the very heart of the school’s success and happiness. We are proud of our academic, sports, musical, and extra-curricular achievements made possible by the commitment, engagement, enthusiasm, and energy of all who make up our school community.
Our children are nurtured and helped to reach their full potential in an atmosphere of love and trust. We are a diverse community and value children from every race, gender, social background, physical or intellectual achievement. We are passionate about educating the whole child. Our vocation is to ensure that all children have access to a rich and vibrant curriculum that offers them the rigor, relevance, and relationships that will enhance their life, all in a nurturing environment.
We recognize that each child is different but we make sure that, through encouragement and by developing their talents, each child is the best that he or she can be. Academic success, however, important as it is, is incomplete without our Catholic ethos, which underpins everything we do. By working together with parents, we aim to foster in our pupils a love for the Church which will help them to grow and develop as they make their way through life.
Quite simply, we see our principal role, as a Catholic school, to be part of the apostolic mission of the Church. The School aims, through the provision of a Catholic ethos and of sound teaching, to prepare our pupils for life as Catholics in society.
Within school, pupils are actively encouraged to make choices, knowing that they are in a safe and supportive environment. As a school, we educate and provide boundaries for young pupils to make choices safely, through the provision of a safe environment and empowering education. Pupils are encouraged to know, understand and exercise their rights and personal freedoms and advise how to exercise these safely, for example through our E-Safety and PSHE lessons. Whether it be through choice challenges, of how they record, or participation in our numerous extra-curricular clubs and opportunities, pupils are given the freedom to make choices.
