What our visitors say…

We are really proud of all that goes on in our school and we hope that all visitors enjoy their time at St Joseph’s. Please read some of the feedback we have received from our visitors and also from people we meet and work with whilst out of school too.

If you have any feedback or comments about our school, pupils or staff, please do let us know. We love to hear about our visitors’ experiences or how we could further improve.

Photo Credit: Tagtiv8.com

Bryn Llewellyn -Tagtiv8: Active Learning Games

Thank you St Joseph’s for doing your research and inviting Tagtiv8 to work – and play – with your school today. I get to work with many schools across the UK, but I have to say your school has made a massive impact on me. I often ask myself:
  • “Would I like to work at this school?”
  • “Would I want my own children to attend this school?”
The answer to both questions is a resounding YES!
 
There were many reasons to smile on my return journey:
  • An incredible rapport between staff and children.
  • High expectations but shared in such a positive and friendly way.
  • Colour, creativity and curiosity in abundance.
  • Resilient children.
  • Wonderful teamwork and such a supportive, caring, nurturing ethos among the children – as modelled by the staff.
I absolutely love the way PE, Sport and Physical Activity are core elements of school life. This is definitely a school that tries to blend a mix of academic attainment with physical and emotional well-being.
 
Kudos to Miss Milivojevic and the rest of the staff for promoting ‘move & learn’ approaches to bring about genuine improvements across different areas of the curriculum.
 
 

Vikki Pendry (UCL Institute of Education)

I just wanted to say a big Thank You for allowing some of your year 5 pupils to attend the Zero Carbon Leeds City Region launch this morning. Their performance of the Energy Saving Rap was magnificent and I was so pleased that so many VIP’s came over to congratulate them also afterwards.

It was absolutely perfect to have children in the room this morning as the city makes plans for a more sustainable future.

Mrs Cooper read her speech so brilliantly too – a fitting tribute to the quality of education at your school.

Thanks too to Mrs Lowe for helping all stay together and organised!

On behalf of our residents, I would like to extend our thanks to the pupils for your visit. The feedback from our residents was lovely and they thoroughly enjoyed meeting you all. The children were a credit to the school and we hope you will consider another visit.

If possible, when it comes to the Christmas school play, would it be possible to bring one or two residents along to watch?

Thank you again and please pass our thanks on to the children.

Kind Regards,

Karen Dean (Ashfield Nursing Home, Wetherby)

Canon Tim Swinglehurst (Episcopal Vicar for Education)

Please do pass on my congratulations to all the children and encouragement for the future: they are setting a wonderful example and superb models for the path of virtue we’re striving for in the Diocese (to ensure the flourishing of our communities and the environment).

Thank you too to all of the members of staff and adults who have helped the children be the first in the Diocese to win the CAFOD Live Simply Award.

With my blessings to you, the children and all at St Joseph’s.

 

Just a note to say how brilliant I thought the trip to Parliament was.
 
The day was superbly planned, full of excitement and education and will no doubt have provided all the children (and parents) with great memories. All of this was possible because of exceptional organisation and planning.
 
All the best,
 
Tim (School Governor)

Bronagh Daly (Community Participation Co-ordinator, CAFOD)

We are excited to read the news article about the rap your students performed at the recycling facility in Cross Green. I know David and Maggie, our CAFOD school volunteers, will also be delighted to hear about this, as it all ties in well with all your recent Live Simply Award success.

Please pass on all our thanks to the young people, staff and families who continue to work hard and inspire us to make changes to our actions to care for our common home.

Kindest regards as always.

I wanted to pass on our sincere thanks to the staff at St Joseph’s for the hard work and long hours that have gone into supporting our child.

There is a dramatic difference in our child’s attainment from where she was when she first started at St Joseph’s in Year 3 to where she is now and we are extremely grateful.

Thank you!

Y6 Parent

I absolutely love working with both staff and pupils at St Joseph’s! I am passionate about hands on learning and actively engaging individuals. St Joseph’s embrace immersive experiences and empower their pupils by believing in their abilities and supporting them as they challenge themselves and develop their skills and resilience. The students themselves are enthusiastic and conscientious, and rise to the challenge every time, quite rightly emerging proud of their achievements!

Mrs Phillips (Deckle and Hyde – workshop Y6)

Beki and Steph, Safer Together – Catholic Care

Thank you St Joseph’s for welcoming us back for a second year to deliver our healthy relationship workshops.  We were really impressed with the children’s enthusiasm and participation.  They showed compassion, empathy and respect particularly when exploring different themes and experiences of others. All the staff were engaged and supportive, which makes a real difference to the children’s learning, their experience and ours. In the words of one year 2 student “We are all equal and should be able to be who we want to be”.

Thank you for a great day!

Today I had the absolute pleasure of being invited to teach dance to year 5 and 6 as part of their ‘Inspiring You Week’. As a parent, it was lovely to see the school as a visitor. The children were so well behaved and they joined in without any hesitation. I am proud of all of them – they were confident and made me feel welcome. Thank you so much for allowing me to teach the children, it was wonderful.

Mrs Gilmour – Street Dance Workshop UKS2

A big thank you to Mrs Cooper for the effort, energy and enthusiasm that she injected into the Key Stage 2 performance last week. It was fantastic to see all the children actively engaged in the production.

Thank you again.

Jennifer Norton (Y5 Parent)

Our Christmas Production was held in Church on Monday 9th December and its title was ‘Silent Night’.

Declan Wilson (Head of TV & Online News, BBC) – Y5 Journalism Workshop & Y6 WWI Workshop (Inspiring You Week)

Thank you for inviting me into school to share my experiences of journalism and also to talk about War War One with your fantastic students.

I think the Year 5 class set the record for asking some of the best questions in our press conference and I could not believe how many notes they had made. They worked incredibly hard. I think they deserve a Christmas holiday now.

Year 6 clearly know a lot about The Great War. They were really engaged, their imaginations took over, turning the classroom into a warzone for a few short minutes and they were fantastic history detectives. I think they too have earned some time off this Christmas.

Happy Christmas everyone!

I would like to take this opportunity to thank you and all other members of staff who supported the workshop delivery yesterday, it was very much appreciated and contributed greatly to the success of the day.

The behaviour and work ethos of your pupils was exceptional. They all worked very hard during both the demonstration and practical phases of the workshop. In short they are a credit to your school, your staff and of course, themselves. All pupils contributed very well, were fully engaged with all activities and managed to design and build a boat that we were able to test. I hope and believe they will very much enjoy the follow-on and stretch activates you have devised for them; they were all working very hard on their Tally Charts when I left.

Please pass on my thanks to the pupils. In short they were a joy to be with and teach, I for one had a great day at work.

John Lupton (Regional STEM Coordinator)

Mr Grundy & Mr Walker Aikido Workshop Y5/6 (Inspiring You Week)

We just wanted to say how fantastic we both thought the narrative and photos on the school’s website are for the Aikido workshops we delivered last month. We came across it the other day as we were looking for something on the website and we all thought it was really good and wanted to say thank you.

I have just returned home after being at a wonderful service for the World Day of  Prayer at St Joseph’s Church.
A lot of hard work had gone into the preparation and this all helped to set the scene for a service planned by women in Zimbabwe. The Year 5 children and their teacher, Mrs Cooper, were a crucial and valued part of that preparation and the service itself, as well as the fellowship time that followed. Their smiling faces as they sang, read, lit candles and distributed prayer cards and hand made book marks really emphasised what the service was all about.
During our faith lunch after the service, they introduced themselves to everyone and we were so impressed by their politeness and maturity. It’s not easy to go up to a table of strangers and engage with them but they certainly did and lots of conversations and laughter went on.
 
Edna had her 92nd birthday today and we all sang Happy Birthday to her but the children then all went up and said happy birthday to her too. She went out of the hall smiling  and happy surrounding by caring children. Having the children there made the service so very special for us all!
 
As a school, you should be very proud of each and every one of the children and also of the work you clearly do to help them develop into such wonderful, confident and caring young people!
 
Kind regards
 
Joyce Harrison
Secretary Churches Together in Wetherby