
St Joseph's School Balclutha




Our Curriculum
The reasons given for choosing a Catholic school almost always involve values, but St Joseph's also provides a high-quality education and excellence in learning and teaching. The St Joseph’s curriculum is based on the “New Zealand Curriculum”, Ministry of Education (2007). Our curriculum encompasses the essential learning areas of:
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Religious Education
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English - Reading, Writing, Oral Language
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Mathematics and Statistics
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Science
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Technology
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Health and Physical Education
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The Arts - Visual Art, Dance, Drama, Music
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Social Sciences
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Languages
The curriculum also identifies the five key competencies of:
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Thinking
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Using language, symbols and texts
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Managing self
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Relating to others
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Participating and contributing
Pupils are encouraged to respect themselves, others and their environment. We have high expectations regarding good manners, uniform and behaviour. Our supportive environment encourages both personal grown and an enjoyment of learning. These values are encompassed in our daily life at school.
As well as modelling these values within the school grounds there is an expectation that these values flow over into their day to day lives, whether it be representing the school at sporting events, or at home.
The school holds assemblies, three per term, on a Friday at 2:20pm. This is a great chance for the children to share what their class has been working on and to also partake in some singing. We also encourage parents to attend. Each class has an opportunity to lead shared prayer once per term on a Friday afternoon, parents are welcome to join as well. These are advertised in advance via our school newsletter.
St Josephs last underwent an ERO review in August 2015. We were pleased that the report
echoed our own belief that we are an exceptional school, where children not only learn great
values, but also thrive academically.
