END OF AUTUMN TERM 2017

As we are fast approaching the end of another successful term, it seems a good point to share some of the latest news from St Joseph’s.

One of our parents recently wrote an excellent article regarding how she chose St Joseph’s for her son, which is a jolly good read: 
https://sjcrmain.tumblr.com/post/167975132379/choosing-a-senior-school-heres-how-one-parent

Music
Work has started in our new Music Centre. Please follow this link to the updated virtual tour of our new facilities which will be opened in the Spring term: https://t.co/rQijxMoRQ1 

We are delighted that, as part of the project, all existing pianos will be replaced with new Yamaha ones and the College will become a Yamaha Education Partner.  

Beautiful music continues to fill the air as we rapidly approach the end of term.

Drama
The four "Little Shop of Horrors" shows were a complete sell out and received rave reviews from everyone who attended. It really was a treat to watch our amazingly talented students appear in this excellent production of this lively and entertaining show. We are lucky enough to have such an abundance of talent that the show had to be double casted!

Sport
We have had some great results this term in the many sports played across the school.

The Year 8/9 girls achieved first place in both relay races at the Reading Schools Gala, helping them seal first place for the B string and third place in the C string.

In football, both the Year 8/9 girls and Year 9 boys performed well, bringing us two victories, beating Chiltern Edge 2-0 and Luckley House 5-0. The Year 7 girls have won their first three matches, beating the Wren School 3-0, Prospect 3-0 and 1-0 against Chiltern Edge, and the Year 7 boys reached the quarter finals of a local competition with an impressive 6-1 victory against Bulmershe along the way.

In rugby, the Year 7 boys beat Maiden Erlegh 4-0.

It was neck and neck for our Year 7 and 8 swimming galas, which ended in a draw with Leighton Park after 14 races.

Our Year 10 and 11 hockey team came back from a 3-0 deficit to draw 4-4 against Holme Grange.
 
Speech Night
Our Speech Night was a very enjoyable evening held to celebrate the successes of last year’s Year 11, 12 and 13. We particularly enjoyed welcoming back the leavers from last year and listening to an inspirational address from St Joseph’s alumna, Angela Farrugia. Angela’s many successes include a Lifetime Achievement Award for Leadership in Brand Licensing, and she is a Mentor to the Women’s Business Council. Were you at St Joseph’s with Angela?
 
Other successes
The paths our students take continue to be as varied and impressive as the students themselves. This year, two of our students have been invited to attend interviews at the University of Cambridge, another for interviews at medical schools and our Head Boy has been invited to interviews at music conservatoires.

STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) continues to flourish at St Joseph’s with our team of Year 11 and 12 boys and girls (CyberJoes) performing excellently in the Cyber Centurion competition. This is an online challenge on networking, defence and cyber security. The team now lies in 36^th place of 188 groups nationally and 8^th of the 58 mixed teams.

Our Sixth Form pupils achieved a Silver Award and four Bronze Awards in the Senior UK Mathematics Trust Challenge. Not to be outdone, our Prep mathematicians from Years 5 and 6 gained one Gold, two Silver and three Bronze certificates in the nationwide Primary Maths Challenge.

Christmas
Even though St Joseph's is a school for pupils of all faiths, or no religion, excitement is continuing to build before school breaks up for the Christmas holiday tomorrow, with many beautiful celebrations and performances taking place across the entire school.

At the end of November, the College’s festive cheer was ignited by the Parents’ Association and their annual Christmas Fayre. Other Christmas celebrations have included the Early Years / Reception and Infants nativities, Juniors Carols by Candlelight, Christmas lunches, Christmas parties, Christmas lecture at Reading University for our Prep pupils, carol service at St William of York Church, Christmas singing at CostCo, Christmas jumper day - to raise money for Save the Children, and tonight’s Christmas Celebration.
  
And finally, you may enjoy the atmospheric photo of Broad Oak taken in November uploaded into the "Photos" section. Do you have any photos from your school days which you could share on this network? 

Thank you for taking the time to read this. For all current news as it happens, please visit: http://www.sjcr.org.uk/media

Everyone at St Joseph's wishes you a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. With your support, we hope that the network will continue to grow in 2018. Please invite your friends to join!