Dear Parents

Advent is always a very busy time of year in school, and this week has certainly proved that! So many exciting events have taken place that I hope you enjoy reading about below. Thank you to the staff who make this all possible and for your support too as parents. I am sure that you also now know the carols, nativity and jubilee songs off by heart too! Next week there is more to come – please do check the dates below. On Sunday of course we light the third Advent candle – the candle of Joy which encourages us to celebrate the joy that is brought by Jesus’ birth. Let us all share in that joy during the week ahead!

Christ-centred pilgrims of hope, Kind Hearts,

One Life Music – ‘We Will Go Out…’ whole school pilgrimage

We were absolutely thrilled to welcome Dan and Emily from One Life music to our school for a whole school retreat day as we mark the end of the year of Jubilee. We started with prayers and songs (with sign language too!) before taking part in activities that helped us reflect on our own journeys as pilgrims of hope. We ended the day together in the hall for a beautiful prayer service—a special way to celebrate as the Jubilee Year comes to a close.

Christ-centred pilgrims of hope, a thirst for knowledge and a hunger for justice

Music and Mince Pies showcase

We have received such lovely feedback following our music and mince pies showcase. Our children are so very talented! Thank you to Mrs Cangiano and to all the children for providing us with such a magical morning of musical entertainment. We also raised a good amount of money for Crisis – we’re so proud of you!

Christ-centred pilgrims of hope, questioning mind

Carols by Candlelight

It was a very special evening last night as the Parish joined together to be led by our choir, Mass band and proclaimers of the Word. It truly was a beautiful evening. Thank you to Mrs Mitchell, Mrs Cangiano and all the staff involved in making this such a special evening. Thank you as well to Father Philip for hosting this event and for his blessing at the end of the service. Please do complete the feedback form if you were able to join us Carols by Candlelight 11th December 2025 – Fill in form

Kind hearts and a hunger for justice

Reverse Advent calendar

Thank you for all the donations that will be split between Father Hudson’s Caritas, Stourbridge foodbank and the homeless of Stourbridge. The very generous amount of donations provided will be vital to those in need during the winter months. Thank you as well to the Year 6 children who helped me put all of the donations into collection bags today before I delivered them!

kind hearts, questioning minds and a hunger for justice

Table top sale for Kids project

A huge well done to Connie who organised a tabletop sale that involved bringing in items to sell, advertising the event and delivering the donation of the funds raised to the Kids Project. Kids Project is a charity who supply children’s clothes to families in need. Connie raised a fantastic £122.30 – thank you to everyone who supported this. We’re very proud of you Connie for putting your faith into action!

Forming Christ-centred pilgrims of hope, kind hearts

Christmas lunch

Thank you Miss Hayley, Mrs Stevens and Miss Henley for preparing and serving a delicious Christmas lunch on Wednesday. The children, staff and Father Philip thoroughly enjoyed joining together and sharing in the joy of the season.

Kind hearts

Emmaus Father Christmas event

Thank you to our Emmaus central colleagues for organising a very joyful ‘meet Father Christmas’ event for pre-school, Reception and Year 1 children on Monday evening. It was lovely to welcome prospective families within the community to our school as well as providing this opportunity for our youngest children in school. We were all very impressed that they had managed to contact Father Christmas during a very busy time for him to come and visit us!

Well done to the 2 classes with 100% attendance this week!

Forming Christ-centred pilgrims of hope with kind hearts, questioning minds, a thirst for knowledge and a hunger for justice

Gifts from God

The following children have received a certificate in today’s Gifts from God assembly. Well done children!

(No Gifts from God this week due to our Jubilee assembly to all Catholic schools across the Arch Diocese)

PTA News!

With 100 prizes kindly donated by local businesses, PTA raffle tickets are on sale now! Click the link below to get your tickets now, and please feel free to pass the link on to friends and family! - https://stjosephsptastourbridge.charityhive.co.uk/raffle/2/st-josephs-christmas-2025- raffle

We’ve had quite a few asking about Class of ‘25 Tea Towels as Christmas gifts, so we’ve made payment link live if anyone would still like one - https://stjosephsptastourbridge.charityhive.co.uk/shop/1/class-of-25-year-tea- towels They can be collected from the office.

Questioning minds

Dates for your diary – please keep an eye on the link below while dates are added: St Joseph's Catholic Primary School Stourbridge - Calendar

Inset Days

Please note a further inset day has been added. As a Multi-Academy Company, Emmaus are able to use a 6th inset day for staff development and formation. The inset days for the rest of the academic year are as follows:

Friday 26th June

Friday 17th July – new date

Monday 20th July

As such, school will close for pupils for the summer break on Thursday 16th July at 3:15pm

Monday 15th December – Reception Christmas performance
Wednesday 17th December – 1:30pm – Year 1 and 2 Nativity performance
Wednesday 17th December - 5:30pm - Year 1 and 2 Nativity performance
Friday 19th December – 9:05am – Whole school Advent Mass
Friday 19th December – Final day of term. School closes at 3:15pm – carols sung in the hall.

Have a great weekend

Mr Wilkes

Executive Principal