Our Emmaus and Diocese Vision

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

Dear Parents

Thank you to those who were able to attend our Lent Celebration of the Word last Friday. It was a wonderful way for us all to focus our minds on our Lenten journey. Please do keep the previously sent ‘Spring dates and events’ letter close by during this half term as it is very busy with lots of upcoming key dates and Lent fundraising initiatives.

As a reminder, the Big Lent Walk will begin next Wednesday (children to have trainers in school) and children will bring home a sponsorship form this afternoon (one per family). There are also upcoming events to raise much needed funds for Father Hudson’s Caritas (pledge £1 donations now live on Arbor shop) and please do continue to bring in any extra Easter eggs to donate to Stourbridge Food Bank. The Easter garden competition is now up and running! Do remember to bring completed gardens into school when they are complete as they make a lovely display in our entrance foyer.

Finally, I hope that the parent consultations this week were beneficial and you feel updated on your child’s progress. 100% of parents attended which is a testament to the commitment and support of our school community – we truly value the strong partnership and sense of collaboration between school and home. We will shortly send out a short feedback form on your experience and how we can continue to improve parent consultations in the future. Thank you for your support.

Please see some below for some key items as well as some of the quite wonderful costumes on display yesterday for World Book Day 2026 – it was an incredibly exciting day and so pleasing to see such a strong culture of reading evident across school. Teachers too joined in with the costumes on show!

Kind Hearts – Stourbridge Theatre Company presents The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe

Thank you to Stourbridge Theatre company for their generosity offering discounted tickets for our families! Information will be sent home this afternoon. Do try and attend if you’re able to.

Gospel reflection: John 4:5-42

Jesus is thirsty and so he asks a Samaritan woman for a drink from the well. The woman is surprised because normally Jews and Samaritans did not get along. It was also unusual at the time for a man to talk to a woman he didn’t know.

But even though it is unusual, Jesus talks to the woman anyway. Why do you think he does this?

Jesus is showing us that God loves everyone. No matter who they are, where they come from or the colour of their skin – man or woman, boy or girl, rich or poor.

Even though we are all different, we still need the same things to live. Can you think of what those things might be?

Just like Jesus in the story, we all need water to drink. We need food to eat. A safe place to live, somewhere to learn and someone to look after us when we are sick.

Jesus shows the woman that he is Christ, the Son of God, by knowing all about her life even though he has never met her before. How do you think this makes the woman feel?

God also knows everything there is to know about us. And God loves us. How does this make you feel?

Sometimes people forget that God loves us all and that we are all part of one global family. They only see the differences between themselves and another group of people. This can lead to many problems. What problems might we have when we only look at what’s different between ourselves and someone else?

It can lead to people being afraid, or not very nice to each other. Which can also mean that there are arguments and fighting.

Do you think this is how God wants us to treat each other? What do you think God wants us to do?

God calls us to love and care for all people no matter who they are, because we are all part of one global family. We are called to help each other when things are difficult and to work together to make the world a better place for everyone to live in.

So this week let’s do what we can to help other people. Let’s treat those who are different to us with kindness and respect. Let’s share with others and try to live in peace.

What will you do this week to show that you care for others?

Amen.

Adapted from Cafod children’s liturgy

Kind Hearts, Questioning minds

‘What’s on’ in the Parish:

• OLAS-BULLETIN-1st-March-2026.pdf (Updates on the season of Lent)
• Parish Alive magazines have been provided to all families in school
• POPE’S MARCH PRAYER INTENTIONS Let us pray that nations move toward effective disbarment, particularly nuclear disarmament, and that world leaders choose the path of dialogue and diplomacy instead of violence
• CHILDREN’S LITURGY – Saturday 5pm Mass
• FIRST HOLY COMMUION SACRAMENTAL PROGRAMME 2026 – If your child has celebrated the sacrament of Reconciliation and wishes to take part in the First Holy Communion programme, starting after Easter 2026 please download the letter available on our website olas.org.uk “Parish Youth Matters” page
• Fundraising Concert for Let the children Live! by Kingswinford Choral Society featuring Fr Philip, will be performing in Church on Saturday 21st March. More information about tickets will be available soon.
• TODDLERS - Tuesday mornings term time only. Please contact Shelagh on 07742 988204.
• ALL SAINTS YOUTH GROUP – Tuesday, 6-30pm – 8-30pm – years 5 – 9. All welcome.
• FOODBANK DONATIONS – Our shortages are Fruit Juice, tinned potatoes, small jars of coffee, tinned soup, jam and sugar. Washing up liquid and Shampoo. We are open on Tuesday, 12:30pm -3:00pm and Friday 10-00am – 12-30pm. Please drop your donations of food to the back door of the parish centre. Thank you for you continued support. If you wish to donate other items, please check with the foodbank volunteers first..

Questioning minds, A thirst for Knowledge

World Book Day!

stjosephscatholicprimary Happy World Book Day! The children (and staff!) looked fantastic in their brilliant costumes today.

All classes also explored the inspiring poem Change Sings by Amanda Gorman, celebrating the power of our voices to make a difference.

Sporting updates

Well done to our Y5/Y6 girls team who have won their league and now qualify for a regional final in the summer term! Thank you to Mrs Lloyd, Miss Carr and the parents who supported the girls! Look at the league table below – extremely impressive girls!

Our Y5/Y6 boys team have also made a great start to their season with a 3-0 victory over Rufford primary. They play again on Tuesday night against Greenfield. Well done boys and thank you to the parents who supported them!

Please note – matches tend to be played on a Tuesday evening. If there is not a match, Mr Litchfield will hold a training session that boys and girls can attend. We will communicate this in good time, but do please understand that I am often waiting for another school to confirm before I can make parents aware (my apologies for any frustration this may cause – Mr W).

VR Headsets – now in use across school!

Your child’s class will use them within a lesson soon (or they may have already done so) ask them how they got on!

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

Gifts from God

Attendance – Well done everyone, our whole school attendance is excellent!

Kind Hearts, A hunger for Justice

From time to time, there may be occasions that emerge when you need our support. Never hesitate to get in touch should you need our support. I am the DSL in school and Mrs Mitchell and Mrs Riley are the DDSLs. Mrs Mitchell is also our SENCo and Mental Health Leader. School safeguarding information and our Early Help offer can be found at this link on the school website St Joseph's Catholic Primary School Stourbridge - Safeguarding.

In school we are also very fortunate to have Mrs Dulson as our Emotional Literacy Support Assistant and Mental Health First Aider and can support your child in a whole manner of ways to support their wellbeing St Joseph's Catholic Primary School Stourbridge - Mental Health and ELSA. We’re here to help when you need us!

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

Questioning minds – Term Dates

The 2026-27 term dates can be found below:

Autumn Term
Tuesday 1st September 2026
Half term Monday 26th Oct 2026 to Fri 30th Oct 2026
Friday 18th December 2025

Spring Term
Monday 4th January 2027
Half term Monday 15th Feb 2027 to Friday 19th Feb 2027
Thursday 25th March 2027

Summer Term
Monday 12th April 2027
Half term Monday 31st May 2027 to Friday 4th June 2027
Wednesday 21st July 2027

The following INSET Days agreed for 2026/27:

• Tuesday 1st September 2026
• Wednesday 2nd September 2026
• Friday 2nd October 2026
• Friday 12th February 2027
• Monday 28th June 2027

In addition to the five INSET Days listed above, a sixth INSET Day is also proposed to facilitate a MAC-wide INSET Day. The proposed date for this INSET Day will be confirmed in due course.

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.

Have a great weekend

Mr A. Wilkes
Executive Principal