Schools in profile: St Joseph's Catholic School, The Strand

St Joseph’s Catholic School, The Strand

St Joseph’s Catholic School, The Strand was founded in 1873 from humble beginnings and today is known as a modern educational institution providing schooling from Prep to Year 6.

The school and parish are in a unique position with the current Church building celebrating its centenary year this year, the parish celebrating its 150th year in 2022 and the school celebrating its 150th year in 2023.

At St Joseph’s Catholic School, each child is recognised as unique and formed in the image of God. It’s a school community which fosters a friendly, trusting collaboration between principal, teachers, parish priests and parents for the ongoing development of each child.

In 1873, Townsville was still only an infant settlement when St Joseph’s Church was built on The Strand. It stood on a site midway between the present St Patrick's College on The Strand and the Sisters of Mercy Chapel in Fryer Street. The first Parish Priest, Fr Connelly applied to Mother Mary MacKillop, foundress of the Sisters of St Joseph, for teachers to help him staff a school for the children of Catholic settlers in Townsville. The sisters opened a school and like the church, it was dedicated to St Joseph.

Some five years later, this community of nuns who responded so well to local needs was recalled to Brisbane.

In 1878, a request was made to Brisbane for the Sisters of Mercy to reopen the school. This was achieved in 1879. In those early years the sisters had to support themselves and pay lay teachers as well. They managed this by providing music tuition for children and adults alike. Floods as early as 1892 and as recent as 1999 have played a part in the building and rebuilding of the current school. Cyclones too have left their mark. St Joseph's Catholic School is a continuing story of building and refurbishment as it strives to meet the needs of an expanding population and, in particular, the need to assist families in the education of their children.

Today, St Joseph's Catholic School is still researching and documenting the wonderful history of the school and the wider parish.

Q&A with the Principal, Tim Ham

WHAT MAKES THE ST JOEY'S SCHOOL COMMUNITY SO SPECIAL?

St Joseph's is an amazing community. Our students always give their best which in recent years has seen them achieve sporting, cultural and academic success. Some of their achievements include regional Readers Cup champions three years in a row and state runners up in 2019, B schools athletics winners, A schools swimming winners in 2019 and runners up in 2020 and 2021.

Apart from these achievements the school has wonderful community spirit. It is welcoming, supportive and inclusive. The last few years have been difficult for many reasons, however the response of the school in supporting families during the 2019 floods was nothing short of spectacular. The school rallied around many families who lost so much during this time. Our school P&F, volunteers and staff assisted in many ways by cooking and delivering meals, donations, cleaning crews, accommodation support, laundry services to name a few. This continued for many weeks and in some instances as long as families needed.

The generosity of spirit that was evident defines our community. It is one of the reasons that the Mercy value of Community was one of the three chosen as pillars of our school charism.

HOW DOES THE SCHOOL INCORPORATE THE SCHOOL'S HISTORY INTO THE COMMUNITY?

Over the last five years the school has been developing our Mercy Charisms of Love, Community and Excellence. These three mercy values connect our school to the life of the sisters and Catherine MacAuley but also to the life of our patron saint, Saint Joseph. The school has worked closely with the Indigenous Education team at Townsville Catholic Education Office to connect these values to the lives of our First Nations Peoples and the area in which the school is located. It has been an exciting time for the school embedding these elements of our history and charism into the everyday life of our school community.

WHAT ARE SOME AMAZING IMPROVEMENTS YOU'VE SEEN OVER THE YEARS?

The school has undergone many changes in the last five years with the support of students, staff and parents. The school P&F partners with the school every year to complete projects or provide resources for our students. The school has also partnered with members of the community to redevelop school facilities. Some of the more significant changes to infrastructure have been the redevelopment of the school hall and classrooms, the school oval and playground spaces.

The school has also worked to create opportunities to build community. 'Joeys at Sunset' is a picnic on the grass event with live music and food trucks hosted in winter on the oval. It is a fantastic opportunity for our families to gather and enjoy good food, good music and great company. The school also offers an amazing IT program designed to engage students and staff in innovative IT practices. Later in this year, students host a 'Tech Expo' showcasing their work and skills in this field for the community.

HOW DO YOU THINK ST JOEY'S HAS COME INTO THE FUTURE?

I think the school is well placed for the future. We are working with a new school master plan to maximise the school site and resources, we have innovative responses and programs to engage, extend and support our students and a dedicated staff and parent community supporting the school.

While we as a school community look to the future we also acknowledge and utilise the effort and dedication of those who have come before us, the gift of their time and talents, the sacrifices they made and their commitment to the St Joseph's community.

…the Mercy value of Community was one of the three chosen as pillars of our school charism.