Christ is the foundation of the whole educational experience at St Joseph’s Parish School, Weipa. When you come to St Joseph’s you come to a school that is truly Catholic and that Christ is the centre of the curriculum and all that we embark on as a Catholic School.
As a Catholic community we are called to service and stewardship. This is often highlighted through our culture of sharing and mirroring of the compassion of Jesus, in dealing with all people, especially those in need. We believe that we are called to develop and model a strong moral advocacy for justice throughout the world. St Joseph’s is constantly called to be a community of faith; a living, evolving narrative of the Gospel values.
As a living, vibrant yet complex community, respect for the God-given dignity of each person is paramount, recognising daily the variety and difference of each person. This community recognises and endeavours to develop each person’s potential through the bonds of faith, hope and love.
Patrons of St Joseph’s School
The patrons of our school are detailed below. We are a Catholic primary school in Queensland that looks to these two patrons as role models for the way in which we are challenged to live out our faith walk and educate our children accordingly.
Saint Joseph
As a saint for over one hundred years, St Joseph is one of our school’s patrons with which we identify. St Joseph, by birth, belonged to the family of King David, but he lived a life of comparative obscurity as a carpenter. Very little accurate written information can be found relating to him. The scriptures simply describe Joseph as a ‘Just man’.
St Joseph was chosen to be the foster father of Jesus and was thus entrusted with the education of God’s son. Our school looks to St Joseph as a model for the pastoral care we exercise over the students enrolled in our school. As husband of Mary, St Joseph offers the parents in our school community an example of how to care for their children. As a labourer, St Joseph has much to teach us about using our talents and working to the best of our ability.
Values associated with St Joseph
- Wisdom (seeing beyond the superficial)
- Faithfulness (keeping true to covenant)
- Fatherly care (strength, love, care)
- Justice (attending to what is right)
- Attentiveness to and discernment of God’s will. (responding to God’s ‘voice’)
- Diligence to work
- Providence (providing for family; responsibility for God’s household)
- Honour
- Compassion
- Watchfulness
- Care for the beginnings of a sacred work or mission, a fledgling work, a work in its infancy.
St Mary of the Cross MacKillop
Mary MacKillop was born in Fitzroy, Melbourne on the 15th January, 1842 and died in Sydney on the 8th August, 1909. Mary was the eldest of eight children born to Scottish migrants. Her family, like others around her, knew poverty and hardship. At the age of 16, Mary became the main provider for the family. She worked as a governess, then as a shop assistant and finally a school teacher in Portland, Victoria.
