St. Joseph’s is a small Catholic Primary School, founded in 1899 and located in the village of Murton, close to the coastal town of Seaham.
Employment in the area is predominantly retail since the closure of the coal mine in 1991. Since this time the local area has had significant economic issues and is now ear marked as a regeneration area.
The children come from a range of social and religious backgrounds and there is small number of children from minority ethnic families. All of the children speak English as their native language.
The school provides full time education for 118 children between the ages of 4 and 11. Staffing consists of a headteacher, Miss Joanne Jones, four teachers, one special needs support assistant, four classroom support assistants, a school secretary, clerk, cook, assistant cook, two dinner supervisors and a cleaner.
The school consists of four classrooms, a multi functional hall and a school kitchen where meals are cooked on site.
Each of the four classrooms have mixed age groups:
- Class 1 – Reception and Y1
- Class 2 – Y1 and Y2
- Class 3 – Y3 and Y4
- Class 4 – Y5 and Y6
The school grounds consist of a school yard, an early years outdoor area and playing field. These provide ample space for the children to play in as well as being a resource area for the curriculum. The school also has a detached sports field which is in walking distance from the school.
At the rear of the school the village cricket and football fields are located which are used for community sports and interschool competitions.
St. Joseph’s school plays an important role in the Parish life of St. Joseph’s church and has strong links with the Rotary Club of Seaham and Dalton Retail Park (a factory outlet shopping centre).
Both children and staff are eager and enthusiastic and keen to develop ommunity,
national and international links.
The school is delighted to be part of an international partnership through the British Council’s Connecting Classrooms. Our partner schools are located in Malawi and Zimbabwe.
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