ABOUT US
Our Mission
To provide a safe environment, mindful of the diversity of learners, where members can freely communicate and collaborate, invest in on-going technological and professional development geared towards improving teaching and learning, as well as promoting a variety of co-curricular and extra-curricular programs geared toward the holistic development of students; supported by strong relationships with stakeholders so as to produce a dynamic, stimulating and united school community.
Our Vision
A place where all members of the school community are valued and encouraged to fully develop their talents in the service of God and country as they are nurtured through an evolving curriculum that stays abreast of current trends and educational opportunities and experiences and embraces the challenge of life-long learning.
Our School
St. Joseph's Convent, Port of Spain, is an academic secondary school of the British Grammar School type, with a five year program leading to the Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate Examinations and the Cambridge General Certificate of Education Ordinary Level Examination. Our Fifth Form can be equated with Grade 12 of the American High school system. Students enter on the basis of their Secondary Entrance Examination results, with the majority falling within the top 5% in the nation. Transcript grades should therefore be assessed within the context of our academic intake and not related to the total ability range.
Admission to our Sixth Form is based on the Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate Examinations and the Cambridge General Certificate of Education Ordinary Level Examination results. The Sixth Form offers a two year post-secondary program leading to the Caribbean Advanced Proficiency Examination (CAPE) Unit I and Unit II. In addition to their subjects of choice, all students prepare for the Caribbean Studies and Communication Studies examinations where they are exposed to a wide range of historical, scientific, economic and cultural topics. In addition, they study two hours of Religion (Bible and Doctrine, Social Justice, Ethics and Relationships) each week. About 95% of our Fifth Formers qualify for admission to the Sixth Form and the majority of our Sixth Form graduates go on to universities in the West Indies or abroad.
School Philosophy
The practice of conscious and active Faith lived out in loving service is the principal tenet of the school. We offer an education which emphasizes the inter-relatedness of life of the individual in relationship with God, with the self, with others and with the wider society. The idea of the school as a community in which each member is valued and nurtured, and her unique individuality allowed to unfold, where ideas can grow and mature and in which creativity can be released and experienced, is a cornerstone of our philosophy.
Giving and receiving are thus fundamental to the rhythm and to the fabric of school life. Dedicated to what we call a Catholic work ethic we advocate discipline and excellence and uphold commitment and service as primary ideals. Our organisational philosophy embraces the idea of strong leadership working within a decentralized school system. It is a system where the needs and concerns of each year group determine teaching and pastoral structures.
We are also guided by the principle of meaningful student participation in school affairs and by concern for the development of integrity, courage and strength in our young people.We believe in the importance of close ties between the school and parents, and the school and our Past Pupils' Association and we foster these. These principles together with our emphasis on involvement in the wider society are central to our system of values.
Our Prayer
Dear Heavenly Father, we come before you today, the children of St. Joseph, in praise and thanksgiving for all we have, to ask that You may bless our school, make us Holy, and bind us together in Your Name.
Lord, today we offer you our entire community; students and teachers, here and gone. We thank you for the gift of each other; may we never forget how precious we all are. Give us all peace and understanding, open minds and generous hearts, a sense of duty and a willingness to pray, that we may listen to each other, with patience and with care, and strengthen one another day by day.
Father, we pray that in our quest for knowledge, we may come to know you; that in our search for power, we may not forget the weak and small among us; as we pace each other on the road to excellence, we may rejoice in the successes of others; that in our desire for greatness, we may not be too proud to serve, and should we ever hurt, we may forgive each other.
School Song
O Alma Mater, our songs we raise to thee,
Far may the echoes ring out o’er land and sea.
Come we with voices, in chorus loud and clear,
Singing in praise to thee, Our Alma Mater dear.
Through all the future, wherever we may go,
Our true devotion we ever more will show.
We will be loyal forever far or near,
Singing in praise to thee, Our Alma Mater dear.
