St Joseph's Primary School 39 James Street, Northcote, Victoria 3070

"We are so grateful to have found this beautiful little hidden gem of a school. Our kids are thriving and getting such rich and amazing experiences at St Joeys. We’ve found a great small community school in the heart of Northcote and its hard to fault one thing about it. They have amazing high quality teachers, well equipped classrooms, are technology and STEM enabled and forward focussed, offer really rewarding incursions and excursions, phenomenal camps, great Sports days all with an amazingly supportive community and parents. Our kids have gone from disengaged middle-of-the-pack learners in a big local public school nearby to thriving, independent and active little learners as St Joeys which uses differential learning to stretch and challenge our kids - tailored to the needs of the each kid. Of course having 2 teachers in each class Prep to Year 2 enables that more individualised attention. Couldn’t be more happy as a parent. Personally, as a non-religious family we have found their values based approach to teaching and religion really modern as it really just reinforces being kind to and giving to others - which is good for community and society. Definitely feel like we made the right choice for our kids and are giving them the best start to their learning journey - and the school fees are so affordable compared to what we thought they’d be for a private school education. The school leadership led by Ms Kearney is really proactive, open to feedback and easily approachable and I wouldn’t have a hesitation recommending a school tour with her."

"We have been so happy with how seamless our son’s transition to primary school has been, thanks to the wonderful and dedicated staff at St Joey’s – always ensuring the communication is clear and consistent and where everyone knows your name! The small community feel means we always feel heard, our son truly feels seen and you can just tell by observing the playground that all the children have a genuine love of the school and special relationship with their teachers and Principal, Mary (who always has a smile on her face and always has time for a chat!) Our son is thriving much quicker than we had anticipated and loves learning. We are thrilled we chose St Joeys for his primary education and would recommend it to anyone wanting a friendly, community minded school where both children and their parents are incredibly valued."

"We’ve been surprised and delighted how quickly Patrick has transitioned to the primary school environment and it’s due to the amazing team at St Joseph’s. As expected, it has been a little bumpy but they take time to work through issues with him in such a positive way, communicating with us, and Patrick learns to manage day to day problems independently while feeling supported. This nurturing environment has accelerated his learning and maturity, which is particularly noticeable in his interactions with his younger brother. He loves school, which is not something we expected this early in his journey. We feel like we are part of a supportive family with Patrick’s best interests at the forefront and this is truly unique in a big city like Melbourne."

"A great school that has a small community feel.With so many large schools located in the area St Joeys offers something different and special. You feel like everyone knows each other and the kids are really happy. My son started here in grade 1 after moving from another school and all the kids and teachers made him feel welcome. The teaching staff are great and all led by a great duo with Mary, the principal and Fiona, the vice principal. Their approach to learning is great. My daughter learnt to read in prep as they focus on heart words and phonetics. For a small school there are lots of activities on offer, like tennis, chess club, performing arts and STEM classes. I genuinely feel lucky my kids go to this wonderful school. Highly recommended"

"After touring some of the larger public schools in our area there was no doubt that St Joseph’s was the right fit for our son when we stepped foot in it. From the moment we arrived we felt welcomed and reassured. The school, the teachers, the systems, the extracurricular activities have made the transition into prep for our son seamless. It is a great community and I’m so happy we elected to send our son to a smaller and more ‘personal’ school. He is thriving!"