Fifteen Years and Counting

These are exciting times at St Joseph’s College Prep School with a significant anniversary and the imminent arrival of new Headteacher, Mrs Amanda Childs.

Amanda starts her role this month, having previously spent 13 very successful years as Head of Prep at Ipswich School. “I absolutely love Suffolk, whenever I come back to the county it feels like coming home,” she said.

She said St Joseph’s College was a unique school, with its breadth of opportunities, its ambition, its excellent co-curricular offering and fantastic pastoral care.

It is now 15 years since St Joseph’s award-winning Prep School building was opened by humanitarian Terry Waite.

The £3.2 million building has seen hundreds of children grace its classrooms since it first opened its doors in 2008, and is still as innovative as it was the day it was built.

College Principal, Mrs Clarke, who attended the grand opening on 30 January 2008, said the building had been designed with little people in mind.

‘It was designed to be different, bespoke – not just another building,’ she said. ‘It’s a school building created especially for children, rather than putting children in an adult building. It’s like the school ethos, building education around the children.’ The children absolutely love it, she added, as it’s light and airy without feeling impersonal.

Mrs Childs agreed, saying, ‘I love the sense of space and openness, it’s wonderfully conducive to learning.

‘We are also incredibly lucky to have such a brilliant space for outdoor learning, which is something I think is essential for everyone’s development.’