St Joseph 's School is situated on the junction of Lower Oxford Street and Pontefract Road and is very close to Castleford town centre. Behind the school are the picturesque landscaped Valley Gardens , a project that past pupils were involved in during previous years.

The school day starts when the children enter at 8.55 am ready to start lessons at 9.00am. The Key Stage 1 pupils finish the school day at 3.25pm while the KS2 pupils finish at 3.30pm.

The School is a Roman Catholic voluntary aided, co-educational Primary (Pre-5 -11 years) day school. At present there are 169 pupils on roll. Up to 30 children may be admitted in any one school year and there are currently 6 classes in school.

The school is staffed by the Head teacher and 4 full-time teachers with 2 part-time teachers in Year 5, 1 part-time teacher and a Nursery Nurse in Foundation Stage, 1 point 0.1 Special Needs teacher, 2 Higher Learning Teaching Assistants, 2 classroom assistants, 4 special needs support staff, 2 learning mentors (job-share) and 1 school secretary. 

St Joseph's Church, the Parish Hall and the School are all on the same campus. The Infant School was opened in 1871 and the Junior School was later opened in 1931. The two schools were combined as St Joseph's RC Junior and Infant School in 1980.

The Foundation Stage/Year 1 class is housed in the oldest building which was re-modelled, refurbished and completely re-roofed. Years Two/One and Three, the hall, ICT Suite, dining room and staffroom are in the newer middle section that is linked to the original junior ­building which accommodates three junior classes, the Secretary's and Head teacher’s office.

There is ample playground space for infants and juniors, the infant play area having being resurfaced very recently. The school has use of a playing field next to the Valley Gardens which belongs to Leisure Services.

This happy school has a well motivated, supportive staff, which work together and have high expectations for the children.  The school received a good Ofsted Report following inspection in October 2000.

The school received the Basic Skills Quality Mark renewal in recognition of the strategies used to ensure quality and improve performance.

There are strong links with the Community and the parents through the Church, the ‘Friends of St Joseph’s’ and parental involvement within school. This includes; classroom help, supporting children with reading and spelling using computer programs and a Maths Games Morning every Wednesday.

We aim to teach the children about the love of God, the Catholic Faith and respect for the community.  The pupils are actively encouraged and enabled through all curriculum subjects to think about themselves and develop their sense of personal worth.