J. Alan Shewring
Apecs Press Caerleon 2005
ISBN 0 9548940 0 6
Hardback

This book gives the account of how St. Joseph's R.C. High School came into being, and the considerable struggle involved. It may come as a surprise to many that Roman Catholic schools did not get built just because there was a need, as was the case with state schools. Education authorities had to be convinced, particularly in the case of secondary schools, that such schools should be included in a building programme, in view of the economic climate of the 1960s and 1970s, sometimes to the exclusion of one of their own schools. Such was the case with St. Joseph's R.C. High School, which was established at a revolutionary period in British education, the start of comprehensive schooling.
The mid 1960s saw the building of many large comprehensive schools. The desire of local Catholics to have their own comprehensive school was opposed at each point by the local education authority that wanted to build their own schools as a priority.
Eventually, in September 1967, St. Joseph's was established using Tredegar House and two R.C. Secondary Modern schools in the town, and Phase I of the new building was started in November 1968. The building of Phase II was also postponed and another struggle to get it into a building programme ensued. This Phase was not commenced until 1972, the final Phase III being completed in 1976.
The founding of St. Joseph's R.C. High School was unique in many respects, not least in that it was brought about mainly by the pressure and actions of parents who had to persuade Newport Local Education Authority, the Welsh Office and, initially, the Archdiocese, to commit funds needed to build the School.