To the John Paul II Community,

This week I finish my time at John Paul II as the school sustainability teacher. It has been a privilege to work at this school to introduce a sustainability program that encourages all to “Care for our Common Home” through a number of initiatives.

The Garden Program we have established is thriving and providing fresh produce to support the school lunch program, another wonderful initiative at John Paul II, that provides healthy meals for the students everyday.

The students have learnt about and assisted with growing plants from seed, planting, mulching, garden maintenance and harvesting. These are important life skills they will no doubt take forward into their lives.

The students have also learnt about bees and pollination, worms and worm farms, compost and also how climate change is impacting on our world.

The Garden Program includes many large veggie garden beds, strawberry patches and over 40 fruit trees. This infrastructure is set up with watering systems to ensure successful growing of produce into the future.

It has been a pleasure to work with the staff and students to develop new and exciting plans for our school playground. This includes a new 1st Nations Gathering Space that will be constructed early in 2026. It was very exciting to involve our First Nations students in the overall design of this new space which will include seating, a fire pit and a bush tucker garden.

I would like to thank our school principal, Mr Morgan, and the school leadership team, for their support for our school sustainability program. It is very reassuring to know that they are committed to ensuring the continued success of this important program into 2026 and beyond.

Thank you to all who have supported me on this amazing journey. John Paul II has become a lead school in our system in the sustainability space.

VOLUNTEER THANKS

Special thanks to our school parent/grandparent volunteers, Stan Andrewartha, Wendy Atkinson and Sally Innes. They have assisted regularly with our school Garden Program. Their generous donation of time and expertise has allowed us to involve all of our students regularly in our Garden Groups program. Thank you for your regular attendance, your wonderful manner with the students and your genuine support.

STAFF & STUDENT THANKS

I am very grateful to the staff for their amazing support of our school sustainability program. It is wonderful to see their interest extend into their teaching and learning program, through the units of work they have taught and the excursions they have provided to support student learning.

Special thanks to our students and the way they have involved themselves in the program. It is very reassuring to see the children’s enthusiasm and learning. Hopefully they are learning important life skills.

I would also like to thank our Grade 6 Sustainability Leaders who have been an amazing support throughout the year. They have assisted with our soft plastic collection program, the garden program and were great ambassadors for our school when we hosted our Laudato Si Schools Day attended by students and staff from many of our Catholic schools this year.

Thank you all for your welcome, generosity and support for our school sustainability program and best wishes for the future.

Luch Brighella

School Sustainability Teacher

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