Acting Principal's Message

What a fantastic start to Term Three we have had!  It’s amazing to see how much learning has already been packed into the first four weeks of the term.  Our students have embraced so many wonderful learning opportunities, and there is still plenty more to look forward to in coming weeks.  

Catholic Education Week

On Thursday 13 August, Ms Davies and I had the privilege of taking our Grade 6 Mission Leaders to the Catholic Education Week Mass for schools in the South. The celebration brought together students, staff and members of our wider Catholic community for a morning of faith, connection and celebration. 

During the Homily, Archbishop Tony reflected on a powerful message shared by Pope Leo with a gathering of young people: “Do not let the algorithm write your story!” Your story is too precious for that.” 

Archbishop Tony encouraged our young students to not allow social media to define their beauty or worth, or to measure themselves by their ATAR, sporting ability, popularity or the number of likes besides their name. Instead he reminded us that our true identity and worth comes from God:  “God has already spoken that truth. You are created by him.  Christ has called you by name.”

Archbishop Tony also reminded the adults working within Catholic Education that while teaching the curriculum is important, it is the connections we make with our students that are at the heart of Catholic Education. 

Pope Leo captured this beautifully when he said: 

“Sharing knowledge is not enough for teaching: love is needed.”

Term 3 Mystery Bus Excursion

On Tuesday 11 August we had our Mystery Bus Excursion.  The Mystery Bus Excursion is a special reward for students who received an MJR award throughout Term 2 recognising them for being positive members of our school community and demonstrating the Gospel values.  This term the students travelled to Guilford Young College to attend the musical Mary Poppins and then to Simmons Park for a play.

The lucky students that got to attend this excursion with Ms Davies and Mrs Crow were: Millie (Prep), Ciara (Gr 2), Grace F (Gr 2), Eleanor (Gr 3), Quintin (Gr 3), Xavier (Gr 4), Jett (Gr 5), Lucie (Gr 6) & Paloma (Gr 6).

Well done to all of our students who received an MJR Award in Term 2. We are so proud of the way you continue to live out our Gospel values each day!

Staffing Update

Next week we farewell Mrs Claire Cranfield who has been with JPII for a number of years as a valued and much loved Teacher Assistant.  As a school community we would like to thank Claire for her dedication, care and commitment to our students. Claire has made a wonderful contribution to our school community and we wish her all the very best as she begins the next chapter of her journey. 

We officially welcome Kathryn Edmundson to our staff for the remainder of the year. Mrs Edmundson will be working primarily in the Grade 3 classroom as a Teacher Assistant. We are delighted to have Mrs Edmundson join our JPII team and we hope you will all make her  feel welcome during her time with us.

SetUp for Success - Feedback

The leadership team is grateful to those members of our school community who have already provided valuable feedback on our SetUp for Success Program.

If you have not yet had the chance to complete the feedback form, we kindly ask that you please do so using the following link: 

This feedback form is open to all our families who have attended the current program, or an older version of the program many years ago.  Your feedback is valuable and will help us strengthen and add value to this already wonderful program.

The feedback form will close this Wednesday 26 August at 3:00pm.

Have a great weekend!

Lauren Hall

Acting Deputy Principal