Principal's Message

What a wonderful end to the year we have had. The Grade 6 end of year events were amazing and filled with joy and gratitude. Thank you to all the staff and family members who made the end of primary school special for our students.  A big shout out to Lachlan Hull for the most unique Leavers kit ever!

School Lunch Program Survey

This year we opened Little Dove Cafe. We are after feedback from the community about the opening of the Little Dove Cafe and the school lunches program in 2023. This will help us in our planning for 2024.

We would appreciate if you could fill our a very quick 1 minute survey.  

Strategic Plan Overview

In 2020, we created the John Paul II Strategic Plan 2021-2023. 2023 has seen the plan come to its natural conclusion. As our Validation feedback acknowledges, we have made considerable progress. Our primary goal is that our school will be recognised as an excellent school for young boys and girls in Tasmania. One area the leadership team has focused on explicitly is our school narrative. That is, the story we tell ourselves about the school. We believe this has been powerful in terms of our overall achievement. Please find below a summary of each area in our Strategic Plan.

1.1 Teaching and Learning: Implement a whole school literacy plan. 

• All teachers completed LETRS: Language essentials for Teachers of Reading and Spelling. This is quite an achievement given the length of the course. New staff have continued to complete this course.
• We have continued to train staff in the Orton-Gillingham method.
• We have implemented Initialit from Prep-Grade Two.
• We have implemented MiniLit Sage, PreLit (Kindergarten) and Macqlit.
• We have implemented Spelling Mastery from 3-6
•  In 2024, we will implement Language Lift
• We have incorporated Insight teaching practices into our literacy program.
• We have continued to purchase resources and now have a very strong collection of decodable readers.
• We have invested heavily in new literature. Our borrowing rates have dramatically increased.
• We are building a new library.

1.2. Teaching and Learning: Create a new timetable to optimise learning.

• Early in the Strategic Plan, we implemented a new timetable. Our new timetable has worked well overall, with students having an active start to the day. It has also meant students are present for key literacy teaching each morning.
• We have had to refine the supervision of some of our more vulnerable students during morning fitness time.
• ·We have had to change our structure slightly to incorporate the School Lunch Program.

1.3 Teaching & Learning: Expand Specialist Subjects

• During the Strategic Plan we doubled our specialist subject allocation time.
• We now teach Music, Art, Physical Education, Chinese and Library. All our teachers have specialist degrees in their area.

1.4 Create an Instructional Model

• The instructional model we have taken on is that of Insight, an evidence-based teaching and learning approach supported by the Catholic Education Office. 2023 has been the first year of the project. We will continue in 2024.

2.2 Character: Create character scope and sequence.

•  One of the areas that our teachers identified when creating the Strategic Plan was character development, in particular goal setting and attainment. We considered writing our own scope and sequence and explored commercial programs. As a staff, we have decided to implement the Positive Education Enhanced Curriculum (PEEC). PEEC is research-based explicit Positive Education curriculum that has been developmentally sequenced from Early Learning (age four) through to Year 12. The curriculum is built on ten years of experience with Positive Education at Geelong Grammar School. We have now taught PEEC for two years and will review it with staff.
• On a broader level, I have been pleased to see higher levels of attainment across the school, both in core areas. For example, this year we had winners in spelling contests, The National History Challenge, and the Eastern Shore Writing Showcase. This is an investment in Extension paying off.

2.3       Character: Strengthen Connection to Parish

• We have formed excellent relationships with both Priests present in the Bellerive-Lindisfarne Parish during the plan, Father Richard Ross and Father Mark Freeman.
• Our Religious Education Coordinator Jane Davies has been a consistent and authentic leader in this space during the plan.
•  It was pleasing to see the strength of our Sacramental numbers in 2023.

2.4 Strengthen connection to MacKillop

• The percentage of students continuing onto MacKillop College has been increasing year on year, from a very low base. From current estimates 2025 looks to be the strongest in the last decade, which is positive.
• The collective uniform shop has been beneficial in promoting the connection between our two schools.
• We now have a MacKillop College Grade 6 Endeavour Award.
• We have buddy classes with Kinder and Grade 2.
• In 2024 we have some Grade 11 and 12 trainees working in at John Paul II.
• We are using our school bus to drive MacKillop students to some courses at other Catholic Colleges.
• We have started an Eastern Shore Cluster Band Program with MacKillop College.
• MacKillop students help at all our carnivals.
• This has been a very successful component of the plan.

3.1 Projects: School Building Masterplan

• The Strategic Plan can be divided up into four main areas: the Early Learning Centre (ELC), the utility move, Emmaus and a new school library.
• The ELC improved the kindergarten play space dramatically and allowed John Paul II to launch the first Ludo school.
• The utility move moved our shed from the front of the school to behind the Church. This has been an aesthetically pleasing move as well as a very practical solution.
• Emmaus has transformed the school in a positive fashion, with the introduction of many new learning spaces and the school lunch program. Utilising the space for before and after school care has been highly successful. So much so that John Paul II will be able to offer Vacation Care for the first time in 2024.
• The building of the Library is underway and will make the very heart of the school a literature rich and inviting place in our community. We are very excited for this project to occur.

3.6 Implement Attendance Strategy

• Our attendance has sat stubbornly between 88-89.5% during the entire Strategic Plan, despite a tremendous effort by leadership and the school Board to improve policies and processes. One positive is that we never saw the dramatic Covid drop off that many schools are still dealing with, so perhaps stagnant attendance was a good result in the context.

3.5 Uniform ‘Smart Play’ Update.

• Yes, that was part of this Strategic Plan. It seems a lifetime ago that students were rocking the tartan trousers and white shirt! This has been a tremendous success. Overall, we have had very positive feedback about the transition and new families to the school love the uniform. It is always the case that some people prefer one type of trackpants to another. We can’t win every battle, but we have won the war. I love seeing our students out in the playground being active and enjoying the John Paul II Catholic school uniform.

3.2 Marketing and Communication Masterplan

One of the core elements of this Strategic Plan has been to improve our marketing and communication strategies. This is focused on our current parents and potential parents. This has included:

• Local advertising – signs, pamphlets, advertising at Glebe Hill and Childcare centres.
• The use of Enquiry Tracker and Feesable
• A new website
• The use of Google Analytics
• A Prospectus
• The production of a Kindergarten and Parent Handbook
• Internal communication materials.

As you have read, this Strategic Plan has been a significant one in the life of John Paul II Catholic School. We have achieved much, but there are still many areas in the school of which to improve. Our focus in 2024 will be the creation of a new Strategic Plan as continuous improvement is an important component of any school.

We hope you and your family have enjoyed your school year at JPII as much as our staff have.  We look forward to 2024 to continue to guide our students to further growth and development in all areas of learning and opportunities. 

Christmas blessings,

Mr Brendan Gill

Principal

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IT'S TIME TO ENROL.  KINDER ENROLMENTS - 2025 & BEYOND ARE NOW OPEN 

Kinder enrolments for 2025 are now open and we are filling up!  

Over the school holidays it may be a good time to remind any families or friends that are interested.  We have very strong enrolment interest at JPII so it is likely we will have large numbers as per the demand over the last years.

 You can begin the enrolment process by filling out clicking on this link.

 https://johnpaul.tas.edu.au/enrol/how-to-enrol/

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Have you seen our Explore the Future brochure?  

There are so many wonderful projects taking place at JPII to further build a richer learning and school experience for our students and whole school community. Our new School Hall/Multi-Purpose Activity Centre is now open and buzzing with daily. We are now progressing to our new library build which will be amazing!

Download your copy of our new 'Explore the Future' brochure here.