Principal’s Message

It has been a wonderful few weeks at John Paul II Catholic School. I was particularly impressed with the strong participation in our swimming carnival. We really changed our approach this year, with a plan to include competition, fun and strong participation in an even balance. The 90 minute rotations after lunch were enthralling, especially the games that involved teamwork and skill. We will engage with this format in future years. Other than the carnival, normal school life and routines are alive and well and it is a pleasure to see the learning taking place at this early stage of the school year.

Grade 5/6 Student Leadership Announced

Well done to our student leaders who we blessed last week at morning gathering. Thank you to the families who joined us as part of the occasion.

Library Construction

We have had a slight delay due to carpet availability. We should still be in the space prior to the Easter break, but it will take a couple of weeks to set the library up for use. I am hopeful we will gain access to our new break out rooms and DDA toilet at an earlier date. We are short on space for small group work. This will mean we get the corridor from administration to the Early Years area back, which will be a relief. I thank all members of the community for their patience. Trust me, like Emmaus, it will be worth the wait.

Music

Students are encouraged to get involved in some of our musical opportunities in 2024. Choir is happening every Monday and Tuesday during morning fitness time. Rock band is back on a Monday. We have a new group called Marimba Madness on a Tuesday. Dance Club is on a Wednesday - and there are talks of going to the eisteddfod this year! Students also have the opportunity to be part of the liturgical dance at our Stations of the Cross liturgies this year. Of course, all students receive Music classes every week and a major music excursion for the year. We also have ten students participating in the MacKillop Band Program this year, which involves weekly visits to MacKillop College for instruction.

Sustainability

Thanks to Mr Brighella for his energy so far this year. We are about to harvest our first produce, planted by classes late last year. This will be going straight to The Little Dove Cafe, to be utilised in the School Lunches Program. How exciting - a true paddock to plate initiative. Mr Brighella has already had a lot of classes and small groups engaging in sustainability initiatives. The school also actively participated in CleanUp Australia Day last Thursday. This is only the start, as we are currently planning some really exciting projects, both to deliver to Little Dove Cafe a lot of fresh produce and make our school a more sustainable place.

Positive Behaviour Support

Classroom behaviour has been in the news in the last few months, with a senate committee finding Australia has some of the world’s most disruptive classrooms (https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-12-05/school-classroom-behaviour-concerns-after-senate-inquiry/103186088).

This year we have refreshed our positive behaviour support processes to be proactive in this space. In recent years we have seen our results improve on the back of strong student behaviour, but we are certainly not immune from challenging behaviour. We have a really clear 1-2-3 approach in the classroom when students are exhibiting challenging behaviour. Please see the poster below as well as a poster about our school norms. Please note that if your child receives a School Sanction, this involves a consequence and an opportunity for a restoration. You will receive a summary via Compass, which you can use to discuss the incident/s with your child and follow up with the school if necessary. Repeated School Sanctions and other unacceptable behaviour can result in other consequences, such as internal suspension, external suspension, expulsion and/or negotiated transfer of a student enrolment to another school as per the Catholic Education Commission Tasmania Response to Unacceptable Student Behaviour Policy.

Parents can help support the school by:

Ensuring you have Compass to engage proactively with the school.
Supporting the school norms and other behaviour policies.
Please let us know if students have had a rough morning/night. We will try and give students some extra care to avoid possible challenges.
Comply with social media age restrictions. A surprising number of problems at school stem from the underage use of social media applications.
Let us know if there is more to an issue than we have communicated. It can be particularly difficult to get to the bottom of an issue involving, for example, five seven year olds! If you think we missed something that happened, please let us know. We don’t and can’t always get everything right.

As part of the Positive Behaviour refresh, to complement our in-class reward systems and our end of term certificates, we have introduced weekly Making Jesus Real certificates. These will be handed out weekly at morning gatherings, accompanied by an icy pole (Terms 1 & 4) or hot chocolate (Terms 2 & 3) voucher. Students then get entered into a draw to get on the bus for a mystery bus excursion at the end of term.

Our whole approach is to ensure the best possible outcomes for all students at John Paul II Catholic School. Please contact me if you have any questions or a positive or constructive contribution to make.

A few helpful general reminders:

Just a reminder that dogs are not allowed on school property without written permission from the Principal.
Please ensure that you can receive Compass notifications. This is our main point of contact with families.
We have had record student interest to participate in our Stations of the Cross Liturgy for 2024. Please mark one of the times in your diary - 10.00am or 12.00pm 28 March.
Learning Conferences opened this week. These will occur in Week 9 (Wednesday 3 and Thursday 4 April), except for Grade 2, which is in Week 8 (Tuesday 26 and Wednesday 27 March). These are a perfect opportunity to discuss the start of the 2024 school year and review some work samples and assessments in key learning areas.
Please find attached our Parent Information Booklet for 2024.

Brendan Gill

PRINCIPAL

KINDER ENROLMENTS - 2025 & BEYOND ARE NOW OPEN

Kinder enrolments for 2025 are now open and we are filling up! It might be an opportune time to remind any families or friends that are interested. We have very strong interest, so it is likely we will have large numbers as per the demand this year.

Anyone interested can pick up an enrolment pack from the office or just fill out this form: https://johnpaul.tas.edu.au/enrol/how-to-enrol/

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Setup for Success

BIRTH to 5 YEARS PROGRAM