Welcome to Term 3! It was great to see our students back this week ready for a busy term ahead.

On Monday we had the pleasure of welcoming our new Proprietor to the school, Bishop Michael Gielen. He was installed as the Bishop of Christchurch on 9th July, and we were honored to be the first school he has visited. Once again, our students provided a rousing welcome, calling the Bishop in with Te Waka, then performing our school Haka. Bishop Michael has chosen the motto Totus Tuus, translated as ‘All Yours’, in reference to the commitment of his life to Jesus through the intercession of Mary. It is significant as this motto was also that of Pope Saint John Paul II, namesake of our school. It was a warm West Coast welcome, and I thank our students and staff for extending friendship and hospitality to him. We look forward to seeing him over this way on a regular basis. I would also like to acknowledge our friends at the Grey Star for supporting this event by publishing the fantastic photos taken by Meg Fulford in the paper. You can see them on our Instagram page @jpii.hs

We sadly farewell Susan Smith next week.  Susan has worked at JPII for nearly 7 years, and has worked in many learning areas across the school, most recently in drama, English, and food tech. She has also been a champion for kapa haka at JPII and is respected for her pastoral care work and care of the lost, the last, and the least. We will all miss Susan, and farewell her formally on Thursday next week.

We are looking forward to welcoming Tina Singer into JPII as our freshly appointed Kaiako Māori & Performing Arts – Cultural Navigator. Tina begins on Monday 8th August, and is a taonga (gift) to develop te reo and tikanga Māori at JPII. Tina has worked at JPII in the past and has a hunger to be back here to serve our students and school community. 

In breaking news, Cameron Klempel has returned from the West Coast Regional Science Fair, triumphant in first place! Congratulations Cameron!

Have a safe and relaxing weekend.

Ngā mihi nui

Renée Hutchinson