Kia ora,

Wow! What an incredibly busy first week back at JPII. My initial work has been helping our students settle back into the routines of school life and ensuring that the options they have chosen can fit our timetable. Although tricky for some, the dust is settling, and most students are now on a path they are happy with. Any problems with options must be sorted by the end of the week- so any issues please come and see me!

I hope the majority of you are familiar with me in my role as Curriculum Leader for Science, however for those of you who do not; I am originally from the UK and moved over to the beautiful West Coast of New Zealand with my wife and my daughter three years ago in 2019, we currently live in Kumara. In the UK I was a Head of Department for 9 years and have been teaching since 2002 in several schools in the North East of England and in the Midlands.

My role, in addition to supporting the Science team (until we are able to appoint a replacement for Term 2), is to support the Maths, PE and Religious Studies teams with their learning areas as well as helping the school develop its PB4L framework (this is the way the school deals with behaviour issues).

I am very much looking forward to working with the new leadership team at JPII High School. There are all sorts of challenges and changes that lie ahead, this year in particular, and it is great to work with a positive, outward looking team who put the student at the centre of the decisions we make.