Kia ora koutou katoa

This will be especially welcome for our Year 10 campers and the staff who have battled the weather with them up in the Lewis Pass. I hope you all have a sleep in tomorrow and a good rest over the next two weeks! Thank you to Dan Steggles, Tina Singer, Jasmine Dodemaide, and Allan Porter for your time away at what has been a successful and enjoyable camp. To our parent helpers, Zana Berry and Jim Boddy – Thank you! Without your support it would not have been possible to run this camp and we are deeply grateful for your time and help. Thanks also to our teachers and support staff who covered for your colleagues this week.

*According to reliable students, the weather at camp was good! Much disappointment that there was no snow though…we’ll have to order some next year!

On Wednesday I had the pleasure of accompanying the Kapa Haka team to Reefton to compete in the Tai Poutini Kapa Haka Festival - Te Hui Ahurei o Nga Kura o Te Tai Poutini. It was a joyous day and an amazing celebration of team mahi and competitive spirit. I cannot commend our team and their tutors enough for their hard work and dedication. The performances were polished and powerful, and it was a deeply moving experience to see our ākonga mana-filled and the wairua captivating the audience. There were few dry eyes in the audience after our performance! A special mention to the Grey High team who acknowledged our team with a rousing haka. It makes me incredibly proud of our students and community to see (and feel) the deep respect we have for each other as JPII continues its journey to revive Kapa Haka, reo Māori and tikanga Māori. We are excited to be exploring the possibility of offering Te Ao Haka as an NCEA subject at JPII and will talk about this at options evening in week one next term. Whaea Tina and Whaea Paula, you have done superb work with our students – thank you for your leadership and dedication with our Kapa Haka team. Ngā mihi nui!

This weekend we have two groups travelling – the JPII senior boys’ basketball team to the nationals in Palmerston North, and members of the Mission Team off to Antioch in Christchurch. Please keep them in your prayers for safe travel and successful events. Many thanks to DRS Joanie Roberson and our parish youth worker Ivory Rancho for their time in taking care of our students at Antioch this weekend. Huge thanks to Jasmine Dodemaide for going on camp then straight to basketball nationals – that is above and beyond!

Another success in the last week was Katie Boddy who competed in the fiercely contested Canterbury West Coast Science Fair. Katie aced the competition, coming in second place by a whisker, beating hundreds of other entries. This is a fantastic effort, Katie, and we commend you for your outstanding research and science communication skills.

Thanks to the members of our community who have recommended JPII to their friends and family for their secondary school education. We are delighted by the number of enrolments coming in and urge those of you who have Year 8 students at St Patrick’s, St Mary’s or other local schools to fill out the online enrolment forms. While we have no non-preference (non-Catholic) spaces left, we do have a waiting list, and everyone has the option to explore a preference pathway into JPII. Just get in touch so we can discuss how we can support your child to join the JPII Catholic whānau. We have two new students starting with us in Year 9 &10 next term, and we will welcome them to our JPII whānau.

We look forward to seeing everyone back at school for term 4 on Monday 9th October. Please note, the start of term 4 will be an especially busy one for senior students with NCEA exam study leave 2 November.

Wishing you all a safe and restful term break.

Ngā mihi nui

Renée Hutchinson

Principal