At John Paul II, every child is nurtured by our friendly, caring team. It’s a place where students are supported to feel a sense of belonging and given the opportunity to shine.
It is important that all students feel safe and valued as a member of the School community. We have adopted School Wide Positive Behaviour Support (SWPBS), which is a strong evidence-based approach to creating a safe and supportive environment.
Our approach focuses on everyone within the School and promotes a positive focus on academic and behavioural outcomes across the School. It clearly defines our core expected behaviours, which are:
Positive behaviours are reinforced by golden tickets that are handed out by staff for positive behaviour. We also use a behaviour matrix to explicitly teach appropriate behaviour in different contexts. A high standard of behaviour underpins all that we do at John Paul II Catholic School.
We have two school counsellors on site during the week that work with students and families from our School community. The counsellors work for CatholicCare and we work in partnership with them to deliver strong outcomes for all students. Separate permission forms are required to access counselling, which are available from the School office.
The School has three houses that students belong to which instils a sense of pride and belonging. When participating in school carnivals or events (particularly John Paul II Day) students have the opportunity to earn points for their house. Siblings are placed in the same house and remain in their house for the duration of their time at John Paul II.
The three houses are:
Connolly (Gold)
Connolly is named after Father Philip Connolly, the first Catholic priest in Tasmania, who regularly visited the Rokeby area. In 1882, Father Philip Connolly built Tasmania’s first Catholic place of worship, close to where St Mary’s Cathedral is located today.
Gannon (Green)
Gannon is named after one of the first enrolled families who gave outstanding service to the School. Parents of the Gannon family were involved in the Parents and Friends Association for 12 years and on the School Board for six. The family still has an ongoing relationship with John Paul II by donating an annual award.
Toepher (Red)
Toepher is named after George Toepfer, the first Principal of John Paul II Catholic School. George was principal from 1983 to 1990 and created a solid foundation from which our School has grown.
