The exhibition will run from Tuesday, September 27 to Saturday, October 1 at Third Place Cafe on Lake Rd.

Claire Worrall, Head of the Visual Art Department at John Paul College, says students were asked if they would like to support this year's charity by allowing her to create reproductions of their artwork to sell in a public exhibition.

"I think the work the students produce is outstanding and I wanted to make sure it was displayed in a professional format, much like you would expect in any museum or art gallery. Read more

The fighters included both girls and boys.

Principal Patrick Walsh says John Paul College takes fighting seriously and is now in the process of disciplining the students involved.

"The students have been identified, we've notified the parents and we're working through a disciplinary process with them."

"The college has a dedicated and very responsive pastoral team who are managing the incident well," he says.

"These are isolated incidents but happen in every school from time to time."

However, a parent from the school says in her view Walsh's response is insufficient to prevent the "horrific bullying and fighting" she believes occurs daily on school grounds.

She says she only learned about the fights last week after another parent shared a video of the boys fighting in the toilet.

She doesn't think the John Paul College principal is going far enough in his disciplinary actions.

"I mean, other schools are expelling kids...

"If there's no consequence, then how are [the attackers] going to learn that it's not ok?"

Walsh disagrees.

"There are consequences, some are at the extreme end in terms of stand-downs and suspensions. We do treat the matter very seriously - we take a disciplinary approach to it but also there's a therapeutic and educative approach as well", he told the NZ Herald.

"We need to advise students why fighting is not a good idea and that they need to use other means to resolve conflicts."

Walsh said the conflicts usually began on social media.

"They generally have their genesis in inappropriate comments made on social media by students, which is a matter schools up and down the country grapple with.

"There were no serious injuries and I think it's boys getting a bit testosterone-inflamed over things. Social media has its benefits but it obviously has its downsides as well. People will say things on social media that in the cold light of day they regret saying."

He said he was pleased with how quickly other students reported the fights to school staff.

On Tuesday, CathNews reported an independent review said allegations of racism, bullying and elitism at Rotorua's John Paul College are "false or incorrect".

Earlier this year the college's board of trustees ordered an independent investigation "by its own choice".

Source

• NewsHub
• NZ Herald
• Image: TVNZ

Earlier this year the college's board of trustees ordered an independent investigation "by its own choice".

The Bishop of Hamilton, Stephen Lowe, told the board he had received a complaint via email regarding alleged "systemic racism" at the school. The complainant said the racism was causing Maori whanau to either withdraw or choose not to enrol at the college.

This week, the college confirmed the review was completed and had been released to the board, staff and the college Whanau Support Group.

The report says the evidence the independent review gathered does not support the allegations.

It says: "The notion of 'systemic racism' arises from a response to an email sent by a current board member who cited the unavailability of the whare to students at interval and lunchtimes while the International Room was.

"While this is not a case of 'systemic racism' further support needs to be created if the needs of whanau are to be met and heard."

The report notes there have been small fluctuations in the distribution of Maori students across year levels. This year it reached its highest total of 228.

The reviewers also found, however, a "slight drop" in the number of Pacific students at the college since 2017.

"The school's Pacific Island co-ordinator suggests that this reflects the increased number of Pacific families moving out of Rotorua," the report says.

Going forward, the reviewers have made recommendations to the college.

These include appointing a senior leadership team member responsible for Maori achievement, developing relationships with iwi and regularly updating the board of trustees on student retention and reasons for leaving.

Working school work with current school kaumatua to develop tikanga protocols associated with the Whare Tapere is offered as a suggestion to the school's leadership.

Gaston says any member of the school community was given the opportunity to be interviewed or to make a submission on the report.

As a result of this, the reviewer spent an additional two days meeting "interested parties".

"It is heartening that the review has definitively shown the allegations made in the complaint to be false or incorrect," Gaston says.

Right now, Gaston says school staff are working to create an action plan around the report's recommendations.

"John Paul College is a high performing school and continues to look to be more bicultural and Te Tiriti (Treaty) led."

"As a school, we will also continue to seek opportunities to support our Maori and Pacifika students to achieve as Maori and Pacifika people."

Independent reviewers Violet Pelham and Aramoana Mohi-Maxwell confirmed: "the evidence gathered does not support the allegations made."

Their recommendations "should assist and accelerate the school in its bicultural journey to becoming a Te Tiriti o Waitangi led school," Pelham and Mohi-Maxwell say.

Source

• Rotorua Daily Post
• Image: John Paul College

The Board of Trustees and principal ordered the review after the Bishop of Hamilton, Stephen Lowe, received a complaint via email regarding alleged "systemic racism" resulting in Maori whanau either withdrawing or choosing not to enrol at the college.

But the college believes the allegations are not supported by evidence and are factually incorrect.

Board of Trustees chairman Jean-Paul Gaston said the board "by its own choice" had started an independent review into the alleged matters raised in the complaint in the interest of transparency and objectivity. Read more

The team of 15 students competed in a variety of speeches, Bible reading, drama and debating, at Aquinas College, Tauranga, last month. The competition concluded with a quiz based on the gospel of Matthew.

Lucy Pepper, 17, said they were surprised to win and it took a while for it to sink in - "it was great".

Read more

Their video won the top prize in the Film, 15-18 years category in the 2016 Young Reporters for the Environment awards. Have a look at the video

Boys' High principal Chris Grinter has also warned his students about their use of Facebook after comments posted on the social networking site sparked the fight outside the Catholic school.

Students from Boys' High were thought to be responsible for an attack on a John Paul College student. The incident happened about 8.30am on Wednesday.

John Paul College principal Patrick Walsh said a group of about a dozen Boys' High students arrived at a college entrance with one of the students allegedly assaulting a student from his school.

Mr Walsh said Facebook was to blame for the incident.

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The National Certificate of Educational Achievement 2011 statistics were recently released by the New Zealand Qualifications Association, revealing the pass rates for Rotorua high schools.John Paul College