John Paul College (JPC) is a Catholic co–educational, state integrated school situated in Rotorua. Established in 1987 by the amalgamation of Edmund Rice and MacKillop Colleges, the current principal is Patrick Walsh, president of the Secondary Principals' Association of New Zealand. Principal for the past eight years, Patrick has led the college to become the top performing Catholic secondary school in New Zealand.
Academically, John Paul College has consistently scored outstanding results in New Zealand's National Certificates of Educational Achievement (NCEA) and University of Cambridge International Examinations (CIE). We have an exceptionally high university entrance rate and annually gain large numbers of tertiary scholarships.
The Director of International Students oversees individualised programmes and English learning needs. E.S.L. teachers, mentors and teacher aides are appointed as required. The school encourages all pupils to strive for and to achieve standards of personal excellence, self discipline and responsibility. Successful public examination results testify to the excellence of the schools learning programmes and support programmes are offered to students for whom English is a second language.
Key Points |
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| • | Form One (Year 7) to Form Seven (Year 13) |
| • | Discipline and close mentoring of student attendance |
| • | Strong pastoral care |
| • | High academic standards |
| • | Nationally recognised levels of excellence in speech and drama, and music |
| • | Experienced in ESL teaching |
| • | Opportunities for work experience |
| • | Extremely safe school environment |
| • | Hand picked home stays, most within walking distance of the school |
John Paul College has had on average 35-60 international students over the last five years. The total school roll is 1100 students, the maximum number permitted by the Ministry of Education. The international students are mostly from Southeast Asia: Taiwan, Korea, Japan and Hong Kong. The school is keen to broaden its range of international students to include Thai, Vietnamese, Chinese, Indian, German and South American students. The school accepts international students who are not Catholic.
The school has modern facilities with most of the classrooms rebuilt over the last seven years. In 2010 the new gymnasium and performing arts centre was completed. We have two ICT classrooms and a number of portable pods of lap tops for classroom use. There is a large technical department with separate classrooms for graphics, woodwork, engineering, food science and fabric. There is a dedicated music suite with practice rooms. The school has a large grass sports field and nine astroturf courts for tennis and netball.