JPC Key Message Week 10, Term 2 2020

School Holiday Office Hours
6-10 July - CLOSED
13-17 July - 10.00am - 1.00pm

From the Principal

As we draw to a close this extraordinary semester, I want to extend my thanks again to our wonderful parent body who have supported the school and their children through the complexity of moving from remote learning and back again. I also want to acknowledge our students who have shown great resilience and growth in dealing with their changing learning environment. It’s certainly a year they will not forget.

Reports

You should receive your semester 1 reports this afternoon. We have implemented a new reporting system that is fully online due to the COVID-19 situation. You will receive your child’s report electronically. As with all new systems, we sometimes encounter unexpected glitches. Please let the school know if you do not receive your child’s report.

Key Events

Year 10 Transition week. This week our Year 10 students took part in the JPC Transition Week which allowed students to explore the many post school options as well as being introduced to the BSSS and the Senior years. The week was organised by Ms Teena Zorzi and I thank her for putting this together in a flexible way because of the COVID 19 restrictions. On Thursday and again today we held subject selection interviews with our Year 10 students. It was lovely to have these discussions about future plans with our Year 10 students and I am very much looking forward to seeing them move into their Senior years with us. The feedback from staff conducting the interviews is that they are a highly positive, engaged and a thoughtful group of students and they will be a wonderful addition to our senior cohort next year.

The year group also spent some special time together on Wednesday afternoon during their Transition Week Reflection day, which was led by Mrs Jen Tually. The importance of being able to be together with friends has certainly been highlighted this year and the staff commended the Year 10 student on their level of engagement and involvement in the activities presented.

Staffing News

Mrs Alison Middleton is currently on Maternity leave. Mrs Middleton and her husband have welcomed their daughter Audrey Taylor to the world.

Mr Damian Veltri has also become the proud father to baby Cosette, we congratulate him and his wife.

Miss Amos became engaged, got married and accepted a teaching position at Greater Palm Island for next semester – all in a four week turn around! Miss Amos left us in Week 8 to begin her transition to Queensland before heading to Greater Palm Island to begin her work with the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community.

Mr Anthony Maas returns to St Clare’s College after a teacher exchange for six months – Mr Maas will be leaving behind a significant legacy – in his brief time with us he has had an impact on a number of students and inspired many of the students he has taught.

Mrs Karen McKerrow has decided that it is time for her to retire and to spend more time with her grandchildren. Karen has taught for many years in the ACT, both in the Catholic and Independent system and we wish her all the best as she moves into this next phase.

Mrs Elizabeth Walsh is also going to be on Maternity leave for Semester 2 and we are looking forward to hearing the news when her new baby arrives. 

Next Semester we welcome Beau Nebelung who has been successful in gaining a position with us as our new D&T teacher. Ainsley Maurer will be joining the Maths and Science department. Mrs Elspeth Collins will also be joining us, taking on SOSE classes. Mrs Collins has been working with us this term assisting with Mr Veltri’s classes and we appreciate the work she has done in supporting these classes.

We also welcome back Mr Ian Pettit from a six month leave and Mr Pat Wood has also re-joined the staff after cutting short his leave due to the COVID 19 situation. Mrs Vicki Williams has also re-joined us after some time away and it is lovely to welcome back these experienced and much-loved members of the JPC community.

I wish everyone a very safe and restful holiday and hopefully, Term 3 will allow schools to return to a more “normal’ way of doing things!

Stephanie O'Meara

UNIFORM

Dear Parents and Students,

The JPC staff would like to thank our families for supporting our transition back to school. We understand Term 2 was not ideal and will remain challenging for a while yet. We aim to start Term 3 fresh and on the correct path and as such we need your support to ensure our students are representing the college in the correct winter uniform for Term 3. 

As the winter season sets in, a reminder that students are permitted to wear beanies and gloves as part of the winter school uniform. Please ensure these items are in school colours (navy, red, white) and are worn outside only. Students can ‘layer’ clothing with white long-sleeved tops or thermals as undergarments (not black). However, please ensure they cannot be seen and are worn as undergarments only. Hoodies are not for school and should never be worn with the school uniform. JPC logo sports jumpers are to be worn for co-curricular sporting activities only. 

The expectations for all other uniform items can be found on the JPC website for the Winter Uniform.

Please also note that we continue to work with Lowe’s to ensure they are meeting demands but order early (at the start of holidays) to ensure they can supply you with your request ASAP. 

The full uniform policy is available on the JPC website for more information.

With kind regards

JPC Leadership Team 

PASTORAL CARE (PC) TIME CHANGE

After a trial this Semester with PC time after Period 2, we have decided to revert back to having PC time at the start of the day. PC is an important part of the day where the student's attendance is marked, they receive important messages and take part in house activities. Students are expected to attend PC.

School Hours are 8.55 am - 3.35 pm

In and Around JPC

Transition Week

Congratulations to all of the Year 10 students involved in this week’s first ever virtual Transition Week program!  They were given a lot of new information to prepare them for college and to consider their future pathways.

On Monday, students engaged in a variety of modules learning about resumes, interviews, personal services, work experience, alternative courses and more! Students also took part in a virtual career’s expo on Tuesday, interacting with a number of organisations such as CIT, ACU, ANU, UC, AIE and Sarina Russo Apprenticeships.

In addition, several Year 9/10 and senior students completed the White Card and Asbestos qualifications to enable them to work on a construction site.

We take this opportunity to thank all of our staff who took time out of their day to present the modules and helped with the career’s expo.

Mrs Teena Zorzi
Leader of Learning (Careers) and Wellbeing (Drexel House)

 'You do not need to be perfect.
You do not need to change the world or anyone’s life in the eyes of God.
You just need to be.
And to trust that if your being is in honour of humanity and the planet, then it will be exactly what the world – and you – needs.'

Tim Guthrie, author of Conditional Expression

The session concluded with a special Liturgy based on the Gospel reading from Matthew 5:13-16 – Salt and Light. This Liturgy was beautifully put together by Caitlyn D’Cruze and, judging from the feedback, it touched the hearts of many of our participants.

Salt and Light

“You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot.

 “You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead, they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.

• Harvey Rymill - It made me think about where I wanted to go and what might stop me.
• Cooper-Jay Dawson - I enjoyed it as I was able to think about my life about it more and how I can be respectful to everyone around me as well.
• Anant Dhiman - I thought about my future and prepared myself for it.
• Olivia Donovan  - It made me think about the challenges I might face and how I can overcome them. The whole reflection was an eye opener. 
• Lee Cole Feliciano - The reflection was extremely eye opening. I had some epiphanies about life and the choices I make. I liked it because it made me realise and think about the happenings in my life that I didn’t have time to think about because I was too busy going on my phone.
• Anastacia Kaskoutas - The reflection session was good because it taught us how to approach challenges and face our fears.
• Ivy Keating - The reflection enabled me to truly consider what i wanted from my studies and goals and the way that my attitudes towards this and my resilience will impact my life.
• Eugene Subedi - It made me realise that everyone faces challenges in life. We need to learn to get over the challenges and come on the top.  It also helped me to get over my fears that I had about my future and made me realise that I am not the only one in this journey.  
  This experience was extremely fun and helped me reflect and renew my thoughts on life challenges and fears.
• Nazli Tuang - I was able to learn that value of life in ways that I did not before, I knew that there would be ups and downs in our future but I also can’t depend on other people, if I need to work on myself as a person I need to grow and learn from my past mistakes rather than blaming other people, the path to success is if I have as many or even more failures. The value of life is important if I make myself important not to others but myself.
• Rachel Fagundes - The challenges were fun and exciting and got me thinking out side of the box. I loved the candle thing. It was a day well spent. 
• Kayla Barclay - The challenges were really fun and helped me to reflect on what happens in real life. (They) helped me understand that sometimes it is better to rely on others for help and that is ok, it also taught me that sometimes the answer to your question is there you just have to look a little harder to find it.
• Bowyn Beatty - (The Challenges) were fun and interesting to do, I enjoyed moving around.
  Nina Buckley - I thought it was really powerful to burn your fears and it felt like a release. Thank you for making this day enjoyable and fun.   
• Zara Capner - The burning of fears was liberating.
• Jack French - I liked hearing Mr Charter’s and Caitlyn’s stories and how through hard times they found God and how through their faith they found happiness.
• Oliver Honeywell -  I liked (the testimonies) because hearing people’s stories can help you shape your own.
• Andrijana Juric - The Liturgy was very beautiful and relaxing and something needed for this week.
• Milena Katic - - Burning anything that may be a weight was a nice way to reflect and be able to focus on the positives.
• Angelica Kavaliku-Skinner - The Liturgy helped me the most because I got to burn my fears which to me is saying that you shouldn’t let your fears stop you or determine what pathway you are going to take, this also helped me think about what I’m actually scared of.
• Abbey Lamb - The Liturgy helped me the most because it made me write down my fears and the things I am nervous about heading into the future, and then I got to burn them - making them disappear, as well as having my friends for support by my side and everything like that
• William Machin - - The Challenges helped me the most - instead of day-dreaming, I actually thought about the intended things.
• Faria Mustafa - The Liturgy was very peaceful and made me have an easeful mindset due to all distractions - many people find it hard to gain time for themselves.  Thank you for a great time!
• Christopher Nicholas - The challenges were a bit difficult to complete, which made it interesting.
• Natasja Shearman - I enjoyed the challenges because they were something different which made the content engaging and forced us to be creative.
• Emma Sheil - I really enjoyed listening to the teachers talk about their lives and the challenges they’ve overcome as people. Today was fun :)   x
• Lucia Pratt - Today was really great in terms of reflection and seeing where we are at in life, the activities were a nice break.
• Kade Nielsen - The teachers did exceptionally well in the performance of the retreat and it was almost enjoyable.
• Jacob Randell-Sly - This helped me think about some areas of my life and how I might overcome obstacles that may present themselves to me in my later life..  - The Liturgy was the part of the session I enjoyed the most and because of the silence, serenity and seriousness it entailed, I was able to feel that I got something meaningful out of today
• Jade Rethman - The Liturgy was the thing that made me actually think to myself about the things that are scaring me and why, but also a way to get them out and get rid of them.
• Ceinwyn Robens - I think that the Liturgy gave us a way to lighten the load that we are holding and to get the major burdens that are holding us back from enjoying a good time. “A heart is a heavy burden.” 
• Kiara Allan - I liked the Liturgy the most as I felt that burning my fears also burned the fears inside me, it helped me because I felt I was letting go of the things that held me down. This session was a nice way to end this semester as I felt these activities, mainly the Liturgy, helped me personally, it was a fun and active way to collaborate with teachers and friends, and meeting new people, such as Caitlin and Tim, was also a good experience for us.
• Ivy Keating - The whole session was an eye-opener for me and I am feeling more prepared and less afraid to take on new challenges and to take chances on opportunities put before me.
• Gabrielle Jordan - This session was a great way to end a busy semester and left me with a lot to think about before my senior years and future. It also taught me I need to be doing a lot more reflection.
• Vanessa Pino - It was a good time to really start thinking about challenging questions that I feel we all have been trying to avoid.
• Addison Atkinson - I really enjoyed the past few days and have learnt a lot of life skills.
• Albert David - Can I put all of them? Haha I really liked all of them.  The Liturgy -  I feel like it gave emotion especially when thinking of my fears and setting them on fire. It feels like I’m being freed from my fears and I’m ready to tackle on anything that comes in my way. Nothing in mind to improve. Keep it up!    

Independent Inquiry Tasks

To celebrate our learning in Semester 1, our 9 & 8 SOSE and 8 French classes have been doing some independent inquiry tasks. In SOSE students were asked to create a presentation/museum display of their choice based on a topic from the units we’ve studied. 9 SOSE looked at the Industrial Revolution, WWI and Indigenous Australia, while the Year 8's looked at Medieval Europe and Japan, and ANZACs. Year 8 French were given the challenge of creating a travel agency and planning the itinerary for the perfect French holiday to present to their classmates and vote on which holiday was the best. The winner was “Bread Travel Agency” (created by Brady, Riley and Daniel) for their inventive bread-based transport and accommodation. All the students put in amazing effort and creativity and enjoyed learning from their peers about different subjects.

Well done everyone – what a great way to end the term!

Shaylie Maskell

Remembrance Day 2020

Do you have a relative who served in World War II?

We have a special installation for Remembrance Day this year and we will be honouring and remembering our JPC family members who served in WWII. This is open to all JPC families and to all Nationalities. Please send through any relevant information you know about your family member, including:

• Their name
• Rank if known
• Service
• Dates served
• Date of death (if killed in action).

Please send to vicki.walsh@cg.catholic.edu.au

Arts Up Front

Curtain Call for Drama Semester 1

It has been a busy end to the Semester for Drama students. Year 7, Years 9/10 and the cast of Cinderella have been devising unique performances.

The Year 7 classes have applied the theatrical conventions of Ancient Greek theatre into their performance. They created modernised version of classic fairytales including “The Three Little Pigs – With Fire,” “Little Red in Da Hood” and “Frozen”. Each performance showed comical characters, synchronised ensemble work and effective use of simple props. The Year 7 classes were able to perform on the theatre stage, under the lights to commemorate their final performance for their Drama study.

The Years 9/10 Drama class combined with the 9/10 Dance class to create a “World of Performance Showcase”. Students were given a list of stimulus words to create their performance. The Drama students included a variety of non-realistic theatrical conventions including masks, voiceovers, soundtracks and abstract themes to convey their performance narrative. The students showed their refined skills and ability to think conceptually to engage and challenge the audience.

This week also saw the conclusion of Cinderella rehearsals until next year. The cast have been creating fractured fairytales performances. These performance saw students from a mix of year levels work collaboratively to create a musical theatre inspired unique performance. Each of the five fractured fairytales included live singing and choreographed movement created by the students. The bond the cast has created reiterate the commitment to performance and each other.

All students who have engaged with Drama this semester have developed their self-confidence and creative collaboration skills. The joy for performance is shining at JPC. Chookas to all involved!

Mrs Sarah Smith
Drama teacher

Careers

If you missed it, click here for the Careers newsletter for this week.

JPC Career’s Community

JPC is looking to create a career’s community to assistant student’s in gaining placements for work experience. If you work for (or own) an organisation or business and are interested in developing a relationship with the college, could you please email careers.jpc@cg.catholic.edu.au  

Thank you!

Mrs Teena Zorzi
Leader of Learning (Careers) and Wellbeing (Drexel House)

Defence

If you have a relative who served in World War II - then we need to hear from you. Please see the above notice about our special installation at JPC for Remembrance Day.

Support over the holidays (and anytime)

Defence Community Organisation (DCO) - For ADF members and their families
The Defence Family Helpline. 1800 624 608
This is your first point of call for support, information and connection with your Defence community.
You can also email the Helpline on DefenceFamilyHelpline@defence.gov.au and receive a response within 24 hours. This helpline is located within the Defence Community Organisation (DCO).
DCO offers a broad range of programs and services to help Defence families manage the military way of life. To access any of DCO support services. Contact the 24/7 Defence Family Helpline 1800 624 608.

Don’t forget the final webinar run by DCO Leading your children through COVID19. This will be on 15 July 2020 at 8pm and tickets are available through Eventbrite. Click here to book. 

A reminder that Defence Students meet every Monday at Recess in the Barracks. This is a great opportunity for your child to connect with other Defence students. I hope you all enjoy the break over the holidays and I look forward to working with your children in Term 3. Take care!

Vicki Walsh
DSM

From the College office

Parish News

Community News

The National Breast Cancer Foundation has a goal of no deaths from breast cancer by 2030. Did you know that over 100 women in Australia die each year from breast cancer and that breast cancer is the most highly diagnosed type of cancer in the country?

Funds raised go towards research that will detect tumours earlier, improve outcomes and save lives. By making my pledge to GO PINK I will be raising money that will help save lives.

I would love your support for this great cause. To donate visit my fundraising page here by the 30 June 2020.

Thank you

Maddie Heywood, Year 7

Updated public transport timetables
from 18 July 2020

From Saturday 18 July 2020, Transport Canberra will be updating timetables for bus services.

As a new timetable is being introduced, there will be minor changes for all students travelling to and from school on public transport across Canberra from the first day of Term 3, 2020 (Monday 20 July 2020). In most cases, this will mean that students will catch the same service from the same stop, but the times that services arrive and leave may change.

In addition, Transport Canberra has made the following changes:
Adjustments to school buses for St John Paul II College

• From Term 3, there will be minor adjustments to school special services for St John Paul II College.
• School route 1001 has been more popular than expected, and there will an additional school route 1001 service each afternoon on school days to meet high demand. This means that there will be three school route 1001 services leaving the school between 3.52pm and 3.57pm each school day.
• Similarly, fewer students have been using school route 1002 than expected to travel between Gungahlin Place and the school, with many students choosing to catch route 26 services instead. For this reason, school route 1002 will be reduced to one service each morning and afternoon, instead of two services.
• All students currently catch school route 1002 will be able to continue to do so, or they will also be able to catch route 26 services instead.
• There will be no changes to services for St John Paul II College during Term 2, 2020.

All schools, parents and students can find out more about the specific changes by:

• clicking here for updated timetable 
• checking the information packs for each school, which are online at www.transport.act.gov.au
• checking timetables for each route (including school specials), which are online at www.transport.act.gov.au
• calling 13 17 10.