Dear Parents
It has come to our attention that Chain Letters are circulating around schools at the moment and that this can cause distress for the person receiving them. For those who may not be aware, Chain Letters are messages sent to a large number of people asking each recipient to forward them onto as many people as they can. These often contain a threat that if the message is not sent on that something awful will happen to the recipient or their family or friends.

Teenagers often feel coerced to forward these messages on and this of cause, perpetuates the problem.
If your child receives one of these messages they should delete them straightaway. Please reassure them that nothing bad will happen as a result and if they do send the message on that they are sending a threatening message that could frighten and upset other people.

Could we also remind students that when they are walking to and from school to be aware of their surroundings and to be aware of their own safety. A number of public walkways border the school and are used regularly by different groups and members of the public.

Regards

Stephanie O’Meara and Rachel Francis-Davies

If your child needs to leave school early
Students must bring a signed note from their parents stating the reason for leaving school and the time that they will be picked up. Students keep this note with them during the day. Five minutes before the time they are to be picked up, the student needs to show the note to their classroom teacher, leave the class and collects any belongings they need. Students are not allowed to leave the class rooms without a note. The student then needs come down to the student office with their note, which they hand in as they sign out. We appreciate parents/carers coming in to meet the student at the Student Office and to sign their child out

For unforeseen circumstances, please email the office giving as much notice as possible on office.jpc@cg.catholic.edu.au and we can let the relevant teacher know.

If your child is absent from school or going to be late
we require all absences from school to be explained in writing, please email the student office at office.jpc@cg.catholic.edu.au to let us know. (Please include your child’s full name and year level) If you are unable to email us, please let us know by phone (6163 4800), and then send in an explanation note with your child when they return to school.

Student use of phones
Students are not allowed to have their phones in class they are only allowed to access their phones at their locker during recess and lunch. Phones used during class time will be confiscated from the student and given to the student office, to be picked up at the end of the day. The consequence for inappropriate phone use is spending time at lunch picking up rubbish in the playground.

If your child is feeling unwell, they must let their teacher know, and come to first aid, and we will get in touch with you.

Bikes
A reminder that all students who leave their bikes in the bike sheds do so at their own risk. Please ensure bikes are locked to the bike stands within the shed. Bikes are not to be left in the bike sheds overnight or over the weekend. If a student cannot ride their bike home for any reason, it can be locked inside the school on request.

Assessment
The next few weeks are busy times for assessment. If your child is going to be away on a day that assessment is due or taking place, please email the relevant teacher to let them know they won’t be able to do the assessment. Please be aware that a medical certificate may be required. All staff emails are available on the website.

Lost items
Please encourage your child not to bring unnecessary valuables to school, and to place any items they do not need during the day into their lockers. Please get your child to name ALL items and clothing that comes to school – including their MyWay cards, hats, pencil cases, calculators and ILT planners. Then, if items are found and handed in to the student office, they can be returned promptly to their owner.
 
Any unnamed lost property is placed on the lost property table near the student office, which students can check themselves. Unclaimed items will be donated to St Vincent De Paul at the end of each term.

Thank you for your support.

Last Friday our year 7 students had the opportunity to engage in Stewardship Day, a time of reflecting on our call as people of God to care for creation. But stewardship, as our Year 7s have been discovering in their Religion lessons, is about more than just putting our rubbish in the bins and trying to conserve energy. Stewardship implies a position of responsibility for nurturing and protecting our world, and invokes in us a sense of responsibility about our role as caretakers of the Earth.

Over the course of the day, students engaged in a range of activities designed to develop their understanding, and to then put this understanding into practice. We welcomed a special guest, Ms. Terese Corkish from Catholic Earth Care Australia, who shared an informative and engaging presentation with all students about the powerful encyclical from Pope Francis, Laudato Si – On Care for our Common Home. Students created and shared some amazing mini dramas to highlight key themes of the encyclical. They also had the opportunity to create an advertising campaign for the JPC community, focusing on one aspect of our sustainability approach, to encourage us all to be more proactive in our approach to conserving energy and water, and to be more engaged in our recycling program. The highlight of the day for many of our students was having the opportunity to plant their very own bean seed – a third generation treasure from our very own JPC garden! – to take home and nurture. We look forward to updates from students about the progress of their baby beans!

Stewardship Day is an important step for our Year 7s in their growth as members of our sustainable school community, and I am most grateful to Mrs. Chauntell McNamara for her planning and organisation in assistance with our Stewardship Day program. Special thanks to our Year 7 RE teachers who had laid such fertile ground in their classes with our students to enable them to engage so well with our activities. It was particularly special to be joined by Jazz, our youth Minister at Holy Spirit Parish, and by Miss Keane and members of our budding Youth Ministry team, Madison Greenwood, Chloe McGovern, Abigail Hurditch, Olivia Henssen, Jackson Quinn and Braith Hartfield, who led activities so confidently and capably on the day – thank you for your support!

Mrs. Nicola Edghill
Religious Education Coordinator

Our Business and Economics students had the opportunity to attend a workshop organized by the Chartered Accountants ANZ. They met Business Leaders from all over ACT who shared their personal journeys of their business careers and offered a range of insights into a diverse range of business career paths and opportunitys that is available to our students.

The students found the workshop very informative and practical. Nathan Smith who attended said that “The day with the chartered accountants really empowered me to be the difference”. Rios Valenzuela said “very insightful experience. The business leaders were very good to speak with, speaking about potential careers, different experiences, and how to get there. Overall, I am more confident in my studies, made some friends and have a clearer picture of where I’m taking myself”. Mr Segaran and Mrs Ganderton

50 Holy Spirit Early Learning Centre children (including Mr and Mrs Ganderton’s son Julius) visited JPC on Wednesday for a picnic lunch made especially for them by the year 9/10 Food Technology classes.

They first toured the Food Tech rooms so they could see the students making their food. Then they made their own placemats with the teddy bears on picnic rugs on the floor, while they were waiting for lunch. This lunch was the major assessment for the Food tech students, in their unit ‘food for everyone’ in which they had to research, design and prepare a dish suitable for preschool aged children. In the lead up to the actual day, they visited and interviewed the Holy Spirit preschoolers to ask about their likes/ dislikes, food intolerances and preferences.

They also had an incursion whereby a visiting Dietician gave expert advice on the subject of food for youngsters. The types of dishes prepared and served by the Food Tech students included, ‘lamb fingers’, a Jurassic park fruit platter, caterpillar fresh spring rolls, mini burritos, mini pizza, tiny fruit pikelets, Choc date bliss balls, Spag bol cups, sausage rolls, shaped sandwiches, crepes and more….the preschoolers and their teachers loved the lunch and enjoyed their interaction with the big kids, who thoroughly enjoyed this authentic assessment task and excelled themselves on the day.

Spending time outdoors reduces the likelihood of obesity, as children are more likely to be moving, running, jumping when outside. It reduces the risk of children developing myopia (shortsightedness). Simply put, if devices are put down and children are forced to focus at different or varying lengths for regular periods of time outdoors, in natural light, it keeps their eyes strong.

There are many studies that show by spending time connecting with the wonder of nature and outdoors, the chances of depression are minimized and/or alleviated. 


Studies have shown spending time formally learning outdoors can actually increase a child’s ability to learn. It may well improve academic results as a consequence. Studies have also shown that for children with ADHD or on the Autism spectrum, spending regular time outdoors boosted focus and afforded higher scores in concentration. Interestingly, studies are currently underway to see if spending time outdoors diminishes sensory issues amongst autistic children.

Dirt is good!

 It boosts immunity. Spending time playing/digging in the soil naturally exposes children to germs, but in so doing, their immunity to potential disease is actually boosted. Some studies suggest that the incidence of colds and flu are also diminished if we spend regular time outside. Vitamin D is also accepted as a cold/flu preventer…

Giving children the opportunity to enjoy unstructured play outside innately creates periods of self-discovery, social interactions & physical movement. When we experience these things, we release dopamine and endorphins. These lead to moments of intense happiness and contentment. The molecule (and neurotransmitter) Dopamine, along with Serotonin and Oxytocin are known as the happy endorphins.

When children are outside exploring, playing and discovering, it innately builds resilience and affords lessons about consequence and responsible risk-taking. Fine and gross motor skills are improved and refined when children are outside. 


So, when we are asking children to leave devices in lockers and spend time outside at lunch and recess we are doing so knowing it is good for their health.

Every 2nd Friday the Sustainability Squad gardens at lunch and all are welcome to join us!

Grow your own food and your soul at the same time!

Mrs McNamara

Year 11 Examinations will be held during Week 18 of this term. The exams are scheduled from Tuesday 13 June to Thursday 15 June inclusive. Students are not required to attend the College outside of their scheduled examination times, though they are welcome to be at school to study on these days. Year 11 students received a copy of the timetable earlier this week and a digital copy is available on Moodle on the Senior Studies page. The students were asked to check the timetable and the procedures carefully. On Friday 16 June a familiarisation program for the AST will be held for all students studying a Tertiary package. This is an important component of their preparation for these tests and it is our expectation that all T students will attend.

Year 11 students will also be required to attend their regular classes on Thursday 22 June (periods 3-5) and Friday 23 June (all scheduled classes) so as to meet the BSSS timetable requirements. These lessons will be to provide students with feedback on their assessment and for them to check their results. Information about these days are also contained on the Examination Timetable on Moodle.

It has been another big week in sport with a number of teams going to gala days as well as the ASC Cross Country team travelling to Stromlo Park on Wednesday. The Girls 7/8 OzTag team played in the Gala day on Wednesday and performed exceptionally winning most of their games. Against tough opposition the girls played with great team spirit and improved throughput the day winning most of their games. Excellent effort girls! The boys 7/8 and 9/10 boys played today and again showed fantastic sportsmanship and skill to win most of their games. There were a number of standout performers however the team effort was excellent for both divisions. Congratulations to all boys and girls who attend these gala days and thank you to Ms Greany and Mr Yanuyanutawa, Alex Kavaliku-Skinner for coaching the teams.

On Wednesday 45 students competed at the ASC Cross Country Carnival. Throughout the brisk day students competed on the tough course excellent representing the school with pride. There were a number of students who placed in the top 20 however special mention to Mikayla Cruz and Oliver Vidaic for placing in the top 10. Well done to all students who competed and thank you to Mr Rose and Jacob Kite who were team managers for the day.

Congratulations to Haydn Saywell who has made the ACT Achievers Squad for ACT Swimming for 2017. This is a huge effort and the school would like to wish him well in making this squad.

Nic Whatman

Sport Facilitator