Monday 8 August - ASC Girls Hockey

Tuesday 9 August - Year 10 Ecumenical Excursion

Wednesday 10 August - Girls SSACT Netball

Wednesday 10 August - ASC Boys Hockey

Thursday 11 August - Moderation Day/Pupil Free Day

It has been another eventful week at JPC.

As some of you may be aware, I have been acting in a different role for the first 3 weeks of term. One of the pleasurable benefits of acting as Assistant Principal was in overseeing some of the administration for many of the events that are planned for students this term. I was amazed at the scope of excursions, speakers, experiences and lessons that teachers are planning for the students at JPC. The door to my office was constantly revolving with passionate teachers talking about a variety of learning experiences, within and outside the classroom. Although we are still a relatively small school, it is wonderful to see how many opportunities our students are given.

You will be aware that next Thursday is ACT BSSS Moderation Day and thus a pupil free day for JPC students. On this day, teachers from across ACT’s school system meet to moderate Senior work in all subjects.

As you would know, the Casey Market Town has opened across from JPC. We have been made aware that there have been some students visiting the Market Town before and after school in large groups. Please be advised that students are not permitted to be dropped off at school (by bus or parent) and then make their way to the Marketplace in the mornings due to duty of care issues. Similarly, in the afternoon, if your child leaves school to go to the Market Town, they should not be returning to the school premises as our formal supervision ends at 3:55 with the final bus departure. Thank you for your support with this.

A big week ahead for our Performing Arts students. They have been working hard all year and next week have the chance to perform in front of the whole school. A performance for parents will be scheduled for Thursday of Week 7.

By the time you read these messages, the finishing touches will be being made to the Opening Ceremony of the Olympic Games in Rio De Janeiro. I love the Olympics. I love seeing the impact that the Olympic Games has on students. All of JPC’s students have started their PE subject this year investigating the Olympic values of Excellence, Respect, and Friendship. The JPC Olympic House competition is beginning next week and gives our students the opportunity for them to demonstrate the Olympic Values in action. Each House has chosen a country to compete in, and it was great that many houses chose the country of their patron. The focus is on House Spirit and participation. The competition is for all - please encourage your child to participate and show some House spirit.

On a related note, Mr Whatman has some further details about our upcoming Athletics Carnival. My last Key Messages was completed after the School Cross Country Carnival, and I hate to admit, I was a little bit disappointed with the number of students who failed to turn up on the day. The Athletics Carnival is a day that students can enjoy together. They compete in every event as a year group, walk to and from school with their friends, and celebrate their own House by participating in the theme. As a PE teacher, it is my job to try to educate students about the many benefits of physical activity and to try and inspire them to become lifelong participants. The Athletics Carnival is so much more than a sports event and I encourage all parents to ensure their child’s attendance. If you allow your child to stay home- what message are you giving your child?

Liam Stakelum
Team USA Coordinator

Congratulations to Ferré House on a wonderful assembly this week and a special thank you to the parents who came along to watch and support the children in your care – your presence was very much appreciated and contributes beautifully to our parent-school partnerships.

The JPC school community is now more familiar with the life and work of Sister Isolina Ferré – our House Patron – due to the presentation by Ferré House, telling her story in spoken words, images and a special Spanish prayer, helping everyone to remember her key belief – that people who experience challenges in life which prevent them from ‘getting ahead’, can be helped, through education, to rise from the cycle of despair. Our video revealed a plethora of evidence showing her values here at JPC – helping people help themselves, embracing all cultures and faiths, charity, community and her faith in God. Sister Isolina Ferré would be proud of JPC.

Our assembly was prepared, managed and presented by our Ferré House students. It was so wonderful to have such a willing, hard working group of volunteers who cooperated to create a special event – a well-organised and interesting presentation. We are very proud of them all.

Isolina’s Puerto Rican background extended her influence at JPC to our fantastic canteen where a Puerto Rican menu was offered on Thursday to celebrate the life of Sister Isolina Ferré.  Puerto Rico pulls its cuisine influences from Europe, Africa, and the Caribbean. We enjoyed Asopao de Pollo (Puerto Rican Chicken Hotpot), French Style Raisin Toast and Tostones (Banana Toast - a Puerto Rican breakfast favourite) and Puerto Rican Poke Cake (a very yummy coconut and pineapple soaked cake) – Happy Birthday, Isolina!

Jennifer Tually
Ferré House Coordinator

On Thursday our Year 10 students visited the annual Canberra Careers Xpo. The Xpo provided them an opportunity to speak with representatives from a range of different post-school training, employment and government organisations and to collect information and brochures to consult and refer back to at a later date.

For those students who are looking at university study after leaving school, there was an opportunity to speak to representatives from local Canberra-based universities and those from other States such as NSW, Victoria, South Australian and even as far afield as Western Australia about their course offerings, alternate pathways to studying at particular universities, accommodation options and scholarship opportunities.

As has been my experience on past visits to the Xpo, the Defence Force and ADFA exhibition were extremely popular with students from all schools, not just JPC. As were the hands-on exhibitions from CIT- there were a number of buddy horticulturalists, beauty therapy and hospitality students from my observations of our students (and the ‘goodies’ that they acquired!).

The conversations that I overheard on our return to school confirmed to me the value of such visits. I would like to thank Ms Zorzi, Mrs Ganderton and Mrs Harley for attending the excursion with us, and our Year 10 students for the exemplary behaviour on the day. Families are reminded that there are a number of local institution open days during August. These include the Academy of Interactive Entertainment (AIE) on Sunday 14 August and the Canberra Tertiary Institution Open Day (ANU, UC, ACU, ADFA, CIT) on Saturday 27 August.

Rachel Francis-Davies
Assistant Principal

It has been such a delight to see our inaugural peer support mentoring program up and running this term! Our year 10’s have volunteered their time to help out a younger student in Mathematics during ILT time. Our year 10 students applied to be tutors and were then paired with a year 7 student. Ms Harris and I have worked with these lovely students to develop and direct their tutoring skills and are so proud of them for volunteering their time to help out a younger student in Mathematics. Both tutors and tutees have been shown to benefit academically from peer and cross-age tutoring in Mathematics (Britz, Dixon, and McLaughlin 1989; Damon and Phelps 1989a; Pigott, Fantuzzo, and Clement 1986).

Chauntel McNamara
IMS Coordinator

The ASX Share Market Game’s next round begins on August 18 and we will have a team of avid student investors who will research companies, and buy and sell shares in a real–time simulation game of the Australian Share Market.

Students use short video tutorials on how to invest on the ASX and put into practice what they learn with the virtual $50,000 invested over a 10-week period, in 200 listed companies. The prices at which students buy and sell are the same real time prices as the live market, so this is as close to actual share trading as you can get (without the risk!)

Last year, our most successful syndicate made a 15% return on their investment – not bad for 10 weeks ‘work’! 

We look forward to more students joining us this year in the 2016 game – please discuss with your son or daughter the option of encouraging a group of friends to form an investment syndicate or just coming along as an individual investor. 

Sign on is next Tuesday (Aug 9) at lunchtime in the ICF or email Mrs Tually if you can’t attend (jennifer.tually@cg.catholic.edu.au).

Jennifer Tually

Friday of Week 5 will be our annual JPC Athletics Carnival perfectly aligning with the current Rio Olympics. Our Athletics carnival will be held at Amaroo Ovals. We will be walking over after PC with the first event starting at 10am. After the carnival we will be walking back to school in time for the buses and end of the school day.  This is a whole school event and ALL students are expected to attend and participate. This is a great opportunity to develop house spirit and community culture. All parents and carers are welcome to attend however will have to make their own way to and from Amaroo Ovals.
 

Mr Nic Whatman

The CEC is undertaking an ACT Catholic Secondary Education Study. As part of this study parents are invited to give their input into the future directions of Secondary Education in the Archdiocese. JPC parents and parents who have students in Year 5 and 6 at our feeder primary schools are invited to contribute to this study.
JPC will be hosting a meeting on Tuesday 16 August from 5.00pm – 6.00pm for our parents. Parents who have students in Years 5 and 6 from Good Shepherd, Holy Spirit and Mother Teresa are also invited to attend. The meeting will be hosted by Ellen Davis-Meehan, who is facilitating the meeting.

A letter setting out in detail the purpose of the study will be available on the JPC website from Monday morning.

We look forward to meeting and discussing with parents the future direction of Catholic Education.

Catherine Rey