Wednesday 26th October - Mission Mass

Thursday 27th October - ASC Athletics Carnival

Monday 7th November - Year 7 Immunisations Round 3

Today we celebrated the feast day of St John Paul II, the patron and namesake of our school. It is a day that we celebrate the life of St John Paul, remember his achievements, and most importantly for JPC students, reflect on what his life could mean for us as we walk in his footsteps. St. John Paul II was such an inspirational figure worldwide. His list of achievements give JPC students rich material as they travel on their own spiritual journey. His feast day was celebrated at JPC with a powerful liturgy organised by Mrs Edghill, followed by further development of the identity of our House Groups, and fun activities in the afternoon.

Recently, I was privileged enough to spend some time in Rome, completing study related to Spirituality and the Catholic Religion. One of the highlights of my visit, was visiting the tomb of St John Paul II in St Peter’s Basilica. What surprised me, was how popular St John Paul II was globally. People from all walks of life and from all around the world, stood, kneeled, or sat and said prayers. The area surrounding his tomb, was extremely crowded, perhaps the most crowded site I saw over my two weeks. Despite the crowds, I was struck by the grace and reverence surrounding the tomb. As a member of the JPC community, it was inspiring to be in the presence of our Patron.

The second highlight was a visit to a Papal Audience, and to listen to Pope Francis give a speech to a crowd of around 50,000 people. The sheer enormity of the passion and love for the current Pope was evident, with representatives from every continent screaming for “Papa Francisco” as he travelled around the square. My years of playing AFL football allowed me to jostle myself into a perfect position to see Pope Francis as he travelled by within a meter from me. He spoke about Mercy and how as Christians we are challenged to be merciful. He further spoke about how as disciples of Christ we can be merciful by living out two verbs: forgiveness and giving.

The idea of mercy is highly relevant for our students. After hearing his homily, I reflected on how our students demonstrate forgiveness and giving here at JPC. As part of our restorative justice practices, the tenet of forgiveness is critical for students to understand as they negotiate the many interpersonal challenges of adolescence. As a Coordinator, I often have to mediate conflict between students, and at the center of that negotiation is the willingness to forgive each other and move forward in a new relationship. Pope Francis’ call for giving has always been enthusiastically taken up by our students, who should be commended on their efforts in raising awareness, funds, and participation in a range of social justice activities. Whether it be participating in the Sleep-out, volunteering to be a White Ribbon leader, or contributing to their own House Charity, it is gratifying to see our students living out their faith.

And finally, summer term is upon us. The warm weather is here and so is the sun. At JPC, we want all our students to live healthy and safe lives, and as such, an important part of our culture is sun safety. From Monday, students will be expected to wear a hat for when they are outside. This includes recess, lunch, and also during PE lessons. The hat should either be the JPC bucket hat, or any large blue bucket hat that provides enough shelter from the sun. Our requirement for the hat is that it is a sun safe hat, so baseball caps are not suitable as they do not provide adequate protection.

Have a great term!

Liam Stakelum
Coordinator

JPC White Ribbon Leaders have been investigating the Organisation’s work, the facts and statistics surrounding this issue. As a result, the Leaders have been challenging society’s stereotypes, considering what are admirable qualities for a person to possess. The Leaders have reflected upon what they think it actually means to be a ‘man’ and, from this, they will be sharing the reasons why they admire particular males in their lives over the term.

Brenton Gare: I asked my Dad what he thinks it takes to be a ‘man’. He answered, "I think what it takes to be a man is someone who takes responsibility for everything he does, or is involved in. Someone who is caring, thoughtful, forgiving and understanding.”

Bronte Froome: There are many positive male and female role models in modern say society. The word ‘inspire’ means to create an urge within someone to do something. A male who inspires me is my eldest brother, Jake. During the last four years, he has moved out and has begun creating a life for himself. He completed two Master Degrees at university for both Nursing and IT. He then made the decision to move to Sydney and complete a Masters in Sound Production. He has shown to me that there is no reason to not push yourself to the edge, there is no excuse for giving up. Jake also will not hesitate to put those around him first, he has the ability to make strangers feel wanted and loved.  He, along with most, has had a few rocky years throughout high school, but he did not give up. That idea of perseverance what is so inspiring about Jake and who he is.

David Kirk: The man that I admire is my old teacher from my previous school. He had been at this school for as long as I can remember and taught me on multiple occasions. He taught me that I don't have to hide emotions from the world because I'm a guy. The effect that this has had on me is that I've been able to gain friends in both school and sport. This is why I admire my old teacher.

This week, a number of Year 8 students of French opted to attend a cooking activity for ILT. As they are studying the use of imperative conjugations as well as aspects of dining in France, this was a perfect opportunity to practise giving and receiving instructions. They enjoyed making a basic version of the ubiquitous Croque Monsieur, a staple of the French café scene. Front office staff and some Mentor Teachers also tasted our gourmet cooking.

A very special merci to Madame Curtis who gave up her time to organise this fantastic activity.

Madame Atilemile

On Wednesday the 19th of October, 20 girls played in the annual rugby union (10’s) competition organised by the ACT Brumbies. After an unlucky streak due to the weather and the grounds being flooded ever since the month of May, we had a beautiful sunny day and the girls approached it with enthusiasm and positivity. The Year 7 and 8 team played together for the first time and had four games overall. Despite one or two injuries, each player gave their utmost effort and were helped out by keen players from Bega High School to give the other schools a run for their money.

The Year 9 and 10 team who have played together previously started the day on fire. They only had two matches and won their first. With a high level of ability amongst the team, the girls made it through to the semi’s finishing 2nd overall after the pools. The semi was against Batemans Bay High School and each player put her body on the line, even Payton Askew and Jasmine Kelley who played up from the 7/8 team! Unfortunately, we lost the semi yet we were able to strive for 3rd or 4th place, finishing the day in 4th out of the 9 teams. A massive thank you to our superstar coach Mr Yanuyanutawa (previously played for Brumbies) for teaching the girls the skills to succeed and have fun. Another thank you to all the parents and supporters who came along to help cheer our girls on the sideline.

Elle Boller

On Friday 20th of October, Year 7 student Margret Mupangure was awarded the Highly Commended prize in the grade 7-8 poetry writing category for the Pens Against Poverty competition. This competition is for young writers in Canberra to express their unique and creative writing talent on a topic relating to Anti-Poverty Week ACT. This year’s theme was ‘Playing Fair’ and the main judge of this competition was well-known author Jackie Friench. Margret’s winning poem is below.

One thing that needs to be kept in mind
Is what friendship, fairness and your values define
You stand around, fun waiting to be shared
To show others your standard of care
Grasses of green, clouds of grey
As it seems like someone has rained on your parade
Immersed within your own negative thoughts
With 'you throw like a girl' and 'you can't play sports!'
That one person who ruins everything, it seems
Clouds your brain like a bad dream
You walk home feeling disappointed and defeated
Your head on your chest like a national anthem you're singing
Religion, ethnicity, gender or race
It doesn't matter... You stop.
You think.
You fell like you are on the brink, of tears that you can't cry
So all you do sigh. To yourself.
'I was never blind, I was never disabled', you say
But all you feel like doing is crying the insults away.
But playing fair is about unity... Respect... Trust? Isn't it?
Or is it about you looking like the bigger person to seem 'cool' and 'funny'?
Aren't those the key words of this particular subject?
Mum... Aren't they? You taught me how to play fair
Not that it can be an absolute nightmare.
Angriness boils over you like a pot,
These are my true friends but true friends they are not.
You fell like you're at a BLM march, you chant for your freedom, pride, fairness:
“There's blood on the streets, no justice, no peace
No racist police, no rest till we’re free”
You once heard a famous singer/songwriter quote.
You think about rewriting these words, but you're not going to devote….
Your time to that. You devote your time to those keywords
Freedom, fairness, pride
And the quote that your mother always taught who?
“Worry about those who worry about you.”
Thus proving my point, my point is there
That its always empowering to play fair!
And remember the golden rule that is undefeated
Always treat others how YOU would like to be treated!

Congratulations Margret!

This week I had the pleasure to escort some or our Year 9 and 10 Defence students to the Australian War Memorial for a “Defence Students’ Integration Day”.   Our students had the opportunity to meet with other Defence students from around Canberra, whilst they had private tours of the AWM.  Afterwards they hiked up the Kokoda Trail with over 20 ADFA Cadets and then join in on some fun, team building exercises and activities.   The afternoon was designed to build their confidence and problem solving skills, as well as benefiting the Cadets who could polish up their leadership skills.  The students were a credit to JPC with their behaviour and I was proud to accompany them.

Mrs Vicki Walsh, DTM

On October 18th, seven of the Defence students departed Saint John Paul II College to meet other Defence students and to learn more about the War Memorial and ADFA.  When we arrived at the War Memorial, we all gathered together to get a tour of the War Memorial. After the tour we gathered together again and were separated into smaller groups to meet with ADFA cadets.  In our smaller groups we got to meet and learn about other defence students from different schools, it was interesting learning about other defence students’ experiences and what they want to do later in life.  It was also interesting learning about the ADFA cadets, they told us what it is like in the academy and how you are taught to be a leader.  Later we started the hike up Mt Anslie and eventually hiked back down Mt Anslie. After the hike we got to see the rations people get for a day, we experienced eating their meals and got to ask any questions we had.  After this we headed back to Saint John Paul II College and got to reflect on what happened.

"My experience with my piano teacher, Chloe, has been great. It has allowed me to have a breather in my week and express myself. The quality of the lessons at JPC are great, there are fantastic teachers which help you to strive and perform well in front of audiences, from your parents and others. I am very happy with what I have achieved in piano this year and will continue playing for the rest of my high school and possibly the rest of my life. Music at JPC Is accessible with great facilities"  

Tom, Year 7.

A friendly reminder to parents that you will need to refresh the Assessment Alert App to receive the new assessment dates for Term 4 which have now been updated.

Come and join in the fun at Gungahlin Little Athletics Centre. Fun and friendly athletics in a safe and enjoyable environment.

There’s something for everyone: running, jumping, throws, hurdles, walks.

Who: 4½ to 17 years; for the 2016/17 season we welcome athletes born between 1 Oct 1999 and 31 March 2012.

Season Dates:
The 2016/17 season commences on Saturday 15 October 2015 (season runs across Term 4 and Term 1 of school).

Weekly meets are held at Amaroo Oval, Horsepark Drive (behind Amaroo and Good Shepherd schools) on Saturday mornings from 8.55am to 11.30am.

Registration Details:
On-line registration is available through the ACT Little Athletics website - www.actlaa.org.au (register now).

Bring a copy of your on-line payment receipt along to a Registration / Come & Try Day to collect your registration pack.

Cost: Online registration costs - $120 = 1st child, $115 = 2nd child, $110 = 3rd child, $85 = 4th & subsequent children. Manual/paper registration add $15/athlete.

It’s easy to register so come and have some fun with us.

For more information please go to our website at www.gunlac.org.au, visit our Facebook page or email enquiries@gunlac.org.au