This week the College passed another milestone in our short history when we farewelled our foundational Year 12 cohort. The day began with a beautiful breakfast in the College restaurant shared between the Year 12 students and the College staff. Students were initially farewelled within their individual House areas during Pastoral Care and thanked for their invaluable contributions to the creation and development of the House culture over the past six years.

We then gathered as a community to celebrate the success of the year group and to acknowledge their trailblazing as the inaugural students of the College. The College Student Leadership team shared their successes over the year and the legacy that they hope will follow into the future. They then made the announcements of the 2019 Student Leadership Team, passing the candle to the next group of leaders.

The College Captains, Damon and Charlotte, presented the College gift of a plaque that will form a pathway for the future along the front of the building, to be added to by successive year groups as they graduate. The second part of their gift was the inaugural performance of the newly penned JPC school song. It was wonderful to watch the Year 12 students singing this so proudly. As each of the Year 12 students were presented to the assembly, they were given a gift of a College Year Book, developed by the Year 12 Essential English class on behalf of their peers.

There are many staff and students who made this occasion so memorable. Thank you to the canteen team lead by Mrs Kelly, the staff members who gave up their morning to cook and serve breakfast, Ms Robinson, the vocal ensemble and the band for their backing of the Year 12 students and their development of the school song.

During the remainder of the week, senior students have been completing their exams, and we expect to see them again for their feedback lessons and score checking at the end of Week 17.

We will next be celebrating with our Year 12 students and their families at their Mass and Graduation Ceremony on Monday 10 December, followed by their Formal at the Arboretum on Wednesday 12 December.

Mrs Rey & Mrs Francis-Davies

Monday’s Year 12 farewell assembly marked an important transition point as our current College Leaders officially handed their positions of responsibility to the Year 12 Leadership Team for 2019. In their address the outgoing leaders, our newly elected College Captains, Chloe McGovern and Finn Salisbury thanked the Year 12 cohort for leading by example during their time at the College. They highlighted the way this group have been role models for students to follow and showed their appreciation, particularly the 2018 Year 12 Leadership Team for their efforts in building portfolios and laying strong foundations that they hope to build on as they take on the mantle of leadership for 2019.

It gives me great pleasure to announce the portfolio roles for the year 12 Leadership Team for 2019:

• College Captains: Chloe McGovern and Finn Salisbury
• Leaders of Justice: Bronte Froome and Jarrod Koenig
• Leaders of Peace: Madison Greenwood and Lachlan Richards
• Leaders of Courage: Codie Haycraft and Thomas Purton

I have no doubt that these students will serve our community diligently and enthusiastically as they assume these significant positions.

As our current Year 12 students approach their final days with us, I would like to extend my heartfelt gratitude to the 2018 Leadership Team. They walked unchartered territory in newly created roles, working tirelessly to create innovative initiatives for the College, and to embrace the responsibility of their positions. To our inaugural team of Damon, Charlotte, Raghav, Hugh, Annie, Cade, Emily and Maximus - we thank you for your service, for your efforts and for your positive collaborations. You leave a legacy that will remain an important part of the story of JPC, and we wish you every success in your future endeavours.

Mrs. Nicola Edghill
Leader of Learning and Wellbeing

One of our ongoing challenges at JPC is the consistency of student planning during Independent Learning Time. We know that students often find it difficult to resist the lure of working with their friends, or moving to a space where the teacher may not be as strict! We also know that many students express frustration that they turn up to a room and it is closed or full. With over 800 students, flexible timetable, up to 5 extra curricular activities, and daily last minute changes, it makes it a considerable logistical challenge to help ensure the effectiveness of the system on a day to day basis.

As our way of improving the ILT experience for both the student and the teacher, the school has engaged an IT company to develop software which will house our planning system. The premise of the planning will remain the same; students will plan for a teacher, a room, and provide the details of the task they wish to complete. The benefit of the software will be that once a room has reached its capacity, it will no longer be able to be selected by other students. Each student will be provided with a timetable on the Tuesday, allowing them to move directly to their allotted classroom and teacher each period, eliminating any wasted learning time. It will also allow teachers to make particular appointments with students, allow us to plan for practical electives such as Design and Technology and the Arts, and ensure attendance at physical education classes. It will also allow us to auto-allocate students who have not planned into particular spaces.

The online ILT planner has been open for students to register from Wednesday. We have been working in PC times this week to ensure that every student has registered.

The website address is: ilt.jpc.act.edu.au

Students will need to ensure they have registered by the end of this week, or they will not be able to choose their classrooms in Week 7. There are a small number of students who are experiencing a "server" issue, and we are hoping to fix this by this afternoon. Can I ask parents to make sure their child has registered by Friday afternoon.

We will be trialling this system in Week 7. To help us prepare, please ensure your child has enabled their school email system and has it working. We know that with any large-scale implementation, there will be teething issues, so please bare with us when we begin the trial!

Many thanks

Liam Stakelum
Assistant Principal

Over the past years ,St John Paul II College has really focused on building respectful relationships particularly through raising the profile of the White Ribbon Initiatives within our community. This year the focus has continued on with respectful relationships but really breaking down what White Ribbon means and stands for.

Today we have held various initiatives around the school such as small in-house white ribbon presentations in PC, white food in the canteen, white ribbon charity shield and encouraging students to wear white ribbon accessories to support the charity. We also had a number of students participate in developing a White Ribbon respect video which was shown in the pastoral care time.

This year we were able to really raise the profile and exposure of White Ribbon and in particular the meaning of respectful relationships. We would like to extend this within our community and thank all of the students who helped out and or support the White Ribbon Initiatives today.

Mr Whatman

Wednesday 21st November members of our Indigenous school and school community met for a lovely working lunch in the school restaurant, courtesy of the dedicated canteen staff, to review the JPC II RAP (Reconciliation Action Plan), including students, parents, teachers, AIME mentors and CE representatives. Watch this space!!

The end of year gathering for the Indigenous group will be held on Thursday 29 November from 3.40 to 5pm in the School Restaurant.

If you would like to attend, please RSVP by completing the form (see link below) and return it to the College office by Tuesday 27 November.

RSVP Form

Come and celebrate with the Arts students!

During week 7 and 8, the Arts students will be showcasing their term/semester work. Each faculty area will be hosting an event celebrating student effort and achievement. The events will be held during lunchtime (12.45pm - 1.25pm). Staff, students and parents are encouraged and welcomed to appreciate the art works, supplementary to joining in the discussions regarding the creative process.

We have such a rich and diverse student body with so much varied talent within the Arts. Our artists are excited about the demonstration of their work. Come and show your support!

Below are the faculty day allocations:

A wise man once said ‘Every fine artist was fist an Amateur’ (Emerson)

See you all next week! Chookas to our Artists!

Mrs F Robertson

This semester photography students have worked hard to develop their skills in composition, lighting, depth of field, colour and photoshop. All these skills have been following themes such as mental health, destruction of nature, racism and gender equality. Students needed to plan their images and work with their subjects to get the perfect photograph.

Furthering on from last terms portfolios, graphic design students have developed stencils using the laser cutter and their cultural design portfolios. They then screen print their designs onto plain white T-Shirts, leaving them with a product. Students faced challenges with smudging and layering colours, meaning that they needed to be precise with their placement.

This week the Concert Band made an appearance at Tuesday tunes, playing songs from the 80’s to now; Havana, Mama Mia and YMCA in which the crowd loved (we could tell from their amazing dance moves)

Ms S Robinson

Last Thursday saw the decider of the 2018 Staff vs Year 12 students. The stakes were high, with the winner of the final dodgeball match receiving the trophy and all bragging rights until next year. The students gathered up the majority of their cohort which meant the teachers were definitely overpowered by numbers. The students came out to win the first two rounds which led them to glory. Overall, the whole competition was a great opportunity for staff and students to develop relationships, banter and enjoyment as they lead into their exams. None of which could have been possible without the help of Courage leaders Maximus and Emily. Thankyou also to all teachers who put themselves out there and got involved. We will be back bigger and better next year!

Well done Year 12 and good luck for all of your future endeavors.

The Year 12 Formal final payments were due on the 19 December. Please make arrangements to pay outstanding money via our preferred payment method Qkr! urgently.

If you are unsure of how much is owing, please email the College office

Thank you

An email was sent to all Year 10 families on the 8 November 2018 with detail about the Thanksgiving Mass and Awards Ceremony on Thursday 6 December 2018. 

If you did not receive the email, please contact the college office.

For catering purposes, we require an RSVP by Wednesday 28 November.

Please complete the RSVP form here

Thank you

The JPC Senior blazers are not available from local providers and are sourced utilising a bulk ordering process.

Students commencing in 2019 in Year 11 or 12 (or current students who have not ordered a blazer) will need to place an order for the Senior Blazer through the College office by no later than the 10 December 2018.

As we will be ordering all blazers under a bulk order we need parents and students to:

• Go to the College office anytime from today to the 10 December during office hours to try on a blazer from our sample kit, and collect an order form (A parent/carer will need to accompany the student to ensure the correct size is ordered)
• Interstate families - Contact Natasha in the College Office
• Form to be completed and signed then returned with payment to the College office
• All orders to be received by Monday 10 December 2018 - future blazers can only be ordered when the next bulk order is placed
• Cost $141.90ea
• Blazers are a compulsory uniform item for Term 2 & 3   https://www.jpc.act.edu.au/our-community/jpc-parents/uniform/

Delivery of the Blazers is due by the end of Term 1, 2019.

Regards

JPC Community Council
council@jpc.act.edu.au

The Spirit Junior Youth Group, for young people at school in years 5-6 meet at Holy Spirit Parish, Amaroo on weeks 1,3,5,7 and 9 of the school term at 5pm. This group is a way for young people to come together and learn a bit more about their faith. Contact Hannah.McMahon@cg.org.au or 0403425239 for more information.

The Spirit Youth Group, for young people at school in years 7-12 meet after the 5:30pm Mass at Holy Spirit Parish, Amaroo on weeks 1,3,5,7 and 9 of the school term. This group is a way for high school students to come together learn about the Church and continue to deepen their faith. Contact Hannah.McMahon@cg.org.au or 0403425239

Young Adults Mass and Gathering: Are you 18-35+ years old and is interested in growing your faith and forming friendships with other like-minded people? If the answer was yes, then contact Theivani and Frances on yamholyspirit1835@gmail.com ! Our Mass and Gathering is every six weeks!