Having started the week with a very soggy and wet oval and grounds, what a wonderful change to see the glorious sunshine at the end of the week bringing to a close a week of celebration here at JPC. We have continued to follow the journey of Ms Keane and Ms Boller as the main celebrations and formalities of World Youth Day begin in earnest in Poland this week.
On Thursday we formally recognised the academic effort and achievement of our students in their Semester 1 classes at our Awards Ceremony. The ceremony also provided an opportunity to acknowledge the wonderful spirit, and often occurring behind the scenes and no expectation of recognition, that exists within our Houses with the presentation of two House spirit awards for each House. Congratulations to all of our award recipients. During the ceremony Mrs O’Meara took the opportunity to remind our community of the value of perseverance and the benefits of adopting our key philosophical approach of a growth mindset. If you keep trying and don’t give up, eventually the “power of yet” will come to fruition and we can achieve any goal we set for ourselves. It was wonderful to see how much our community has grown and to be able to recognise and share this special event
with so many families. A special thanks is extended to all those staff members who work tirelessly behind the scenes, without their hard work and meticulous organisation, occasions such as this would not be the success that they are.
At the end of last term and over the past two weeks, I have had the privilege of spending time with our Year 10 students and their families to select their subjects for when they return to JPC in Year 11. This is an exciting but can be at times a daunting process. Next week we continue the transition process that was started last term with Year 10 students visiting the Canberra CareersXpo on Thursday at Exhibition Park. This visit will enable students to speak one-on-one with representatives from a range of tertiary institutions and training providers, as well as see hands on displays in a range of trades and post-school employment options. The Xpo is open to the general public, and more information can be found on their website,
http://www.canberracareersmarket.com.au.
As we settle into the new term, staff are busily creating unit outlines, assessment and units of work for each of their classes. Can I remind parents that if you use the Assessment Alert App, this needs to be updated or refreshed. The updated data for Semester 2 classes will be available from Monday 1 August. Families should be able to access this information on Moodle from each class page and unit outline. Families with students in Year 10 are reminded, as their children have been in each of their classes over the past two weeks, that in preparation for their senior studies, resubmissions and resits of assessment tasks are no longer available. This may mean that students will need to plan their ILT even more effectively and carefully to enable them to clarify tasks with their teachers and to utilise tutorials when they are offered.
As I walk down the Learning Street this afternoon I am faced with a sea of colourful Olympic posters. I am sure that like me during my ILT lessons over the past two weeks, many of you at home have learned something new (and possibly obscure) about a country competing in the Rio Olympics. I suspect that there is very little cardboard available for purchase in the entire Gungahlin region!
I wish you all a lovely, sun-filled weekend that is not too muddy once weekend sport resumes.
Rachel Francis-Davies
Assistant Principal
