Welcome back to Term 3.

As many of you may be aware Catherine Rey is taking a few weeks to undertake some travelling with her husband. They are currently in Europe, enjoying the sites. In her absence I am undertaking the Principal’s position. I shared with staff this morning that I had been feeling a little nervous about stepping into the position. I need not have worried – our JPC community is a very considerate and supportive one and I would like to thank everyone, but especially the staff for their sense of collegiality, humour and goodwill. They are a wonderful group of people!

We have had a busy start to the new term with a number of new students and staff joining the JPC community.
Mr Andrew Ganderton has joined Maathai House as a Coordinator. Mr Ganderton comes to us with vast experience in the education sector – including some time as the Principal of St Lawrence in Coonabarabran. Mr Ganderton’s teaching areas are Science, Maths and IT; he will also be looking after the Technology Faculty. Mr Ganderton is married with two beautiful little boys, Julius and Johannes. If his surname seems familiar then that is because he is married to Mrs Daniela Ganderton who, as you would all be aware, is also on staff.

Mr Jerry Yanuyanutawa has joined the PE department. Mr Yanuyanutawa has had a very successful rugby career including selection in the Wallabies Australia A squad, playing for the Canberra Brumbies, the Fiji Rugby teams, the Glasgow Warriors and the London Irish team. As well as teaching PE he is also undertaking his Masters of Business Administration which is keeping him very busy.

Mrs Kylie Gilbert has joined us for this term while Mrs Marriott is on long service leave. Mrs Gilbert is teaching Maths and Science. Previous to this she has worked at SFX as well as travelled widely with her husband and three beautiful girls. She is happy to unpack the travelling suitcases and spend some time in the one place. 

Reports Semester 1
I hope that all parents and carers found the semester reports useful. One of the effective things parents can do is to look closely at your child’s reports to see what recommendations teachers have made for improvements. These can be very productive discussions about and can assist your child to set goals and set I place strategies to improve their results.  As Mentor teachers we will be discussing the reports with each of our mentor students to see what areas require more focus and how we can support out students in improving their learning.

Pilgrims
Our World Youth Day Pligrims, Miss Elle Boller and Miss Sarah Keane have landed safely in Poland and have begun their pilgrimage. Mrs Edghill has created a “Pilgrim’s Progress” on the Chapel display area so that we can follow them as they journey towards World Youth Day which will be celebrated by Pope Francis.

Assessment Alert App
Staff are currently preparing unit outlines and assessments for semester 2. This will be available on Moodle by Friday Week 2 and the assessment alert app will become available on Monday Week 3. Instructions for updating assessment for Term 3 will be in Key Messages next week. 

I wish all our families, students and staff a restful weekend.

Stephanie O’Meara

Tuesday, 26 July - ASC Girls Netball

Wednesday, 27 July - Girls Brumbies Rugby

Thursday, 28 July - Semester 1 Awards Ceremony

Thursday, 28 July - Australian Mathematics Competition

Thursday, 28 July - 7/8 Boys Rugby League Finals

On Wednesday of this week, the JPC community celebrated NAIDOC (National Aboriginal and Islanders Day Observance Committee) Week with a special assembly run by our Indigenous students. Guests from AIME (Australian Indigenous Mentoring Experience) included Glenn Isemonger and Jake Trindorfer, who gave an entertaining speech, including the powerful message that conflict doesn’t have to be resolved with violence if we respect each other.

This year’s NAIDOC theme is “Songlines” – the living narrative of our nation. Dreaming tracks crisscross Australia and trace the journeys of our ancestral spirits as they created the land, animals, and lores. These dreaming tracks are sometimes called ‘Songlines’ as they record the travels of these ancestral spirits who ‘sung’ the land into life. These songlines are recorded in traditional songs, stories, dance and art. They carry significant spiritual and cultural connection to knowledge, customs, ceremony and wisdom of many Aboriginal nations and Torres Strait Islander language groups. Songlines are intricate maps of land, sea and country. They describe travel and trade routes, the location of waterholes and the presence of food. In many cases, Songlines on the earth are mirrored by sky Songlines, which allowed people to navigate vast distances of this nation and its waters.

Lucy and Charlotte Cambridge, Owen West, Somer Gellatly, James Ervin, Isaiah Murray, Ally Hampton and Jorden Brusensky created paintings inspired by Wendy Rix (Lucy and Charlotte Cambridge’s Auntie) to symbolise their own journeys and they shared these images and the name of their mob at the assembly.

On Wednesday, 21 boys braved the wet weather to participate in the GWS AFL Under 15’s competition. In wet conditions the boys played excellently, winning their first game and narrowly going down in their other two pool matches. The boys played with fantastic sportsmanship against some very tough opposition and showed great character, as most of the team was comprised of 13 and 14 year old students.

The students would like to thank Mr Stakelam for coaching and Mr McKie for taking the team out to the carnival and managing them.

Have you ever dreamt of being lead guitarist in a rock band and getting the opportunity to perform to thousands of people? 

Now is your chance! We currently have a position in one of our St John Paul II College Rock Bands.  The band is an established Rock Band with an ever growing repertoire. Your job will be to learn the current repertoire, then have your say on future repertoire. The current line up of musicians work hard and have made the commitment to always make the band sound the best it can, so you will need passion and hard work ethics to strive in this position!

Are you up for it?

Please send me an email at aronlyon@hotmail.com if you are interested, or alternatively see me in the performing arts centre on Monday or Wednesday lunch time.

Regards

Aron Lyon

Head of Co-Curricular Music
St John Paul II College
aronlyon@hotmail.com