John Paul II College News

Opening Mass

On Wednesday our community gathered to celebrate the beginning of our school year with our Opening Mass. It was a wonderful celebration of our growing community in the Year of Mercy. Father Mark challenged us to “have the courage to be merciful, and that in order to be merciful we need to really connect with each other”. He spoke of putting away the technology that dominates our lives so that we can be aware of the people and see exactly where they are and how we can truly have the courage to make a difference, no matter how small it may seem, just as occurred with the ‘Free Hugs’ phenomenon. During the Mass our inaugural House Leaders were commissioned, blessed and presented with their badges. We wish them much success in their new roles at the College. Our community also continued the tradition of blessing our new staff and students, which is always a very moving element of our Mass.

Such a reverent and beautiful occasion does not simply occur. We are most fortunate to have Mrs Nicola Edghill, who we extend our most heart-felt thanks to for all of her preparation, organisation, and attention to detail that made the Mass so special. As a community, we would also like to thank all of the staff members and students whose contributions helped to create such a wonderful event.

Swimming Carnival

Thursday was awash with colour and spirit as the JPC community made their way to Big Splash at Jamison. The formal, competitive events on the day were interspersed with non-competitive and novelty activities which allowed high levels of participation across all of the Houses. Congratulations to our overall House Champions on the day, Kennedy House. Our age champion students will be formally acknowledged on their achievements at our next College Assembly. Well done to all those students who participated in events on the day. It was wonderful to be able continue with our community afternoon of fun on the slides and in the pool. Our day at the pool ended on the high note of the ‘cheer-off’ between the Houses- our newly commissioned House leaders (with help from their talented peers) had obviously been busy behind the scenes in the lead-up to the day! Once we returned to the College, students were treated to a performance by Kulture Break dance instructors followed by a performance by a number of our students who had undertaken the Kulture Break lessons during ILT in 2015. Thank you to those girls, a big ask after a very tiring day, their performance was outstanding!

The biggest thank you, however, must be extended to Mr Nic Whatman, for all of his organisation to bring about such a successful day. Congratulations Nic!

Caritas Australia Guest Speaker

On Monday morning, a number of students representing each of our Houses were privileged to hear from Lulu and Martin from Caritas Australia. Martin spoke of the work done by Caritas in his home country of Malawi using the funds raised each year through Project Compassion during Lent. It was uplifting to hear him speak of the hope that exists within the predominately rural communities of Malawi thanks to the work of Caritas. The students were challenged to spread the message within their House groups here at JPC that what might seem to be a small act of giving here, can make an enormous difference to another’s life.

Already since the launch of Project Compassion last week almost $475 has been raised across the House groups.

C4 Concert

This year JPC will be participating for the first time in C4- the Combined Catholic Colleges Concert, being held at the Canberra Theatre on 10 March. Rehearsals for this wonderful showcase of talent within Catholic schools began on Tuesday at Merici College. A large number of our talented dancers and musicians worked tireless throughout the day with students and staff members from each of the participating schools on their performances for the evening. Tickets for the evening are available from Canberra Ticketing- 62752700.

Independent Learning Time (ILT)

Independent Learning Time begins for all students next week. ILT lessons occur from Period 4 Tuesday until the end of Period 2 on Thursday. Students in Year 7 will spend their first week of ILT being guided through an ILT Skills Booklet. This booklet sets out a range of skills, activities and information about ILT, mentoring and general study skills. Students in Years 8-10 will spend Period 4 on Tuesday afternoon working on effective and appropriate ILT planning and completing their Semester 1 Assessment Planners in their House groups.

Acceptable use of ICT at JPC

This morning during PC time, students were taken through the College’s ICT and BYOD Student Agreement by their House Coordinators and PC Teachers. This policy is available to view on Moodle within the Parent Information section.
We would encourage you to spend some time reading and discussing this policy with your child.

Absences and leaving during the day

Should your child be absent from school, could you please notify the school either in writing, an email is fine, or by ringing the College reception and leaving a message (written notification is required in conjunction to a phone message). Copies of Absence notes can be accessed on Moodle in the Parent Information section. An SMS message is sent to parents of those students who are marked absent during Pastoral Care if we have not received notification of the student’s absence.

Students arriving late or leaving during the school day also require written permission. A copy of the Late/Partial Absence note can also be found on Moodle. It is often not possible for staff members to collect students from their classes if they need to leave during the day, therefore, arranging the time that you need to collect your child with them, enables them to meet you at Student Reception area.

Litter and our Sustainable School Focus

Unfortunately, the level of litter, cleanliness and care for our wonderful facilities has been disappointing as we start the new school year. As a sustainable school, we have a major focus upon waste minimisation, recycling and the use of organic (grown on site) produce. Students are asked to use the correct bin to dispose of their waste, take pride in their surroundings and help to keep them clean (most often by the simple act of disposing of their rubbish or wiping down a table). The Canteen area was left in an appalling condition on Wednesday of this week, and as a result, it was closed to students today for recess. We are hoping that this is a one-off incident.

Road Ready

We have received a number of enquiries regarding Road Ready Driver Training. We have been investigating the logistics associated with this programme and will be sending further information in the next couple of weeks.

Upcoming Events:

Week 4 appears to be as busy as this week has been, with our Semester 2 2015 Awards Ceremony on Wednesday, the Indigenous PLP Evening on Wednesday evening, and the Stepping Up Year 9 Information Evening on Thursday evening.

I wish you a lovely weekend. It appears that the warm weather is back with us into next week.

Kind regards
Rachel Francis-Davies
Assistant Principal