The first was our boys playing for the Bill Turner Cup against a prestigious Sydney Sports Academy team. As you already know, our JPC team qualified as one of the top eight, under 16's soccer teams in Australia in Albury several weeks ago. On Wednesday, they moved to the next stage of the competition, playing their game in Canberra. I was privileged enough to be there and to see a very exciting and tense game. From the outset it was clear that the teams were very well matched, showing equal skill, teamwork and energy. The game finished with a 1 all result and had to go to extra time. It was unfortunate that the other team was the first to score in extra time (the “golden goal”) which made them the winners. Notwithstanding, our boys' performance was quite outstanding. I was so proud of them. Please see Iain Robertson's account for more detail! 

The other event that also occurred on Wednesday was the opening of our very first production, The Greatest Show: A Vaudeville. We invited our primary schools to a Matinee during the day and the show officially opened in the evening. To say I was blown away by the professionalism, the entertainment, the energy and the talent showcased in the Production is an understatement. It was a standout performance!  What was amazing to me and what I felt made the production so special was the integration of the talents that we saw. Rather than seeing just great dancers, and separately, great singers and great actors, we saw in individuals an amazing mix of all of these skills and talents – not to mention the humour, the timing skills and the acrobatic talent we witnessed. The fact that the show is an “original”, developed collegially with staff and students, is also an indication of its sophistication. The opportunity for personal development for each of our students as they developed their own character was also a wonderful element of the experience.  The refreshments for sale were not only delicious but also great fun in the way that they furthered the circus theme. Again, talent and dedication of both students and staff very much to the fore.

It is indeed the talent, energy and commitment of our staff and students who have made both of these events such a success.  The commitment to go "over and above" by students to develop themselves and by staff to provide students with such wonderful opportunities to experience great success and to grow their skills and talents is truly notable.  I would like to extend on behalf of all the community my heartfelt congratulations to all those involved.

I would also like to extend my thanks to all of the members of staff involved, particularly Iain Robertson and Andrew Woodman for the soccer, Sarah Keane and her amazing team for the production (Charlotte O'Shea, Sharon Robinson, Kathryn Allan, Ellie Mostyn, Chloe McCallum and many more), and to Annie Daley and her team for the great refreshments. Thank you also to the wonderful helpers behind the scenes who supervised and supported each evening. The show literally can’t go on without that sort of support.

I think it is significant that both of these events have come in the same week. To me, it signals that we have indeed “come of age” as a College and that, despite our short history, we can absolutely see ourselves as equals of any other secondary College. To say that I am proud is an understatement!

Catherine Rey

The Greatest Show: A Vaudeville was the very first, but certainly not the last, St John Paul II College’s first musical production. With over 60 students involved and more behind the scenes, these talented students have set the standard and paved the way for the future of JPC musicals. The cast created – even to their own surprise – genuinely touching moments of theatre. The close to full-house audiences roared with laughter, felt goosebumps and sang-a-long. The show was an interactive experience which didn’t stop – not even during intermission where circus themed food was available.

Thank you to all who have helped, supported and joined the circus along the way!

In particular, thank you and all credit to the students – you have talent that shines from within.

Sarah Keane
Leader of Learning and Wellbeing

Van Thuan House and The Arts Faculty Coordinator

Aidan Milicevic scored one of the goals of the tournament as St John Paul II College were cruelly knocked out of this year’s Bill Turner cup tournament with a golden goal in extra time against Bossley Park Public School, Sydney.

It was St John Paul II College’s inaugural appearance in the competition and they didn’t disappoint. The team, made up of a talented group of young men from Year’s 10, 9 and 8, made it through to the quarter-final stage of the national competition which was played in the nation’s capital at the Hawker Football Centre on Wednesday. Cheered on by families, staff and the JPC principal Mrs Catherine Rey it was a memorable occasion for all involved.

After a cagey opening, Bossley Park took the lead just 7 minutes into the game when a deflected cross fell to the oppositions centre forward. JPC recovered from the shock to quickly equalise through Milicevic who scored a wonder goal from a direct free kick. St John Paul II College, with their potent forward line of Woods, Walsh and Rowley, caused havoc amongst the Bossley park defence for the entire game. The opposition had very little time through the centre of the park with tireless pressing from McCluskey and Booker. Meanwhile Milicevic, finding pockets of space in the number 10 role, created numerous chances for JPC.

Midway through the first half Rathouski slumped to the turf after taking a heavy knock to the back, the injury caused discomfort for the remainder of his appearance in the game. Joshua Prior, his replacement for some of the game, was calm and assured in the left back position, while Palombi who performed admirably throughout tucked into central defence alongside Tokic who didn’t put a step wrong for the entire game. The game continued at stalemate and the deadlock could not be broken.

Ciavattone’s and Palombi’s energy and pace down the right and left flanks respectively continued to cause issues for Bossley Park but their keeper pulled off several heroics throughout the game to keep the JPC forward line at bay. The introduction of Cerni at half time had caused yet more issues and after a mazing run down the left flank his cross was blocked at the last moment to deny JPC scoring the winner. At the other end of the field Katsoulis twice denied the Bossley forward line with two world class saves. Any on looking talent scouts couldn’t help but be impressed with the spectacle.

With full time looming a crucial refereeing decision ensued; after a robust challenge between Tokic and a Bossley forward a seemingly innocuous conversation followed with the centre official. Tokic appeared to have sustained a head injury. A decision to enter the field to give the player treatment came to a halt when the coaching staff were left bewildered by a red card for Tokic; sent off for poor language to an opponent. The decision would ultimately have a devastating impact on the overall outcome of the match. Extra-time began and Bossley scored inside the first 4 minutes after a gaping hole was left at the back due to the absence of Tokic.

The boys played with incredible heart, tenacity, pride and selflessness. They showed everything that’s right in sport and certainly did the entire College proud. Thanks for an unbelievable ride to the St John Paull II College Bill Turner Football team. Well done!

Mr I Robertson

What a productive year we’ve had so far in Visual Arts!...

Year 11/12

In Semester One our Year 11 and 12 students created some very thought-provoking drawings. Students focused on both the aesthetic and conceptual aspect of their artworks. The result was a variety of intriguing drawings in various media. Some concepts represented were ‘Masculinity, Vulnerability and the Australian Male’ and ‘Slavery to Technology’ (Mia Pennay and Max Young, respectively, see below). This semester students are developing their painting skills with our first project of creating a study (i.e. copy) of an artist’s painting. This enables students to very practically learn about effective colour use and composition. Quite a challenge, but so much fun!

Year 9/10

At JPC we encourage students to have a Growth Mindset, as opposed to a Fixed Mindset (see https://www.mindsetworks.com/science/ ). Part of a Growth Mindset is to identify how we have grown through challenging experiences. Year 9 and 10 reflected on their growth through challenging changes in their lives, and expressed this through paper sculpture! Students were armed with paper, scalpels, scissors and adhesive. The result was an array of beautifully exquisite three-dimensional representations of very personal, touching and victorious narratives.

Some ‘change narratives’ portrayed:

• family separation, and the strength found on the other side
• moving towns/schools and the joy experienced overcoming the associated fears
• Overcoming depression
• Adjusting to the loss of physical vision
• The joy-filled journey of flourishing from a primary school student lacking confidence, to a confident vibrant talented teenager!

How inspiring and exhilarating to see the artful expression of the personal triumphs of our students!

Year 8

Year 8 continue to wow us with the variety of unique ceramic artworks they create for their tile project! This project presents the challenge of drawing an animal using a right-brain drawing technique – drawing from an upside-down image. This approach to drawing allows students to focus on drawing what they see, rather than what they think they see! As a result, students draw their animals more accurately. Patterns are then added to the animal drawings, and these designs translated onto their ceramic tile. See tiles below - clockwise starting top left, Tiana Hoare, Jade Rethman, Sarah Steele, Akram Arslan.

Then, of course, this week students have been performing in JPC’s first musical, The Greatest Show! Students and teachers worked tirelessly!

Last show tonight! Be there, or be …. very disappointed you missed out!

Amanda Marshall
Visual Arts Teacher JPC

Our Indigenous group had 4 Mentors from University of Canberra visit during ILT Thursday 23rd August. They assisted the students with their school work and then we played a challenging game of Celebrity Heads! Thanks to Darren Brady, AIME coordinator and UC student mentors Darien Vaivads, Charlotte Stump and Harry Fell for their passion and commitment to our students.

Annie Daley

Aboriginal Contact Teacher
 

A reminder that JPC permission notes for the Year 9 Refugee Immersion were due for return to the College by Friday, 10 August. As these notes are now significantly overdue, could you please ensure any outstanding notes are returned by Monday (forms are available in Moodle under Permission Notes).

Parents will have also received email notifications from Outward Bound where you will be able to access program participation and medical details forms. These are to be completed online via the Care Monkey portal. Please contact Miss Cheryl Jones at the College if you have not received this email, or if you have any queries about the information in any of the notes. 

Parents of any student who will not be attending this important experience are required to notify Mrs.Catherine Rey in writing of their reasons for non-attendance by Monday, 27 August.

Mrs.Nicola Edghill
Leader of Learning and Wellbeing

On Monday 20th August, two teams of boys from JPC went to Tuggeranong Basketball stadium to compete in the ASC competition against private schools from around Canberra. Both teams played incredibly well and have a lot to be proud of.

The 7/8 team opened the day with a strong result against Daramalan showing outstanding defence and energetic offense. They followed up by playing an undefeated Marist who our year 7 boys gave up a lot of size to. Despite an excellent defensive effort from the boys holding Marist to, by far, their lowest point total of the day, our offense was unable to fully capitalize and we went down. Heading into our final pool game against St Edmunds we came out flat but the boys showed a lot of heart to rally and finish with a convincing win. This placed us 2nd in the group and we progressed to the semifinals to face 1st seeded Radford. In a closely contested game we went down by just 5 points and dropped out of the competition. All credit to each of the boys as they performed admirably on and off the court all day and thanks to Stephen Dhieu from Year 12 for helping to coach them.

The 9/10 team played a hard-fought game against Daramalan to begin the day but unluckily lost by just 1 point. The boys went on to face Mackillop where they recovered excellently and got the win. Our final 2 games of the day were back-to-backs against Burgmann and Marist. The boys played excellently against Burgmann despite an unfortunate injury to Ryan Storch leaving us down to a rotation of just 7. In the dying seconds, we were up by 1 but Burgmann forced a steal and ran in a lay-up as time expired, leaving us with our second 1-point defeat of the day. Already tired from a long day of basketball and down a player, we faced an undefeated Marist team. We played them well but they were just too strong and they remained undefeated. All the boys showed brilliant teamwork played incredibly well on the day and almost made the semifinals, finishing as the 3rd seed in the pool. Once again, thanks goes to Aman Waghmare for helping to coach.

Mr Duddy

On Monday afternoon 20 JPC students and staff/umpires departed school on 2 busses. We were all extremely excited to get to Penrith and start playing some netball. The bus trip was not very quiet (to say the least), as we were listening to music and talking to each other the whole time. Once we arrived in Penrith we had dinner at the Penrith Leagues club which was directly next to our accommodation. After dinner, we all met up in the foyer and got told who we were going to be staying in a room with. After settling into our rooms, each team had a small meeting to go over all the details we needed for Tuesday, not long after that, we all went back to our own rooms and went to bed.

Early Tuesday morning we all woke up, got ready and met down in the restaurant again for a buffet breakfast. After breakfast, we packed up all our things, packed the bus and headed to the netball courts. Everybody helped set up our area before our 9/10 team headed to the court to warm up for our first game. During the first game, all the 7/8 girls came to watch and cheer us on. We went out in this first game and all put in 110% and came out with a win! Afterwards, we all went and cheered the 7/8 team on and even though they, unfortunately, didn’t win their first game, they all put in 110% and had lots of fun playing with their friends. The rest of the day played out smoothly, we went and played our game and then went to watch the other team play. Later in the afternoon, it began to get a little windy and our gazebo decided to go flying everywhere (with another team having to save it for us). Multiple times we tried to hold it into the ground and keep it up, but eventually just took it down. Once all our games had finished everybody met up to pack our area up and we all got back on the bus to head home. Our 9/10 team came away winning 4 games and losing 2, the 7/8 team, unfortunately, didn’t win a game, but fought hard and had a great experience.

We want to thank Ms Dawe, Carolina Gaete and Mandy Allan for coaching/umpiring and coming on this trip with us. A huge thank you to Miss Turner for organising this trip and giving us all this amazing opportunity.

By Aimee Dawe & Chloe Thorpe (Year 9)

Yesterday our Year 7/8 Girls Football Team travelled to Dickson Playing Fields for the Northside Schools Carnival.

The 12-team competition saw us drawn in a Pool B against Kingsford Smith, Belconnen and Lyneham.

The girls started the day strongly with an impressive 4-0 over Kingsford Smith, Kiara Meza scoring a double and captain Mia McGovern, as well as vice-captain Gaby Jordan, providing strong leadership as the team put together some great team play.

Coming into the second match, the girls picked up where they left-off, creating some excellent scoring opportunities before Gaby Jordan put a second half winner away - 1-0, the girls maintaining their spot at the top of the group. Mikayla Tilley provided some great leadership in goals and Alara Salvage and Ariana Rathouski putting in another super shift as centre backs. Sapeeda Nowroozi made a great block. Jasmine Tonna provided poise and skill in attacking play.

The girls achieved another dominant display in the third match against Lyneham, Jessica Hynes topping off another impressive passing and technical performance with a goal of her own. The girls were starting to run riot. The game ended with a 4-0 win.

Having topped their group, the girls went into their quarter final match against Daramalan with a lot of confidence. JPC were warming up together like they had been playing club football together for months. The team was thriving and were hungry for both the technical and physical contest. Mia McGovern, Crystal Agbonzikilo, Kiara Meza, Briony Rukavina and Imken Rolke were providing both tenacity and drive through the middle of the park and our interchange players continued to do a great job in the absence of an official lineswoman. Midway through the first half, Mia McGovern put away two superb free kicks from the identical spot outside the box, meanwhile Nazli Tuang, Jasmine Atkinson and Lexi Outridge continued to show their versatility. 3-1 win. The team’s belief was increasing.

By the semi-final against St Francis Xavier, the girls were starting to play some pretty awesome football. Goals were now being accumulated by a number of players, Crystal Agbonzikilo scoring a brace and Gaby Jordan’s willingness to follow up loose balls in attacking areas leading to a 3-1 win. The girls were having such a great time as a team. Mikayla Tilley once again impressive in goals. Ariana Rathouski was having a colossal day at the back.

The girls were really excited about the Grand Final and were dreaming of a GF win for JPC to top of a great day. The girls were up against Canberra High and were not afraid.

The team took the lead early through a deluxe free kick from Mia McGovern that cannoned into the crossbar and was followed in again by super athlete Gaby Jordan. The ball had already crossed the line though! 1-0 JPC.

The contest went up another level as Canberra High looked to get themselves back into the game. Despite a brilliant defensive display from our backline, led by Alara Salvage’s strength and powerful runs, Canberra High managed to equalize the game with 3 minutes to go from close range. The game went to penalties.

With the ball blowing around on the penalty spot and Canberra High’s first penalty taker even having to reset the ball for her penalty to be taken, Canberra High managed the conditions very well and took out the penalty shootout 3-0. Well played.

Super day from all players involved. They were a credit to themselves and their school.

A big thank you to all the parents that braced the cold to provide such great support for our great team day! The girls are very much looking forward to playing together again when the top four teams from this carnival go up against the best four from the southside weeks.

Andrew Woodman

Teacher - SOSE/IHU/French

Seventeen talented boys from year 7 & 8 were selected to form a team to represent JPC at the SSACT Football (Soccer) Competition. The Northside regional carnival was held on Tuesday 21 August at Dickson District Playing Fields and it was a cold, overcast day with blustery winds. The students were very keen to do well and represented the College beautifully. In summary, there were 12 teams in the competition and our boys finished fourth, meaning they have progressed to round two of the competition. They will play against the top four teams from the southside of Canberra in the coming weeks.

As for the details, JPC's first opponents were the boys from the Kingsford Smith School from Holt. The opposition played extremely well, considering they did not have a full-strength side. Jordan Jonathan scored a double and Matteo Vardanega also scored two goals, one of which was actually via an impressive scissor kick. Kingsford Smith remained scoreless.

Our second game against Belconnen HS was a closer match. Riley Puttock played well as a defender but unfortunately was unable to capitalise on a penalty. However, the opportunity to go ahead on the scoreboard was not totally lost thanks to Dominic Pelle (vice-captain), who used his quick reflexes to pounce on the ball after it had rebounded from the cross bar and skillfully put it in the back of the net. Unfortunately for us, Belconnen equalised and the final result was 1-1.

Our third game was against a tough opposition. Lyneham HS unfortunately were too good in this game, winning it 3-0. We played them later in the day and bounced back to keep the full-time score 0-0, but more on that later.

Game four was the quarter final against St Francis Xavier College and it was a good arm wrestle. The full-time result was 0-0 and it went to a penalty shootout. Marcus Dwyer was courageous and confident as he saved a few penalties. The final result was 3-1, with our penalties taken coolly and calmly by Ante Brkic (Captain), Matteo Vardanega and Michael Hynes.

Our semi-final match was against Lyneham HS. As previously stated, it was the second time we met them on the day. We fought better the second time around and kept the full-time result 0-0. For the second time, one of our matches was decided by a nervous penalty shootout. Unfortunately, we lost this shootout 3-1.

The play-off for third and fourth was between us and Daramalan. The atmosphere was a little casual and fun as both teams knew that they had made the second round of competition. Nevertheless, it was a little disappointing that we let our guard down and as a result we let 3 goals in.

The final result was 3-0.

Apart from the abovementioned goal scorers, special mention goes to Ashton Antioch who working hard as a forward. In the midfield, tireless effort from Ethan Russell, Hayden Gardiner and Hayden Mortimer. In defence, great work and dedication was produced by Christian Scola, Dylan Silcocks, Dominik Tomalin Marek, Jordan Prior and Joshua Henderson. Sharing the goalkeeping duty with class was James Cunliffe.

Congratulations to all boys on how you played and for progressing to round two!

Mr Battaglia

The College has a small collection of second hand uniform items for sale, and relies on donations of uniforms for supplies. At the moment we have plenty of short and long-sleeved shirts for boys, and varying amounts of other items. Feel free to donate any uniform items that no longer fit your child.

Need some uniform? Email the Student office at office.jpc@cg.catholic.edu.au and we will get back to you if the items you want are available. Remember to include your child’s name and size of the items you want. Payments can be made through the Qkr! App.

Changes to school bus service route numbers which operate to and from JPC will come into effect from Monday 3rd September 2018.

These changes are being implemented to improve the provision of consistent, accurate and easily identifiable bus services across regional New South Wales and improve customer access to current transport information.

A full listing of the new school route numbers will be available on the Qcity Transit website, www.qcitytransit.com.au prior to the changes coming into effect on the 3rd September 2018.

If you have any queries go to the Qcity Transit website, call Qcity Transit on (02) 6299 3722 or contact TfNSW directly on 131500.

The famous Holy Spirit Trivia and Bingo Night is on again!

Party time is 7.00 pm on Saturday 1 September in the Hall.
An early celebration of Our Lady, Mary’s birthday, this is a night for FAMILIES!!

There will be special prizes for younger players with most of the trivia targeted at The Young at Heart (do you remember your super-heroes?).

Yummy finger food and drinks will be available but please bring your own as well.

The evening is a fundraiser – so please bring your cash!

We need: a brave or enthusiastic bingo caller – give it a go!
We also need donations for prizes and a big raffle.

Tickets are $10 for everyone over 10 years and $100 a table. Pre-purchase through Pradeep at pradeepan.pillai@gmail.com. 

Enquires and offers to Alison at alisonmweeks@bigpond.com .