A huge thank you to everyone who supported the CEO Vinnies Sleepout this year!  The final result of just under $10,000 raised for the homeless is a huge credit to our community’s generous spirit and outreach to those in need.

Thank you to our students who slept out, to the Social Justice group who organised the event and to Ms Zorzi and Mrs Ganderton who guided and supported all involved.  Thank you also to the members of staff who slept out as well to support and supervise the students involved, to our Canteen staff and others who cooked and served a delicious breakfast to participants and their families the next day and to all of you who donated so generously to the cause. 

It certainly makes me immensely proud of our JPC community.

Catherine Rey

On Wednesday this week our Year 10 students and a number of Year 11 students visited the annual Canberra Careers Xpo. The Xpo provided them an opportunity to speak with representatives from a range of different post-school training, employment and government organisations and to collect information and brochures to consult and refer back to at a later date. It was pleasing to observe our Year 11 students clarifying and following up on the information that they had gathered on their visit last year.

For those students who are looking at university study after leaving school, there was an opportunity to speak to representatives from local Canberra-based universities and those from other States such as NSW, Victoria, South Australian and even as far afield as Western Australia about their course offerings, alternate pathways to studying at particular universities, accommodation options and scholarship opportunities.

As has been our experience on past visits to the Xpo, the Defence Force and ADFA exhibition were extremely popular with students from all schools, not just JPC. The hands-on exhibitions from CIT were also extremely popular- there were a number of buddy horticulturalists, beauty therapy, hospitality, forensic scientists, sports and health professional and building industry students if our observations are anything to go by. We were even treated to a performance of an original composition by Phoebe Nguyen in Year 10 at one of the music academy stalls. This year there was also a focus on Information Technology and STEM with exhibitions from the Academy of Interactive Entertainment, Robogals and CIT to name just a few.

The conversations that we overheard on our return to school confirm the value of such visits. We will be setting up a box in the ICF for students to recycle any brochures or information booklets- this will also enable other students to access materials that they may not have found themselves on the day. We would like to thank Mr McKie and Mrs Harley for attending the excursion with us, and our Year 10 and 11 students for the exemplary behaviour on the day.

Families are reminded that there are a number of local institution open days during August. These include the Academy of Interactive Entertainment (AIE) on Sunday 13 August and the Canberra Tertiary Institution Open Day (ANU, UC, ACU, ADFA, CIT) on Saturday 26 August.

Students should also check the Moodle Careers page for upcoming guest speakers and career events. Mrs McDonald is also available on Friday’s for appointments.

Rachel Francis-Davies and Judy McDonald

Thursday afternoon was the first session of this semester's drama club, D2. Once again, an eager group of students from years 7 - 11 came together to begin their journey of classic comedy craft. Before these skills can be developed, cohesion as a whole group is essential. As a group, we played a variety of trust games involving percussion patterns, blindfolds and running a human gauntlet! Every D2 member was able to place their trust in Luther group members and the energy on the theatre was electric! We all had a good laugh and are looking forward to our next session.

Students are still welcome to join D2 and can collect a permission note from Miss Keane or from the Permission Notes page on Moodle. Congratulations to the students involved for a successful first D2 session.

Miss Sarah Keane

Dear Parents, Students and Friends of Year 11 Media,

Please find attached an invitation to the Inaugural Year 11 Media Film Festival.

This is an opportunity to celebrate the efforts of the Semester 1 Media Class at JPC in their final assessment, a short film. This was the product of a lot of love, sweat and tears, and it would be fantastic if people could come and support this viewing.

The Festival should run just over one hour.

As noted on the invitation, please be advised that some of the films contain mature themes. Our students had the opportunity to create a film of their choice, and many students opted to select ideas that were important to them and to adolescents in contemporary society. These themes are treated with care and respect; however we wish to advise those who may be sensitive to these themes before viewing.

With thanks in advance for your support of the Year 11 Media Class,

Charlotte O’Shea

Media Teacher

Yesterday in fitness club we ran a warm up which involved some of my netball warm ups to get our bodies moving. We then had a skipping session where we skipped individually and then skipped with the long ropes, jumping in and out. We even tried double dutch which may need a bit more practice. There were roughly 10 students getting involved in this activity. To keep us motivated we play some upbeat music which puts us all in a good mood. After skipping we cooled down with some stretching and discussed all the fun things we can do in the weeks to come. Next week the session will be run by Codie Haycraft who will be sharing some of her dance routines and warm ups so feel free to come along and have some fun.

- Jade Rethman

Learning music can help students’ self-confidence, self-discipline and team work. Music helps students progress in other important learning areas such as Maths and English. Indeed, countries with a strong focus on music education tend to have higher scores in literacy and numeracy. Engaging music programs have been shown to help with attendance and can be particularly beneficial for students who are not achieving well in school.

If you are a practicing Catholic who has a helpful and supportive nature who is confident working with excel, access or databases, we have a part-time position (approx 11hrs per week) in Holy Spirit parish, Gungahlin. The role is administrative, requires weekend and evening work during the Sacramental programs of First Eucharist, Reconciliation and Confirmation.
The role works closely with the Parish Priest, Pastoral Associate and Religious Educations Coordinators from the three primary schools. Please send your expression of interest – (no longer than two pages), demonstrating the following:
• your knowledge or interest in the Sacramental Program offered by Parishes to children
• your involvement in your Parish
• your experience and willingness to work within tight timeframes and deadlines
• your ability to be flexible ie very busy during Sacramental program
• your computer knowledge and skills ie Microsoft office suite, spreadsheets and data management
• the reasons you are interested in the position.

For a more detailed position outline, contact Magda at office@holyspiritgungahlin.org.au. Please send expressions of interest to Parish Priest at office@holyspiritgungahlin.org.au by Friday, 18 August 2017. For information contact Theivani Evers on 0472 921 518 (Tuesday/Wednesday).

Minister for Women, Yvette Berry has announced the opening of the

2017 Audrey Fagan Young Women Enrichment Grants on July 17 2017.

The Enrichment Grants continue to offer young women with an opportunity to realise their dreams in a collaborative relationship with a mentor.

Young women aged between 12 and 18, residents of the ACT or attending education in the ACT are eligible to apply. The program provides one off grants of up to $2,000 to support young women to achieve a project in their area of interest.

The Enrichment Grants are a component of the Audrey Fagan Scholarship program established in 2007 to honour former ACT Chief Police Officer Audrey Fagan’s contribution as an inspirational leader and mentor for young women.

For more information on the grants program visit:
http://www.communityservices.act.gov.au/women/grants_and_scholarships

Or phone ACT Office for Women on 6205 3614. Applications close on 25 August 2017