Key Messages Week 2- Term 1, 2020Our 2020 Theme - from Nehemiah 8:10 “The JOY of the LORD is my STRENGTH!” Opening Mass Tuesday 18 February, 10:3 On Wednesday of this week, all JPC students reflected on our 2020 theme in their House groups, and explored how its message links to the values of their respective House patrons – Sr Katharine Drexel, Sr Isolina Ferré, Father Ted Kennedy, Wangari Maathai, Jean Vanier, and Cardinal Nguyễn Văn Thuận. Students considered how this story and its message will influence them personally as our year proceeds, such as developing personal strength through our mentoring and growth mindset programs, and caring for those less fortunate through socially justice actions. The 2020 theme comes from the story of Nehemiah – a tale of renewal and rebuilding, restoring communities and reflecting on how we live our lives through a relationship with God. It is the Lord’s joy that gives us strength - joy that comes from knowing that we are looking after those in need, sharing our gifts to build our community, treating ourselves and others with love, and focusing on our faith. Nehemiah said, “Go and enjoy choice food and sweet drinks, and send some to those who have nothing prepared. This day is holy to our Lord. Do not grieve, for the JOY of the LORD is your STRENGTH.” The Levites calmed all the people, saying, “Be still, for this is a Holy day. Do not grieve.” Then all the people went away to eat and drink, to send portions of food and to celebrate with great JOY, because they now understood the words that had been made known to them. OPENING MASS - Next Tuesday (18/2/20), at 10:30 AM, we will celebrate our JPC theme for 2020, and the investiture of our College Leaders, with Father Mark at the Opening Mass. Please join us in this wonderful JPC celebration! Music is a wonderful way to pray and this song by Rend Collective is a great celebration of our theme – the Joy of the Lord is my strength – share it with your family! https://www.ibelieve.com/video/joy-of-the-lord-live-worship-from-rend-collective.html Jen Tually Leader of Learning and Wellbeing, Ferré House, Mission and Ministry Year 7 Camp 4 - 6 March 2020 The St John Paul II College Year 7 Camp will run for 3 days, with one night staying at Kianinny Bush Cottages, Tathra, and the other night in tents in the Hobbs Corner camping grounds, Tathra. The camp will take place from Wednesday the 4th to Friday 6th of March for all year 7 students.The camp is supervised by St John Paul II College staff and activities are undertaken by Coastlife Adventures. Coastlife Adventures is a privately-owned Outdoor Education and Recreational business established to provide safe, quality experiences to a large range of groups. This area has been deemed safe by the NSW authorities in regards to any natural disasters. Please note that the camp is a compulsory school activity for all Year 7 students. The staff at St John Paul II College see the camp as a valuable time for students to get to know their peers, learn about the ethos of the school and as an orientation into high school. The camp also aims to develop leadership qualities and teamwork as well as respect for each other. Because of these valuable attributes, it is essential that all students attend the camp. Full details about the Year 7 Camp has been emailed to all Year 7 families and is also available on Moodle and the JPC Website here. If you have not received an email, please contact the College office. Thank you Mrs Chauntell McNamara Leader of Learning and Wellbeing Vanier and Maathai houses & Mentoring. Arts Up FrontUnexpected Australian Blues Festival Excursion On Friday 7th February, the Senior Music class took a trip to Goulburn to attend the Australian Blues Festival. This was perfect as they are studying Blues this semester in music. I checked multiple times online that the festival started at 11 am, so I made sure we were in Goulburn at 10.30 am to plan our day and chat before seeing the first performance. However, I checked the program again 5 mins before arriving in Goulburn to see where the first performances were taking place…….and the first performance wasn’t on until 5 pm that afternoon. ‘WHAT’? I thought to myself as I explained to Paul McKie who was driving our bus what I was reading. I was absolutely devastated and thought to myself, have I just wasted a whole day of the seniors time, and money for the bus. I felt like such a fool thinking that I’d made a massive mistake and misread something or read the wrong information about when the festival started. We allowed to students 30 mins to go and get a coffee (I certainly needed one by then) to think of a plan B. So, in order to calm me down (I was slightly angry with myself) Paul laughed, gave me a hug and said ‘let's go see something else while we’re here’. I knew Goulburn had a Conservatorium of music so rang them in desperation to see if we could get a tour of the place, we were in luck. We headed there at 12 pm for a tour. It was amazing, it was built in 1901 so the architecture and designs were beautiful. I cannot thank Denae enough for fitting us in with such short notice and giving us that tour. She then was kind enough to call the art gallery to see if they would allow us to visit as they were setting up an exhibition for that night which meant we would have our own private tour as they were not letting members of the public in before the opening of the exhibition. We were incredibly lucky to meet the artist himself, Alex Seton is a stone carver and had some beautiful stonework on display and told us the story of how he creates these amazing works. After that, it was lunchtime, we drove to Maccas, let the students have a 30-minute lunch break before heading back to Canberra. I guess the lesson learnt here is, and as Paul explained really well, is that even though what you may have planned does not happen at all, other exciting learning opportunities come from that, that may be more beneficial than what you planned in the first place. Things don’t always turn out as they plan, but that is part of teaching and life and you have to learn to think on your feet which is an opportunity to be creative. I would very much like to thank Paul McKie for not only driving our bus but for making my day and helping me with the issues of changing the whole program of our day. I’d also like to thank the beautiful senior music class for being so incredibly patient and understanding with the changes of plans. It was still a fantastic day out and was lovely to be together as the senior music class for 2020. Sharon Robinson Music Teacher JPC Music Program Dear Parents/Guardians and Students, We are excited to offer new opportunities in our Co-Curricular/Instrumental Music Programs at St John Paul II College in 2020. Our thriving program has grown to include over 200 students who are passionate about music, it’s now your turn to get involved! Our band programs include:
We also have our fantastic Production Crew. These students manage the sound and lighting at all St John Paul II College performing arts events. They learn the technical ‘ins and outs’ of how to manage live sound, setup, pack down and lighting. We have both a senior and junior crew who meet weekly for classes. As a part of our extensive music program, we also offer individual Instrumental Music lessons with some of the best music tutors in the ACT. Our music tutors offer weekly private lessons at St John Paul II College in:
It is clear that we have something for everyone! There are no prerequisites for any of these groups. If you are interested, just sign up and get involved. If you have any questions please email Aron Lyon at aronlyon@hotmail.com or Sharon Robinson at sharon.robinson@cg.catholic.edu.au. Taking enrolments for Bands/Clubs now through our online application system here: Taking enrolments for Instrumental Lessons now through our online application system here: Regards, Aron Lyon & Sharon Robinson DefenceOur first Defence meeting will be held in Week 3 on Monday at recess time in our JPC Barracks. Feel free to remind your Defence child on Monday morning to come along. Permission notes are now on QKR for the following events. Welcome Defence Families Breakfast to be held on Tuesday, 25 February and Swing Into Life Defence Excursion for Year 7 and 8 students to be held on Wednesday, 26 February. Numbers are limited for the Swing Into Life Excursion, so students who return their completed permission forms and payment first, will be offered first places. Please contact me if you require more information. DCO’s Welcome to Canberra Event on Friday, 14 February from 4.30-7pm at the RMC Duntroon Pool. Please register on Eventbrite. If you have any concerns about your child, please contact me. Vicki.walsh@cg.catholic.edu.au Vicki Walsh Defence School Mentor Operation Bushfire Assist 2019-2020 Our Australian Defence Force has been providing assistance to communities around Australia during the past few months with the devastating bushfires. With thanks to PO Cullinan for the images. Career NewsANU Extension Program 2020 Application DUE Year 11 students who are interested in doing the ANU Extension program in 2020 need to complete and Online application. The CLOSING DATE is 16th February 2020. Interested students who have any questions, please see Dr Cleary Further information can be found below under Community News or here Canteen MenuThe Canteen Menu for Week 3, Term 1 is available on the JPC Website - or Moodle under Canteen Menu The Canteen will be offering Breakfast from 8.30am to 8.50am. Toast, Cereal and Fruit are available for $1 each. From the College OfficeMorning Bus - Route 1001 There has been some concerns expressed about overcrowding on the morning school route bus 1001. There are 2 1001 buses that drop off at JPC in the morning – one comes from Forde through Bonner and the other starts at Bonner. Transport Canberra have requested that students who catch the 1001 from Neville Bonner School and after please catch the earlier bus as the later bus has already collected students between Forde and Bonner and then does a sweep of any stragglers. Thank you for your cooperation with this matter to help keep all students safe. School Fees Term 1 2020 School Fees have been emailed to all families. They are due for payment Friday Week 5, 6 March 2020. Please note that the school fees are due Week 5 of each Term. You will receive a statement in the holidays prior to Terms 2, 3 and 4. If you pay by Direct Debit or BPoint you will still receive a statement. This is for your information ONLY and NO further action is required. If you have any questions regarding the statement, please email jpc.finance@cg.catholic.edu.au and we will endeavour to answer your email as soon as possible. It is not always possible to take enquiries over the phone, therefore we recommend sending an email to the finance office. Thank You JPC School Uniform & Second hand items Uniform list and policy is available here Uniforms can be purchased from Lowes in Gungahlin. Second hand uniform is available from the College. If you require second hand uniform, please email the college office with what size you require and a staff member will contact you. JPCII – Uniform & Tech to You Facebook page is also available to JPC families. This page is for families who wish to sell their uniform or tech items to the JPC Communitiy. Click here to request access.For the latest CELEBRATE Edition Click Here For the latest Parish Bulletin Click Here Community NewsWoden Valley Youth Choir Woden Valley Youth Choir has provided a music education to hundreds of students from ACT and surrounding region for over 50 years. WVYC offers a dynamic choral programme for young people aged 8 to 25 and we are proud to provide so many positive benefits to our members: the value of learning to sing with confidence, positive self-esteem, and performance skills, which will hold them in good stead for the rest of their lives. WVYC is a not-for-profit community choir with a strong music education programme. We don’t just sing – we become musicians. Open Day and Auditions WVYC will hold an open day on Tuesday 18 February. Auditions will follow, for those interested, on Saturday 22 February. We have vacancies in all choirs although quite limited places in our high school/university age treble voice choir. We are especially keen to audition more young men for our changing and changed voices choir, Centauri Voices. For more information on open day times and auditions please go to http://wvyc.org.au and download an application form or email info.wvyc@gmail.com or phone 1300 599 655. |