Today the College celebrated the feast of our patron saint, St. John Paul II. We gathered as a community for a moving Eucharistic celebration to begin the day, drawing on the theme of witness, and reflecting on what it means to follow in the footsteps of St. John Paul II and live lives that are authentic in our response to the Gospel message. Our celebration was enriched by the beautiful music ministry provided by our Liturgy Band and Vocal Group, and by the thought-provoking drama presented by our Youth Ministry Team about the life of our patron. Our special thanks go to all students who were involved in preparing and sharing the liturgy with the community.

After shared House cakes at the conclusion of Mass, our Year 12 Leaders took charge of the middle session of the day, with the running of the first annual Feast Day Championship, a round-robin of fierce sporting competitions. Our House teams took to the fields to vie for supremacy in dodgeball, netball and soccer, building our team spirit in some hard-fought battles. Our special congratulations go to VANIER who were the victors today, and who will be the first to have their House name on our new Feast Day trophy. The Year 12 Leaders are to be commended for their efforts in organising and running such a successful competition.

To wrap up a big day of celebrations, this afternoon we had the opportunity to work together and have some fun visiting a range of House-run stalls, with all money raised from token sales going to support our focus charity for October, Catholic Mission. The stalls featured a variety of activities under the broad categories of brain-based, sporting, creative and House patron, giving us lots of interesting and fun avenues to spend our tokens. There was plenty of laughter, and a great sense of community spirit throughout the afternoon as students and staff alike engaged in everything from water slides to pie throwing, guessing competitions, and strategy games. A very special thank you to Mrs. Tually and the Year 10 House Leaders for their exceptional planning for this afternoon’s fair, and to all of our members of staff who helped to creative and run such engaging stalls.

On this special community day we remember that no matter our differences, or our unique challenges, we all belong to a very special school community, one that is empowered by the witness of St. John Paul II. Today we see the fruits of our 2018 theme, I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.

Mrs. Nicola Edghill
Leader of Learning and Wellbeing

Students in the Year 12 Physics class successfully constructed and used a cloud chamber this week and last week using nothing more than an old fishtank, dry ice, alcohol and some other odds and ends. In the words of one student “it’s a bit like fishing” but, with a bit of patience, the class did manage to observe quite a few unmistakable traces of cosmic ray and nuclear decay particles leaving bright trails in the chamber over the course of about 25 minutes.

Chalk up another first for STEM at JPC, well done Physics team!

Mr Bourke

‘Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist once we grow up’ – Pablo Picasso

School curricular is often shifted heavily toward common core subjects, but what about the Arts? Some may regard art education as a luxury or an added extra. Learning to create and appreciate visual aesthetics may be more important than ever to the development of the next generation of children as they grow up.

It’s not a new notion that students who are involved in the arts may have higher school motivation, engagement in class, self-esteem, and life satisfaction. Art education teaches students how to interpret, criticize, and use visual information, and how to make choices based on it. Knowledge about the visual arts, such as graphic symbolism, is especially important in helping kids become smart consumers and navigate a world filled with marketing logos. Creativity has a chance to blossom if students are given the chance to explore and experiment, as well as the experience of making choices in the course of creative art.

JPC has rich and diverse curriculum and co-curriculum opportunities within the Arts. Each week, though ‘Arts Up Front’ you will continue to gain insight into what our students are exploring and achieving within Drama, Dance, Music, Art, Photography, Graphic Design and Media Studies. Our first installation this term will be an insight into Music at JPC, stay tuned.

‘Music can change the world, because it can change people’ – Bono

Mrs Faye Robertson

This week I had the opportunity to accompany some of my Defence students to the “Swing into Life” program.  This is an excellent day of team building and testing inner strengths and it is run by ex-SAS (Special Air Services) Personnel.  Our host, Lee Campbell was joined by Josh O’Sullivan and together they guided the students through challenging and physical courses.   One of my students had a fear of dark and heights and both were challenged and conquered during one exercise.  The team’s communication became better and better throughout the day, as their success depended on them working and solving problems together.  They soon learned the “consequences” of not working as a team very quickly!  I was very proud of their attitude and desire to be successful.  The students certainly adopted the SAS’s motto – “Who Dares Wins” and they did! Thanks to Mr Rees for driving us out there and joining in on the fun.  Good luck to Josh for his third season of “Ninja Warrior” and Lee – well see you next year!

Don’t forget to head to the AWM before Remembrance Day where you can witness the display of 62,000 handcrafted poppies, representing the amount of Australian lives lost in the First World War.  The display is in the Sculpture Garden and is a free event.  The poppies will be on display daily from 9am – 10pm until Remembrance Day.  I was very honoured to have contributed a very small amount to the display and highly recommend a visit.  Truly moving.

Swing into Life Defence Excursion

On Wednesday the 24th of October, Mrs Walsh took twelve Year 9 and 10 Defence students to the B.Firm Activity Centre. There, we met Lee (the owner of B.Firm) and Josh (An Australian Ninja Warrior Finalist x2) who led us through multiple obstacle courses and team building exercises.  We were led through tyres, A-frames, hills, ditches and loads and loads of mud!  And we had to carry a rope above our head without letting it touch the ground through these obstacle courses with limited amounts of time.  If we messed up we had to either repeat, do pushups, planks or squat jumps! We also had to lead one of our peers (who had 'blindfolds' on) through, under, over and on ropes, hurdles and other various equipment.
  
This was a really fun and enjoyable experience, despite us all getting cut up, mud in our eyes and mouth and rope burn (or was that just me?) and I got to meet the other Defence students who were there with me.  All in all, it was an awesome day!

Shail Frawley
Year 10

The Swing Into Life Excursion at B.Firm fitness centre was not only fun, muddy and hard but also a great day to make some new friends and learn something new. Although it was extremely tough, everyone put in together and we got the job done as a team. By the end of the day everyone was stuffed, many with dead legs from all the running through mud and on land, and most of the time we were either carrying a rope above our heads or everyone having to be grabbing onto someone.  In summary, it was an extremely enjoyable day not only where I got muddy, made some friends but met some really skilful ninja warriors, Lee Campbell and Josh O’Sullivan.

Ethan Gration
Year 9

The following students were selected to represent the ACT Cougars in the Winter Nationals in Coffs Harbour last week. The 12 Girls team made the quarter final but lost by 2. The 13 Boys team were super unlucky and lost the semifinal in drop off and The 14 Girls team had a very tough tournament. Please congratulate these students on their efforts.

12s Girls                      13s Boys                       14s Girls

Sophie Murray             Owen Hromow                Taylah Osmond
Lara Grocott                 Josh Baldwin                  Imken Rolke

                                     Noah Marcantino

Recently the ACT Health School Health Team visited your school/college to offer the free Meningococcal ACWY vaccine to all Year 11 and 12 students.

If any Year 11 and 12 students missed this opportunity, they can still receive this free vaccine by phoning the Community Health Intake line on 6207 9977, and booking into one of the Meningococcal ACWY Immunisation Catch Up Clinics being offered at the City Health Centre in December 2018.

For further information please visit:
http://www.health.act.gov.au/our-services/immunisation/adolescents