Welcome Back to Term 2 !

It is lovely to see all of the students back looking very good in their winter uniform and they appear to be settling in well. 

It has been a busy week with a wonderful Anzac Ceremony

yesterday followed by Parent/Student/Teacher discussions yesterday evening. Please see the article on the Anzac Ceremony.  It was very impressive to have so many parents participate and our students did us proud.  

2018 Enroment Period and Open Day

Next week is our Open Day and we have now entered the enrolment period for 2018.  As you may be aware, in 2017 we were very close to our enrolment quota of 200 Year 7 students and we expect to reach this quota in 2018.  Given this, it is very important that families enrol their students for Year 7 2018 prior to the end of the enrolment period which ends on 19 May.  If enrolment applications are received past the due date, the CE enrolment priorities no longer apply and we certainly would not want to see any siblings of current students miss out on a place due to a late application submission.

We are delighted to see so many generous students offering to assist as guides and in other capacities on Open Day and Evening.  Thank you so much for supporting them in this.  They will need to have your written permission to proceed with this if they plan to do so in the Evening after school and Permission Notes have been handed out to interested students.

Senior Students

Our senior students have returned and are again demonstrating a strong work ethic and sense of responsibility.  We handed out to them this afternoon a letter regarding procedures for leaving the College during their non-scheduled lesson times and driving cars to school with permission and information slips to be returned to the College where appropriate.  Thank you all for attending to this. 

Naplan testing, Years 7 & 9

You will also note that the ACT government is now not able to proceed with on-line Naplan testing this year.  We will therefore be doing pen and paper tests for Years 7 & 9.  Please see the information below from Rachel Francis-Davies.

I look forward to working with you all in Term 2.

Catherine Rey

As you may have read in the media late last week, the format of NAPLAN has now reverted to pencil and paper rather than an online format for this year. This will now mean that the tests will once again take place in the College hall during Week 3 from Tuesday 9 May through to Thursday 11 May, rather than over a two week period. It is important that students have their own pencil, eraser, sharpener and calculator for the tests. Further information and the specific test schedules will be available on Moodle from early next week. I will be speaking with all students in Years 7 and 9 on Tuesday afternoon during Independent Learning Time about the composition and logistics of the tests.

On Thursday JPC came together as a community to commemorate one of our most sacred National days, ANZAC Day.   At 09:15 our ANZAC Day Ceremony began with the entrance of Serving Members of the Australian Defence Force, who are the parents of many of our students.    Amongst our Defence Parents were parents who are about to deploy overseas within the next few weeks and one parent who has just this week returned.  It was an honor to have so many of our Defence parents in attendance.

We were also joined by Mr Dave Potter, Treasurer of the Gungahlin RSL sub branch and many other family members.
Our guest speaker was Father Bernie Hennessy, an Army Chaplain for over 28 years.  We were very privileged to hear his stories and to get an insight into how these wonderful Priests and Chaplains support our Defence Forces during both peace and war times.  Father Bernie spoke of a few of his experiences offering assistance to young soldiers starting their basic training at Kapooka and about the importance of pastoral care to everyone.

We had beautiful music which was provided by Mrs Robinson and the JPC Vocal Group.

Wreaths were laid by Lieutenant Colonel Scott Foster, Treasurer Dave Potter and Defence Student Emily Cullinan.  Once again, the wreaths were made by the very talented and generous Mrs Naomi Johnson, one of our Defence spouses.
The Ode was read by Commander Chris Searle, which was then followed by the haunting sound of the Last Post and Rouse.  Again, we were very privileged to have Musn Joshua Young, from the RMC Duntroon Band play his bugle for us, as he did for Remembrance Day last year.

Our Ceremony had a personal touch with Defence Students reading the prayers and poems and assisting in many other ways.  Not to mention our Cadets, Marija Rathouski, Logan Russell, Patrick O’Gorman and Jake Robinson who did us proud too.  They escorted the Defence Parents into the Hall and showed the discipline and respect they have learnt throughout their training.  

After the Ceremony our special guests and family members enjoyed a lovely morning tea and had a chance to catch up with other JPC Defence Families.

This ANZAC Ceremony was a unique insight into the power of religion in our Defence Forces.  It was also a solemn and sacred reminder to all of us at JPC that the freedom we enjoy every day, is due to the sacrifices made over 100 years ago by those brave men, women and animals during Gallipoli and the Great War.  It is a sacrifice which many families in our JPC community continue to make, with their service to our country.  We will remember them.

Vicki Walsh
DTM

During the school holidays, JPC staff member Judy McDonald went to New Delhi, India to attend the fourth India-Australia Skills Mission. Judy was invited to be part of an Australian delegation led by Senator the Hon Simon Birmingham, Minister for Education and Training and hosted by Australian Government officials. Prime Minister Turnbull provided the keynote address at the Australia India Knowledge Partnership dinner, with Minister Birmingham also speaking.

The mission is an opportunity to establish stronger links with Indian counterparts while gaining a deeper understanding of the Indian training market and the challenges it faces in educating and skilling its large population.

Judy had the opportunity to visit various training institutions including: electrical, automotive, plumbing, carpentry, hospitality, hotel management and the Maruti Suzuki Plant at Gurgaon. She participated in a round table discussion with trainers in the areas of electronics, IT, Graphic Design, Car Painting, Auto Body Repair, Cabinet Making, Restaurant Service, Cooking, Fashion Technology and Hairdressing.

Judy also spoke on a panel at a Workshop titled “Raising the profile of VET – VET as an aspirational pathway for our youth”.