It is great to have everyone back and we also welcome some new students and their families to our JPC Community this term.

This Key Messages is jam-packed with news of all the recent happenings and it is clear already that Term 2 will be just as busy with so many enriching activities on the go.

We have had several changes of staff:

• Mrs Judy McDonald, who took leave in Term 1, has decided to retire. We are delighted for her - sad for us - but we wish her every blessing in this new stage of her journey. 
• I am pleased to announce that Mrs Shirley Forlin will continue with Judy's classes and Mr Ian Pettit will provide Careers advice. Ian will introduce himself to you further and outline his availability to students and families in next week's Key Messages.
• Mr Tony Sheppard was with us for only a short time in Term 1 and decided to return to his roots on the north coast of NSW. We are very pleased that Ms Alissa Burch - well known to all of us as a frequent casual teacher - will be taking over his classes during Term 2. Ms Burch took all of Mr Sheppard's classes in the first weeks of Term 1 and so is very well placed to look after his students.

I wish you all a very positive and productive term. As always, please do not hesitate to contact us if there is anything we can do to assist.

Catherine Rey

On Wednesday, the whole school came together to commemorate ANZAC Day in a solemn and moving Ceremony. Our Defence students marched in with their Australian Defence Force parents and took part in readings and symbols. 

As the Australia’s Federation Guard had to change their plans and could not be at our Ceremony, we had what I believe were the best “stand-ins”!  The Cadets of JPC polished their shoes and escorted our Australian Defence Force parents and wreath bearers, showcasing their skills. This growing number of Cadets were an absolute credit to their training and their CO’s and provided a first-rate addition to our Ceremony.

Thank you to Marija who led fellow Cadets Emily, Grace, Logan, Jake, Nikko, Matt, Michael, Ibriham, Jacob and Ethan through many hours of practise and order.

Our Commemorative Speech was given by Lieutenant Colonel Scott Foster, Commanding Officer, Army Headquarters, who is also known as Tara’s Dad.  Lieutenant Colonel Foster’s speech was heartfelt and knowledgeable with astounding figures of our fallen and injured during the ANZAC Campaign and since. Lieutenant Colonel Foster reminded us about the significance of ANZAC Day as a Nation and we were very privileged to hear him speak.

Following on from the Commemorative Speech, our students and guests watched a short film on WWII with recounts from Veterans. If the movie looked familiar to anyone in the audience, it was because it was the film used at the ANZAC National Ceremony held at the Australian War Memorial just last week. I would like to acknowledge and thank the AWM for their special permission to use their exclusive footage.

Another of our Defence Parents, Group Captain Paul Harte, Dad to Riley and Giselle read the Ode for us.

The winning poem from our ANZAC Poetry Competition was read by Briana Pilicic. It was entitled “It’s Been 100 years” and you may read the poem in the Key Messages.

Our Music Teacher, Miss Robinson and Ms Taylor from Holy Spirit, lead our Combined choirs to make beautiful music together.  The Holy Spirit Choir along with JPC’s Vocal Group spent many hours practicing the National Anthem, “Never Let Go” and Lee Kernaghan’s “Spirit of the ANZACs”.  Another lovely tribute to our Ceremony and a wonderful collaboration between the two schools.  

Special mention to Angelica Kavaliku-Skinner, who with the help of her Mum and brother Alex, sang the New Zealand National Anthem in both Maori and English. A very special tribute to the bonds between our two countries and to one of our special guests, Mr Kieran Stone, Principal of John Paul II High School in New Zealand.

Our local representative from the Gungahlin RSL sub branch Mr Gerard Pratt, also a JPC Parent, joined three of our Defence students in laying wreaths, to commemorate our fallen. Again, the very generous and talented Mrs Naomi Johnson created the beautiful wreaths which incorporated olives and olive branches for peace and rosemary for remembrance.

Cpl Justin Lingard, Bugler from the RMC Duntroon Band, held us captive with the Last Post and Rouse. Always very special to have a live bugler at our Ceremonies and we thank Cpl Lingard for joining us.

Vicki Walsh

DTM

The Vocal Group, Tech Crew, Aidan Rothnie, Aron Lyon, Matthew Foster, along with the Holy Spirit Choir performed beautifully at the ANZAC ceremony on Wednesday. It takes a lot of rehearsal time to prepare the students for events as special as this and I am extremely proud of their efforts. I would personally like to thank Vicki Walsh for organizing such a beautiful ceremony and allowing our JPC & Holy Spirit students to share their talents with other students, parents and members of the community.

Lest we forget

Sharon Robinson

Last Term we ran a ANZAC Day Poetry Competition. A variety of poems were submitted and I would like to congratulate everyone who entered. After much deliberation, the three winning entries were selected based on their reflections of 100 Years of the ANZACs. Our winning poem by Briana was read out at our ANZAC Ceremony this week.

The winners are:

• 1st Place Briana Pilicic
• 2nd Place Amisha Sehgal
• 3rd Place Amber Telford

Well done to all who entered!

Vicki Walsh
DTM

Its been one hundred years…

Deafening noise, no longer heard.
But their legacies still remain.
Their names will be forever known,
Names of the men who were slain.

Its been one hundred years…

They landed on the beach,
With their heads held high.
Honour and glory within their reach.
Watching men die.

Its been one hundred years…

We pray for their souls,
We thank them for their sacrifice.
It is on this day,
That we thank them for their lives.

Its been one hundred years.

Today, we remember them.
Today, we cry for them.

For it was one hundred years ago,
They gave their lives for us.

By Brie Pilicic

Congratulations to the Social Justice Group for receiving a Highly Commended in the group Category at the Young Canberra Citizen of the Year Awards 2018.

These students go above and beyond in volunteering their time. They are enthusiastic, courageous and confident. They support each other and help one another to be the best that they can be. The students have worked very closely with their teachers to ensure the administration/legal requirements of events are completed and they have also worked closely with the St Vincent de Paul Youth Liason officers. These events are listed below:

1. The St Vincent de Paul CEO Sleepout

2. The 2017 'Christmas bakeoff' for St Vincent de Paul 

3. St Vincent de Paul doorknock appeal

Many thanks to Miss Zorzi and Miss Masterson for your outstanding and generous contributions to making this group a success.

Bronte Froome is a student in Kennedy House. She was nominated for the 2018 Young Canberra Citizen of the Year Award for her contributions to the local and wider community. She was asked to be nominated by both the board that makes judgement and the ACT Youth Advisory Council.

Bronte gave up her Easter Sunday at home to spend from 7am-7pm at a Love Your Sister Bunnings BBQ which raised $12,000. Then again, on the 15th of April, Bronte worked at a Love Your Sister charity event which raised in excess of $5000.

On the 4th of April Bronte was the only student and young person in the ACT to be invited to attend the Domestic Violence Prevention Council Extraordinary Meeting where the idea to be discussed were the effect domestic violence has on young people. Bronte had a large impact on the decisions being taken to the Legislative Assembly and was commended for the way she spoke and her contributions.

Well Done Bronte for all your hard work!

Prior to the trip, most of us doubted our Chinese speaking ability. However, we were able to have basic conversations with nearly all people, and they were able to understand us relatively easily. One barrier was our pronunciation and fluency. During the trip, we learnt a ton our new vocabulary and gained a lot of confidence to utilise our Chinese ability back home.

Highlights:

• Great Wall of China: enduring a difficult climb to experience the landscape from great heights. We climbed about 100 Story’s high.
• City Wall in Xi’an: Walking as a group of foreigners during the Xi’an marathon and joining into dancing. We were able to take photos and speak to locals.
• Schools (Our favourite was Chengdu): using our Chinese skills to communicate with Chinese students and learn about how their classrooms/sporting carnivals operate.
• Park and markets: Joining into dancing and Tai chi, and using our bargaining skills to buy items. We were able to witness calligraphy and large numbers of street food stores.

Other highlights included visiting the Panda Sanctuary, Forbidden City and Terracotta Warriors.

Key Differences

• No Traffic rules and busy conditions
• Squat Toilets
• High Pollution levels (particularly Beijing)
• They were excited to see foreigners.
• Strong English ability of Chinese students
• No Google applications (Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat etc)

China as a nation is far more culturally orientated than Australia. Their lives revolve around the rich history and influence of emperors from past dynasties. Liveability factors such as the hundreds of high rise apartments to cater for the large population numbers, great cuisine (often very spicy for most people), mass transportation with the people primarily using buses/bikes, and the daily practices of the Chinese people such as going to parks, Tai Chi and dancing.

By every account, the inaugural study tour was a gigantic success. The French-speaking gem in the south Pacific lived up to everyone’s expectation of charm, fun, culture & snorkelling heaven. All tour participants were rewarded for their long 9 month wait and I certainly forgot about the intensive organisation endured once we arrived in Noumea.

Fourteen elective French students from Years 9 to 12 spent eight glorious days in New Caledonia during the Term 1 break. They were Michael Woodman, Alexis Ngai, Sophia Henssen, Emma Bramham, Jake Robinson, Emma Le Maitre, Elizabeth Jenkins, Georgia Wallace, Hannah Rothnie, Kimberly Bryan, Harry Costelloe, Rachel Murphy, Lily Klose & Natalie Perez de Villarreal. All students were fantastically well behaved, represented JPC abroad beautifully (in fact this was later mentioned by a member of public who shared the same flight), and were proactive in getting the most out of the trip on a cultural, linguistic and not to mention, fun, level. Mrs Madeleine Harley accompanied me on the tour and she packed in her luggage her high degree of professionalism and competency in caring for the students that she shows every day at JPC. She was a highly enjoyable and dependable travel companion and I thank her for her assistance.

This term our Year 11 students have begun their study of Islam with an afternoon of dialogue. We were privileged to welcome Mr. Muhammad Aksu and Mr. Dylan Esteban from the Dialogue Institute of Australia to discuss the principle beliefs of the world’s second largest religious tradition. Students were treated to an afternoon of theological discourse, taking the opportunity to ask questions and dive into the teachings of the tradition. Opportunities such as this enable our students to engage with people of faith traditions that may not be familiar to them and provides them with a tremendous foundation to launch their own investigations. We look forward to continuing our relationship with the Dialogue Institute and thank them for being so open to sharing their knowledge and faith with us.

Mrs. Nicola Edghill
Leader of Learning – Religious Education

Year 7 and 9 families are reminded that the 2018 National Assessment Program (NAPLAN) will take place in Week 3 (Tuesday 15 May- Friday 18 May).

As the tests will be completed in a fully on-line format students will be completing the tests in the Tech Hubs. They will only be completing 1 test per day, and will have their usual classes when not completing their tests. Students will be completing the tests in their House groups. A schedule for each House will be distributed early next week and this will be placed on the Moodle Parent Information page. Students in Years 7 and 9 will also have the schedule and testing arrangements explained to them early next week.

It is imperative that students have their own earphones when they are undertaking the tests as many of the instructions and explanations associated with the various papers are given through the testing platform rather than the supervising teacher.

This testing program provides vital information to schools and educational systems to support students with their learning and development.  We would ask that you please avoid scheduling appointments or make any other arrangements that will interfere with these tests.

JPC celebrated the diversity and spirit of the Commonwealth Games through an Inter-House competition during Term One. Each House represented a different nation, and competed in a range of lunchtime competitions including netball, volleyball, basketball and badminton. These daily events generated fantastic involvement from across the school community and taught each house group about their representative nation. Congratulations to Drexel House, who won our inaugural competition, representing Papua New Guinea. In Term Two, students will have the opportunity to take part in Football World Cup lunchtime competition.

Mr Robertson

On a Cracking Wednesday at O’Connor our boys teams took to the oztag field to test their skills against the other Northside Schools.
Our 7/8 team dominated their pool finishing undefeated with 3 wins against and a draw Amaroo, Frannies, Melba & Canberra High.  Standouts on the day were Ryan Mitchell, Rueben Spires & Jono Sears.  The boys took on Dara in the semi and couldn’t quite match their form and narrowly missed out on progressing but finished 3rdoverall.

The 9/10 boys crusied through the pool stages with massive wins over Burgman, Gold Creek, Amaroo & a narrow loss to Belco High.  The boys started poorly against Frannies in the semi and couldn’t quite catch up after giving them a 4 point head start.   3rd overall is a good result against tough opposition.
Both boys teams were a pleasure to manage/coach over the day and represented JPC very well.

The 7/8 ladies team were exquisite in their ability to bond and encourage each other throughout the day. They came away with two wins across the day, with Sophie Murray going across the try line with impressive speed too many times to count. The 9/10 girls went in to the tournament not knowing what to expect. They took on feedback, demonstrated great attitudes and went through to win their pool, undefeated. In the semi-final they came across a tough opposition in Lyneham high and were unfortunate not to proceed into the final. Special mentions go to the leading try scorers Natalia Brankovic and Jasmine Kelley, as well as the girl with the hands of a grippy gecko, leading tagger, Mia McGovern. A special shout out to our mascot for the day, Boss Boyle.

Miss Turner & Mr Boyle

Students in Years 7-10 will attend normal classes throughout the day and will then participate in the cross country carnival in Periods 4 and 5. Students are permitted to wear their school sports uniform throughout the duration of the day. At lunch time, they are able to change into house colours if they desire, to demonstrate their house pride.

Due to hour requirements in senior courses, all seniors will attend normal classes on Friday, including period 4 and 5. If there are any senior students who wish to participate in order to gain a time for entry to ASC, they are required to email Miss Turner (ashlee.turner@cg.catholic.edu.au).

Please note that there will be not be a permission note for this event as we will be within the appropriate radius to the school under strict teacher supervision.

On Thursday, 42 students and 6 staff members went to the ASC Athletics Carnival at the AIS. The weather was impeccable and matched the efforts of all students involved. Special mention goes to our senior girls who ranked 4th in points compared to other senior schools.

Leading the points based on placing and participation for JPC were:
Ryan Storch- 61 points
Sophie Murray- 72 points
Gabrielle Jordan- 92 points
Mikayla Cruz- 168 points

Congratulations to all students and thank you for submitting your notes on time, communicating effectively, performing to the best of your ability and representing JPC with pride. We hope to have more students following in their footsteps and increase our number of participants next year.

A special thankyou also goes to the JPC staff who ran events and were on their toes all day!

A reminder that Year 7 students at JPC will be receiving their first round of scheduled vaccinations Monday 7 May.

If you require information regarding the immunisations, please access the ACT Health website, or contact the ACT Health High School Immunisation Program or School Health Administrator on (02) 6205 2086.

Thank you

Cold and flu season is upon us, and as usual each year bugs abound, and can easily pass from one person to another.

It’s time to remind your child to be vigilant around hygiene – covering their mouth when they cough or sneeze, washing their hands carefully, and not sharing drink bottles.

In the interest of everyone’s health, please keep your child home from school if they have diarrhoea, fever, throws up, or is feeling unwell. If a student presents to first aid with any of these symptoms, they will need to be collected immediately.

Thank you for your help in keeping our school community healthy.

Monash University will be holding an Information Evening at QT Canberra on Wednesday 16 May between 6:30-8pm.

The evening is designed to provide potential students with everything they need to know about studying at Monash.

Registrations for the evening can be made at:
https://www.monash.edu/information-evenings/canberra

The University of Wollongong will be holding an Information Evening at QT Canberra on Tuesday 22 May from 6pm.

The evening is designed to provide potential students with everything they need to know about studying at the University of Wollongong.

Registrations for the evening can be made at:
https://www.uow.edu.au/future/events