The days between Palm Sunday and Easter Sunday mark the holiest time in the Christian liturgical calendar. This is the week where we look to a distant place called Calvary, and reflect on the suffering of God in our midst – a God made human, and broken for all of creation.  In many ways, the journey of Jesus from triumphant entry into Jerusalem, to the brutality of his death on the cross, are symbolic of our own fractured lives. Our moments of rejoicing are often contrasted with moments of deep sadness, regret and lack of judgement that forge in us a sense of emptiness and loss. It’s a willingness to acknowledge our weaknesses and our failures, and to lay these at the foot of the cross, that is at the crux of the Easter triduum. At this time of the year, though we are sorely tempted by the bounty of chocolate and endless hot cross buns, that we are presented with the most profound gift of all – the boundless love of a God who so cherishes us – all of us -  that our every suffering has already been carried for us on a wooden beam to a lonely hillside in Jerusalem.

And now, as we leave this place, we wait in vigil. Our eyes are trained on the tomb, filled with hope that Christ will overcome the power of death and rise to new life. In these days leading up to Easter, we ask God to open our hearts to the mystery of the story of the Passion, allowing us to hear anew the message of God’s endless love. At this most sacred time in our Church calendar, help us to turn away from sin, to be faithful to the Gospel, and to be reborn with Jesus into a life of service for others.

Mrs. Nicola Edghill
Leader of Learning and Wellbeing, Religious Education

This week, students have auditioned for various role to be a member of cast for this year’s production, “The Greatest Show: A Vaudeville”. Students registered interest by attending meetings, signing up for relevant auditions, learning scripts and songs transferring this into an audition. For many of our students, this was their first experience of the audition process for which they rose to the challenge without hesitation.

The talents displayed at these auditions were amazing and already, the show has the making to be a Broadway hit! Catch up auditions will run Tuesday, Week 9 at lunch.

More specific roles will be distributed to students before the end of the term. Students will be asked to commit to the whole experience of production and a permission note with a sign commitment contract. Rehearsals will begin Wednesday 2nd May, Week 1, Term 2, 3.45pm - 4.30pm.

It is great to see the growing talent at JPC!

Chookas to all involved!

Miss Keane
Leader of Learning – The Arts

Unfortunately the Term 1 Showcase has had to be postponed.

There will be many more performance and exhibit opportunities for our Arts students to dazzle you with their talents.

Please stay tuned for more exciting talent sharing experiences coming your way!

Miss Keane on behalf of the Arts Team

On Tuesday 27th, the Northside Basketball Competition was held at Belconnen Basketball stadium. A team of 7 Year 7 and 8 Girls, coached by Stephen Dhieu, competed, representing JPC. This team performed admirably all day representing JPC exceptionally with their excellent behavior and outstanding teamwork.

The first game of the day saw us going up against SFX in what proved to be a tough matchup. The girls fought bitterly and staged an incredible second-half comeback. With the seconds winding down and the scores tied, Tilly Bean had the ball at the top of the key. Driving in she was fouled just as time expired. With 2 FTs coming we needed just one to seal the game. Not letting the pressure of the situation get to her, Tilly sank the first one. We were 1-0.

The second and third games of the day against Gold Creek and Kingsford Smith School were much less nerve-wracking with the exceptional defense allowing the girls to win both games comfortably. We were 3-0.

In our final game of the day, we played against a similarly undefeated Campbell squad. With only one spot in the competition available, the winner would progress. In a game defined by its defense, the first half ended with us up by only 2 points. The second half saw momentum and the game swing back and forth until an unbelievable late rally by the girls saw them grab the lead and hold onto it the rest of the game. We were 4-0, we were the champions.

Last week I had the pleasure of escorting 18 Defence students from Years 7 and 8 to Birrigai in Tidbinbilla.  During the day they met up with many other Defence Students from around Canberra.  They had the opportunity to make new friendships and test themselves with different activities and challenges.   The weather was amazing and I know that we all left feeling stronger and successful in conquering our fears (and maybe a little tired!).

Last week also saw many Defence families turn up early for an informal Defence Families Welcome Breakfast.  This is a wonderful opportunity for our Defence families to meet each other and of course for me to welcome them to our JPC family.  I would like to thank all our parents who came along and I hope new contacts were made, particularly for our new families to Canberra.  Thank you also, to Amelia Scanlan from DCO and Michelle Hoare from DFA for attending and answering our Defence families questions.  A huge thank you to Mrs Kelly and her wonderful chefs in our college canteen for providing a delicious breakfast! 

Save the Date!  Wednesday, May 2nd at 13:30 for JPC’s ANZAC Ceremony.  Invitations will be sent home next week.

Today was a great experience for us to meet and interact with other children from different schools. The activities were one of the highlights and were challenging but hard at the same time.

One that I most enjoyed was the big swing, it was quite hard but when I finished my first turn I wanted to do it again. One of the activities was the flying fox. Everyone would Cheer you on and did not do put downs if you decided not to do it which was very comforting.

Everyone at Birrigai was very nice and I am thanking Mrs Walsh for helping to make it successful. I would love to do it again next year and I hope I can enjoy this same experience again.

Hannah V
Year 7

Dear Parents & Guardians of students in Years 10 - 12,

I am very pleased to announce that St John Paul II College students can be at the forefront of this exciting era as our school is participating in the CASE Space School International Study Program.

Your child has the opportunity to take part in this immersive Science, Technology, Engineering, the Arts and Mathematics (STEAM) expedition to NASA in the USA in 2018. Students will be immersed in enriched and exclusive space and earth science activities to explore the multi-facets of STEAM, and they will also learn and engage in an inspiring personal and leadership development program to truly empower them for changing times.

In today’s ever-advancing world, we are living at the speed of science and it is so important that our children learn and master critical transportable skills to successfully navigate the fast-changing workforce shaped by automation, globalisation and collaboration.

Senior Space School is the MBA for Youth. With great program depth, students have incredible access to NASA. They visit areas not accessible by the public; and engage directly with NASA experts to design and plan their own space mission within a given budget. An immersive program that hones their individual leadership, project management, resource allocation crisis management and team work skills. Students learn from NASA experts and other leading organisations to foster new levels of collaboration and teamwork. Students return with big dreams and lasting confidence, inspired by the ultimate STEM experience at NASA.  This is a fantastic opportunity for our students to venture beyond the classroom to learn in a highly inspiring environment.

Mrs Jennifer Tually
Science Leader of Learning

Information Evening
Tuesday 10 APRIL, 2018
5:30 – 6:30 PM
St John Paul II College Theatre.
RSVP is essential. Click here to RSVP (or to find out more!)
See this video for more info: CASE Space School Expedition
Or contact Jennifer Tually (Science Leader of Learning) at
jennifer.tually@cg.catholic.edu.au

Due to our ever growing music program here at JPC, Miss Robinson will be opening up the music rooms on a Monday afternoon from 3.35pm-5pm for all those wanting to practice their music, learn to play an instrument, rehearse band repertoire or get more assistance with classroom music assessments. There are 5 rehearsal rooms available for students to make sure we accommodate everyone.

There has been many interested students asking about, and wanting to learn ukulele or guitar so Miss Robinson is starting a ukulele/guitar club. The school has just purchased some new ukuleles and already has multiple guitars for students to play.

There will be a meeting in week 10 to discuss the details of this ensemble, and will begin in term 2. If you are interested in joining this new JPC co-curricular music ensemble, please meet Miss Robinson in the music room on Thursday lunch time week 10.

Eventually I made my way to JPC, and I love being part of our community. Our students strike the right balance between being exuberant and respectful. Furthermore, we are empowered to experiment with our craft to bring the curriculum to life. It is a great privilege to be entrusted with heading the SOSE faculty and being part of the Drexel House leadership team.

Personally, I married my wife, Megan, in 2016 and we are expecting our first child in late May. My hobbies include travel, playing the piano, singing, watching the NRL (particularly my Penrith Panthers), as well as reading about politics both here and abroad.

My interesting facts: I won $20,000 on Millionaire Hot Seat, and I am a qualified Japanese teacher.

Parent-Student-Teacher interviews will be held for Year 7 to Year 12 from 4.00pm to 6.30pm on Wednesday 11 April and Thursday 3 May 2018 in the College Hall.

Interviews will be of 5 minutes duration. Should you require a longer appointment time, please contact the relevant teacher to arrange an alternative meeting time.

For these interviews we will be using the booking system called Parent Teacher On-Line (PTO). It will save time for parents, staff and students!  The system will be available to parents from 3pm on Tuesday 3rd April.

Further information and instructions an email has been sent to all families. If you have not received an email, please contact the College Office - office.jpc@cg.catholic.edu.au

The Canberra Health Student Community run educational and networking events for students across all health disciplines. There are members from ANU, UC, ACU, CIT and Colleges.

We have our upcoming workshop on Saturday, 28rd April 2018 at 10:00- 1630hrs. This workshop provides an excellent opportunity to further understand the work involved in different health disciplines, and to collaborate with others.

Benefits for you students:

• Experience what is involved in a variety of health disciplines,
• Certificate of participation,
• See the inside of the beautiful, fresh ANU Medical School,
• Meet current undergraduate, postgraduate and graduated health care individuals,
• Discuss their career goals with Canberra Health Student Community to get an understanding of what it is like as a student at all the universities.

Your students should take advantage of this opportunity - sign up for this free event today:

https://canberrahealthstudentcommunity.eventbrite.com/?aff=C

Each session runs for about 10 minutes, with groups of four to five students. Some examples of previous workshop sessions include:

• Psychology - Matching emotions with body language
• Critical Care - Conducting an ECG
• Nursing - Mock wound cleaning, using a sterile dressing pack
• Physiotherapy - Racing 'patients' who have simulated mobility issues
• Pre-med - Diagnosing a broken leg without an x-ray
• Pathology – Analysis of chronic gastrointestinal conditions.
• Pharmacy – Understanding what’s involved in filling of capsules

Allied health is a growing model for providing care. The federal government has been increasing funding to allied health projects as it is seen to be essential to providing improved health outcomes with limited resources. There is an emphasis on healthy lifestyle and on independence; whether that is physically, psychologically, cognitively or socially.

The whole day is a competition. The student teams are competing for interdisciplinary glory, and the demonstrators are competing to showcase their field in an engaging way.

Thank you for your time,


Kimberley Pearce
Chair | Canberra Health Student Community

Email: canberrahealthstudentcommunity@gmail.com
Facebook: Canberra Health Student Community

The whole school photo is avaialbe for parents to view online and order.

To access photos, please visit: www.academyphoto.com.au and go to "Products for Parents" "Order Online"
Enter the following 8 digit shoot key: NSGGVNDK

Photographs are $20 each and will be available online for six months, alternatively you can call Academy School Photoraphy & Production office on 1300 766 472 to place an order.

We are looking for small size second hand soccer boots & any old soccer shirts or shorts. School has ages 5 to 10 years but all very small kids.

5 years ago, Holy Spirit, with Noel’s help, donated old school desks that we sold to fundraiser for equipment for the school. FreMo was very grateful.

FreMo has a Facebook page & accepts volunteers & any donations.

Please contact Dr Jo Crookes to arrange donation delivery.

Thank you,
Jo Crookes

Jocrookes@bigpond.com

Please make sure all items are clearly labelled with your childs name. If an item is handed into the Student office, students will be notified.

Could your please check that your child has not accidently picked up an item that does not belong to them. Items have gone missing which have not been handed into the Student Office.

Many thanks