As the term comes to a close, our students have continued to participate this week in a wide range of experiences. Year 7 IMS students went to Questacon, teams participated in the Alan Tongue Rugby League Finals, a range of students performed in the Kulture Break Dance Nation event and the Concert Band attended a performance of the Band of the Royal Military College Duntroon.

This week, Year 10 students have begun the conversation about senior study and career options as part of their Transition Week. While some students started the week with very definite plans for their futures, others were unsure about the direction they might choose. Our main aim was to highlight the choices available to them and to encourage them to be open-minded to the possibilities.

Activities ranged from information sessions about the ACT Senior Secondary system and Senior courses available at JPC, to opportunities to explore students’ strengths and abilities and how they can use these to help in their career decision-making. Particular highlights were the presentations from Tertiary institutions and other post-school training providers, guest speakers providing insights into their specific industries, Mr Keith Cantlie speaking about what employers are looking for, and sessions delivered by Elevate Education about time management and study skills. The feedback from students indicated that they found the sessions informative and useful in making some decisions about their future. The week culminated with subject selection interviews for students who are returning to JPC next year. We are very pleased to welcome a Year 11 2018 group of aproximately 75 students from a Year 10 cohort of just under 100. This means we have about the same proportion of students remaining with us as we had this year in Year 11. It is a great vote of confidence for JPC.

It was a really enjoyable experience working with the Year 10 students this week. While they may have initially been daunted by the choices they were considering, they finished the week with a greater sense of the options available to them and the direction that their careers might take.

We wish all students and their families a restful holiday and look forward to welcoming them back next term, refreshed and ready for the new semester.

Madeleine Harley

Drexel Coordinator

This term we have had a few instances where multiple students have required the use of our wheel chair. Unfortunately this meant we were unable to use it for emergency situations. It has been decided that as of Term 3 if a student requires the use of a wheel chair they will have to supply their own so the first aid one is available for emergencies.

A reminder to all Parents and Guardians that No Bikes are to be left in the bike sheds over the holidays. The school is not responsible for any loss that may occur.

It has been an absolute pleasure to see the amazing up cycling projects that have been made by our Term 2 Sustainable Technology students. Each student was challenged to change an item or items that would be otherwise destined for landfill into a new product that they could then use in their homes!

The results where the fabulous products in the pictures below!

Parents of Year 9 students are invited to attend an important information session regarding the Year 9 Refugee Immersion (September 18-20). The session will be held on Tuesday, 25 July (Week 2, Term 3) from 5-6pm in the Theatre and will offer an opportunity for questions from Caroline Bowman, the Outward Bound Coordinator who facilitates the camp, as well as College staff who can offer insights into the importance of the Immersion experience for all Year 9 students. Students are asked not to attend this session, they will be delivered information during lessons at school.

On Wednesday, some members of the concert band travelled to the Wesley Music Centre in Forrest to see the woodwind section of the RMC Duntroon Military Band. The concert was split into three main parts. The first to play was a small group including a clarinet, alto clarinet, continuo, cor anglais and double bass who played J.S. Bach,Keyboard Concerto No. 4. The next performers were a piano and flute duet who played Francis Poulenc, Flute Sonata. The last performance was Antonín Dvorák, Serenade for wind instruments in D minor. This was played by oboes, clarinets, French horns, bassoons, a contra-bassoon, a cello and a double bass. One of the most interesting things about the concert was that at no point was there a conductor! Overall the performance was very enjoyable and an especially good experience for our woodwind players.

Every Thursday at JPC, we hold our Defence Meetings for all of our 65 Defence Students.  We meet at Morning Tea time as a group in JPC Barracks.  These meetings offer the opportunity for our Defence Students to catch up with each other, share experiences and have some fun.  Whilst these meetings are non-compulsory, it is great to have all our Defence Students attend, so feel free to remind your child on a Thursday morning to come along!

Last week I sent some information about “Kookaburra Kids” home with your child.  This program targets the children (aged 8-18years) who have a parent who is serving (or ex-serving) ADF, who have with a mental illness as a result of military service.  The program offers support to them through the provision of camps and activity days. The first Activity Day for ACT kids is on July 4th.  Please call (02) 9525 7474 for more information.  Or follow this link https://kookaburrakids.org.au/refer-a-child/

Feel like embracing Canberra’s winter these school holidays?  Head along to Garema Place in the City and have a go at Ice Skating.  Skating At Festival is a pop-up Ice Skating Rink and is ideal for the whole family.  For more information at http://canberra.skatingat.com.au

If you feel like an indoor activity during the holidays, don’t forget to visit the best tourist attraction in the country - the Australian War Memorial.   The AWM is a world class museum which commemorates the sacrifices of Australian Defence Personnel throughout our military past.   It is a constantly changing shrine with the mission to help us remember. 

Living in Canberra, we are very fortunate to have such a magnificent and educational memorial right on our doorstep.  If you are newly transferred to Canberra, use these holidays as an opportunity to visit this exciting place.  The Memorial is open daily and for more information about what is on during the holidays, please visit https://www.awm.gov.au/visit/visitor-information

Please feel free to contact me anytime if you have any concerns with your child.  Have a wonderful break and I look forward to working with our Defence Students next Term.

Kind regards

Vicki Walsh
DTM

As our trial of soft plastic recycling comes to a close the results can be seen below, these are the soft plastics that have now been recycled instead of going to landfill.

Coles and Woolies have REDit bins in the front of their stores where you can recycle all your household soft plastics simply collect and drop off!

You must ensure your soft plastics are clean and not contaminated as the staff at the stores are not able to legally decontaminate bins. If the bins are deemed contaminated they must be then sent to landfill.

We will continue to find ways to ensure our plastic consumption is diverted from landfill at JPC, however, ideally, we would like the soft plastic not to be brought in the first place!

Congratulations to Natalia Brankovic, Year 8 Drexel who has been selected to represent the ACT in OZ Tag. In October she will be traveling with the ACT Cougars to play in Coffs Harbour.

Oliver Vidiac, Year 10 Van Thuan is to be congratulated on his selection to the National Australian All-Schools Cross Country Championships team in Hobart in August. This is a five-day event. We wish Oliver all the best as he competes in this event.

On Tuesday our Year 7/8 Rugby League team went to the  Alan Tongue 9’s Finals Day. Owen Hromow led the team well with some notable perfromacnces from Jad Deeb, Zac Barbaro and Zac Rolls,  The boys came up against some tough teams and just missed out on the grand final. It was a huge effort considering most of our team was made up of Year 7 studnets who will get to play again next year. Thank you to Mr Yanuyantawa for taking the team out and congratulations to all of the boys who played.

Kulture Break is a Canberra based dance group that was established in 2002. They are committed to the wellbeing, transformation and empowerment of young people. They use dance as a form of expression that empowers and transforms individuals. Their goal is to help young people to believe in themselves and to live life with purpose.

Kulture Break's motto is 'influence a culture, empower a generation'.
This motto and JPC’s empowering values of justice, peace and courage are a dream team.

27 JPC students have been training tirelessly over the past 20 weeks, working towards the culminating performance night of Dance Nation, which took place last night at the National Convention Centre. After a long day rehearsing, students returned for the evening performance with excitement and fantastic energy. The energy in the arena was electric, the positive energy flow amongst each school was fantastic.

I can safely say that Kulture Break are well on their way to influencing culture and empowering generations.

Faye Robertson

Van Thuan Co-ordinator