Satisfaction surveys of parents, students and staff will be conducted on behalf of all Catholic schools in the Diocese this term. The surveys are designed to gather feedback from parents, staff and students about their school and will be used to inform school improvement. Responses are confidential and individuals can not be identified.

The surveys will be launched via email on August 21 and close on September 1, 2017 using the email addresses supplied to the school. If you do not receive an email with a link to the survey on August 21, you can access and complete the survey at the following link.

https://www.research.net/r/stjohnpaulcollegeparent2017

This week the results of the 2017 NAPLAN testing were received by the College. Individual student results will be posted to families early next week. We would like to take this opportunity to reiterate with families that these tests provide a ‘snap-shot’ in time perspective of student skill within the areas of literacy and numeracy so should be viewed within this context. Whilst we have only had access to the data for a few days, our Literacy and Numeracy team have already begun the process of analysing the data. This data will continue to be used as one component, along with a number of other sources of information to develop key interventions and strategies within our teaching and learning focus.

On Wednesday, Year 10 visited the Bengello Forest just south of Broulee, on the NSW South coast as part of their Enviornmental Management and Change unit.

The students met up with members of the local Eurobodella Council who ran us through several activites. We learnt about the local landcare groups and how they manage the coastal environment and participated in a beach rubbish pick up. Students were shocked at how much debris and rubbish they found in a short span of the beach. The landcare group manager, Heidi, discussed how the councils analysed the rubbish for patterns to see how they distribute resources. It was a interesting section of the talk where we discussed how the different groups in society all used the area for different reasons including commerical and recreational.

Students also visited the Bengello Forest and disucssed the range of strategies used by the Council to protect the ecosystem. Although the Forest was only a small section of National Prk, there were a wide range of strategies to combat the challenges of recreational use, erosion, rises in sea level, and impact from the local Airport. The students learnt about how the Council addresed these concerns by implementing strategies to conserve the area including weed elimination, fox elimination and control, and protection of the local Potoroo and other protected species. They learnt about the Council’s vegetation plan and strategy and how they managed different sections of the forest for different reasons.

Although it was a long day, the students were all impeccably behaved and gained a lot from the practical experience. The Council members praised our students for their energy and enthusiasm on the day.

Judy McDonald and Liam Stakelum
Yr 10 SOSE Teachers

Making JPC beautiful one piece of rubbish at a time!

Our wonderful sustain squad went out and about again cleaning up our environment! We also fertilised the gardens with our home-grown Worm Tea in preparation for our spring/summer crops that are soon to be planted! Our worm farms use our food scraps to produce the fertiliser for our gardens! The team members are holding up the ‘weirdest’ things they found on our clean up session!

Mrs McNamara & Lola!

On Monday, not only was the sun shining, but our College itself was shining as well! JPC hosted the Catholic Schools Youth Ministry Australia (CSYMA) event, Shine. The event began Sunday night with Mass celebrated by the Archbishop at St. Christopher’s Cathedral followed by a Youth Rally. JPC participated in the mass and rally establishing new friendships immediately. On Monday, 350 students, teachers and Youth Ministers from the Canberra and Goulburn Archdiocese filled the College campus and participated in a variety of activities led by the CSYMA 'blue shirt' leaders.

As hosting school, jobs students led the attendees in an opening prayer liturgy based on the theme of the Gospel, Matthew 14:22-33, “Jesus Walks on Water”. The liturgy band confidently sung Hillsong United's “Oceans” and a group of students dramatised the Gospel, recreating this story drawing out the importance of having courage and trust in Jesus when the storms erupt in our lives. Following this, the CSYMA Team’s energy shone as they began the day with some games, charades and reflections on faith.

Students elected to participate in a variety of sessions which enabled them to network with others. The sessions taught students skills about leading Youth Ministry events and how to continue growing in their faith journey. From drama to icebreakers and charades, to vocation and the importance of 'unplugging' from social media, these sessions were engaging, creative and eye opening.

Since its beginnings, in 1980, Megalo has provided artists and the broader community with access to specialised printmaking facilities, equipment and expertise. Megalo Print Studio + Gallery boasts a comprehensive suite of printmaking facilities in screen printing, lithography, relief printing and etching, all open access and all under one roof.

This week saw the Year 11 Art Students attend a full day workshop at Megalo Print Studio at Kingston. This workshop allowed the students to use all the facilities that are available at Megalo. Each student was given a zinc plate that had been coated with Bitumen. After applying their drawings, they were able to scrape through the bitumen, using a variety of etching tools, to reveal the zinc. When the drawing was completed, the zinc plates were placed in a bath of copper sulphate which over time etched into the zinc, allowing the drawing to be etched into the plate. WHS considerations were paramount and throughout the day the students were shown the correct way to safely manage the various processes.

Two printing presses were available for us to use and after the students inked up their plates and wiped the excess inks from the surface, they were able to dry their paper and register it on the press. The joy of viewing their first prints was infectious and all students had an amazing sense of achievement. Many, on evaluating the success of their first print, took their plates back to the drawing board to further etch into the zinc to create more obvious tonal variation. The process was complex and students quickly learnt the importance of keeping everything clean, applying ink and creating editions. They had to be forced to stop printing at the end of the day and when, as we leaving, they were shown the process of lithography, all wanted to go back to Megalo and do another workshop.

Megalo also has a long history of running workshops for community groups and schools and runs regular printmaking courses for beginners through to masterclasses. It was a real privilege to be able to spend the day at the studio being taught by experts.

Virginia McLeod
Visual Arts Coordinator

Saturday, 26th August 2017

Open Day at the Australian Defence Force Academy (ADFA) is an ideal opportunity for you to experience firsthand this unique, world class training and educational facility.   The day is a chance for school students and their parents and the local community to see a range of exciting military displays and learn everything they need to know about life at ADFA.  If you are interested in combining a challenging and exciting career in the Australian Defence Force with a degree then you should come along and find out more.

The ADFA Open Day will be held from 9:00am to 4:00pm on Saturday 26 August 2017.  To get the most out of your day, you can pre-plan your visit using the ADFA Open Day program:  

https://www.unsw.adfa.edu.au/openday/events-program

Learning music can help students’ self-confidence, self-discipline and team work. Music helps students progress in other important learning areas such as Maths and English. Indeed, countries with a strong focus on music education tend to have higher scores in literacy and numeracy. Engaging music programs have been shown to help with attendance and can be particularly beneficial for students who are not achieving well in school.

Minister for Women, Yvette Berry has announced the opening of the

2017 Audrey Fagan Young Women Enrichment Grants on July 17 2017.

The Enrichment Grants continue to offer young women with an opportunity to realise their dreams in a collaborative relationship with a mentor.

Young women aged between 12 and 18, residents of the ACT or attending education in the ACT are eligible to apply. The program provides one off grants of up to $2,000 to support young women to achieve a project in their area of interest.

The Enrichment Grants are a component of the Audrey Fagan Scholarship program established in 2007 to honour former ACT Chief Police Officer Audrey Fagan’s contribution as an inspirational leader and mentor for young women.

For more information on the grants program visit:
http://www.communityservices.act.gov.au/women/grants_and_scholarships

Or phone ACT Office for Women on 6205 3614. Applications close on 25 August 2017