Message from the Assistant Principal - Development
To the community of St John Paul II College,
This week, the Church is in the third week of lent. The Gospel reading for this Sunday comes from the book of John and tells of Jesus being confronted by the sin He observes when visiting the Temple in Capernaum.
In the temple courts he found people selling cattle, sheep and doves, and others sitting at tables exchanging money. So he made a whip out of cords, and drove all from the temple courts, both sheep and cattle; he scattered the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables. To those who sold doves he said, “Get these out of here! Stop turning my Father’s house into a market!”
(John 2:14-16)
Jesus caused quite a commotion when he confronted those who had turned the Temple into a marketplace. Those involved in selling animals for sacrifice were exploiting the sacred rituals of the Jewish faith for personal gain, disregarding the true purpose of serving God. This self-serving behaviour ignited the righteous anger of Jesus.
During this time in Lent, we stop to think about the parts of our life that we seek support from Jesus to help cleanse and purify.
Almighty and ever living God,
you invite us deeper into your world, your people, your Lent.
May this time be one of outward focus;
seeking you in those we often ignore.
Help us live a Lent focused on freedom, generosity, and encounter.
Give us hearts hungry to serve you
and those who need what we have to give.
Amen
Whole School Assembly and Introduction of Year 11 House Leaders – Tuesday 27 February
On Tuesday we held our second whole school assembly for 2024 led by our College Captains and Drexel House. At the assembly, we also commissioned our Year 11 House Captains for 2024. All captains received their badges and were presented to our community. The primary role of our House Leaders is to support the leadership within each house and to develop initiatives to further encourage house spirit. These students also play a pivotal role in providing students voice in our College to ensure that we are focusing on the needs of students. Our Year 11 House Captains for 2024 are;
|
Drexel |
Ferré |
Kennedy |
Maathai |
Mathieu |
Van Thuan |
|
Summer F |
Oliver B |
Deepinder B |
Sofia L |
Madeleine H |
Neve O |
|
Naren S |
Sebastian H |
Micha H |
Noemie P |
Olivia V |
Harry N |
Sebastian received his House badge from Dr Wattam on 1 March 2024.
Year 7 Camp – Wednesday 28 February – Friday 1 March
This week our Year 7 students completed their three day camp to Tathra. There will be more details outlining the experience, however we must thank the dedicated staff that gave up time away from their own families to ensure the program was successful. Special acknowedgement must go to Mrs Katie Siviour (LLWB Drexel) for her organisation and leadership of the camp.
University of Canberra (UC) Clinics
This year we are continuing our partnership with the University of Canberra by hosting a ‘UC Clinic’. These clinics provide an opportunity for university students who are completing an education degree to spend time in schools working with our teachers to develop and present to students on an identified area of need.
Over the next three Wednesdays, students will engage in a variety of interesting small-group numeracy lessons that will completement their classroom learning.
Opportunities like this are exciting ones for our school to undertake. It provides our students and teachers on opportunity to provide valuable observations and feedback to the next generation of enthusiastic teachers.
Moderation Day – Tuesday 5 March
A reminder that next Tuesday is Moderation Day for staff at JPC. This day is an important opportunity for teachers across the ACT to review and moderate the work of senior students. Moderation Day is a requirement for teachers to ensure grade comparability across the senior secondary sector. Moderation Day is a pupil-free day for our Yr 7-10 students and no classes will be running.
Students from Years 7-10 are encouraged to use the day productively to work on learning tasks, assignments and general study.
All Yr 11 and 12 students have received an email from Mrs Stokman outlining their program for the day and must ensure they are present in their respective activities.
Athletics Carnival – Thursday
A reminder also that next Thursday 7 March is our JPC Athletics Carnival for 2024. This year we will be holding the carnival at the Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) and students will be transported to and from the venue. The College will be contacting parents and carers of students who have not yet returned permission via Compass for the carnivals in the coming days.
Of course, there have been many other wonderful things that have occurred at JPC over the last couple of weeks. We thank all of those involved in these activities and for the collective effort to make them a success.
Jacob Knowles
Assistant Principal – Development
Drexel and Mathieu Houses