As we draw close on Week 6 of Term 1 it is a timely reminder of all of the great initiatives and events that are occurring in our community. Today JPC held its annual Athletics Carnival in which students participated in a fantastic way. There were many highlights across the carnival and plenty of records broken in many events. It was great to see that each of our six houses promoted their house patrons and demonstrated their house spirit through the events with plenty of chanting and support from fellow students. We are very grateful to the Amaroo community for allowing us to use the oval facilities and the day was thoroughly enjoyed by staff and students. The sportsmanship and way our JPC students interacted with staff and peers was a testament to the positive culture we are further building here at JPC through our SWPB values of ‘respecting myself, respecting others and respecting the environment’. We will announce the winning house to the students shortly and pass this information through in next week's edition of Weekly Messages.

On Tuesday we held our second whole school assembly for 2023 led by our College Captains and Drexel House in which we commissioned in our Year 11 Captains. All captains received their badges and were presented to our community. Their primary roles are supporting the leaders in each house and developing initiatives to further encourage house spirit in each of their respective houses. They also play a pivotal role in providing students voice in our College to ensure that we are focusing in the needs of our students. Below is a list of the Year 11 House Captains;

As we move into the long weekend we would encourage everyone to have a safe and happy time over the short break. It is a great time to recharge for the next four weeks of school before we head into our Easter Holidays.

Kind Regards

Mr Nic Whatman
Assistant Principal – Wellbeing and Community
Maathai and Van Thuan Houses

My name is Matthew Ryan and not only am I new to JPC this year, but I am also new to the ACT. I have lived and taught in SA previously, moving over here with my wife and 8 month old daughter when my wife obtained a job with the ACT Department of Public Prosecutions (DPP).

I am heavily involved with Basketball, being a Referee Coach for both the WNBL and the NBL.

I am a Science teacher, with a background in Biology, but have also had the experience teaching Mathematics, English, PE, Religious Education and Agriculture.

I am looking forward to my time here at JPC and can’t thank the staff and students enough, as they have already made me feel welcome!

Mr Matthew Ryan

This week our courageous year 7 students travelled to Tathra for Year 7 Camp. Students spent two nights on camp, one in a cabin and the other in a tent. Students engaged in a variety of activities to get to know their new school mates in their house groups and build their relationships and teamwork skills. The camp also built students’ resilience, placing students well outside their comfort zone - away from home and without technology!

Students took part in a number of fun outdoor activities such as bushwalking, surf safety and swimming, team building activities, a night walk and the very popular flying fox. The weather was great and the sun and sand at the beach was amazing. It was great to see everyone give their best and making an effort to get to know everyone in year 7 and living up to our theme of ‘Walking together: Dignity for All.’ Students had a very beneficial and enjoyable time. I thank and commend the Year 7 students for their great attitude at camp and the way they represented JPC.

Thanks to all of the teachers (Ms Donoghue, Mr McDonnell, Mr Cole, Ms Gibson, Mr Hanna, Ms Barnard, Mr Charter, Ms French, Ms Wright, Mr Burns, Ms Rey, Mr Maloney and Ms Robinson) that went above and beyond in giving up their time volunteering to supervise students on camp and getting involved in the activities.  

further images on FB

Matt Caldow
Leader of Learning and Wellbeing (LLWB)
Year 7 Wellbeing and Drexel House

This week, the 11/12 Senior Outdoor Education Class had quite the adventure, walking 25km (with a 25kg hiking pack) from Dolphin Point to Pretty Beach. Adventure is the key word here as the walk took us from beach to forest through awesome coastal views, crazy animals crashed tackled tents, looked for food and a Kangaroo even camped in a tent?! (first time I have seen a Kangaroo do that). We also looked strange walking with huge packs through town haha.

So what was the reward? 

Surfing, swimming, getting beached and STORIES! It’s all about the journey.

Overall, it was such a funny camp and the seniors nailed it!

Well done crew!

A big thank you to - the students, Mrs Bernard, Ms Dallas and Surf The Bay. I could not have done it without you.

Mr Adam McDonnell
Teacher – Outdoor Education, PE
Drexel House

The Year 9 and 10 elective class has had the opportunity to attend the National Portrait Gallery, National Gallery of Australia and Canberra Selfie Museum over the last couple of weeks. All with the intention of learning about the genre of Portraiture both as an Artistic concept and within Photography more specifically and some of the techniques involved. I have been really proud of the way they have conducted themselves, and how genuinely interested the majority of them seemed to be. The selfie museum on Wednesday was an absolute blast, with over 20 backgrounds and lighting setups, a range of props and ring lights. The students embraced the areas and I very much look forward to seeing their final images in their Assessment Task 1 due at the start of week 8.

Mrs. Danni Jewell
Sports Coordinator
Teacher of PE/HPE, Photography & Media
Ferré House

In the short video below, are some of our talented students performing what they do in music class and band practice.

Paying school fees by QKR

Please note that school fees will no longer be processed through QKR, effective Friday 17 March.  Please ensure that you forward payment via BPay.  Your BPay details are noted on your previous Fee Statement.

Term 1 School Fees are due and payable by Friday 17 March 2023.

If you are paying your fees on a fortnightly/monthly frequency, please disregard the due date, there is no further action required.

Helen Trajkoski
College Finance Officer

Parish Newsletter

For the latest news Click here or you can view it on the Parish App or visit the website below.

As many of you are maybe aware, the Casey landscape is in for some major changes over the next couple of years with the proposal for a Multi-storey mixed use development (2 - 9 storey Towers and 1 – 11 storey tower. This is cited for Block 9 which is basically the southern end of the Casey Market Town /Car park.

The Development Application for this can be found at: https://www.planning.act.gov.au/development-applications-assessments/development-applications/da-details?da-number=202241107&amendment-version - It is open for comment and feedback until the 14^th Mar 23. Please comment and give your feedback.

As a result of this proposal, we have also started a petition to the ACT Government. In it, we are asking for improved road infrastructure, improved public transport and improved pedestrian access around the neighbourhood. Please help to sign the petition which is at: https://epetitions.parliament.act.gov.au/details/e-pet-003-23 This petition closes on the 17^th Mar 2023.

We also have a facebook group which is at: https://www.facebook.com/groups/654012562591694/posts/761521591840790/?notif_id=1678394867465780&notif_t=group_post_mention&ref=notif

Let’s help to make the Casey area a better place to live and have your say today.

Thanks

Phil Essam
Casey Resident

Image - An artist’s impression of the proposed Casey tower. Image: Cox Architecture

The Murrumbateman Progress Association last week released a survey asking the community and children what they would like to see in the proposed major Category 1 Playground for Murrumbateman.  

Further information is provided on the MPA website (http://murrumbateman.org.au), including the cost benefit analysis of site locations, which may be useful to read before doing the survey. 

Survey: https://surveyhero.com/c/9jcphinp