To the community of St John Paul II College,

Tomorrow (June 24) the Church celebrates the Solemnity of John the Baptist and reflects on his important role as the precursor of Jesus. This occasion, known as a solemnity, is a significant feast that praises John as an exemplary follower of Christ. Unlike other saints who are remembered on the anniversary of their deaths, John the Baptist is honoured with solemnities to commemorate both his birth and his death.

John was the herald of Christ, “a voice of one crying out in the desert, ‘Prepare the way of the Lord'” (Mattew 3:3).

During his life, John was surrounded by large crowds and followers, some who saw him as the Messiah. Despite this, he didn’t take advantage of these people and rather told them clearly that he wasn’t who they thought he was, and that they must experience a conversion of heart in preparation for this. When Jesus began His public ministry, John sent his followers to Jesus and then faded away from public view to a life of quiet service with the words: “He [Christ] must increase; I must decrease” (John 3:30)

On the day of his birth, the church honours John the Baptist as someone chosen by God to announce the coming of His Son and who lived a life of exemplary holiness, and ultimately sacrificed his life for his faith.

CEO Vinnies Sleepout 2023

On Thursday evening, over 100 students and 10 staff from JPC participated in the CEO Vinnies Sleepout. The sleepout is an annual event that raises much-needed funds for the important ‘corporal works of mercy’ undertaken by St Vincent de Paul Society (Vinnies).

This year was the 9th time the College has participated and a special thanks must go to all those in organising. Our Principal, Catherine Rey, joined other members of the community including principals from our system schools as well as community leaders in her 10^th sleep out and was recognised by this remarkable achievement.

I am delighted to report that, through the generosity of our wonderful community, we surpassed our fundraising target of $18,000 and as of this morning our total was $18,922. On behalf of the college I would like to thank all of those that have donated and contributed to this total.

Donations can still be be made until 31 July and these can be made at Mrs Rey’s fundraising page

Winter School Uniform

With winter now fully here and the occasional beautiful dusting of snow on the Brindabellas, we need to ensure that our uniform standards are maintained. As mentioned earlier in the term, there has been an increase in both non-JPC branded ‘hoodies’ as well as some students wearing their HPE uniform instead of their school uniform. Staff will continue to challenge students who are not in correct uniform and there is an expectation that parents will communicate with the school if their child needs to be out of the required uniform.

More information about the College uniform can be found here: 

There have been many other wonderful things that have occurred at JPC over the last couple of weeks and these are highlighted below. The success of these events can only happen through the planning, preparation and support of students, staff and the wider community. 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 House

The College office will be closed for the first week of the holiday (3-7 July 2023).

The office will be open for limited hours during the second week (10-14 July 2023) from 10 am to 2 pm.

If you need to get in touch with the office, please email office.jpc@cg.catholic.edu.au in the first instance.

Enjoy the break.

On Friday 9^th June the JPC Jazz Band (Christiaan B, Alex R, Adam S, Genevieve B and Sultan A) headed to Merimbula for the Jazz Festival. We played in three different venues and participated in the competition ‘jazz quest’. The students played so well and we had a great weekend watching other Canberra bands as well as bands from all over the country perform. A huge thank you to the parents who came to watch us and Mrs Cate Wright was also down there and came to watch us play.

On Tuesday night JPC held their Instrumental concert for all those students getting music lessons at JPC. We had 22 amazing performances by students who’ve been working hard all term on their songs. Thank you to their amazing music teachers for all their support.

Dear Parents and Carers,

As we approach the end of Semester 1 and all that comes with it, including Academic Reports, we would like to remind you all that the Sentral Parent Portal is the platform we use to share information about your students. With this in mind, Academic Reports will only be accessible through the Sentral Parent Portal. We will no longer be emailing Academic Reports.

If you have yet to register to the parent portal, please do so before student reports are published next Friday 30 June 2023. You can find instructions on how to register to the portal on the school website HERE

If you have issues registering to the portal, please contact jpcportal@cg.catholic.edu.au

Kind regards

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

Ever wondered about learning to play a musical instrument??

Here are some great reasons why you should sign up!!

Parish Newsletter

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

Merimbula Big Game and Lakes Angling Club Inc. are running a fishing competition and workshops in the June School Holidays.

Competition entry is free. Workshops are also free and must be booked in advance.