As I come to the end of my first term as Principal here at the College, I am reminded about the many gifts that have been bestowed upon me. I am grateful mostly for our students – your children – and their genuine friendliness and good nature. It is heartening to walk around the corridors to be greeted by students, who cheerfully wish people a good day. I am always impressed by students who are seriously engaged in their learning, who are curious enough to ask questions, and who are stretching their minds to acquire new knowledge.

I am grateful for our talented and dedicated teachers and leaders who go about their vocation in a professional manner. We have some seriously good practitioners here at St John Paul II College. In an era where finding teachers is becoming a monumentally difficult task, we are blessed to have so many excellent staff here. I am grateful to our executive team for their support of me, and for their commitment to all things JPC. 

I am grateful to professional staff who are most often your first interaction with the College, and who make our College “work”. Without them we would all be sunk!

I am grateful to you, our parents and carers for entrusting us with the education and faith formation of your child. While we only exert so much influence on your child, I am acutely aware that your choice of schooling is one you take very seriously. We try to honour that at the College by working with you in partnership, to help you raise informed, respectful, learned young men and women who will be equipped with the skills and knowledge to take their place in the community, not just when they leave us at the end of Year 12 as graduates, but right now.

While I have much for which I am grateful, I hope that an attitude of gratitude also extends to our student body and that they can appreciate the many people in their lives who gift them with so much.

Students return in Term 2 on Tuesday 30 April. Please note students are to return in full winter uniform. If you are in doubt as to what the winter uniform expectations are they can be found online, and in the student diary. I am a fan of looking the part at school so that all students are readily identifiable as proud members of this community. The wearing of the uniform signals belonging to a group and as the name implies, it is uniformly worn so that we create a sense of one-ness, equity and readiness for a day of learning. When a school uniform is worn well, those who wear it demonstrate a sense of self-worth, pride in themselves and their school. When they look smart, they are our greatest advertisement in the wider community!

Wishing all families a safe, and enjoyable school holiday break.

Dr Craig Wattam
Principal 

The 7 Integrated Humanities space was an exciting place to be during the Open Night at JPC last week.

One of the most interesting elements of Open Night was the inquiry from parents about “What is IH?” and “What makes this different from other high schools?”

On the night, the IH team was able to explain our central approach - how we can provide a smooth transition for students from primary school to high school based on an integrated approach for studies in humanities. This means having the same teachers for a significant portion of the week and having a curriculum that is designed to transform the content from the Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA) to meet the needs and interests of students. It means providing a localised approach to learning every day so students can make connections.

There are wonderful links to the world around us – for example, our study of ancient China will be a fascinating one this year with the new online resources for the Terracotta warriors. However, a real focus for IH is to provide opportunities for students to make connections in their world and then to extend that every day.

It was wonderful to have some of JPC’s Year 8 students discuss their experiences in growth and belonging fostered by this morning. Overall, a great night and certainly a great time to talk about IH.

Mr John Cole
7 IH Coordinator
Mathieu House

Dear Parents & Carers,

St John Paul II College, in partnership with Catholic Education, Archdiocese of Canberra & Goulburn (CECG), has now migrated to a new finance system, that will integrate with the Compass Parent Portal and Compass App. The move to the new system will increase the integration of the school finances into Compass, with parents/caregivers also having visibility of financial transactions within Compass.

School fee statements now have a new look and contain an updated BPay number and Customer Reference Numbers that need to be utilised going forward. Utilising these new unique codes will ensure that any payments made will be accurately assigned to your account.

If you have not transitioned to the new BPay number, you will be contacted by the College requesting you update your payment information.

To access Compass visit our website here for full instructions.

If you have any questions regarding this process please contact us at jpc.finance@cg.catholic.edu.au.

Kind regards

Leon Sanft
Business Manager

During this term, all students in the college have undertaken classes on Digital Citizenship. This culminated on Tuesday this week where Senior students taught students 7 to 10 on topics such as:

• online bullying
• privacy
• keeping safe online

This proved to be very successful.

We would encourage families to have conversations with their children and the following resources may be helpful.

Simon Abbott
JPC Child Safe Advocate

The Year 9/10 Drama class has been preparing their performance entries for Canberra Theatre’s Act Up! Festival. This festival involves Canberra and coastal high school students to create performances based on the theme of “Culture and Identity”.

This week, the class participated in their first of three workshops with visiting industry professionals. We enjoyed working with Clare Moss, an actor who has appeared in shows like Blue Heelers and Neighbours as well as many TV commercials. This series of workshops will allow students to further develop their small group and collective performances. Students are stepping up the performance standard and creating engaging and thought-provoking work showcasing their talents and ability to work together.

Students will perform their final pieces on Friday 31 May on the Canberra Theatre stage. Tickets will be available to purchase via the Theatre website.

Mrs Sarah Smith
Leader of Learning and Wellbeing – The Arts
Van Thuan House

JPC’s Wakakirri journey is off with a flourish! This week students eagerly participated in an audition, learning a short piece of choreography to showcase their talent. These students have been offered a place in the JPC Wakakirri team with rehearsals starting in Term 2.

If any students wish to be part of the Wakakirri team – we would love to have you! Wakakirri is a great way to foster new friendships, make memories and collaboratively work towards achieving a goal with great success, plus having a blast while doing this!

The Canberra Wakakirri festival will be held in Term 3 showcasing different ACT primary and high schools.

Speak with Mrs Smith for more information or to join the team.

Enjoy the Break

Dear Parents and Carers,

Semester One, session two interviews will be held on Thursday 2 May 2024.

Bookings are made through your Sentral Parent Portal.

• Interview bookings for session 2 close Wednesday 1 May, 12:00 noon.

To access your interview schedule and remain updated on last-minute teacher availabilities or changes, please refer to your Sentral Parent Portal.

Thank you

Parish Newsletter

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

Bus timetable changes effective Monday 29 April 2024

School route changes for St John Paul College

• Route 26 – Addition service added at 3:44 pm (on Gungahlin Drive)

Stay up to date with important Transport Canberra news, including changes to services and the latest project and event information.