This week, like many other schools across Australia, St John Paul II College welcomed families to breakfast on Friday to help recognise, celebrate and give a nod to fathers. It is always enjoyable being able to welcome our families to join our community even for a quick shared meal. We also thank those members of the canteen and hospitality team who prepared food for the event.

When reflecting upon a Father’s Day message I turned to one of my favourite musicians Paul Kelly, (arguably one of Australia’s greatest songwriters) for guidance I began listening to his catalogue, before coming to one of my all-time favourites, “Meet me in the middle of the air”, a gospel style song that weaves together Psalm 23 and the concept described in Thessalonians, bringing together the Christian comfort and assurance of God travelling on the journey with them in the here and now. The opening lyrics are:

I am your true shepherd
I will lead you there
Beside still waters
Come and meet me in the middle of the air

I will meet you in the middle of the air

As I reflect on my relationship with my father there are some parallels to this. He was a shepherd, he guided me when it was needed with comfort and protecting me from fear, and despite his best efforts to lead me in the right direction, like most young adults, I choose my own path and, like most young adults found that path was not always the correct one. I was fortunate to know that there were the still in waters my relationship with my father where he was able to help. Now as a parent myself I try to be less of the helicopter parent and more of the shepherd/ lighthouse parent. The final lyric is a tough one to swallow but one I am conscious families in our school community have faced this year and one that requires us to have strong faith and beliefs in being reunited in eternity in the middle of the air. If you are a Paul Kelly fan or have 2m 30s spare it is a wonderful tune.

We thank all those fathers, guardians, uncles, grandfathers, brothers, friends, and significant people who fulfil the role of the shepherd in people's lives.

ACT Scaling Test (AST)

This week we send our thoughts, prayers and inspirational ideas to our Year 12 Cohort who will be sitting the AST. It takes a village to help our young people reach their potential and on behalf of the College we thank all those parents, guardians, brothers, sisters, aunts, uncles, relatives, and friends who have helped our students to this point. I encourage students to maintain their health this week by getting enough sleep, food and exercise and if they need to, reach out to the school for assistance from their teachers, wellbeing leaders or school counsellors.  Best of luck to our students. Do your best but remember the ACT system still relies on strong school results.

Student Voice

This year, the College has looked to invite students to participate in decisions that are impacting them. Thus far the College has appointed Year 11 students to the College Community Council, initiated a Student Representative Council, conducted the inaugural Safe School survey, and facilitated focus groups to discuss issues from this survey, teaching and learning initiatives and the 2025 strategic plan.

It has been affirming to have so many students keen to participate and have their say on the direction of our school. Our next project for student input relates to our school uniform. The College has worked with our supplier Lowes to identify issues with some items of our uniform. In the coming weeks, we will invite interested students to comment and help guide new and improved uniform items.

Defence School Mentor

I would also like to acknowledge the work of Mrs Zonika Smith our Defence School Mentor (DSM). The role of a DSM is to work with the Pastoral Care/Wellbeing team and in partnership with teaching staff to help all Defence students reach their best educational outcomes. In speaking with three of our defence families over the last week, all three have commented on the tremendous support and assistance Mrs Smith has been. This week, Mrs Smith is taking some students to the Australian War Memorial for the Battle of Australia Commemorative Ceremony. This ceremony recognises the men and women who drove back the Japanese advance in the Second World War. In 1942 and 1943, Australia and her allies fought a series of battles in Southeast Asia and the Pacific including battles on the Kokoda Trail and Coral sea.

Mrs Smith is located in the JG wing of the school and warmly welcomes all our Defence students for a milo, a quick chat, or extra help.

Tom Van de Waterbeemd
Assistant Principal – Wellbeing & Community
Maathai and Van Thuan Houses

With our move to align teaching and learning with our Catalyst principles, we are committed to using evidence-based teaching strategies to support student learning. The focus for our teachers this week has been on the Gradual Release of Responsibility model. High Impact Teaching strategies, which are part of Catalyst, involve clear, structured teaching where concepts and skills are presented in a step-by-step manner. This ensures that students understand each part of a lesson before moving on. The Gradual Release of Responsibility method complements this by transitioning students from teacher-led instruction to independent work. It begins with the teacher modelling the task (called ‘I do’), followed by guided practice where students work together with the teacher (‘we do’), and finally, students demonstrate their learning independently (‘you do’). This approach helps build student confidence and ensures a deeper understanding of the material, setting them up for long-term success in their studies.

If you would like to know more about the theories and evidence behind Catalyst please visit https://catalyst.cg.catholic.edu.au

Mrs Kathleen Garvie
Assistant Principal -Learning
Kennedy and Ferré Houses

Every Conversation Matters

Child Protection Week starts on the 1 September with the clear message that ‘every conversation matters’.

Organised by the National Association for Prevention of Child Abuse and Neglect (NAPCAN), Child Protection Week is a time to engage all Australians to ‘Play a Part’ in improving child well-being and keeping children safe in Australia. 

Go to their website to learn more about NAPCAN’s work and how you can get involved in Child Protection Week: https://www.napcan.org.au/get-involved-2024/ 

At JPC we recognise that Child Safety is our number one concern. We are working hard to ensure all children feel safe at school and can flourish. We recognise an important component of this is to give students a voice.

What have we been doing at the college in 2024:

• Development of an SRC (Student Representative Council)
• Student surveys – Child Safety & Tell them from me
• Including students in:
  • Focus groups
  • The College Strategic Plan
  • Representation on the Community Council
  • The Board of Senior Secondary Studies (BSSS) forum

Mr Simon Abbott
PDHPE Department
Leader Wellbeing Kennedy House
JPC Child Safe Advocate representative

Congratulations to the JPC Snowsports team who achieved third place in the Alpine 2024 ACT School Cup Division 2 competition at Perisher on 25 August. Team members Andrew D (Yr 10 MT), Rhys W (Yr 10 VT) and Olivia C (Yr10 VT) represented JPC in trying conditions against other schools from the ACT and we are all extremely proud of the team’s results!

Rhys and Andrew also represented JPC, for the third year running, in the Alpine and Ski Cross Interschool ACT Regional Championships, both racing personal bests.  Their dedication to the sport has been inspiring with training starting in June and exceeding an estimated 45,000 vertical metres of carving and fun!

The team is very keen to continue training in 2025, to represent JPC again, and to aim for even better personal and team results.

Well done Andrew, Rhys and Olivia!

Recently, Daniel R. (Year 10, Kennedy) and Tyler F. (Year 8, Drexel) proudly represented the ACT at the National School’s Cross Country Championships in Yarra Glen.

Congratulations to both boys on your outstanding success!

Join us for JPC’s inaugural VET Pathways Showcase – A Hands-On Future!

Vocational Education and Training (VET) has never been more essential! Over half of the 2023 national skills in demand are directly linked to VET pathways, such as apprenticeships and traineeships.

We are excited to welcome our special guest, Maja Rathouski, JPC Alumni and 2023 ACT Vocational Student of the Year runner-up, who will share her inspiring journey.

Explore a wide range of opportunities from leading VET education providers and career organisations, including:

AND MORE!

Are you in Year 7 and interested in being a part of a rock band program?

If so, click on the link below and complete the form.

Important - This is NOT a sign-up sheet, but we are collecting information about who would be willing to commit to a future program:

Year 7 Rock Band EOI Form

A FREE programming opportunity for Year 7–12 Girls at ANU

Sunday22 September 2024

The Australian Signals Directorate (Department of Defence) is excited to announce the

2024 Term 3 Girls’ Programming Network event.

What is the Girls' Programming Network (GPN)?

• The GPN is a workshop series for girls in Years 6-12.
• It is a community of women and girls interested in computer science, programming, and information technology.
• The workshops are led by GPN tutors and local women studying or working in IT across industry, academia, and government.
• In the workshop, girls will use coding skills to play a game of ‘Guess Who’? using a software package called Replit. Students of all skill levels are welcome—whether new to Python or already proficient. Tutors will cover the basics for beginners and introduce advanced concepts for those with more experience.
• The Australian Signals Directorate has a long-standing relationship with the GPN and supports the Canberra node of this fantastic program.
• The workshops are free, and no prior coding experience is required.

We look forward to welcoming you and seeing you thrive in this exciting opportunity!

For further information, please see any of these Faculty Leaders, or go to the link provided.

• Jennifer Tually (Science)
• Chloe McCallum (Technologies)
• Jie Li and Sophia Afghan (Maths)

Parish Newsletter

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

Join families from schools across the Archdiocese to hear Joe Brumm, the creator of Bluey, discuss his success with the children's show Bluey and his perspective on developing and maintaining positive relationships with our children (and their school) and the important role parents play in their child's learning and development.

About the Speaker: JOE BRUMM

Joe Brumm is the creator of Bluey, an animated pre-school series that made Rolling Stone's top 100 sitcoms of all time.  

It’s won numerous awards including 2 Logies, an Emmy, and a Bafta. Ostensibly written for 4-6 year olds, the show has reached beyond this demographic to include a passionate base of parents grandparents and 20 year olds, with and without children.

It counts among its fans the likes of Lin Manuel Miranda and Natalie Portman (both who have guest starred) Elijah Wood, Rose Byrne, Joel Edgerton and many more.

It's broken all ABC iview viewership records and was the 7th most streamed show (of any genre) in 2022. It was the most streamed show on Disney Plus.

Yet it was all created and made under the one roof in Brisbane by a crew made up mostly of recent graduates, with next to no consideration to change language or content for an international audience.

Joe worked as an animator for 20 years before starting Bluey.

This presentation is made possible by the support of Catholic Education Canberra and Goulburn and Catholic School Parents Archdiocese of Canberra and Goulburn.

Hosted by CSPACG

​​MyWay+ is Transport Canberra’s next generation ticketing system which puts all public transport services in one place. It will offer more ways to pay for public transport and introduce new digital platforms for journey planning and accessing real-time information.  
The switch over to MyWay+ will happen later this year. Until then, students should continue to use their current MyWay card or a paper ticket from a ticket vending machine to pay for travel on bus and light rail services.  
Families should ensure their child’s MyWay card is registered to protect the balance, as Transport Canberra can only process refunds and transfer credits for registered MyWay cards.​ 

Register your MyWay card: https://www.transport.act.gov.au/tickets-and-myway/register-myway