On Wednesday, 5 March, we recognise Ash Wednesday, which marks the beginning of Lent, a 40-day period of fasting, prayer, and penance leading up to Easter. On this day, Catholics attend Mass or a service where ashes are blessed and distributed to parishioners. The ashes, made from the burned palms of the previous year's Palm Sunday, are applied to the foreheads of the faithful in the shape of a cross. As the ashes are applied, we are reminded of our own mortality with the priest or minister saying, "Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return."

As a Catholic community, I would encourage everyone to  reflect on the significance of the day including:

• Repentance and Renewal: This is a time for us to reflect on our lives, repent for our sins, and seek spiritual renewal.
• Mortality Reminder: The ashes serve as a reminder of our human mortality and the need for humility before God.
• Beginning of Lent: Ash Wednesday marks the start of Lent, a season of preparation for the celebration of the Resurrection of Jesus at Easter.

Opening Mass and Badging Ceremony

Our Opening Mass and Badging Ceremony was held on Tuesday, 25 February, and it was a truly wonderful event. The Mass was celebrated by Fr Rob Galea and concelebrated by Fr Troy Bobbin, our Parish Priest. Fr Rob Galea, known widely for his inspiring ministry and music, delivered a memorable homily that called us to turn to Jesus when we feel "lost in the deep," remembering always that He is with us each and every day. He also performed a beautiful rendition of "Shallow" from the movie A Star is Born, that I hope your child came home and shared with you.

Following Mass, we presented our Year 12 College Leaders and Year 11 House Leaders with their badges for their respective portfolios that they will fulfil this year. Additionally, our Year 12 students received their Year 12 badges as a sign of the leadership role they too have here at the College. Finally, our Year 7 students received their House badges, officially welcoming them as the newest members of the JPC community.

I extend a special thanks to our musicians, grounds and maintenance staff, and canteen staff for their hard work preparing for the day. I would also acknowledge our Mission and Ministry Coordinator, Ms Maria Tolfree, for her work and leadership that made the day such a resounding success.

Year 7 Camp: Wednesday, 5 – Friday, 7 March

This week, our Year 7 students depart for their Year 7 Camp down to the South Coast. This is an important part of their induction into our College and provides an opportunity to continue strengthening the positive relationships that they have been developing this year. We wish our students and staff an enjoyable three days away and look forward to hearing about their adventures when they return.

As always, 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 – Strategy and Staff

Heads Up, Parents! New Research Highlights the Benefits of Teen Reading

A recent study from Australian researchers Dr Jacqueline Manuel and Dr Don Carter, involving over 2,000 young people aged 12–16, explores what teens are reading and why it matters. The research dives into the reading habits of teenagers, and the results are pretty clear: reading for pleasure is vital. Our new library, with its focus on reading in the middle years, is an excellent resource for supporting teen reading for pleasure. Be on the lookout for popular fiction book recommendations coming soon!

Key Takeaways:

• Reading Helps in School: The study confirms that "Young people who read for pleasure are likely to do significantly better at school than their peers." In fact, students who read for pleasure test 18 months above their age in reading proficiency. This means better reading and writing skills, more confidence, a wider knowledge base, and a better understanding of different cultures.
• It's More Than Just Homework: The research shows that reading for fun is just as important as reading for school. It helps teens use their imaginations and understand themselves and the world better.
• Why Aren't They Reading More? The study identifies some challenges that keep teens from reading, including busy schedules, time spent on screens, and not seeing others read for pleasure.

What Can Parents Do?

• Create a Reading-Friendly Home: Make sure books are easy to find and create a comfortable space for reading. Encourage children to remove phones from the bedroom and read for 10 minutes before sleep.
• Support Their Interests: Let your teen choose books that they find interesting and recommend books that you enjoy. Students are twice as likely to pick up a book recommended by friends and family compared to a teacher recommendation.
• Manage Screen Time: Encourage a healthy balance between digital entertainment and reading, and model this yourself. Make sure your children see you reading for pleasure.
• Talk to Teachers: Work with teachers to encourage reading as a valuable and fun activity.

By encouraging a love of reading, together we can help teenagers do well in school, expand their horizons, and develop a lifelong love of learning.

Emma Post
English Faculty Coordinator

Catholicism is a tradition. It is a whole way of life, contemplating God and reflecting inwardly so that we may respond to people and situations in our daily lives. One of these traditions is recognising the significance of Lent.

Lent is the liturgical season of forty days before Easter, during which Catholics traditionally fast, pray, contemplate, and participate in acts of spiritual renewal. The forty days of Lent imitate the 40 days Jesus spent fasting in the desert before entering his public ministry (Mt 4:1-11).

As a Catholic school, we follow this tradition by abstaining from meat on Ash Wednesday and on Fridays during Lent. Instead, we eat fish on these particular days, as fish is a symbol of Christ.

This means no meat will be served in our canteen next Wednesday for Ash Wednesday or on Fridays during Lent.

The JPC Swimming Carnival made a splash on Thursday, 20 February, as students came together for a day of fierce competition, vibrant house spirit, and exciting events.

Championship Division

The day kicked off with the highly anticipated Championship Division, where our top swimmers put on an incredible display of speed and skill. Several school records were broken, showcasing the dedication and talent of our athletes. Congratulations to:

U15 Age Group

• Dylan Bryant – 50m Butterfly, 50m Backstroke, 50m Breaststroke, 100m Freestyle, 100m Butterfly

Opens Age Group

• Hamish Ellison – 50m Breaststroke, 50m Backstroke
• Kayla Bryant – 50m Butterfly

House Spirit & Carnival Atmosphere

As the rest of the school arrived, the energy in the stands soared. Students dressed in bold house colours, donned creative costumes, and cheered passionately, creating a thrilling atmosphere.

Best Dressed Awards:

• Teacher: Mrs Tually – Looked as though she was hiding behind a tree all day, supporting Ferre’s camouflage theme. This shows the dedication she has for Ferre House.
• Mathieu House had the best theme for the Swimming Carnival, showing dedication to the spirit of the day with their Pirates and Mermaids costumes.

Novelty Events & Relays

Beyond the competitive races, students embraced the fun side of the carnival with exciting novelty events, including:

• Tug of War – A battle of strength and teamwork as houses pulled their way to victory.
• Ball Scramble – A chaotic and entertaining race to collect as many floating balls as possible.
• Water Polo Race – A test of speed and strategy, as swimmers raced while pushing a water polo ball.
• Noodle Race – A hilarious event where students balanced on pool noodles and kicked their way across the water.

The relay races were a major highlight, with teams pushing themselves to the limit for House points. While time constraints meant war cries could not be performed, the deafening cheers from the stands made up for it!

JPC Dolphin Award

The JPC Dolphin Award recognises the fastest swimmers of the day across all age groups and genders in the Championship Program events. This prestigious recognition celebrates the athletes who demonstrate exceptional speed, technique, and competitive excellence in the pool.

Swimmers who achieve the fastest overall times in these sprint freestyle events earn the title, showcasing their dominance in short-distance racing and their ability to perform under pressure.

• Hamish Ellison (back-to-back winner!)
• Dylan Bryant
• Kayla Bryant
• Tyler Harlow

Final Results

Championship Winners:

1. Drexel – 1,264 points
2. Kennedy – 961 points
3. Mathieu – 889 points
4. Maathai – 837 points
5. VT – 802 points
6. Ferre – 653 points

Spirit Cup Winners:

1. VT – 335 points
2. Kennedy – 318 points
3. Mathieu – 297 points
4. Ferre – 275 points
5. Drexel – 260 points
6. Maathai – 224 points

A huge congratulations to all competitors, House Captains, and Courage Captain William Apps for their leadership in making the first carnival of the year a fantastic success.

A big thank you to our staff, supporters, and everyone who contributed to an unforgettable day of talent, teamwork, and school spirit. The JPC Swimming Carnival continues to be a highlight of the year.

Athletics

Congratulations to Mia Marrinan for an outstanding performance at the Capital Athletics Underage Championships on Friday, 21 – Sunday, 23 February. Competing in the U17 age group, Mia secured two gold medals in the Long Jump (4.40m) and Triple Jump (10.06m). An incredible achievement, which will now see her competing in Perth at the start of April.

Mountain Biking – NICA Race at Mt Stromlo

On Saturday, 22 February, Year 9 students Riley Prior, Ben Simpson, and Daniel Roberts took on the mountain biking challenge at Mt Stromlo. The event was well-organised, and all the boys had a great time competing.

Riley was performing strongly, sitting in 5th place before an unfortunate punctured tyre forced him to withdraw three-quarters of the way into the race. Ben, despite battling a cold, pushed through and finished 10th overall in the Year 9/10 division. Daniel's final placement is unconfirmed, but all three showed great effort and sportsmanship in a competitive field of approximately 22 riders.

Team Event Success

Congratulations to Baylen Whittaker, Evan Ball, and Cooper Minion for their outstanding performance in the 8.5km trail race. Evan Ball secured an impressive 3rd place overall. In addition to our strong individual efforts, our school's participation earned us the title of 4th best team in the event.

ACT Oztag

Congratulations to Sienna McFarlane, who was selected to represent ACT Oztag at the NSW State Championships on Friday, 21 – Sunday, 23 February, in Coffs Harbour.

We’re excited to introduce the Canvas Library page, the go-to hub for research and reading resources! Whether your child is looking for databases, referencing guides, or Oliver—our digital library platform—everything they need is just a click away.

Through Oliver, your child can browse our physical collection and access over 30,000 digital texts, giving them endless opportunities to explore, learn, and enjoy reading from anywhere.

Need help navigating Oliver? Check out this quick video tutorial: How to Use Oliver or come visit Ms Stokman or Mrs Thomas in the library for assistance.

Visit the Canvas Library page today!

Canvas has a ‘Calendar’ that outlines when your child's assessment is due or will take place in class. To see greater detail in Canvas, please go through the web version. The Parent App has limited access to Canvas pages. To access this, please click on the Calendar on the left-hand side of the screen.

If you are accessing the Parent App, please follow these steps:

The Calendar is located at the bottom of the screen.	Blue dots below the date indicate a calendar entry. Select the date. At the bottom of the screen will be the tasks that are due.	Select the task to view the submission details.	Select "Submission & Rubric" to view the assignment.

Students can see the weighting of each task to understand how much the task will contribute to their final grade. Only formal summative assessments will count towards the final grade. For each task, students will be given a mark (usually out of 100) and a grade.

Our Year 8 Textiles students have been working on an exciting quilt-making project, where they have been designing quilt panels using appliqué and patchwork techniques. These panels will then be combined to create six unique quilts.

To support this hands-on learning experience, we are seeking donations of fabric scraps. If you have any spare fabric—such as cotton, denim, felt, or other suitable materials—we would greatly appreciate your contributions. Small pieces are ideal, as students will be working with different textures and patterns to enhance their designs.

If you are able to donate, please send the fabric scraps with your child or drop them off at the school office.

Thank you for your generosity and support in helping our students bring their creative quilt designs to life!

Special provisions are designed to minimise the impact of a student’s disability, illness, or unforeseen circumstances on their assessment performance. These arrangements ensure that students can access a fair testing environment without compromising the integrity, validity, or reliability of the AST. Special provisions do not provide an unfair advantage, and all students are expected to complete all components of the AST.

If your child requires special provisions, they are required to complete a Special Provisions Application through the BSSS by Tuesday, 1 April 2025. It is important that they discuss their needs and eligibility with Mrs Dwyer and Ms Martin before the end of Week 3.

The application process includes:

• A student application form
• A confidential college report, supported by the principal and based on recommendations from the school counsellor or special needs team
• A confidential medical report from a relevant health professional with current supporting documentation

In some cases, additional functional evidence (such as a recent handwritten essay) may be required.

Please note that the Office of the Board of Senior Secondary Studies is solely responsible for determining eligibility for special provisions or a second sitting of the AST. Some accommodations provided for school assessments may not apply to the AST.

Information and the links in relation to information about Special Provisions for the 2025 AST can be found below and are also available on the Senior Studies Canvas page.

If you have any questions, please contact Ms Martin.

The student form is accessed here.

Senior Studies Academic Agreement

Year 11 and Year 12 students are reminded that they are required to return their signed copy of the Senior Studies Academic Agreement by tomorrow afternoon. Ensure that you have read the Senior Studies Handbook, and all information provided prior to signing this document.

Senior Studies Academic Agreement

Senior Studies Handbook

NAPLAN testing will occur in our school between Wednesday, 12 March and Monday, 24 March 2025 for students in Years 7 and 9.

Online NAPLAN tests provide more precise results and are engaging for students. The tests are tailored (or adaptive), which means that each test presents questions that may be more or less difficult, depending on a student’s responses. This helps students remain engaged with the assessment.

Tailored testing allows a wider range of student abilities to be assessed and measures student achievement more precisely. A student’s overall NAPLAN result is based on both the number and complexity of questions they answer correctly. Your child should not be concerned if they find questions challenging; they may be taking a more complex test pathway.

NAPLAN provides valuable information to schools and parents about literacy and numeracy achievement. It supports school improvement processes by enabling teachers to monitor student progress over time and identify areas of strength and development.

All eligible students are encouraged and supported to participate in NAPLAN testing. Visit www.nap.edu.au to see interactive versions of the test and for more information.

CANBERRA, JULY 2025 – MERICI COLLEGE students will have CANBERRA thinking pink when they present their production of Legally Blonde JR. beginning 24 JULY 2025, it was announced today by Freddie Gershon, CEO of Music Theatre International (MTI).   The fun and upbeat musical follows the adventures of a sorority girl named Elle Woods – a Gemini with a double Capricorn moon – who tries to win her ex-boyfriend back by earning a Harvard law degree. 
 
“Legally Blonde JR. may be a comedic, light-hearted show, but it also explores serious themes of self-discovery and independence which resonate with people of all ages,” says Gershon.  “We hope everyone in CANBERRA is totally psyched to see the show.” 
 

Delta Nu sorority president Elle Woods seems to have it all: good looks, a relationship with the “campus catch,” and great taste in clothes. However, her life is turned upside-down when her boyfriend, Warner, dumps her in an attempt to start getting “serious” about his future and attend Harvard Law. Determined to win him back, Elle uses a lot of hard work and some charm to get into Harvard Law so she can prove to Warner that she’s serious enough for him. Once at school, she is challenged by her peers, professors and her ex, but with the help of some new friends, Elle realises her potential and sets out to prove herself to the world. 

With a book by Heather Hach, music and lyrics by Laurence O’Keefe and Nell Benjamin, Legally Blonde JR. is based on the book by Amanda Brown and the hit Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer motion picture starring Reese Witherspoon, which was nominated for a Golden Globe Award for Best Motion Picture: Musical or Comedy.  Legally Blonde The Musical opened at Broadway’s Palace Theatre in April 2007, starring Laura Bell Bundy as the iconic Elle Woods. 
 

MERICI COLLEGE in CANBERRA will present Legally Blonde JR. on 24/07/2025 – 27/07/2025 at 2PM & 7PM at MERICI COLLEGE at WISE STREET BRADDON.  Tickets are between $18 & $12. and may be purchased by >>click here<<. For more information, please contact Ros Parisi (ros.parisi@merici.act.edu.au).  There is no dress code, but please don’t wear white after Labor Day. 

A reunion will be held on the weekend of 18 October 2025 for students from Catholic Girls High School Braddon and Daramalan College, who finished Year 12 in 1975 (including those from that group who finished before Year 12).

Several activities are planned over the weekend, with the main event on Saturday evening 18th. To RSVP, please use one of the event channels:

Email: CGHS.Dara1975@gmail.com or

Facebook: Daramalan College Alumni group; Merici College Alumni group; or Dara - Braddon 1975 group

Spread the word to your classmates!