Over the past three years, the JPC community has been able to develop a strong working relationship with the US Embassy in Canberra. This relationship has allowed JPC students to participate in simulations, excursions, and have knowledgeable guest speakers from a wide variety of areas.

Due to this relationship I have been lucky enough to be selected for the Study of the United States Institute (SUSI) programme. The programme involves a three-week course based on the study of how America’s foundations and historical development have shaped and continue to inform U.S. politics, economics, and society. The program will also explore the ways in which individual rights and social obligations have evolved through American history. 

The SUSI program will assist in generating a deeper understanding about the US – Australia relationship and embedding this within the civics and citizenship curriculum. This will open doors to further opportunities for students to engage with the Australian US alliance.   

Thanks to the US Embassy for the opportunity and all the work that they do to provide valuable learning experiences for our students.

Mr Daniel Burns
Leader of Wellbeing Drexel House

A reminder that the 2021 National Assessment Program (NAPLAN) will take place in Week 4 and 5 of Term 2 for all students in Years 7 and 9. More information can be found at the link below. Students and their families are encouraged to look at the Public Demonstration Site tab that has the demonstration tests, which will help familiarise students with the type of questions and related functionalities available in the NAPLAN Online assessment.

Schedule:

• Wednesday 12th May - Writing Test
• Thursday 13th May - Reading Test
• Friday 14th May & Monday 17th - Catch Up Tests
• Tuesday 18th May - Conventions Test
• Wednesday 19th May - Numeracy Test
• Thursday 20th May & Friday 21st May - Catch Up Tests

If you require further information about the tests or you feel that your child will not be able to participate in the testing program, please contact me via email, Michael.Nicoletti@cg.catholic.edu.au.

Michael Nicoletti
Leader of Learning and Wellbeing
Van Thuan House

Many of you will have seen articles in the Canberra Times this week on the prevalence of Vaping that is occurring amongst our young people.

Sadly, many of the young people that we have spoken to think that vaping is not a problem and is simply a harmful vapour. It is seen as a “healthy" alternative to smoking. Some students also do not seem to be aware that Vaping is illegal for people under 18. This perception is reinforced through a number of different Social Media outlets. We are working here at school to disperse these myths but having parents as part of these conversations is very important.

At JPC we do have consequences for students who are found vaping at school but we also follow these consequences up with an intense “Vaping and it’s Dangers” workshop. In the workshop, the students complete a number of activities that help them learn why vaping is as dangerous for their health as smoking.

We thought it would be very helpful to share these resources with our Parents and Carers so they can also use them when having conversations with their child/children about the many dangers that Vaping presents. The last two resources are links to informative videos that are short and easy to watch.

We certainly learnt a lot ourselves when putting the Workshop together and working through the activities with the students and hope this information will be equally valuable for parents and carers.

Stephanie O’Meara and Chauntell McNamara

Resources

Vaping is the inhaling of a vapour created by an electronic cigarette (e-cigarette) or other vaping devices. E-cigarettes are battery-powered smoking devices. They have cartridges filled with a liquid that usually contains nicotine, flavourings, and chemicals. The liquid is heated into a vapour, which the person inhales. That's why using e-cigarettes is called "vaping." Vaping hasn't been around long enough for us to know how it affects the body over time. But health experts are reporting serious lung damage in people who vape, including some deaths. Vaping is highly addictive and can:

• slow brain development in kids and teens and affect memory, concentration, learning, self-control, attention, and mood 
• increase the risk of other types of addiction as adults

E-cigarettes also:

• irritate the lungs
• may cause serious lung damage and even death
• can lead to smoking cigarettes and other forms of tobacco use

For more information about health impacts, please see our factsheet on the Health impacts of e-cigarettes for children, young people and adults (PDF).

Vaping is illegal for people under the age of 18

In the ACT, personal vaporisers, including electronic cigarettes are regulated in much the same way as tobacco. It is illegal to sell electronic cigarettes to people under the age of 18 and to use electronic cigarettes in legislated smoke-free areas in the ACT. Restrictions also apply to advertising, displays and marketing. These measures are designed to prevent the uptake of electronic cigarettes by non-smokers, including children and young people, and to protect non-users from exposure to electronic cigarette vapour. For more information: https://www.health.act.gov.au/about-our-health-system/population-health/smoke-free-environments/electronic-cigarettes

During Week 11, the Year 9/10 Outdoor Education students headed off to Broulee, NSW for their much awaited Beach Camp. During the camp, students participated in Surfing, Kayaking, Snorkelling and Stand Up Paddle Boarding, and were responsible for their own cooking, cleaning, camp gear and set-up within their camp group. The students and teachers were blessed with excellent weather and overall, it was very rewarding to see many students participate in activities they had never done before and step outside of their comfort zones. A massive thank you to Mr Thomas, Mr Maloney and Mrs Jewell for their help during the camp.

Below are some comments from the student’s experiences! 

Carlia Zedde
PE/Outdoor Education Teacher

Carlia Zedde
Health and Physical Education/English Teacher

The Senior Drama class have been preparing their performance entries for Canberra Theatre’s Act Up! Student Festival. This festival involves Canberra and coastal high school students to create performances based on the theme of “New Normal”.

On Thursday, the class participated in a two-hour workshop with a visiting teaching artist, Jena Prince, from Canberra Theatre. This allowed the students to further workshop and develop their 10-minute performances. The class participated in a series of play building tasks to inspire their creativity and refine their skills.

Students will perform their final pieces on Wednesday 2 June on the Canberra Theatre stage.

Chookas!

Mrs Sarah Smith

Year 7 Food Technology classes practised their knife safety and knife skills creativity to make Food Faces this week using some fresh ingredients from our JPC garden!

They enjoyed eating them afterwards too.

Annie Daley & Megan Hajduk
Food Technology

We had our first Alpha session this week on Thursday and what a turn out it was.

The session asked the question we all think about from time to time, which is, what is our purpose in life? This was unpacked and discussed amongst the students who left feeling more curious and excited to dive deeper into Alpha in the coming weeks.

So, if you are as curious to uncover the big questions you have, you are welcome to join us next week. Same time, same place and scrumptious food and snacks provided.

Caitlyn D'Cruze
Youth Minister

Scan the QR code to register.

The boys responded quickly with some solid work from Tana Bvirakare and Josh Milicevic leading to a crisply finished goal from Will Ness. 1all! Unfortunately worse was to come as mistakes from the JPC team and some snappy interplay from Radford led to the conceding of not one but two more goals on the counter. Although dominating possession and the physical contest, JPC went into half-time 3-1 down with confidence shaken and heads trending down…

After a soul-searching half time and an inspiring few words from captain Jo Boccuzzo, JPC responded with a few tactical changes and a renewed vigour in the second half. As the weight of possession built up, JPC had numerous close chances, eventually one flew to striker Tobias Robson and he slotted it in to make it 3-2. JPC continued to press with the backline led by Noah Hewitt, Harry Rowley and Conor Moir holding strong and solid midfield work from Ani, Tana, Charlie and Riley.

With time running out and around 10 minutes left JPC received a free kick within shooting distance… The crowd responded with cries of ecstasy as Josh M beat the keeper, hitting first the bar and then the goal-line in what seemed to be a clear goal before the ball was collected by the Radford keeper. Unfortunately, both the referee and the (neutral) Assistant Referee disagreed and disallowed the goal…

The boys responded with great maturity and composure as the clock ticked down ever closer to full-time, dominating possession and pressuring the Radford goal – eventually, the pressure told with Toby picking up his second goal after some fast work from Pat Rowley and a lot of pressure from Toby. JPC had equalised with under 2 minutes to spare and even had a chance to win the game in the closing moments.

The boys had forced extra time in an amazingly courageous effort. Extra time was ‘golden goal,’ the first to score would win the game. It was clear that the boys were on top and Radford heads were down – with choruses of ‘don’t force it’ from the bench, JPC kept up the attack and was rewarded with what was seemingly the game winning penalty. Unfortunately more drama was to come as the Radford keeper pulled off a tremendous save and JPC celebrations were again thwarted! With only a couple of minutes left again the boys finally prevailed over Radford with Toby grabbing a well-deserved hat-trick and celebrations for players, coaches and the crowd as JPC ended the game 4-3 up! Well played to the Radford team for a great match.

Next stop is a game v either Mulwaree (Goulburn) or Bateman’s Bay…

Congratulations to all the team (Gabe Taurasi (GK), Edan Pfeffier, Charlie Rae, Riley Borthwick, Noah Hewitt, Pat Rowley, Harry Rowley, Josh Milisevic, Tana Bvirakire, Tobias Robson, Jo Boccuzzo (c), Kamil Bah, Conor Moir, Anakin Mijoc, Will Ness) for playing well, showing courage and never giving up! Thanks to Miss G for her excellent soccer support.

Matt Caldow
Bill Turner Cup Coach

Golf News!

Congratulations to Claire Brooker, Year 12 and Molly Macleod, Year 8 who both placed as the recent SSACT Golf Championships.

Results:

Open Girls (Gross)

3^{rd -} Claire Brooker - St John Paul II College - 85

Open Girls (Nett)

2^{nd -} Molly Macleod - St John Paull II College - 78

Well done!

If you would like to share your child achievements, please email a short paragraph and an image (optional) to the College office and your child's mentor for submission into Key Messages. Submissions are due by Thursday.

Work Experience Review

Olivia Mugridge (Y12) completed work experience at 12RND Fitness in Belconnen.

“Everyone in the gym had a passion for their job and were always positive. They made everyone feel welcomed and the gym was a really enjoyable community. They were all very passionate and ensured that everyone felt included and had built rapport with all members, and I was able to learn from them in order to give feedback and push members. All staff were really friendly and had great friendships with each other as well as with the members, so communication was very easy for everyone and they all had different roles in teaching me skills.

It was absolutely valuable and I will never forget the experience! I learnt lots of skills, especially some that I was not expecting and lots of the knowledge and skills that it takes to push members and help them to improve. I learnt a lot about boxing and was able to “train” people and got to help correct people’s technique and learn about how to communicate well with people who are attending the gym as well.

It definitely has reassured me that I want to complete my fitness certificates at the end of year 12 so that I can be a fitness trainer whilst I’m studying at uni.”

Dates for Y12 student diary!

• Thursday 13^th May, Period 1, Theatre:
  Understanding University Applications: Ms Zorzi will explain all things UAC, school’s recommendation scheme and early entry into the Uni of Canberra.
• Wednesday 12^th May, Period 2, CF1:
  Charles Sturt University: offers a wide range of online courses, as well as on-campus courses in animal studies, health/medicine and more! 
• Thursday 27^th May, Period 1, CF1:
  University of Wollongong: Ranked 10 in Australia, with a huge range of study options.

Elevate Education Seminars

Elevate Education is hosting their free parent webinar series again this term to provide parents with strategies to help their children study more effectively and maximise their success.

Ms Teena Zorzi
Leader of Learning (Careers) and Wellbeing (Drexel House)

Parish Newsletter

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