Dear Parents and Carers,

Term 2 has been very busy, especially these last couple of weeks, with assessments, exams, reports and Year 10 Transition week. The Year 10 Social last night was a fitting celebration in a significant week. We have also enjoyed the interviews with Year 10 students and their families as they choose their courses for their senior years.

Mr Blake Hamilton is leaving the College and I would like to thank him for his contribution to JPC, we wish him well in the next phase of his journey.

Mrs Stephanie O’Meara is taking Long Service leave for Term 3 and we wish her a wonderful and restful break. Mr Nic Whatman will be acting Assistant Principal in Stephanie’s absence.

I wish the JPC community a restful and safe holiday and we look forward to having everyone back on Tuesday 13 July 2021.

Regards

Catherine Rey

“Oh, the places you’ll go!”

  Retreat & Reflect

The Year 10 Transition Week activities wrapped up with an opportunity for our 205 Year 10 students to Retreat & Reflect on how well positioned they are to deal with the obstacles of life that will come their way in the future.

A study of the story, “Oh the places you’ll go!”, helped the group see that life has many joys in store which are balanced with challenges – the “Prickly Pears” that will grow in their way. Students undertook physical and mental challenges while analysing how they responded, how they treated others and what they contributed to the group.

The testimonies from Caitlyn D’Cruze (our Youth Minister) and Mr Dominic Charter (RE and Youth Minister Teacher) opened students’ hearts and minds to endless possibilities of a relationship with God – not just asking God for guidance and support, but how a relationship with God brings joy to their lives.

Our ‘resident’ Student Spirituality Coach/Mentor/Presenter/Guide/Creator Tim Guthrie worked with us as the sessions proceeded – it was great to have him interact with students, to deepen the connection between them and the aims of the retreat.

The session concluded with a special Liturgy based on the Gospel reading from Matthew – Salt and Light, where Jesus encourages us to share our gifts and talents, to act with courage and “put ourselves out there”. This Liturgy was beautifully put together by Caitlyn D’Cruze and a group of willing Yr 10 volunteers and, judging from the feedback, it touched the hearts of many of our participants. They were able to clarify and let go of the apprehensions they are feeling for the future.

Thank you SO much to the Year 10 students who embraced this opportunity to RETREAT from the busyness of life, and so deeply and authentically REFLECT on their relationship with themselves as individuals, with others and with God.

Congratulations to all of the Year 10 students involved in the Transition Week program!  They were given a lot of new information to prepare them for college and to consider their future pathways.

Students engaged in a variety of careers modules learning about resumes, interviews, personal services, work experience, alternative courses and more!  Some feedback from the modules include:

They were also able to explore future study options by attending excursions to ANU, CIT Reid and Bruce, Uni of Canberra, Australian Catholic University and the Academy of Interactive Entertainment. Elevate Education visited JPC and ran study skills and time-management sessions for students. Students can access the Elevate resources on the Transition Week Moodle page.

As always, the JPC Careers website has a wealth of resources that may be useful for discovering different pathways and careers. https://jpc-careers.com/

I would like to take this opportunity to thank all of our staff who took time out of their day to present the modules, attend excursions and support the students in their subject selection choices.

Ms Teena Zorzi
Leader of Learning (Careers)

Year 7-12 Reports

Semester 1 Reports are being emailed home on Friday afternoon. Well done to our students on their commitment to their studies this semester. If you have not received your students’ report by close of business Friday, please email the JPC office (office.jpc@cg.catholic.edu.au) and we will investigate the situation. 

Senior Results

Unit scores (T) and grades (A and T) are published on 25 June, 3pm. Students access this information, including their ranking and z-score in the meshing group for Tertiary students, through their BSSS Profile Online. All students should now have registered on the BSSS website and have been accessing all their task result information during the semester. Any final grade/score queries need to be directed to the teacher in the first instance, and any formal appeals submitted by the 16 July. This date allows for the appeal period of 5 working days as required by the BSSS (the holiday period is excluded). Students’ Semester 2 reports will have Grades (not scores), as well as information on student success on the learning outcomes and their attitude to learning.

Changing Subjects (Seniors)

Any senior students wishing to change subjects are advised to speak to their House AP and fill in the subject change request form for their year level, downloaded from the Seniors page on Moodle. It is expected students either have their parents sign the paper form, or they CC: Parents in the email with the form attached. Students will be contacted if the request jeopardises the student’s package.

Dr Ann Cleary
Assistant Principal

The calculation of the ATAR is quite a complex process. The information session is for all families who would like to understand the process better.  It will be especially helpful for students in Year 11, as they will have received their first set of results. These results provide a tangible base from which to understand the process and implications.

Catherine Rey

Ticket sales open from 6 pm TONIGHT

Click Here - https://www.trybooking.com/BSHIZ

Tickets are limited due to COVID-19

JPC has applied the 2sqm rule for seating for this event.

Seats on either side of your booking will automatically be blocked and every second row is currently not available.

We apologies for the inconvenience, but we hope to be able to release further tickets closer to the time.

Thank you for your understanding.

As we head into the holidays and prepare for winter, it is natural to be spending more time indoors. This also often means more time using devices! Tech can help us stay connected with friends and family who we can’t see in-person, makes it easier to complete school and other work remotely, and there is an almost endless amount of interesting and wonderous things to find on the internet (as well as many markedly less wonderous things). But too much of any good thing can be harmful to our health and our relationships. Here is some information (with links for strategies to support change if needed) to help you work out whether your device use is healthy and rewarding, or if it might actually be doing you harm:

Information for young people: https://au.reachout.com/articles/4-signs-social-media-is-sending-you-into-a-spin

Information for parents: https://parents.au.reachout.com/skills-to-build/wellbeing/technology-and-teenagers

Parents’ Guide to Instagram: https://parents.au.reachout.com/landing/parentsguidetoinsta

Ame Uidam
School Counsellor

Last Thursday we had about 80 students and 18 staff participate in the St Vincent De Paul Sleep Out. The staff and students slept out on the terrace in the cold with nothing more than a cardboard box, a sleeping bag and what they were wearing. We were lucky enough to have Jordan Thuma from Vinnies come and talk to the kids about how many people are living homeless in Canberra and what we can do to help change this statistic. The students then participated in a trivia quiz about homelessness and we finished with a beautiful liturgy organised by Mrs Tually.

I am so proud of the students for committing to the cause and raising a total of $8,566 so far. I would also like to thank Storage King Mitchell for donating the boxes for everyone to sleep on. If you would like to donate please visit the following link:

Miss Alyssa Markmann

THANK YOU

A huge thank you to all families who contributed so generously to the CEO Vinnies Sleepout. 

The amount raised to date is $8,566 – very close to our target of $10,000.  This is a wonderful result.  Donations are still able to be made until July 31.

I am so proud of our community.  Our students were outstanding in their commitment - sleeping out on our very cold terrace all night!  I would like to formally thank them and all of you who contributed to raising awareness and funds to support the 1600 Canberrans who sleep out every night because they are without a home. 

Thank you all!

Catherine Rey

JPC was lucky enough to be able to hire replica Indigenous Australian artefacts from the NMA. We received a suitcase of the artefacts last Monday and they have been used in classes such as IH, SOSE, Dance, RE and Textiles. Students loved the chance to hold, use and learn about the objects, many of which they’d never seen or heard of before. JPC is proud to be promoting knowledge of Indigenous cultures and histories in the lead up to NAIDOC Week.

Miss Shaylie Maskell
Dance, SOSE, IH & French Teacher

In Semester 1, Year 9/10 Art students created large and realistic portrait drawings of a person that they admire, incorporating the style and techniques used by the artist Chuck Close. Students learnt to enlarge a photograph using the grid method, as well as expressing a person’s unique character and physical appearance.

...Can you guess any of their subjects?

On Wednesday we took two JPC hockey teams to the School Sports ACT gala in Lyneham. Initially we had struggled to make full teams, and had to cancel the 7/8 boys and 9/10 girls because we didn’t have enough players. The two teams we did enter were a complete mix of experienced players, and those who had never held a stick before, which is so great to see. Our experienced players, both boys and girls, were fantastic at helping, teaching and supporting their team members who weren’t as confident, and supporting them to have a wonderful day. The best part being that both of our teams came out on top and won their competitions! It was a fabulous day, and I was very proud of our JPC players, who were such incredible ambassadors for our College - bringing home the silverware for our cabinet was a huge bonus! Many thanks to you all for putting your hand up to play, you showed great community spirit and hopefully had a lot of fun. A big thanks goes to the lovely Mrs Daley who coached and supported our Year 7/8 girls team to their victory.

Mrs. Danni Jewell
Teacher of P.E & Health and Photography & Media

For the last Tuesday tunes of the term, our very own guitar teacher Matt Lustri, playing some shredding guitar solos. We are so fortunate to have Matt here as a guitar teacher who loves playing music and teaching his students. Thank you for the amazing performance Matt. 

Wednesday Jams 

We had one last jam session in the band room on Wednesday lunchtime. We had multiple bands and soloists perform with an amazing audience. Well done to all these students. Aron and I look forward to another semester with you all.

Sharon Robinson

Due to limited staffing during the school holidays please direct all School Fee enquiries to jpc.finance@cg.catholic.edu.au and all other enquiries to office.jpc@cg.catholic.edu.au

Happy Holidays

The College Office

Last night some of our Defence Families from JPC joined with families from HSP, Mother Teresa and Good Shepherd for a group dinner. The kids got creative with a colouring-in competition and the parents had a competition too. This will hopefully be a regular event throughout the year and is a wonderful opportunity to connect with other Defence families in your community. Keep an eye out for the next dinner in Term 3.

DCO Events

Healthy Eating on the Run and lunch

DCO are running a workshop with Nutrition ACT to make a quick, nutritious and tasty 2 course meal that the whole family will love. This is a hands-on workshop where you will get to prepare the food and then sit together and enjoy the meal. There are a limited number of tickets available. Supervised children are welcome.

What:  Healthy Eating on the Run Workshop and lunch

When: Thursday 15 July from 11.30am – 1.30pm

RSVP: Click here to register.

Dates for your calendar for July:

Wednesday 14 July    Coffee & Conversation: Red Baron Café, Symonston

Wednesday 14 July    Dinner with a Difference: Laugh Out Loud (child free event)

Over the holidays,  contact the all-hours Defence Family Helpline for advice, support or local community information 1800 624 608

DCC Events

Don’t forget DCC have snow gear for hire if you are heading down to the snowfields these holidays. Go to their website for more information. They also have virtual pilates beginning in Term 3.  https://www.duntrooncommunitycentre.org.au/

Don’t forget there are a lot of activities happening around Canberra over the holidays, like ice-skating in the city or Christmas in July.  For more information on what to do with the kids these holidays, visit these links https://visitcanberra.com.au/events and https://www.holidayhappenings.com.au/

Enjoy the break with your family and I look forward to working with your children in Term 3.

Vicki Walsh
Defence School Mentor

Parish Newsletter

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

The next ACU Blackfriars lecture will take place on Tuesday 20 July, on the topic ‘Homer among the Health Workers: metis, culture and closing the gap, a personal reflection’. The lecture will be given by Mr Craig Ritchie CEO of the Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies (AIATSIS).

The Australian Signals Directorate is happy to announce the Term 3 Girls’ Programming Network (GPN) event to be held on Sunday 15^th August 2021

Registrations Open – Monday 12^th July 2021 at 6 pm

What is GPN?

• The Girls Programming Network is a workshop series aimed at girls in Year 4-12.
• The GPN is a community of women and girls who are interested in computer science, programming and information technology.
• Workshops are run by GPN tutors - local women studying or working in IT in industry, academia and government. are topic based and tutors teach the girls how to solve fun programming projects. There is also food to eat, friends to make and other fun activities to be had!
• ASD has had a long-standing relationship with the Girls’ Programming Network and supports the Canberra node of this fantastic program.
• The workshops are free and no prior coding experience is necessary!

Join Canberra Youth Theatre this winter holiday for an exciting theatre workshop for young artists in Years 7 - 10.

The workshop, New Dawn 2.0, is calling all gamers, inventors, and creators of brave new worlds to explore interactive theatre techniques to devise a new virtual reality game.

Limited spaces are available, enrol now at canberrayouththeatre.com.au/holiday 

When: 5 July - 7 July

Where: Gorman Arts Centre