A message from our College Leaders

Feast Day - Reimagined!

Today is the Feast of St John Paul II, our school’s patron, and our Feast Day celebrations this year were a little different due to Covid, with juniors in lockdown and seniors at school, but nevertheless, we still found ways to celebrate the life and work of this great man.

Today, our Feast Day PRAYER in our PC today taught us that St John Paul II was a man of faith, hope and love, and a bold and courageous leader. His appreciation for life grew from the suffering he endured as a young Polish man who survived the Nazi and Communist regimes, and he dedicated himself to uniting the world against the violation of human dignity in so many ways. 

Splitting up our activities over the whole week, we had great success! The Year 12 Leaders thank everyone for their participation and house spirit.

On Monday, we ran a TRIVIA competition about St John Paul II’s life, to see which house would be most involved in understanding our school patron. As part of Feast Day, we encouraged everyone to contribute to House Spirit to compete between the houses by participating. The winning house was Drexel! We congratulate them on their dedication and House camaraderie!

The results were:

1. Ferré house - 148
2. Mathieu - 149
3. Maathai - 164
4. Van Thuan - 204
5. Kennedy - 212

and the winners:

6. Drexel - 272!

Well done to everyone who participated, I'm sure we've all learnt something about SJP!

On Tuesday, we had SJP-themed BAKING, and wow, some of us are really talented! From Pope shaped cookies to decorated cakes, we saw unique and delicious looking treats. I'm sure they tasted great!

Wednesday saw submissions for RED, WHITE and BLUE clothing from the juniors and teachers at home, with very innovative and creative displays of our theme colours on display!

Thursday was CRAZY SOCK DAY, and we saw some awesome patterns and vibrant colours, with creativity again on show!

We would like to thank everyone who has been involved in the activities. This will be a Feast Day (week) to remember, and one I'm sure SJP would have loved!

Year 12 College Leadership Team

Remote Learning in the Arts

As they say in show biz, “The show must go on… LINE!” And, in the Arts, teachers and students have made the most of learning in the virtual world. Whilst remote learning raises its own challenges, learning in the Arts subject areas has continued to be creative and engaging. From Year 7 to Year 12, students studying Dance, Drama, Music, Media, Photography and Visual Arts have been developing their skills in their chosen areas in ways that continue to foster creativity and imagination.

Dance has made use of the virtual world with Year 8 students learning basic skills. Students have learnt everything from turns to the moonwalk to the woah and used these moves to create their own solo performance piece.

Working remotely doesn’t mean you can’t collaborate across subjects. Senior Media and the Years 9/10 Dance classes are working together to create a music film clip! The dancers have been creating “random videos” for the Media students to use as stock footage. From running in the rain to dancing in the kitchen, the wide range of videos have certainly kept everyone entertained. This raw footage will be edited by the Media students to create a unique film clip and each clip will showcase something different to highlight the creativity involved in creating film.

Drama students have been creating performances at home including make sock puppets to tackle the ’great toilet paper crisis’! Year 7 students have shown their creative craft skills to make playful sock puppet characters, scary masks and even spotlights using their phones and a toilet paper roll. These props have been used in performances to showcase their voice and characterisation skills.

The 9/10 Photography and Media students have been exploring the technical aspects involved in film. Students have learnt about and explored the Foley artists technique for creating sounds in film. That’s right, everything you hear in a film is created! Students used household items to create the sounds involved scene. To replicate walking on gravel a bag of muesli was crunched; students snapped dry spaghetti and even explore how dripping water on different surfaces can sound like blood drops. 

The creativity continues in 9/10 Music with students working on a collaborative recording! Each student has chosen an instrument and a section of a song they wish to record. The next step is to record the sample using Garage Band and Miss Robinson works her producer magic to combine the individual tracks. The finished product? A polished music track that was created independently but sounds together.

Students have been exploring creating perspective through drawing and interactive activities in Visual Arts. They have learnt about linear perspective and creating a drawing of their bedroom that includes a vanishing point and one-point perspective. Art students have also created ‘life-size sketches’ of a scene with perspective, using coloured tape on an exterior surface, like a wall, to practice creating leading lines or vectors, scale and the illusion of depth in a scene.

These types of activities offer ways for students to engage with their learning in practical ways to foster critical and creative thought processes. The students continue to be challenged in their learning environments through the dedicated work of our Arts teachers. Congratulations to all – the creative results are exciting for the continuation of the Arts!

Mrs Sarah Smith
Leader of Learning and Wellbeing (The Arts, Van Thuan)

The Final Session - PEACE

At last, we were able to meet face to face, and take the group of aspiring leaders through the last session in the Leadership Discernment Program on Wednesday this week.

We analysed how Jesus Christ’s model of servant leadership, and made connections between him and leadership here at JPC. Students collaborated in a time-pressure activity, then analysed how they managed to keep their cool and work together effectively.

Our Peace Leaders, Emma Bramham and Olivia Mugridge shared their ideas on service in their roles and leading with humility, while the College Captains Caitlin Richards and Campbell Ellison outlined strategies they use to create a cohesive team and gave advice to the participants about their approach in 2022.

The next step is for our participants to apply for nomination in the election and should they be successful, each will present a speech to the school community next Tuesday just prior to the voting.

Each participant has grown in their understanding of what is expected in a leadership role here at JPC and has had the opportunity to self-reflect on what they might bring to that role. Their willingness and commitment to the process has been admirable, and we wish every candidate the very best in the election of the 2022 College Leaders.

Jennifer Tually and Chloe McCallum
Leaders of Learning and Wellbeing

REMINDER

Earlier in the year, students submitted preferences for elective subjects in 2022. Following an extensive process in setting the timetable, students have now been allocated to their four electives: two in Semester 1 and two in Semester 2. All students who submitted preferences have been allocated subjects from that preference list.

Students have been individually emailed with their electives. Given students, particularly in Year 8, may have had limited experience of some of their electives at the time of selection, students may request consideration for a change to one (1) elective in each semester; that is two (2) elective changes in total. These requests will be considered in light of other student requests received and changes will be made where matching requests can be accommodated. Requests to move an allocated elective to a different time slot will not be considered.

Students can indicate any request for change in the form that will be emailed to them. All requests must be emailed back by the end of the day on Friday 29 October 2021. No changes will be accepted after this date.

Given the administrative load in manually matching requests, it will not be possible to advise you of the success of the request prior to Term 1 2022.

Dr Ann Cleary
Assistant Principal

JPC Careers Updates

• Don’t forget that we have amazing resources on our JPC Careers website https://jpc-careers.com/
• Also follow us on our social pages to get more up to date information - @JPCcareers on Instagram and Facebook.
• You can contact Ms Zorzi at careers.jpc@cg.catholic.edu.au
• Work experience is unfortunately on pause at the moment. We will keep you updated when this changes.

School Leavers Employment Support – NDIS

Calling all school leavers with an NDIS plan, join us for an Information Session to learn about the SLES program! We will be going through how SLES can help you transition from school to work, the requirements and process for how to access SLES, and the components involved in the SLES Service. You can meet our friendly staff and decide if Afford SLES is the right fit for you!! Tuesday 2^nd November 3.30 pm.

https://www.eventbrite.com.au/e/afford-sles-info-session-tickets-186349505387

FREE holiday program for students interested in Electrical apprenticeships

Senior Blazers Available from Lowes from March 2022

Lowes will be stocking the Senior Blazer from 2022 and they are expected to be available in store from March 2022 ready for students to wear from Term 2 – which starts at the end of April.

Senior Blazers are a compulsory item for Term 2 & 3 and for all formal occasions (Awards Ceremonies, Mass/Liturgy etc.)

School Uniform Policy

Secondhand Blazers are available from the JPC Uniform shop or on the Facebook page JPC II - Uniform & Tech to You.

The College Office

Are you Leaving JPC at the end of 2021? 

If you know that your child will be leaving JPC at the end of this year, please complete the form below and email it to the college office (office.jpc@cg.catholic.edu.au) as soon as possible.

Year 10 & 12 families - There is no need to respond.

Thank you to those who have notified us already.

The College Office

Dear JPC Families,

If you have changed your residential/postal address, email address, telephone number or emergency contact details, please make sure you email the College Office so we can update your details.

Thank you

The College Office

Dedicated school buses and revised interim bus timetable
from Monday 25 October 2021

Transport Canberra’s dedicated school bus services will recommence on Monday 25 October 2021. This includes ‘S’ trips that divert into schools.

Timings have changed for dedicated school services and the regular timetable. We are strongly encouraging families to check their school pack and plan ahead.

Special Needs Transport continues to run for those families that need this service.

A range of COVID Safe measures are in place to help keep students safe on public transport. Please familiarise yourselves with these measures and talk to your children about them prior to the return to school.

From Monday 25 October 2021 buses will run to a revised interim timetable. This timetable is a similar frequency to the timetable that has been running over the past two months, but with some changes to timings to allow better connections for school students.

Light rail is continuing to run to its regular frequency but will see an increase in frequency from Monday 1 November 2021. This will assist with physical distancing on board. Customers will benefit from extended afternoon peak frequency on weekdays and increased frequency on Sunday mornings.

Consider walking or riding to school – or using a Part way point

Parents and carers may also consider alternative ways to get their children to school. If they live close by they can take advantage of the warmer spring weather and walk, ride or scoot to school! 

Part way points are also a great way to get some exercise into children’s days for families that live a little further away and this also helps to ease congestion around schools. Parents or carers can simply drop their child at a point, or park and walk the rest of the way with them.

Park safely and legally
All 40km/h school zones are in place between 8 am and 4 pm Monday to Friday. Speed limits in school zones are there to ensure the safety of children by allowing motorists extra time to stop in an unexpected situation.

Parking across pedestrian crossings, corners, verges and double parking can block kids from seeing the road.

School packs and timetable information

The revised interim timetables and school packs are now available online.

For enquiries, customers are encouraged to visit www.transport.act.gov.au or call 13 17 10.

Given the announcement of lockdown lifting as of today and organised sport to re-commence October 29, Cricket can now plan for the commencement of the season, starting November 5. With this, the season is now only 3 weeks away and we would love your help in promoting North Canberra Gungahlin Juniors.

Woolworths Cricket Blast (Ages 5-10)

Junior Blasters (Ages 5-7) - Learn the skills to play cricket through fun game-based activities (60 mins)

Master Blasters (Ages 7-10) - Play modified games of cricket in a fun and social setting (90 mins)

Junior Cricket (Girls & Boys)

Girls competitions (Ages 10-17) - A fun, welcoming and inclusive environment, everybody gets to bat, bowl & field, T20 matches with modified rules and formats, a league for girls to develop their skills and progress along their cricket pathway.

Boys competitions (Ages 10-17) - A fun, welcoming and inclusive environment, everybody gets to bat, bowl & field, short, action-packed games played in under two hours.

To register, head to www.playcricket.com.au and search North Canberra Gungahlin Junior Cricket Club. I have included a QR code below and attached it to this email. This links straight to the registration page.

If you would like any more information on Cricket Blast, Junior Cricket, or the club, please don’t hesitate to get in touch with the club.

Cricket looks forward to hopefully welcoming new cricketers this season and joining the North Canberra family!

Kind Regards,