Advent Wreath – 2^nd Sunday of Advent 

HOPE      FAITH           JOY                PEACE

Last Sunday, we lit the first candle of our Advent Wreath —the candle of HOPE. This Sunday we light the second candle, the candle of FAITH, or “Bethlehem Candle”, reminding us of Mary and Joseph’s commitment to their journey to Bethlehem.

GOSPEL FOR 2^ND SUNDAY OF ADVENT (5/12/21)

Mark 1: 1-8

As it is written in Isaiah the prophet:

Behold, I am sending my messenger ahead of you; he will prepare your way.

A voice of one crying out in the desert: “Prepare the way of the Lord, make straight his paths.”

John the Baptist appeared in the desert proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.

People of the whole Judean countryside and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem

were going out to him and were being baptized by him in the Jordan River as they acknowledged their sins. John was clothed in camel’s hair, with a leather belt around his waist. He fed on locusts and wild honey.

And this is what he proclaimed:

“One mightier than I is coming after me.

I am not worthy to stoop and loosen the thongs of his sandals.

I have baptized you with water;

he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.”

REFLECTION ON THE GOSPEL

In this Gospel, Mark introduces John the Baptist as the messenger of the Messiah, sent by God to prepare his path. John preaches a baptism of repentance and the forgiveness of sins in the desert by the River Jordan. The coming Messiah will baptise with the Holy Spirit. He is mightier than John or any of the prophets before him.

Let us prepare for Jesus' coming as John taught the people to prepare: with repentance for our sins, with welcoming hearts, with unselfish love, and with generosity for one another.

Mrs Jennifer Tually
Leader of Learning and Wellbeing (Mission and Ministry, Ferré House)

Hello JPC!

This week’s message from Mathieu House, is the last of our three-part series that gives you some insight into the new house logo that we’ve adopted this year. Special thanks to Mr Tony McArthur for sharing his deep knowledge and understanding of Latin to help us develop this part of our logo.

Part three is hidden in our commonly used version of the logo, however in the boarder of our complete logo we have three words that help define our house and our House Patron, Marie-Helene Mathieu.

They are:

• Fides
  • Latin term for Faith
  • Pronounced FEE- DAYS
• Veritas
• • Latin term for Truth
• Lux
  • Latin term for Light
  • Pronounced LOOKS

Each of these terms has been carefully selected and best represent our house.

Fides and Lux, represent Faith and Light which should be self-evident after reading parts 1 and 2 of our 3 part series and knowing the link between our House Parton and her work in establishing the Faith and Light Organisation. Identifies us as Catholic, faith filled, optimistic people whom value a growth mind-set in our learning Journey.

Veritas, meaning truth, is central to our values as we strive to tell the truth, always, even when it is hard and is also the previous name of our House from 2020 and makes up a significant part of our house identity.

I hope that you’ve enjoyed these brief dives into the background and development of our new logo and with the end of the year fast approaching it’ll be my last chance to wish you all a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.

We are looking forward to seeing you all next year and welcoming our new year 7’s to JPC and Mathieu House.

Mr Thomas and the Mathieu Staff

“You are the Light for the World” Luke 11:33-36

On Monday 29 November we celebrated the Year 10 Liturgy and Awards Ceremony. This assembly recognises the achievements of the Year 10 cohort with the students receiving their Year 10 Certificate.

The theme for the Liturgy came from the Gospel of Luke, which speaks to us about filling our hearts with light to shine for the world to see. Jesus reminds us that we are created to live lives that are full and rich and that we, in turn, must use our talents to bear the fruit of God’s love for us. 

We gathered to give thanks for this midway milestone in these students’ secondary educational journey - the Year 10 Certification.  

Students who have made significant contributions to the school community were also recognised in our perpetual awards and we would like to congratulate the following students for receiving these awards 

• Mackenzie Lane – Australian Catholic University (ACU) Growth Mindset Award
• Isaac Foster - Justice, Peace, Courage Award for Citizenship, Leadership and Community Service - sponsored by the Rotary Club of Gungahlin
• Wenting Huang – ADF Long Tan Youth Leadership and Teamwork Award
• Lachlan Harrop – Inaugural ADF Future Innovators Award
• Kian Cox – Inaugural Most Proficient Student in Mandarin – Donated by Australia China Friendship Society, ACT Branch Inc., a non-profit organization, whose aims are to promote friendship between the peoples of Australia and China

The end of the year always brings about sad farewells. For those students who are journeying to different shores, we wish them all the best in their future endeavours and we hope they look back with fondness on the people who have changed their life because they spent time with them – whether that be friends, staff or other inspirational people they encountered.

Catherine Rey
Principal

“I am with you always to the end of time.” Matthew 28:20

On Tuesday evening, our Year 12 Graduation Mass was held in celebration of our Year 12 students’ 13-year learning and spiritual journey through their schooling.

During the Mass, we revisited the Gospel of Luke, which formed the theme for our Opening Mass, and was also used as the Gospel theme for the Year 12 Retreat.

It is our hope that our Year 12s will carry Jesus’ words, “I am with you always to the end of time” with them as they leave our JPC community with our love and support.

It was a beautiful evening with the students receiving their JPC Graduating Certificate and many students also receiving recognition of their efforts through Growth Mindset Awards, Distinction and High Distinction awards.  There were also special awards that students received on the night.

Our congratulations go to the following students:

Academic Excellence Award

• Moira Nadjecki Academic Excellence Award: Cameron Cortes
• Moira Nadjecki Academic Excellence Award Runner Up: Amisha Sehgal

BSSS Recognition of Excellence Awards

(These awards will be presented at the BSSS Recognition of Excellence Ceremony on the 13 December, along with the Award for Academic Achievement (the top student designated by the BSSS)

• Excellence Award – Amisha Sehgal
• Vocational Studies Award – Adau Kuir
• Community Service Award – Emma Bramham
• The student who is the Dux of the College will be communicated to the College at the end of next week once all of the BSSS processes have been completed.

 JPC Perpetual Awards

• JPC Award for Justice – Hamzah Kerr (Sponsored by the Rotary Club of Gungahlin)
• JPC Award for Peace - Tia Morris
• JPC Award for Courage – Mia Bolton

Australian Defence Force Awards

• ADF Long Tan Youth Leadership and Teamwork Award Year 12 Award – Claire Brooker
• Inaugural ADF Future Innovators Award – Dariy Guzairov

 Congratulations Class of 2021!

Catherine Rey
Principal

Wednesday 1 December was a very special celebration with the Year 12 Formal held at the National Museum of Australia. It was an event that the Class of 2021, their parents/carers and staff celebrated in style as a fitting end to our student's high school journey.

Special mentions to Andrew Rose and the Front office team for creating and packing the table gifts for the students – a wonderful memento of the evening.

Particular thanks go to Natasha Bramham, our event coordinator extraordinaire, whose vision and oversight of the Formal was the inspiration for such a wonderful night. The fact that she was also the proud parent of Emma on the evening only added to the celebration.

Lastly, I would like to thank our wonderful Year 12 students who, true to form, enjoyed the evening with grace and style and truly made the night memorable. 

We thank them for all they have brought the College in their time with us and we wish them every blessing as they move into their post-school lives. 

(Photo Booth Images - Official images to come soon)

Catherine Rey
Principal

This semester 21 of our St John Paul II College students embarked on an Independent Project inquiry based journey. Students were given the task to develop an inquiry question to research, linking to two of their subject areas and to work through the inquiry approach to develop a deep understanding of their question. Although these students were challenged by not being able to meet with their Independent Project or subject teachers during remote learning, these students showed resilience, motivation and commitment to completing their project. Yesterday a special Independent Showcase was held at the College for students to show their work and to celebrate their achievements. These students projects were of excellent quality and it is a testament to their hard work and dedication to their learning. Below is a list of the students and their projects.

Congratulations!

Nic Whatman
Leader of Learning and Wellbeing

The Year 10 enrichment program concluded on Friday. The students were fabulous with participating in activities and shared openly in discussions. To complete the day, a sausage sizzle was held. Students then contributed to a wall display where they wrote goals and what that learnt over the 2 days!! We wish all year 10’s the best for 2022 and beyond.

Kelly Candy
Leader of Learning and Wellbeing (Drexel & Mathieu)

As part of the Enrichment Program that is running during the last weeks of school, the student has had a variety of activities in different areas of their learning.

Chinese Language Enrichment has given students an opportunity to make dumplings and create Anime pictures.

Mrs Sarah Lim
Chinese Language

All school reports will be emailed home next week and these will have the Grade results and teacher reflection on students’ learning attributes. For Year 11 Tertiary students, the scaled raw scores for Tertiary subjects, in addition to the grades, are available through each individual student’s BSSS Profile Online.  Students now have the information needed to help inform them about their subject selections moving into Year 12. It would be extremely helpful to us if current Year 11 students could now submit their subject preferences, indicating which subject they are dropping.  The Subject selection form is available on the Senior Moodle page.

Current Year 11 students will receive their first ATAR estimate next week.  This is an approximation, giving a range of potential ATAR values, using a simple average of current two semester unit scores. Students can still significantly impact their ATAR result (better or worse), depending on the individual application to their studies and the group performance in the AST.

Dr Ann Cleary
Assistant Principal

This week on the JPC Careers Instagram and Facebook we shared some of the Y12 Career Pathways for 2022. We wish them all the best for their future endeavours!

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

School Fees are now OVERDUE.

Fees are payable immediately.

Direct Debit/BPoint Payments - If you are currently paying by Direct Debit, or BPoint, your payments will continue to be processed into the new year, unless your child is not returning to the College.  

If your child is not returning in 2022, please advise the College as a matter of urgency.

Thank you

If you like supporting local theatre, then come see the play If I Could Save Her this December! Written and directed by JPC Teacher Shaylie Maskell (head director of Green Oak Theatre) and starring JPC Alumni Jeremy Chan and Amber Telford, the show is the latest original play to hit the Canberra theatre scene. We’re performing 6 shows from 16-19 December, perfect for an end-of-school celebration! Tickets available from $25 via https://www.trybooking.com/BRPOB. If you want to learn more about the show or company, check out www.greenoaktheatre.org.