Dear Parents and Carers,

Welcome back to Term 2! It has been wonderful to welcome back our students and staff, particularly with the easing of COVID restrictions. We look forward to a much more normal Term 2.

Our Opening Assembly

It was wonderful to hold an assembly for the beginning of term. Years 11 and 12 students participated in the theatre and the event was live-streamed to the rest of the students in their House areas. It finally gave us the opportunity to formally commission our College Leaders and present them with their badges. Father Mark officiated, blessing the badges and, leading our Student Leadership Team through their pledges and blessing, in turn, each group of leaders. We also commissioned all of our Year 12 students, who we see as significant leaders of the school, and our Year 11 House Captains.

As I said during the ceremony, our student leaders have not waited to be formally commissioned to take up their roles and contribute to the College. They were particularly active during Term 1 and their initiatives have had a great impact. We know they will continue to work with similar generosity and we are particularly grateful to them.

We also commemorated ANZAC Day during our Assembly. We were disappointed not to be able to welcome our Defence families to the ceremony as has become our tradition. Circumstances also meant that it was a less extensive event than we would normally have. Despite this, the ceremony was solemn and moving and our students participated with great respect as we remembered, prayed and observed the formal elements – the Ode, the Last Post, Minute of Silence and the Reveille.

I am delighted to announce that our new Defence School Mentor, Mrs Leisa Gough, will begin with us on Monday. She is very pleased to take up this role with us and will also work with the Holy Spirit community. She is looking forward to getting to know our students from Defence backgrounds and their families.

Staff Professional Learning Day

As a staff, we are very grateful for professional learning pupil-free days where we can concentrate on the continuous development of our knowledge and skills. Our day on Tuesday was particularly useful as we worked through more aspects of the CE Catalyst program. On Tuesday, the focus was on the structures, strategies and techniques needed to ensure that secondary students have the required reading skills to fully participate in the curriculum. Teachers also worked on developing consistent Scope and Sequences for each course incorporating the elements required for High Impact Teaching.

Enrolment Events

You will see the dates of key enrolment events in this week’s edition of Key Messages and the Enrolment Period officially begins next week. We are always very excited to welcome prospective families into our College and this year is particularly significant as we can finally do this in person. First off the rank is our Open Evening next Wednesday from 4.30 pm and the evening for the Senior College is the following Wednesday, also from 4.30. Rather than just a Senior College Information Evening, the senior evening has become a Senior College Expo, offering much broader information, including information on post-school options and opportunities. It is aimed at both Year 9 and Year 10 students and their families.

The Try High School Days for students in primary schools are also going ahead again and this is a joy for us. A reminder to families in our feeder primary schools that, if you have a student at JPC and are intending to enrol a sibling, it is most important that you apply during the enrolment period. When places are in high demand, it can become difficult to accommodate late applications.

As always, we look forward to working with you this term. Please do not hesitate to contact us if we can be of help.

Regards,

Catherine Rey

SPORT IS BACK for term 2!

We had our first sporting competitions of 2022 coming up in weeks 1 and 2 and they are shaping up to be lots of fun.

ASC Athletics took place on Tuesday 26^th April and was a great day, and a wonderful way to start the 2022 Sporting Calendar. Despite being a pupil free day and many students not able to attend, the students who did compete performed very well. Some have never competed in those events, others competed at our last athletics carnival in 2020, others are training athletes and have been working hard throughout the year. All students behaved impeccably, demonstrated excellent teamwork, flexibility and incredible JPC community spirit.

They should all be very proud of their efforts.

A a big thank you to the whole PE department for running training sessions last term and helping me organise logistics, as well as Mr Thomas and Mr Zuchetto who helped run the events on the day.

Full results can be found in link below

Australian Age Swimming Championships

Congratulations to Isabella Revell who competed at the 2022 Australian Age Swimming Championships in Adelaide this Easter break. She swam very close to her personal best and performed excellently for her first shot at Nationals. Great job Bella. (photos attached)

Junior Nationals - Hockey U15 Boys

Congratulations to the U15 Boys who competed at Junior Nationals for Hockey – Hugh Evans, James Taylor and Max Flynn.

After a fairly intense 10 week training lead up - two sessions a week at the National Hockey Centre with each Australian players Aaron Hopkins and Ben Taylor as their coaches - the ACT side acquitted itself extremely well against the larger states, most of who have enough depth and talent to easily field two strong teams at the nationals each year! Our JPC boys played really well competing against Qld, NSW and South Australia, Victoria Development, and Western Australia in their round games, winning 1 game. ACT boys had chances to win and the defeats were by a goal each time showing how tight and tough this level of tournament often a single goal can separate sides. They then went into ranking games at the back end of the tournament defeating both Northern Territory and the WA development team to finish 9th from the 12 teams competing. Hugh, James and Max were "senior" players in the team - being that they are at the top of this age division and move out of it next year - so all were called on to play leading roles throughout the tournament and all went very well.
(information from Jeremy Flynn, photos from Nicole Evans)

Australian Junior National Basketball

Jordan Jonathan represented the ACT at the Australian junior National Basketball tournament during the holidays. They had a positive start to the tournament winning against South Australia Country which was then followed by 4 tough games against teams like NSW Country, Victoria Metro and Queensland South, who ended up in the top 6 overall. Although they did secure their second win in the crossover game against Northern Territory it was followed with defeat against unfortunately Queensland north in the last playoff game. The ACT team finished 10^th Overall at the tournament despite each game being very close. A great performance well done.

Jordan said “Nationals this year was a great experience especially as I was one of the more experienced and older ones in the group this year due to others missing out because of Covid. We had a fun week on and off the court competing against the other states. Throughout the week it was great to see where ACT stands as a team and individuals against the best boys in Australia as well as having the opportunity to be broadcasted on the kayo sports streaming service.”

Australian Open Women's Country Championships

Georgia Ellison was selected in the ACT Women's team playing in the Australian Open Women's Country Championships this week and they’ve won their way into the Gold medal match tomorrow (Saturday 30 April). They’ll play NSW Blues at 2 pm.

Georgia has had a great tournament playing against some tough competition, even though, as a born 2005, she is the youngest year allowed to compete.

We wish Georgia and her team all the best for the Gold Medal match.

GOOD LUCK!

Have you ever seen a live music performance and wondered how the band sounds and looks so great??

It’s because of the production crew working behind the scenes!!

JPC’s production crew meet weekly after school on Tuesday afternoons for one hour. During this time, students learn how to setup, pack down and manage LIVE SOUND! Students learn safe practices around managing and running large scale PA systems, band setups, lighting and stage management. Our production crew members have been an integral part in the success of performances including co-curricular music concerts, dance and drama events, school masses, school tours and Floriade performances. A number of past members have also gone on to become professional production crew working at huge concerts and events in Sydney and Canberra.

If you are interested in getting involved, please follow the link below!

Expressions of Interest Co-Curricular: Rock Band, Unplugged, Concert Band, Vocal Group - Click here for the Extra-Curricular Music Program Form

Instrumental Music Lessons: Guitar, Bass, Piano, Vocals, Brass, Woodwind, Strings, Drums, Percussion - Click here for the Instrument Tuition Form

Further details about the music program at JPC are available here

Parish Newsletter

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

Elevate is an award-winning organisation that can support you with information about helping your children become more effective learners. We realise that these are challenging times. Your child’s ability to self-motivate, manage their time and prepare effectively will be a crucial factor in their success over this academic year.

Join an exclusive webinar series for parents about how to best support your child through school.

Scholarship Opportunity for teens with cancer

Going through cancer treatment is a major disruption in the lives of children and teenagers, and often causes setbacks in their skill development, education, and emotional wellbeing. The Dare to Dream Scholarship empowers teens to take back control of their lives, despite their diagnosis, and pursue a goal that’s important to them.  

What is a Dare to Dream Scholarship?

Each year, the Redkite and Coles Dare to Dream Scholarship offers up to $5,000 for teenagers who have been diagnosed with cancer so that they can pursue a dream or goal that’s important to them. It does not matter how big or small the goal is, what matters is their enthusiasm and commitment to achieve their goal.

These scholarships, generously supported by Coles, empower teenagers to take control of their lives and aim for the future they want.

Who is eligible to apply? 

Applications are open to teenagers aged 13-18 who have or have had cancer at any point in their life. They are welcome to apply each year as long as they are still within the age range and have not received the $5,000 scholarship the previous year.

What can the money be used for?

The scholarship can be used to purchase anything that may be needed to help applicants achieve their goal. For example, tutoring to catch up on school, personal training to re-build strength, cameras, computers, instruments, tools for artists, and accessibility equipment.

More information/how to apply 

Applications can be submitted here between Monday 2 May - Monday 13 June 2022. 

For more information, please visit our website: redkite.org.au/daretodream

About Redkite

Redkite is an organisation that supports children and teenagers (aged 0-18) diagnosed with cancer, their families, and their communities. We offer practical, financial, and emotional and mental health support from the time of diagnosis, throughout treatment, and after treatment ends.