Welcome families, careers and students to week 8 of Term 3,

YEAR 12 ACT Scaling Test (AST)

Congratulations to the Year 12 students on completing the AST (ACT Scaling Test). Over two days, the Year 12 ATAR seeking students have engaged in three exams consisting of a multiple-choice test, short answer response and a writing task. 

Thank you to all teaching staff, for their expert preparation of the cohort. It’s a journey that began in Year 7 and many staff have been involved in ensuring our students are well prepared for this component of the Year 12 ATAR seeking package.

The Year 12 students have demonstrated their dedication and maturity in their preparation and conduct in the AST and also in the AST preparation program. The AST is only one part of the two-year program, students will continue to complete their school-based assessment over the coming weeks. On behalf of the St John Paul College II community, I wish all Year 12 students the very best in their final term of school.

RUOK? Day is Thursday 8^th of September 2022

“It’s our national day of action when we remind Australians that every day is the day to ask, ‘are you OK?’ and start a meaningful conversation whenever they spot the signs that someone they care about might be struggling with life.” (RUOK?, 2022).

Here at JPC, staff were reminded at morning prayer that we do not need to be an expert in asking one another “Are you ok”? But it is that simple check-in’s that can make all the difference. Students have been asked in their mentoring session this week to reflect on the goals that they had developed at the start of the term. In this reflection, students were encouraged to reflect on the term and let their mentors know if they were OK and if not, how could their mentor assist. This included discussing/reflecting about Head, Heart, Hands and Spirit.

We can encourage our family, friends and work colleagues to find help and resources at:  www.ruok.org.au/findhelp

With spring now here and the flowers and trees in full bloom, I wish everyone a great week and enjoy the days becoming longer and warmer.

Jessica Stokman
Acting Assistant Principal - Learning

On Thursday the Senior Exercise Science and Sports Development classes visited the Brumbies HQ at UC and were given the opportunity to access and use some of the specialist equipment in a lab in the UCRISE building. The students completed Biomechanics investigations based around Force Summation, and Reaction force looking at soft and hard landings. They were also treated to a tour of the campus and had the opportunity to get a feel for university life. They learned a lot about biomechanics equipment, and the pathways available to be able to study Biomechanics at a university like UC. A huge thank you to Ceridwen who is currently studying a PHd in Biomechanics and was our host for the afternoon.

Danni Jewell
Teacher of Exercise Science

The Year 9/10 Photography class completed a Toy Photography Challenge this week as a little bit of fun after the submission of their first assessment. Taking inspiration from Pierre-Jacques Ober and his work with Little Soldier Stories (https://www.instagram.com/littlesoldierstories) they used a variety of toys as their subjects, to capture images demonstrating different composition rules and themes, including the rule of thirds, framing, focal point, and symmetry. The final products are very impressive, a huge credit to a great class of students, well done.

Annie Jones, Liam Poidomani, Max Flynn, Olivia Masters, Owen Hernandez Fino,
Riley Toms, Sean Morris, Sianna Pavier-Jones

Danni Jewell
Teacher of Photography and Media

Dear Parent’s/Carer’s,

This Semester our Parent/Student/Teacher Interviews will be taking place online in Teams Meetings. We will be running two sessions:

• Session 1 - Thursday 22^nd September 2022 4:00pm – 6:30pm
• Session 2 - Wednesday 12^th October 2022 4.00pm - 6.30pm

You need to book your appointments on the Parent Portal (Sentral) and this will be where you access your appointments on the day. You will also require your own access to Microsoft Teams, https://www.microsoft.com/en-au/microsoft-teams/log-in or you may choose to use that of your son or daughter. We always advise that your son or daughter is part of the discussion with teachers.

Interview bookings for both sessions will open on Monday 12^th September 2022 at 12:00 pm and close for Session 1 on Wednesday 21^st September 2022 at 12:00 pm and Session 2 Tuesday 11^th October 2022 at 12.00pm.

Interview bookings will be 5 minutes in duration. Please do not book your interviews back to back, leaving at least 5 minutes between each interview. If a teacher would particularly like to meet you to discuss your child, you will receive a notification through the portal that an interview has been requested. If you do not receive a notification, you are still very welcome to book an interview. However, please remember that the number of sessions available to all parents are limited. We encourage your son/daughter to attend the interview to enable them to discuss with both teachers and parent their progress.

The Teams links for your bookings will be provided to you through the Parent Portal attached to your Interviews Schedule.

If you are unable to secure a booking with your child’s teacher, please contact the teacher directly, via email to arrange another time to have a discussion.

Should you experience difficulties please do not hesitate to contact IT Support for assistance, email JPCPortal@cg.catholic.edu.au.

Kind Regards

Catherine Rey
Principal

Note – Instructions on how to access the Parent Portal (Sentral) and how to download MS TEAMS are available on the JPC Website under Key JPC Links (https://jpc.act.edu.au/key-jpc-links)

JPC has been contacted by members of the public regarding some unsafe cycling by our students.

We ask that students take care on the roads and be aware of their surroundings and oncoming traffic.

ACT Policing has the following information: 

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

I undertook this work experience as I wanted to get some experience before applying for a job, but also because it is Questacon and science is a passion of mine.

The work experience was extremely valuable, I learned how to interact with customers, like when they inquire about specific things, such as where to go etc. This was a learning curve! By the end of the work experience, you gain enough confidence to interact with visitors of Questacon and learn the best ways to interact with them, like asking them questions and letting them learn by themselves.

Everyone was very friendly and communicated respectfully. They used radios to communicate between floors so occasionally there are some miscommunications, like someone not being in the correct place during their shift. The majority of the workers there are university students, many doing science subjects, so I had time to ask them questions and ask for advice on specific things, like what subjects to take during college and what subjects they took.

It was great!

Key Dates:

• Wednesday 14 Sept – ACT Girls OzTag

• Thursday 8 Sept 12/U ACT Athletics Carnival (Woden)

• Tuesday 13 Sept 13/O ACT Athletics carnival (AIS)

Follow JPC.SPORT.ACT for all the current sporting information.

If you have any sporting news, email the college office.

Australian Cross Country Championships

On Saturday, August 27th, Daniel Randall, Yr 8 Kennedy and Cooper Minion, Yr 8 Maathai of JPC represented ACT at the Australian Cross Country Championships held at Oakbank Racecourse in Adelaide. Cooper Minion competed in the 13 years boys and came 79th place out of a field of 86. Daniel Randall competed in the 14 years boys and came 31st place out of a field of 60. The course was extremely muddy and difficult with tough competitors from New Zealand and each state and territory of Australia.

Congratulations to Daniel Randall and Cooper Minion for their achievements.

Australian Representative

Charlie Rae, Yr9 Maathai is currently away in Spain representing Australia in Futsal. We wish Charlie and his team all the best and we look forward to hearing about his trip.

Good Luck Charlie!

JPC Netball

A huge congratulations to the JPC netball teams that have made it through to the Grand Final this weekend. JPC Orbits and JPC Galaxy both won their preliminary Finals this past weekend and are out to take the trophies this weekend.

They would love your support if you are free to go and cheer them on. Both JPC Orbits and Galaxy play at 1:45 on Saturday 10 Sept at the Solar Hub Netball centre in Lyneham.

Goodluck Girls!

AFL Champions

Congratulations to Mackenzie Cowburn, Yr 9 Drexel, Alexandra Wilson, Yr9 Kennedy and Larissa Thomas, Yr 10 Van Thuan who were part of the winning team (Ainslie Tricolours) that won the AFL Canberra U16 girls' grand final. They were undefeated all season!

ACT U16 Boys Football

Congratulations to Tana Bvirakare, Yr 10 Maathai who has been selected to represent ACT U16 BOYS FOOTBALL CHAMPIONSHIPS in Sydney next week 12-16 September.

We wish Tana and his team all the best!

We do however have plenty of opportunities for our students to represent JPC at the school sports and ASC level. All competitions are advertised in the daily notices and signup sheets are on the gym windows. These activities are coordinated by the sports facilitator and staff volunteer. We also give students who are coaches, referees/umpires outside of school the opportunity to attend the excursion to assist the teachers with coaching etc.

If you are looking to put together a sports team or need extra players outside of school hours, please contact the college office and we can put a notice on our Sports Instagram page and in Key Messages. Please note that the school cannot be responsible for external sports, and the JPC school name cannot be used unless approved by the school. However, we certainly can promote community sporting clubs through the school. Any questions please contact the St John Paul II College Office with your inquiry.

Kind Regards

Nic Whatman
Assistant Principal – Wellbeing and Community

Gungahlin College has invited St John Paul II College Defence Members to attend the 2022 Monash Commemorative Service.

Please see the invitation below if you would like further details and serving members are able to wear their service medals if they wish.

Parish Newsletter

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

Now that the Gungahlin pool has reopened we are very excited to welcome new athletes and families to our sport.

Dragons Water Polo is having a Come and Try day on Saturday 17 September.