Year 10 News

It’s been a big couple of weeks for year 10 starting with their Retreat in week 8 which was split into 2 groups. Group 1 attended Retreat from Monday to Wednesday and group 2 Wednesday to Friday. Students were asked to give some feedback, they were asked to name 3 highlights of their Retreat. Here are some responses:

* Reconciliation/prayer teams, honouring night & letter to my future self

* The talent night, small group activities and the reconciliation

* Small groups, Leaders sharing their past experiences, and surprisingly found the honouring night a highlight of the trip.

* Getting to spend time away from my phone and with my friends, the talent quest and opening affirmations

* The Holy Spirit night, talent night and affirmations

So as you can see the responses were quite varied and it would be fair to stay that Retreat touched students in various ways. Oh and many students said the food was fantastic. In all I would have to say that this Retreat was the best experience I’ve had as a teacher of 24 years and it was due to the way the students contributed and how they allowed the Holy Spirit to enter their lives so openly. The success of the Retreat was also due to Mr Goswell’s organisation and support of the YMO’s and Retreat staff, so thank you for your efforts.

Curriculum Matters

When not at Retreat Yr 10 students were at school completing All My own Work (AMOW), learning job interview skills & how to write a resume. They also attended a live zoom session with Melissa McGuiness from You Choose Youth Driver Safety. Melissa tells the story of her deceased son’s car accident which killed 4 innocent people including himself. Students were clearly moved by her presentation. Thank you to Mr O’Connor for ensuring these activities and presentations ran successfully whilst I was at Retreat.

Last week on Monday students were involved in presentations from Ms Benten, Ms Genat, Ms Brown, Mr Hewitt, Ms McKelvie and our school counsellors Andrew and Denise. These presentations were aimed at preparing students for Yr 11 and the issues that senior study may bring. Students found them interesting and insightful and were grateful for the experienced staff input. 

Sporting Day and BBQ

On Friday we played a round robin of several sports such as Volleyball, Basketball and Dodgeball before having a BBQ lunch. We were supposed to head to Coffs creek for a swim however the inclement weather meant we had to turn to plan B and play more basketball in the hall. A good day was had by all and it was a good way to finish the year and farewell those students leaving SJPC. A big thank you to the homeroom staff for their support and for cooking the BBQ.