14 August 2020 - Newsletter (Vol 37 No 13)
The Feast of the Assumption
August 15 is one of the greatest feast days in the calendar of the Catholic Church, celebrating the Church's belief that at the end of her life on earth, the Virgin Mother of God was taken up, body and soul, into Heaven, where she is Mother of the Church as well as the Mother of God.
At SJPC, Mary holds a significant place in our story. Pope Saint John Paul II devoted much of his prayer life to Mary and our College crest bears the letter ‘M’ to signify the important role of Mary in the Church.
There exists much conjecture around the story of Mary’s death and subsequent burial. What was clear from the beginning was that there were no relics of Mary to be venerated, and that an empty tomb stood on the edge of Jerusalem near the site of her death. That location soon became a place of pilgrimage. (Today, the Benedictine Abbey of the Dormition of Mary stands on the spot.)
The "Memory of Mary" was marked only in Palestine, but was then extended by the emperor to all the churches of the East. In the 1600’s, it began to be celebrated in Rome under the title of the "Falling Asleep" ("Dormitio") of the Mother of God.
Soon the name was changed to the "Assumption of Mary," since there was more to the feast than her dying. It also proclaimed that she had been taken up, body and soul, into heaven.
Feast days of the Church are not just the commemoration of historical events which focus on the past. They look to the present and to the future and give us an insight into our own relationship with God. The Assumption looks to eternity and gives us hope that we, too, will follow Our Lady when our life is ended.
As we approach the Trial HSC exams next week, I ask you to join me in offering our prayers and intentions through Mary for all our senior students in the College.
PRINCIPAL APPRAISAL – 17th September
Every five years, Principals undergo an appraisal as part of our contract of employment. Can I please draw your attention to the following letter outlining the process and encourage you to be involved.
Michael Carniato
Principal
Saturday 15 August is the Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, a very special day on the Church calendar.
I wonder what a very young Mary was thinking when God informed her of the Mission that he had planned for her? She was very fortunate to have the strength of faith on which she could rely. “The Virgin Mary led a life troubled by cares, hardships and sorrows” (Missionaries of Divine Revelation). Mary was at the Incarnation, Birth, First Public Miracle (John 2: 1-11) Crucifixion and Resurrection of Jesus. She helped guide Jesus through his formative years as he began his Mission here on Earth. Like any parent, Mary was worried when Jesus went missing in Jerusalem (Luke 2:41-52), and we can only imagine the feeling of witnessing the final days of his life here on Earth (Luke 22 & 23). What strength we can take from Mary and the way she conducted herself?
Pope Francis encourages us all to take up the Mission of the Church. How does this message sit with you? How can you be a witness to the faith? What does the term servant leadership mean to you? Maybe I can promote human dignity among the marginalised of our society in the name of Jesus Christ. Or I often go out of my way to care for someone at school, not just because it is the right thing to do but rather it is something required of me if we are to live by the greatest commandment (Luke 27) “‘You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your strength, and all your mind.’ And, ‘Love your neighbour as yourself.’” Or I display my commitment to maintaining a sustainable natural environment by recycling, saving water and questioning practices by our local government in this area (Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace, 2005 no.466). Just to name a few.
Mary is someone who intercedes to the Father for us through prayer. Next time you pray, spend some time speaking to Mary, take your concerns and celebrations and ask her to work with God in making you the best person you can possibly be.
Until next time:
“I am a mission on this Earth; that is the reason why I am here in this world” (Evangelii Gaudium, 273).
Assistant Principal - Mission
Staff and Student Wellbeing
Attendance Requirements
The NSW Government requires that all children from the age of 6 are legally required to attend school or be registered for Home Schooling.
Once enrolled, children are required to attend school each day it is open for students.
Arriving at school and class on time is important because it:
- ensures that students do not miss out on important learning activities scheduled early in the day
- helps students learn the importance of punctuality and routine
- gives students time to greet their friends before class
- reduces classroom disruption
Lateness is recorded as a partial absence and must be explained by parents.
On occasion, a student may need to be absent from school. Justified reasons for student absences may include:
- being sick, or having an infectious disease
- having an unavoidable medical appointment
- exceptional or urgent family circumstance (e.g. attending a funeral)
Following an absence from school, parents must ensure that within 7 days they provide the College with a verbal or written explanation for the absence.
Absences due to COVID-19 testing
Students who are required to quarantine due to recent visits to Victoria need to be marked with “Flexible - Offsite Learning”. This type of absence will be used for students who are absent due to being tested for COVID-19, or awaiting the results of the test. Students require a Doctor’s certificate if they are advised to stay at home for compromised health conditions for themselves or a member of their household. Students who do not provide a Doctor’s certificate will be considered “Absent Explained Unjustified.”
Parents collecting students during School hours
A request for all families who are contacting the College to collect their children for appointments. Please provide your child with a note or email the College before school, recess or lunch where an Early Leave Pass will be issued. A phone call is not accepted for an Early Leave Pass.
For unforeseen appointments, please allow time for our Administration staff to contact class teachers and for students to make their way to the College office.
During sporting days, making contact with your child who has left the College grounds to attend sport can prove difficult to arrange an early leave pass. Your patience and understanding is appreciated.
Stage 6 Subject Selections (Yr 10 into Yr 11 2021)
This week, the College sent a letter home to all Year 10 families to inform them that due to COVID-19 restrictions parents are not permitted on site for large functions such as the Year 10 interviews.
As a result, the College has modified this process to now include a Confirmation and Reflection Pack, to be sent home with students in Week 6.
HSC Trial Examinations
Year 12 begin their HSC Trial Examination block this week and will continue over the next two weeks. Below are some study skills links that can help students with exam preparation techniques, motivation and stress management.
In addition, all staff have been given a prayer card with a nominated Year 12 student. Our staff will pray for our Year 12s as they progress through the examination period and let them know they are a valued part of the SJPC community.
Study Skills:
Visit www.studyskillshandbook.com.au to learn more about how you can make your life easier by being a more effective and efficient learner:
Username: stjohnpaul
Password: 89success
In addition, our subscription to Elevate Education may assist in this area.
This online platform contains resources and useful study tips that all SJPC students will find effective. We encourage them to access this Student Portal and try some of the strategies. Students have the password to this site. The password can also be found on the Curriculum Noticeboard.
James Furey
Assistant Principal
Learning and Teaching
Staff of St John Paul College have created a shared folder for prayers. These prayers will assist with personal prayer for staff and prayer for students in the classroom. If any of our college families would like access to some of these prayers, please contact me via email - brendan.goswell@lism.catholic.edu.au
As the Year 12 students prepare for their Retreat, SJPC Day, fundraising and Graduation Ceremony later this term, we would appreciate the collective prayers of our college community. Please keep our staff and students in your prayers, especially in the coming weeks.
Week 4 of Term 3 marks the start of the Year 12 Trial examinations.
Drama and Music completed their performance examinations this week, which were highly modified to ensure COVID-19 Health Guidelines, and the realigned NESA requirements for performances and content were met. The staff and students have been amazing in their ability to adapt to these restrictions and are to be congratulated for their resilience, positive attitude and hard work.
All written Trial examinations will be conducted at the College over Weeks 5 and 6. Rest assured that they will operate according to the Australian Health Protection Principal Committee Guidelines (AHPPC) and CSO advice for reducing the risk of transmission in schools. If any students sitting for Trial exams is exhibiting any symptoms they are to stay at home and then get tested. The usual illness and misadventure protocols will apply, and students must contact the College on the day.
As usual, scheduled classes will not run during this two week examination block. Students may come and study in the library, but must ensure they are in full school uniform if on campus. Many have benefited from the extended Homework centre hours this week and the help offered by staff during these sessions. A big thank you to Mr Coster and all other staff members who have spent time away from their families to help the Year 12 students to prepare for their examinations.
It has been an exciting week as Year 8 students have been lodging their Elective preferences to the Curriculum Office. It has been wonderful to witness their enthusiasm, and for some, a little trepidation regarding their Stage 5 choices.
Thank you to all parents and families for your part in supporting your children, our students, during this busy and challenging time.
Claudia Brown
Leader of Curriculum
Whole School Approach to Improving Literacy
Last Friday our staff participated in professional learning to support our whole school approach to improving literacy, which is one of our 4 school goals for 2020.
As part of this whole school initiative we have developed a program called ‘Literacy M8’s’. This program covers 8 metacognition strategies:
- Skimming, scanning & summarising
- Questioning
- Predicting
- Visualising
- Making connections
- Self-monitoring
- Inferring
- Synthesising
Using metacognitive strategies helps students to "think about their thinking" before, during, and after they read. Studies have found that students' reading comprehension does not improve by just reading more text. However, if students utilise even one of the strategies listed above, for example summarising, comprehension improves. Furthermore, if students are able to select from a range of strategies and use before, during or after reading, comprehension can be greatly enhanced.
The first 2 strategies were introduced earlier in the year and have been a focus across the school in Term 2. Last week we focused on the third strategy – Predicting.
Leanne Gennat
Leader of Pedagogy
Year 12
Good Luck Year 12, You don’t need it!
I sit in the Library at 7:34pm writing this week's newsletter item regarding Year 12 and their ‘adventures’. It’s senior study evenings and there are still around 35 students reading, watching, listening, conversing, drawing on whiteboards and most importantly - enjoying each other's company.
With Trial exams on the horizon, they're here to take advantage of the time left to further learn about and understand that math formula, english text or chemistry theory again, and enjoy some free lasagna and garlic bread for dinner (kindly donated by Piper Simpson’s family). With questions like ‘can we sleep here tonight’ and ‘wow, I’ve always wanted to eat in the staffroom’ our seniors have enjoyed the opportunity to study and also have the support of many of the teachers here at the College as well over these three nights.
I spoke with Year 12 at the beginning of the week about Matthew’s reading from Sunday’s Gospel where Jesus and Peter walked across the sea. After a while, Peter started to sink when the storm rose and he started to lose faith and become frightened, to which Jesus took his hand and said to him ‘‘Man of little faith,’ he said ‘why did you doubt?’ and then with this encouragement of Faith, they then got safely back to the boat.
This story highlights the importance that in preparation for the upcoming exams, students should have faith not only in Jesus, but also in themselves and their abilities if they wish to truly be not afraid of what is ahead. By the time they reach the exams they will have done all that they can and should feel confident in knowing that and that this is what will make them stronger.
With Leadership a focus across the College at the moment with SRC and school leader nominations occuring, I reached out to several professional sporting organisations over the past month to try and find inspiration to include Year 12 in these topics (as they don’t participate in voting etc). Fortunately, we were lucky enough to share two experiences that I hope will be beneficial in the development of the leadership abilities in our students. Penrith Panther's Head Coach, Ivan Cleary, responded to a list of questions and sent through his recorded answers to the students. The students were able to watch as Ivan discussed how leadership is important in his club.
Also most excitingly, on Wednesday, Keegan, Molly and Joe from Year 12 were able to conduct a live Zoom interview (watched by the students) with the Head Coach of the Newcastle Knights - Adam O’Brien. This was a fantastic opportunity to listen to Adam speak about the challenges faced by his club, players and himself over the past year and also discuss his attitudes and philosophies on leadership and what it means to him.
Year 12 would like to thank both organisations for giving up their time and recordings of both will be available via our social media platforms via our College YouTube channel.
Year 12 would also like to send a massive shout out to Paul and the crew at Newcombe’s Coach Lines for their support of fundraising activities. Although not able to sponsor the Trivia Night because of its cancellation, they have generously offered to still contribute to this year's efforts - thank you!
In conclusion, despite the title of this article, GOOD LUCK Year 12 with your upcoming exams and remember as Adam O’Brien said, “The harder you work, the luckier you’ll be”.
Mark Coster
Year 12 Coordinator
Year 9 and 10
The sport options for Term 4 were emailed to parents and students this week. If you have not received this email, please contact the College.
Selections will open Sunday 16 August and remain open until Wednesday 19 August 9am. An email has been sent to students with the link and log in pin to access the selection process. Please think carefully about the sport selected, what friends are doing and what works for your family. The result of not selecting wisely is that other students miss out on a sport they really want to do.
Permission notes and payment for sports will be in the form of ONE note and will be sent home during Week 6. Payment and the return of the note is due to the College no later than Friday 11 September (regardless of how you decide to pay). On campus, non-paying sports will not be receiving a note and are not required to do anything further once a sport is selected. Absolutely NO CHANGES will occur after Week 9. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact the College.
Olympic Change-Maker
The Australian Olympic Change-Maker program recognises and rewards students who are demonstrating the Olympic spirit through leadership and driving positive change in their communities. Through a self nomination process, we have selected one student to be nominated as the SJPC Olympic Change Maker for 2020.
Thank you to all the students who nominated this year but who were unsuccessful. I encourage you to consider nominating again next year as the candidates were very strong and the decision was extremely difficult. The winner will be announced at the Year 12 Awards at the end of the term.
Coming up -
16 August - 9 & 10 Sport selections for Term 4 open
19 August - 9 & 10 Sport selections close
28 August - Permission and payment note sent home to paying sports
11 September - Permission and payment notes due to the College
18 September - No changes to any sports for Term 4 will be made after this date
Danielle McAra
Leader of Learning - Sport
Term 3 has seen some exciting developments in the area of Vocational Education and Training at St John Paul College. We have seen the opening of the Screaming Beans Coffee Van which is being used to train our current Year 12 cohort of Hospitality students in preparing and serving espresso coffee. This is a fantastic opportunity for our students to experience a real world and busy work environment and has been very popular with both students and staff. The VET team has welcomed an addition to our staff in Emily Busby who has been employed as a barista in the van to give our students an authentic industry experience.
The Screaming Beans van has also given our Year 11 Business Services Students an opportunity to assist in the marketing of the coffee van which they have enjoyed thoroughly. They have been busy creating administrative resources to support the van. Some of them have also been showing their creative side in the production of marketing materials and signage for the project.
Jo-Anne Benten
Leader of Learning - VET
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