Secondary

Be a Good Egg This Easter

We cannot ignore the fact that there is as much slavery in the world today, as there was before, or perhaps more – said Pope Francis.

Can’t find slavery-free Easter eggs in your supermarket?

Ten years ago there was almost no slavery-free chocolate in our supermarkets in Australia. Now, because of public pressure and consumer demands, most supermarkets will sell some. 

There is now slavery-free chocolate available in so many places.

It tastes delicious and is no more expensive than other chocolate. Try your leading / local supermarkets.

Get on board!  When you go to your local supermarket, look for chocolate that has one of these three symbols. If you can’t find any, ask the manager if they stock any.

Australians spent around $210 million on Easter chocolate last year.

This year it will be about the same, or more. Companies will produce what we ask for. Please use your buying power and purchase slavery-free chocolate. You can make a difference to the world, and to the lives of the enslaved children who are forced to pick the cocoa beans used in a lot of chocolate.

Please buy and eat only slavery-free Easter eggs and chocolate this Easter and help change this tragedy.

French students celebrate La Chandeleur

On Monday 1 April, the Year 7 French students had a special cultural lesson to find out about the French celebration of La Chandeleur.

Students learnt about the early pagan origins of the festival up to it being declared a Christian religious event by the Pope in the Vth Century. Students discovered the origins and superstitions linked to the celebration before having a go at flipping crepes themselves and eating them! The Year 7s finished the class with some games to help us learn the key ingredients of crepes in French.

Many thanks to Madame Charly and Madame Leckey for this wonderful lesson and for making the French classes so much fun!

Shane Glass

Head of Learning Area (Languages)

Volunteers needed to help at the College Musical ‘Mary Poppins’ - 30 April to 4 May

At John XXIII College, our community of students, Alumni, family, parents and friends are a vital part of the success of so many of our College events and this generosity is truly appreciated.

The College Musical is one of the highlights of the school year and once again we are calling for volunteers to assist with the smooth running of this much-loved event.

This year’s musical will consist of six performances - running for five evenings from Tuesday 30 April to Saturday 4 May at 7:00pm with an additional matinee performance on Saturday 4 May at 2:00pm. We need several volunteers for each performance. You can volunteer for just one performance or several. We only ask that you do not volunteer for the performance you are attending, as we want you to enjoy the performance.

Volunteers are needed in two areas:

Front of House

We need two adult volunteers at each performance to cover the smooth running of our sales and ticketing. Volunteers will be responsible for selling any unsold seats at each performance and managing the attendance list. There will be a team of student volunteers to assist with ushering people to their seats.

For the evening performances, Front of House volunteering duties commence at 6:40pm and should be completed by 7:10pm. For the matinee performance, we would need volunteers from 1.40pm to 2.10pm.

Intermission

During intermission we serve a variety of snacks, and we run a bar and tea & coffee station. Six adult volunteers are needed for each performance to help with our hospitality service.

Intermission at the evening performance runs from about 8.15pm to 8.30pm, so we ask our volunteers to arrive by 8:00pm to help set up, and also stay on for a short while to help pack away at the end of intermission. For the matinee, volunteers should arrive by 3:00pm and will be done by 3.45pm approximately.

If you can help out at one or more of these performances, please respond to fomad@johnxxiii.edu.au with the following information:

• Your full name

• Mobile number and email address

• Date/s you are available to volunteer (please specify if you are volunteering for the Saturday matinee)

• Whether you wish to assist with Intermission, Front of House or both.

Kristin Serra

FOMAD Coordinator

John XXIII College Sustainability Scholarship

Kinia O’Brien (Class 2018) accepting her Sustainability Scholarship cheque from Mr Henderson on Friday. Kinia will begin her tertiary studies in Conservation and Wildlife Biology at Murdoch University in Semester 1 2020. We wish Kinia all the best and certainly look forward to hear further from her!

Politics and Law Guest Speaker

Year 12 Politics and Law students received a visit from the current Federal Minister for Human Services and Digital Transformation, Michael Keenan. Minister Keenan spoke about his life and position in politics while students were given an opportunity to ask a range of insightful questions. Students were eager to find out about Minister Kennan’s role while he was Minister Assisting the Prime Minister for Counter Terrorism and the interesting policies created. It was a memorable incursion for all students, particularly considering the current state of politics and looming federal election.

Morgan Ball

Politics and Law

House Volleyball

After five rounds of matches, the finals for House Volleyball were completed this week.  Most games were closely contested, with a number of the results being decided by one or two points. It was fantastic to see four different Houses represented in the play-off for 1st and 2nd. It was extremely close for the placings between 2nd and 6th, however St Louis House were dominant this year winning all three competitions with some excellent volleyball skills and teamwork on display. Well done to all students who represented their Houses and a special congratulations to the St Louis students. Thanks to Sport Captains Jamie and Michael for their efforts in organising the competition.

Results:

• Years 7/8                1st St Louis           2nd Koolyangarra
• Years 9/10             1st St Louis           2nd Campion
• Years 11/12          1st St Louis           2nd Loyola
• Overall                  1st St Louis           2nd Campion

Jodi Power and Tony Yates

House Sport Competition Coordinators

Maths Week

Secondary students have had a busy week celebrating Mathematics. From fun problem solving activities to the more formal Computational and Algorithmic Competition and lunchtime activities every day there has been an opportunity for every Secondary students to participate in some way. The excitement at Mingo on Thursday in the Pavilion lead by Mr Yates and Mr Gallagher and the quiet concentration of building Hanoi towers on the Chapel lawn provided a positive way to spend a lunch break. Budding Year 7 Mathematicians Maya Mintz and Xavier Gordon impressed the judges by their ability to quote the decimal places of Pi, and Mr Williams drew a huge crowd with his minty wrapper measuring. We finished the week off with the annual Interhouse Maths Week Grand Final where a representative from each Homeroom worked as a team in Houses to solve a list of Math puzzles, crack a code and open the lock to success.

Year 12 Coaching

The College has introduced a coaching program for our Year 12 students. Coaching is defined as ‘a process focused on developing a relationship between two parties that is future orientated for improved outcomes in a particular area.’ The program is designed to provide every Year 12 student with the opportunity to meet individually with an experienced teacher to discuss their overall academic progress. The meetings will focus on celebrating ‘successes’ and identifying goals for further improvement. Students will be coached through the process of goal setting, identifying and prioritising specific strategies, creating a timeline for implementation as well as the skill of self-reflection. The program is not designed to be course specific, rather to encourage students to review their overall academic progress and study habits. The aim of the program is facilitate student led conversations focused on improving their transferable skills and thus increase their academic achievement.

Further information and an overview of the logistics of the program will be provided to Year 12 students next week.

If you have any queries regarding the program please don’t hesitate to contact Mr Luke Bostelman, Year 12 Assistant Deputy Principal or me at the College.

Jessica Bouwman

Deputy Principal - Teaching and Learning

Interim Reports and Parent Teacher Student Interviews

Interim Reports were released to parents on Wednesday afternoon and are available for viewing in SEQTA. They provide parents with an indication of their child’s academic progress and work habits in each of their courses. They do not contain grades however they are a meaningful document to communicate valuable information. Parents would also have received an email outlining how to book for the Parent Teacher Student Interviews scheduled for Wednesday 10 April 3:30-7:00pm and Friday 12 April 9:00am- 3:00pm. Interviews are to be booked via PTO which is available on the College website http://www.johnxxiii.edu.au/view/events-online-bookings/events-online. All Secondary interviews will be held in the St Louis Sports Centre.