Secondary

Dear Families 

The pursuit of happiness is one that humans have been working toward since the beginning of time. Living the good life, flourishing, joy, purpose and connection are words that come to mind with happiness. However, given our chaotic and uncertain world and our innate propensity as humans to dwell on the negatives, it takes intentional effort to establish the grounds for happiness and a strong sense of wellbeing.   

Whilst initiatives such as next week’s RUOK? Day has become important to highlight the imperative of supporting each other’s mental health, nurturing student and staff wellbeing is an ongoing priority across the College, with many and varied programs and initiatives to promote the physical, emotional, spiritual and social wellbeing of our community.  

Wellbeing at John XXIII College is based on the Ignatian virtue of Cura Personalis: the care of the whole person as a unique child of God. Positive education, the combination of traditional education principles with the scientific theory of wellbeing using the PERMAH model and character strengths, works hand-in-hand with Cura Personalis in the pursuit of developing a thriving College community. 

The following video provides an overview of the objectives of Positive Education: 

Developed by Martin Seligman, founder of the field of positive psychology, the PERMAH model is a framework for wellbeing that outlines the characteristics of a flourishing individual through:

A strategic objective of the College this year has been to develop a whole College Wellbeing Framework as part of the delivery of a contemporary wellbeing program for the College community. Work to date on this project has been to map programs and activities across the College to better understand existing initiatives and determine future wellbeing opportunities. Consultation with students, staff and parents has been an important part of this process and will continue to be so as we finalise the Framework towards the end of the year. 

From this mapping, it is clear that evidence-based wellbeing initiatives to develop connections between staff and students, positive peer relationships, social and emotional awareness, resilience skills and protective behaviours are woven through the Secondary school experience. Below is an example of some of the current activities and programs in place to enhance student wellbeing: 

• Weekly practice of the Examen, the Ignatian prayer of reflection on the events of the week and where God has been in those events; 
• Wellbeing programs delivered through Homeroom and year group forums; 
• Specialist programs such as Teen Mental Health First Aid, delivered this term to all Year 8 students, Paul Dillon’s drug and alcohol awareness presentations, the Year 10 respectful relationships program, which will be conducted in Term 4 and YSafe’s digital literacy and safety program for students in Years 7 to 9; 
• Socials that provide opportunities for students to connect with their peers outside the classroom and have fun together in a supervised, social setting; 
• House activities to build connection with the story of our founders, facilitate service learning and competitive spirit across sporting, cultural and academic domains of College life; 
• Reflection days to nurture students’ spirituality and faith journey; 
• Subject-specific weeks, such as this week’s Technologies Week, to promote the love of learning and provide students with engagement opportunities to showcase their accomplishments and achievements; 
• The Magis program to provide extension opportunities for students in their academic pursuits; 
• A variety of co-curricular activities, including our sports program, to engage students in their area of interest and passion, as well as develop essential skills of teamwork, sportsmanship and commitment.

Wellbeing at the College is seen as improvable, measurable and visible. Yesterday, Secondary students completed the Assessing Wellbeing in Schools (AWE) survey as part of our longitudinal tracking of student wellbeing, engagement and happiness at school. Results will be shared with the community and will be used to inform the need for specific responses and the evolution of wellbeing initiatives. 

RUOK? Day is next Thursday, 14 September. Staff and students will engage in activities throughout the week to raise awareness of the importance of meaningfully connecting with the people around them and to start a conversation with those in their world who may be struggling. Whilst our young people are not expected to be the primary support people for friends experiencing challenges, by following the RUOK? steps below, they can start a conversation that could make a significant difference to a friend or a peer:  

1. Ask R U OK? 
2. Listen
3. Encourage action: seek help from an adult or use known strategies as healthy coping skills
4. Check-in

In preparation for next week, Year 7 students have been addressing RUOK? strategies in Health classes, Year 8 students have recently completed Teen Mental Health First Aid training, and Year 9 students have been designing activities for all students to participate in to raise awareness of supporting friends and peers with life’s challenges. A big thank you to Charley Laver, Wellbeing Captain, College Psychologist, Eva-Maria Catina and College Counsellor, Elise Svanberg, for their coordination of activities for students to engage with on Thursday. 

Students are encouraged to wear yellow accessories on Thursday in recognition of the day. More information on RUOK? Day can be found on the organisation’s website: A conversation could change a life | R U OK?

All the best to our rowers for the House Regatta and our Netballers for their finals tomorrow. Also, to our ACC athletes for the Interschool A-Division Carnival next week. After a committed training season, they are aiming for first place, and we wish them every success. 

Term 3 Key Dates 

Shani Andrews

Vice Principal - Head of Secondary

Join us for a morning of community gardening! 

Get your hands dirty for a great cause at John XXIII College's second community gardening session of the year! 

• Date: Saturday, 9 September 2023
• Time: 8:00am - 9:30am
• Meeting Point: B8 Science Garden, John XXIII College

We will be planting native trees and shrubs and doing weeding and maintenance around some of the plants we planted previously.

Governor’s Prayer Breakfast

The Governor’s Prayer Breakfast is an annual event where state leaders join the community in fellowship and prayer for Western Australia, displaying unity across the denominations. Year 11 students, Jacinta Douglas and Jacob Davila, led the 1400 members this morning in prayer.

The speakers at the event were His Excellency the Honourable Chris Dawson APM and John Wielard.

Janeen Murphy

Deputy Principal - Faith & Mission

Technologies Week

This week we celebrated the amazing work of the staff and students in the Technologies Department.  Projects in woodwork, engineering, digital technologies, foods, and textiles were showcased in the expo in the Ignatius Centre.  The Year 11 and 12 Hospitality students made sweet treats for the staff to welcome them to the showcase and provided sliders for lunch in the new staffroom.  During lunchtimes, the Foods teachers made Bubble Tea, and the Wood Technologies teachers ran a short course on making acrylic keychains. In Digital Technologies, students competed in the BEBRAS Computational Thinking Competition.  The Textiles teachers hosted a student design challenge to create a felted heart ornament, and the week concluded with a demonstration from the First Robotics Team from Curtin University.

As the end of term is approaching, we look forward to introducing some new projects for next year and seeing many more amazing student designs as the department continues to grow. 

Anna Davila

Head of Learning - Technologies

In Your Head Zero to Hero Conference

Semester 2 Homeroom Leaders from Years 7 and 8 attended the 2023 'In Your Head' Conference at the Perth Convention Centre on 6 September. The conference was hosted by 'Zero 2 Hero', a charitable organisation founded to improve young people’s mental health and wellbeing, and ultimately prevent suicide in Australia.

Key-note speakers included Prof Pat McGory AO, Joel Jackson and Ashlee Harrison. Highlights for the students were the breakout sessions, including management practices for poor mental health prevention, dancing and yoga.

The leaders aim to incorporate some of their own prevention strategies into Wellbeing Wednesday for students next term.

Thank you to Mr James McLaughlin and Mr Cameron Haines for accompanying the students on the day.

Year 7 Social 

On Monday, the Year 7 cohort visited Rollerzone Malaga for their social. In a different format from previous years, the students had a great time roller skating and rollerblading. It was fantastic to see everyone having a go and enjoying each other’s company. Although there were a few tumbles, the students bounced back up with a big smile, and someone was there to give them a hand. Thank you to the staff and Year 12 students who assisted in making it a great afternoon.  

James McLaughlin 

Assistant Deputy Principal Year 7 

Year 8 Bush Dance

On Wednesday this week, Year 8 students participated in some boot stomping, partner swinging fun for the annual Year 8 Bush Dance social.

Despite the students taking some time to warm-up, the experience of the Mucky-Duck Bush Band prevailed, and students were soon having a great time. A big thank you must go to the wonderful logistics, media and AV teams behind the scenes. The Year 12 SRC students headed by Kaia Prosper and Anna Walsh were outstanding role models and facilitators of fun. A big thank you to the Year 8 Homeroom Teachers: Alison O'Connor, Catriona Woodall, Joseph Shaw, Mia Van Kann, Robert Di Giallonardo, Serena Percudani and also Jane Hedley who volunteered her time to support us enjoy a fun night.

Cameron Haines 

Assistant Deputy Principal – Year 8 

Homeroom Art Challenge

After scrutinizing deliberation, the 2023 Homeroom Art Challenge winners have been selected. Many of the entries were of a high standard, but the final selection came down to those that effectively addressed the criteria.

• 1st Place: Campion 9
• 2nd Place: Loyola 9
• 3rd Place: St Louis 7
• Highly Commended: Campion 12, Loreto10 and Koolyangarra 9

House points have been awarded to our winners and Homerooms who participated in the Challenge. This has enabled us to rank the Houses overall to determine a winning house, highlighting the importance of Homeroom participation. Congratulations to…

1st Place- Loreto (62 points)

• Loyola (50 points)
• Campion (47 points)
• St Louis (45 points)
• Koolyangarra (32 points)
• Ward (30 points)

Kiri Moore

Visual Arts Coordinator   

Nihon no bunka o tanoshindeimasu: Enjoying Japanese Culture

Year 7 Japanese ‘hackimaki’

Recently, Year 7 Japanese students designed and decorated a personalised ‘hachimaki’ sweatband to wear whilst competing in the Il Giro d’Italia.

A ‘hachimaki’ is a stylised headband in Japanese culture, usually made of red or white cloth. They are worn as a symbol of effort or courage by the wearer, especially by those in the military, or to simply keep sweat off one’s face. Words such as ‘the best’, ‘courage’, ‘success’,’ warrior’ and ‘winner’ are often written across the forehead part of the headband to make the wearer focus on triumphing in the endeavour they are undertaking.

Year 7 classes were very loud and colourful, cheering on their teammates with their creatively designed ’hachimaki’ wrapped around their heads on the day.

Year 8 Japanese karate experience

Year 8 Japanese students have recently completed the topic on ‘hobbies and sport’ which also involves discussing traditional sports in Japan. This week they were involved in a karate lesson by instructor Matt Krouzecky. 

Karate is a traditional Japanese martial art that focuses on striking techniques using various parts of the body, primarily the hands and feet. The craft of karate encompasses a wide range of techniques, principles, and philosophies. 

Year 9 Japanese bento boxes

Both Year 9 Japanese classes had the opportunity to create bento boxes from scratch with Aghdasi Sensei. 

A bento box is a Japanese meal concept that features a compartmentalised box containing various small portions of food, providing a balanced and visually appealing meal. It typically includes rice, proteins, vegetables, and pickled items, carefully arranged to create a harmonious and nutritious meal. 

As is customary in Japan, the Year 9s all commenced the meal saying itadakimasu, ate with chopsticks and finished with “gochisou sama deshita. Congratulations to all the Japanese students on their excellent culinary skills and fine behaviour. 

Thank you to Aghdasi Sensei and Fukumoto Sensei for providing these culturally enriching experiences to the Japanese students. 

Melissa Polizzi

Head of Learning Area - Languages

SPORTS

ACC A-Division Athletics Team

On Wednesday, 13 September, our athletics team will compete in the 2023 ACC A-Division Athletics Carnival. Our team has the extraordinary task of taking on the rest of the A Division schools for the fourth consecutive year. On paper, we believe our team has what it takes to ensure a real battle for the champion school.

Our team had a full squad training session at HBF stadium on Friday last week, which was a huge success and provided an invaluable experience for all members.

The ACC A-Division Athletics Carnival is set to be an exciting day, and we could not feel more ready for this challenge. The spirit amongst all members is incredibly strong, and we know we will give our absolute best and can’t wait to see what the team can achieve on the big day.

Link to ACC Athletics Live Stream: https://streamer.com.au/club/accwa/event/acc-athletics-a-division

Let’s go JTC!!!

Athletics Training and Team Dinner

On Monday, 11 September, our ACC A Division Athletics team will gather for a team dinner to celebrate a wonderful season of athletics. Please find all the details below:

When:                Monday 11 September

Time:                  3:30 - 4:30 pm: Training

                             5:00 - 6:15 pm: Team Dinner

Where:               Training on College ovals, followed by dinner in the Thomas More                                                Exhibition Center (TMEC)

Registration:     Please confirm your attendance via this link. 

Year 9/10 Water Polo

Well done to all students who trialed for our water polo teams this week. Teams will be announced in the notices early next week. 

Competition Dates

• Boys:     Wednesday 20 September
• Girls:     Thursday 21 September

Thank you to our coaches, Miss Power and Mr Morris, for all their efforts in preparing our teams.  

ACC Inclusive Athletics Carnival

Mary Ward Secondary students participated in the ACC Inclusive Athletics Carnival today. Congratulations to Luc and Georgia, who both received medals for their races! We were also fortunate enough to be joined by Ella Pardy. Ella is a Para Olympian who represents Australia in track events. A wonderful day was had by all the students and staff!

State Sporting Representation

Any students representing their state this year are encouraged to complete the form below. Next term, this information will be used when we create our special State Sporting Representation video.

Congratulations

Congratulations to Grace Czajko in Year 7, who achieved personal bests in all 10 events in last weekend’s WA Junior State Swimming Championships. In addition, Grace finished with one gold, two silver and two bronze medals. Well done, Grace!

Congratulations to Angie Smythe for her selection to represent the Seychelles in the 2023 Indian Ocean Island Games. Angie competed in seven individual events and made finals for all but one, including a bronze medal in the women’s 400m Individual Medley. She was also a member of the Seychelles 4x100m women’s medley relay, where the team finished 4th.

Congratulations, Jake Scott, Year 8!  What an incredible experience at the Surfing Australia High Performance Centre! Being coached and mentored by legends like Mark Richards and Chelsea Hedges is a dream come true. Keep riding those waves of success! 

Sara Kononen

Head of Sport