Secondary

Dear Families 

At yesterday’s Secondary Assembly, 2024 College Captain candidates presented their aspirations and insights in response to the following statement: What does it mean to be a leader following in the Ignatian tradition? For the first time, to increase the participation of younger students in the Student Representative Council leadership process, prospective College Captains addressed all Secondary staff and students. Their speeches were authentic and passionate, sharing powerful messages on the essence of servant leadership and how, to be a leader at John XXIII College, one must always give their best and strive to achieve the best for others. What impressive role models they, and other students who have nominated for a formal leadership role in 2024 have been for their peers. By putting themselves forward to serve others and be a positive influence in our community, they have chosen courage over comfort. While not all will be successful in their endeavours as Student Representative Councillors next year, they have demonstrated that they are all leaders in their own right, and we have great confidence that they will be impressive people for others next year. 

The Year 11 leadership process is intentionally rigorous, conducted throughout Term 3 to support candidates’ growth and readiness for a formal leadership position if successful. This involves staff interviews, candidate speeches for College Captain and House Captain portfolios, voting by students and staff and a final interview to determine College Captains. To date, all candidates have conducted themselves with integrity and should be proud of their commitment to the process. Successful candidates will be announced early Term 4 at the Day of Invitation Assembly; we wish every nominee the very best for the remainder of the process.  

 Congratulations to Year 11 Drama students who performed an energetic and engaging performance of The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time at last night’s Year 11 Drama Night. Their ensemble performance as a tight-knit group was compelling. Congratulations also to our Year 9s and 10 volleyballers who were competitive in today’s Volleyball Schools Cup. All the best to students competing in their final round of netball and the Creative Edge regional finals this weekend.  

Fathers' Day Mass, Friday 1 September  

All Dads and father figures are welcome to attend with their children for mass next Friday 1 September. Commencing at 7:30am in the St Louis Sports Centre, morning tea will be provided at the conclusion of mass. We hope you can join us; please RSVP here.

Term 3 Key Dates 

Shani Andrews

Vice Principal - Head of Secondary

Book Week 2023 

Book Week Bake Off 

On Tuesday, our fantastic Book Week Bake Off was a sight to see! It was a wonderful way to start Book Week. An amazing array of fabulous creations from so many talented students. The library was buzzing all day with staff and students having a good look at all the entries and voting for their favourites. We would like to congratulate all the students who entered their creative cake-decorating talents. The votes are in, and the Secondary winners are:

• 1st Place: Gruffalo Cake - Poppy Hartfield (Year 10) and Banjo Hartfield (Year 7) 
• 2nd Place: Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory - Ava Cheesman (Year 8) and Lola Denton (Year 8) 
• 3rd Place: Alice in Wonderland - Natalie Fitzpatrick (Year 8) 

Congratulations! Can all winners please come to the library to claim your prize. 

Book Week Home Room Quiz 

Congratulations to the following homerooms who were the fastest to finish the Book Week Quiz and scored 100% 

• 1st: Year 12 Loreto  
• 2nd: Year 10 Ward  
• 3rd: Year 11 Loreto and Year 8 St Louis 

Book Week Guest 

Next Week we have an amazing visual storyteller, illustrator and comic maker, Aśka, visiting the library to run sessions with the Year 7 students. All students are welcome to meet Aśka and see her illustrations on Monday and Tuesday at lunchtime in the library. 

Cosy Corner Book Club 

On Friday, a group of enthusiastic students met upstairs in the library 'nest' to share their favourite books and enjoy a hot chocolate. It was wonderful to share our love for reading with a wide variety of different genres and some great book recommendations! 

Sasha Cattapan 

Library Teacher 

Year 11 ATAR Geography Swan Valley Excursion 

Last Thursday Year 11 Geography ATAR students travelled to locations around the Swan Valley to participate in various learning activities relating to viticulture and experiential tourism. 

Laura Pearse, owner of Upper Reach Winery, spoke to the students about a range of topics relating to the production and consumption of wine in this region. Throughout the morning, there was a strong focus on the interconnections between this wine region and the rest of the world. In the afternoon, students visited the Newer Growth Zone (NGZ) suburb of Brabham to learn about the implications of urban encroachment on the Swan Valley, ate some delicious chocolate at the Margaret River Chocolate Factory and learned about the coffee roasting process at Yahava KoffeeWorks.  

As fieldwork and practical skills are a fundamental part of the course, it was fantastic to see the students enjoying all the experiences offered throughout the day. A special thank you to Mrs Kalo Bell (Geography specialist) and Miss Nicki Xanthis (UND - Practicum Student) for accompanying the students.

Chris Morris

Head of Learning Area – Humanities and Social Sciences

Year 9 HASS Trade Fair 

On Wednesday, Year 9 Humanities and Social Sciences students participated in a Trade Fair that focused on Australia’s major trading partners. This interactive experience was an integral part of the Economics and Business unit that students are currently studying. 

The Year 6 students and College staff who visited the fair were greeted with a vast array of different displays and interactive activities aimed to ‘wow the audience’.

A special thanks must go to Miss Samara Pass (HASS Teacher) and the rest of the HASS teaching team for their amazing organisation and support during the Fair and to the College’s Maintenance Team for their assistance with the setup of this event. 

Chris Morris

Head of Learning Area – Humanities and Social Sciences

SPORTS

WA Volleyball Schools Cup

Congratulations to all Years 11/12 Volleyball teams who competed in the WA Schools Cup Volleyball Cup on Friday, 18 August. All teams played extremely well throughout the day and strengthened after every game. Unfortunately, our girls missed out on progressing to finals; however, our boys finished in a respectable 3rd and 5th place out of the 16 teams in their division.

This Friday, 25 August, our Years 9/10 teams will take to the court to compete. Results will be posted in the newsletter next week.

Thank you to our coaches below for all their time and efforts at our early morning training sessions to prepare all teams.

SunSmart School Surfing Titles

Congratulations to all our surfers and bodyboarders who competed for John XXIII College in the SunSmart Surfing School Titles. We had fantastic representation across all categories with some wonderful results. 

Junior Boys Surfing 

1st place  – Jake Scott and Charlie Harris. The pair also made it through to the State Final held today, where they made the semi-final, just missing out on the final. A fantastic effort against the state's best!

2nd place – Ben Scott and Gus Allen 

Senior Boys Surfing 

Semi-Finalists  – Charlie Haines and Tom Begley 

Junior Girls Body Boarding 

Semi-finalists – India Bester, Shelby Sheridan, Lydia Defrancesco and Bella Watson

NAS Athletics

Congratulations to all Years 7 to 10 students who had the opportunity to compete in our NAS Athletics meet on Tuesday, 22 March. The day allowed students to post results and help secure their position in our 2023 ACC A-Division Athletics Team.

ACC A Division Athletics Challenge Mornings

Well done to all students who braved the cold early mornings this week to attend our final challenge sessions. The 2023 ACC A-Division Athletics team will be announced early next week. These members will be eligible to purchase one of our exciting new interschool jumpers.

Athletics Training

Athletics training is now in full force in the lead-up to the 2023 ACC A-Division Athletics Carnival. Training occurs every Monday, Wednesday and Friday from 7:00am-8:00am with our specialist athletics coaches.

A detailed schedule of all sessions can be accessed below. 

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.

Sara Kononen

Head of Sport