Around The Primary

Dear Families

Last week, the Year 6 students had a fantastic experience touring our nation's capital. 

Every student had the chance to try new things with their classmates and venture outside of their comfort zones. They provided excellent support to one another, grew closer as a group, and undoubtedly created experiences they will always treasure. 

As we visited several locations in Canberra, our students looked very smart in their Canberra jackets.   Our itinerary included touring New and Old Parliament Houses, the Australian War Memorial, the Royal Australian Mint, the Dinosaur Museum, Arboretum, Australian Institute of Sport (AIS), Government House, National Capital Exhibition, Electoral Education Centre and Questacon.

Our students and staff participated fully in the ultimate laser tag competition and bowling. In addition, we introduced a play snow experience at Corin Forest for students to experience the magic of winter through a toboggan race down the slopes, building snowmen and engaging in epic snowball matches. 

Throughout the week, tour guides remarked on the students’ outstanding manners and remarkable political and historical knowledge. The young travellers received praise for their excellent behaviour from the flight staff and other passengers.

We thank the Australian Government for recognising the importance of all young Australians being able to visit the national capital as part of their Civics and Citizenship education. To assist in meeting the cost of the excursion, the Australian Government contributed $510 per student under the Parliament and Civics Education Rebate program towards costs. 

Special thanks to Mrs Purcell, Mrs Ferrier, Ms O’Connor, Miss Eisenmann, Miss Krikstolaitis, Mrs Rowson and Mrs Taylor who attended and helped to make this camp a remarkable experience. They packed plenty of enthusiasm, energy, humour, wisdom, and care and shared it so generously with the 54 students. They were long, busy days and there was never a minute to relax, however, our staff took it all in their stride. I would also like to thank Ms Allen (Assistant Principal) and all the staff at school, as they picked up extra duties and responsibilities to keep everything running smoothly.

We are grateful to the Year 6 families for their trust and support and have greatly appreciated all the lovely messages.

Our child had a wonderful time in Canberra, and we are so grateful for the dedication, care and support of the teachers at JTC. We appreciate the months of logistics, planning and organisation that went into the Canberra Camp.

A heartfelt thank you to each of the Canberra team for the spirit in which you took care of our child and her classmates on the Canberra trip. They all learnt so much and will remember the great array of experiences very fondly for a long time to come.

Thank you to the incredible staff for taking the Year 6s to Canberra. Our child returned home full of life and excitement as she recounted what she called her ‘trip of a lifetime’.

It’s fair to say the JTC Canberra staff crew are legends! You have all created a wonderful Canberra opportunity for our children that will stick with them for a long time. 

Our Year 6 Canberra Camp was a great success, and we all returned very aware of what a great opportunity we shared.

Kind regards,

Antoinette De Pinto

Head of Primary 

Dates to Remember

Please check the College Website to note all the important Primary school events for your family calendar. http://www.johnxxiii.edu.au/view/for-parents/calendars.  By subscribing to the College calendar, you are automatically alerted when details of an existing event are changed. 

LifeLink Day Launch

On Wednesday, Year 6 students George Heath, Claudia Milligan, Hayley Tonkin and Henry Wysocki attended the official launch of LifeLink Day at Newman College. Bishop Sproxton led us in prayer, and we all learnt about the LifeLink Catholic Care agencies, including ‘The Shopfront’.   

The students recognised how our school initiatives like the Monster Cake stall and Muffin Monday all assist people with needs related to homelessness, health issues, and lack of food or finance. We listened carefully to Archbishop Timothy Costelloe’s address and engaged in question time. After a delicious morning tea, before heading back to school, we were lucky enough to meet Archbishop Costelloe.

I thank the students for being wonderful ambassadors for the College at this special event. 

We had a great time at Newman College for LifeLink Day and learnt a lot about the LifeLink mission. In his talk, Archbishop Timothy Costelloe made a connection to the 2025 Jubilee focus of ‘Pilgrims of Hope’ with the work of LifeLink.  He spoke about opening the door of your heart to spread hope to others and sowing the seeds of hope throughout society. He reminded us that every little bit counts, and that God will make it plentiful. This last point was also emphasised by Mr Bull in his story about a donkey that fell into a well and the farmer who had to work out a way to get him out using only a shovel. He explained that the farmer shovelled dirt into the well so the floor of the well got higher. After a number of days, the donkey was high enough up the well to jump out.  This story reminded us that if everyone donated something little to LifeLink it would build up to something large and assist a lot of people. It was so special to represent John XXIII College at the LifeLink Day for Primary schools.  By Claudia, George, Hayley and Henry

Kylie Allen

Assistant Principal, Primary

Sports Update

Years 3 - 6 IPSHA Cross-Country Carnival  

It has been an incredible cross-country season!  We have had huge numbers of students attending early morning training sessions, amazing efforts at our Interhouse Cross-Country Carnival and at the SSWA Cross-Country Carnival and today our top 8 boys and girls from each year group competed at the IPSHA Interschool Cross-Country Carnival held at Guildford Grammar.  There were 11 other schools competing and the standard was extremely high in every race.  We had some outstanding individual performances, lots of ribbons (top 4) and certificates (top 10). 

I am always so impressed by the way our teams support each other and celebrate their achievements.  It makes me very proud to be part of the College community when parents, grandparents and staff from other schools comment on how strong and supportive our students are at these sporting events.

If you have any queries about anything sport-related, please don’t hesitate to contact me via email: steve.williams@johnxxiii.edu.au  

Steve Williams

Primary Sport Coordinator 

Music Update

Primary Ensembles 

Please see below for rehearsal times for ensembles next week: 

Primary Strings Breakfast Concert

The first performance of the year for String Orchestra (Years 4-6 Strings) and Mini Minors (Year 3 Strings) will be held in the Osborne Room at 8:00am on Tuesday, 10 June. Students need to arrive by 7:45am for set-up and tuning, with the concert starting at 8:00am. All are welcome to attend. 

Withdrawal from Instrumental/Vocal Lessons – End of Semester

Please be reminded that families wishing to withdraw students from Music Instrumental Lessons for Semester 2 must do so by Friday, 13 June.

Copies of the 2025 Music Handbook and online application and withdrawal forms are available via the College Website and SEQTA Engage under the Music tab. 

AGMS Virtual Festival

The Australian Guild of Music and Speech Virtual Festival is open to students all over the world. Entrants are encouraged to perform in a variety of areas including piano, vocal, instrumental, speech & drama, and dance. The aim of the festival is to foster a sense of encouragement and enthusiasm, emphasising that the achievement is in the effort of the performer. All performers receive an adjudication report/certificate, and each item is awarded as either Platinum, Gold, Silver or Bronze.  Please see the link or contact me for more information. https://www.agms.edu.au/virtual-festival

If you have any queries regarding Primary Music, please contact me via email: catherine.haydon@johnxxiii.edu.au

Catherine Haydon

Primary Music Teacher

Important reminder: Respectful use of the surrounding roads and parking

We have recently been contacted by our neighbours at Graylands Hospital regarding concerns about the use of their campus roads and parking areas by some members of our College community. We value our relationship with our Graylands Hospital and are committed to ensuring the safety and wellbeing of everyone in our local area.

We kindly remind all families, students, and staff to:

• Use only the designated John XXIII College parking facilities for drop-off, pick-up, and parking. Please avoid parking on the Graylands Hospital campus.
• Refrain from using the hospital grounds as a thoroughfare to access Camelia Avenue or Brockway Road.
• Always adhere to posted speed limits (10km/h on hospital roads) and follow all road signage and directions.
• Be courteous and respectful to hospital staff, patients, and visitors at all times.
• Ensure clear access for emergency vehicles at all times—even a brief obstruction can have serious consequences for patient care.

Graylands Hospital is an active healthcare environment, with patients, families, carers, and staff moving throughout the campus. It is vital that we all contribute to a safe, calm, and respectful environment for everyone.