Secondary

CareerTools 

The College is excited to announce that the CareerTools program is now available to students via the SEQTA Learn Splash Page. This web based program provides a wide range of information for secondary students and parents regarding school graduation and post school pathways. The information available is focused on Western Australian requirements, however there is also access to information about other States. I would strongly encourage our Year 10-12 students to familiarise themselves with this program.

Secondary Assessment Schedules

It is pleasing to see our students have settled in well to the routine of their timetable. In the coming weeks most courses will begin their first assessment which is a great opportunity for student s to demonstrate their knowledge and skills within a course. The College creates an assessment schedule for each year group that is published in SEQTA Documents. This assists students to plan their time and ensure they are best prepared for upcoming assessments. 

For our Year 11 and 12 students, the assessment schedule indicates the exact date of the assessment. For the Year 7-10 students the assessment schedule provides an indication of the week the assessment is due to be completed. Two weeks prior, the assessment schedule will be updated to confirm the actual date of the task. This is to enable teachers some flexibility to ensure all classes have completed the necessary content prior to the assessment. Assessment details for all year groups can be found in the Assessment tab of SEQTA and will available at least one week prior to the assessment date. This will provide an indication of the focus for the assessment as well as information about the assessment type. 

Why choose courses in the Technologies Learning Area? 

At John XXIII College, the Technologies Department includes courses in Digital Technologies, Engineering Studies, Food Science, Materials Design – Textiles, Materials Design – Wood, Creative Industries, and Career Pathways.  The technologies courses provide students with opportunities to integrate their learning from mathematics, science, and English into real-world applications. This year all courses are off to a great start providing students engaging projects to explore.

Digital Technologies

In Year 7, the digital technologies course is taught in 1 term of study. The Year 7s are currently focusing on how computer networks work.  The students explore IP/TCP, information packaging, and network hardware.  This week they played 'The Orange Game' to demonstrate how packets of information are passed in various network configurations. 

The Year 8s are diving into the world of data encoding. They have learned about binary code, Unicode, and the differences between raster and vector graphics. This week they learned how to encode a selfie using a widget to view the RGB colour combinations for each pixel.

Engineering Studies

For the first time at the College, Engineering Studies has been offered as a course to the Year 8 group. They are designing and making a CO2 powered rocket car. The highlight this week was watching the demo car in action, as it reached speeds close to 100 km/h. Students are currently learning to 3D-model their designs in Fusion 360 and are excited to develop creative ideas in hopes of winning the race at the end of the term.

Food Science 

The Year 11 students have been perfecting their food preparation skills including measuring and precision cutting. Students created the perfect 'café cookies' and transformed them into ice-cream sandwiches as a sample for an up-coming café that we believe will be a sell-out!

Year 12 Hospitality students have been learning how to source information about the hospitality industry and about emerging technologies that improve workplace practices. They are beginning a unit on appetisers and salads where they will improve their portioning and presentation skills. The Year 12s first café will be on Tuesday at lunchtime so fellow students are encouraged to come to the Circle of Friends Café to purchase some delicious treats. 

Materials Design – Textiles

Year 9s are brushing up on their sewing machine skills too, through an introductory project- creating a face mask. To the credit of a very skilled Year 9 group, the students managed to complete construction of a face mask in one double lesson- a special mention going to those students who have never sewn before; but with focus, skill and the help and guidance of their peers have already constructed their first functional textiles piece. 

In Year 10 Textiles, the students have worked on skills samples demonstrating precision work on the sewing machines, extending on their skills from Years 8 and 9. The Year 10s learned new seam finishing processes such and flat felled seams and French seams, which will then be applied in the construction of their first project- an upcycled bucket hat. Moving into the design phase, students have come up with many creative ideas for their bucket hats employing some very innovative recycled materials and embellishment concepts to be used in their final designs. 

Textiles Club is open to all students every Wednesday lunchtime to work on class projects Boomerang Bags or personal projects. 

Materials Design - Wood

The Year 10 students have begun to plan a design for building an entertainment centre. They are working in Fusion 360 to design a 3D-model and will then craft the design in the wood shop.  The Years 11 and 12 students are exploring designs for a hall table.  The students are investigating different wood treatments and methods for enhancing a traditional design.  The students also learn how to design in Fusion 360 and manipulate their designs to create a unique piece. 

The goal of the technologies courses at John XXIII are to provide students with industry standard opportunities to apply the learning from other core subjects.  We find that our courses resonate with students of all learning abilities. Students who find their core subjects difficult tend to find the application in technologies assists them in refining their skills, while students who excel in mathematics and science find the opportunities as a great way to extend their learning. 

Anna Davila

Head of Learning -Technologies

Open Day Saturday 6 March 9am-12 noon

The College will host our annual Open Day on Saturday 6 March. Many of our wonderful students have volunteered to assist as tour guides, in music performances or in Learning Areas to showcase the learning and teaching that occurs at our College. Please note all parking for student helpers and their parents will be on the oval near the basketball courts to enable our visitors to access the TMEC and gym carparks as well as the Mooro Drive carpark. Students who are assisting on the day are required to be in their summer uniform, ensuring they adhere to all aspects of our grooming requirements. We look forward to their contribution to the growth of our College community.

Containers for Change Fundraising 

The College is excited to announce that we are now collecting drinks containers as part of the State Government’s Containers for Change program, which provides a 10c refund for every eligible drink container that is recycled through the initiative. All funds raised through dropping off your containers to be recycled at the College will be donated to our Year 11 pilgrimage partners in East Timor, Cambodia, India and the Northern Territory. 

Members of the College community are encouraged to collect their drink containers at home and then deposit them in the specially marked bins that are situated aroundthe College campus (refer to map with black dots indicating bin locations). 

Alternatively, take your containers to one of the many public refund points and donate your refund to College’s fundraising cause by quoting the John XXIII College Scheme ID when returning (The Scheme ID is C10285621)

Most aluminium, glass, plastic, steel and liquid paperboard drink containers between 159ml and 3L are eligible for a refund

Eligible containers must:

• Be included on the schemes list of products
• Display the refund mark (e.g 10c refund at collection depots/points in participating State/Territory of purchase

Dungeons & Dragons and Drone Clubs

The STEM Drone Club is open ALL Secondary students with an interest in flying drones. All interested secondary students are invited to attend. The club has a number of small drones that are available for students to use, but students are also able to bring their own drones along if they have them. We will be flying on Tuesday afternoons from 3:30pm – 4:30pm and again on Thursday mornings from 7:00am-8:00am starting 2 March.

The Dungeons & Dragons Club is also open to ALL Secondary students interested in Role Playing. Several campaigns are currently running with student Dungeon Masters. Wesley Soares is running Tomb of Annihilation, Caleb Falkner-Hill is doing Baldur’s Gate, whilst Fred Keane is presenting Storm King’s Thunder. D&D for Year 7 students will commence next week.

Damien Connellan

Science Teacher 

SPORT

NAS 

Our NAS season kicked off this week against Newman College. All players and coaches are to be commended for assisting with an incredibly smooth start to the season. A special mention must also go to the students who put their hands up to try the new sports on offer this season, AFLW and Indoor Cricket. The feedback this week for these new sporting additions have been extremely positive, especially from AFLW. Both the Year 7/8 and Year 9/10 AFLW teams need a few more players, any girls interested are encouraged to see Miss Kononen to register for the team. Next week we are scheduled to play Sacred Heart College with our Year 7/8s on Tuesday 2 March and our Year 9/10s on Wednesday 3 March. 

Teams for our Senior NAS One Day Carnival are still in the process of being finalised, selected students will take part in all four of their NAS games on Friday 19 March. All Year 11 and 12 students who are not taking part in NAS will remain at school and take part in wellness activities and social sports. A survey was conducted this week for Year 11 and 12 students to express their interest for a variety of options on offer.

ACC Swim and Cross Country Training

Starting from next week, canteen vouchers will be given to all students who attend swimming and/or cross country training. Training is open to all students to attend.

Swimming training 

Monday, Wednesday and Friday morning from 7:00am-8:00am. 

Cross Country training 

Tuesday and Thursday morning from 7:00am-8:00am. 

NAS Swimming Meet - Newman College

On Friday 5 March, John XXIII College will take part in the NAS Swimming Meet at Newman College. Due to the Interhouse Swimming Carnival being postponed, a list of students has been selected from last year’s results. Year 7s have been selected based on their times from the Year 7 Swim Trials held on Tuesday 9 February.  

All Years 7–10 members of the NAS Swim Squad are expected to participate in this meet. It is a opportunity to post times for ACC selection. Students will need to meet at the bus shelter at 11:00am on Friday 5 March ready for an attendance call and transport instructions. The team will return to the College at 3:30pm. 

Students are required to bring the following: 

• Lunch and adequate fluids
• Sunscreen
• College Bathers and College Sports Uniform, including hat
• Swimming cap. Can be purchased from the uniform shop. We have a limited loan supply.
• Parental letter if you what to leave directly from Newman College, otherwise you will be transported back to the College

All swimmers will be expected to compete in the freestyle events and in at least one other stroke. Students will give their time to the John XXIII College supervisors as they will be used to finalise the ACC Team. 

Years 7-10 NAS Squad Members

Year 7

Year 8

Year 9

Year 10

Sara Kononen

Head of Sport