Secondary

Year 8 Retreat Day 24 May

Year 8 students participated in their Retreat Day on Friday 24 May. The theme was ‘Seek Justice by working for Reconciliation’. Using the notion of reconciliation and social justice in an Australian context, students were able to think about how they can impact and transform the world through their own actions.

Students attended two sessions during the day, one of which was run by NET Ministries Australia. During this time, Year 8s had an opportunity to explore their relationship with God and the presence of God in their lives with some interactive games and group discussions.

A real highlight for many students was listening to Scott Darlow, a Yorta Yorta descendent, and singer-songwriter. Combining acoustic rock and heartfelt lyrics with the didgeridoo skills of his heritage, Scott shared stories related to his Indigenous culture and challenged students to help facilitate reconciliation and understanding. Scott spoke about empathy as the foundation for any real change and encouraged each student to adopt, and practice daily, attributes of his key word FLUTE- Forgiveness, Love, Understanding, Tolerance and Empathy.

To conclude the day, students attended a Mass celebrated by Fr Rodrigo and the NET Ministries Team followed by a group photo. 

Some Year 8s had the following to say about the day:

“Throughout the day and as the day went on I felt that my relationship with God was strengthening and I had a better understanding about what social justice actually meant.”

“The Retreat was a fun experience where we learnt a lot about the Indigenous people of Australia and the hardships that they had to endure. We also learnt a lot about God’s impact in people’s lives and how we should reach out to those in our lives and not in our lives.”

“This retreat day was a very interactive and reflecting day. It was full of fun stories and jokes but also had a lot of self-reflection which I think was a good balance.”

Year 12 Media Workshop 2019

Earlier this term, Year 12 Media Production & Analysis students were given the opportunity to learn hands-on film production skills from an industry professional, Mr Iain Appleyard (Perth Youth Film Academy). Mr Appleyard visited us here at the College for an all-day workshop, bringing along a variety of equipment for the students to try, as well as imparting knowledge and skills that should prove immensely valuable for the students when working on their major film production task (due later in the year). Well done to the students for participating and responding so positively throughout the day, and best wishes to all of them throughout the Semester One exam period and beyond!

Mr Robert Di Giallonardo

Media Teacher

National Reconciliation Week

National Reconciliation Week is a time to explore how each of us can contribute to achieving reconciliation in Australia. This year’s theme is “Grounded in truth, walk together with courage”.  Our students enjoyed music from Indigenous rock band, The Struggling Kings and engaged with other reconciliation activities to learn about shared histories, cultures and achievements.

STEM Drone Club

All are welcome to our John XXIII STEM Drone Club. Our latest member was Sr Theresa Elliott, who joined in for a session. Students were eager to show Sr Tess all the neat tricks they have learnt during STEM Drone Club on mastering the art of flying drones.

Invitation to families to host one of our exchange students from Japan

In Term 3 we have a group of international exchange students visiting our College from Fujimi High School, Tokyo, Japan. The students arrive on Sunday 28 July (end of Week 1) and are here for two weeks, leaving on Saturday 10 August. They are all female students aged approximately 15-16 years old.

Their purpose for coming to the College is to experience life in Australia and practice speaking English.

Please refer to letter below giving you more information about the exchange and a Host Family Application Form. Please return the completed Application Form with images of your family at your earliest convenience.

Hosting is a wonderful opportunity to share your home with someone from Japan and make a life-long friend with someone who lives in Tokyo. Opening your home to someone from another country will expand your understanding of another culture.

Many thanks to the Host Families that have already completed forms and sent them in by email. Your generosity is very much appreciated.

This will be our 21st Exchange with Fujimi High School! The length of our relationship reflects the value, loyalty, strength and success of the program.

Ms Shane Glass

Head of Learning Area (Languages)

Lifelink Forum

On Tuesday this week, three secondary students from the College attended the annual Lifelink Forum at Aranmore College. Along with representatives from the other Catholic Secondary Schools in Perth, the students were an engaged audience as Auxiliary Bishop Donald Sproxton launched the Lifelink Fundraising Initiative for 2019 and Archbishop Timothy Costelloe delivered a keynote address. Centred around the theme ‘Christ is Alive’ (the title of Pope Francis’ Apostolic Exhortation written after last year’s synod on young people, faith, and vocational discernment), Archbishop Costelloe reflected on how this truth is highly visible in the network of Catholic schools throughout WA.

Following a morning tea break the students viewed the current ‘Welcome to Lifelink’ video and were invited to offer constructive feedback to consider for a new and updated video. It is hoped this new video can be launched at the Australian Catholic Youth Festival that is taking place in Perth during December.

The day concluded with a question/answer session where the students were invited to ask questions of Archbishop Costelloe, Bishop Sproxton and Debra Sayce (the Executive Director of CEWA) on any issue of importance to them. The nature of the questions were varied, ranging from how to make non religious students feel welcome in the context of a Catholic school to whether baptism is essential to get to heaven.

A highlight of the day was the presentation of the Service Award for 2019. Decided by the Archbishop and Auxiliary Bishop, this award is given in recognition to a school that has shown outstanding efforts in their fundraising and awareness raising activities for Lifelink. This year the award was given to John XXIII College.

HASS Week, 20-24 May

The HASS Department celebrated the individual disciplines within the Humanities and Social Sciences department during HASS Week. Prior to HASS Week our Year 10 students completed the Geography Competition and looking forward our Year 8 students will complete the History competition on Friday June 7. Both activities normally fall within HASS week, however this year the competitions were offset.

Throughout the week students in Years 7-12 were involved in a Homeroom quiz, learning random facts about the members of the HASS department. The victorious homeroom will be announced on Monday morning.

On Thursday Jarred Wall from ‘Boox Kid’ entertained our students on the Chapel lawn with an electronic music set. Friday the HASS department cooked a lunchtime bbq for the students and organised an indigenous acoustic act ‘The Struggling Kings’ to play a live set on the Chapel Lawn. These acts coincided with the celebration of reconciliation week activities organised by Mrs Janeen Murphy. It was fantastic to see both staff and students engage with the music in their own way, including our own Principal Mr Rob Henderson who was able to re-live his own university experience from days gone by!

Congratulations to all students who embraced HASS week and engaged wholeheartedly in the activities throughout the week.

Mr Andrew Osnain

Head of Learning Area, Humanities and Social Sciences

Mock Trials

Round 2 of the 2019 Law Society of Western Australia Mock Trial Competition was held on Thursday night at the Supreme Court. Our team went up against St Andrew’s Grammar - appearing for the Defence in a criminal matter involving stealing.

We had three students step into new roles for this round. Year 12 student, Sam Falzun, performed professionally as the Judges Associate, whilst Year 11 students Reuben Patchett and Ashleigh Smith took onboard the role of the accused and defence witness, respectively. The Judge commended Reuben and Ashleigh for their seamless recall of their witness statements and for handling the pressure of cross-examination so well. It must have been the excellent preparation they received from senior barristers, Rory Hewson and Charlie Richards, and solicitor Cullen Binet!

The barristers persuasively argued that the accused did not intend to permanently deprive the owner of his property – and with the Prosecution unable to establish their case, the team won the case and the round.

There is a lot of preparation involved in the lead up to the trial, and I would like to take this opportunity to thank the students who, despite their busy schedules in the lead up to exams, enthusiastically attended lunchtime meetings. I would also like to thank the other members of our team who came along on the night to offer support.

Our Round 2 Team included: 

• Barrister 1: Rory Hewson
• Barrister 2: Charlie Richards
• Solicitor: Cullen Binet
• Witness 1: Reuben Patchett
• Witness 2:  Ashleigh Smith
• Judges Associate:  Sam Falzun
• Reserve: Toby Morgan, Ethan Pasch, Sophie Manners, Jasmin Collins, Mia Fracaro, Jack Court , Phoebe Male, James Langton, Alex Panther & Harper Turtle.

Congratulations to our 2019 Mock Trial team on another win (two for two) – and best wishes for the next round. In omnia paratus.

Daisy Farley

Morgan Ball

Politics & Law

Lost property

All students are encouraged to be responsible for their own belongings, but from time to time articles of clothing, drink bottles, lunch boxes and school bags are found lying around the school. Any items that have lost their owners are found in Student reception (Secondary). 

Parents and students are encouraged to check these lost property bins on a regular basis.

Get your Entertainment Book today

Support John XXIII College and order your 2019/2020 Entertainment Book now! https://www.entertainmentbook.com.au/orderbooks/830q59