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Dear Parents/ Guardians,

As we move into the Term 1 school holidays, I pray that you can all enjoy a restful holiday and some beautiful Easter weather and immerse yourself in the solemnity and joy of the Easter liturgies during Holy Week and the Easter Triduum. We would normally finish school with a Holy Thursday liturgy, with no school on Good Friday. I trust that all families will make time to visit their local Parish and enter into some of the services and events offered.

Palm Sunday is this weekend and is the commencement of the holiest week in the Catholic year. Jesus arrives into Jerusalem to a thunderous welcome - the messiah, the saviour. Less than a week later the same people wanted him dead. And what a terrible death, of torture and humiliation on the cross. This week is so pivotal to all of humanity. 

The symbolism and messages are immense and so very pertinent to all of us. The messiah, a few days later betrayed, then crucified. However, the final scene is one of victory and overcoming human death - because of faith. This magical week is a summary of life - to be able to have a Resurrection Sunday, we need to suffer the trials of a Good Friday. 

Again, I urge all families to attend their local Parish services this weekend and next. This is the time to ask yourself questions, to look inside, to be open to the new and to be changed for the better. What do I stand for, what do I want?

APPIN MASSACRE MEMORIAL 

I remind all that the memorial event for the Appin Massacre takes place on Sunday 10th April. Commencing at 11.00 and concluding by 3.00pm with the formal ceremony taking place at 1.00pm. This takes place at the Cataract Dam Picnic Grounds. Traditionally the John Therry aboriginal students play a significant role on this day with music and providing dancers. A free sausage sizzle lunch is provided for all.

This event commemorates the massacre of aboriginal people – men, women and children, of the Dharawal nation in 1816 by English soldiers. Fourteen bodies were counted but the true count will never be known. This night attack came after months of soldiers trying to round up the local peoples with no success. This was partly because the local settlers supported the Aboriginal peoples efforts to avoid the soldiers. 

As we live and work on Dharawal land at John Therry, we respect this sad episode in Australia’s history and mourn with those who gather at Cataract. 

HOLY WEEK CEREMONIES 2022

Our Lady Help of Christians, Rosemeadow

PALM SUNDAY   

St John the Evangelist, Campbelltown

St Thomas More, Campbelltown

Mary Immaculate Catholic Parish, Eaglevale

A reminder that we return to Term 2 on Tuesday 26th April. 

Students return in winter uniform and it is important that hair cuts, nails, piercings etc meet our school requirements on return. We hope to return focusing on building positive relationships and our learning goals for the term, without having to address uniform issues and the tension this can create for students.

Music Program

Years 7 to 12 jumped straight into music learning in 2022. We have Year 7 learning and loving the new keyboards as well as learning about the basics of music theory, whilst Year 8 are strumming some popular songs on their new acoustic guitars, and they have been learning about rock vs pop music. Furthermore, we also received four new Bass guitar amps and four new guitar amps for our students.

Years 9 and 10 are elective classes, seeing students playing their own instruments as well as developing their listening, performing and composition skills. Year 9 is developing their knowledge from Year 8, with a deeper understanding of the genres of rock and pop music as well as learning to play as a class ensemble. Years 9 music students had the unique opportunity to participate in a Japanese drumming excursion, learning the values and instruments of the culture and its music. In class, Year 10 have been learning about Australian Music, including the music of Aboriginal Australians and the many forms of music that have been influenced by these communities. 

Years 11 and 12 Music 1 students are beginning to work on their major works projects for the HSC. Year 12 students have been practising away and building up performance skills as well as working on strengthening their listening skills to prepare for their HSC examination. February 22nd, Year 12s and some Year 11 students joined Mrs Morton for Encore, which is a concert of the top achievers in the music HSC examinations of 2021. Whilst we had torrential rain and a train strike on, we had an eye opening and amazing day. Year 11 students are gearing up for their very first performance assessments as senior students as well as honing their aural skills through a viva voce - an aural analysis project that takes the form of live presentation, conversation with markers and live performance of musical examples demonstrating the points in their presentation.

The music rooms are open Mondays, Thursdays and Fridays at lunch time of each week, for students to practise for assessment tasks, for leisure as well as get extra assistance from a music teacher. Mrs Morton runs a keyboard Klub on Thursdays for students interested in learning the keyboard.

Choir is finally up and running, thanks to Covid restrictions easing. We are anticipating our first performance with excitement and nerves, as it has been a couple of years since we have been allowed to sing together and unmasked. We look forward to performing often in the coming terms. If you are keen to join speak to Mrs Morton or email mortonc01@dow.catholic.edu.au for any information.

Term 1 has seen rehearsals resume for both of JTCC's bands following easing COVID restrictions from the end of 2021. 

Our Concert Band rehearses after school on Tuesday until 4pm and before school on Friday from 7.30am. This ensemble is open to all students who play wind, brass or percussion instruments, or those wishing to learn. 

Our Mass Band rehearses on Tuesdays during sport time. This ensemble works with the School choir to support College Masses and Liturgies. The Mass Band is open to players with some experience on ANY instrument. 

Speak to or email Mr Mayes (mayesa01@dow.catholic.edu.au) for more information about JTCC's band programs.

Rainy Day Creative Photography Competition

The theme was 'Rainy Day Creative Photography'. This new and exciting Creative Arts initiative was open to all students in our school. Macarthur Camera house at Narellan came on board as our Principal Sponsor.

Photography reflects Time and Place. The competition required students to think creatively and use different viewpoints, to make the ordinary look extraordinary.
Images were taken anywhere, not just at school. Once their best image was selected, it was edited to black and white to improve the dramatic impact of the image. Each work was printed 12 x 8 inches and mounted for exhibition. All up we had approximately 50 students submit work for this competition. Thank you to all who contributed to this competition. Participants included:

Year 11: Fabian Abrahamowicz, Calen Agostino,  Angar Ajak, Rachel Bell, Brianna Bryant, Caitlin Calvert, Emma Canoquena, Alexander Cooper, Cody Crane, Haylee D'Cunha, Sean Dichoso, Angelina Estrada, Cynthia Hassarati, Adol Jurkuch, Mason McPhee, Emma Peterson, Amelia Pitman, Keisha Ring, Josette-Elise Roa-Blanco, Alfred Robin, Shon Shaji, Jett Smith, Hayden Smith, Isabelle Stevens, Nicole Tinkler, Hayley Valesini, Druid Williams, Kate Young,

Year 9: Laura Augustine, Christian Berbari, Evelyn Booth,  Elijiah Bryant, Bradley Calvert, Aryaan Dhillon, Braydon Donovan,  Brendan D'Emanuelle, Oscar Prakhounheung, Troy Kite, Ranniell Maningas, Alexander Nohra, Julian Rodham, Indyani Fitriadi, Gaius Cassar, Charlotte Russell

Year 8: Caprice Fleijsman and Paige Halliday

Year 7: Priyashna Maharaj

Thank you to Serena and Kevin from Macarthur Camera house at Narellan who judged the competition and provided the two prizepacks. Your support of Photography in the local area is much appreciated.

Congratulations to the Award Winners:

First Prize: Calen Agostino (Year 11)

Second Prize: Hayden Smith (Year 11)

Highly Commended: Jett Smith (Year 11), Christian Berbari (Year 9), Caprice Fleijsman (Year 8).

Drama Dealings

This term in Drama, Year 10 students have been looking at ways that William Shakespeare’s plays can be reimagined for a contemporary context. Students began by exploring the language and questioning why Shakespeare is still relevant today. The class developed their own contemporary design concept, researched it, and rendered two costume designs for a character/s from their chosen play. 

The students learnt what it was like to complete a prolonged project, developing skills in time management, research and conceptual thinking. The end results were exceptional given the interruptions to this term. 

Year 12 Visual Arts Photography Workshop

Our Year 12 Visual Arts students participated in a lighting workshop provided through Macarthur Camera house Narellan.  The students were instructed how to use their new lights and backdrop to create dramatic and evocative photographs through theatrical lighting. Each were given the opportunity to discuss ideas for the bodies of work with a Photography expert in the workshop. Thank you to all who participated.

Visual Arts Vistas

Term 1 has seen all three Visual Arts classrooms being refurbished to provide a fresher and more creative space for students. Year 7s have been busy on their first Assessment task; Mixed media Still life drawings.  Year 8 have just finished their portrait drawing of a famous Australian in Black and white and a more expressive portrait using unrealistic colour of themselves or a significant other for their Assessment task. Year 9 are working on ‘Vanitas’; Still life drawing, investigating the hidden meaning of Still life objects. Year 10 are focussed on their unit ‘Heroes and Idols; incorporating Pop Art techniques in their artmaking. Year 11 are focussed on ‘Mark making’-Drawing and the study of historical Western Art in their Case Study: ‘the Artist and the Patron’. Year 12 continue to power on towards their HSC, working on developing their Body of work and completed their recent Case Study on ‘The Biennale’.

Year 7 

Year 8 

Year 9

Year 11

Preliminary Advanced English - Socratic Circles

This week we introduced our Preliminary Advanced English classes to the concept of Socratic Circles. The ancient Greek philosopher Socrates believed that through structured conversation and dialogue, students learn to think for themselves. With this in mind, we challenged our students to exit their comfort zones and engage in an unfamiliar method of learning. 

In order to participate in this activity, students from both classes were given the prompting question “How does storytelling strengthen our understanding of history?” They had 20 minutes to research this question and develop their individual ideas. We then brought them together to participate in the socratic circle. Our inner circle discussed their ideas about the prompting question while the outer circle took notes on the interaction of those conversing. After 10 minutes of structured conversation, our outer circle became the inner circle and vice versa. The students were able to build on each other's ideas and a holistic understanding of the question was attained. As teachers, we were in awe of the insights our students offered. We are so proud of the way they challenged themselves this week and pushed beyond their personal limits. 

Well done to the Preliminary Advanced team!

Ms Barreto and Mrs Dadd

It has been a wonderful start to Language learning at John Therry this year.

Our Year 8 students have started their mandatory language component studying either Japanese or Chinese. In Chinese, students have learnt how to introduce themselves, recording conversations for their Term 1 assessment. The students of Japanese have created wonderful posters demonstrating their knowledge of the Japanese hiragana script. Our Stage 5 language students are covering topics such as school, self-introductions, hobbies and interests.

We enjoyed showing the JTCC community our language space during our Open Day tours with students demonstrating origami, chopsticks and writing characters as well as explaining the language learning opportunities available at our school.

Despite the wet weather, Japanese and Music students enjoyed the experience of traditional Japanese drumming, taiko. Students participated in workshops across the day displaying great enthusiasm, teamwork and persistence in learning the routine.

Mr Bateman and Mrs Ursino

JTCC SPORT UPDATE - Week 11

Our last Tuesday Sport for the term saw the sun come out and everyone able to get out and about for some physical and recreational activities as well as MISA trials being run for our Term 2 sports. Teams will be finalised during Week 1, term 2 ready for Round 1 to start in the 2nd week. Thank you to all students and staff for an overwhelming positive first term of sport.  

MISA overall results for Term 1 are below, with the school championship points  still being  progressed due to the number of cancelled rounds.

 With the past wet weather  the JTCC Cross Country carnival event has been postponed to week 1, term 2 -  Wednesday 27th April. 

A few general reminders:

• Students who missed out on MISA or , there are many future opportunities to represent JTCC, keep an eye out on the Sport Bulletin Board in the A-block corridor and on the Compass Newsfeed. 
•  A reminder that consent for all sporting events must be given via the Parent Portal on Compass. Please ring the school if you have issues logging in or accessing Events. 
• A number of Diocesan events have been postponed or modified - please see the updates below.

Congratulations

	Dante Foweraker (Year 7) has been selected in the NSW Metro Slammers team to play in the U14’s Nationals Softball tournament over the Easter long weekend in Canberra. Good luck Dante!
	Dom Baker (year 8) race in the National Athletics Championships over the weekend, earning himself the nickname of Dom “the showman” Baker from the commentators as he fired up the crowd to cheer him home on the final stretch of the 800m. Dom raced in the U15 Para ambulant 800m race, finishing in 4th place. JTCC is very proud of your efforts Dom.

Our Diocesan calendar has been heavily impacted by wet weather, seeing cancellations and postponements for a number of diocesan events. An individual selection trial will be held for Diocesan touch instead for the nominated boys, whilst the girls selection will be a ‘paper trial’ only.  Team meetings, trials and training will be held soon, students are encouraged to read the Compass Newsfeed. Students who have been selected in teams already for Tennis and Boys Touch Football should have received their permission notes on Compass. No permission = no participation.

NSWCCC Teams

*There have been a lot of NSWCCC Event postponements - please go to the website to keep up to date with these. 

Remember that there is a new way to nominate individual sports for NSWCCC. This information, including registration closing dates can be found on the website:

https://csnsw.sport/

Please note that some sports are selected by individual trials, and these can be held throughout NSW. Individual nominations require students to make their own way to and from selections. 

Selection in the following sports: Swimming, Cross Country, Athletics, Touch Football, AFL (Boys) and Football are done through the Wollongong Diocese carnivals by way of representing John Therry at these respective carnivals.

Selection in the following sports: AFL (Girls), Baseball, Basketball, Cricket – Girls,  Golf, Hockey, Netball, Rugby League, Rugby, Softball, Tennis, Triathlon, Volleyball will need to be done via individual nomination and selections.

If your child has had an outstanding high level  sporting achievement outside of school, we would love to hear from you. Please email me so we can celebrate  their achievements with the JTCC community. 

Yours in Sport,

Mrs. Georgia Roberts 

(RobertsG03@dow.catholic.edu.au)

Girl's slacks are availabe online now and will available in store after the school holidays.

See link below

https://www.lowes.com.au/schools-online/john-therry-catholic-college/sco-yr7-12-ladies-grey-pants-55169

SACRAMENT OF CONFIRMATION 2022 

This Sacrament will be celebrated on Saturday 11^th June 2022.

It is available to all children who are in Year 6 or above and have made their First Communion. If you wish your child to receive this Sacrament you MUST attend the first lesson for this programme on Saturday 7^th May 2022 

commencing at 4.15p.m. Please bring a photocopy of your child’s full birth certificate, and if they were not baptised in Rosemeadow Parish, a copy of their baptism certificate. Children will participate in lessons in the St. Joachim Parish Hall. This is the last opportunity for you to enrol for 2022. The programme fee of $25 is also payable at the first lesson. NOTE: If you will be enrolling at the first lesson, then please arrive at 3.45pm to the Parish Hall before the lesson to complete the paperwork. Thank you.

Please find below a link to the latest parish bulletin