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Dear Parents/ Guardians,

Well, as they say, Spring has sprung. Although the weather remains cool the daylight hours are rapidly extending. It is a wonderful time for schools as the graduating class prepares for final exams and leaving. While at the same time the new College leaders are being installed. 

The quality of the student leadership group in Year 11 was the best I have seen in forty years of teaching.  I congratulate ALL students who considered leadership, put their hand up and entered the process. The final group of leaders took a great deal of discussion and discernment. I congratulate the 2023 College Leaders at John Therry Catholic College.

College Captains Mason McPhee and Olivia Wolczak

Vice Captain - Sport Tess McEvoy-King
Vice Captain - Learning Xavier Martin
Vice Captain - Faith and Good Works Hayley D'Cunha
Vice Captains - Culture and Diversity Angar Ajak + Tiana Giampaolo

House Captains

Conolly Chelsea Blankenstein + Luke Denniss
Ryan Luke Lipscombe + Tiara Kurisunkal
Chisholm Grace Augustine + Kaitlin Kellett 
Murray Kalan Nau + Ella Fisher 

A Time to Listen to the Voice of Creation – A Spring time Reflection

Earth’s crammed with heaven,
And every common bush afire with God,
But only he or she who sees takes off their shoes...
Elizabeth Barrett Browning

These words from the poet Browning have a special resonance as we begin the Season of Creation, the annual, ecumenical time of prayer and action on behalf of our planet. It begins on 1 September, the World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation, and ends on 4 October, the Feast of St. Francis of Assisi.

Pope Francis in his Message for the World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation reminds us that the season is “an opportunity to cultivate our ‘ecological conversion’ and that we are invited to “pray once more in the great cathedral of creation, and revel in the “grandiose cosmic choir” made up of countless creatures, all singing the praises of God”. The Pope calls us to feel even more responsible for acting each day in accordance with the summons to conversion that brings about lasting change.

In 2022 the theme for the season is Listen to the Voice of Creation which offers us a rich entry point for us to consider our vocation to care for our common home. To listen to creation is to recognize that, besides all human beings, other-than-human life, all the species, biomes, and ecosystems have agency, purpose, and a distinct voice. Creation speaks a language of love, of justice and peace, of living within limits, and of respect for the interdependence of all living things throughout all time. Learning the languages of creation entails being in intimate and healthy relationship with the world around us.

The burning bush is the symbol for this year’s Season of Creation and today creation cries out to us as forests crackle, animals flee, and people are forced to migrate due to the fires of injustice. In contrast, the fire that called to Moses as he tended the flock on Mt. Horeb did not consume or destroy the bush. This flame of the Spirit revealed God’s presence. This holy fire affirmed that God heard the cries of all who suffered, and promised to be with us as we followed in faith to our deliverance from injustice.

I have heard their cry. I know their sufferings.
Come, now! I will send you. I will be with you.
Exodus 3: 1-12

As we journey through the Season of Creation may we renew our reverence for Earth and the other creatures with whom we share this planet. May we lament the ways that human activities assault the web of life and restore our faith, love and hope as we renew our efforts to create a more just, habitable world.

What is a merciful heart?
A heart aflame for all of creation,
For people, birds, beasts, demons, and every created thing;
the very thought or sight of them causes the merciful person’s eyes to overflow with tears
St. Isaac the Syrian

RU Ok? Day 2022, was Thursday the 8th of September. This year the theme was “Ask are you ok? There are no qualifications needed”. 4 out of 10 Australians believe asking someone if they are okay is a conversation better had with an expert. However the RU Ok Foundation wants to spread the message that you don’t have to have qualifications to ask are you ok?

The work of health professionals is vital however we can all play a role in an are you ok conversation. Asking someone are you ok, having a conversation and listening might be just what they need to help get them through.

For the past couple of weeks, students from Year 8 have been working hard to help celebrate RUOK day at JTCC. Each recess this week, we have been holding a picnic, with snacks and drinks for each year group. The purpose of the picnics was to provide an opportunity for students to gather as a year group and spend time together, having conversations and checking in with each other. 

• Monday - Year 11
• Tuesday - Year 10
• Wednesday - Year 9, 
• Thursday - Year 8, 
• Friday - Year 7 and Year 12. 

As well as this, on Thursday it was officially RUOK day, students were encouraged to wear a yellow accessory to support the day and we held different activities such as face painting, footy tossing and selling zooper doopers in the shelter shed at lunch.

For the last two weeks or so, Year 8 have been planning some care packs for everyone. They created positive affirmations and steps to guide you to be able check in with people you are close to. Year 8 students and the RU Ok? team spent hours working hard to put these packs together and they were distributed to the whole school during learning group on Thursday. Students also completed a “Mental Health Minute” each lesson to provide strategies to support a positive mental health. Thank you for all the hard work and time that students’ volunteered to ensure the day was a success. As a school community we raised over $300 for Marist 180, an organisation that supports individuals in Australia who are facing significant hardships and challenges.

National science week is the Annual celebration of science and technology, designed to bring science to the forefront of students minds and raise awareness for certain topics. Last year was the topic of biotechnology and “food by design”, whereby students engaged in remote escape rooms, but due to the remote learning there were certain limits.

After remote learning during science week last year, it was refreshing to get back into the classrooms for National Science Week 2022. This year’s theme: Glass – More than meets the eye. A chance for students to learn more about something we use every day, but know little about.

This year years 7 – 10 engages in an escape room designed to be an immersive, hands-on activity to test students’ problem-solving skills via ten challenge stations, around the science lab. And the race was on - students worked in groups of 3 to see who could solve the escape room the fastest and unlock the secret safe.

The winners of this challenge were:

Stage 4 Team
Jackson Schulstad,
Jake Rambaldini,
William Griffiths

Stage 5 Team
Holly Bridge
Olivia Aylen
Summer Hannan

There was also the illustrious annual JT paper plane competition that was held this year in the Hall, with the focus in 2022 being the longest flown distance. Many students vied eagerly for the podium finish with many different planes; some weird, some whacky and some of traditional designs. The winner of this competition was Nathaniel Dhiman with a record distance of 29.3metres achieved with his dart like paper plane.

Congratulations to all of the winners, and the competitors for both the escape rooms and the paper plane contest and we eagerly look forward to National Science Week 2023.

Year 12 visit to the UNSW Human Disease Museum

This term year 12 Biology students visited the Human disease Museum at the University of New South Wales.

The students were lucky enough to see specimens donated to the museum of diseased body parts.  These diseases were both infectious and non-infectious, such as different types of cancer, diabetes, cirrhosis, hepatitis and genetic disorders.

Students completed case studies for conditions relating to alcoholism, smoking and poor diet.

Students also got a feel for university life.  Catching the train and tram to the university, getting to have a look around the campus of UNSW and sitting and having lunch together in the food hall.

Native Bees

Year 7.7 were lucky enough to visit with Dr Johnson’s Native Bees this week.  Year 7 were interested in including native Bees in their solution to their sustainability project to increase biodiversity within the Indigenous garden.

During week 5, the WISE club was involved in the ANSTO Hackathon for science week.

The WISE club is made up of 5 girls from year 10 including Vivienne Dos Santos, Isabella Nunes, Gemma Quinn, Sarah Janz and Elna Sojan.

The ANSTO Hackathon is a design and STEM challenge focused on this year's science week theme of glass. The design brief was provided on Monday the 15th of August at 9am. The WISE club was given the task of interacting with the use of glass sustainably. After almost a full day of deliberation the WISE club decided to take on the challenge of improving the temperature control within the classrooms at John Therry.

The girls decided that testing the effectiveness of different types of glass would determine the best outcome. WISE club then had until Wednesday the 17th at Midnight to submit their pitch. Over the next two days WISE club surveyed students in year 7, 10 and teachers to determine the feasibility and necessity of improving the temperature. The improvement in temperature was aimed to be done by reducing the usage of heating and cooling. However, using the type of glass to insulate the classroom. WISE club put together their pitch explaining the results and proposed implementation for John Therry. Unfortunately, we were unsuccessful in becoming finalists but the overall Hackathon was an amazing experience and the WISE club looks forward to competing again next year.

JT Science Leader of Learning Ms Jo-Anne Donaldson was interviewed recently as part of her AMGEN Biotech Experience (ABE) on how she has been working on new curricula to engage students in biotechnology.

For the full article please click on the link below:

AMGEN Biotech Article

45 of our Year 11 PDHPE students recently completed their Senior First aid Certificate as part of their course work for Senior PDHPE. 

The students engaged in training for emergency procedures for CPR, envenomation and fractures and bandaging. They now have the training to potentially save a life or act as First Aid officers within the workplace. 

Well done to all for the dedication and commitment to complete all of the online modules and the practical assessment.

Year 7 

This term students finished the unit Ways of Praying where they explored their relationship with God and the many different ways in communicating with him. Opportunities for different ways to pray were provided which saw students visiting the spiritual garden, labyrinth and chapel. Along with guided meditations, prayerful colouring and creating prayer beads. The unit highlighted that prayer is central to our living relationship with God. 

Year 7 and 8

Earlier in the term year 7 and 8 visited Our Lady Help of Christian parish church. After two years of lockdowns and restrictions, the majority of our junior students have not experienced mass or stepped into the church. The visit provided students an opportunity to listen to Fr. Sarkis outline the many intricate design features and asked questions about his experience as the parish priest. Students left becoming more familiar with Fr. Sarkis and gained a deeper appreciation of the beautiful place of worship. 

Year 8

Miss Screpis’ class got creative writing, directing and performing a play about : What would Jesus think? Contemporary issues of climate change, social media, discrimination and pollution we some of the themes in their plays. Students applied their knowledge and understanding of Jesus’ teachings to explore how Jesus would react in our world today. 

Year 9

Mr Tran’ class held a Social Justice Expo to promote the variety of Catholic organisations, highlighting the various services they provide the community. Year 10s were invited to quiz each group’s understanding of what their organisation offered. A great learning experience for students to appreciate the importance of these services and witness Catholic faith in action. 

Year 10

On Monday 5 September, Chloe Peters, Maddison Konn, Jack Gilbert and Tyniko Chelin along with other secondary students within the diocese, attended a Social Justice Workshop on Respect: Confronting Violence and Abuse. Students listened to Stacey Jane - Founder and CEO of ESCABAGS - an outreach charity for women and men escaping domestic violence. Students worked through the SEE, JUDGE, ACT model to discern the issue of domestic violence and response with a mission lens. The workshop allowed students to apply their understanding from the unit of work Catholic Social Justice. Students found the workshop ‘eye opening’ to the signs of our times. Thank you to Miss Brianna Scripis for driving the group to Corpus Christi Catholic High School, Oak Flats.

JTCC SPORT UPDATE -  Term 3,  Week 7 & 8

Early in Term 4 we have a number of Diocesan carnivals that JTCC has entered - Junior boys cricket, junior boys and girls AFL and basketball (Junior/Senior boys and girls). Announcements for trials for these teams will be published on Compass over the next week.

Week 8 saw a number of our MISA teams play off in minor and grand final matches in so damp conditions. Teams finished their Term 3 season with a great cumulation of hard work across the term  and the majority of our JTCC  teams had a win, with the U15 boys Rugby League, Senior Boys AFL and 7/ 8 Boys Soccer teams returning victorious as MISA Champions for term 4.  Final standings and overall Champion House points will be included in next fortnight's newsletter.

A few general reminders:

• Students who missed out on MISA or DIO teams , there are many future opportunities to represent JTCC, keep an eye out on the Compass Newsfeed.
• Any students that would like to request to change groups for 9/10 REC - you need to see Mrs. Roberts at the Sports Office. You must do this prior to Tuesday lunch time.
• 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.

Week 7 - Round 6/Semi’s/Replay Round 1

Week 8 - Finals

Presentation - Assembly Week 7

The last assembly that we recognised sporting achievements was all the way back in week 7, term 1.  This assembly we recognised and acknowledged Wollongong Diocese Representatives from Term 1 -3, Cross Country and Athletics Age Champions, as well as our MISA Sportsperson of the Week for Term 1 and 2. One point I want to echo from the assembly was the overwhelmingly positive feedback  I have received after many of our representative events, both for our athletes and our student helpers who are assisting with these events. This has not only come from the JT staff who are out there with you, but also from teachers from other schools and parents from other school communities. This makes me immensely proud of the conduct and integrity our JT sporting community upholds.

We will be announcing the School Carnival Winners and the Spencer Trophy for Champion sporting house at the Week 10 assembly. Murray were the 2021 winners,  will they be able to retain their stranglehold over the JT carnivals? All other sporting achievements and success will be celebrated at the 2022 Sports Assembly at the end of Term 4.

Please see below our Age Champions and Sportperson of the week recipients.

Cross Country

Athletics Carnival

MISA Sportsperson of the week

Staff vs. Students

A week of highly competitive physical and mental challenge kicked on in Week 7 with the annual staff vs. students competition.

Monday started with a double header, basketball and netball. Staff were victorious in the netball game, whilst students claimed a surprising victory in basketball. We also saw the basketball icon Mr. Peters taking a tumble, but nothing will stop him from bouncing back. 

A victory on Tuesday in trivia saw the staff take back the lead, but students were confident heading into Wednesday’s Oztag game. Some controversial refereeing calls by Luke Denniss saw the students come back with a late charge after Mr. Bodeker missed a vital tag on the speed demon Elise Farrant. She scored a late try in the final minutes with the game concluding in a 2 all draw. There was a sighting of Zac Morheb so exhausted after the game that he couldn’t recover enough to attend class and signed out early to go home and rest. 

From then on the staff were too slick for the students, making their sporting ability known in the Soccer and Frisbee games. However, some extremely controversial actions from Mr. Bodeker may have won them the series with some backstage bribery.

Mr. Williamson, the Frisbee God himself was in elite form on Friday, landing at least 4 goals for the staff. At the end of the week staff were victorious with a total tally of 16 championship points to students 8. Overall it was a fun and highly emotive week of staff vs students. Well done to everyone involved, including our Trivia master Mr. Golebiewski, Year 11 referees and especially to the Sports Captain Jayden Cook for assisting in the smooth running of the week.

UPCOMING EVENTS

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)

Please find below a link to the latest parish bulletin