John Therry Catholic College eNewsletter

It has been great to welcome students back to school this week. We commence with around 1080 students, which is the highest enrolment in John Therry's history. This includes 199 students in Year 7, 23 new students across Year 8-11, and we are now at full capacity in every year group to begin the year.

The promise and opportunity of a fresh start is always exciting and brings hope for the year ahead. I have been extremely impressed with the way students have returned to school, wearing the uniform with pride and most importantly, demonstrating great energy and excitement about being together again as a community.

We have emphasised at the beginning the year how much potential each and every student has, the importance of making the most of their opportunity here and achieving their personal best. "High Expectations, High Support and High Accountability" is our mantra in 2025, and we aim to raise the bar for the whole community, with a real focus on our learning.

I have talked to students about how important it is that we challenge them to know what they are capable of, and how we will always do that through a caring and supportive approach. We know that when we do this well, and everyone is held accountable, the student experience improves and they achieve better results.

John Therry is a truly great place to learn and we should always work to ensure we aim to continually improve.

Our Marist and Diocesan theme this year is Pilgrims of Hope, in line with the Jubilee Year in the Church announced by Pope Francis. At the heart of our catholic faith is the call to live out the message of Hope that Jesus taught us.

“We must fan the flame of hope that has been given to us, and help everyone to gain new strength and certainty by looking to the future with an open spirit, a trusting heart and far-sighted vision..” (Pope Francis).

I also love the notion of being a pilgrim; as a community we journey with one another, looking to go further together than we could on our own. It is relationship and community that lie at the heart of John Therry and so our theme this year is most fitting and inspirational for us.

Welcome to new staff

We farewelled a small number of staff at the end of last year and now welcome nine new teachers in 2025 and three new support staff. Three of our new staff are filling newly created positions due to our growing enrolment numbers and the need to support our students. We are blessed to have these outstanding educators join our community and begin the year with a full teaching team.

New Teaching Staff:

Pam Dowd - English

Stepheni Peiris - Maths

Sam Fifita - Maths

Robynne Madengang - Science

Marinda Bond - Diverse Learning

Maree Armstrong Ley - Diverse Learning

Penny Troy - Diverse Learning

Ashik Romy - English / HSIE

Laura Penfold - EAL/D

New Support Staff:

Aimee Payne - Library SSO

Nicole Lauko - LSO

Ashlyn Billings - LSO

We have a range of important events over the next fortnight.

The Year 12 Retreat takes place next week and is a key formation experience for students in their time at John Therry.

Year 7 Laptop bootcamp is on next Tuesday 11th Febraury.

Our High Achievers Assembly for the HSC Class of 2024 takes place on Friday the 21st February and we look forward to celebrating their achievements.

We look forward to these and the many other events that will shape 2025!

A defining feature of John Therry is that in setting very high standards and expectations, we do this with great care and support for the students. Driving this approach is our wellbeing team who are responsible for students in each grade. There are some changes in 2025 and we have shared the leaders of wellbeing below for you.

Natalie Wagstaff	Leader of Wellbeing Year 7
Damian Hatton	Assistant Leader of Wellbeing Year 7
Luke Bodeker	Leader of Wellbeing Year 8
Jessica Pracy	Assistant Leader of Wellbeing Year 8
Matthew Tran	Leader of Wellbeing Year 9
Maeghan Robinson	Assistant Leader of Wellbeing Year 9
Roxanne Pelligrino	Year 10 Leader of Wellbeing
Jonathan Borg	Assistant Leader of Wellbeing Year 10
Dermot Holmes	Year 11 Leader of Wellbeing
Tayla Moon	Assistant Leader of Wellbeing Year 11
Mitch McGrath	Year 12 Leader of Wellbeing
Liz Ursino	Assistant Leader of Wellbeing Year 12

SPORT PERMISSION NOTES are due by Monday 10th February to ensure all students can participate this week.

Please complete in Compass as soon as possible.

We have moved our Open Day to an afternoon this year, trying to provide the opportunity for as many parents and families as possible to attend. A reminder that enrolment applications for 2026 are due by the end of Term 1, and offers are finalised by the end of Term 2. We have had siblings and alumni miss out over the last 2 years due to late applications and we really want to avoid this. Feel free to contact the office if you have any questions.

Year 7’s Exciting First Week at High School

Congratulations to our Year 7 students on completing their first week of high school! It has been a busy and exciting start, with students reconnecting with peers from their primary schools while warmly welcoming new friends.

Our Year 7 students approached their first high school lessons with enthusiasm, and the feedback from their teachers has been overwhelmingly positive. They have been engaged, eager to learn, and have embraced their new environment with confidence.

Students also participated in Peer Support sessions with our Year 11 leaders, who provided guidance and encouragement to help them navigate their first days. It has been wonderful to see them settling in so quickly, with many already finding their way around the school without needing their maps.

We look forward to IT Bootcamp on Tuesday and seeing students making the most of their laptops from Wednesday onwards.

Check out the video below for highlights from their first day! ?

Dear parents, caregivers and students,

Welcome to what is going to be another great year of learning at John Therry Catholic College. I hope everyone had a happy holiday and that all of us are looking forward to a settled start to the College year.

Term 1 is always a unique one- a blend of familiar and new.

Old friends as well as new ones! I take this opportunity to welcome all our Year 7 students as well as students who have enrolled in Years 8-11, this year. I hope you have a smooth start to the year and enjoy every minute of your learning experience. Don’t hesitate to ask for help, if you need it.

Old classrooms as well as new ones! As students walk around the school, you will notice improvements to the school environment. You will notice your classrooms are newly painted, neat and clean with additional posters directing you to classroom procedures for your lessons. We all know the value of a great physical environment and how conducive this is to learning. We hope this will help you stay focussed and find relevance in what you learn.

Old learning as well as new! We always encourage students to do their best each day, every day and we hope students will start the academic year equipped with old learning and engage wholeheartedly in the new learning in each of their classes. We, as a dedicated JT staff, are committed to providing our students with the best learning experiences and we hope every student will commit to learning, as well.

By week 3, all students will receive, via Compass and the Google classroom page, an Assessment Handbook, Assessment Calendar and Assessment Schedule (HSC students will receive the Assessment dates for tasks in Terms 1, 2 & 3). This information will also be available via email and on the school website (printed copies will be available on request). While teachers will draw students’ attention to various sections of these documents from time to time, I suggest you read the Handbook and make a note of the Assessment dates/weeks so everyone is well- prepared for these tasks and a true measure of learning is made possible.

On the 21st February, we will celebrate the achievements of our HSC 2024 students. I would like to thank each and every HSC student for their hard work and commitment to getting the HSC completed as successfully as possible. I would like to congratulate all our HSC students on their success and am looking forward to a grand celebration in a few weeks’ time.

In 2025, some of our School assemblies will highlight the great work being done in the different faculties. We look forward to having the Hall stage overflowing with students who will be recognised for their hard work and success in learning.

Once again, I welcome you to an exciting year of learning at JT. We are always available to answer any queries you may have.

Mrs Lorraine Ramchandra
Leader of Learning-Curriculum

A reminder that Year 10 students will receive their Meningococcal vaccination on Tuesday, 18th February.

Parental consent is required and can be completed online using the following link:
https://engage.health.nsw.gov.au/engage/

Please note: Vaccinations will only be administered at school if consent has been received.

If you are unable to provide consent online, paper forms are available at the front office.

Thank you for your cooperation.

2025_NSW_School_Vaccination_Program_newsletter.pdf

JTCC SPORT UPDATE - Term 1, Week 2

Welcome back to 2025! We are looking forward to another exciting year of sport at John Therry Catholic College. 2024 was a fantastic year of great achievements, and we look forward to reaching great success again this year. We finished last year on a high with our annual Sports Assembly and had Jessica Hull as our guest speaker. She was a great inspiration for students and staff alike, and we appreciate her making time in her busy schedule to visit our school community.

Some highlights of the assembly included:

Winning 12 premierships across the 2024 MISA sporting season and had multiple runner up places. Our Junior girls finished in 5th place, with our senior girls in 4th place. This year I am happy to report that John Therry has again won the Senior Boys CHampions Trophy and to top this, our Junior Boys have also won the Junior Boys Champion Trophy. Both groups easily won their divisions demonstrating the dominance of the JT boys teams. It was a neck and neck race with Mt Carmel, as it has been for the last 10 years. Unfortunately, just like in 2023, we have just fallen short of our cross town rivals, finishing in second place by 24 points.

In Diocesan competitions for 2024 we had 29 students selected into Diocesan teams, plus we had 2 teams win an overall Diocesan Championship and one team win a CCC knockout tournament. We had 8 students selected through to a Southern Country and 14 students were selected into a NSWCCC team.

Our key individual awardees were:

*Coach of the Year*	Mr Jefferys
*Most Consistent Performer*	Ava Hilton
*Service to Sport*	Cooper Dickie
*Triple Crown - 3 x Age Championship winners*	Balin Crews & Zoe Hawkes
*Sportsperson of the Year*	Sullivan O’Dwyer

Week 3 sees us begin our first rotation for Year 7-10 sport, and our final week of trials before Round 1 of MISA starts in Week 4. It is also vital for ALL students to return their General Sports Permission note via the parent portal on Compass. Students who do not have this returned will be unable to go off-site for sport or participate in our college swimming carnival.

A new school year is a time for a fresh start. Please be reminded of our Sport school uniform policy:

External Sport Achievements

Over the holidays Dante Foweraker traveled to Perth to play for NSW U16’s in the National Softball Championships. Across a week long championship Dante’s team played 10 games losing only one game, and after beating QLD in the semi finals headed straight through to the grand final where we met QLD again. With an exciting, tense and close game with Dante being a designated runner coming across the plate in 3 of those runs, NSW defeated QLD 13-12 becoming the u16’s National Champions! Congratulations to Dante and his team!

Upcoming Events Term 1 2025:

Week 4

MISA Competition begins

Week 5

Wednesday 26th February - Southern Country U15 AFL Boys Trials *Approved nominations only

Friday 28th February - JTCC Swimming Carnival @ GFAC

Friday 28th Feburary - Dio Girls Touch @ Dalton Park

Week 6

Thursday 6th March - Dio Boys Touch

@ Dalton ParkDio Swimming Championships @ Corrimal

Diocesan and Pathways update

2025 Sport is well and truly underway. 2025 planning and calendar for representative pathway opportunities are below.

Upcoming NSWCCC events

NSWCCC 18's Girls and Boys Cricket - EOI closed

Selected students progressed on the portal to attend NSWCCC Selections & students who were unsuccessful receive an email from CSNSW Sport – Friday 31 January 2025

CCC Girls Cricket 4 & 5 February

CCC Boys Cricket 12 & 13 February* date change

NSWCCC Softball Selections - close date 31 January 2025 - Selection date - Tuesday, 11 February at Stanhope Gardens - More information https://csnsw.sport/sports/nswccc-secondary/softball

NSW All Schools Triathlon - close date 19 February 2025 - Championship date - 26 & 27 February at Sydney International Regatta Centre, Penrith - More information https://csnsw.sport/sports/nswccc-secondary/triathlon

NSWCCC Tennis Selections - close date 21 February 2025 - Selection date - Monday, 3 March at North Parramatta Tennis Courts - More information https://csnsw.sport/sports/nswccc-secondary/tennis

NSWCCC Golf Selections - close date 21 February 2025 - Selection date Monday, 3 March at Tuncurry Golf Club - More information https://csnsw.sport/sports/nswccc-secondary/golf

NSWCCC Baseball Selections - close date 22 February 2025 TBC - Selection date - 5 March at Castle Glen 1 & 2, Castle Hill - More information https://csnsw.sport/sports/nswccc-secondary/baseball

SCHOOL TEAMS - NSW All Schools Triathlon Schools Relays - to be registered by the school sports coordinator or Principal only.

Close date - 19 February - Championship date - Thursday 27 February at Sydney International Regatta Centre, Penrith - More information https://csnsw.sport/sports/nswccc-secondary/triathlon - use Schools Based Competition tab. https://csnsw.sport/triathlon-form

Students at John Therry are given the opportunity to represent John Therry at College, Diocesan and CCC sporting events.

CLICK HERE - JTCC PATHWAY INFORMATION

Diocesan Sporting Opportunities

This is the main school sporting pathway that is offered to students at John Therry Catholic College. Some John Therry CC Diocesan teams are determined through trials, or a carnival hosted at a college level (Athletics, Cross Country, Swimming), however some teams are determined by individual trials that students must nominate and register for online. Further information can be found at: https://www.dow.catholic.edu.au/sport/

NSWCCC Sporting Opportunities

NSWCCC is another school sporting pathway that is offered to students at John Therry Catholic College. Some CCC teams are determined through qualifying at a carnival hosted at a Diocesan level (Athletics, Cross Country, Football, Rugby League, Swimming, Basketball, Touch Football), however some teams are determined by individual trials that students must nominate and register for online. Students must be currently competing at a representative level in their chosen sport to be considered for CCC team trials.The sports that require online nomination and registration include:

AFL
Baseball
Basketball
Cricket
Diving
Golf
Hockey

Rugby
Softball
Tennis
Triathlon
Volleyball
Water Polo
Netball

It is important that online registration is completed before the closing date for each sport. These are outlined on the CSNSW website: https://csnsw.sport

Online registrations are now open for 2025. Please refer to the information on the website regarding the registration process. Here is a link to assist with sports registration for parents: https://csnsw.atlassian.net/servicedesk/customer/portal/2/topic/65d787c5-0d2a-4699-a63a-25d586b67ba2

A reminder to check the Compass Portal for upcoming sporting events and their respective closing dates.

You can also access the Wollongong Sport site for more information regarding Diocesan Sport throughout the year.

https://www.dow.catholic.edu.au/student-experience/sport/secondary-sport

Yours in Sport,

Georgia Roberts (RobertsG03@dow.catholic.edu.au)

Please find below a link to the latest Parish Bulletin

https://www.olhcrosemeadow.org.au/bulletin/