St John the Evangelist Catholic High School Nowra eNewsletter

YEAR 12 NEWS

YEAR 12 RETREAT 2022

The Year 12 Retreat was a time for reflection, spirituality and pause from the busyness of the HSC year. Students were given the opportunity to further connect with their peers and the staff who attended through a range of small and whole year group activities. The students on retreat were outstanding in the ways they conducted themselves over the three days. Year 12 were respectful and insightful in the planned activities; they also had a great sense of adventure and spontaneity as they embraced the lighter aspects of the retreat, including the talent show and dress up night and Mr Eirth’s singing battle.

As Year Coordinator, I could not be more proud of the young men and women in this amazing cohort. They have a strong sense of justice and inclusion, as they worked so collaboratively together in the small groups and also as a wider team.

Thank you to all of Year 12 for attending our retreat with such grace and enthusiasm.

My gratitude on behalf of Year 12 also goes to the staff who attended and also helped prepare for our retreat;

Mr Comensoli, Mr Lopez, Mrs Anderson, Mrs Frawley, Mrs Murphy, Mrs Kelly, Ms Lloyd, Mrs Frew, Mrs Honeysett, Mr Holden, Mr Fuller, Mr Eirth, Mr Leishman, Mrs Hogan, Mrs Millington, Uncle Rory, Mrs Phillips, Mrs Hill, Mrs Hodges and Mrs Whitehouse.

CAREERS EXPO

Thank you to Mrs Hill for organising and sending Year 12 to the Illawarra Careers Expo at the start of May in Berkeley. The event was attended by hundreds of senior students from the Illawarra, and was an excellent opportunity for our students to engage with their post school options as they prepare to further study and enter the workforce.

FOUNDATION DAY

Year 12 attended their very last St John’s Foundation Day in Week 6. It was an excellent event, led admirably by our Year 12 leaders and PALS groups. Thanks to the Year 12 PALS classes and teachers for their contribution of stalls on the day, which were a hit with the whole school. Year 12 provided the school with a range of stalls including party foods, lolly jars, a dance party, pancakes, spider drinks, donuts and some very entertaining sponge throwing.

At the end of the day, Year 12 lit up the hall with some outstanding entertainment at the annual talent showcase.

Well done to all students who participated in the showcase, and particular mention goes to Allira & Tom as the MC’s, along with the well-known band Electrik Boots.

UOW DISCOVERY DAY

On Monday 6 June, a group of Year 12 students attended the UOW Discovery Day at the Wollongong campus. Students were greeted by current UOW students who guided them around the very large campus. Students were able to attend their own lectures on the day, to get a feel for what it is like to be a Uni student. Lectures covered all sorts of disciplines including engineering, nursing, medicine, languages and creative arts.

BISHOP BRIAN'S VISIT

Last Wednesday the school welcomed Bishop of the Wollongong Diocese - Brian Mascord, the Wollongong Catholic Education Office Director Mr Peter Hill and St Michael’s Parish Priest, Father Joseph Pothenparampil.

Our special guests were firstly greeted by the school Captains and SRC leaders in the Chapel, where they discussed themes of challenges, faith, life stages and the importance of relationships and connections to others.

The entire Year 12 cohort then met with Bishop Brian, Mr Hill and Father Joseph. Students were given an opportunity to ask questions of Bishop Brian. Both guests were amazed at the quality of questions and thoughts displayed by our year group. Questions covered a multitude of topics including politics, religion and ethics. Year 12 also heard the story of when Bishop Brian first met Pope Francis at the Vatican!

As a school we are grateful for the time of both Bishop Brian and Mr Hill in meeting with our students and staff.