Peter Corkill
Principal
Dear Parents, Students and Friends of John Monash Science School
I trust this newsletter finds you all safe and well. It is a pleasure to be able to write to you all again, without the veil of Covid19 still upon us. I am sure none of us will forget the past three years, but we do embrace the renewed freedom, as well as the great weather of course, as we move into March.
It is simply wonderful being able to move back into a more ‘normal’ JMSS mode. Some of the key events which have already marked the year include:
- The Year 10 Induction program onsite at Monash University – another huge success and our Year 10s are now well into the swing of life and study at JMSS;
- The Year 12 Camp at Somers – I can’t recall more perfect weather for that event, and all activities were fully embraced by our Year 12 students. We look forward to another fantastic year with our leading cohort;
- Our whole-school swimming carnival – some superb performances in the pool, and still some urgent work needed on the engineering of our makeshift rafts for the annual House race. If memory serves – ALL of them sunk before the finish line – hilarious!
- Our first whole-school assemblies back onsite in three years. It is just wonderful to have them back, with the guest speakers and highlighting of achievements at the school continuing to be a special feature.
The return of International Exchanges – Ritsumeikan High School, Kyoto, Japan
We were exceptionally pleased with the success of the first exchange with one of our international partner schools in the International Schools Science Network since January 2020, when a team from JMSS visited Kamnoetvidya Science High School (KVIS) in Thailand. Ritsumeikan High School is one of our key partners in the ISSN. We were very pleased to host a team of ten students, as well as teacher Mr. Romel Barrow, and Principal Mr. Yasuhiro Higashitani, for the past week at JMSS. There were several highlights during the week, one of course being the full day visit to Healesville Sanctuary, where our visitors are always amazed by seeing the very famous characters of the Australian bush - koalas, wombats and kangaroos, live for the first time for almost all of them. There were also highly successful visits to the city, as well as immersion experiences in Science and IT within the University itself.
On behalf of all at JMSS, can I sincerely thank our parents and students for hosting these wonderful young people, and giving them an opportunity they will never forget. I would also like to thank our Head of Languages, Mr. Daniel Cussen, for all his hard work in getting the visit organised. And also our colleagues at Monash for their generous hospitality. Our return visit will be in the middle of 2023.
It is very significant to note that while our good friend and colleague Principal Higashitani was with us, we signed a Memorandum of Understanding between our two schools which will commit both organisations to continue such exchanges into the future, to share resources and curriculum for the benefit of both schools, as well as opportunities for teachers from both schools to share resources and learn from each other. This is the first of a number of Memoranda we hope to sign in the next couple of years, as we return our international program to its former strength. It is through strong partnerships like this that schools like ours can model the wonderful collegiality, sharing of ideas and genuine friendship that the world so desperately needs reminding of now.
Peter Corkill
Principal