Andrew Chisholm

Assistant Principal

Dear Parents and Students,

As we reach the end of an 11-week term that at times I didn’t think was going to finish, our Year 10 students are completing work experience placements and 88 JMSS students and teachers are enjoying 27-degree days whilst rotating through a range of science-based activities in locations such as Fitzroy Island, Daintree Rainforest, James Cook University and the outer Great Barrier Reef. Students have been assessing coral health, measuring rainforest revegetation rates, learning about toxicology and drug development as well as investigating measures employed to protect iconic species such as green sea turtles. Sign-ups for next year’s trip will be advertised in early Term 3.

Group A at the Reef and RF trip in Cairns below

Student Achievements

The end of Term 2 has seen some amazing personal and team achievements from our students:

• Last Monday Joel Tan received his green jacket (see photo below) at Parliament House in Canberra for making the Australian Earth Science Olympiad Team. Joel will be representing Australia in this Olympiad in Beijing in August. Joel is pictured receiving his jacket from Professor Ian Chubb AC who was previously Australia’s Chief Scientist

• Dylan Mathew was the number 1 student in Victoria in the Australian Geography Quiz. He now goes on to compete for the opportunity to represent Australia in the International Geography Olympiad.

• The team of Janneke Delhey-Peters, Douglas Shuttleworth and Joel Tan who were awarded as the champion team of the Singapore International Maths Competition. To win this invitational event against 42 school teams from over 30 countries is remarkable and has attracted a lot of attention both here and overseas! 

Semester Reports

Reports for Semester One will be published on Compass in week one of term 3. 

The Holidays

The upcoming term 2 holidays should be a time to relax and refresh before the start of next term. For those who have been unwell, this is a chance to catch up work missed and to consolidate revision folders. For those completing a Year 12 subject or subjects it is important that all of the skills and knowledge covered in semester one are archived in an accessible format so that this archive can be used as a resource for end of year exams in October. The VCAA website is a major resource that should be accessed to look at study designs, past exams, examiners reports and assessment advice. The VCAA website can be found at https://www.vcaa.vic.edu.au/Pages/HomePage.aspx

A reminder that in the second week of the Term 3 holidays we will be running October Tests (Practice exams) for all Year 12 subjects (30th September – 4th October). All students completing Year 12 subjects in 2024 are required to attend these assessments.

 Upcoming events in Term 3

One of the major events for Year 10 and 11 students in term 3 is the selection of courses for 2025. There will be face to face information nights for Year 10 and Year 11 students and parents to discuss the processes involved in course selection in weeks 2 and 3 of term 3. 

There will also be a VTAC session for parents in early August to cover the tertiary selection process.

The Information Night for current Year 11 students going into Year 12 will be on Thursday 18th July at 7pm. We are still confirming the location of this event with Monash University Venues .

More details will follow early in term 3.

Andrew Chisholm

Assistant Principal