Andrew Chisholm
Principal
Dear Parents and Students,
As we reach the mid-point of Term 2, students have certainly been experiencing an increased amount of assessments as the exam and SAC period is nearly upon us. Simultaneously, there has also been an extensive range of events and opportunities that have made the school a very vibrant place to be.
I am currently with the JMSS team competing in the Singapore International Maths Competition. Our students, Darren Liu, Jacob Poon, and Ryan Wee are competing against other student teams from 27 countries.
We have also seen our students involved in sport round robins, house competitions, district cross country, NEVR music concerts, Worlds Greatest Shave, Battle of the Bands, guest speakers for science snippets and invitations to a number of interesting events on the campus.
Upcoming Assessment Period
The assessment season commonly leads to students feeling a degree of performance anxiety. This feeling is perfectly normal and expected, and each student does need to develop some strategies, techniques and practices so that they approach any assessment in a calm and purposeful manner. A calm and considered approach is essential so that students don’t compromise their performance in assessments by having heightened emotions or by placing too much importance on the outcome of assessments. This advice is particularly important for students completing SACs in year 12 and our teachers and wellbeing team can assist any students who might need assistance in honing their approaches towards assessment. Assessments are valuable tools to provide feedback to students on their learning progress, where gaps in knowledge might lie, and also to further develop and improve aspects of their performance under time pressure that can be improved upon in the end-of-year exams.
Another issue impacting student performance that sometimes appears at this time of year is that some students focus too intensely on a particular assessment in a subject at the expense of their other subjects. This can lead to falling behind in other subjects which can create knowledge gaps, having to catch up set work and decreased performance in other subjects. The use of a study timetable is essential to balance out study time so that at home, time is spent equally on all subjects. Again, students can get assistance from their house leaders and mentors if they need help developing their own study regime.
As the mid-year exam period approaches, teachers will be outlining for students the topics that need to be revised for the end-of-semester assessments, as well as other information relating to skills that might need to be applied or specific answering techniques that need practice. Developing effective revision practices becomes more important as the student gets older, and research into high-stakes testing estimates that effective revision techniques can contribute up to 25% of a student’s result in an assessment.
NEVR Music Concert at Hamer Hall
The North East Victoria Region concert was once again a real highlight with 40 JMSS students participating in the three-hour event showcasing some remarkable musicians from across the region.
It was pleasing to attend this event to see firsthand the excellent solo items from Terrence Cheng, Daniel Feng and Daisy Fang. Daniel and Terrence are pictured below.
Engineering event with Kathryn Bennell Pegg
Recently, a group of our female students attended an event to recognize Australia’s increasing foray into space science and hear from some pioneering women scientists. The event run by Monash University Engineering Faculty allowed the audience to hear from current 2026 Australian of the year and astronaut Kathryn Bennell Pegg and the Chancellor of Monash University Dr Megan Clark who is also Head of the Australian Space Agency. Some of our students are shown below with Kathryn Bennell Pegg.
Exhibition Night
We were really pleased to see such a large turnout for the annual exhibition evening. More than 1000 people visited, and it was brilliant to see the enthusiasm and understanding of some complex scientific knowledge displayed by our Year 10 students when communicating their learnings from their emerging science elective subjects. Amazing work from all the science team for their preparation, organisation and guidance of the students led by Head of Science Ms. Kathryn Grainger and Assistant Head of Science Dr Penny Hale.
Worlds Greatest Shave
Congratulations to all of our student leaders for their organisation of the annual Worlds Greatest Shave Event to raise funds for blood cancer research. It was great to see many of our staff involved in some of the activities and losing hair - nearly 10,000 dollars was raised by the school community, a fantastic effort!
Canvas
Thanks to everyone for your understanding related to the disruption caused by the Canvas breach. The platform is now operational and if you do need assistance resetting passwords, please contact the school. The Department of Education is still investigating and we will continue to keep you all informed if there is anything else to report.
Kind Regards,
Andrew Chisholm
Principal