Andrew Chisholm
Principal
Dear Parents and Students,
The first five weeks of term three have seen a range of exciting activities, competitions and opportunities for all of our students as well as numerous sessions dedicated to the development of students’ subject and career pathways into 2026.
Assistant Principal Appointment
Congratulations to Dr Mel Denney who was the successful applicant for the substantive Assistant Principal role that was recently advertised. Mel has been in an acting Assistant Principal role this year after stepping up from the Head of Science role that she has performed for the last 6 years. The substantive role starts from term 1 2026.
Recent events
The annual Reef and Rainforest trip was an excellent experience for all 80 students involved and the three students attending the Korean Science Academy Fair, Sihan Chen, Junxiao Xiang and Yixuan Xu all of Year 12 were recognised with an award for their innovative research related to quantum computing.
Rapha Kempler of Year 11 was one of the team members that represented Australia as the 2024 Victorian Champion in the International Brain Bee in Spain in July. He was placed 1st and 2nd in a number of the events and the Australian team finished 6th overall. Rapha has been training the JMSS team this term for this year’s Victorian finals. Well done, Rapha!
Dylan Mathew of Year 12 was a member of the Australian team in the International Geography Olympiad in Thailand recently where he won a silver medal (pictured below). Congrats Dylan!
Two students Georgi Demosthenous and Brendan Kang of Year 12 represented Australia in the International Young Physicists Tournament held in Sweden recently. Both students performed well in a very difficult competition. Brendan is far left and Georgi third from left in the team photo below. Mr Gavrilescu (also pictured) was a judge at the event.
Currently there are 5 JMSS students competing at the International Astrophysics Olympiad in India. These 5 students comprise the entire team and they have just spent 9 days straight completing tasks set by the judges without any phones or connection to the internet. We are waiting on the results!
The five students Isabelle Goode, Alison Hurst, Neko McTaggart, Henryk Przychodzen and Michael Tikhanov all of Year 11 will certainly have some stories to tell when they return! The team is pictured below at the opening ceremony.
Sir John Monash Commemoration ceremony
Once again, a large contingent of JMSS students were invited to take part in the annual Sir John Monash Commemoration Ceremony at Parliament House Victoria. Two JMSS students were given the responsibility of laying a wreath representing Victorian students.
This ceremony was attended by politicians, the military, returned services, engineers and students from a number of pre-selected schools. A fuller account is covered later in the newsletter
Lastly, I will be on long service leave for the last 3 weeks of term three. Jeremy Mackinnon will be Acting Principal in my absence. Hoping that the burst of better weather continues and the freezing mornings are finished!
Andrew Chisholm
Principal