Andrew Chisholm

Principal

Dear Parents and Students,

As I write this, the cold weather has hit and there do seem to be some really nasty viruses about that have impacted students at all year levels. Can I encourage you to keep your child at home if they are sick. As we are approaching assessment season, the last thing we want is to spread some of these illnesses more widely.

The assessment season commonly leads to students feeling a degree of performance anxiety. This feeling is perfectly normal and expected, however each student does need to develop some techniques and practices so that they approach any assessment in a calm and purposeful manner. This type of 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 year 12 students completing SACs and our 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 and also to further the development and improvement of knowledge and skills that can be applied confidently 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, there is assistance for students via their house leaders and mentors if students need help with 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.

Service recognition

One of JMSS’s staff Peter Thompson was recognised last weekend for his dedication and loyalty of service to public education at the 2025 Recognition of Service ceremony at Pullman Melbourne on the Park. Peter has been at JMSS since 2011 and has completed 40 years’ service in Government education. Peter is a highly valued member of staff at JMSS, and we congratulate him on his outstanding contribution to education and chemistry teaching. Peter is picture below receiving his 40 years certificate from Deputy Premier and Education Minister Ben Carroll.

Student Achievements

Recently the Australian leg of the International Young Physicists Tournament was held in Brisbane with 4 JMSS students competing against students from all over the country. Congratulations to Year 12 student Georgi Demosthenous, who has been selected as a member of the Australian team to compete in the international tournament held in Sweden in late June. We wish Georgi all the best for the tournament.

Regional Exchange (REx)

This Friday sees the end of the first regional exchange of the year. The students have enjoyed a program that has included immersions into Monash University, the CSIRO and Monash Tech School as well as excursions into the city for scavenger hunts and an AFL game.

These students have spoken glowingly about their experiences at JMSS, and I would like to thank the many staff and their JMSS student buddies for their work in making the REx students experience such a valuable one. The REx students and JMSS buddies are shown outside the state library below.

Andrew Chisholm

Principal