Andrew Chisholm

Principal

Dear Parents and Students,

Term 1 2026 has been one of the smoothest Term 1’s on record with our students starting the year with high levels of engagement and motivation and a willingness to get involved in the life of the school. Student leaders have been highly organised and proactive and the participation in student clubs and activities such as the Corkill Cup has been high. I am looking forward to the last general assembly of the term in a couple of days where JMSS student leaders are hosting and organizing the assembly with the purpose of introducing club leaders and explaining their roles to the rest of the school.

Events early in Term 2

Term 2 begins on Monday 20th April and the first three weeks see a number of important events on the school calendar:

Friday 24th April is a professional learning day for staff focusing on changes to teaching models employed at JMSS. No students are required at school on this day. 

On the evening of Thursday April 30th there is a guest speaker organised by JMSS parents at the school. More information about this event and RSVP information is also in this newsletter.

The annual open night for prospective parents is on Tuesday 5th May. Again, this is a virtual session, and more information about this session is available on our website.

Thursday 7th May sees the annual JMSS athletics sports which all students are required to attend.

This year we have also changed the timings of cohort study lessons. These lessons are used for cohort assessments and for other whole-year-level events, such as guest speakers and briefings. Lesson 1 on Friday in week A in the timetable is one of these sessions. If Year 12 students do not have a timetabled event on these Fridays, eg a SAC or meeting they do not need to turn up to school until 9.30 am.

Importance of Feedback

All of our students have been receiving multiple forms of feedback in recent weeks. This feedback is designed to improve and maximise performance across all subjects and has come in the form of returned assessment tasks, progress reports, Canvas rubrics, oral feedback from conversations with teachers in class, and during parent and teacher-student conferences. Importantly, the feedback will recommend for students to continue the aspects of their performance that are going well and for them to work on creating an action plan to address the areas of improvement that have been suggested by their teachers. What is contained within an action plan is a good conversation to have at home and can cover topics such as organization, note-taking, revision, and question answering techniques. Please don’t hesitate to contact your students’ mentor or house leader if you need any further assistance.

2027 Enrolment

If any of your friends or family are interested in joining JMSS in 2027, applications for students to join in Year 10 and Year 11 are now open. Applications for the assessment to enter Year 11 close on 1st May and the Year 11 entry test is held on the 23rd May. Applications for the assessment to enter Year 10 close on the 22nd of May and the entry test date is June 13th.

A link to Edutest, the company that coordinates the entry assessments for JMSS, can be found on our website.

I hope you are all looking forward to the Easter break. We look forward to seeing our students return refreshed and ready to build on their excellent Term 1 work on day 1 of Term 2 on Monday 20th April.

Kind Regards,

Andrew Chisholm

Principal