Events

JMSS represented at the 2018 Graeme Clark Oration

by Reena ZELENKOVA (Year 12)

Over the Term 2 holidays a keen group of JMSS students attended the Graeme Clarke Oration – an event held every year that focuses on keeping the community informed of the most profound medical and health science related breakthroughs.

This year's orator was Professor Paula Hammond, the head of Chemical Engineering at MIT, who conducts research primarily in the use of nano materials applied in drug transfer.

Professor Hammond outlined a phenomenal new electrostatic 'layer-by-layer' process which provides a simple and elegant method for creating ultra thin nano films for encompassing drugs, allowing them to be released at highly specific and tailored times and locations. These methods can be used in tissue engineering, biomedical devices and even wound healing applications, which are all incredibly exciting and fundamental areas within current fields of medical research.

The oration was followed by a dinner which allowed us to mingle and network with other high school students, and talk to a plethora of academics, university students and politicians –all of which made the Graeme Clark Oration a night to remember!

Reef and Rainforest Trip

In the last week of Term 2, some 75+ JMSS students and staff departed on the annual JMSS Reef and Rainforest Trip for 2018.

Accompanied by seasoned travellers Mr. Thompson, Mr. Sargent and Ms. Breslin, along with first-time Reef-and-Rainforest-ers Mr. Whyte, Ms. Ryan, Mr. Hensel, Ms. Galloway and Ms. Shaw-Elliot, the group enjoyed 13 days experiencing Cairns and the surrounding environs - including overnight expeditions to Cape Tribulation, the Atherton Tablelands, Fitzroy Island and the Outer Great Barrier Reef.

While the weather was a little less favourable than previous years, the rain didn't dampen spirits, with both staff and students making the most of opportunities to swim with turtles, snorkel with reef sharks, spotlight for native possums, handle stick insects, wait for cassowaries to cross roads, and hunt (very quietly!) for the ever-elusive platypus.

Lectures and research tasks performed alongside researchers from James Cook University (JCU) provided valuable opportunities to learn about the incredible biodiversity and unique geography of the Wet Tropics, and provided fascinating insights into the world of toxicology from Associate Professor Jamie Seymour - who seems to have been bitten and stung by all manner of venomous sea creatures in the pursuit of science, but lived to tell the (highly entertaining) tales.

Additional highlights of the trip included frequent trips to the Cairns Night Markets for delicious food, grooving along on roller skates - although not always remaining in the traditional vertical arrangement - at the Cairns Skating Centre, and enjoying a sun-drenched rest day around the Cairns lagoon.

All in all, a sensational trip and a sensational time enjoyed by all - highly recommended for anyone in Year 11 in 2019!

Breakfast Club

Following strong demand from JMSS students, Breakfast Club will return to JMSS in Term 3! 

All staff and students are welcome to arrive early to school on Tuesday mornings and enjoy a feast of delicious breakfast foods on the ground floor before the school day begins.

Breakfast will be served from 7.40am - 8.20am, with a gold coin donation encouraged to help cover expenses.