Peter Corkill

Principal

Dear fellow members of the JMSS Community,

In this final newsletter for the year, with perhaps another to come once the VCE results for 2021 are known next week, the prevailing emotion is one of sincere thanks to everyone for the spirit of collaboration and unity with which we approached, worked through and eventually overcame the challenges of another Covid-impacted year. I am so immensely thankful to and proud of you all – teachers, support staff, students and parents. Everyone has played their part in keeping us safe and together. I hope you all have a wonderful and so richly deserved break.

One major theme of my contribution will be to say a heartfelt thanks to four founding members of our staff who are transitioning into retirement at the end of this term. Their collective contribution to our school is immeasurable, and the very positive impact they have all had here will last a long, long time.

Graduation Day for 2021 Year 12 students

Our Year 12 students officially graduated from JMSS on Wednesday December 8th, with two signature events, the Year 12 Assembly and the Year 12 House Assemblies. The Year 12 assembly featured several ‘gotchya’ moments involving staff and students, with no-one spared, certainly not my Principal colleagues nor me! Anyway it was all in good fun and definitely in a good cause. The assembly was followed by the traditional Year 12 ‘exit’ up the middle stairs, to a guard of honour and applause from all of the staff. Then followed the final House assemblies, in which many of our students talked to their House on their time at JMSS, what they have learnt and what they will take away from their experiences with us. This is indeed a special time for any Principal to hear about what this place has come to mean for each of our students. Personally I relish the opportunity.

Following these events, the Year 12 students reconvened with their parents at the Karingal Village Cinema in Frankston, for their official Graduation Ceremony. Assistant Principal Mrs Cheah-Johnson and her many staff and student colleagues organised the event, and indeed it was a fitting and memorable tribute to our Year 12 students’ three years at JMSS, despite the difficulties of the last two. 

Naturally we could not let the opportunity pass to sincerely thank Mrs Cheah Johnson for all her hard work and passion in her time at JMSS. She was typically determined to get this event organised for the Year 12s, and it was a significant and memorable tribute to their three years with us. The evening concluded with a fitting tribute to her, with two big surprises:

• Firstly, the ‘Mustang Sally’ video, produced by our amazing music team, with a beautiful red mustang making its way into the school carpark for some of the filming, ( link to see the Mustang Sally video - https://youtu.be/T8OccsAY1QY) and;
• Secondly, the replacement of the JMSS House Trophy, with the new Cheah-Johnson House Shield. The idea came from three current Year 11 students: Angus Chu, Skye Hornidge and Cameron Robinson. We were able to make their idea a reality, and now have a shield, with the winning houses from 2010 all inscribed. Since Sally has been such a driving force behind the development our unique House System, we saw it as a fitting tribute to name the new trophy in her honour.

The Year 12 results will be released on Thursday of next week, December 16th. I would like to wish all of our students the very best for these outcomes which are now imminent. Your cohort has made a very significant and positive contribution to JMSS, and deserve every success which comes your way. We are all waiting anxiously with you!

Significant Staff Changes at JMSS for 2022

Many in our community will now be aware that four founding and longstanding JMSS employees will be retiring at the end of this year. On behalf of our entire JMSS community I would like to sincerely thank them all for their incredible service to the establishment of JMSS.

Sally Cheah-Johnston is one of the four original members of the school’s Executive team. In her role she led the establishment of the school’s unique House system, designed to ensure that each and every student at JMSS could find their place within the new school, feel at ‘home’ and have an adult who would both monitor and support their learning and be their first port of call and their advocate when difficulties arose. Sally’s work with the eight House leaders and the wellbeing staff ensured this system got off to a good start and developed into the thriving model which exists today. Characterised by both health competition and wonderful support for our kids, the JMSS House system has caught the eye of many schools in their search for improved models of student management and support. Sally has also led the wellbeing team and programs, with recent additions such as the Tutor Learning Initiative and the Respectful Relationships program making an impact. Her work in the ongoing monitoring of the school’s policies, as well as co-ordinating some of the school’s major events has ensured the culture at JMSS continues to be strong.

Alison Galloway is another member of the school’s original Executive team, as our first Business Manager. Her work in this area has been exemplary, establishing the school’s first Student Resource Package (SRP), faculty and other budgets, payment and collection processes, not to mention the establishment and superb co-ordination of the general office team. Alison and I decided early on that we were determined that the staff at JMSS would be ‘the staff, the whole staff and nothing but the staff’, and we would not tolerate a divide between the teaching staff and ES staff, which both of us had seen in many schools prior. And so it has come to be. This somewhat rare feature of many school is a strong feature of ours, and ensuring all ES staff were allocated to one of the Houses, and therefore took part in House activities, has entrenched this important model at JMSS. Alison’s superb attention to detail, dogged approach to solving problems, preparedness to confront hard issues and speak her mind, has placed our school at the forefront of high management performance. Alison was one of the four nominees for Business Manager of the Year some four years ago, and we are still scratching our heads as to why she didn’t win (with GREAT respect to the actual winner)! 

Trish Shaw-Elliott has undertaken a few roles at JMSS, especially in the early stages of the school’s development. For example, her previous training as a nurse has always been of incredible use, from scraped knees and blood noses to anaphylactic care and pandemics! However, it is in the role of Registrar, the management of all of the entry processes for students into JMSS that she has shone. Trish’s thoroughness is beyond peer, her documentation of everything from conversations to enrolment information outstanding, and her willingness to engage with any and all people invested with their son or daughter at some stage in the process from inquiry to selection to enrolment is simply amazing.

George Buchanan has been working at JMSS as our onsite Maintenance Manager since the very early days of JMSS. A passionate and highly skilled custodian of our facilities, George has maintained a close eye on the building and all its features, picking up faults, overseeing maintenance and stepping in when anything goes wrong, as things have a tendency to do now and again. George’s keen eye has uncovered faults in the original building which should have been identified and fixed long ago. Had he been onsite then it would have saved us some grief over the years. George is a keen Hibernians fan in the Scottish League and of the Geelong Cats in the AFL. He has been a remarkable member of our staff for so many years, and we simply would not know what we would have done without him over that time.

Each and every one of these fine people have made an incredible contribution to our school. On behalf of all at JMSS I would like to wish each of them a long, happy and well deserved retirement, and sincerely thank them for their amazing contribution to JMSS. 

Major Staff Appointments for 2022

I am pleased to make everyone in our community aware of the following appointments to the staff for 2022. I am sure they will all make an outstanding contribution to the school in their new roles:

Assistant Principal – Mr Jeremy Mackinnon, currently Head of Senior School at Emerald Secondary College, and now returning to JMSS;

Business Manager – Ms. Rachael Oester, currently Business Manager at Brauer College in Warrnambool, Victoria;

Registrar – Mrs Martine St Leon, currently a member of the Reception staff at JMSS.

There are a few other staff changes which will be announced early in Term One next year.

Imminent Announcement of 2021 VCE Results 

The VCE results for 2021 will be released in the middle of next week, the last week of Term Four. Once these are confirmed, I will send a final Update to you all before the end of term. On behalf of everyone at JMSS I would like to wish our wonderful Class of 2021 all the very best for next week. One door closes, another one opens. Grab the opportunities with both hands, and with the same courage and determination which brought you to JMSS.

I would like to conclude by wishing all members of our community a safe, happy and rejuvenating time over the Christmas holidays. You have all certainly deserved it.

Peter Corkill

Principal