Peter Corkill

Principal

Dear fellow members of the JMSS community,

We are now close well into Term Two and it’s pretty much ‘so far, so good’, as far as the much vaunted ‘life post Covid’ is concerned. I would suggest it might be better termed ‘life post Covid-lockdowns’, but however we look at it, we have done pretty well to keep infections down, and maximise the attendance of staff and students onsite. That said, we still face challenges. Despite those, JMSS has been a busy and exciting place to be in recent weeks.

The Return of Science Exhibition Night

This is one of the feature events on the JMSS Calendar and it is with much pleasure that we see it return onsite on Thursday afternoon and evening this week. The event will showcase the work of our students, mainly in Year 10, in their Scientific Investigations, which are core in their science studies here at JMSS. I know our students are looking forward to showcasing their work to parents, friends and teachers of JMSS, as well as prospective families who might be joining our community in 2023.

I look forward to you coming along to support our students, put them through their paces as far as questioning them on their projected, and even suggesting ways to help them make their projects even better. It would be a great idea for all parents and visitors to all wear a mask when onsite at this event.

Music Camp

Congratulations and thanks to all of the Music staff for their wonderful work at the recent annual JMSS Music Camp with our students. We are lucky indeed to have such a dedicated team, which works so hard to bring the very best out of our highly talented young musicians. Huge congratulations to Sean Smyth and his team for their dedication and talent.

The Successful Return of the Regional Exchange

This week marks the last in the very successful return of this important and much valued program at JMSS. The 10 students from regional Victoria have loved their time here and embraced the opportunities both at JMSS and at Monash fully. I would like to sincerely thank Erin Hayley for her wonderful co-ordination of this event, as well as Natalie Anderson and Leanne McLoughlin for looking after our visitors so well in classes at JMSS and on excursions inside the University and beyond.

We Can’t Drop Our Covid Guard Just Yet

I thought it opportune to reinforce some important requests which appeared in the most recent Covid Update, especially regarding the appearance of non-Covid illness at JMSS, which has certainly knocked some staff and students around in the last couple of weeks.

Influenza A

Assistant Principal Mr. Jeremy Mackinnon has asked me to issue this extra Update to inform you all of the new challenge of Influenza A in the school, adding to the challenges of Covid. The school was informed yesterday of an Influenza A case onsite at JMSS. This strain of flu can be particularly debilitating as those students and a number of staff have found in the past few days. We have a few people who have tested negative for Covid but whose symptoms are similar, and quite debilitating. In all likelihood this could well be Influenza A.

Regardless of the exact diagnosis, it is imperative that any member of JMSS who is exhibiting Covid- or flu-like symptoms does not come to school. We have had to send a few students, who have been visibly unwell, home over the past few days. Coming to school when you are so unwell might be seen by some as ‘toughing it out’, but in the long run you are more likely to get even more debilitating symptoms and end up having to stay home for much longer. Even worse, there is little doubt those symptoms will spread to infect others, who with then also get sick and have to miss school. We have had several members of staff also away from school for significant periods of time recently.

If you do become ill with such symptoms, you must stay home to rest and recover. Both COVID and Influenza A are very contagious and serious infections. We, as a community, need to continue to practice good hygiene, wear masks and physically distance as best as possible. Here is a link to find further information about Influenza A: https://www.healthdirect.gov.au/influenza-a-flu.

Keeping up to date with work if you are ill and at home

In light of the high absenteeism at the moment, teachers, in the coming days, will be posting a 'class news feed' on their subject Compass Page. This feed will have the relevant information for each absent student who needs to 'study from home' if they are ill. It will link to resources, where the student, if they are well enough, will have the opportunity to independently continue with their learning.

Assessment Tasks and Feedback

I would also like to make the school community aware that, at times, a member of staff may be unable to provide feedback on an assessment task within two weeks of completion. Given the requirements of teachers to accurately assess students and adhere to the integrity of tasks, feedback cannot be given to students until all students have undertaken that particular task.

From a whole-school viewpoint, we also like to provide the members of each cohort with their feedback on an assessment task at the same time, and once moderation has occurred. Hence if we have any staff members absent due to illness, achieving the normal two-week time frame for teachers to correct the tasks and finalise their feedback for each student becomes quite a challenge.

Keep up the good work everyone!

Peter Corkill

Principal