Peter Corkill
Principal
Dear fellow members of the JMSS community,
I am settling back into the routine of school after a wonderful six weeks of long service leave, spent with my wife Elly in the north and west of Australia. In short, it was brilliant. The true outback of Australia is a stunning collection of gorges, waterfalls, tropical landscapes, fabulous reefs and coastlines, and some of the most incredible geography and geology on the planet. We were constantly reminded of how ancient our land is, especially by the indigenous guides and rock art, and the amazing geographical features and formations we interacted with. I hope you can all get to see this amazing part of the world at some time, especially if you have not previously managed to see it. I am sure it will be a memorable experience!
We are now at the end of a busy term three, with many of its challenges put successfully behind us. As in Term Two, both Covid and Influenza took a toll on members of our community, but despite these challenges, JMSS has been at its productive best. I would especially like to thank Jeremy Mackinnon who did a super job as Acting Principal in my absence, as well as Acting Assistant Principals Mel Denney and Luke Bohni (in place of Andrew Chisholm) and Caitlin Ryan and Chris Mann (in place of Jeremy, allowing him to take on my role). It is a salient reminder of the leadership capacity we are fortunate to have at JMSS.
Important Change to Covid Protocols – Reduced Isolation Period for Covid19 Infection
Any student or staff member who tests positive to COVID-19 must now isolate for a minimum of 5 instead of 7 days. If they are asymptomatic, they may return to school on day 6. If they are symptomatic, they must remain in isolation until day 7. If they have symptoms after 7 days, they are strongly advised to stay home until their symptoms have resolved.
As an additional risk mitigation, the Department of Health strongly recommends that you wear a face mask away from home indoors and outdoors when you cannot physically distance. If you are leaving isolation on day 6, wear a mask for 5 days but particularly the first 2 days. If you are leaving isolation on day 7, wear a mask for 4 days but particularly first 2 days.
Consider taking rapid antigen tests before attending a workplace, including schools, sensitive settings or visiting people at higher risk of severe illness. If you are positive, stay home.
Staff must report a positive result to their school using eduPay on the day they receive a positive test result.
Students (or their parents) must also report a positive result to their school, either through the COVID Test portal or by phone or written notification; this is so the school can record that they will be absent while in isolation, provide support and learning materials as needed, and let the rest of the school community know there has been a positive case onsite and that they should monitor for symptoms.
If a staff member or student has recovered from COVID-19, they are not required to get tested or isolate/quarantine if re-exposed to a case within 4 weeks of ending their isolation period.
I trust you have not missed the regular ‘Covid Updates to Community’ too much! Frankly I have enjoyed the break from the regular stream of information to send out, and their absence probably marks a welcome change for the better in terms of the impact the pandemic is having on our community.
Student Leadership for 2023
We have just completed a most successful selection process for the main student leadership portfolios for 2023. Our new School Captains and House Captains are as follows:
School Captains
Alexia Arta, Cameron McCutcheon
School Vice Captains
Caitlin Carpenter, Michael Cotugno
Blackburn Captains
Archie Callander, Dishitha Sriram
Blackburn Vice Captains
Rafael Choi, Crystal Hui
Doherty Captains
Silene Lebeau, Jacqueline Lee
Doherty Vice Captains
Seojin Hwang, Arjun Mehta
Flannery Captains
Osel Loh, Estelle Roberts
Flannery Vice Captains
Sharane Gowritharan, Isabella Young
Wood Captains
Jasmine Lay, Tharin Wijayawansha
Wood Vice Captains
Zaynab Ibraheem, Stephanie Ludekens
Portfolio:
Art
Lekha Hari Prasad, Luna Marko
Debating Captains
Janneke Delhey Peters, Amber Dwivedi
Music Captains
Mia Fenton, Luna Kan
Sport Captains
Emily Glass, Gasper Liau
Congratulations to all of these students, I am sure they will do a super job and maintain and even exceed the efforts of recent Leadership Teams at JMSS, who have all simply been superb. My thanks also to teachers Felicity Campbell and Ben Delves for all their work with this year’s leaders. The remaining leadership appointments for next year are also being finalised.
Important Revision Time Ahead for Students
Congratulations to all of our students for their co-operation last week on the day of the GAT. Over two thirds of our students were involved in both sessions, which took place at various locations within the University as well as at JMSS. My sincere thanks to the many JMSS staff involved in the co-ordination of the event, especially Mrs Vandenburg who organised the seating plans and timetable of assembly points for students and staff. A super job!
Practice exams for Year 12 students will be distributed to students at the end of the week. These are to be done at home during the second week of the holidays, at times organised by the students themselves. A practice Year 12 English exam will be held at JMSS in the second week in order to give our students an experience somewhat similar to what they will face in late October when the real VCE exams begin. I would encourage all students to complete these tasks, preferably under exam conditions, as they form an important part of your preparation for the ‘real thing’. The tasks will also give you an idea of what you need to work on and improve in prior to the final exams.
I wish all in the school community both a restful and productive holiday break, and best of luck to the Mighty Magpies in the AFL finals!
Peter Corkill
Principal