Sally Cheah - Johnson

Assistant Principal

Dear Parents and Students,

As Term 1 concludes, I reflect with much pride on what our school community has achieved.  I would like to congratulate our students and staff for their work and achievements for this term.  We had a very busy term and as a school community, we have reached milestones through the dedication and commitment of students and teachers alike.

The term was packed with many activities and programs that have drawn our school community together as a strong team. We had sports carnivals where the House spirit was amplified and celebrated.  After a very challenging pandemic year in 2020, the events such as the Swimming Carnival was especially precious to us as the whole school community shared a very highly spirited and wonderful day.

Positive Education update:

The work of Positive Education at JMSS continues to flourish as our staff focuses on developing programs that assist students to strengthen their relationships, build positive emotions, enhance personal resilience, promote healthy lifestyle and have a positive purpose for a happy, healthy and fulfilling life.

The goal is to provide our students with a ‘tool-box’ of skills so that each student has the strategies to develop into a confident, poised, resilient, motivated, accomplished young person.

The Progress Reports (which were available to all parents and students last week), provides information of the learner’s growth in two domains: student’s engagement to their learning and their accomplishment of skills. 

Indicators of positive engagement include: Willingness and readiness to learn in different ways; active participation and collaboration in class; focusing on learning activities; seeking and applying feedback and asking questions to improve.

Indicators of positive accomplishment include: Achievement of excellence in formative and summative tasks, making significant progress towards learning goals; taking risks and persisting with challenges in their learning; and completing learning tasks in a timely manner."

Parent-Teacher-Student Conference: 

It was great to see the number of parents and students who attended the online Parent-Teacher-Student Conference facilitated by Webex on Thursday 25th March. Our teachers were happy that the students who attended the online meeting were able to reflect on their performance and took the advice of their teachers to further their progress in their learning.

Student Leadership Camp at Yellingbo:

43 student leaders from the Student Parliament attended their Leadership Camp on the 15th and 16th March at Toolangi.  The Camp’s program was very full with challenging activities to build endurance and teamwork.   There were also opportunities in the program where students worked in teams to set their 2021 goals for the Student Parliament.  We also had the ‘Student Voice’ session where students had the opportunity to examine the data from the 2020 Student Attitude to School Survey and contribute to ideas and strategies that will promote school improvement.

I am very proud of our student leaders.  They showed enthusiasm and a genuine desire to work on improving the school learning environment.  The Student Parliament leaders work on their goals for the year and with their determination and cohesion as a team, they will achieve their goals. 

I would also like to take the opportunity to thank Mr Phil Schimdt and Mr Stephen Finch (Student Parliament Coordinators) for organizing this fantastic camp.

Term 1 Holidays and commencement of Term 2:

I wish all students and their families a great holiday. I hope students will have a well-deserved rest and come back to school in Term 2 feeling ‘recharged’ and invigorated

Term 2 will commence on Monday 19th April.

Sally Cheah-Johnson

Assistant Principal

(House, Student Empowerment and Achievement).