Jeremy Mackinnon

Assistant Principal

Dear Parents and Students,

What a fantastic start to 2023 it’s been! This term has been action-packed with so many student-led events and activities. This year’s school captains, Cameron McCutcheon, Michael, Cotugno, Alexia Arta and Caitlin Carpenter, have done an outstanding job leading the new student leadership structure. The John Monash Noticeboard Committee have also been outstanding at streamlining the communication of events and activities to the broader student body; well done, Jacob Pellowe, Suhani Bedi, Matthew Kemp and Joseph Hsu.

It has been so pleasing to see how all of our new students have settled in. Changing schools is a courageous decision and it can take some time to establish new rhythms and routines. If any new students are still struggling to transition, I encourage them or their parents to contact the student’s mentor. It is remarkable that each year we have a third of our student body change, yet we maintain our amazing inclusive culture. I want to thank the new students for buying into and contributing to our culture.

We recently had Parent-Teach-Student Conference in which teachers provided feedback on each student’s progress. I hope students take the holidays to reflect on their progress, consider the advice they received, and think about what behaviours they need to; keep doing, stop doing and start doing. I would also like to refer to a fantastic school resource JMSS Pro Tips. This website is a school resource that JMSS staff have built to enable students to be their best academically. I would like to particularly draw your attention to the Strategies for Success page, which has fantastic resources from sleep habits to study habits!

Like all schools, JMSS has many policies that govern how the school is run. I encourage all households to familiarise themselves with relevant school policies. (https://jmss.vic.edu.au/community/policies/). Feedback regarding any of our policies can be given by writing to policy@jmss.vic.edu.au.

I want to remind the community of our wellbeing email – wellbeing@jmss.vic.edu.au. Community members can use this email to contact the JMSS Wellbeing Team. This email is primarily about allowing JMSS to support a student’s needs outside of the classroom. If the email is of an urgent matter regarding a student’s immediate safety, please type ‘URGENT’ in the title of the email. For academic support, please direct those emails to either the subject teacher or the student’s mentor.

Finally, I wish to remind everyone of several important contacts over the holiday period. If anyone is experiencing significant distress, please contact any of the organisations below; 

Have a fantastic break and take to opportunity to do something fun! I will be on leave for the first 3 weeks of Term 2 and Mrs Ryan and Mr Mann will be stepping in for me. I will see you all again in mid-May.

Jeremy Mackinnon

Assistant Principal