Peter Corkill

Principal

Dear Parents, Students and Friends of John Monash Science School,

A big welcome to all our new Year 10 and Year 11 students and their families, I trust you are enjoying getting used to life and study at JMSS. And also a big welcome to returning students in Years 11 and 12. Sadly the recent holiday break will always be remembered for the devastating bushfires which wreaked such damage to many parts of our wonderful country, to the eastern parts of Victoria, much of the NSW coast, parts of the ACT, the Adelaide hills and kangaroo Island in South Australia. Our hearts and thoughts go out to those many people who lost loved ones to this disaster, and of course property. 

I would like to congratulate our student leaders who have put together a fantastic fortnight of fund-raising events at school. It has been wonderful watching so many students getting involved, and parents and friends helping out. With their and your collective support I am confident we will reach our target of $5000 which will help communities in need, in particular our friends and colleagues at Mallacoota P-12. 

The new students have already made a wonderful start to their schooling at JMSS. The Year 10 Camp was another terrific success, my congratulations to Mr Anderson and all the staff for their hard work, and to the students who engaged so willingly with every activity and met all of the challenges on the camp, especially in getting to know as many people as possible and giving everything a go in the true JMSS tradition. We have also just returned from the Year 12 Camp and that too was an enormous success. Again a huge thanks to Mal Anderson and the many staff who attended for ensuring the students had a memorable time. It has certainly launched them into their studies in fine style.

New Staff at JMSS in 2019

Fourteen new members of staff have joined the school, adding to the rich mix of teaching and support staff already at JMSS. We are certainly fortunate to have these people aboard.

Welcome to JMSS!

Recent Events

The school has been busy over the holiday break as well as in the first three weeks of school. In summary, the following mix of International trips, local camps and on-site incursions demonstrate the rich array of activities which characterise life at JMSS. My sincere thanks to all of our staff who planned and led these events so well, the Monash academics who assisted and to the students who represented the school so brilliantly:

January 14th – 21st: Four students and two members of staff joined me at the 16th International Students Science Fair at Kamnoetvidya Science Academy in Thailand. The team represented JMSS with distinction and two of the projects won awards at the conference;

January 29th – February 5th: Seven students and two members of staff participated in the annual exchange with long term partners Mahidol Wittayanusorn School in Bangkok, Thailand. The return visit of the MWITS team will be in April this year;

Year 10 Induction Camp - January 29th - 31st in the Monash Halls of Residence;

Annual JMSS Swimming Carnival, Thursday 13th February;

Flight across Antarctica with the Royal Society, attended by 10 students and one member of staff, on Sunday 16th February;

Year 12 Camp, Wednesday 19th February – Friday 21st February;

Year 10 Dynamic Earth Camp to eastern Victoria, Sunday 16th February – Wednesday 19th February;

Maths Immersion Day, Friday 21st February, for all Year 10 and 11 students;

Year 10 Geoscience Expedition to the City of Melbourne, Tuesday 25th February.

School Council Elections

As our School continues to grow it is important we are able to draw on the experience, expertise and energy of members of our parent community to continue to guide JMSS through the next stage of its development. 

We have THREE vacancies for positions on School Council. The election is already in process, and all parents interested in casting a vote may do so by following the information sent to all families via Compass.

A huge thanks to the four candidates who have presented themselves for election: Trevor Nathan, James Wright, Karl Glazebrook and Regine Korbatieh. Prospective voters can read their personal statements on this newsletter prior to voting.

Retiring Council Members

On behalf of Council I would like to sincerely thank members who are vacating their positions after such outstanding service to JMSS. Simon Musgrave has been our Treasurer for the past two years and done an outstanding job on both Council and the Finance subcommittee. Likewise to Mr. David Davies whose financial and policy acumen have been of great assistance in his time on Council. Mr. Ben Waterson’s knowledge of legal matters and keen eye for detail have been wonderful assets to JMSS, and Mrs. Rikki Hersbergh has done a wonderful job bringing the Plastic Oceans program to our school. Both leave Council after three years of excellent service, now that their children have finished at the school. I would sincerely like to thank all of these people for their dedication, passion and time on Council. You have all made us better by your energy, wisdom and genuine care for our school.

Peter Corkill

Principal