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Dear Members of the �鶹��ý Community

Just a short note from me this morning, given the flurry of communications sent out over the past week. Key correspondence, and other information, is being posted on the front page of our website: coronavirus update.

We are all living in unprecedented times, and as you are aware, Concordia is planning for both the present and the future. There will be information regarding the ‘Online Remote Learning Platform’ attached to this newsletter, and further general updates from the Directors of Campus will be forthcoming next week. 

This morning, I launched a competition among our students to create a ‘catchy name’ and logo for the ‘Concordia Platform’ (see below video). I am looking forward to selecting the best entries with our management team, and to delivering the prizes to the winning student or students from Prep to Year 12.

We are looking to develop a resource bank for parents to use in the event of a future school closure. It would include learning activities, ideas to keep children and students occupied, educational information and network connections for supporting our parents during such a time. We will let you know when this resource is launched and I encourage you to join and to share your resources with our parents through this resource bank.

I thank you for your support, prayers, your kind words and encouragement to me and the staff over the past weeks. Please keep safe and actively involved in our fantastic community.

Kindest regards and blessings

Mr Adrian Wiles
Head of College

Concordia's staff have created an Online Learning Manual with information about how students will continue to learn if a school closure takes place in the future. Please find below a link to the Online Learning Manual.

We anticipate that this document will evolve over time as we discover new opportunities to enhance the learning process for our students outside of the typical classroom. This document is also available on our dedicate page for COVID-19.

Should you have any questions, please contact the relevant Director of Campus or Helpdesk.

Mrs Bianca Coleborn
Director of Marketing & Enrolments

The Ministerial Council has officially announced today (20 March 2020) that NAPLAN testing will not proceed in 2020. This includes the trial test that was scheduled for next Monday.

School this week has been a little like the duck swimming on the pond ... fairly smooth and calm on the surface but a lot going on underneath. As we continue to work our way through these unchartered waters, the staff at HSC would like to thank you, our Hume Street Campus community, for your patience, prayers and especially your support. Every decision is made in accordance with the governing bodies and with the health and safety of our students at the forefront. As the information comes to hand, we will continue to update you via our College website, app and email.

The College has developed an  should the College be required to close. Please be assured that at this stage, the College remains open but we are fully prepared to support the learning of our students at home, should a closure be mandated. As stated by our Head of College in his recent email to parents, our preparation for this online learning is purely precautionary, and will not be fully operational until such time as the College is required to close.

With all of the cancelled extra-curricular events, we have been able to concentrate on the curriculum this week and have powered ahead. Here are a few photos from the week.

Mrs Juanetta Priest
Director of Campus

Click on Expand Article to view important notices for the coming week.

 to view HSC events for Week 9

Mrs Gillam’s Room:

Our letter of the week is …….B. What things start with ‘B’ in your house?

We will be discussing hand washing to keep a safe and clean environment.

Over the past week we have had some cute, furry visitors. Lucy brought in her puppy, Alfie.

And Miss Katika surprised us with a visit from her dog, Bella.

Mrs Thomson’s Room:

The children have been discussing ways they keep their hands clean, sharing their ideas at group time.

This week we are concentrating on the letter C. What things can you find around your house that start with the letter ‘C’?

As ‘nature’ is an ongoing theme at Kindy, our Kindy friends have been creating beautiful leaf paintings. 

Mrs Fowkes and Miss Steph are very excited to be back at Kindy, ready to help our families and Kindy friends.

Please remember that the Drive Through area between the Kindy and Warwick Street Campus is not a place where you can park to walk your child into Kindy. Please use the parking bays (closest to the Kindy) to park.

And lastly, a quick reminder that our Open Day for Saturday 21 March has been cancelled. 

Miss Steph 

As we continue to navigate our way through this uncertain time, I would like to take this opportunity to thank all members of the Warwick Street Campus community for their patience, prayer and support. Our prime concern is always the health and safety of our students and, as information comes to hand, we will continue to update you via our College website, app and email.

The College has developed an  should the College be required to close. Please be assured that at this stage, the College remains open but we are fully prepared to support the learning of our students at home, should a closure be mandated. As stated by our Head of College in his recent email to parents, our preparation for this online learning is purely precautionary, and will not be fully operational until such time as the College is required to close.

Drive Through
You will notice that there have been changes to our Drive Through this week. The Prep-Year 3 classes will be seated in the Drive Through area as per normal, but our Year 4-6 students will now be seated in the breezeway. This enables us to provide more space for our students as they wait to be picked up by parents.

If you have any questions or concerns, please don’t hesitate to contact me via phone or email.

Mrs Jackie Minnikin
Director of Campus

WSC Photo Day

The WSC photo day has been postponed until later in the year. Please see the attached flyer for information on online orders.

Student Learning

All of our cancellations over the next couple of weeks have enabled us to get stuck into our Curriculum! Here are a few photos of our week.

Students at WSC have been vigilant this week with their hygiene. Two rounds of the “Happy Birthday” song as the students wash their hands, is becoming a normal part of our school day.

 to view WSC events for Week 9

What a week! The good news… this time last year, our Stephen Street Campus faculty had a focus group that explored and shared the capability of Microsoft Teams. As a result of the work done by this group of staff, a significant number of teachers has been using MS Teams/Class Notebook and One Note. 

As of Tuesday, this week, every class on Stephen Street Campus now has a MS Team and has spent the remainder of the week bench testing and using it. We have conducted Curriculum, Faculty, Business and Emergency Management Team meetings virtually and successfully. I can confidently say that we are ready for “Concordia 4.0 Virtual College” (….that’s my entry Mr Wiles…. a subtle nod to Industry 4.0), in the event we are asked to close our Campus for a period of time. 

I do want to publicly acknowledge and thank staff for the extraordinary effort that they have put in to get us to this point. We do understand that there will be challenges in all of this and will seek to be as flexible, creative and solution-focused as possible. You will find the in this edition of The Week Ahead that explains Microsoft Teams and the structure of our off-campus learning.

Concordia's Student Council now has a Containers For Change scheme ID. 

If you would like to donate to the Student Council, please quote this number: C10243143 when you take your cans and bottles to the recycling centre.

The Ministerial Council has officially announced today (20 March 2020) that NAPLAN testing will not proceed in 2020. This includes the trial test that was scheduled for next Monday.

NOT BOTTLES ON THE WALL, BUT POTS ON THE WALL!

It started with a great idea from our Residential Tutor, Amaris, "Let's have some ‘Earthing’!"

Earthing is one of the latest ideas for good health. Earthing (or grounding) refers to the benefits - including reduced anxiety and better sleep - from connecting with the Earth.

Residential Tutor, Amaris, suggested that the boarders would ‘earth’ by creating their own pot plants. Below are photos of them ‘Earthing’, including painting their own pots.

The result: happy students with fantastic looking potted plants!

Mr Ross McKeown
Boys' Houseparent