ConcordiaLutheranCollege

Friday 18 September 2020

From the Head of College

End of Term

The end of another school term is upon us. It has been an exciting, yet unusual journey and I acknowledge and thank our parents and extended families for your support of our Concordia Lutheran College community, and the learning and teaching programs at Concordia. You are appreciated!

Thank you to all staff – this week we saw our Year 6 students enjoy their ‘Canned-berra’ experience as an alternative to what should have been a week trip to Canberra. Thanks must go to Mr Paul Baker, Mrs Allison Busiko, Mr Andrew Tennent and many other staff members who provided a program to remember. Amazing creativity ensured that our students enjoyed a special program that recognised them as they complete their final Junior College year.

It is interesting to note the number of staff who will continue to be engaged in school-based activities during the holidays. The perception is that all staff have two weeks holiday – I can assure our community that our staff will take some time out, but that many will also be available for various events such as auditions for the 2021 production and the Year 12 Tutorial Program.

A reminder that the Stephen Street Campus Reception and the Business Office will be open during normal business hours throughout the two week break.

May God bless you and every family over the coming weeks. Safe travel if that is what you intend to do, and I look forward to welcoming you back on Tuesday 6 October.

Kind regards and every blessing

Mr Adrian Wiles
Head of College

From the College Pastor

Community News

MS Readathon

Thank you to everyone who participated in this year's MS Readathon. What a great success!

HSC P&F Mango Fundraiser

The Hume Street Campus P&F Committee is running the annual Mango Fundraiser. Please see below for more information and order form.

Project Based Learning at Concordia

Junior College

Junior College Christmas for the Bush

Each year, our Junior College participates in the Christmas for the Bush service project, in order to assist our rural neighbours and make their Christmas a little brighter.

“Christmas for the Bush” is an annual event run by Care Outreach, delivering groceries and Christmas gifts to struggling families in rural and remote regions. So many farming families continue to battle in the grip of the current drought. Loss of income, isolation and depression are some of the issues these families continue to experience.

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Rio's Legacy and Movie Fundraiser

At the beginning of 2020, we welcomed Remi and her family into our HSC community. In 2018, Remi's younger brother Rio, passed away after suddenly becoming unwell at age of 18 months. Remi turned four just weeks before he died.

Since this time, Remi's parents, Karen and Ryan have founded a charity called 'Rios Legacy' aimed exclusively at raising funds and awareness to support terminally ill children and their families. There are currently only three children’s hospices in Australia. For more information about this charity please visit www.rioslegacy.org.au .

Rio's Legacy, has an upcoming fundraiser and a great opportunity for a holiday family movie night. Support children with a terminal illness by watching this movie together as a family these school holidays.

Thank you for your support and we hope you enjoy Jungle Beat: The Movie on behalf of Rio's Legacy.
All details and tickets can be purchased by clicking here.

JC Sport Articles

Sporting Schools
Our Sporting Schools programs have concluded at each Junior College campus and the students had a great time running around and playing both Basketball (WSC) and AFL (HSC).

Regional coaches and development staff deliver these sessions and they have a wealth of experience to share with our students. They also provide links to community and club opportunities that students can take advantage of if they choose.

The sessions run for one hour, over six weeks and credit must go to the students' enthusiasm and participation throughout these sessions. Thank you to all who assisted in some way to provide such opportunities for our students - it is greatly appreciated.

League Stars
The League Stars program offered to HSC students after school has now winded down. This was an initiative by the NRL targeting grassroots development and participation of Primary aged students and ran for six weeks.

It has been fantastic watching the students’ involvement in these sessions and their competitiveness in a host of modified games and challenging drills in the great game of Rugby League.

Well done to all the participants and NRL Development Officer, Mitch Sargent, for his guidance and work with our students this term.

Jump Rope for Heart
Our Years 3 and 4 students have jumped into their Jump Rope for Heart program during their PE lessons this term. They have really embraced not only the skipping component but also the important fundraising efforts of this great program that Concordia has supported for many years. The Jump Rope for Heart program teaches students the benefits of getting physically active and the importance of healthy behaviours to look after their heart.

In addition, at the same time, they give back to the community by raising funds to help save Australian hearts in many ways. Over the past seven weeks, our students have raised over $7000. This is a fantastic effort from these four classes and they logged more than 120 hours of skipping by themselves. Congratulations to our Years 3 and 4 students on their amazing efforts throughout the term, both with their skipping and fundraising.

Both campuses had their “Jump Off” days this week and this was a great fun way to conclude the program and show the College community, their skills and efforts through a series of skipping routines and circuits both skipping individually and in groups.

I would like to thank the Year 3 and Year 4 teachers and all parents for their support in assisting with all aspects of this very worthy program. I do believe there are some video footage from these events on our Seesaw platform highlighting our students having fun.

Friday Afternoon Sport
The usual eagerly awaited Term 3 Friday afternoon Inter-School sport competition was cancelled due to restrictions and implications with COVID-19. As a result, we devised a plan to offer sport to our Years 5 and 6 students in the form of an Inter-House competition held at their respective campus. Students have competed in Soccer for the first four weeks and Oz Tag during the last four weeks.

Students have really been embracing this competition each Friday, whilst competing for their Houses for bragging rights, with some great battles and games going down to the wire. Last week, students played their final session of Oz Tag to wind down the term.

Each week, points were awarded to the Houses for the games played, tallied and then accumulated from both campuses for both sports. The points were allocated as follows:

3 points for a win
2 points for a draw
1 point for a loss

It was truly remarkable how close some of the results were at respective campuses, with only a few points separating the WSC Houses in the Oz tag component. A big thank you to the Years 5 and 6 teachers along with SSC sport coaches who assisted each week to provide such opportunities for our students.

OVERALL COMBINED CAMPUS “COVID CUP”

Inter-House Champions for Term 3 2020

1st - Stedman 69 points
2nd – Kessler 57 points
3rd – Altus 53 points Congratulations to Stedman House!

Mr Darryl Fry
JC Sport Coordinator

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Outside School Hours Care

Stephen Street Campus

SSC Update

Year 12 Fun Day

Year 12 students and their Home Class teachers enjoyed some time together celebrating their wonderful success in Term 3 on a well-deserved ‘fun day’ this week.

After working very hard all year, this was a fantastic opportunity to foster the friendships our Year 12 cohort have and allow them to enjoy some special time with each other as the year draws to an end. Bowling, laser tag and arcade games kept them very busy all morning (and got very competitive!) followed by a a barbecue lunch, cake and some photo time in the spectacular Laurel Bank Park afterwards.

Many people throughout the day commented on the exceptional behaviour, manners and respect that our group displayed, which certainly made the teachers very proud. A great day was had by all.

Mrs Jess Merretz
Year 12 Home Class Teacher

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Tennis Coaching at SSC

Are you interested in tennis coaching at Stephen Street Campus? Click here for Term 4 information.

Boarding

Boarding News

USQ Japanese Gardens

After enjoying a fabulous barbecue brunch on Sunday, a group of boarders were shuttled out to the Japanese Gardens at the University of Southern Queensland. There they spent a couple of hours walking and talking. As well, the beautiful flowers of Toowoomba in September were in bloom for the students to enjoy. Everyone enjoyed a relaxing and memorable day.

Mocktail Night

On the last Sunday of Term 3, the Dining Room hosted a Mocktail Night for the boarders.

While this is a celebration for the boarders for completing another challenging term of school, it is presented in such a fashion to help foster the growth of their social skills.

While nibble food and fancy drinks are at the centre of the Mocktail Night, the students have a fantastic time socialising. The night even closed with some of the students putting on their ‘go to’ music, and dancing. A round of applause for the Catering Team finished off the fantastic evening.

Mr Ross McKeown
Houseparent