A reminder to parents that there will be several information sessions presented across the campuses next week. It is the best opportunity to engage with your son or daughter’s teachers and importantly, to learn about the educational programs that are planned for 2020. I look forward to greeting you on these occasions and to hearing of the developments from Prep to Year 12.

In the coming weeks, our Marketing and Enrolments Department will be announcing the details of our 2020 presentations at the various country shows and internationally. We were fortunate enough to receive funding from the Commonwealth Government to support elements of our marketing program, and we will be broadening these undertakings throughout 2020. We look forward to catching up with current and past parents and students on location in Queensland, NSW and overseas, and to being able to renew friendships through sustainable connections.

Coronavirus update
The past week has seen the College issue several letters of advice about the global Coronavirus and the precautionary action that we have taken. Thank you to the many members of our community for your positive support and feedback and I look forward to moving forward in the knowledge that we have complied with all requests from authorities. I emphasise again that the actions taken are purely precautionary and in line with professional advice.

Mr Adrian Wiles
Head of College

I will still give out the catalogues to class teachers and distribute the purchased books to the students.

Schools still receive the same Scholastic Rewards for all orders.

To order through LOOP, go to www.scholastic.com.au/LOOP, register and set up an online profile with a password.

You can add your child’s name and select their class and, by entering the 4350 postcode, you will be able to select their school from the drop down box.

The Junior College campuses are set up as Concordia Hume Street Campus and Concordia Warwick Street Campus.

It is so easy and straightforward that even I had no trouble with it (old dog, new trick).

Once your order is submitted, I will confirm the order at the cut-off date and the books will arrive at the school in due course. Please do be mindful of the cut-off date written on the front of each catalogue. After this time, on-line ordering will close.

Mrs Glenda Rickert
Junior College Library Assistant

Year 4 Cycle Safety

Please note, the dates of this event have been postponed to Thursday 20 and 27 February. We are looking forward to it being cooler at this time.

Years 3 to 6 Parent Information Sessions

Two sessions will be held on Tuesday 4 February, 5pm to 5.45pm and 6pm to 6.45pm. Important information regarding each year level will be presented in the various classrooms. Choose the session or sessions that suit you best.

Chess Coaching with Les Lord

Chess lessons begin this week and will be held during first break, 10.45am to 11.30am. If you would like more information about these lessons please contact the Hume Street Campus Reception. If your child/ren would like to attend please click on the following link. HSC Chess Lessons - Term 1 2020

JC Inter-House Swimming Carnival

Come along and join in the spirit of supporting your house. Please remember drop off and pick up for Years 3 to 6 will be at our Stephen Street Campus. Staff will be there between 8am and 3.30pm.

Extra Note about our HSC Drop Off and Pick Up Zones

For the safety of our students, please click here to see the attached document explaining these guidelines. In the morning, we ask that you do not park and leave your car in the drop off zone as this stops other families from dropping their children off through this area.

Mrs Juanetta Priest
Director of Campus

Positive Partnerships
Research clearly demonstrates that when parents are involved in their child’s education and the teacher/parent relationship is positive, children perform better and display much more positivity towards their schooling.

The staff at WSC are looking forward to working in partnership with you this year to provide a learning environment for all children that is safe, inclusive and most of all, a place where children feel part of a welcoming community. If we can achieve this, then we are setting up an environment where children will have the opportunity to reach their learning potential.

Parent Information Sessions
The Prep to Year 2 classes have already had their information sessions this year but if you were unable to attend, please contact your child’s teacher so they can pass on any important information.

Years 3 to 6 Parent Information Sessions will be held on Monday 3 February in classrooms. To enable as many parents as possible to attend, we will be running a session from 5pm to 5.45pm and then another from 5.45pm to 6.30pm. We look forward to seeing you there.

Morning Drive Through
Always drive to the top of the Drive Through before letting your children out. This will avoid people being delayed behind you.

Afternoon Drive Through
We are fortunate to have our Drive Through at Warwick Street Campus for morning and afternoon drop off and pick up. When using the Drive Through please be mindful of the following:

• No overtaking permitted in the Drive Through
• No parking permitted in the Drive Through
• Students must be able to put on their own seatbelt to use the Drive Through
• Do not walk through the Drive Through

We appreciate your assistance in keeping our Drive Through safe.

Supervision Before School
Please note there is no supervision for students who arrive before 8am and it is not safe for them to be left at the campus unattended before this time.

Students are required to be seated in the undercroft area on arrival until teachers are present to supervise at 8am. Classrooms are open from 8.20am for children to prepare for their day. Classes start promptly at 8.30am.

Encouraging Cup Coffee Van
Each Tuesday, morning WSC Staff begin their day at 8am with a coffee from The Encouraging Cup Coffee Van. Wayne Logan, the proprietor of the Encouraging Cup, will be parked on the top oval near the Resource Centre and all parents are invited to join the staff for a coffee and a chat.

Chess Lessons
Chess lessons will begin with begin with Mr Les Lord on Thursday 6 February at 7.45am in the Resource Centre. If your child would like to attend, please click on the following link. WSC Chess Coaching Term 1 2020

Mrs Jackie Minnikin
Director of Campus

Coming up next week we have our Parent Information Evening on Monday night at 6.30pm in the Function Centre. Here you will have the opportunity to be introduced to our staff and your student's Home Class teacher. Following on from this we will break out into year level groups to find out more about the year ahead. 

Next week finishes off with our Inter-House Swimming Carnival on Friday. The carnival starts at 2.30pm and will run into the early evening. Hopefully, this twighlight meet will allow parents who are usually unable to pop in due to work commitments to attend. 

Our Student Council will be running a barbecue and selling drinks and chocolates so please bring along some money to support the work that they are doing in our community. Hope to see you there.

Mr Jason Smith
Director of Campus

A definition of Values
Values are our personal beliefs guiding our decisions and behaviour. They influence our interactions and relationships with others. Our values define who we are and are reflected in our thoughts, words and actions.

Respect
Students learn that respect involves showing care and consideration for yourself and others. They discuss the many ways they can show respect. Students are encouraged to realise others feel valued and accepted when they are being respected.

Responsibility
Students learn that behaving responsibly means doing your best to meet your commitments. They discuss the different responsibilities they have in many areas of their lives. Students are encouraged to recognise as they get older their responsibilities change. This is often a result of the trust others place in them.

Diversity
Diversity is the variety of experiences and backgrounds in the community. Students discuss the similarities and differences within their Peer Support group. They are encouraged to embrace diversity as a means by which they can improve the quality of their relationships and enrich their experiences.

Inclusion
Inclusion is treating everyone with respect. Students are encouraged to show others they are important by including and encouraging them. They practice supporting each other and learn they can achieve more when they recognise the value of working together.

Integrity
Students learn they are acting with integrity when their choices consistently reflect their values. Sometimes the choices they make are influenced by the people who are important to them. They need to decide to what extent these influences are supporting their values. Students are encouraged to realise what they say and do is a reflection of who they are.

Mrs Carissa Jaworska
Senior College Coordinator

In some cases, like football where there are a number of interested candidates, the College will conduct in-house trials to choose players to be nominated for these trials. This is important for a number of reasons: 1) the players who the College nominates need to meet the required selection criteria, 2) be of a suitable standard to trial and 3) schools are limited to a certain number of students at these trials. 

It is also important to note, that only students who are available to attend both the Regional and State Championships will be eligible for nomination. All nominations for these trials need to go through the College and decisions on which students are nominated is at the sole discretion of the College. Please note that the dates below are subject to change. Click here to access the Representative Sport Nomination Form.

Please see the College website for the dates for the Inter-House, Darling Downs, Queensland State, TSSS and QCIS events.

Click here to view the current Darling Downs School sport calendar. These dates are subject to change, so please check updates via the Darling Downs schools sport website.

Mrs Jana Anderson
MC & SC Sports Coordinator

We are very impressed and humbled with the energy taken by the boarders – and many of their families – to travel long distances to get to the school. We have students from far distances such as Japan and Hong Kong, but many of the ‘locals’ travel almost the same amount of time within the country to get to Concordia.

This effort is a great example of one of the aims for Concordia boarding, that is to facilitate within the boarders the goals of “Resilience, confidence, and personal organisation”.

Another highlight this week was the Year 12 Leadership Ceremony. After very inspiring words from Mr Wiles and Mr Smith, we were delighted to witness the Year 12 students acknowledged as aspiring leaders, and they were presented with their Year 12 Ties and Pins.

Please enjoy a few of the pictures we amateur photographers took of the Year 12 leaders from Boarding.

Maureen, Ross and Tosca and the boarding staff