The Week Ahead - Term 1, Week 9
Monday 23 March to Friday 27 March 2020
From the Head of College
Dear Members of the Concordia Lutheran College 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
From the College Pastor
Community News
Online Learning Information
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.
ONLINE LEARNING MANUAL (20 March 2020)
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
Project Based Learning at Concordia
Junior College
2020 NAPLAN Testing Cancelled
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.
Outside School Hours Care
Stephen Street Campus
News from the Director of Campus
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 Online Learning Manual in this edition of The Week Ahead that explains Microsoft Teams and the structure of our off-campus learning.
Containers for Change
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.
2020 NAPLAN Cancelled
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.
Boarding
Boarding News
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
