Dear Parents and Caregivers

This week we had the opportunity to install and welcome our newest staff members as well as affirming our current staff for the year ahead – better late than never! These services formed part of either a Chapel or Assembly gathering on our campuses. This afforded our students the opportunity to see their teachers and new staff being welcomed into the Concordia community. Please make yourself known to these new staff members as you attend various events and activities at the College.

The Stephen Street Campus students need to be congratulated on their participation and encouragement of each other at the Inter-House Swimming Carnival held on Tuesday. It is affirming to see swimming going from strength to strength at Concordia with high participation and squad training numbers happening through the Concordia Aquatic Centre. Thank you to those parents who attended either as spectators or officials on the day. We are fortunate as a College to have the expert knowledge of Mr Troy Chandler, from TJs Swim, to assist in this area of the College’s sporting program. Thank you too to the PE Department, led by Mr Col Anderton, for the planning and preparation which has gone into running the carnival.

This week, we finally were able to hold our Swimming Carnival, which turned out to be a wonderful day for all. It was great to see so many students stepping out of their comfort zone and giving swimming a go. Unfortunately, the staff team wasn’t quite ready yet – but watch out 2023 Swimming Carnival!

All this reminded me of our sub-theme for this term, Stepping out of the Boat (based on Peter’s experience on Lake Galilee in a storm - Matt 14:22-33), underneath the overarching annual theme of Imagine the Possibilities.

Without stepping out of the boat, i.e. taking action to make the possibilities become a reality, we will never get anywhere. But it takes courage to step out of the boat, to try something new, to act on a dream – and we do want to encourage our students and community to do just that, to look to the bigger picture, use their imaginations and then act to make a dream come true.

On Monday 21 March 2022 the Koojarewon Youth Camp staff will be leading the JC Year 6 SMART Leadership Day at our Stephen Street Campus.

Event details:

• Parents are required to drop off your child at the AFL Oval, SSC at 7.30am as the program will commence with a BBQ breakfast
• Parents are invited to attend the breakfast and a jotform has been sent out for RSVPs
• Activities will conclude at 11.45am
• WSC students will be walked back to their Campus by Mr Paul Baker and HSC students will catch the bus back to their Campus with Miss Kellie Maddock
• Breakfast and Morning Tea will be provided for the students. The cost will be covered by the Year Levy.

Students are required to:

• Wear their sports uniform and College hat
• Bring a packed lunch to eat at their normal second break

Should you have any further queries regarding this event, please contact your child's teacher.

On Thursday 24 March, our JC Year 5 students will be attending a Leadership Day at Koojarewon Youth Camp.

Event details:
- Program activities will be led by Koojarewon Youth Camp staff on Thursday 24 March 2022 at the Koojarewon Youth Camp.

Students are required to:
- wear their sports uniform and College hat;
- bring a small bag with morning tea and lunch, water bottle, rain jacket, insect repellent and sunscreen.

Permission required:
Parents are requested to go to Parent Lounge to submit your permission by Friday 11 March 2022:

• Login to Parent Lounge >
• click on Events & Payments >
• click on JC 2022 Year 5 Leadership Day >
• Accept / Decline >
• Save

Should you have any further queries regarding this event, please contact your child's teacher.

We have received the following message from the Gold Coast Recreation Centre regarding COVID-19 Regulations while the students are at camp. “If a staff member or student becomes symptomatic while at the camp, the staff member or student should be isolated away from others and arrangements should be made for the staff member or student to return home by private transport as soon as possible.” If a student is unwell enough for a parent to be called to pick up their child, the student will go home regardless of the outcome of the test.

As directed by our College policies, staff members will not administer any test on the students. This will need to be carried out by the parent.

Any staff member or student who is diagnosed with COVID-19 should inform their Campus Reception. Other staff or students who have shared accommodation (for example, dormitory or tent) with the staff member or student will be considered a close contact of a positive case of COVID-19 and will need to follow Queensland Health quarantine requirements .” 

Congratulations to all of our swimmers from the Middle and Junior Colleges who swum at the Darling Downs Regional Swimming Trials in Gatton as part of the Toowoomba Central Zone team. It was great to see our swimmers give their best in all of their events and representing their College proudly. Thank you to our parents who supported their children on the day. It was great seeing you back at these sporting events. Swimmers selected to attend were Emily Holding, Emma Walkington, Connor Gadsby, Arabella Knopke, James Rice, Ollie Dunlop, Chloe Chettle, Eloise Chettle, Manshi Bhardwaj, Evi Purchase, Parun Benham, Anya Vermeulen, Milla Cronje and Miles Plumb.

Special mention and congratulations to Emily Holding and Milla Cronje on being selected for the Darling Downs Regional Team that will compete at the State Championships in Brisbane.

The CLC Swimming team participated in the annual Queensland Combined Independent Schools (QCIS) swimming carnival on Wednesday 9 March at the Dalby Aquatic Centre hosted by Our Lady of the Southern Cross College. This was a fantastic day of competition from all students involved. Our team won several age divisions overall and came first in the Percentage Trophy and third in the Aggregate Trophy. This was an excellent result for all swimmers. A real team effort with many tired bodies at the conclusion.

Thank you to all the people who made this carnival a success even with all of the challenges leading up to the event. Well done!

Student leadership has been a focus for us this week. Our Campus Captains attended the Mayor’s Morning Tea where they were able to meet and talk with other student leaders around the Darling Downs. Student leaders from three schools spoke to us about what leadership meant to them and one used a quote from Billy Graham, ‘When wealth is lost, nothing is lost; when health is lost, something is lost; when character is lost, all is lost.’ This is a powerful statement and one that I look forward to some round the table discussions with our students.

Our Year 6 students have this week recorded some of their dreams and aspirations for their positions during 2022 and I look forward to meeting with them over the next two weeks to begin some action plans with them.

HSC Campus Photos – Monday 28 March
Our Campus Photos are scheduled for Monday 28 March. Please ensure your child/ren are in the correct uniform. Students in Prep and Year 1 will wear their sports uniform.  All students from Years 2 to 6 are required to wear their formal uniform.

Family Photos
To enable parents to purchase a family photo of all or some of their children who attend Concordia Lutheran College, photos of siblings will be taken in the Hume Street Campus Hall between 8am and 8.15am on photo day. If you would like family photos done could you please collect a family photo envelope from Reception prior to photo day. 

It will be the parents’ responsibility to get their SSC children to HSC for the family photo and then take them to SSC ready for school before 8.30am. 

At HSC, tuckshop is held on a Thursday. All orders are to be completed online at My Student Account by 3pm each Wednesday. Please notify Reception by 9am on Thursday if your child is absent and we will cancel their order. 

Please note: Week 9 is the last week of Tuckshop.

Thank you so much for continuously supporting our school, especially through fundraising. This term, we are hosting a Colour Explosion School Fun Run.

Start fundraising today.
Did you know? Students raise 3x times more when they fundraise online! Visit myprofilepage.com.au to create your child’s cybersafe fundraising profile. Instructions are in your child’s sponsorship booklet. You have until Friday 23 April to fundraise, so make sure you get cracking!

The big day is coming!
We are so excited to host our Colour Explosion School Fun Run on Thursday 31 March. On the day, make sure your child brings a white shirt and old shorts for the Fun Run and waterslide! They will be covered in non-toxic, high quality colour powder from head to toe! They will also need a water bottle and their hat. Sunscreen will be provided in the classrooms prior to the event.

There was a sea of orange today as we recognised Bullying No Way Day at Warwick Street Campus. Bullying needs to be taken seriously and our students all had a session in their classrooms today to discuss this further with their teachers. It is important that children and young people know they are being heard and that their feelings matter. Our students discussed the difference between being mean and bullying, and what actions they can take in both situations. Please take the time to talk further with your children about this important issue. 

Hi, my name is Andreas Elms and I love Drama! 

I am very excited, as this year I will be joining the Concordia family, teaching Speech and Drama, and coordinating the brand new drama clubs for the Junior College campuses. We have called them "Drama Squad - Hume Street" and "Drama Squad- Warwick Street". 

I have been teaching drama and working with young people in the creative arts for many years and I can't wait to start working with the Concordia students through drama games, improvising, vocal activities, poems, plays, skits and building confidence along the way. 

The Speech and Drama lessons will take place during the school day, where the students can work together in pairs or on their own. The Drama Squad is Wednesdays from 7.30am-8.30am at Warwick Street Campus and Fridays from 7.30am-8.30am at Hume Street Campus.

If you would like your child to join the Drama Squad and/or speech and drama lessons, please feel free to contact me. 

At WSC, Tuckshop is held on a Wednesday. All orders are to be completed online at My Student Account by 3pm each Tuesday. Please notify Reception by 9am on Wednesday if your child is absent and we will cancel their order. Tuckshop will finish in Week 9.

One of the great things about being a new member to the Concordia team, is that every event in our calendar is a first time for me. This week, it was my first experience of a SSC Inter-House Swimming Carnival.

If I was to summarise my experience of the day in one word it would be “relaxed”. This doesn’t mean that our students didn’t swim at their best competitively – they did (as the results below show)! But, the overall atmosphere was one of celebration of student participation and achievement, which is particularly important given the gathering restrictions in recent times. All students, experienced swimmers or not, were encouraged to have a go, cheer on their House mates, and take the time to soak in (in more ways then one) what is best about Concordia - our social connection.

NAPLAN

Stephen Street Campus will conduct a practice Omnibus test in preparation for the NAPLAN test which will be held in May. This practice test will be held for Year 7 and Year 9 students on Wednesday 30 March. Students will need to bring a charged laptop and earphones or earbuds when they sit the practice test.

The National Assessment Program — Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN) assesses literacy and numeracy skills that students are already learning through the school curriculum

All students in Years 3, 5, 7 and 9 are expected to sit the NAPLAN tests. More information will be sent to you about the NAPLAN tests your child will sit early in Term 2.

PAT testing

Stephen Street Campus will be conducting PAT testing for students in Years 7, 8 and 9 during Week 9 in Term 1. Students will sit a PAT Math, PAT Reading and a PAT Spelling test during one of their normal English, Math and HASS classes next week.

This year, Concordia will be using the PAT Adaptive tests. The PAT Adaptive tests are a personalised test pathway determined by student responses. These tests will provide diagnostic data to the College and provide us with a more precise picture of student achievement.

All Year 7, 8 and 9 students will need to bring a charged laptop and earphones or earbuds when they sit the tests next week. 

Ms Wendy Bowen
Director of Learning and Innovation

Concordia Lutheran College has partnered with the company Elevate Education for a number of years. Elevate delivers engaging sessions to our secondary students throughout the year. Elevate provides current research on skills and strategies for students to study more effectively and also assists them to develop long term memory retention of content.

We are pleased that again, Concordia will be working with Elevate to deliver a number of sessions for students throughout 2022. Earlier this term we were to hold an information session for parents which, unfortunately, needed to be postponed due to the COVID restrictions. This parent event will now be held in Term 2.

As part of our ongoing relationship with Elevate, they produce and conduct online presentations throughout the year on specific topics exclusively for our parents. Below is information about the next session available to you, Managing Technology and Focus. I would encourage you to register. 

Ms Wendy Bowen
Director of Learning and Innovation

Winning House:
1. Kessler
2. Stedman
3. Altus

Three records were broken at this year's event:
• Girls 14yrs 50m Butterfly 29.75 - Meg Osborne (Altus)
• Girls 14yrs 50m Freestyle 28.51 - Meg Osborne (Altus)
• Girls U18 50m Breaststroke 36.49 - Victoria Richards (Stedman)

2022 Swimming Age Champions

Hello to you all out there!

What a fabulous week we have had. The Swimming Carnival was on Monday. There were loud bursts of laughter and shouts of encouragement that could be heard from the dorms. Congratulations to everyone who participated and to those who spurred their mates and friends to the finish line. We have a huge amount of swimming talent here at Concordia. I believe the drought has been broken for Kessler House who have come out as the winner on the day.

Congratulations to Selina Richards with her excellent result in the orienteering. Selina has made the DD Team. Selina’s discipline and commitment to her sports is to be commended.

Damon Zelinski is to be congratulated on his win at the recent Toowoomba Annual Trap Carnival run by the Toowoomba Clay Target Club. Damon received the 'Junior High Gun' award for the carnival.

Congratulations also to Chrissy Watson for her successful selection in the Queensland Under 18 State team. Chrissy is an up-and-coming AFL player who puts herself on the line and is doing tremendous things with her footy. It was lovely to catch up with Zimmi Farquharson, old girl from 2019 boarding. Zimmi has started off her season with the Brisbane Lions with a massive show of natural ability, talent and dedication. Chrissy and Zimmi both believe that if you want something enough, and if you put in the effort and hard work in, you will reap the rewards. These two girls will give it their all. Excellent role models and ambassadors for our College.