Yesterday, we proudly announced the College Captains and leaders for 2023. What a difficult task this has been with a record number of nominations, speeches and interviews conducted over the past fortnight. Congratulations to those Year 11 students who have been announced to be leaders at the College next year. I look forward to working with and supporting these students on this exciting growth journey. Thank you to Mrs Leah Bowes, as their Year Level Coordinator, and Mr Jamie Pukallus for their organisation and support of these students throughout the process.

I recently had a conversation with some fellow principals regarding age versus stage based learning and developmental milestones. They then shared with me a guideline which they had come across, published by Dr Elizabeth Kilbey, about some basics to consider for our children [and students] when looking at skills which they should master as they grow up. Children mature at different rates and will all be at different stages but here are some basics to consider.

Four to six:
Be able to go to the toilet independently and wash hands. Get dressed without help.

Seven to eight:
Know how to ride a bike without stabilisers, or a scooter. Hone motor skills by climbing trees safely or structures in playgrounds. Be able to tie shoelaces. Learn to swim. Be able to call an emergency number on a house or mobile phone. Be able to butter toast, make a simple sandwich and pack a school lunch. Know how to set the table.

Nine and ten:
Begin to know how money works. Go into shops under supervision but do simple transactions alone. Know where the local travel routes are, to get familiar with transport.

Be able to run short errands such as going to the post box or taking the dog around the block during the day. Get involved in the cooking of simple dishes under supervision. Know how to use utensils such as a grater or peeler. Be involved in household chores such as loading and unloading the washing machine and dishwasher, mopping the floor. Be able to change a bed. Know how to summon help if there isn’t a phone. Be confident enough to go to a neighbour’s home for assistance. Take control of basic personal hygiene — shower/bath daily, regularly wash hair. Write a thank you letter or email.

11 and 12:
Have the confidence to travel independently. Know the route to take to get to school, whether walking, travelling by car or using public transport. Know what to do if at risk. Be able to use a washing machine, choose the correct cycle for the fabric and then iron their clothes. Have some outdoor camping skills, including lighting a fire under supervision. Prepare food independently, follow a recipe and prepare simple meals. Know good mobile phone etiquette, including how to put a passcode on a phone. Use an Eftpos card responsibly. Be able to help gardening, like mowing the lawn, weeding, digging and planting.

13 to 16:
Have a bank account to manage money independently. Prepare main meals independently. Understand the principles of basic first aid. Be able to sew on a button. Meet up with friends independently. Organise a schedule and be prepared for school and activities.

Please remember that these are only guidelines as we scaffold this journey for each of our children who, as you will know, present so differently in their own unique way.

Safe travels to our Year 6 students as they leave for their camp to Cairns next week and good luck to or Year 11 students as they begin to prepare for their upcoming Exam Block.

Wishing all our fathers and grandfathers a wonderful Father’s Day on Sunday.

Yours in Christ

Mr Anton Prinsloo
Head of College

Quote of the Week: Train up a child in the way he should go - but be sure you go that way yourself. [Charles Spurgeon]

Walk my Way seeks to assist refugee children to access schooling (Walk My Way 2022 | Home) which gives them a chance to improve their lives and futures. Many of these children had to walk long distances to the relative safety of the camps, some with their families, some by themselves – hence the walking challenge. $26 allows a child to go to school for a whole year – so the challenge has been to walk 26km.

At Concordia, we know about God’s concern and care for those whom the bible calls “poor” (for example, recently we explored the story of Ruth in chapel, where Ruth is able to go and collect leftover grains from the fields – there is an Old Testament law that tells the farmers to leave the bits left over after the harvesters are through, so that the poor can come and gather these left-overs and live). We also know about Jesus’ going out of his way to bless and assist those pushed to the edges. He even says: “Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God. (Luke 6:20)

We seek to share Christ’s love in tangible ways, and Walk my Way is one of those ways. We are challenged to look beyond ourselves to the needs of others around the world, whom God also loves and cares for. So, on the last day of this term at SSC and in the first week of Term 2 (Primary campuses) we will take up the challenge and walk around our ovals in a competition between houses, to see who can send the most refugee children to school. Students are encouraged to get sponsorship and commit to a number of laps of the oval. At SSC I have been working with the Faith captains and Yr 9 leaders in order to have a lunchtime sausage sizzle before we walk the ovals and conclude the term with a chapel, where the new Queensland rep for ALWS, Pastor Martin Scharnke, will lead us in worship.

Please support your children as they take up the challenge. Please note that we prefer donations (which are tax deductable) to be made directly via this page:

Concordia Lutheran College 2022 (scroll down and select the House you wish to support). Thank you for your support and a special thank you to all who have already made a donation!.

Have a great Week 9!

Pastor Thomas Böhmert
College Pastor

We also had a fabulous time celebrating our dads. It was fun sharing a morning of handball competition and kite building/flying and of course, it couldn’t happen without the delicious food! Thank you, dads, for everything you do. You mean a lot to us, and we pray you have a wonderful weekend.

What Makes a DAD
God took the strength of a mountain,
The majesty of a tree,
The warmth of a summer sun,
The calm of a quiet sea,
The generous soul of nature,
The comforting arm of night,
The wisdom of the ages,
The power of the eagles’ flight,
The joy of a morning in spring,
The faith of a mustard seed,
The patience of eternity,
The depth of a family need,
Then God combined these qualities,
When there was nothing more to add,
He knew His masterpiece was complete,
And so, He called it Dad.

Blessings for the week ahead.

Click here to view HSC's Events for Term 3, Week 9.
Click here to view WSC's Events for Term 3, Week 9.

Mrs Juanetta Priest - Director of Campus (Hume Street)
Mrs Jackie Minnikin - Director of Campus (Warwick Street)

Please ensure that students have the following items:

• Warm clothing - this would be great for the students to wear to and from the pool as we don't know what the weather is going to be like
• Swimming togs
• Goggles
• House swimming cap
• Towel

To avoid any lost items, please clearly label all of your child's items including their shoes, underwear and uniform.

Transport – Premiers Bus

• Parents are required to drop off your child at school in the morning as usual.
• The bus will depart from WSC at 9am.
• Students will return to WSC at approx. 2.45pm.

Dress Code: Students are required to wear their College Sports Uniform and College Hat.

What to Bring: Students are required to bring in a small backpack or normal school bag:

• Morning Tea
• Lunch
• Water Bottle
• Sunscreen

Parent Volunteers & cost
We will require parent volunteers to supervise a small group of children for the day. The cost for parents (as part of the School Group) to attend is $20.00 each. You will need to organise your own transport to and from DD Zoo. (As per the Parent Handbook, no younger siblings are permitted to attend this excursion).

*To be eligible to participate in this excursion, parents must have completed Concordia Lutheran College’s Volunteer Compliance Requirements prior to the excursion date.

Parents who wish to attend will need to contact Mrs Marteen Paynter in Reception before Friday 26 August, for information on the Volunteer Compliance Requirements and to make payment.

Permission Required: Parents are requested to go to Parent Lounge to submit your permission by Wednesday 4 August 2021:

• Login to Parent Lounge >
• click on Events & Payments >
• click on WSC Prep Darling Downs Zoo Excursion >
• Accept >
• Save

Should you require any further information, please contact Mrs Rowie Weier.

Year 7 2023 Connect
It was great to see our incoming 2023 Year 7 and their families for our second connect session on Wednesday afternoon. Parents received information regarding our curricular and extracurricular activities, as well as other day-to-day procedures. I wish to thank Ms Roslyn Cook, Ms Wendy Bowen, Ms Sam Eagleson and Ms Christina Marangelli for coming along to share this information with the parent group. Our soon to be Year 7 students had a great afternoon with lots of fun activities with Ms Lexi Morton and Ms Sandy Hewett along with buddies from our current Year 7 cohort. We are very exited to see another wonderful bunch of young people coming through to Stephen Street Campus.

A recording can be seen below for any parents who were unable to attend Wednesday’s session.

Year 7 Connect - Session 2

Grandparents Day
It was a first for me on Thursday, as we invited students to bring along their grandparents for a morning at Stephen Street Campus. These types of activities are often reserved by schools for the primary context, but I am so grateful that Concordia continues to break down these types of boundaries to celebrate the great role models grandparents can be in a student’s life. After an initial meeting in the chapel, students took their grandparents to their classrooms so they could experience what it means to be a learner in 2022. Following this and a celebration morning tea, our grandparents were treated to some entertainment by our band and choir groups. Thank you so much to all the of the families who were with us on the day. We thank and recognise our older generation for the incredible influence and wisdom that they share within their families and our community.

Happy Fathers Day!
To all of the fathers in our community, we wish you a very happy Father’s Day. The role of any parent is becoming more and more complex in a rapidly changing world. Further to this, the role of fathers is so critical in nurturing the positive values and attitudes of children, underpinned by a great sense of love and commitment to growth.

I would like to offer a prayer for our fathers as we recognise them this Sunday:

Dear God, We thank you for the gift of Dads in this life. We thank you that you are the greatest Dad ever, Abba Father, and we know that you cover us in your great love.

We pray for your blessing, favour, and strength over every Dad in this world, for those who are seeking to walk closely with you in a dark world, and for those who just need to be reminded that you are real. We ask for your renewed courage, for your boldness, for your Spirit to fill them. Make them always aware and alert of the schemes of the enemy. We ask that you would keep their footsteps firm, and guard their way. We ask that you would help them to always stand strong, to be men of faith, to say “no” to what is wrong, and to say “yes” to what is right. We ask that you would fill their hearts with love, compassion, joy, faithfulness, and cover their lives with great peace.

Lord, we pray that you would raise up mighty men, godly men, in this generation, those who would know and honour you with their entire lives. We pray that they would stand firm in the faith, walk wisely, and follow hard after you. May they grow in their love and passion for you, for their families, and in the calling to follow you above all else. Thank you for dads who fight for their families, who do battle in prayer over those they love.

Thank you, God, that your Word is true. We hold fast to you today, we choose to immerse our lives in your Truth. We know that you are with us always and cover us in your power and strength.

In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

On a lighter note, here is a Dad joke to finish:

Did you hear about the two guys who stole a calendar?......
They both got six months!

Have a great week.

Yours in faith,

Mr Jamie Pukallus
Director of Campus

A reminder to all parents once again regarding travel day. All students will need to be collected via the Aquatic Centre entrance on South Street as the Stephen Street entrance will be closed off for the Year 12 arrivals on Friday. We thank you for your support and consideration.

Please can I ask that you check your child’s uniforms during the holidays as some are looking a tad tired and may need to be replaced. Summer uniform - shorts are allowed in Term 4.

Under 14s Rugby Union won their grand final last night with a landslide score of 29-0. Well done to Leroy Malone who received a medal. Students and staff went along to support and were immensely entertained. Thank you to Mr Wally McIntosh for volunteering to drive the students to and from. A special thank you to Mr Josh Biscoe for driving the boys to TAS every training session and to their games. You have been a great support to Boarding.

Last week we travelled to Movie World and the students had a fantastic day.

Hope you enjoy our pics this week.

For those travelling take care and stay safe.

Mrs Maureen Taurima
Girls' Houseparent