Principal's Report

Welcome Back

A great big welcome back to term two. The students have had a fantastic start to the term with everyone following our values and schoolwide expectations. It is great to see the energy students and staff have brought back from the holiday period and we look forward to the exciting learning experiences that are ahead of us this term. There have been a number of staff that have joined us over the holiday period. Sam Birrell has been appointed Team Leader of the Secondary 9-10 Team. Sam comes to us from Epping Views Primary School where she worked as a coach and Team Leader. She has worked in multiple primary schools over several years but at Epping Views there are significant numbers of students who are funded through the PSD. We are very excited to have Sam at Concord and look forward to the contribution she will make across the school to support our kids to “be the best they can be.”

Robin Darch will be working in our Secondary 9-10 area on Fridays to support the STEAM program as a teacher.

Lyn Grimshaw will work as a teacher in the Secondary 11-12 area on Wednesdays to support the VET programs.

Claire Murphy has joined us as a Speech Pathologist at the Bundoora Campus. Claire is in a maternity leave position vacated by Emma Lorenzin. We wish Emma great joy and happiness and look forward to meeting her new baby.

Julie Spence is the new face in our front office at the Bundoora Campus. She is replacing Julie Nicholson who has been appointed as the Business Manager of Belmore School.

Colin Daisley has been appointed for two days a week as the maintenance person for our Watsonia Campus.

Ebony Warner will commence as an ES in the Upper Primary section in a few weeks to replace Lexie Doherty who will also be taking maternity leave.

I would also like to take the opportunity to thank Gaynor Martyn who has worked at Concord School for the past sixteen years in a variety of roles. She announced her retirement towards the end of term one and she will be greatly missed. We do wish her well as she starts the journey of the next phase of her life and look forward to hearing tales about her upcoming adventures.

Parent Volunteer Information

Concord School is asking parents for their help. In a school such as Concord there are many opportunities for parents to support in the classroom, on excursions, during incursions or even assisting to make resources. This assistance supports us to support our students to become ‘the best they can be’. There are some DET requirements around volunteer support that we must adhere to. In order to assess and verify the suitability of volunteers we do ask all helpers to provide a current working with children check (WWC). Just like last year we would also like to offer some training to support parents to work in the classroom with their children. During these sessions we will talk about privacy, the role of the volunteer and some ideas about working with school aged children. The DET also determines that volunteer workers inductions are valid for one year so attendance is compulsory for all parents who wish to support and assist throughout the year.

These forums will be held on Tuesday the 9th of May at 9.15am at the Watsonia Campus and Thursday the 11th of May at 6.00pm at the Bundoora Campus.

The forums will also give parents the opportunity to be inducted into the school. Please bring along current WWC cards, if we did not get your details last year, to ensure you are ready to start supporting immediately.

We highly encourage your attendance as this is a real chance to support your child at school and continue to build on the partnership between the school and its families. It is also a great opportunity to network with other families within our community.

Teaching and Learning

I am very excited to talk to you all today about the progress that has been made with our tentatively named Pre-CAL program. (Concord Applied Learning) Teachers from the Secondary 7-12 sections, members of our allied health team, our coaches and members of our leadership team have been working together to develop content for our students in years 7-12 that relates to the Victorian Curriculum but also has a real focus in utilising skills to promote independence in the community.

Last year we held several parent forums and staff meetings to get an idea of what skills our whole community felt would benefit our students. We have spent considerable time analysing these to ensure that we are giving our students the greatest opportunities possible and have started to put together a skills based program that is heavily rooted in displaying these skills in a variety of contexts both in our school and within the surrounding community.

At this stage we would like to share our progress with our community. On Thursday the 8th of June at the Bundoora Campus we are inviting parents and carers from SFC, SMC, SGJ and SKL to attend a parent information evening to share with you the progress that we have had thus far. We strongly encourage your attendance as this is a wonderful opportunity to get together and celebrate our students, but also a chance to really develop a partnership between students, the school and the home. We will be sending an additional note to remind parents about this opportunity and later in the year we will also have a similar evening for all parents in the community.

I hope you all have a terrific fortnight and look forward to an amazing term filled with learning, fun, exciting challenges and happy students.  

Princiapl's Award

The principal's award goes to Charlotte.

Charlotte displays a positive, friendly attitude and interacts well with many other students. Charlotte works steadily in all areas of the curriculum; always striving to achieve or even surpass her personal best. She has grown in confidence over the past year.

Charlotte not only attempts and participates in new tasks but displays enjoyment in doing so. Charlotte had a minor role in the Secondary Spectacular last year and is currently rehearsing her lines and dance moves for her leading role in ‘High School Musical’ this year.

Congratulations Charlotte!

"Students striving to be the best they can be"

Kirrily Lamers

Acting Principal