Acting Principal's Report

Parent Helper Information Sessions

It is coming to that time of year again when our parent helpers are inducted into the school. On March 16, 5:00pm at the Bundoora Campus we will run our first session. This session will be repeated at the Watsonia Campus at 9:15 on March the 18th. We are endeavoring to improve our connection with the greater community in 2020. This is always a challenge for us as we are not the local school and it can be really difficult to find the time to come into the classrooms and support.

Even if you are only able to come into school once, every bit of support is welcome.

If you have attended a session in the past we do still require your attendance to ensure that we are able to meet child safety standards for our volunteers. There are some DET requirements around volunteer support that we must adhere to. All volunteers must have a current working with children check (WWC) and all volunteers must be inducted annually. Please complete the attached PDF should you wish to attend one of the sessions.

Staffing    

We are very excited to announce that we have finally been able to appoint a replacement for Essraa Yassine who is one of our Speech pathologists. Essraa is currently on family leave and we were very lucky to appoint Leaia Leventis as her replacement during this time. Leaia is currently working as a speech pathologist at Broadmeadows SDS and we are looking forward to her joining our Allied Health team with her experiences in schools a great asset.

We have also had some success with a few other positions. Sam Hutson will be beginning her family leave at the end of the term and Chloe Venezia will be moving into the Digital Technologies position.

Jess Mitchell will move into the Science position vacated by Sam as she has an expertise in Science and it made sense to continue the program with a  trained Science teacher. Chloe has been team teaching in Secondary 7/8 D, Secondary 9/10 H and Secondary 9/10 E this year. Brittany Fuscaldo will be returning from family leave and she will move into Secondary 7/8 D on Thursday and Friday and Secondary 9/10 H on Wednesday.

Sage Rohana Geddes has also been appointed to teach Secondary 9/10 E on Tuesday and Wednesday.  We are very pleased to be able to continue to build the expertise of our current staff in some of these positions and we are also fortunate to have Sage on board with multiple years of teaching experience. 

PUNCTUALITY (Beginning the Day)

Every day your child is away from school/late impacts on the level of success that will be achieved throughout their time in school. We understand that sickness or necessary/critical appointments are a part of everyday life and cannot be avoided. We also know that getting students to school every day and on time will enable us to get the best out of your child (academic, social and emotional growth) which is always our priority.

Routines and procedures are critically important in establishing a strong learning environment within each classroom. For this reason it is extremely important that students are at school, ready to begin their day, prior to the bell going at 9.00am. It is expected that learning begins from the moment the bell rings.

Watsonia Campus BBQ

Last Friday we held our annual welcome family BBQ at the Watsonia Campus. As usual it was an extremely well attended event where families and staff had an opportunity to socialise and chat. Our students and their siblings were extremely excited by the various activities provided on the night. The jumping castle was full throughout and there were lines for colour hair spray, tattoos and the amazing face painting. We would like to thank all of the Lower Primary staff for putting on such a wonderful event and we look forward to building strong relationships with all of the new members of our Concord community.

Update to Travel Restrictions to Manage Coronavirus

The Australian Government has updated existing travel restrictions to include visitors from Iran who are not Australian citizens or permanent residents. These restrictions were implemented from 1 March 2020.

The extension to existing travel restrictions for visitors from mainland China remains in place. Visitors from mainland China who are not Australian citizens or permanent residents, or their dependants will not be allowed entry into Australia.

These restrictions will be reviewed by 7 March 2020.

Parents/guardians/carers should ensure that any child returning from mainland China (not including Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan) from 1 February, and from Iran from 1 March, is isolated at home and should not attend school until 14 days after they were last in mainland China or Iran.

This same advice applies to any impacted staff.

The Department’s coronavirus web page is the key source of the latest advice and information, including translated advice.

Principal Award- Chloe Battista

Chloe started at Concord School at the beginning of this year and it is terrific to welcome her as a class member of UPD. Chloe has settled into the classroom routine extremely well and quickly developed new friendships, which is fantastic to see.

Chloe confidently participated in all camp activities and displayed amazing resilience, especially as this was her very first school camp. Chloe has shown persistence by giving bike riding a go for the first time during the Electives program.

Chloe consistently demonstrates the School Values in the classroom and playground. Chloe is an exemplary role model to her peers and is enthusiastic and conscientious about her learning in all curriculum activities.

Chloe can be commended for receiving this award and for being such a caring, kind and polite student to her peers and staff alike.

Acting Principal

Kirrily Lamers