Acting Principal's Report
Welcome
Welcome back to our students, families and staff. I am delighted to report that our students have had a wonderful return to school so far this year. We welcome many new faces and I have spent much of the first few days checking in with our many new students. We also have multiple new staff and everyone is very excited to get stuck into the New Year.
During my journeys around the school I have been witness to the wonderful supports and learning tasks that we offer and I have been extremely pleased to note that our staff are working hard to ensure that all of our students are thriving in an environment that values and celebrates their learning. I am looking forward to the various challenges and exciting prospects that await us this year as we hope to complete our new building and start with a new strategic plan. Please do not hesitate to contact me if you would like to discuss any matter concerning your child’s education.
Staffing News
Jason Coningsby, our Principal will be returning to Concord a little earlier than expected at the beginning of term 2. It is a great credit to Jason and the leadership team here at Concord that the DET have requested his support at a system level many times over the past few years. Jason will bring back many learnings from his acting role.
There are many new faces in teaching and ES roles across the school. For a complete list of our school staff, please go to the ‘Our Staff’ section of the school website.
Parent Information Session
I am also extremely pleased to announce that our parent information session held on the 5th of February was a great success with a wonderful turnout. You may remember that this initiative is in response to our 2019 parent surveys with a large number of parents asking for more time with teachers and access to additional information. I do hope that parents were able to learn more about our programs and have gained a greater understanding into how we can work together to support our students to develop and grow.
Meet the Teacher Evening
This year our meet the teacher night will take place on Tuesday the 18th of February. Unlike last year we are now providing 1:1 opportunities to talk with your Child’s teacher. As we are just getting to know the students the content of this meeting is a little different and we ask you to provide detailed information about your child. A getting to know my child handout will be provided to assist with the conversations. The purpose of the evening is for you to help us to know how we can support your Child’s learning needs. We are always striving to improve our practice and we firmly believe that you know your child best and collaborative conversations will only serve to assist your child to achieve at Concord. Bookings open on Compass on Monday 10th of February. It is a first in best dressed situation. I do hope to see you there.
School Communication and Compass
As a school we are constantly reflecting on our communication and we do understand that it can be quite difficult for our students to communicate their feelings about the school day and because of this we are endeavouring to improve our communication processes. A survey will be created and sent to parents and carers in the coming weeks and we encourage you to respond so that we can work together to improve our communication.
It is important to note that Compass, the school newsletter and the communication books are our major communication tools and all information concerning the school or your child will be communicated using these tools.
As such it is important that all parents log into Compass so our school can communicate effectively with you. If you have any questions regarding Compass, or are having difficulty logging-on, then please ring Karen Jordan at our school on 94673972. The Compass log-on can be found at https://concordsch-vic.compass.education or through the ‘Compass Parent Portal’ link on our website.
School Council
Nomination forms may be collected from Karen Jordan at the Bundoora Campus or Debbie Whiteway at the Watsonia Campus from Monday the 10th of February and must be lodged by 4pm on Monday, 17th February, 2020.
The ballot (if required) will close at 4pm on Monday, 24th February, 2020.
Following the closing of nominations a list of the nominations received will be posted at the school. The terms of office, membership categories and number of positions in each membership category open for election are as follows –
| Membership category | Term of office | Number of positions |
| Parent member | From the day after the date of the declaration of the poll in 2020 to and inclusive of the date of the declaration of the poll in 2022. |
4 |
| DET employee member | From the day after the date of the declaration of the poll in 2020 to and inclusive of the date of the declaration of the poll in 2022. |
3 |
| Community member | From the day after the date of the declaration of the poll in 2020 to and inclusive of the date of the declaration of the poll in 2022. |
1 |
If the number of nominations is less than the number of vacancies, a notice to that effect and calling for further nominations will be posted in a prominent position at the school.
I look forward to working closely with the school council to support our students to ‘be the best they can be’
Acting Principal
Kirrily Lamers