Principal's Report

Term 3

Welcome back to term 3. We have many exciting events planned for this term starting with Secondary 9/10 travelling to Lake Mountain over the following two Wednesdays to have fun in the snow. Throughout the term the students will also engage in excursions, incursions, Book Week, Footy Day, Sports Carnivals, the Secondary 7/8 Mamma Mia Spectacular, the Year 11 Presentation Ball and the State Schools Spectacular at John Cain Arena. We can’t wait!

Building Works and Car Parking

Our new building at the Bundoora Campus will commence construction in the next few days. Parents and carers who have dropped their children off or picked them up at the back of the school this week will have noticed that there is little car parking available. This will become worse in the next week with further car parks along Gleeson Drive becoming unavailable. There have been cars parked on nature strips, double parked and attempting to turn around within the car park which has created an unsafe environment.

To alleviate the car parking issues, we have introduced a morning drop off on the front driveway between 8.30-8.40am. The cut-off at 8.40am is strict as the buses will enter from that time. We encourage you to drive to the main gate at the front of the school and drop your child off. There will be staff waiting to assist your child and provide supervision.

An afternoon pick-up process is available after the buses have departed between 3.10-3.20pm. If you would like your child to use this process, please advise your child’s teacher as your child will need to be escorted to the front gate and supervised until you drive into the driveway and pick them up.We strongly encourage you to take advantage of these options.

Smile Squad Coming to Concord School

The Smile Squad has arrived this week at the Watsonia Campus and will be at the Bundoora Campus next week. Smile Squad dental vans will provide free examinations and treatment to those parents/carers who filled in and returned the consent forms.

The treatment will include teeth cleaning, fluoride applications, fillings and any other non-cosmetic treatments to make sure our young people have healthy teeth.

Learn more about the Smile Squad by visiting www.smilesquad.vic.gov.au or contact the team at smilesquad@dhsv.org.au.

Changes to COVID-19 Public Health Measures

Please find below the recent changes to public health measures to help reduce the spread of COVID-19 and other illnesses, especially influenza, throughout the remainder of the winter season.

Face Masks

It is strongly recommended by the Victorian Department of Health that face masks are worn in indoor settings, with face masks mandatory for those aged 8 and over who are household contacts and attending school. Wearing masks is a simple step we can all take this winter to reduce the number of COVID-19 cases and ensure our schools are as safe as possible.We understand that some students at Concord School find the wearing of masks difficult due to sensory or health reasons. Students will not be sanctioned for not wearing a mask however the government is seeking your support for this collective effort.

Exemptions for Testing and Isolation

The period of time when someone is considered a recently confirmed case and therefore exempt from testing and isolation requirements has been reduced from the previous 12 weeks to 4 weeks. This means that children who are household contacts of people with COVID-19 are now required to undertake the testing and isolation requirements from 4 weeks after completing isolation with COVID-19. After the 4-week exemption period, students members who are a household contact of a new COVID-19 case, must follow rules for household contacts including reporting this to their school. As part of this they must take 5 rapid antigen tests (RATs) over 7 days and receive negative test results and wear a face mask (if over 8 years old) in indoor spaces.