Teaching and Learning

Education Week 2019

Last week we celebrated Education Week at Concord School with a number of special activities. We had our open morning on Thursday which saw many parents and carers visit classrooms and join in on the learning taking place. It was wonderful to walk around and see so many adults visiting the school and seeing what happens on a daily basis in class. We had a number of parents remain on the Bundoora campus for morning tea which had been prepared by our Upper Primary Food Tech class and the coffee business Work Related Skills team from 11/12. The scones were delicious. It was wonderful to chat to parents and see the conversations that parents were having with each other. We are not the community school for many of our families and the open morning and morning tea provides an opportunity for families to connect with each other. Visitor numbers were also very high at our Watsonia campus with parents and carers visiting classrooms and sharing morning tea with their children.

Education Week was also celebrated through our participation in the Simultaneous Read of ‘Alpacas with Maracas’ on Wednesday and other section activities related to the careers theme, for example our 11/12 students were guest speakers in our Upper Primary classes to talk to them about what they do in their Work Related Skills programs.

Sports Day

Last Monday we also had our annual Secondary Sports Day. The Sports and Recreation VCAL students organised and ran the day with the support of their teachers and the PE teaching team. While the weather was a little testing at times, particularly the wind, our students participated with enthusiasm and had a great time having a go and cheering each other on. The Food Operations VCAL group worked hard in the Food Tech room all morning to make healthy sandwiches and delivered them to classrooms for students to enjoy. The day was a wonderful example of team work, cooperation and participation. Well done to everyone involved.

Communities of Practice

Our teaching team participated in the Banuyle-Nillumbik Communities of Practice a couple of weeks ago as part of their Professional Learning for 2019. Communities of Practice provides an opportunity for the teachers in our network to share and learn together. Over 40 professional learning sessions were offered across the network by schools and teachers, including Concord School. Teachers nominate the session they would like to participate in, attend the session on Communities of Practice day and then come back to Concord and share their learning. It is a great opportunity for professional conversations between teachers from different school and allows for the sharing of strategies and activities to improve teaching and learning. Sessions included content such as working memory, wellbeing, autism, readiness to learn and oral language just to name a few.

Drama Toolbox

Drama Toolbox visited Lower Primary last week. The students were immersed into the imaginative Fairy-tale Land where everything is in the story was muddled up and mixed up. The students dressed up as their favourite fairy tale characters including dragons, witches, cats, mice and wolves.

They explored being Fairy-tale characters and role-playing as they were lead through different parts of the story.  Everyone had fun getting lost in the story of the magical fantasy land.

Sam Birrell 

Acting Assistant Principal