The Facta

As Term 1 comes to a close, we are so grateful that we were able to welcome our community back on to the school grounds. Even though this came with lots of restrictions, parents and carers were able to take part in key school events, once again. You, as a community have endured so much over the last 12 months, change after change. Though you have worked alongside us as a school and we have managed to come through on the other side as a stronger school community. On behalf of the staff, I cannot thank you enough for your patience and endurance through every change and every new restriction. Although we cannot rule out any further restrictions being re-introduced again next term, what is certain is that we will get through them all together, whatever happens.

Wandana Aboriginal Education Day

Our students, K-6, experienced a memorable day of Aboriginal song, dance, art, history and storytelling as part of our Wandana Aboriginal Day. Thank you to the representatives from Wandana, Des and Hayley, for providing an engaging and educational experience for our students, whilst integrating curriculum outcomes about Indigenous Australia.

Easter Hat Parade

This, no doubt, is one of my favourite school events on the school calendar, and what a day we managed to have on Thursday, the last day of Term 1. A parade of colour, creativity and self-pride, as our junior students displayed their creations with their buddies from the senior classes. Thank you to the many parents/carers who took time out of their busy schedule to come along! Even our teachers joined in with the festivities. Thank you to our parents/carers who supplied the resources for the hats and thank you to the class teachers who prepared hats for all their students.

Congratulations to the Saad Family

I am absolutely delighted to announce that Mrs Saad recently gave birth to a beautiful baby girl – Ella. Ella was born on 19th March at 8:50am. Both mum and baby are doing very well. On behalf of the Concord PS community, we send our congratulations and well wishes to the entire Saad family and we look forward to meeting little Ella in the near future.

Good luck Mrs Betty

As you may all be aware, this week we said good-bye to Mrs Betty Annetta, who will be working at Croydon Public School as the relieving School Administrative Officer, commencing in Term 2. This position is until the end of 2021. Mrs Betty has made this difficult decision to be closer to her family. We are currently endeavouring to fill this position and we will let the community know once the recruitment process has been finalised. Good luck, Mrs Betty! We will miss you!

Endorsement of the Strategic Improvement Plan, 2021-2024

On Tuesday, Ms El-Hage, Mrs Soteriou and I visited the Strathfield Education Office with our plan for the next 4 year cycle, as outlined in the Strategic Improvement Plan. I am pleased to say that our plan has been endorsed by the Director Educational Leadership, Maria Serafim. The Strategic Improvement Plan, along with all the school’s targets, will be available to our community early Term 2 on the school’s website.

Personal Leave

I will be taking a short period of personal leave from Tuesday 20th April until Thursday 29th April, returning on Friday 30th April. In my absence, Mrs Mina Coco will be the relieving Principal.

To all our families who celebrate Easter, we wish you a festive and joyous time with your family and loved-ones. Stay safe and look out for each other. To our students, I hope you managed to achieve some of your goals this term. Remember, its hard work and commitment that gets you to the other side. To our wonderful teachers and staff, thank you for all your efforts and hard work throughout the term! Now it’s time for our whole school community to recharge their batteries over the next 2 weeks.

See you all next term!

Anna Vountoulas

Principal

Concord PS

• Monday 3rd May 2021 at 2:20pm
• Monday 24th May 2021 at 2:20pm
• Monday 21st June 2021 at 2:20pm

Class Awards and/or Principal's Awards must be handed to the office 2 days prior to the date of assembly. 

PREPARING FOR CROSS COUNTRY EVENTS

·         Talk to your children about what cross country running involves (e.g. long distance running, not a sprint, more endurance based).

·         Walk around the combined perimeter of Queen Elizabeth Park’s football pitches to get a feel for the approximate distance.

·         Practise jogging slowly around the combined perimeter of the football pitches to introduce children to ‘Jogging’ / ‘No Puffing’ pace.

·         Participate in a race situation with family members or friends to practise the application of ‘Jogging’ / ‘No Puffing’ pace.

·         Tell your children that it is ok to stop and recover if the race becomes too demanding. A short walk can be all that is required to regain their breath to continue at jogging pace.

More information regarding the event, parent helpers and spectator attendance will be provided in Week 1 of Term 2.

Cross Country Organisation Committee

Applications for Year 5 entry to an opportunity class in 2022 will open on Tuesday 20 April 2021. Parents and carers will be able to apply from the website at that time.  https://education.nsw.gov.au/public-schools/selective-high-schools-and-opportunity-classes/year-5

Parents and carers must apply online by Friday 7 May 2021 when applications close. This closing date will be strictly observed, except where extenuating circumstances are serious and well documented or where there may be a shortage of suitable candidates.

The Opportunity Class Placement Test will be held on Wednesday 21 July 2021.

A gentle reminder that if your child is unwell, please do not send them to school, even if their symptoms are mild. If they have flu-like symptoms, for example, a sore throat, runny nose or fever, they will need to be tested for COVID-19 and a copy of the negative result will need to be presented to the school before they can return. Your child will also need to be symptom free.  Please read the following information from the Department of Education:“In accordance with advice from NSW HealthExternal link, parents and carers are reminded NOT to send children to school if they are unwell, even if they have the mildest flu-like symptoms.NSW Health has requested that schools encourage anyone who is unwell or has even mild flu-like symptoms, to arrange to be tested through their local medical practitioner or one of the COVID-19 clinicsExternal link.Students and staff with flu-like symptoms will need to be tested and provide a copy of a negative COVID-19 test result and be symptom-free before being permitted to return to school.Students who do not undertake a COVID-19 test will not be permitted to return to school for a 10-day period. Additionally, they must be symptom-free for at least 3 days prior to returning to school.Students who have seasonal allergic rhinitis or another condition that presents similarly to flu-like symptoms are still required to get tested for COVID-19 and return a negative test result. Where their symptoms continue beyond 10 days, students should provide documentation from their GP confirming their symptoms are typical for their condition. If the student develops new or changed symptoms, they should get tested for COVID-19. Find more information about COVID-19 symptomsExternal link.COVID-19 testing for students with complex health or disability may be challenging. In these situations, schools will ask the parent or carer to have their child assessed by their medical practitioner. Where a medical practitioner determines that a COVID-19 test is not required, documentation must be provided to the school to confirm that the student does not have symptoms that warrant a COVID-19 test. The certificate must also indicate that the student is able to return to school.”

Thank you for your ongoing support and understanding.

Entering onto the School Grounds During School Hours

As we currently have restrictions in entering the school premises, please call or email the school before entering the school grounds.

If you need to see your child or pass on a message to them, the office staff can help with that too. We encourage parents to allow us to pass on messages during break times, so that your child's learning is not interrupted. All visitors must sign-in at the office, wear a visitor's sticker and complete the QR code and fill in the Visitor's Form. This is to ensure the wellbeing and safety of all.

Payment 

When making a payment online you can only pay up to 3 DAYS before the due date of the payment. This is due to online transactions taking 48 hours to process. 

Other payment methods such as cash or cheque can also be sent to the front office and placed in the blue box labelled “School Post”.

Please note that we do not accept online payment for uniform or canteen orders. Please see the uniform or canteen order  form for payment details.

Permission Notes 

If you have more than one child we need to have a note for each child, not all on one note please.

Change of Contact/Address details  

Please inform the office immediately if you have changed your contact or address details, so we can contact you in case of an emergency. 

Bicycle and Scooter Guidelines

If you give permission for your child to ride a bicycle or scooter to and/or from school, and store it on the school grounds, please carefully read and sign the ‘Bicycle and Scooter Guidelines’ document (obtained from the Front Office). These signed forms are to be returned to the office. Once we have received the signed documentation, the school will record that your child has permission from you to ride to school. Please see Mrs Vermiglio or the office for details.

All lost property is now kept in the office.

All students have been informed of this and are all reminded to put their name on their hats, jackets, jumpers, all lunch/recess containers and drink bottles.

City of Canada Bay Council, Place Management presents

CONCORD ANZAC DAY DAWN SERVICE

• Sun 25th Apr 2021, 5:00 AM - 7:00 AM
• 47 Broughton St, Concord NSW 2137
• BOOK TICKETS
• VIEW WEBSITE