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Given that one of the strategic focus areas for Concordia is the ongoing wellbeing journey for both our students and staff, I will use the opportunity of this weekly newsletter, over the coming weeks, to provide you with useful information regarding this topic. This week I would like to focus on the PERMAH Model framework, which has been published by Martin Seligman, and how a combination of PERMAH is important to you and your child’s wellbeing. Let’s have a look at simple things you can do as a family to ensure each of these elements of PERMAH are healthy and happening for you:

P – Positive Emotions and Gratitude: it is the frequency and not the intensity of positive emotions which has the greatest influence on growing your own and your children’s wellbeing. For everyone, social connection is the best way to achieve this. To self-generate positive emotions, try these things: exercise first thing every morning, text a friend who is struggling, aim to do three kind acts every day and FaceTime grandparents, family members and close family friends.

E – Engagement and Mindfulness: your own negative mind chatter will probably be the biggest hurdle to control and overcome. Remember, your children are likely to imitate you. To focus try to create I will and I can self-talk statements, colour in for 10 minutes and breathe deeply and slowly [four seconds in through your nose, hold for four seconds, exhale through your mouth and repeat four or five times].

R – Relationships and Empathy: other people are the best antidotes for life’s ups and downs. Use Zoom and Skype for you and your children to see happy and smiling faces you enjoy catching up with, break out Uno, Scrabble and other fun games to generate easy conversations and laughter, have fun cooking together and do wellbeing fitness challenges together. Uninterrupted face-to-face interaction is critically important in the busyness of our everyday lives.

M – Meaning and Purpose: in these times, feelings of vulnerability are perfectly normal for both you and your children. As a family, make cards to drop in the letterboxes of elderly people in your street or neighbourhood, make fun family movies and as a family follow, learn about and become involved in a caring charity.

A – Accomplishment and Optimism: to cultivate feelings of optimism in your family that together you can influence your own futures, set a goal at home every day. Grow a vegetable garden as a family, paint a room or a piece of furniture, do one extra sit up or push up and encourage your children to complete one thing at a time and to do it well.

H – Health and Strengths: to keep your own and your children’s immune system strong, focus on the big five – healthy fresh eating, one hour’s exercise, at least eight hour’s sleep, drinking plenty of water and looking on the bright side of life. An uplifting family activity is to identify your top character strength by doing the free online Strengths Survey at . Everyone puts their strengths on the fridge and tries spotting them. [Acknowledgement: Mick Walsh]

Stay safe and enjoy the Labour Day long weekend.

Yours in Christ

Mr Anton Prinsloo
Head of College

Quote of the Week: “Children have never been very good at listening to their elders, but they have never failed to imitate them.” [James Baldwin]

It’s interesting for me, who watched these events from the outside, to again get the inside view, the amazing speed of change, the fears and uncertainties of that time, the real possibility of bloodshed and tanks on the streets (Tiananmen Square was the same year), but also the hopes and dreams of the people, which were not always realistic. And while today there are those in the East who are nostalgic about the past (they even have a word for it: Ostalgia [East-talgia]), many realise that things could not go on at that time and that change was needed and the changes that happened were by and large positive for those in the former East. An interesting aside: Dad mentions in his notes that Ukraine declared independence fairly early in the 1990s! But there were losers as well with all these changes and some people experienced unemployment (my dad almost did), poverty and being pushed to the sidelines, especially as industry in the East collapsed.

Looking back 30 years later, we certainly realise that not all the hopes of that time have come true and we are finding ourselves again in a time of increased militarisation and international tensions. It appears that change is a constant in human lives, and the writer of Ecclesiastes reflects on this when he writes:

There is a time for everything,
and a season for every activity under the heavens:
² a time to be born and a time to die,
a time to plant and a time to uproot,
³ a time to kill and a time to heal,
a time to tear down and a time to build,
⁴ a time to weep and a time to laugh,
a time to mourn and a time to dance,
⁵ a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them,
a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing,
⁶ a time to search and a time to give up,
a time to keep and a time to throw away,
⁷ a time to tear and a time to mend,
a time to be silent and a time to speak,
⁸ a time to love and a time to hate,
a time for war and a time for peace. (Ecclesiastes 3:1-8)

But he writes these lines not in a resigned or hopeless way, as he continues:

⁹ What do workers gain from their toil? ¹⁰ I have seen the burden God has laid on the human race.¹¹ He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the human heart; yet^[] no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end. ¹² I know that there is nothing better for people than to be happy and to do good while they live. ¹³ That each of them may eat and drink, and find satisfaction in all their toil—this is the gift of God. (Eccl 3:9-13)

We are people of Easter, people of hope, people who have been given the understanding that God finally has the last word, and that in Christ even death has been overcome. This faith/trust can enable us to indeed find joy and fulfilment in the tasks before us, receiving each day as gift and seeing the blessings all around – whether they be coloured leaves or a smile form a stranger in the street or some small positive happening in our lives, and give thanks to God for these things. This can also help us not to be overwhelmed by the present uncertainties and changes. I guess our term theme: Keeping your eyes on Jesus is relevant and helpful.

May God bless you, give you eyes and hearts to notice the good things around you and fill you with hope as we enter this season of autumn.

Pastor Thomas Böhmert
College Pastor

Adjustments can be provided for students with disability to enable them to access the tests on an equivalent basis to students without disability.

Parents or guardians may withdraw their child from the tests to address issues such as religious beliefs and philosophical objections to testing. It is recommended that withdrawal be considered in consultation with your child's classroom teacher at Hume Street Campus and Warwick Street Campus or the Learning Enrichment Coordinator at Stephen Street Campus.

Formal notification must be received by the College by 9 May. or you can contact Hume Street Campus Reception, Warwick Street Campus Reception or Stephen Street Student Services for a hard copy of this document.

Please find below some links to information regarding NAPLAN.

Ms Wendy Bowen
Director of Learning and Innovation

School camps are an important part of the curriculum and give students opportunities to learn new skills, develop independence and expand their friendships. Students and teachers seeing each other in a different environment enables them to further build on their relationships which in turn enhances student learning. As the bus pulls into HSC this afternoon I’m sure there will be some tired faces but also many stories to tell - from students and teachers!

Today saw us begin our Track and Field season with our first event being our Junior College P-2 Inter-House Track and Field Carnival. Although a little soggy under foot, all students put in their best efforts and had a wonderful morning. This event will be followed by our Junior College 3-6 Inter-House Track and Field Carnival on Friday 6 May at SSC. This season will finish with our Ball Games being held on each campus on Friday 27 May. We wish all students well as they compete in these events.

A special reminder to all of our Mums for our Mother’s Day events on Thursday 5 May. Please see the invites to your campus’ event below. We look forward to seeing you there!

to view HSC's Events for Term 2, Week 3.

to view WSC's Events for Term 2, Week 3.

All the best for the week ahead.

Mrs Juanetta Priest - Director of Campus (Hume Street)
Mrs Jackie Minnikin - Director of Campus (Warwick Street)

Elevate Study Skills
Earlier this week we were visited by a guest from Elevate – an organisation available to schools to assist with developing effective student learning and study habits. The college has invested in this for some time now, as we strongly believe that all learners are capable of success with the right strategies and mindset. Students have been given access to all the resources developed by Elevate, and we encourage them to try some new strategies over time to increase the effectiveness of their study routines. One of the most important aspects of Elevate’s involvement in schools, is that they train not only the students, but also staff and parents. This ensures that students receive further coaching and support as they develop self-regulation skills. I trust that parents who attended the evening session will have some useful tips to consider in reinforcing their child’s study at home. Thank you to Ms Wendy Bowen for her leadership in bringing Elevate into our college.

Track and Field Carnival
Next Thursday 5 May we will be holding our Stephen Street Campus Inter-House Track and Field Carnival. Can Kessler take out victory after missing out at the swimming carnival and cross country earlier in the year? We look forward to a very spirited and energetic day as our students compete across the range of track and field events on offer. There has already been quite a lot of action with pre-carnival events and training opportunities. As with the other carnivals, all students are encouraged to participate in the carnival. Even if it is just one event, students can earn valuable points for their House. Not everyone will be the next Usain Bolt or Sally Pearson, but we can celebrate our wonderful House culture by having a go and cheering on our peers. Parents are more than welcome to attend the carnival. Our Student Representative Body will be holding a BBQ on the day and will have a range of goodies for sale. Thanks very much to Mr Darryl Allen and the HPE staff for their work in the lead up to the carnival. Go Altus!

Free resource for parents - can we please talk about boys?
If you haven’t come across the work of psychologist Dr Justin Coulson, I can highly recommend his work and the resources available through his website - . Dr Coulson’s approach is very positive, practical and engaging. One resource he is currently making available for free is his recent webinar – “Can we please talk about boys?” You will see this on the home page when you go to the website above - you just need to register with an email address. Below is a short video introduction from Dr Coulson:

As we work together to further strengthen our pastoral care program, we will look to share more resources like these that may be of benefit to our parents and community.

Have a great week.

Yours in faith,

Mr Jamie Pukallus
Director of Campus

Monday was a very early start for those boys who attended the Dawn Service. A huge thank you to tutors, Nadir and Alexis, for volunteering their time to take the boys. Our boys had a nap when they returned. Our remaining students enjoyed a late sleep in.

Monday afternoon’s activity was Ten Pin Bowling with our tutors and staff. Competition was intense with Bryce and Miss Alexis, both winning one game each. Mr Andrew was a great host with supplying hot chips and drinks to keep the competitors going and the competition alive.

Students are completing assessments and catching up on outstanding work in the Library under the watchful eye of Mr Steve and Miss Alexis, our Senior Study Tutors.

Queensland Health has highly recommended that Boarding Houses encourage students and staff to get the flu vaccination. If you are interested in your child having this year's flu vaccination, please contact Sister Libby in the Health Centre.

The weather temps have dropped drastically and we are encouraging all students to keep warm by wearing extra clothing. Please remind your child to keep warm when you next speak to them. It will get colder as the weeks roll on.

Thank you to all parents who have supported the College in contributing towards the annual Theme Park tickets. We have scheduled 7 May for our first trip to Movie World. Watch this space for our photos.

Hope you all enjoy our pics this week.

Mrs Maureen and Mr Andrew
Houseparents