NewsBites - Term 2, Week 1, 2024

An Exciting Term Ahead

Dear Faith Lutheran College Community,

Welcome back for Term 2. It’s with great anticipation that we begin this busy and exciting term.

Our annual Cross Country Carnival took place on Wednesday and it was an excellent day filled with plenty of atmosphere and a high level of participation.

Carnivals are a wonderful opportunity for our student body to come together for fun, friendship and fitness. My congratulations to the Sports staff who helped make this event a success and our Maintenance team who ensured the grounds were absolutely perfect on the day.

As we dive into Term 2, we have a bustling schedule ahead of us. We have major events taking place almost every week including Anzac Day, the Careers Expo, Grandparents Day, Reconciliation Day and Faith’s Got Talent.

In addition to this, our much anticipated Exploration Phase Internal and External Showcases are taking place in Week 4 on Wednesday 8 May. I encourage all families to come and discover the extraordinary range of engaging courses on offer to Faith students. Subjects that are not taught at any other school.

It is worth noting that students in Graduate Phase are able to study Exploration Phase courses that interest them, if their timetable allows. This flexibility is a key pillar of our commitment to awakening potential and empowering learners for purposeful lives through Christ.

As we embark on this term together, let us support one another, seize the opportunities presented to us and strive for excellence in all that we do.

As Philippians 4:13 reminds us, "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me." With faith in our hearts and determination in our spirits, let us make Term 2 a time of growth, discovery and achievement.

Together, let’s make it a term to remember!

Yours in Christ,
Doug Braiden
College Principal

Anzac Commemorative Services

Thank you to the many students that have already indicated that they will be participating in the Anzac Day March and Service in Laidley next Thursday 25 April. As detailed in the recent email to all students and parents regarding this, students are encouraged to attend this important event, including participating in the march.

For students who are able to be in attendance at this event next week, they are asked to meet at 10:15am in Ambrose St, Laidley, near the Anglican church. Students will then participate in the march with other local school students, eventually finishing at the Cenotaph at the Laidley Recreation Grounds for the ANZAC Commemorative Service, which is expected to conclude by 12:00pm.

For all Faith students, please note that at school next week on Wednesday 24 April, the College will host its own ANZAC Commemorative Service. This will take place in the Sports Centre during Lesson 2, with all students required to wear their full formal uniform to school on this day.

I look forward to these important events next week, where as a school, we can pay our respects to soldiers past and present for the sacrifice they and their families have made to our country.

Lest we forget.

Tyson Kenny
Deputy Principal

Risk Management Sub-Committee

Thank you to all parents that have completed the EOI that was communicated at the end of last term regarding the College’s commitment to strengthening its risk management processes through parent engagement as ‘community experts’.

If you are a parent/carer who missed the previous edition of the College NewsBites last term, the below notice is a repeat of the information that was communicated regarding this EOI. If you are a parent/carer who may be interested in being involved as a ‘community expert’ regarding a specific area of risk management, you are encouraged to engage with the below (repeat) notice.

Become part of a team of committed parents who are keen to help explore and strengthen the College’s processes and responses to the risk management landscape.

Faith Lutheran College’s Council is committed to providing the College with effective school governance to ensure that Faith can continue to maintain sustained success as a leading independent school in South East Queensland. This includes College Council providing governance oversight regarding a range of key areas. This oversight is either executed by Council itself or one of Council’s subcommittees on behalf of Council: Finance, Property, Uniform and Risk.

An important aspect of the Risk Management Subcommittee is to ensure that the College maintains a robust and effective process of risk management. This includes a cyclic review of 10 key areas of risk, which ensures the College identifies, assesses, evaluates and then treats these areas of risk in an effective manner. Each key area of risk is reviewed on a biennial basis, with five areas being reviewed each year, and the other five the following year. From each review, an action plan is developed by the Senior Leadership Team in consultation with Council, which is enacted and monitored over a two-year period.

College Council has ultimate oversight for the College’s risk management processes, including its Risk Appetite Statement, Risk Management Policy and Risk Management Framework. Council’s subcommittees, working with the College’s Senior Leadership Team, ensure that effective risk management processes are enacted regarding the 10 identified areas of risk.

At a recent Risk Management Subcommittee meeting, it was agreed that Council would seek input from parents/carers who have professional experience and/or qualifications regarding certain areas that align with some of the key risk areas that the College addresses. While the majority of risk areas are addressed by Council itself, the decision was made to engage parents/carers who have professional experience and/or training in one or more of the below areas to help support the College with reviewing its risk management processes regarding the following areas:

Child Protection
Human Resources
Lutheran Identity and Formation

While the College confidently feels it addresses the above areas of risk effectively, it was decided that a further layer of review through engaging with parents/carers with certain professional experience and/or qualifications would further strengthen the College’s risk management processes.

If you believe you are a parent/carer with such professional experience and/or qualifications that aligns with one or more of the three risk areas above, and you are interested in supporting the College with reviewing its risk management processes, please complete the below ‘Expression of Interest’ (EOI) online form.

EOI Online Form

Involvement in the review of one of these areas of risk would likely include some pre-reading (1-2 hours), as well as engaging in two review meetings, which would likely take place on separate afternoons/evenings at some point in Term 3. These review meetings would likely run for 60-90 minutes each, where you would help to review the risk management processes and proposed action plans that will be enacted by the College regarding the identified area of risk.

Thank you in advance to any parent/carer that completes the EOI form. The EOI responses will be reviewed at the end of April, with anyone who has completed this online form to be contacted early to mid-May regarding the status of your EOI.

Yours in Christ,

Lisa Stark
Council Member
Risk Management Subcommittee Chair
Faith Lutheran College

Tyson Kenny
Deputy Principal
Risk Management Subcommittee Advisor
Faith Lutheran College

Brightspace - Our new Learning Management System

This week at Faith Lutheran College, we initiated the introduction of our new Learning Management System (LMS), Brightspace. This innovative platform is tailored to enrich our students' learning experiences, with a particular focus on assessments.

As we move forward, Brightspace will serve as the central hub for all teaching and learning activities.

Currently, upon logging in, students are greeted with a Homepage that corresponds to their Phase of Learning - Foundation, Exploration, or Graduate. This page provides them with essential information to support their daily academic routines.

Central to Brightspace's functionality is personalised learning. Each class has a dedicated 'Course Offering' section, granting students access to course content, assessments, and personalised feedback on their learning journey. The layout of these courses is specifically designed for each Phase and can be viewed here.

Later this year, we aim to open the 'Parent Portal.' This feature will allow parents and carers to view all upcoming tasks, announcements, assessments, results, and feedback. A preview of this space, currently in our test site, can be seen here.

The focus in 2024 is to implement Brightspace solely for assessments to ease the transition for students, which replaces the functionality within Student Café. This focused approach promises to enhance the drafting and feedback process, as well as provide students with a comprehensive overview of their progress through intuitive dashboards.

Stay tuned for further updates, and we thank you for your continued support as we enhance our educational environment.

Aaron Teeling
Head of Digital Learning

Interhouse Cross Country Carnival

Wednesday proved to be a perfect day to hold a Cross Country Carnival. The College put on a great event with some fantastic times posted by our Cross Country runners and the first running off the Faith Stampede was very successful, with a large number of the student body taking part.

The highlight of the day was our annual 6 x 400m Mixed Age Relay, where the Girls’ race was won by the Stingrays and the Boys’ race was won by the Taipans.

The House Championship was taken out by the Taipans for the second year running and it leaves the Taipans House with the opportunity to complete the Triple Crown if they win the Athletics Carnival later in the year.

A big thank you goes to all staff who helped on the day, but in particular, the Maintenance team who produced a fantastic track for our students.

CROSS COUNTRY RESULTS
1st: Taipans - 1,190 points
2nd: Stingrays - 1,057 points
3rd: Scorpions - 1015 points
4th: Redbacks - 914 points

Billy Leal
Head of Sport

Term 2 Events

Term 2 is one of the busiest school terms every year and is jampacked with lots of important events.

As per the respective calendars in Student Café and Parent Lounge, students and families are reminded that some of the following events and activities that take place this term include:

Faith’s Anzac Commemorative Service (Wednesday 24 April)
Laidley Anzac Day March and Service (Thursday 25 April)
Careers Expo (Tuesday 30 April)
2025 Exploration & Graduate Subject Showcase (Wednesday 8 May)
Mid-Term Formal Assembly (Wednesday 15 May)
Grandparents’ Day (Wednesday 22 May)
Faith’s Got Talent (Friday 7 June)
Interhouse Pre-Carnival Day (Wednesday 12 June)

Specific event details will be communicated to all students and families throughout the term ahead of each of these events.

There are certainly more events and activities that take place across the term, so we encourage all students and families to continue to engage with all relevant forms of the communication from the College.