Last week we experienced some of the best aspects of human charity: our non-uniform day and sausage sizzle raised over $2500 to be donated to Lutheran Care, and we collected hundreds and hundreds of Winter Woolly items to be distributed to those suffering through a cold winter in Adelaide. We are very grateful for the contributions of our community. Our student-voted Year 12 dress-up theme for the day was 'Dynamic Duos', and my particular favourite duo was the iconic Australians Kath and Kim, who looked, to borrow the parlance: ‘nice, different, unusual.’

You have probably read and heard quite a lot about ChatGPT and AI this term, both from the College and in the media. What does ChatGPT mean for teachers and students, exactly? I recently (and bravely) asked some of my Year 10 English students if they thought I could be replaced by ChatGPT. The most telling response was ‘ChatGPT can do some of what you do, but it doesn’t have the personal element, which is what I really like about my teachers.’

This simple answer seems prophetic and very insightful, and I think tells us so much about education and why the relationship between teachers and students is so crucial and so valuable to both parties. Is there a more powerful dynamic duo than student + teacher? Maybe, maybe not. But there is no doubt that a terrific trio: student + teacher + parents/caregivers (note that students come first) is a winning combination to help students to achieve their very best and to graduate from Concordia with confidence in what they can achieve and contribute to their world.

Sure, some of us might be ‘nice’, some of us might be ‘different’ and some of us are even a bit ‘unusual’, but that human element – guided by the love of Christ, who himself came to earth to live as a human – is what makes education such a fulfilling career and what can make our students’ lives rich, connected and meaningful.

As Semester 1 draws to a close and we head into a period of rest before the second half of the school year, now is the perfect time for our students to reflect on what they have achieved so far, set goals for improvement and to consolidate and build their network of support to help them achieve their best.

Daniel Wood
Senior School Leader