6 February 2025

Principal’s Pride

Dear Parents, Caregivers and Community Members,

What a challenging start to the school year we have all had!  I sincerely hope that all of our families have come through the situation safely, in good health and with minimal (hopefully, zero) damage to personal property.

Please notify your child’s class teacher if you and your family have been severely impacted and need assistance with school resources or if you believe additional pastoral care or counselling support is required for your child.

Our support team have also sourced some resources that may be of use for parents/caregivers in discussing and processing the events of the past week with children: 

• Hard times parent support card – a tool  for helping children talk about their feelings Birdies Tree hard times support card. Children's Health Queensland
• Growing Together through natural disasters – After the Flood  Birdie's Tree - growing together after the flood. Children's Health Qld
• Natural Disaster resilience resources – supporting disaster resilience for children, families & professionals Birdie's Tree natural disaster resilience resources. Children’s Health Qld
• Evidence-based program for early childhood education & care services through Natural disasters & events  Birdie's Tree Early Learning curriculum. Children's Health Qld

Let’s hope for much drier weather moving forward. At this stage I don’t anticipate our oval will be able to be accessed for at least the remainder of this week, so students will be engaged in our Wet Weather/No Grass Play supervision arrangements at eating and play break times. 

We understand Translink school bus services are fully operational at this stage, however, on a day-by-day basis this may differ pending weather conditions. Parents are strongly encouraged to confirm services are running directly with Translink. We will endeavour to share any information that is provided by Translink as soon as we receive it. 

Our P&C-operated Tuckshop is back up and running – there may be a limited menu for a short period due to supply chain issues.

Our P&C-operated OSHC is also back up and running as usual.

We currently have five Year 5 and 6 classes who have had to temporarily re-locate to alternative rooms around the school whilst QBuild coordinates and undertakes rectification work for water damage/carpet mould.  We hope to have all our classes back in their usual locations as soon as possible.  Thank you for your support and patience with this process as many schools in the North Queensland region seek to get up and going again.

REMINDER: A Pod refurbishment work will continue across Term 1

Due to the current wet weather conditions, access to the school through the Sandstone Drive school gate is currently unavailable. This situation will be reviewed and any changes communicated as soon as possible.  We apologise for any inconvenience this may cause.

Willows Warriors Pre-Prep Program – to re-commence in Week 5 on Wednesday 26^th February

Children who will be eligible to attend Prep at The Willows State School in 2026 (born 1 July 2020 to 30 June 2021) are very welcome to attend our FREE Prep-Prep program on Wednesdays.  Please refer to the flyer attached to this newsletter for more information.

Class Arrangements – Pre-Day 8

As of today, we have 854 students effectively enrolled and distributed across 35 P-6 classes.  Whilst school funding and staffing arrangements will be definitively finalised after the Department of Education Day 8 Enrolment Census (delayed due to the severe weather event), I currently anticipate no change to staffing and class arrangements.

Parent Meet and Greet

Our annual ‘Parent-Teacher Meet & Greet’ afternoon will be held in Week 4 on Tuesday, 18 February from 3:15-4:15pm.  This will be a great opportunity to meet other parents, teaching and support staff and ask questions around classroom and school operations, whilst also learning more about what your child will be learning this year and how you can support your child as a learner in their new year level.  We look forward to having as many of our parents as possible attend as strong home-school partnerships are the key to success.

Please note that Term 1 Curriculum Overviews for all year levels will be available for viewing in next week's newsletter.

Prep - Year 1 Handwriting Texts – Student Resource Scheme (SRS)

Previously, all Prep and new Year 1 families received information regarding the purchase of the Prep and Year 1 Handwriting texts through a school Student Resource Scheme (SRS).

Continuing students from 2024 did not receive SRS notes again, however families can request these from our school office if they wish to ‘opt out’ in 2025.  Participation in the SRS means the school sources and provides the required Handwriting text for Prep and Year 1 students once payment is received. 

Students in other years were required to purchase their own relevant Handwriting texts as included within the 2025 Booklists and are not participating in the SRS in 2025.

Supervision before school processes – to commence from Week 3 - Monday, 10/02

The main gates to the school grounds in both Sandstone Drive and Bilberry Street are unlocked each day at 8am.  Any student P-6 who enters the school grounds from 8:00-8:15am must go to the Main CPA (directly behind the Administration Block) to wait quietly where there is adult supervision.  There is no playing on school equipment prior to school. From 8:15am supervision of students is split into different areas: Prep- Year 2 are transitioned to the Junior CPA and Year 3-6 students are transitioned to the TCBC Hall. 

Safe School Travel for all

Travelling to and from school can be a very busy time – especially in wet weather. At the start of the year, it is also additionally hectic as new families and students establish new entry and exit points. Parents are respectfully asked to assist our staff in keeping their children safe by reminding students:

• Roads and footpaths are not a place to play – look out for traffic all the time and only cross roads at the designated SAFE school crossing points supervised by a ‘lollipop’ person
• When riding scooters and bicycles wear protective equipment correctly
• When travelling in a car, remember to put on your seat-belt in an age-appropriate seat
• When travelling by bus, remain seated at all times and show respect to the driver

QParents

As part of our school’s progression towards online consent management The Willows State School is providing our parent community with the opportunity to register for QParents.  This is the first step required for parents to be able to provide online consent for a variety of school activities/events in future.

The QParents web and mobile application provides a more convenient, easier way for parents and legal guardians of Queensland state school students to interact with their child’s school. Registered parents will have secure, online access to their child’s student information, anytime, anywhere, through a smartphone, tablet or computer.

The benefits of QParents

Convenience and time savings for parents

QParents allows parents to connect instantly with their child’s school to access and manage their child’s student information, including:

• Attendance and absence details, as well as the ability to notify the school of an absence
• Academic report cards
• Viewing unpaid invoice details, payment history, and making payments online
• Viewing and updating personal student details, including medical conditions and address
• Enrolment details

What is a QParents Account Owner (QPAO)?

The school will nominate parents or legal guardians for each student to be QParents Account Owners (QPAOs). QPAOs will be able to register for QParents to access and manage the student’s information online, view the student’s information and submit requests to update some of the student’s details.

QPAOs will also be able to invite other people (such as another family member), to view the student’s information. Once invited, these people can register for QParents as “delegated viewers”. A delegated viewer can see the student’s details, but cannot make updates.

Registering for QParents

You will receive an invitation email or letter from us containing your unique invitation code. Simply follow the instructions in that email or letter to complete the QParents account registration process. Initial registration and addition of students to your account must be done on a desktop or laptop computer. Once registered, you will then be able to access QParents using your mobile device (via web browser or by downloading the iPhone or Android App).

If you do not want to register, you may advise us not to send you any more invitations, and your child’s student information will not be available to anyone through QParents. Or, if you want another parent to be the QPAO, you can advise us and we will send them an invitation email or letter with their own unique invitation code.

Our office staff are available to support parents in setting up their QParents account.  Verification evidence is required to do this.

REMINDER: Administration of Medication in Schools

If your child needs to take medication at school in 2025, please provide the office staff with:

• a completed and signed Consent to administer medication form;
• the medication in its original container; and
• medical authorisation (e.g. the pharmacy label***, or a letter from the doctor, or a completed and signed health action plan).

For further information, please refer to the Information for parents/carers and health practitioners.

If you have any specific queries, please contact the school office.

***Please note over the counter medication can only be administered by school staff if it meets the above requirements. The pharmacy label must include the student’s name, doctor’s name and dosage if not included in an individual health plan.

2025 Voluntary Contributions - $40 per student and $80 per family

The costs of providing instruction, administration and facilities for the education of students enrolled at a school are met by the State Government. Voluntary financial contributions are used by the school to provide an enhanced educational service and to supplement resources available for student learning, recreation and comfort.

The Willows State School has maintained a consistent level of voluntary financial contributions for the past few years, approved by the P&C. Please see the Parent Information Sheet regarding Voluntary Financial Contributions later in this newsletter.  If you wish to make a voluntary financial contribution to the school please pay at the school office.

P&C

The first P&C Meeting for 2025 will be held on Wednesday, 19 February.  Meetings are held on the 3rd Wednesday of each month at 6:00pm. All parents are most welcome and encouraged to attend.  Your support is vital to ensure fundraising initiatives can occur. The P&C is also a forum in which you can contribute ideas to the enhancement of the school. 

All executive positions will be declared vacant at the P&C AGM to be held on Wednesday, 12 March at 5pm.  The AGM will be followed by a regular meeting at 6pm. During Term 1, meetings will be held in D Pod (next to OSHC).

Transition statements for 2025 Prep students – school transition email address

All parents of 2025 Prep students are requested to share their child’s Kindergarten Transition Statement with the school should they not already have done so through organising permission with their kindergarten to share. Transition statements provide very useful information about children’s progress and support needs and assist teachers in planning to cater to their students. Kindergarten Transition Statements can also be emailed to: transitions@thewillowsss.eq.edu.au

Have a wonderful week – our next newsletter will be issued on Wednesday, 12 February.

Warm regards,
Michelle Donn
Principal

Upcoming Events

Year Level Parade Times

General News

Willows Warriors 2025

Positive Behaviour Learning (Safe, Respectful, Responsible)

Fortnightly Focus

We are continuing with the Fortnightly Focus ‘My Class is My Community.’

Staff and students have worked together to get to know each other and build positive, engaging and welcoming classrooms.

At the Willows State School, we are Safe, Respectful and Responsible to my classmates creating a community of learners.

Below are some examples of the activities that students have been participating in across the school.

Morning Duty Roster

Reminder: We will split the students differently for the first 2 weeks of school.

Joyful Foundation

The Willows sends a big thanks to the Joyful Foundation for organising the donation of the stationery packs delivered to the school by Ergon Energy. 

Please see their Facebook post below explaining how this amazing project is put together. We certainly appreciate all their hard work!

Pitch News

Music News – Issue 1 Term 1 Wk 2/3 

Welcome to the first issue of ‘The Pitch’ for 2025. A newsletter designed especially for the Music Department at The Willows State School. The Pitch is generated to inform you of events coming up and news about what is happening with the children involved in the music program. We will endeavor to keep you informed as much as possible.  

We would like to have more involvement between parents and teachers and feel that The Pitch will help create this communication. Emails are the most common form of communication. Please let your child’s teacher know of a current email address or make sure your details are updated on our system in case they need to contact you. Instrumental Music Teacher’s emails are listed below. We will be generating a distribution list, so please ensure we can contact you, so you don’t miss important information. We will also be using The Willows State School and P&C Facebook pages. Please like and keep informed for last minute changes.

All children by now have met their Instrumental teacher in Week 1 and are getting prepared for their first lesson for most starting in Week 2. Children should know what day their lessons are on and receive a timetable highlighted with times for their lessons. All children will receive their instrument that they are borrowing from the school during their lesson, as long as the loan agreement forms and monies have been returned. Please go through the CD in the tutor book to help with putting it together and pulling it apart. It’s a great way of learning together, getting to know the instrument and reinforcing the first couple of lessons. The School Locker now have our instrumental folders available for purchase. This is handy for keeping all your music together. You do not need to purchase a new folder if you already have one. Thank you for your prompt return of signed contracts, payments and loan agreement forms.

Every child will receive a timetable this week. Timetables are also emailed home. Please print and place on the fridge and/or in your child’s diary.  Teachers will have a timetable on display in their classrooms and there is also one displayed outside the Music Room at G Pod. Each child will also receive one to place in their music folders. The first term is usually the hardest in getting organised and forming a routine. All instrumental timetables are a weekly rotation to avoid your child missing out on the same classroom lesson weekly.

Just a reminder that the school instruments are not to be used out in the play areas. If students are willing to practise during lunch, they should come and use the music rooms.

Responsibility for learning and organisation only starts with a little guided help.   All children love to see the enthusiasm on their parents’ faces. It is important that you support your child by encouraging daily practise of at least 10 minutes and by ensuring that he/she is prepared for his/her lesson on the appropriate days. It is going to be hard and challenging at times – but being persistent will result in a feeling of success. 

Helping your child become organised for their lesson will help create responsibility and routine. There will be times during this first term and early second term of struggle and a feeling they will not succeed and wanting to ‘quit’. Encouraging daily practise, being persistent, problem solving, showing enthusiasm, giving praise and supporting your child’s learning in these first few lessons will help overcome these fears and hurdles and build a feeling of success and confidence. If you feel your child is not coping or would like some help, please contact your child’s teacher so this learning experience is fun. 

If your child accidentally leaves their instrument at home, it is essential that they still attend their lesson at their scheduled time. Lessons cannot be made up due to other lessons being scheduled and varying ability of groups. Your child can practise the concepts and techniques taught during that lesson at home ready for the following lesson.

Please check that your child has all requirements needed for their chosen instrument. The tutor book must be purchased so your child can progress and have success.

Please be reminded that is a requirement that your child is part of one or more school ensembles. This is part of receiving free instrumental lessons and is clearly stated in the instrumental contract. Being part of a group is a rewarding experience that has proven to further enhance students’ musical understanding as well as teaching important skills such as team work and responsibility. Your child will have a feeling of success, improved confidence, sense of belonging and willingness to learn.  

The storage room is available for your children to store their instruments in preparation for their lesson, however, it will be locked at 3.00pm and your child is asked to come over before the bell goes to take their instrument back home. 

Please feel free to contact us with information that you would like to see in The Pitch, share your opinions or publish any news you would like to share of upcoming music events or anything of interest. Don’t forget our school website has been updated for music. Go to https://thewillowsss.eq.edu.au/curriculum/music and see all the great things we offer and the benefits of what learning music does for your child.

Any children who have recently enrolled at our school and are interested in being a part of our choral or instrumental program or continuing their playing/singing are very welcome to participate.  Please come and speak with us as soon as possible so we can assist in providing you with further information.

Date Claimer

Instrumental Teachers Contact and Lesson days

Monday – Snr Band & Woodwind
Jonathan Conrad – jconr62@eq.edu.au

Tuesday – Orchestra & Strings (Continuing)
Yvonne Moore – ymoor2@eq.edu.au

Wednesday – Jnr Band & Brass (AM)
Kelly Clarke-Flesser – kclar205@eq.edu.au

Thursday – Percussion (PM)
Ian Brunskill – ibrun2@eq.edu.au

Friday – Strings (Beginner)
Carla Mulligan – cjmul1@eq.edu.au

2025 Beginner Bootcamp

A free one day workshop is being held at Kirwan State High School from 8am to 2.30pm for students from surrounding schools to learn to play their instrument for the first time. The Beginner Bootcamp will include instrument care, how to set it up, posture, working as a team in a big group, and of course… playing music! Education Queensland is launching this new initiative to kickstart students learning an instrument, giving them exposure to what is possible, and inspiring their musical imagination. Hundreds of students have responded from across Townsville and will participate in this opportunity. Please ensure you have returned your consent, medical, emergency contact, transport arrangements and media release forms to the office. All the best in having fun and starting your musical journey!! 😊 Note: this has been postponed due to weather and we will receive more information about another proposed date.

Junior & Senior Choirs  
Fiona Coleman

I’m looking forward to having both Junior and Senior Choir again this year. 

Junior Rehearsals will happen on Tuesday and Wednesday at second break every week.

Senior Rehearsals will happen on Thursday and Friday first break every week.

Children who have been turning up for rehearsals will receive an official welcome note. Please complete whether your child is accepting the offer or not accepting and return to school so families can be invoiced correctly by the end of term. Ensure the media release section is also signed in anticipation of any local performances we may be asked to perform at. A roll has been set up so children are recording their attendance. Children will be invited to Choral Fanfare, Eisteddfod and other performances based on their attendance and effort recorded in the roll. 

Music Shirts, Folders/Music, School Instruments/Fees

All children who are part of the Music Program are required to pay a compulsory $60 music program fee. This will assist in maintaining and upgrading music uniforms, maintaining the music library, photocopying, music scores, competition entry fees, upgrading accessories, equipment and instruments and Eisteddfod bus.

All instruments have been cleaned, repaired and returned over the school holidays. If your child is borrowing a school instrument, a loan fee is payable before your child is allowed to take the instrument home. This must be accompanied by the Education Queensland’s Equipment form signed by you and your child.  Please ensure you and your child are aware of the loan agreement conditions for the year. 

If there are any breakages or concerns with the instrument, please report to us immediately so it can be repaired. If the damage is deliberate, you will be required to cover the cost of repairs. 

Children will be allocated a shirt in the coming weeks which is to be stored at the school. We do ask that your child is prepared for any upcoming performances. It is a requirement that all children in the Music Program wear with their shirts, navy blue skirts, skorts or shorts, white ankle CREW socks (above the shoe) and black closed in shoes for performances as indicated on the note.

Folders are required for all performances. These are available from The School Locker. The folders are very durable and will last your child a long time if well looked after. 

Musically Yours,
Fiona Coleman
"Music is worth teaching because it empowers children spectacularly." - Richard Gill

Prep News

What a soggy start to the Preppie’s schooling!

Even with no play outside, they have worked hard on being SAFE, RESPECTFUL AND RESPONSIBLE.

We have started learning our first phonic sounds S, A, T, P, I, N and the numbers 1 to 10.

In HASS, we are learning about our families and in Science we have started to look at our senses and weather.

Our goal is to have a go at everything and ask for help if we need it.

Year One News

The Grade One cohort have had a wonderful start to the school year! All students have arrived back excited and ready to start the new year. We are getting used to our new classrooms, our new teachers and having our own desk with our own belongings to look after.

All classes have commenced writing tasks with wonderful results. Some classes have even begun some lessons on the iPad. In English, we are looking at lots of wonderful narratives and writing some character descriptions. Everyone is trying their best and contributing to wonderful classroom discussions.

We have been to P.E, Music, Technology and The Arts specialist lessons with great success.

Year Two News

Welcome to 2025! It’s been so exciting to start the year off and meet all of our students. We have spent the week getting to know each other and working on routines. We have completed self-portraits to display.

This week in 2A, we have spent a lot of time talking about our holidays and all the exciting things they have been doing. Students completed a holiday writing display. It was great to see them all having a go at writing about their holidays.

Students in 2A have also had a go at opening their own work folder on the iPads! The kids have all come back eager to learn which is amazing!

This term in English, students are learning to share ideas and express an opinion about a familiar character and their traits. Students will focus on creating a spoken presentation where they will present to their peers.

In Maths, students are learning to use a range of methods to collect, represent and interpret data in response to questions. They will learn how to create and interpret grid references, describe the location of features on a map and create and follow directions using positional language.

In Science this term, students will investigate the combination of materials used to make an object for a particular purpose.

Year Three News

This term, Year 3 will explore imaginative texts. They will create and deliver a multimodal presentation to review and recommend a preference for an imaginative text. 

Year Four News

Welcome back to a new school year. In Year 4 this year, we have Ms Lester in 4A, Miss Minehan in 4B, Miss Worland in 4C, Ms Bala in 4D and finally Miss Davies in 4/3F. Over the past week our classes have been setting up our classroom community, expectations and rules. We have been doing lots of getting to know you activities and learning how we like to learn. We have been very impressed by the behaviour we are seeing this year, and hope the Year 4’s will continue to be an amazing cohort.

Year Five News

Shout out! To all the year 5 students who worked hard to establish routines in new areas of the school, despite the trying weather conditions. Most students were happy to be back, keen to re-establish friendships from last year and open to make new connections. It has been encouraging to witness groups welcome new students and help them overcome challenges faced with starting in a new school. What great kids we have!

Many activities across the week were aligned with our current PBL focus, My Class is My Community and were geared toward discussions about what this, Looks like, Sounds like and Feels like at The Willows. Children engaged in games reinforcing this PBL focus, and Year 5 classes added their own flair to tasks that demonstrated that although we are individuals, school is a place where we can achieve success through common goals.

Check out 5D’s individualised desk plates, 5A’s Personality Crocs and ask 5E about their Getting to know You web game. Great Work Year 5!

Year Six News

Welcome to Term 1, 2025! The Year 6 Team would like to take this opportunity to welcome everyone back to another jam-packed year at The Willows State School. This year’s teachers include:

6A – Mrs Natasha Hodsman
6B – Miss Kim Crowell
6C – Mrs Kailee Rowbotham
6D – Mrs Erin Evans (Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday) and Mrs Sarah Bowmaker (Wednesday)
6E – Mr Greg Anderson

Although this week was short, we have already started many fun activities in the classroom. This term students are participating in a book club review for English; looking at various types of texts and identifying various features in the book to convey the theme and ideas. For maths, students are learning about integers on a number line, cartesian planes and tessellating patterns. In 6D, students had to find cards around the classroom and identify the integer missing from the card.

Community News

Citylibraries – Upcoming Events