11 June 2025

Principal’s Pride

Dear Parents, Caregivers and Community Members,

Welcome to Week 8 of Term 2. We now have just 12 school days left in Semester 1. It has been a very busy week as we are getting closer to the end of the teaching and learning cycle with a range of assessment tasks requiring completion across learning areas.

This week in extra-curricular events we have our re-scheduled Year 3 Billabong Excursions – I know our Year 3 students are extremely keen for this, after wet weather unfortunately delayed their outing a few weeks ago.

Over the last few weeks of this term, we have a number of special events for our students to participate in, including the Inter-House Athletics Carnival on Thursday, 19 June (all parents welcome), Student Council fundraiser on Friday, 20 June, and 75-Star Rewards in Week 10. I encourage every student to remain in full and regular attendance at school right up until the last day if they are well enough to do so.

As the cooler weather increases too, please continue to reinforce good hygiene practices with your children, including regular hand washing, using tissues when needed, covering coughs and staying home if unwell.

2025 Creative Generations Choral Fanfare 

Last Friday, 6 June, The Willows State School Junior and Senior Choirs performed at the Creative Generations Choral Fanfare held at Pimlico State High School Performance Theatre.  The students have been amazingly committed to both their home practice and school rehearsals and represented their school with pride and passion. Both choirs performed exceptionally well, with the Senior Choir attaining a Silver Award, whilst the Juniors attained a Platinum. Both choirs have now been selected to participate in the Regional Choral Fanfare to be held on the evening of Friday, 20 June.

The choirs, alongside our instrumental music students, will have an opportunity to showcase their talents for all in our school community at our upcoming Music Gala to be held on the afternoon of Thursday, 12 June.  We look forward to everyone being able to celebrate our students’ extensive talents with us.

Semester 1, 2025 Student Reports – to be emailed in Week 10

The Willows State School will be emailing Report Cards again this semester. To ensure all parents and caregivers receive their child/children’s Report Cards, it is important that the school has your current email address recorded in OneSchool. If you are unsure that the school has your correct current email address, please ring/email the office to confirm.

Report Cards will be emailed to all parents/caregivers recorded as receiving correspondence.

Report Cards may get lost in a ‘Junk’ folder. To help avoid this, you can add the address from which report cards will be generated - Application.ONESCHOOL@qed.qld.gov.au to your list of safe senders now.

This year, due to the implementation of Version 9 of the Australian Curriculum for both English and Mathematics learning areas, the report card comments for these learning areas will appear a little different to those of the other learning areas.  English and Mathematics comments will reflect the specific unit content and tasks of the semester.  All other learning area comments will reflect the general aspects of the year level achievement standard that all students have engaged with during the semester. 

As we transition as a state-schooling system to additional Version 9 Australian Curriculum learning areas in 2026 – Science, Technologies and Health and Physical Education – you will notice further alignment of the comment banks to reflect the specific unit content and tasks of the reporting semester.

Your child’s rating for all learning areas will indicate to what standard they have completed summative assessment tasks related to the aspects of the achievement standard.

Peek at Prep is coming up!

2026 Prep enrolments at TWSS are now open. We are currently advertising a Peek at Prep session to be held in Week 10 of this term on Wednesday, 25 June. If you have a prospective Prep student for our school for 2026, please contact the school office to secure both you and your child’s place in this activity.

School Photos Update

We have recently had a few parent enquiries regarding the anticipated arrival date of school photos.

Advanced Life have advised that our school photos should be finished and sent to us shortly, but they have not yet provided an estimated date. As soon as we are able to provide any further clarification around this, we will let our families know via our regular communication channels.  Thank you for your patience.

Raising Health Minds

The Raising Healthy Minds app is a free, personalised, pocket resource to help parents and carers raise confident, resilient children. Co-designed with parents and experts and funded by the Australian Government, Raising Healthy Minds aims to support children’s social and emotional wellbeing from birth to age 12. As an evidence-based tool, you can be confident the Raising Healthy Minds app will provide quick-read articles, videos and animations from a trustworthy, reliable source. It’s aim is to help parents and carers to navigate children’s emotions and behaviours, increase understanding of neurodiversity and mental health and identify when to seek professional support.

For more information please email: hello@raisinghealthyminds.net.au 

School-Led Review

Opportunities for parents to provide input into the future 4-year direction of The Willows SS

Thank you to the parents who have previously provided significant input into our School-Led Review.

Your input and insights into what we are doing well and how we can improve are very valued.  The feedback and reflections from all stakeholders will result in the development of the school’s Strategic Plan 2026-2029 by the conclusion of the 2025 school year.

There will be a further opportunity for parent and community voice – all most welcome to attend:

• Afternoon Parent Forum - Thursday, 12 June – 3:30-4:30pm – prior to Music Gala. A QR code short survey will be available and parents are also most welcome to verbally respond to questions.  We appreciate your feedback and look forward to your support with this.

Have a wonderful week. Our next newsletter for Term 2 will be issued on Wednesday, 18 June.

Warm regards,

Michelle Donn
Principal

Upcoming Events

Year Level Parade Times

General News

PEEK AT PREP – Wednesday, 25 June

Athletics Carnival - 19 June - Tuckshop Parents Menu

Positive Behaviour Learning (Safe, Respectful, Responsible)

FORTNIGHTLY FOCUS

We will continue with our fortnightly focus ‘Be Persistent and Resilient!’ for week 8. At The Willows, we show persistence and resilience everyday through our work in our classroom and in the playground when playing with our friends.

Being persistent means putting one foot in front of the other, no matter what. It means working hard to achieve something you haven’t got YET….

Resilience is the ability to cope when things go wrong. Resilience can also be described as: Bouncing back after difficult times. Dealing with challenges and still holding your head up. Giving things a go or trying your best. Being strong on the inside and knowing I can’t do this YET….

Please talk with your children at home about the focus and brainstorm some strategies to match.

NATIONAL CHAPLAINCY WEEK

Last week was Chappy Week, and we celebrated our amazing Chaplain at The Willows State School, Chappy Ash.

The students were engaged with the activities and completed an appreciation chart in supervised play.

Guess how many items in the jar was a success with the winning student receiving the jar to take home on Tuesday afternoon.

Ngarilla 2B and Camilla 3C were also winners.

DATE CLAIMER: Student Council Free Dress Fundraising Day

The Student Council is having a Free Dress Day on Friday 20th June.

The theme is ‘FREE DRESS’ – students can dress in whatever they like. There are some ideas below or you can wear your favourite shirt to school that is in your cupboard.

Remember it must be sun safe.

It is a ‘Gold Coin’ donation – to raise money for the Student Council.

Defence News

Hello and welcome to all Defence families/caregivers and students,

Life can be full of wonderful moments, and the beautiful weather is a great reminder to take a deep breath and appreciate the positives around us. Of course, we all face challenging days from time to time - that’s completely normal. During those moments, a kind word or a friendly smile can make a real difference. Remember, life is a bit like a rollercoaster - there are highs and lows but you're never alone on the ride. It’s okay to feel a range of emotions, especially during times of change or absence of a loved one. I have attached a helpful fact sheet below. This is a great time to focus on personal growth, resilience, and independence. Students and families are encouraged to reach out for support whenever needed. Whether it's about school, family, or just needing a listening ear, support is available. I’m around the school from 8.00am most mornings, or you can ask the office to get in touch on your behalf.

Coffee Connections will meet again on Wednesday 18th June at Junctions Café, North Shore. Everyone is welcome - come along for a relaxed chat and the chance to connect with some new friends.

Lots of new activities happening this month - check out all details in the flyer attached below. or register to receive their newsletter and updates dmfs.townsville@defence.gov.au or follow on Facebook.

Don’t forget to join me at Biggest Morning Tea on Monday, 23 June in L Pod.

The Partner Employment Assistance Program (PEAP) is again available to partners to claim reimbursement up to $1500 per financial year for a variety of employment services. More details and how to register are on the Defence Website or you can ask me for a flyer. 

Kookaburra Kids is in Townsville, this organisation supports defence kids living in families that are affected by mental illness.  For more details on activities contact Hannah Galliner on 0484 544 451 or check out the website www.kookaburrakids.org.au

Education Assistance Scheme is available to access for tutoring within 18months of posting to a new school. This is available for all primary and high school aged children who may require support in Maths and English. Contact the DMFS Helpline on 1800 624 608 for all details on how to apply. Just complete the form online at ADF Pay and Conditions Manual and send an email to the teacher. With approval your child can have access to 14 hrs of tutoring for both Maths and English through a private tutor. Contact me with any questions. Flyer below with details.

ADF FAMILY HEALTH PROGRAM - Did you know that ADF families can access funds to maintain a healthy lifestyle? The ADF Family Health Program provides reimbursement for physiotherapy, dental, specialist appointments and more of up to $800 a year per dependent! Get one now! For more information on how to register, visit Home - ADF Family Health Program

Families with Special Needs you can access support through the Defence Special Needs Support Group (DSNSG) or call 1800 037 674.  For more information on assistance measures go to the website or email specialneeds.families@defence.gov.au

Did you know that you can walk into DMFS office (Private and Confidential) at Nathan Business Centre Corner Ross River Road and Nathan Street during business hours to speak to a Social Worker/Councillor or you can phone Open Arms on 1800 011 046 to make an appointment to discuss your concerns further? Remember it is OK TO ASK FOR HELP. We all a need support at one time.

Geckos Family Centre-North Queensland is at Lavarack Barracks and is open for parents and families to drop in. Organised daily activities on offer. Follow them on Facebook or phone them on 07 4411 7031 for more details.

TO BE UP TO DATE WITH “WHATS ON IN TOWNSVILLE” CHECK     whatson.townsville.qld.gov.au

IMPORTANT EVENTS/DATES TO REMEMBER

Coffee Connections

Take a break and join us for Coffee Connections with DMFS! While the kids burn off some energy on the play equipment, you can enjoy a relaxed cuppa and connect with other partners. It's a great chance to share stories, support one another, and build friendships in your Defence community. We’d love to see you there!

Date:                    Wednesday, 18 June 2025
Time:                    9.30-11.30 am
Venue:                 Junction Café, 5 Rockingham Drive, Burdell
Tickets:                via Eventbrite

Defence Family Blacksmithing

Courses offered to family duos (1 adult and 1 child aged 12-16yrs).

Date:                    Monday, 30 June to Monday, 7 July
Time:                    9.00am to 4.00pm
Venue:                 The Oasis Townsville, 20 Darter Street, Oonoonba
Tickets:                Email – amanda@cuppacumbalongfoundation.org.au    

Battlefields to Footy Fields - Kids NRL School Holiday Coaching Clinic

Battlefields to Footy Fields in conjunction with DMFS Townsville are excited to announce our NRL coaching clinic for the July School Holidays. Bring the kids for a fun day of rugby league at our Come and Try Day! All skill levels welcome—learn to pass, kick and score with friendly coaches. Plus, enjoy a free BBQ and awesome giveaways. Come along, get active, and join the footy fun!

The session is for 6-12yrs. Lunch will be provided from 12.00pm to 12.30pm and all participants will receive a certificate & goodie bag with some NRL Merchandise.

Registration is essential. Please ensure participants arrive with sunscreen, hat, water and appropriate clothing and footwear for playing football.

Date:                    Saturday, 11 July 2025
Time:                   8.30am to 13.00 pm
Venue:                 Joe Baker Field at James Cook University, 1 Buchan Drive, Douglas
Tickets:                via Eventbrite

IMPORTANT CONTACT DETAILS

Defence Family Helpline 24/7 - 1800 624 608 - Need Help give them a call    

DMFS Office at Nathan Business Centre on Ross River Rd, call 07 4430 3879  

Open Arms support former and current serving ADF personnel and their family members can use the service – office is at the Nathan Business Centre or call 1800 011 046 www.openarms.gov.au

Mates4Mates – Townsville FRC 4771 9600 townsville@mates4mates.org

Café now Open from 9am-12.30pm every day, you are welcome to attend for a chat and to have a look around.

The Oasis Townsville for Ex-ADF Community in Townsville  hello@theoasistownsville.org.au

Dirty Books Café – 1 Staging Camp Avenue, Oonoonba – 07 4759 8777 is currently under renovation

DFA (Defence Families of Australia) – NQ Delegate Larissa Ostermann 0418 796 561 nth.qld@dfa.org.au

DSNG Defence Special Needs Group - 1800 037 674  www.dsng.org.au

Beyondblue.org.au www.australia.gov.au

Geckos Family Centre Nth Qld Lavarack Barracks - Contact for enquiries on 07 4446 1238 or follow on Facebook

Kookaburra Kids Charity Organisation Mental Health Service - 1300 566 525   www.kookaburrakids.org.au or contact Hannah Galliner 0484 544 451/1300 566 525

Defence Holidays NQ at Lavarack Barracks (opp the Gym) - 07 4725 3842 admin@defenceholidaysnq.com.au

My office is open for a private conversation and cuppa anytime or alternatively phone me any time on 4799 1333 ext 323, 8.00am – 3.30pm Monday to Thursday or email me cwhee36@eq.edu.au

Have an awesome week!

Correna Wheeler
Defence School Mentor

SMILE - YOU’VE GOT THIS!!!!!

The Pulse (PE News)

Season Sport

Wins all round for our final round of Interschool Season Block Sport.

• Netball
  • Both teams played incredibly well and should be commended for their sportsmanship, support of one another and honesty.
  • The mixed team played Holy Spirit and won 29:1.
  • The Senior B Girls team won 15:3 against St Anthony’s.

A big thank you to Mrs Rowbotham for training, taking the team on Thursday’s and refereeing the games.

Thank you also to Mrs Hodsman for helping with additional training sessions and taking them to their first games.

• Rugby League
  • Senior A team beat Holy Spirit 32-22 in their final game whilst the Senior B team defeated Calvary 28-18 in their last game. A huge well done to all the students who took part, who showed a huge improvement in skills and demonstrated good sportsmanship throughout.

NQ Netball Cup and The Bill Nettle Challenge – Friday 27 June

The NQ Netball Cup and Bill Nettle Challenge, washed out in Term 1, has been re-scheduled for the last day of Term 2, Friday 27^th June. Students had already been selected for this event. Letters have been be distributed with updated information. Please inform the relevant teacher promptly if your child is no longer able to participate.

Sporting Schools

Our Sporting Schools lunch time clubs were again a hit last week and continue this week. It is lovely to see the students further develop their physical and social skills and witness their progress over the sessions.

 Athletics

• High Jump

We have now run the competitive high jump for the 10, 11 and 12-year-olds with only the 9 year olds left for this week to be completed. Unfortunately, there were students away and injured so the final result is not yet available. We have scheduled the remaining age groups as follows.

• 800m

The 800m events for students 2013-2015 will be run in Week 8 on Thursday and Friday afternoons from 2pm.

Pitch News

Music News – Issue 9 Term 2 Week 7 / 8

C H O R A L   F A N F A R  E

We are thrilled to announce that both our Junior and Senior Choirs gave exceptional performances at the recent QLD Choral Fanfare. Their hard work and talent shone brightly, earning them well-deserved awards and high praise from the adjudicators.

Senior Choir – Silver Award – Division 1
Junior Choir – Platinum Award – Division 2

We’re especially proud to share that both choirs have been selected to progress to the Regional Finals! This is a fantastic achievement and a testament to the dedication of our students. Notes have been sent home with further information about our performance day on Friday, 20^th June at 6pm.

Congratulations to all involved!!!

INSTRUMENTAL WORKSHOP

Intermediate and Advanced String and Band Workshops will be held at the Excelsior Centre, Kirwan SHS, starting 25 June, 2025 with our guest conductors Emma Jimenez and Robin Gray.

Please return your notes to the office asap.  

Date Claimer

G A L A    N I G H T

Thursday, 12^th June, 2025
4.30pm TCBC
All our performers are ready and invite you to an afternoon of entertainment.

It is an expectation that all members of our Music Program are available to perform at our outside school events. The Gala Night is a performance to showcase what your child has been learning for the first half of this year. It also allows your child to build confidence and perform in front of a large crowd in preparation for the Eisteddfod in Term 3 and share with you their learning progress. All performers are required to wear full music uniform as requested in previous newsletters. Please make sure you have your music and instrument ready for the afternoon. We would like it to run smoothly and quickly with all children ready in the Performing Arts Centre. All children are to be seated at the front of TCBC to minimise entry and exit and to get children up on stage and off as smoothly as possible. Younger children must be with their parents at all times displaying audience manners. No children are to be left unsupervised or on play equipment. The following groups will be performing: Junior Choir, Senior Choir, Junior Strings, Senior Orchestra, Beginner Band, Percussion Ensemble and Concert Band. 

All are welcome to come and watch our sensational musicians performing.

Junior & Senior Choirs

Fiona Coleman

I’m so proud of you all!! Congratulations on your huge achievement so far. We will continue to rehearse and refine so we are ready for the Regional Festival on Friday, 20^th June. 

Junior Choir 
Monday (First Break) - Whole Choir
Tuesday (First Break)

Senior Choir
Tuesday (Second Break)
Wednesday (Second Break)

Musically Yours,
Fiona Coleman

"Music is the universal language of mankind."  ~ Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Prep News

What a busy week it has been in Prep. We have started working towards our next 75 star rewards time, making sure we fill our chart so we can join in on icing biscuits!

In English, we have been writing information texts about various topics. We have continued to blend sounds to make words and have been working on capital letters, full stops and finger spaces in our writing.

In Maths, we have been learning to partition and combine collections and representing number stories involving adding and taking away.

In Science, we have been learning to identify the needs of living and non-living things and explain how an environment can affect them. PYE have been growing bean plants and observing their changes.

Year One News

Year 1 has been a place of all things informative during Term 2. We have been diligently researching topics of interest to co-construct information reports and we are now at that time of the term where we apply our learning independently.

The students have chosen to focus on a wide range of topics with most choosing their favourite animal. 

In 1C, the clear winner was Pokemon! Mrs de Jong is now a Pokemon expert too! We can't wait to see their completed work!

Year Two News

2E have been busily completing our English assessment, which involves writing an informative text. We have enjoyed several weeks of learning about the Solar System and exploring the different planets. Our writing process has involved reading an informative text, highlighting the relevant information and taking notes. We then need to turn our notes into full sentences, focusing on simple and compound sentences with punctuation, pronouns, noun and verb groups and commas to separate lists. We continue to use our learning wall for guidance and have engaged in a range of different texts to learn about our chosen planets.

We’ve also been working hard in Maths. This week, we tackled multi-step word problems. We identify the important information, choose the correct operation, then solve the problem using our knowledge of place value. We’ve shown great persistence and a resilient, 'never give up' attitude while developing these new skills."

Year 2 students were treated to a wonderful performance by the choir at first break lunch on Wednesday. We thoroughly enjoyed the engaging performance from the Junior Choir as they practised their songs in front of a captive audience. Thank you to Mrs Coleman and the Junior Choir for choosing to perform for Year 2!

Year Three News

This term in Year 3, we have been learning to make arrays to help us with our 2s, 5s, and 10s times tables. An array is an arrangement of objects, numbers or pictures in columns and rows. Students will be creating an ‘array city’ for their assessment, where they will need to use an array to create their windows on their buildings. This past week, students had fun designing their own arrays to match a times table fact.

Year Four News

The Willows Fairy Garden

Thanks to some fabulous donations from our school families and teachers, we have created a Fairy Garden outside of F Pod. The students have all been enjoying raking up leaves, tidying the garden beds and watching the magic come to life. Ms Bala will be working with students every Friday Second Break to keep our Fairy Garden looking fabulous. Everyone is welcome to add new items to our garden, however we hope that this space will be respected and nothing will be taken from the garden to allow it to exist in our school for many years to come.

Year Five News

In Week 7, it was Chappy Week and we celebrated our amazing Chaplain, Chappy Ash by doing a variety of activities at school. As part of this, our children did a colouring sheet activity that focused on emotions. We discussed each emoji and how it shows us our feelings. This is work from 5E.

Year Six News

Who knew Tectonic Plates could be so tasty? In Year 6, we have been learning about natural disasters and taking a deep dive into earthquakes. We were looking at the different faults that can occur that lead to an earthquake. A great technique for this was using an Oreo biscuit to visually see and create the variety of faults that can happen. We talked about what then happens after the earthquake and the damage.

Community News

NQIM GALA CONCERT – Wednesday, 25^th June

SAVER PLUS

TOWNSVILLE CRICKET BLAST - HOLIDAY PROGRAMS