8 September 2017

Newsletter Articles

PRINCIPAL’S REPORT

Dear Parents/Carers and Community

Welcome to our final newsletter for Term 3, 2017.

This term has been a great one with many significant achievements across our school. We have included many features of our term throughout this newsletter. I am very proud to be Principal to such a quality school with dedicated teachers and staff and outstanding learners. An absolute highlight for our leadership team is seeing the enjoyment, fun and engagement in areas of English, Maths, Science and Technology. We have much enjoyed talking with students, testing out their designs in technology (pinballs!), being part of multiple surveys, and learning opportunities throughout the day are highlights!

Well done team Willows – enjoy your very well deserved break and stay safe.

While the end of term is drawing near, we have a number of key initiatives occurring at our school. Every day counts towards learning and enjoyment at our school, so let’s make this count!

We celebrate Book Week at The Willows in week 10 and in advance I would like to thank Mrs Platt for her fantastic organisation and enthusiasm to celebrate books and reading across our school. We look forward to the grand parades – please check in on Facebook for further information about this. We look forward to seeing everyone dressed as his or her favourite character on our last Friday!

We also have our School Planning meeting on Wednesday 13 September 2017. This process is a celebration of the past 4 years at our school and the progress we have made as a school and a school community. Representing our school are a number of teachers, non-teaching staff, parents and representatives from our school. We also launch our School Plan for the next 4 years where we continue to provide Educational Excellence in an Information Age at our school. Once this plan is endorsed, it will be published on our school website.

The consultation process for developing our plan has been a long and considered approach. It has included P and C meetings, parent information and conversations, staff meetings and a team of people contributing to the plan and full consultation with our teachers, staff and members of our school community. In advance, I would like to thank all members and look forward to our school forging ahead as a great State School.

I would also like to thank the work of our leadership team members. Over the past three weeks, we have started our enrolment process for our Prep 2018 students. We currently have a number of students on the waiting list, so please be patient as we continue to work through our process. We are looking forward to welcoming these young learners and families at our upcoming open days in term 4.

The work of our P and C was absolutely showcased at the recent Fun Fair. There are many volunteers, sponsors, parents and staff who worked together to make this fundraising event a success. Our P and C also worked hard on the Father’s Day Stall the following week, while behind the scenes organising booklists and the shirt order for our Prep enrolments. Thankyou to everyone who supported our P and C and to all of our members and staff for their amazing energy and teamwork.

Have a safe and restful September break. See you in term 4!

Kind regards
Helen McCullough
Principal

REQUESTS FOR SUPPORTING INFORMATION

From time to time parents/carers may request information for external agencies (doctors, specialists etc.). All requests must come through the school office through to the Deputy Principal of your child’s section. Deputies then collate information from various people and provide the necessary information as requested. Requests from external parties need to be accompanied with a letter on letterhead and contact details. Sometimes we are asked to provide an assessment to support students with their medical practitioners. Teachers in consultation with our team work on these items. Again these requests must be made through the office.

If you have information (reports from OT’s, Dr’s, specialists) to share, please provide these to the office and information will be given to the relevant members of our team.

Thankyou for supporting these necessary communication channels.

YEAR 6 END OF YEAR EVENTS

Please find below some information regarding three events being held for year 6 students to celebrate their final days with us at The Willows State School. A permission form will be going home with students soon outlining cost and payment options.

Year 6 Graduation Ceremony

When: Wednesday the 6th of December 9.00 – 11.30am
Where: The Carol Buchanan Centre (TCBC)

We invite our families to join us in seeing our year 6 students as graduates of The Willows State School. Academic awards and the leadership handover will occur along with speeches and the sharing of lots of memories. Students will be given a yearbook and gift as they cross the stage one last time. Students MUST wear correct school uniform, shoes and appropriate jewellery and hair accessories. Students plus family are invited to attend this special occasion. Morning tea and cutting of the cakes will occur at the end of the ceremony. Photos will be taken of the students receiving their certificates and copies will be available for purchase that evening from the library. Students may leave with their parents after morning tea to prepare for their Graduation Dance. An invitation for families will be sent out later in the term.

Year 6 Graduation Dance

When: Wednesday the 6th of December 5.30 – 8pm
Where: The Carol Buchanan Centre (TCBC)

Students will dance for their parents and attending staff of The Willows State School. At the end of the formal dancing, parents will leave and the disco celebrations will commence. Finger food and drinks will be provided for the students and this is included in the overall cost. Please collect students by 8.00pm from TCBC. Please note that the dress for this event is smart casual and it is not an expectation that families spend a fortune on attire.

Year 6 Fun Day at the Barra Farm

When: Thursday the 7th of December 8.45 to 3pm
Where: The Barra Farm
Transport: Students will be transported to and from the Barra Farm by bus.
What to bring: Bag, water bottle, hat, sunsafe free dress, towel, togs +swim shirt for swimming, morning tea, spending money for purchase of extra drinks if they wish, closed in shoes and thongs.

Students will have a fun day together as a cohort and celebrate at the Barra Farm. The Barra Farm has barra fishing, an inflatable aqua park including jumping pillows, climbing walls, swings, hamster wheels, bumper crafts and a giant water slide. They will need to bring their own morning tea and water bottle but they will be provided a pizza lunch & Drink. The cost for this activity includes the entry, bus trip and lunch.

PREP – YEAR 2

Prep, Year 1 and Year 2 have been busily working this term to improve their reading and writing skills. We have been working at showing “Green” behaviour.

PREP:

This term Prep have been writing 4 lined rhymes and performing them with actions. Some Prep classes even performed on our assemblies! Look at these clever rhymes.

YEAR 1:

Year 1 have been learning about characters from Anthony Browne books and sharing their likes and dislikes about characters. Look at this successful writing!

YEAR 2:

Year 2 have been writing informative texts from narratives. Look at this fantastic writing about Ducks!

POSITIVE BEHAVIOUR:

‘Go for Green’

Our Wise Owls have been visiting P-2 classrooms this term. Classes with no major behaviours for the day, are put into a daily draw to win one of our Wise Owls for the week. Children take their owl on classroom adventures and it observes the positive ‘green’ behaviour. We have seen a remarkable improvement in green behaviour since our Owls have been keeping a close eye on our students!

YEAR 4

YEAR 5 AND 6

What an amazing term our leaders and future leaders have had. Not only have we had accomplishments in the sporting field with interschool sports, challenge games, interschool athletics and the forthcoming Annandale Cup Rugby League but we have also had many academic opportunities for our students including Gold Writer’s Workshop, Art in a Suitcase, Global Future Leaders, Global Tropics Future STEM, Reader’s Cup, First Lego League Robotic Challenge, Opti-minds and the Future Eco Challenge.

Our year 5 students have done the Life Education – Talk About It program, and year 6 students will attend next week and both year levels have been involved in our school opinion survey. Year 5 students went to Charters Towers to investigate Australian History and both years 5 and 6 contributed to our Science & Technology Expo with some excellent displays of student work and interactive activities. We also need to acknowledge the musical talent in our school who are presently involved in the Eisteddfod and already bringing home medals and trophies. We can’t wait to see our seniors at our Book Week assemblies dressed as their favourite book character.

All in all a busy and successful term. We thank our families for your assistance and participation in our school culture. Our attendance rate for both years 5 and 6 is currently at 93.5% which is very close to our school benchmark of 95%. We hope that the flu season is over and that attendance will be up to 95% by the end of term 4. Having our students attend school definitely improves their opportunities for academic success. Presently 94% of our year 5 students are achieving a C and above for English and 24% are achieving an A. 96% of our year 6 students are achieving a C and above for English and 24% are achieving an A. These are fantastic results and evidence of our expert teaching team and actively engaged learners.

Next term will be exciting as our year 5 students prepare for leadership but it will also be sad as we are finalising the year with our year 6 students who will move on to high school next year.

Congratulations also to Hannah and Logan who have made the front cover of our student diary for 2018.

OPTI-MINDS

The Opti-MINDS Creative Sustainability Challenge is an inclusive team challenge which EMPOWERS participants to THINK, CREATE & COMMUNICATE. Opti-MINDS is a creative problem solving event for teams of participants from Preschool to Adult within 4 divisions. It is run by Opti-MINDS Incorporated on a non-profit basis. Teams solve demanding, open-ended challenges from 3 different categories; Language Literature, Science Engineering and Social Sciences. The Opti-MINDS Challenge is an opportunity for all those with a passion for learning & problem solving to showcase their skills & talents in an exciting, vibrant & public way.

Last weekend, The Willows State School had three teams participate in the OPTI-Minds Sustainability Challenge held at James Cook University. The teams had prepared a long-term solution to present to judges and also participated in a spontaneous challenge on Challenge Day. The Science Engineering team won a Spirit of OPTI-Minds award for overcoming some hurdles.

This was the first time that TWSS have been represented at OPTI-Minds. Congratulations to the following students: Grace Q, Charli S, Riley B, Maddy L, Milanah W, Eliza C, Lana M, Azahna T, Mikaela R, Sophia G, Max Q, Linc M, Jacob M and Thomas F. All students were great amassadors for our school. Thank you to the parents and families for supporting us on the day and the six week preparation time.

YEAR 5 STUDENTS PREPARING FOR LEADERSHIP

It is that time of the year where we are starting the selection process for our school leaders for 2018. All current year 5 students will be considered leaders and role models of the school as they become our school seniors in 2018. We do, however, have some students in leadership positions i.e. School, Music & Sports Captains, Student Council Captains, Publicity Officers, Environmental Officers and School Services representatives.

All students will participate in our leadership day on Thursday 5th October (1st week of Term 4). On this day students will reflect on what it is to be a leader and will participate in several activities designed to enhance their leadership capabilities, group work skills and team building strategies. It will be an opportunity for us to identify leadership potential and we will provide students with an opportunity to reflect and set goals for their last year of primary school.

After the leadership day, students will be invited to nominate themselves for student leadership positions for 2018. From this list of students we will shortlist and then successful students will be invited to participate in a workshop for leadership application writing. From the applications students will be shortlisted and invited to attend an interview and then selected students will present a speech to their peers. Successful student leaders will be announced at Assembly on 17th November 2017. A handover ceremony will be conducted at the Graduation Awards morning on Wednesday the 6th December 2017 and a badge pinning ceremony will be conducted in the New Year (2018).

This is a very important process in our school year and we look forward to developing the leadership skills in all of our students and selecting student leadership positions for 2018.

LIFE EDUCATION FOR YEAR 6 STUDENTS

Reminder that our year 6 students will be engaging with Life Education”Talk About it” program regarding puberty. The school recognises that you are the primary educator of your child on issues surrounding their sexuality, however we believe we can work together to help children stay safe by encouraging healthy attitudes. The “Talk About It” program by Life Education includes information on puberty incorporating physical growth and emotional changes, relationships and the concept of self. It is designed to help students understand and cope with this important phase of development. The lesson being conducted will focus on the physical, social and emotional changes experienced during puberty, and helping students understand and cope with this important phase of development.

This program will be run Week 10 Term 3 from Thursday the 14th and Friday the 15th of September. Please note that this is the last two days of school. These lessons will be taught by an experienced educator from Life Education. The classroom teacher will accompany their class and will also be present to assist.

YEAR 6 PHOTO AND YEARBOOK

Last year the year 6 yearbook was a hit so we are going to do it again this year. Our Year 6 students will have their cohort photo taken on the 19th of October. Any new students in year 6 that arrived after our school photos will also have their photo taken. All of our year 6 students were asked to take home a note about the Year 6 yearbook and those notes should be returned by the end of this week. All year 6 students who have permission to be involved in the yearbook will receive a copy at the end of the year. If there is anyone that can donate some time to assist us to put the yearbook together it would be most appreciated. Please contact Mrs Winter by email on pwint5@eq.edu.au.

3 WAY CONVERSATIONS

In Week 2 Term 4 we will again have our ‘Three Way Conversation’ to discuss your child’s academic progress and next learning steps.

At the ‘Three Way Conversation’ the roles will be:

Teacher – reports back on academic progress and discusses their next learning steps.
Child – shares achieved goals and future goals.
Parent – discusses ways to support continual academic improvement.

Our three way conversations will be held in the TCBC Conference Room on the following dates.

P-2 Wednesday the 11th of October from 3.15 to 8pm

3-6 Thursday the 12th of October from 3.15 to 8pm

Students will bring home some information about how you can book your interview times electronically using our online booking system.

We look forward to seeing you there.

GLOBAL TROPICAL FUTURES PROJECT

The Willows State School became involved in the Global Tropical Futures Project in 2016. Three year 5 students were chosen to participate under the supervision of a teacher. This involved the teacher working with staff from James Cook University and Thuringowa High School in order to learn how to use, and set up, the virtual environment (iSee) on the school network. The Willows State School then hosted our student’s participation in weekly meetings and workshops online with students from other schools, mentors from both James Cook University and Thuringowa High, and experts in STEM related fields of study. The students also attended two face-to-face workshops at James Cook University where they were actively involved in real-world challenges and explored solutions based in the sciences, engineering and technology.

In 2017, this partnership has continued, with Thuringowa High School becoming a Virtual STEM Academy. We introduced three more year 5 students to the program and the, now, year 6 students have continued their participation. Once again, The Willows State School has hosted virtual lessons for our students so that they may participate in challenge projects online, collaborate with students from other schools, and have access to expert guests, all via the Global Tropical Futures Project team. Students have been involved in two opportunities for online learning and collaboration this year, both of approximately 10 weeks duration, and have enjoyed face-to-face workshops at both James Cook University and Thuringowa High School.

LOST PROPERTY

Lost property will be displayed on Monday 11th September from the start of school until end of second break. Please remind your student to go and have a look if they have lost anything this term. All un-named property at the end of the day will be sent to a charity.

PREP ENROLMENTS 2018

Prep enrolment interviews have commenced and we will be continuing these next week. Enrolment packages are still available from the office for Prep aged children for 2018. Eligible children must be turning 5 before 30th June 2018. Please bring the child’s Birth Certificate and Lease/Rates Notice when you pick up your package. If you have a Prep student for next year, please collect their enrolment paperwork as soon as possible.

WOOLWORTHS EARN AND LEARN

The Willows State School is again participating in the Woolworths Earn and Learn program. The program started on Wednesday 26th July and anyone who shops at Woolworths from the school community - staff, parents, grandparents, neighbours and friends - can collect stickers for the school. The school has a box located at each of The Avenues and Willows Shoppingtown Woolworths stores and we also have a box located in the office. The school has benefited immensely from this program in past years and we have received great resources for the school for free! It would be great if you could spread the word and get all your family and friends involved to help us out!! The Earn and Learn promotion finishes on Friday 6th October so please try to have all of your stickers to us before Wednesday 4th October so we can get our stickers counted and in on time!!

SPORTING NEWS AT THE WILLOWS

During this term, The Willows State School students have participated in many sporting activities.

Season Sport

We have finished off season 2 sport which fielded 6 touch teams and 4 football (soccer) teams. Thank you to the following teachers for giving their time to train and manage these teams: Mrs Sorbello, Mr Sanim, Mr Theodore, Miss Thomas, Miss Holder.

Interschool Athletics

A team of 107 students represented our school at the Interschool Athletics Carnival (Red Track). We positioned 6th overall against other “A” schools. All students in attendance did their very best with 6 students being selected to trial for the North Queensland Team. Our cheer squad did an excellent job encouraging all participants. Well done to all involved on the day and a special mention to the teachers that supported our team on the day: Mrs Milne, Mrs Nosworthy, Ms Anderson, Mrs Bird and Mr Schimke.

NQ Sport Sporting Teams

A selection of student’s have trialled for various North Queensland Teams: cricket, girl’s rugby league and cross country. Our highest achieving student was Montaya H who has made the Queensland team for touch football. Outstanding achievement Montaya and good luck in your next pursuit.

Garbutt Magpies

Mr Theodore and Mrs Hughes had the privilege to take a team of 15 boys to the Garbutt Magpies Cup and represent our school. This is the first time our school has participated in this AFL event and by all accounts the boys had a fantastic day and did the school proud, setting the bar high for future students both on and off the field as we were complimented on our team spirit and manners.

Annandale Cup

Mr Sanim is busy training 2 teams of boys to represent The Willows in the Annandale Cup on the last day of term. Mr Theodore will support the second team on the day. We wish both of the teams success on the day.

CHILDREN’S BOOK WEEK/ MONTH CELEBRATIONS - 2017

Children’s Book Week is the longest running children's festival in Australia and the theme is Escape to Everywhere. TWSS book week/month celebrations commenced 18 August and will end on Friday, 15 September.

Book Month Celebrations in the library this week …

This week, to celebrate ‘Children’s Book Month’ students are reading some very special award winning books by Australian authors and nominating their favourites. The winners of each of category are on display in the library.

The Children’s Book Week theme in Australia is Escape to Everywhere … This week students were asked to think about what the theme ‘Escape to Everywhere’ means to them.

4MIL shared their thoughts and ideas and together wrote a response …

Book Week is the longest running children’s festival in Australia. This year (2017) is its 72nd birthday and the theme is Escape to Everywhere.

Our class thinks this means, that if we read books, we can escape to different towns, countries, planets, universes and galaxies. It also means that we can read books on many topics such as adventure, fantasy, horror, drama, crime, humour as well as taking us into the nonfiction world of animals, plants, crafts and much more.

Book Week lets us celebrate books and Australian authors and illustrators. There are competitions to see who has written the best book. We are going to read the books and have our own class vote. I wonder if we will agree with the judges.

At The Willows we are having a Book Week parade on the 15th of September where we can dress up as a book character.

Year 6 students in Mrs Fayer’s class have used the Capture app on the iPads to make vector shapes from some of the illustrations in the CBCA award winning books. They are importing these shapes into a digital drawing application, which allows layers and transparency, to create a ‘book week’ collage. Below are some examples of the original illustration and the vector shapes created. The collages will be on display in the library. I can’t wait to see their finished artwork!

Examples of the original illustrations from 3 of the CBCA shortlisted books and the vector shapes created.

Out by Angela May George and Owen Swan (Illustrator)

Home in the Rain by Bob Graham (Picture book of the year!)

Gary by Leila Rudge

Our Book Week parades/performances will be held on the last day of term. Children are encouraged as dress up as their favourite book character. Our interactive performance – “A Book With No Pictures” features a narrative based around a book by B. J Novak. Sincere thanks to members of our book week committee who helped write and produce this show. All members of our school community are welcome to attend. A gentle reminder that this is a children’s book week celebration and costumes must be appropriate and sunsafe.

Kind regards,
Mrs Platt
Teacher – Librarian

UNSW EDUCATIONAL ASSESSMENT AUSTRALIA ICAS TESTS

Congratulations to the students who participated in the ICAS tests over the past few months. ICAS is an independent, skills-based program which recognises and rewards student achievement. The Willows had 90 students who took part in Maths, Science, English and/or Writing tests.

Results for the Science ICAS were:

35 Participation Certificates, 1 Merit Certificate, 6 Credit Certificates, 4 Distinction Certificates and 1 High Distinction

Results for Writing ICAS were:

3 Credit Certificates and 1 Distinction Certificate

We are still waiting on the results for the English and Maths tests and expect there will be more amazing results. The Willows is very proud of all our students!

SAUSAGE SIZZLE

The tuckshop will be closed on the last day of term – Friday 15th September. There will be a sausage sizzle with proceeds going to Chaplaincy. Order forms have gone home. Cost per sausage is $2.50. Please return order forms by 9.30am Tuesday 20th June.

P&C NEWS

Fun Fair

How great was the Fun Fair! Thank you so much for coming along, for your donations, for your help on the night, and for your support. Our Teachers, Parents and Student helpers were fantastic, and the night went quite smoothly.

Numbers are still being reconciled, but initial estimates are that we raised over $10,000, which is fantastic. The school needs a very large contribution towards refreshing our computer labs, so this will likely go towards this. Thank you!

Father’s Day Stall

It’s been a busy few weeks… we also ran our annual Father’s Day Stall, and we hope all our Dads out there enjoyed their gifts and had a great Father’s Day!

Thanks to our group of volunteers for setting up and running the stall. We do, of course, make a small profit on sales, and to show how popular the stall is – we raised over $4000. Great effort and thank you.

The winners of our raffle were:

1st - Caleb S (4EVA)
2nd - Marcus (3CRO)
3rd - Maddison (3CRO)
4th - Rudy (2CHR)
5th - Thomas (4EVA)
6th - Xaviah (PYSTE)
Mystery Prize - Sophia (4DAR)

2018 Book Packs

Once again we are offering a Book Pack service, where you can pay one amount online and have all your book pack and stationary needs for next year there will be an option for home delivery if you are unable to collect from school. Ordering will be available in early Term 4.

Next P&C Meeting

P&C Meetings are the second Tuesday of the month, so the next meeting is 12th September, 6pm in the TCBC.

We’ll be hearing from our Principal about the School Strategic Plan, which is almost ready for finalisation. Come along to hear and be part of the process!

See you around!

TUCKSHOP NEWS

Hi Everyone

We have had a great fortnight in the tuckshop with lots happening...

Firstly a big congratulations to Rosie, Damo, Dom and Brynee on the latest addition to the family. On 23/8/2107 Georgie May made her way into the world. Big brother and sister say she is settling in nicely to the family.

We also had great success with the fun fair and I would like to say a huge thanks to the big team of volunteers we had throughout the week and on the night!! Robyn, Rosine, Michele, Krystal, Johnno, Russell, Olly, Emily, Amelia, Shelley, Em, Tasha, Joolz, Danielle, Celena, Patricia, Naomi and anyone else that popped into help that I have forgotten (sorry) A huge thank you!!

Well done to all involved with the fun fair, it was a great evening.

The tuckshop will be closed on the last day of term, Friday 15th September.

With only two more weeks left in the term I hope everyone has a wonderful holidays.

Thanks The tuckshop girls
Gaynor, Anita and Megan

DEFENCE NEWS

Hello all Defence Families.

Week 9 already. Hoping all families near and far shared a great Father’s Day. Many students were busy at Kids Club over the last 2 weeks making cards and craft for their Dad’s. All students were very proud of the items they had made to give to Dad. It is always a great time to share with family and to make special memories.

IMPORTANT NOTE TO ALL FAMILIES, IF YOU ARE POSTING OUT OR MOVING SCHOOLS THIS YEAR please make sure you contact the office/classroom teacher and DSTA to inform of students last day of school and where you will be moving to. This information is much appreciated by myself so I have time to give a Farewell Pack to the student. The school also appreciates this vital information for further planning. Look forward to hearing from you.

If you are finding life’s challenges overwhelming my door is always open. Don’t forget you are Welcome to come to L pod for a chat/cuppa, any day from 8:00am until 3:00pm. The office can phone ahead to make sure I am in my room or you can email me to arrange a time. Talking with others can help to put things in perspective. See you soon.

KIDSMART RELOCATION PROGAM is being held again for all defence students here at school. The program is a four week program for primary aged kids to help them manage postings and relocation. Tyler Turtle is the mascot for the program which helps the kids learn how to manage change, stay connected with friends and meet new people. The program covers things like assisting kids cope with feelings when being stressed or anxious, and tips on handling emotions and learning great relaxation techniques. Sessions will start Thursday 12th October and run every Thursday for 4 weeks, running from 3:15pm to 4:45pm in L Pod. Afternoon tea will be provided. If I know you are being posted I will send you out a registration form to complete and return. A must for all students who are moving this year.

Last Wednesday 17 Year 6 defence students, Mr Sanim and I attended the Kokoda…The Spirit Lives screening at RSL. What a truly amazing and informative documentary it was. All the students commented how interesting it was to see the story and listen to the first-hand account from the diggers who were present. The students felt privileged to have had the opportunity to learn more about Australian history. Thank you year 6 you did us proud.

Geckos School Holiday program is released for September school holidays. Be quick and book early so you don’t miss out on a spot. Flyer Attached.

If you want to know about upcoming DCO programs, events, and activities or information about events and services in the wider North Queensland community you need to be on the mailing list. You can e-mail DCO office in Townsville dco.townsville@defence.gov.au and leave details, name, member name, address, email, mob/home number, children’s names or collect a form from me. I have attached a copy of the form below.

Deployments are a part of the Defence Force family lifestyle. PLEASE LET THE SCHOOL KNOW IF A LOVED ONE IS GOING AWAY. The impact of a parent’s absence due to a deployment can have a huge impact on the whole family, especially children. Sometimes, children lack the language to communicate or understand their feelings and can often express themselves with behaviour that is inappropriate or out of character. At TWSS we aim to support students during parental absence due to a deployment by; engaging the children in a variety of activities that allow them to identify the emotions they may feel during a parental absence; share their experiences with other defence children who may also have a parent away; read books especially written to help children cope with deployments; and create craft items at Kids Club to help the child communicate with the absent parent. Make sure you let your child’s teacher and DSTA know if you or a partner will be away for an extended period of time. Having this knowledge will go towards supporting the student at school.

IMPORTANT FOR STUDENTS; EDUCATION ASSISTANCE SCHEME- all defence families can access financial assistance for education costs incurred as a result of postings. Students may be entitled to up to 14 weeks of tutoring in any subject that has been identified by the school as representing a gap in learning. We may reimburse fees for tutoring required to fill any gaps in understanding or curriculum caused by changing schools. You have 18 months from starting at a new school to access and complete the tutoring. This scheme is very beneficial for students. Please see me if you would like assistance to complete the form, or you can ring the Helpline for updates 1800 624 608.

Are you on the DCO mailing List?

Join DCO Townsville mailing LIST NOW if you want to receive updates from DCO. Contact them directly at dco.townsville@defence.gov.au or phone 07 4753 6539.

Townsville Gone Troppo Newsletter

DCO Townsville's Gone Troppo Newsletter is available to view on the DCO website and click on the latest edition to download

DATES AND ACTIVITIES TO REMEMBER

Yoga Classes @ Geckos on Mondays 18.30-19.30 cost $5/session

Bootcamp Tuesdays and Thursdays @Geckos 18.00-19.00 cost $10/session.

CONTACTS

Defence Community Organisation is available to all Defence members and their families.

Defence Family Helpline operates 24-7 on 1800 624 608 or e-mail defencefamilyhelpline@defence.gov.au

Mates4Mates (Family Recovery Centre) 40 Anne Street – 4771 9600
Support and Mental Health Services for ADF Families
Townsville Community Mental Health- 4433 3000
Centacare-4772 9000
Relationships Australia-1300 364 277
Veterans and Veterans Families – 1800 011 046 www.dva.gov.au/vvcs (eligibly applies)

DFA Defence Families of Australia – 1800 100 509 www.dfa.org.au
National Delegate for Northern Queensland - nth.qld@dfa.org.au

Remember I am available anytime from 8:00am until 3:30pm, Monday to Friday.

Parents are very welcome to stop by L Pod or contact me via email or phone. Students can call into L Pod throughout the day.

Contact me via the school office on 47 991 333 or via e-mail - Correna Wheeler on cwhee36@eq.edu.au

Have a great week and stay connected with family and friends

Correna Wheeler