30 July 2018

Newsletter Articles

DATE CLAIMER

PRINCIPAL’S REPORT

Dear Parents, Carers and Community

Welcome to Term 3 everyone! The last fortnight has been a great start to the school term and I congratulate and thank all students and staff for their contributions each and every day at our school.

The work of the 2018 NAIDOC committee came together to provide to our students, staff, parents and visitors a strong show of support across multiple partners that have been created and /or introduced through relationships to The Willows State School. The conversations and partnerships that have been built over the 2018 school year will continue with the show of support and offerings of the following for the students and staff of The Willows State School:

• Forged seamless partnership by School and OSHC staff - one school community
• Significant increase of eligible teams/numbers to participate and engage in the Garbutt Magpies Program annually and commitment to continue the partnership at The Willows State School
• Educational Officer Partnership through DET to embed a Community Women’s Group and Girls Program (ongoing and to be built over several terms and done through the Gradual Release of Responsibility). We welcome Aunty Bev Cummins to our support team and network
• Educational Officer Partnership through DET and partner schools to provide professional development and coaching in the development and implementation of Smarter, Stronger Institute for 3 Leaders and 3 Support Staff at The Willows State School to implement Tier 2 support for students. We welcome Aunty Bev, Aunty Joan and Reinhardt to this support network and we look forward to working closely with 5 other State Schools through this work.

There are many staff, visitors and community to thank as a result of the significant learning initiatives and activities that occurred at our school. We should be feeling proud of the week and all members contributions – staff shirts, competitions to engage students, the parade organisation, the morning tea, the rotational activities, the choir performances, the invitations, PowerPoints, ATSIAP teams, Monty Prior, Bwgcolman Community School demonstration – the week was a combined huge effort that has been positively received by our community.

I also specifically want to thank Cathy Hughes and Mandy Berghoef for their continuous support and partnership at our school – you inspire us to make the difference!

Our NRL Development Cup Team learned a valuable lesson last week around being a runner up. Our team was disappointed, but heads should be held high as the final was two talented teams, Proserpine playing that little bit better on the day. Thankyou to all of our parents and families for coming and supporting our team. A big shout out to Mr Theodore and Mrs Deuble for their ongoing commitment to extra-curricula sport at our school.

FanFare for our students is certainly in sight. Our P and C have donated $10 000 towards the incidental costs of this learning opportunity for our students. Department of Education funds all flights, travel costs and our school will be covering the costs of teacher and staff release. Parents will be paying a small contribution. The effort of making this happen has been significant and we look forward to hearing from our students their experience at FanFare. We look forward to hearing about the FanFare experience in weeks to come.

Prep 2019 Enrolments are now open. Please refer anyone you know to use admin@the.willowsss.eq.edu.au for information. Spaces are limited so the waiting list will be in play for any students out of catchment. Staffing meetings with Principals occur in the next fortnight. Anticipated numbers are required so we know how many teachers we will need. If you know of families leaving our school/area, please let your line manager know so they can follow up and please check school bags for a note that was sent out this week – please return these to the office.

We look forward to an excellent term ahead. Keep updated through our regular updated on Facebook and our website below.

Kind regards
Helen McCullough (Principal)

YOUR OPINION COUNTS

SCHOOL OPINION SURVEYS

The annual suite of School Opinion Surveys will be conducted 30 July to 24 August 2018. All families, school staff and a random sample of students will be invited to participate. We encourage you to take this opportunity to have your say about what this school does well, and how the school can improve. Access details for the Parent /Caregiver Survey will be sent home with students soon. The survey can be completed via computer, tablets or smart phones with internet connection.

RESPECT OUR STAFF

RESOLVING ISSUES SCHOOL FACT SHEET

BEFORE SCHOOL PROCEDURES

In the morning at The Willows, we are supervised from 8am in the Main Covered Area. The students are expected to be seated and following instructions from the student leaders and staff. To help our students we ask that parents and family members model the following behaviours at our school

• Sit quietly
• Listen to the speakers
• Follow instructions
• Keep noise to a minimum

We appreciate you being a part of our Respectful community and modelling our expectations.

The Outside School Hours Care facility is an option for parents to book/use and parents/carers who have early starts and late finishing times are encouraged to access this facility.

ATTENDANCE

Every student in our school is important to us and we are committed to providing personalised education suited to their needs. The very first step in that is maximising learning time and we believe that if students attend every day and every learning minute of the day we are improving their opportunities for academic success.

Students can come to school from 8am. If they arrive at 8am they go to the Main CPA. At 8.15am year 3, 4, 5, and 6 students are escorted by at teacher to TCBC. Students are expected to be at school in the classroom ready to start work at 8.45am. Students who are late to school are encouraged to complete any work missed in their own time. Please note that lateness and early departure have an impact on student learning.

THE WILLOWS WAY IS 100% ATTENDANCE.

Just a little bit late doesn’t seem much but did you know…….

Arriving late and leaving early can take up a lot of learning time

YEAR LEVEL PARADES

This year our students will have year level parades weekly and full school parades as scheduled on our school calendar.

Note the time and place for all year levels.

Prep – Monday 8.45 am in Junior CPA
Year 1 – Monday 12.50pm in Junior CPA
Year 2 – Tuesday 8.50am in Junior CPA
Year 3 – Monday 2pm in TCBC Conference Room
Year 4 – Tuesday 2.30pm in TCBC Conference Room
Year 5 – Mondays 11.40am in TCBC Conference Room.
Year 6 – Mondays 2.30pm in TCBC Conference Room.

Parents/Guardians are most welcome to attend.

APPOINTMENTS WITH STAFF

Throughout the course of any day and week, the administrative and teaching staff of The Willows have significant commitments to the Teaching and Learning of our students. If you are needing to see one of the staff, please help us by arranging an appointment time at a mutually beneficial time. This can be done by contacting our office, email or by talking with us.

FROM THE GUIDANCE OFFICER – MISS NARELLE (NARELLE THOMAS)

Hello parents and guardians. I hope this Newsletter finds you well. I have recently been liaising with staff from Centacare and am pleased to announce that they will be offering the parents of The Willows State School an opportunity to participate in a course called “Tuning In To Kids”.

This emotionally intelligent parenting course assists parents of young children to encourage and support their child to understand and express emotions in appropriate ways.

The aim of this program focuses on:

1. The emotional connection between parents/caregivers and children;
2. Assisting parents/caregivers to respond to their children's emotions in a way that helps the child to understand and manage their emotions.

The course is held for 2 hours per week over 6 weeks and is suitable for parents/caregivers for parents of children 2 to 9 years. It is the expectation that participants attend each week for 5 weeks. Unfortunately, there are no babysitting facilities.

The number of participants is limited to 12 so it will be first in best dressed. Minimum number of participants is 10 for this course to proceed. Please register your interest with Narelle Thomas.

Expression of Interest

Details

Coffee, Tea and biscuits provided.

YEAR 2 NEWS

In Year 2 we are learning about procedures.

YEAR 5 NEWS

In Year 5 Science this term we are exploring the everyday phenomena associated with the transfer of light.

By the end of the unit students will be able to classify substances according to their observable properties and behaviours. They will explain everyday phenomena associated with the transfer of light. They will describe the key features of our solar system. They will analyse how the form of living things enables them to function in their environments. Students will discuss how scientific developments have affected people's lives and how science knowledge develops from many people's contributions.

Students will follow instructions to pose questions for investigation, predict what might happen when variables are changed, and plan investigation methods. They will use equipment in ways that are safe and improve the accuracy of their observations. Students will construct tables and graphs to organise data and identify patterns. They will use patterns in their data to suggest explanations and refer to data when they report findings. They will describe ways to improve the fairness of their methods and communicate their ideas, methods and findings using a range of text types.

TELSTRA DIGITAL FUTURES

Please support our school so that we can win $4000 to put towards new tech equipment plus extras. All you need to do is drop into the TELSTRA Store at the Willows Shopping Centre, Castletown or Aitkenvale and vote for your favourite school. Voting opens Monday the 23rd of July and closes Sunday the 19th of August. Please note community members who come in store to vote will not be required to buy a product or obligated to sign up to anything. You simple come in to the store and vote.

The winner is determined by the highest number of votes so we need your support.

P&C NEWS

Holiday Bonanza Raffle – 25th June to 11th August

How does a $2000 Flight Centre voucher sound for your family? Even better still, how about being able to redeem it at any time of year, for any destination of your choosing? That’s our major prize in our upcoming Holiday Bonanza Raffle. This raffle is unique to our P&C, so any ticket that you sell or buy, has a good chance of being a winning ticket!

The prizes up for grabs are (tickets are $5 each):

• 1st Prize - $2000 Flight Centre Voucher
• 2nd Prize - 2 night stay at Mission Beach Resort for a family up to 5, including breakfast (valued at $600)
• 3rd Prize - The Ville $250 voucher to spend on accommodation or an onsite restaurant
• 4th Prize - 2 night stay at Rollingstone Beach Front Resort at a beachfront powered site (or put towards an upgrade to a cabin if you wish!), valued at up to $104.

The ticket sales start 25th June, closing on 11th August. The prizes will be drawn at our trivia night on the 11th August.

Those of you who have books of tickets, please return the tickets stubs and money in an envelope to the office as soon as they are sold. If you would like more tickets to sell, simply pop a note into the envelope, or pm our Facebook page.

If you don’t wish to sell tickets, but would like to buy some, there are tickets for sale in the tuckshop and OSHC.

Trivia Night – 11th August

Who's up for some fun??

The P&C are hosting a Trivia Night on the 11th August at 6pm, and hope to see many of you there forming teams with your friends and family! Why not try for our best dressed prize and come dressed as a theme, and even decorate your table? Perhaps you could dress as a nerd, superheroes, or as something more cryptic such as emotions??

We will have pizza available (included in ticket price), games in between rounds, as well as raffles with some great prizes up for grabs. Cold drinks (soft drinks, beer and wine), and tea, coffee and sweets will be available for purchase.

Tickets are $15pp, and teams are up to 8 people. An order form to purchase tickets was sent home this week. Please nominate a team name upon ticket purchase. A reminder though that ticket holders must be persons 18 years and over.

Don't forget to bring some gold coins on the night to participate in our raffles and games! Also, the winners from our amazing Holiday Bonanza Raffle will be drawn on this night!

As this is an 18+ event, we are offering a childminding service through our OSHC with qualified OSHC staff on duty. This will be a Pyjama Fun Party, with activities, a movie and loads of fun! This is available to school aged children and it will be a BYO dinner to help keep costs down for you. Cost is $15/child or $30/family. You must pre-book and pre-pay using the trivia night order form. BYO kids dinner (can be a packed lunchbox or takeaway), or feed them beforehand. Have the kids wear or bring PJ’s and also bring blankets/pillows. Popcorn and lollies will be supplied for a movie viewing. This service is available for school aged children only, and children must be signed in and out by the nominated parent/guardian on the night. Drop off is from 5.30pm.

We need your help!

Our trivia night is our major fundraising family event for the year and we ask all families in the school to please consider contributing in a small way. All funds raised will be invested into school projects to benefit our kids.

The P&C would really appreciate donations of:

Prep Year – Box of chocolates (Cadbury roses, Celebrations etc)
Year One - Share pack of Chips (Thins, Smiths, Kettle etc)
Year Two – Packet of lollies (party mix, snakes etc)
Years Three to Six – $5 to $10 (or higher if you wish!) Gift Vouchers from Coles or Woolworths.

Please send your donations to the office. Thank you!

P&C Wall

Have you noticed the start of our P&C wall in the main CPA area? The painting has begun, and soon there will be a fundraising target sign, as well as an information noticeboard. We are looking forward to bringing you the finished product soon!

Contact Us!

Like us on Facebook to keep up to date with school and P&C events. (Search for The Willows State School P&C.) You can contact us sending a pm to the page. Alternatively, you can contact us via email at willowspandc@gmail.com

P&C Meeting

Our next P&C meeting is on the 13th August at 6pm in the TCBC Conference Room. We’d love to welcome some new faces. Don’t forget you can bring the kids if you need to!

See you round!

THE WILLOWS STATE SCHOOL P&C TRIVIA NIGHT

DEFENCE NEWS

Hello all Defence Families.

Darwin was awesome but I am glad to be back home. Welcome all families to Term 3, hope everyone had a great start last week. I would like to extend a SPECIAL THANK YOU to Loretta. She has done a terrific job of filling in for me last term while I was on leave. I have heard many wonderful comments from students. Welcome back home to all the parents who have been away. Please remember to contact me if you are going away on courses/exercises for a period of time. I can support the student at school through this challenging time.

Most of the postings are out, so if you are moving please contact me and the office ASAP. Information regarding student’s last day of school and where you will be moving to is important to the school. This information is much appreciated by myself so I have time to visit and talk about the transition to another school and also give a Farewell Pack to the student. The school also appreciates this vital information for further planning. Look forward to hearing from you.

KIDSMART RELOCATION PROGAM is being held again for all defence students here at school. The program is an interesting 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. It covers things like assisting kids cope with feelings when being stressed or anxious. Provides tips on handling emotions and learning great relaxation techniques. Sessions will start in Term 4 Week 3 Wednesday 24th October and run every Wednesday for 4 weeks. Starting at 3:00pm -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.

Are you a member of the FREE ADF Family Health Program? If you said No you should be. Just read the fact sheet below and register now to access the FREE health benefits available to all defence families.

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.

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. Phond47536539 for more information.

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 3:30pm. 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. Students can call into L Pod throughout the day.

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.

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

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 – Chandell Derham at 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.

School Office on 47 991 333 or via e-mail - Correna Wheeler on cwhee36@eq.edu.au

Have an awesome week

Correna Wheeler