13 August 2018

Newsletter Articles

DATE CLAIMER

PRINCIPAL’S REPORT

Dear Parents/Carers and Community

I am continuously proud of our school and the progress and achievements of our students on a daily basis. Our Semester One academic results across our Prep-6 have resulted in continuous improvement and high results. At our school our target is 90% of our students achieving C or Above in English, Maths and Science. We are consistently achieving this and we should be feeling proud of our students and our staff. Thanks for being part of our school improvement journey – together we make a pretty amazing team!

Congratulations to a number of staff who have attended professional development in a range of areas across the last couple of weeks. We have had significant representation at the Beginning Teachers Conference, QTU Reps Conference, Restorative Practice Training, Yoga Tools for Schools Foundation Module and Camp Kinchant Induction as examples. Many of these have been held outside school hours and I thank all participants for their time.

Each week, our Teacher Aides are provided with internal professional learning that is designed around key areas of our Annual Implementation Plan. This is a signficiant investment in the school resourcing model at our school (10 hours of collective Teacher Aide Time per week). Thankyou to all of our presenters and to our teacher aides for your ongoing commitment to every student succeeding at our school.

The work of the collaborative planning professional learning is certainly evident in the clarity of curriculum, development of learning intentions and success criteria and the ongoing monitoring of student learning over each of their units. This investment of 5 hours per teacher (full-time equivalent, sometimes more) per term provides additional time for the work of planning at the unit level to occur.

Instructional Coaching at our school is across a broad range of areas including subject areas, behaviour and inclusive education practices. It is excellent to see coaching in other areas including specialist areas. The work of the Curriculum and Pedagogy Support Team is an investment of human resources. It is excellent to see the high level of our LOA data continue and the results of the B-A standard are continuing to improve. Congratulations to all teachers and our team on this work. We look forward to continuing to work alongside teachers to ensure every student is progressing and achieving.

Student Services is part of our Student Learning and Engagement Strategy at our school. I would like to congratulate Kate Haines, Sam Carter, Bill Armit, Cathy Hughes, Mandy Berghoef, Correna Wheeler, Adam Dudley and Aaron Davies for the enormous amount of effort, planning and organisation that goes into progressing this work at our school with our school team members. It is an area of need and the responsibility of every staff member to support and work within the culture that promotes learning at our school. Some of the key initiatives that you can now visibly see include the securing of the Breakfast Program initiative and supported play, games and social skilling that is occurring each break at our school.

Breakfast Program initiative has started with a significant amount of support from across our school. It is excellent to see many students using this program and I thank teachers for any feedback around this initiative. There will always be bugs to iron out and the line of sight is that the initiative is to support students to have a great start to the day. If you are able to help us with the Breakfast Program please contact Kate Haines through our front office.

Scripture Union has appointed Chappy Adam who is currently at the Scripture Union Conference and Induction next week. Upon his return the service agreement which largely supports the Tier 1 and 2 systems of PBL will be negotiated and published for our school community. Currently, the work that is being done in this area is supporting students with social skilling, team building and providing a safe environment for students to enjoy at lunch time. We have been trialling this for the past 3 weeks and there has been a significant growth in student numbers interested in being part of these activities.

Thankyou for being part of our school improvement journey – we are a mighty team when we work together for our kids!

Kind regards
Helen McCullough
Principal

SCHOOL OPINIONS SURVEYS

School Opinion Surveys are designed to obtain the views of parents/caregivers, students and school staff from each school on what they do well and how they can improve.

Opinions on the school, student learning, and student wellbeing are sought from a parent/caregiver in all families and a sample of students from each state school.

Opinions on the school as a workplace are sought from all school staff and principals. There are additional questions for teaching staff on their confidence to teach and improve student outcomes. Principals are also asked about their confidence to lead the school and improve student outcomes.

There are five different confidential surveys for:

• parents/caregivers
• students
• students in special schools
• staff
• principal

The suite of 2018 School Opinion Surveys will be open between 30 July and 24 August 2018.

Our school team looks forward to sharing this data through the School Annual Report 2019 and through discussions with staff.

OUR SCHOOL OFFICIAL FACEBOOK PAGE HAS GONE LIVE AND IS DIRECTLY LINKED TO THE SCHOOL WEBSITE AND GENERIC EMAIL ACCOUNTS.

Please like and share our school official Facebook Page – this page is directly managed by our school leadership team and is one of the official channels of communication for parents at our school. Head to our school website where you will see the official feed from Facebook and other handy information (dates and upcoming events, tuckshop, booklists etc).

PBL NEWS

It has been fantastic to see our Willows students wearing their full school uniform with pride. Our focus this fortnight is “Sun safe hats and full school uniform”. A reminder that if your child has lost any items these may be found in the main CPA or TCBC where we have our lost property boxes. At the moment they have a large amount of hats, jumpers and water bottles. Students are well on the way to earning their 75 stars for the mid-term reward.

Keep up the awesome behaviour Willows

TELSTRA DIGITAL FUTURES

SCHOOL OPINION SURVEY

Parents/Caregivers, school staff and a random sample of students are encouraged to have their say in this year’s suite of School Opinion Surveys by providing their opinions about what our school does well and how our school can improve. Each of the online surveys will open until Friday, 24 August 2018.

Access details for the Parent/Caregiver Survey have been sent home with students. The survey can be completed via computers, tablets or smart phones with internet connection.

A random sample of students will be completing the survey over the next couple of week.

Remember your opinion counts.

RESPECT OUR STAFF

RESOLVING ISSUES SCHOOL FACT SHEET

BEFORE SCHOOL PROCEDURES

Before School Routine Changes

All students are seated and supervised in the Main CPA from 8am.

At 8:15 am
Yr 3 – 6 students move to TCBC
Prep – Yr 2 students move to Junior CPA
Please remember your hat every day.

Students will have a quiet activity and the opportunity to have some outside movement time prior to learning.

At 8:45 am All students move to classrooms to commence learning.

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 families 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.

YEAR 5 NEWS

Year 5 Excursion to Charters Towers

Our year 5 students will be investigating the Colonial period in Australia and significant events in this time period, including the Gold Rush. As a culminating activity Year 5 students are doing a day trip to Charters Towers to further their knowledge and understanding of this era, view some of the equipment used and try their luck at gold panning first hand. All year 5 students have received letters home about this.

Activity details:

Date:

TUESDAY 28th of August – 5ASH, 5DIB
WEDNESDAY 29th of August - 5DRA, 5KRO, 5WRT

Departure time: Students need to be at school at 7.00am to prepare for a 7:15am departure on the bus.

Return time: Approximately 3.45pm by bus. Parents/guardians will be required to collect students from the stop drop and go at the front of the school. Messages regarding any changes to return time will be placed on our facebook page (The Willows State School).

What to bring: Students are to pack a small backpack containing:

• Hat and sunscreen
• Water bottle
• Packed morning tea and lunch. Please ensure that this is substantial to meet their active needs.
• Medical needs to be provided to teacher in a zip locked bag with details. Complete form attached.

What students will be doing: Bus travel to and from Charters Towers. Activities including a visit to The Miner’s Cottage & Gold Panning, Venus Battery guided tour and Museum tour. Short walk to some activities.

Cost: $50 which includes: bus travel and tours.

Payment and forms needed to be in by the 7th of August.

Advance Australia Fair Personal Response

YEAR 6 NEWS

Year 6 Camp 2 to Kinchant Dam

Kinchant Outdoor Education Centre is operated by the Department of Education and Training and is located within walking distance of Kinchant Dam, near Mirani, 40km west of Mackay. Our year 6 camp 2 students will be testing it out in Week 7 and staff and students are preparing for the big event. Lots of forms have been sent home and they urgently need to be returned to teachers. More information regarding the camp will be coming out soon. If you have any queries contact Mrs Winter on pwint5@eq.edu.au

Historical inquiry

LIBRARY NEWS

Children’s Book Week/ Month Celebrations - 2018

Children’s Book Week is the longest running children's festival in Australia. The theme is ‘Find Your Treasure’. TWSS book week/month celebrations will commence 18 August and will end on Friday, 21 September.

Book Month Celebrations in the library - 2018

To celebrate ‘Children’s Book Month’ students will read some very special award winning books by Australian authors and nominate their favourites. The winners of each category for 2018 will be on display in the library.

To coincide with these celebrations, students who have borrowed the most library books, throughout the year, in each year level will be presented with a ‘Champion Reader Ribbon’ and a QBD book voucher on assembly. All children will be able to view their borrowing history in the library in week 6.

Author Visit - Children’s Author, Matt Zurbo will be visiting our school (free of charge) in Week 6 to talk to students about ‘writing’ and ‘life as an author’.

Matt Zurbo (author of Lu-Lu's Wish, Fred the Croc, I Love Footy)

Book Week Parade – 21 September. Dress up as your ‘favourite character’
Junior School P-2 Book Week Assembly at TCBC 10am – 11am
Senior School 3-6 Book Week Assembly at TCBC 12noon – 1pm

Happy Reading!
Ms. Platt (Teacher Librarian)

2018 PREMIER’S READING CHALLENGE

In Term 2, 2018 many students at The Willows State School entered into this reading challenge. The students had to read or experience the allocated number of books for their year level as indicated below in the Table.

All participating students recorded their reading progress on a reading record form. These forms must be returned to your child’s classroom teacher by 24 August 2018. The classroom teachers will then pass these forms onto the school co-ordinators. Each child who participates in the Premier’s reading challenge will be awarded a Certificate of Achievement. Certificates of Achievement will be mailed to schools in October. Thank you for supporting your child's reading through this initiative.

P AND C NEWS

Holiday Bonanza Raffle – 25th June to 11th August

The winners will be published in the next newsletter.

Father’s Day Stall

Coming up soon is our Father’s Day Stall, which will run from Monday to Thursday of week 7 (27th to 30th August).

Years Prep to 5 will have allocated class times to visit the stall (but they are welcome to visit in breaks with siblings if they want more time to browse). Year 6 will not have class times, but will be given priority in break time. Please remember Year 6 camp is also that week, so make sure those campers visit either the Monday or Tuesday so they don’t miss out!

An early Happy Father’s Day to our Dads!

P&C Wall

Have you noticed the start of our P&C wall in the main CPA area? The painting has been completed, and the fundraising target sign installed. Soon there will be an information notice board. 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 14th 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!

DEFENCE NEWS

Hello all Defence Families.

It has been great to see that so many defence students have been coming to the defence room at break times to be involved in the activities. We have board games, craft activities, colouring-ins, dress-ups and this week they have made cats eyes with wool. Students have also been bringing a friend to join them and this is an introduction to meeting other students. Please remind students to come to the Defence room in L Pod at break times to say Hi! and meet and play with friends.

Our school has been involved in The Armistice Centenary Art installation. This year will mark 100 years since the signing of the Armistice Treaty. Therefore this project will engage Queenslanders from across the state to be involved in the creation of at least 57 705 poppies, to reflect the same number of selfless Queensland soldiers who enlisted in the First World War. As part of the Armistice Centenary Art installation I have ordered 500 poppies for our staff and students to make. The response has been amazing with the completion of our 500 poppies in less than 3 weeks. These will be sent back to Brisbane and all the poppies will be placed in eight acrylic letters which spell REMEMBER, and will stand three metres high and 16 metres in length. The art installation is due to visit Townsville between 6th October and 11 November 2018. I have requested another 500 poppies for our school. Thank you to all those involved.

TERM 3 DEFENCE MORNING TEA will be held on Monday 10th September from 9-11am in the Defence Room at L Pod. There will be a “Recipe Swap” so make your favourite Morning Tea/ nibbles and bring along the recipe to share. There will also be poppy making if they arrive. All defence families welcome to attend. RSVP on 4799 133 ext 323 or e-mail cwhee36@eq.edu.au. Look forward to seeing you then.

Most of the postings are out, so if you are moving please contact me and the office ASAP. Information regarding students 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 requires 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 intersting 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.

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 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.

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.

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.

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.

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

Dogs Day Out at Rossiter Park on 19th August from 9-11am.

123 Magic and Emotional Coaching Parent Course at Geckos on Lavarack Barracks 3 days, Tues 14th, 21st and 28th August.

SEW in SOS Crafting Retreat on 18/19 August at Geckos, join ladies for a full weekend of workshops and fun activities. Details on Craft @ Geckos facebook page.

DAD & KIDS Night-Friday 31st August 17:30-20:30 at Geckos.

2018 RSL Lavarack Barracks Open day and Trail Run 1st Sept.

Are you looking for a Job? Come and join Employment Pathways Workshops.

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

Correna Wheeler