14 July 2021

Newsletter Articles

PRINCIPAL’S REPORT

Dear Parents, Caregivers and Community Members,

A warm welcome back to Term 3 for our staff, students and parent community. Whilst the temperature outside may be a little cool it is wonderful to see so many happy, relaxed faces back at school ready to embark upon a new term of learning. Thank you for your support in adhering to the additional local restrictions regarding mask-wearing and social distancing put in place by the Queensland Government until Friday at this stage.

I have very much enjoyed my first few days at The Willows SS getting to know staff, students and school routines. Thank you to all for being so welcoming. There are many wonderful practices occurring at The Willows SS and I look forward to continuing to progress the school’s explicit improvement agenda priorities across Term 3.

Our Assistant Regional Director, Mrs Lesley Pecchiar, will next visit our school on 4 August to discuss the school’s ongoing progress towards our Annual Implementation Plan (AIP) and Investing for Success (I4S) goals and view the implementation of these in classrooms with teachers and students.

HR Update

Congratulations to Mrs Cate Bridson on being successful in attaining an A/Head of Special Education Services role at Bohlevale State School during Term 3. We will certainly miss her at The Willows SS and wish her all the very best in her new role.

2020 The Willows SS School Annual Report – available for viewing

Each year by June 30, schools are required to publish a ‘School Annual Report’ listing the major school achievements for the previous year. This is to be made available for viewing from the school website and via a direct link in the school’s newsletter by the end of term.

Please click on the following link to view:

NAIDOC Celebrations

In 2021 the NAIDOC theme is Heal Country. This theme invites the nation to embrace First Nations’ cultural knowledge and understanding of Country as part of Australia's national heritage and equally respect the culture and values of Aboriginal peoples and Torres Strait Islanders, as they do the cultures and values of all Australians.

At The Willows State School, our students are acknowledging NAIDOC Week THIS WEEK – 12-16 July.

Our students have a variety of class activities to participate in throughout the week. They each have a picture to colour entitled ‘Care for Country’ by the artist Maggie-Jean Douglas. They will engage with stories about connection to Country, complete art utilising traditional symbols and learn about what caring for Country means. Classes will have the opportunity to view a story reading of a local yarn, ‘My mob going to the beach’ written by Sylvia Emmerton and Jaquanna Elliott, read by Mrs Cathy Hughes.

We are also holding a small poster competition where students can read the story ‘My Country’ by Ezekiel Kwaymullina and create their own Heal Country poster showing their connection to Country.

On Friday 16 July, students are able to wear an Indigenous shirt or a shirt that has colours connected to their culture. All clothing worn must be sun safe and appropriate for school.

We look forward to sharing photos of our students engaged in their NAIDOC activities across the week with our school community via our school facebook page and upcoming newsletter.

Academic Reporting

We are very proud of the success of our wonderful students here at The Willows State School. Academic reports were sent home via email recently and we are celebrating the amazing levels of success our students have worked hard to achieve in Semester 1. For students who do not have parent emails recorded, paper copies were provided on the last day of school.

If you have not yet received your student’s academic report, please look through your email (including the Junk and SPAM folders) for an email from the email address below:

Application.ONESCHOOL@dete.qld.gov.au

2021 School Opinion Survey – Parents/Caregivers

This year the Department of Education is running the state-wide School Opinion Survey process for staff, students and parents/caregivers differently. Please take some time to participate in this process. I have included some information below for your reference:

• Families with one or more enrolled children at our school will receive one invitation to complete the survey. The parent/caregiver to receive the invitation is selected based on information and email address in OneSchool.
• Participation is by invitation only. There is no generic survey link that can be used by all parents. Each link is unique and can only be used once by the parent. One parent per family will receive the survey link via email.
• Parent survey invitations will be sent over a number of days in the week beginning 5 July. The survey will close on 30 July. The survey can be completed as soon as the invitation has been received - you do not need to wait until the official open date of 15 July.
• The survey invitation email uses the subject line: School Opinion Survey of parents, 2021; parents should check junk email folders if it can’t be found.

State-wide Student Free Day – Friday, 3 September (Week 8)

The Student Free Day (SFD) usually scheduled for Monday of Week 3, Term 4 has been moved from 2020 onwards to the Friday of Week 8, Term 3. This year the date is 03/09/2020. Please note this date in your calendars – there will be no school for students on this day.

Term 3 Calendar

Please view the calendar date claimers included within this newsletter for upcoming dates of significance for your children. Additional information/permission notes will be distributed to relevant student groups regarding specific events. Please ensure you adhere to all payment and/or permission deadlines to avoid disappointment for your child.

Warm regards,

Michelle Donn
A/Principal

GENERAL NEWS

QUEENSLAND POLICE ANNOUNCEMENT

The Laurie Spina Shield Rugby League Carnival is being conducted at Townsville Brothers (Golf Links Drive, Kirwan) commencing this Friday 16th July. The carnival involves children and families travelling to Townsville from all over the state. As such there will be 72 teams competing in the carnival which leads to an estimated 1200 vehicles looking to get to the grounds on Friday morning between 07.00am and 09.00am.

Queensland Police have asked us to pass this information on as they are expecting that this will cause traffic congestion and they have asked our school families to possibly seek an alternated routed to school on this morning. Avoidance of Golf Links Drive will assist all involved. Queensland Police will be on site to assist with the volume of traffic expected.

WILLOWS WARRIORS

UPCOMING EVENTS

Year Level Parades

Prep – Mondays 8.45am in Junior CPA
Year 1 – Mondays 8.45am in Junior CPA
Year 2 – Tuesdays 8.45am in Junior CPA
Year 3 – Tuesdays 2.40pm in Multi-Purpose Learning Centre
Year 4 – Mondays 2.40pm in Main CPA
Year 5 – Mondays 2.40am in Multi-Purpose Learning Centre
Year 6 – Tuesdays 8.45pm in Multi-Purpose Learning Centre

Parents/Guardians are most welcome to attend.

Defence News

HELLO ALL DEFENCE FAMILIES

WELCOME BACK TO TERM 3. Hope all families had a fun, relaxing break and not all your plans were changed due to restrictions and lockdowns. I had an amazing break exploring Birdsville, The Simpson Desert, Uluru, a quick visit to Alice Springs, Longreach and then home. The outback is so wonderful with many beautiful things to see and do. A must for the bucket list.

Quick Update - Defence Afternoon Tea will be held at school on Friday 30th July at 2:00pm with an Open Arms representative present to discuss their services which are available to all veterans and families to access. All parents and caregivers are invited to attend. Please email me on cwhee36@eq.edu.au or call me to register for this event. I look forward to seeing you there.

REMEMBER OPEN ARMS is available to YOU and your family - Veterans and Families Counselling provides 24 hr support and confidential counselling, group programs and suicide prevention training. Former and current serving ADF personal and their families can use the service. Call 1800 011 046 for more information. A current flyer with friendly courses available is attached.

DCO is now DFMS (Defence Families and Family Support) Townsville office call on 07 4430 3879. Online you can find them at the link below or on Facebook @ Defence Member Family Support. Defence Member and Family Helpline is 1800 624 608. Defence Social Workers are available for you to access at DFMS office. Appointment required.

POSTINGS are starting to be released to members and families. If you are moving on this year please let me know so I can assist and support with preparing students with their transition to a new school.

Geckos Family Centre at Lavarack Barracks is a tri-service facility providing services, support and activities to enhance family resilience in the North Queensland Defence Community. Geckos offers a range of formal and informal activities catering to Defence members, partners and families such as playgroups, parent groups, boot camps, yoga, and sewing group. Check out their Facebook page to keep up to date with the activities and events held throughout the year. Check availability due to exercise.

Please remember to sign up to the mailing list for what’s happening for defence families at dfms.townsville@defence.gov.au or to register collect a sheet from me.

EVENTS TO REMEMBER

WEDNESDAY 31ST July Wellbeing Wednesday - ADF partners in Townsville are invited to ‘bring mindfulness to life’ with our next Wellbeing Wednesday session. Take the opportunity to connect with other Defence partners in a relaxed atmosphere, and explore ways to incorporate self-care and self-reflection into your day to day life. Must register at Eventbrite.

This is a free event and light refreshments will be provided.

Where: DMFS Office, Nathan St Aitkenvale
When: 5.30pm – 7.30pm, Wednesday July 21

TO BE UP TO DATE WITH WHATS ON IN TOWNSVILLE CHECK

Follow on Facebook or call 07 4411 7031.

DON’T FORGET to Register for DCO mailing list NOW at dco.townsville@defence.gov.au

Defence Family Helpline 24/7 1800 624 608

Open Arms call 1800 011 046

Mates4Mates – Email: townsville@mates4mates.org or call the Townsville FRC on 4771 9600

DFA (Defence Families of Australia) nth.qld@dfa.org.au

Geckos Family Centre-Nth Qld Lavarack Barracks Contact for enquiries on 4411 7031

Kookaburra Kids Tvl-Louisa Calvert 1300 566 525/0410 896 923

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

My hours are Monday to Friday 8:00am-3:30pm, phone me anytime for a chat on 4799 1333 ext 323, or e-mail me cwhee36@eq.edu.au

School is full of learning and FUN for all students when they stay positive. They also develop RESILIENCE SKILLS AND FRIENDSHIPS.

Correna Wheeler
Defence School Mentor

TRUE FRIENDSHIP ISN’T BEING INSEPARABLE, IT’S BEING SEPARATED AND NOTHING CHANGES.

PREP NEWS

100 DAYS OF PREP – PREP (ONLY) DRESS UP