29 November 2022

Newsletter Articles

Principal’s Pride and Key Messages – Michelle Donn

2022 School Explicit Improvement Agenda (EIA):
Every Student is a Reader and a Writer – Aim for the ‘A’
Inclusivity: Everyone Counts!
Wellbeing and Engagement for All

Dear Parents, Caregivers and Community Members,

Welcome to Week 9 of Term 4! We are certainly on the countdown now with just 7 school days before the end of the 2022 school year. Swimming has now concluded for our Year 2 and Year 4 students, our Willows Warriors have held their Pre-Prep ‘graduation’, our Year 6 students have now participated in their final secondary school transition day and our departing Defence students have participated in a range of farewell activities with Mrs Wheeler. Thank you to our entire student body for your amazing response and generosity to our Student Council ‘Future Self’ Dress-Up day last Friday. A huge amount of donations was acquired to support the Student Council’s chosen charity of Ronald McDonald House.

The next week will continue to be busy with a range of special events such as our Prep-Year 3 Christmas Concert (Friday), Year 6 Graduation, P-2 and Year 3-5 Academic Excellence Awards, and Year 6 Rite of Passage to name but a few. We are encouraging our students to “finish strong.”

GOLD Rewards – Wednesday (30/11), Thursday (02/12) and Friday (03/12)

Students who have not had a ‘Major’ behaviour incident in the 2022 school year have been invited to attend a fun reward session with their peers this week via a letter home.

The timing of these reward sessions is as follows:

Wednesday, 30/11

Morning session: GOLD Star Trivia – Year 4
Middle session: GOLD Star Trivia – Year 3

Thursday, 01/12

Morning session: GOLD Star Bingo – Year 2
Afternoon session: GOLD Star Messy Play – Prep and Year 1

Friday, 02/12

Morning session: GOLD Star Cinema – Year 5 and 6
Year 5 and 6 attendees must be on time to school to ensure they are present to catch the bus.

Prep-Year 3 Christmas Concert

On Friday, 2 December we will be holding a Christmas Concert for students in Prep to Year 3.

The concert will begin at 9:15am in TCBC and parents/caregivers are cordially invited to attend.

Students are invited to come dressed in Christmas themed clothes for the day. We are looking forward to celebrating the festive season with our parent community.

2023 Student Leader Announcements

Student Leader announcements were conducted with Year 5 applicants last Thursday afternoon. The incoming Student Leaders will be formally announced to the student body and school community in a handover ceremony at the conclusion of the Year 3-5 Academic Excellence Awards on Wednesday, 7 December. They will then be officially inducted into their roles during the Investiture Ceremony early in Term 1, 2023. I look forward once again to working with the entire student leadership team and Student Council in 2023 to gain ‘student voice’ into our school direction.

Congratulations to the 2023 Student Leaders:

School Captains: Kiowa Quenault, Alfie Williams
School Vice-Captains: Stephanie Hodgkison, Tye Mooney
Music Captains: Natasha Hall, Olivia Taggart

Thunder Captains: Blake Dowd, Joshua Nagy
Cyclone Captains: Jackson Mulder, Bryella Shields
Lightning Captains: Quinn Bull, Taare Caspani
Heatwave Captains: Vernon Daisy, Lily Sibley-Sampton

Teaching and Learning – Report Cards

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 in Week 10 (Tuesday) to all parent/caregivers recorded as receiving correspondence.

Academic Excellence Awards – Semester 2

The Semester 2 P-2 and Year 3-5 Academic Excellence Awards will be held in Week 10 on Wednesday, 7 December. Parents of student award recipients will receive an invitation to this event. We look forward to seeing as many parents/caregivers attending as possible to acknowledge and celebrate the achievements of their children with us.

The Academic Excellence Awards CRITERIA are as follows:

Bronze Award – 4 or 5 A’s
Silver Award – 6 or 7 A’s
Gold Award – 8 or more A’s
Academic Excellence Medallion – Straight A’s

*Please note Instrumental Music is not counted towards Academic Excellence Awards.

Year 6 Graduation Ceremony, Year 6 Pizza Party, Rite of Passage and End-of-Year Excursion

Notes have been distributed to all Year 6 students regarding arrangements for the Year 6 Graduation Ceremony to be held on Tuesday, 6 December, the Year 6 Pizza Party on Wednesday, 7 December and the Year 6 End-of-Year Excursion and Rite of Passage on Thursday, 8 December. Please contact the school office if your child has not brought home a note as yet or you have any queries about these events.

Reminder: School finishes for the 2022 school year on Friday, 9 December. The school office will re-open on Monday, 16 January, 2023.

2023 Booklists

These have now been made available on the school website and school Facebook page and emailed to each year level to the email addresses recorded in OneSchool for parents and caregivers.

2023 Class Teacher Meet and Greet, Stationery Pack Drop Off

The first day of school for students in 2023 is Monday, 23 January.

Families are most welcome to come into school the previous week on Thursday, 19 January, 2023 between 2:00pm to 3:30pm to locate their child’s 2023 teacher and classroom (lists and maps will be displayed), meet the teacher and drop stationery packs off. This is a great way to remove some of the ‘busy-ness’ and anxiety often associated with the first day of a new school year. It would be appreciated if possible, that families take advantage of the opening of school classrooms.

2023 BYOx Onboarding Sessions (if needed) – Thursday, 19 January 2023

BYOx IT onboarding support: 2:00pm – Year 4
BYOx IT onboarding support: 2:30pm – Year 5
BYOx IT onboarding support: 3:00pm – Year 6

*BYOx program siblings are welcome to attend any session together

Please remember however, as with every year, no class grouping is definitively able to be finalised until after Day 8 when classes may change due to varying enrolment numbers and subsequent staffing allocation adjustments by the Department of Education.

REMINDER: Please collect your child’s medication from school before the end of year

Remember to collect your child’s medication from school before the holidays begin. Advice about storage of medications such as asthma inhalers and adrenaline auto-injectors (for example, EpiPens) is available at the NPS Medicinewise website . Please also check expiry dates before bringing medications back to school after the holidays.

2023 ENROLMENTS – NOW OPEN FOR ALL YEAR LEVELS

Our school is still taking enrolments for the 2023 school year, please get your enrolment forms in as soon as possible. Should you know of friends or family within our enrolment catchment zone looking to join our great school, please inform them that they are also most welcome to contact the school for further information and to obtain an enrolment package.

Our next Bulk P-6 Enrolment Session will be held on Wednesday, January 18, 2023 from 2:30-4:45pm. Appointments can be made through the school office.

Is your Prep-Year 5 student transferring to another school in 2023?

We would appreciate early notice if your child, or children, will be transferring to another school in 2023. Please inform the office by phone on 47 991 333, complete the online survey distributed through Schoolzine or email admin@thewillowsss.eq.edu.au at your earliest convenience.

Help keep a watch on our school these holidays

With the holidays fast approaching, your support in looking out for after-hours crime in our school is appreciated. If you see something suspicious, please don’t attempt to personally intervene. Call School Watch on 13 17 88 and let the local police or State Government Protective Security Service deal with the matter. The School Watch program is a partnership between the Department of Education, the Queensland Police Service and the State Government Protective Security Service which aims to reduce vandalism, theft and arson in Queensland schools.

Thank you for your ongoing positive partnership with us in your child’s education.

Have a wonderful week. Our final newsletter for the 2022 school year will be issued on Wednesday, 7 December.

Warm regards,

Michelle Donn
Principal

General News

PREP – YEAR 3 CHRISTMAS CONCERT

IS YOUR CHILD READY FOR PREP

STUDENT COUNCIL

Upcoming Events

Positive Behaviour Learning

Defence News

HELLO and WELCOME TO ALL DEFENCE FAMILIES

Week 9 and it’s been another busy week. We have been welcoming new families and students who have started at our school this term and who will be attending The Willows next year. Students attending Kids Club have been very busy creating Christmas decorations and cards to take home to their families. On Friday, all Year 6 Defence students were invited to attend a Pizza/Farewell Party. There are always some students who are overwhelmed with moving to high school so it was great to get together and have a chat. Remember to meet your High School DSM and have a chat as this may assist with the transition. I wish them all the very best with their transition and would like to remind them to always be open to change, ask questions, have fun and stay positive at their new school. We will miss them all.

This term, as part of the 2022 DSMP End of Term Reporting, I am required to send home a link for Defence Families. If you wish to complete this survey, please scan the barcode below. Thank you for taking the time to complete as your responses are greatly appreciated.

REMINDER, IF YOU ARE BEING POSTED and will be leaving our school at the end of the year, can you please email me or the office with this information. Postings should have been rolled out by now so most of you will know if you will be moving on. If you have already enrolled at a new school, please let me know and I will contact the DSM to arrange a visit with your new school before arriving. I will also have conversations to assist students with any questions they may have associated with the move. The time leading up to the transition out of one school to another can be challenging and emotional for most students and this may require some time for them to process. Please contact me with any concerns or queries about this process. I have attached very helpful flyers below to assist.

OPEN ARMS has released their timetable of programs for the second half of the year. Attached is a list of all programs available. CONTACT OPEN ARMS on 1800 011 046 for support and to reserve your spot. Open Arms is only a phone call away and available to support children and families.

Reminder to Defence Parents - did you know your child may be eligible for the Education Assistance Support Program? If you have posted into our location in the last 18 months and after your 3-way conversation with the teacher you have found that your student requires tutoring, call the Helpline for details on 1800 624 608, more information below.

Education Assistance is available for students who move to a new school due to a posting. You have 18 months to apply and use the Education Assistance. If you have posted in this year and would like your children to benefit from some extra tutoring, you can do so NOW. Just contact the Defence Member and Family Helpline 1800 624 608 or email education.supportprograms@defence.gov.au for the form. I have copies of the Education Assistance form at school that I can have the teacher sign and return home with students upon request. One hour of tutoring per subject (Maths and English) for up to 14 weeks can be accessed. Reports are no longer required to access this service. Please contact me if you have any further questions about the form. This is a valuable resource to assist students with their learning and therefore assist with their transition into a new school. This builds self-confidence and resilience in children. I am always available to answer any questions about your student’s transition into their new school. You can ring the Defence Family Helpline on 1800 624 608, visit DMFS website or collect the forms from me. For more information go to the link below.

Geckos Family Centre at Lavarack Barracks is OPEN FOR BUSINESS. Weekly groups, school holiday activities and special events are back on again. The playground is also open for families to utilise during hours. Check out their Facebook page to keep up to date with the activities and events held throughout the year 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

DON’T FORGET to Register for DMFS mailing list NOW at MemberandFamilyHelpline@defence.gov.au or follow on Facebook for updates.

DATES TO REMEMBER

RAAF BASE TOWNSVILE CHRISTMAS TREAT – Thursday, 1st December

The Annual RAAF Base Townsville Christmas Treat will be run this year at the Base Gym.

Come and join in the fun as we bring back the celebrations of a RAAF Base Christmas Treat. There will be loads of fun to be had, with rides, face painting, sausage sizzle and drinks with of course a visit from Santa.

Tickets are $10 per child, which cover Santa's gift. Please ensure you detail each child's, age & gender for gift selection.

Where: Base Gym (RAAF Base Townsville)
When: Thursday 1 December 4:00pm -6:00pm
Registration:

2023 RSL QUEENSLAND PARTNER SCHOLARSHIPS - As the partner of a current or former ADF member, you’ve been paramount to your family’s stability. Now it’s time to green light your career aspirations or have the chance to upskill with an RSL Scholarship.

Check DMFS newsletters or Facebook for details of Coffee Connections and upcoming activities.

IMPORTANT CONTACTS

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 also 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

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 hours are Monday to Friday 8:00am-3:30pm. Please phone me anytime for a chat on 4799 1333 ext 323, or email me cwhee36@eq.edu.au . I look forward to meeting you.

Correna Wheeler
Defence School Mentor

MILITARY CHILDREN WILL SAY GOOD-BYE TO MORE SIGNIFICANT PEOPLE BY AGE 18 THAN THE AVERAGE PERSON WILL IN THEIR LIFETIME.