15 February 2023

Newsletter Articles

Principal’s Pride

Dear Parents, Caregivers and Community Members,

Welcome to Week 4 of our 10-week teaching and learning Term 1. Over the past week our Student Council conducted their first meeting for the year focussing on their roles and responsibilities and fundraising plans for their chosen charity, Ronald McDonald House. We all continue to work on our PBL focus of being successful in the playground this week and I look forward to our Parent Volunteer Induction Program on Thursday morning.

2023 Student Leader Investiture Ceremony

It was an absolute pleasure to celebrate the investiture of our 2023 Student Leaders and Year 4 and 5 Student Council representatives with their family members and all Year 3-6 students last Friday. I am sure these young leaders will represent our school with pride across 2023. A very big thank-you to all staff who contributed to the success of this event.

Powerful Questions to get to Know Learners and Learning – based on the research of Lyn Sharratt

Five Questions Teachers can ask their students:

1. What are you learning?
2. How are you doing?
3. How do you know?
4. How can you improve?
5. Where do you go for help?

Parents are our learners first teachers. We recognise how hugely influential parents can be in the learning for, with, and beside each student. As positive home-school partnerships contribute to successful learning outcomes for students, a set of 5 Questions for Parents has also been developed. You may like to reflect upon these:

Five Questions Parents can ask their children:

1. What did you learn today?
2. How did you do?
3. What did you do if you didn’t understand?
4. How can you improve on your learning?
5. What are you most proud of?

Why not try out these questions with your students when discussing their day at school? I look forward to hearing some feedback about your students’ responses.

Facilities Update

Higgins Contractors will continue to be on site finalising the external painting of Pods A, B, C and G over coming weeks. These are the only pods/buildings scheduled for painting in this particular additional round of Refresh Program funding.

Assistant Regional Director Term 1 Visit

It was an absolute pleasure to showcase the wonderful teaching and learning occurring across the school with Mrs Suzanne Currin last Thursday. Mrs Currin spent some time viewing the systematic teaching of synthetic phonics in Year 1, visited a number of our BYOx classrooms across Years 4-6 and examined English student work samples with Year 6 teachers at their weekly ‘Student Work at Table’ (SWAT) session. Mrs Currin also worked with the leadership team around DoE Equity and Excellence strategic priorities and provided feedback upon both the school’s 2023 Annual Implementation Plan and more detailed focus area inquiry cycles.

NAPLAN Online Practice Testing for Year 3 and 5 – CONDUCTED THIS WEEK

This week our Year 3 and 5 students have been participating in NAPLAN Online Practice Testing. This is an excellent opportunity to fine tune any technical and logistical needs, as well as familiarise students and teachers with the online testing process. Student data is de-identified and will not be collected or monitored throughout these tests.

Parents and caregivers of children in these NAPLAN year levels need to be aware of important information relating to privacy, which can be found on the NAPLAN Online Queensland website’s parent information page .

Parents and caregivers are encouraged to visit the NAPLAN Online Public Demonstration site from the link below to view models of the online testing and provide students with further opportunities to interact with the platform.

For further information regarding NAPLAN Online, including privacy statements, please visit the link below for more information.

REMINDER: P&C Meeting

The first P&C Meeting for 2023 will be held NEXT Tuesday, 21 February. Meetings are held on the third Tuesday of each month at 6:00pm in the TCBC Conference Room. All parents are most welcome to attend. Your support is vital to ensure fundraising initiatives can occur. The P&C is also a forum in which you can contribute ideas to the enhancement of the school.

All executive positions will be declared vacant at the P&C AGM to be held on Tuesday, 21 March.

Containers for Change information – support our school!

If you are an avid recycler you may like to donate your funds raised to our school!
Did you know that The Willows SS has its own Scheme ID coordinated by our P&C? Our Scheme ID is C10185045 and all donations are greatly appreciated.

To find out more about the scheme visit the link below or get the Containers

For Change Qld app

Student Absences – Every Day Counts!

School attendance is compulsory under the Education Act. If children are going to be absent from school for any reason parents are requested to inform the school by phoning 4799 1366 (Student Absence Line), phoning the office on 4799 1333 or emailing admin@thewillowsss.eq.edu.au. If your child is absent from school on any given day and we are unaware of the reason for the absence an SMS will be generated asking you to contact the school regarding your child’s absence. Our whole school attendance rate is still sitting at just under 94%YTD.

Have a wonderful week – our next newsletter will be issued on Wednesday, 22 February.

Warm regards,
Michelle Donn
Principal

General News

SCHOOL DENTAL VAN

Dental forms have been sent home with each student in Prep.

If you are new to our school and would like the opportunity to go to the School Dental Van, forms are available from the office.

The Offer of Dental Treatment is not compulsory and is an individual decision for each parent.

If you would like to access this service, please do so as soon as possible.

*Please note that the school dental van will be moving on to another school on Thursday the 23rd February, 2023.

Upcoming Events

Year Level Parade Times

Positive Behaviour Learning

Permission Forms

LIFE EDUCATION

HANDS ON WILDLIFE – YEAR 5 ONLY

PREP HANDWRITING BOOKS

Defence News

HELLO AND WELCOME TO ALL DEFENCE FAMILIES

I hope you all had a lovely Valentine’s Day. It was great to meet and chat with new parents last week at our first Morning Tea. If you missed it I hope to see you at the next one.

Last Saturday I attended the Welcome to Townsville Expo at Murray Stadium as part of the DSM display. I was fortunate to meet and talk with many new and returning families to our wonderful city. There were lots of community exhibits to see and lots of freebies for everyone to take home. It was an awesome morning. If you were unable to make this event and have some questions about your new city, please contact me or you can contact the DMFS office for more information.

Last Friday at second break, I held our Welcome to New Defence Students Party in the Defence room. We all had party food and cake. There were many new students from Prep to Year 6 who attended. I want to say a BIG Thank You to the Year 6 helpers Celeste, Charlotte, Myla, Summer, Sophia, Victoria and Max who collected the students from class and returned them when it was over. These students did a wonderful job supporting all the new students, I’m very proud of you all.

Please remind students Kids Club/Defence Room is open every break for them to visit and have fun. Settling into a new school can take time and perseverance, but it will happen. Call me 4799 1333, e-mail cwhee36@eq.edu.au or you are welcome to drop by my room in L Pod for a chat, Monday to Friday.

Education Support Program is also available to new Defence students. The aim is to provide the student with limited interim assistance to help overcome any immediate difficulties with their education as a result of posting. Read DMFS education support flyer below for details on how to apply or call 1800 624 608 now.

DON’T FORGET to Register NOW to receive newsletter and updates at dmfs.townsville@defence.gov.au or follow them on Facebook for events, morning teas and social gatherings for Defence families.

If you have posted into Townsville this year or in the last 18 months, your children may be illegible for Education Assistance. This 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 more detail on how to apply. This is a valuable resource to assist students with their learning and therefore assist with their transition into a new school. This extra support can build a child’s self-confidence and resilience in their daily life.

Geckos Family Centre-North Queensland is at Lavarack Barracks and is officially open to drop in. They have weekly events and a huge, brand-new playground area outside. Stop in and meet the friendly staff for a chat and a cuppa. Follow them on Facebook 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

DATES TO REMEMBER

COFFEE CONNECTIONS is held each month in Townsville. This event is organised by DMFS. Follow them on Facebook for more details on how to register.

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 – office is at the Nathan Business Centre or 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 is currently under renovation

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

RANDOM ACTS OF KINDNESS DAY IS FRIDAY 17TH FEBRUARY. BE RANDOM AND BE KIND TO EVERYONE.

Music News (The Pitch)

Willows Warriors News

Prep News

It has been a very busy week in Prep. The Preppies are very settled now they are familiar with routines and expectations in the classroom and we are seeing some great learning across all subject areas.

In English, we have been learning how to retell parts of a story as we get ready to present to our friends. We have taken part in whole class and small group discussions around the book ‘Clancy and Millie and the very fine house’ and have started learning about how to be a confident speaker.

We have also enjoyed exploring phonics work as we start to stretch sounds and put them back together to create words.

Year One News

The Year 1 students have been focusing on teen numbers in Maths. We have been very busy learning about tens and ones and how we can display our teen number in multiple ways. We have also been practising counting to and from 100 and skip counting by 2’s.

Science this term has been very interesting! We have been learning about healthy habitats for our animals. We have spent a lot of time looking at different habitats and how it meets their 5 needs (water, air, warmth, shelter, food).

Year Two News

This term in Year 2 in Maths, we have been surveying our class mates. We have been asking our friends questions and collecting data. Our data was then created into a picture graph and we answered questions about the collected data.

Year Three News

This term Year 3 are learning about Spinning Earth. We are investigating shadows and how they change over the day, how day and night occur and drawing detailed scientific diagrams to show this. Did you know that all our planets can fit into the sun over 600 times?

Year Four News

This term in Science, Year 4 will be investigating Soil Erosion. So far we have looked closely at the composition of soil through some hands on experiments, such as shaking, squeezing and magnifying.

After this we are going to move on to investigating Weathering, which is a process that occurs as part of the rock cycle. By the end of this week students will know the distinct difference between Erosion and Weathering.

Year Five News

This week we have been finishing off part 1 of Forests of Silence, which is leading to our first task, writing a persuasive paragraph to argue Jarred’s choices as a main character. Our classes have spent time using a graphic organiser to break down Jarred’s dilemma and options. With the knowledge of Jarred’s personality traits, students identified consequences for his choices. As a preparation writing sample for NAPLAN, students use this task to persuade their audience of this main character’s actions.

Year Six News

Year 6 have had an extremely busy start to their final year of school.

Our leaders have been lucky enough to be awarded their badges and will wear them with pride for the responsibilities that they have taken on. We would like to thank the other students who applied but were not successful. You are all leaders in our eyes.

In the classroom we have worked hard across all curriculum areas. 6B have made a fantastic start to our ‘Short Story’ writing this week with a focus on writing an exciting opening that grab’s the audience’s attention. Below are two exceptional sizzling starts completed this week. Keep up the great work!

Community News

CERTIFICATE III IN INDIVIDUAL SUPPORT

KIRWAN SHS – INTERNATIONAL HOMESTAY PROVIDER