29 March 2023

Newsletter Articles

Principal’s Pride

2023 Annual Implementation Plan (AIP) Focus Areas:
Educational achievement
Wellbeing and engagement
Culture and inclusion

Dear Parents, Caregivers and Community Members,

Welcome back to the final week of Term 1. Students who are well enough to be at school are requested to be in full attendance until the last day of term. School will conclude for Term 1 on Friday, 31st March and re-commence for Term 2 on Monday, 17 April.

Whilst we have been busy this week with the finalisation of learning area unit work, NAPLAN and Student Work at Table planning/moderation meetings, we will also take the time to acknowledge positive student engagement through 75 Star and Silver Star Rewards, engage with our parent community through the Prep and Year 1-2 Easter Parades and celebrate our co-curricular community involvement through the Bill Nettle Rugby League Carnival, the NQ Netball Cup. I am sure all students traveling off-site to represent the school will do so with pride and passion and I look forward to sharing their achievements.

Tuckshop

Easter treats! Available Thursday 30th March.

• Nests $2 (over the counter only)
• Milo mousse $3
• Brownie $3
• Bunny cookie $1
• Cupcakes $2.50

Also available party pack $5.50 (3 x nuggets, 1 x mini sausage roll, 2 x party pies)

Reminder that Tuckshop will be CLOSED for all orders on Friday 31st March. It will be open for first break for over the counter sales of ice blocks and drinks until sold out.

Three Way Conversations

Thank you to all parents who took the opportunity to meet with their child’s teacher/s to discuss their child’s progress during Term 1.  I trust that the opportunity to view your child’s work, portfolios and classroom learning walls provided clarity around the demands of the curriculum and how student progress is monitored and assessed over time. Positive and informed home-school partnerships are essential for success for our students and your ongoing support of your child’s learning journey is much appreciated.

The Townsville Junior Engineering Competition

On Monday, a group of TWSS students participated in an Engineering Competition at Townsville Grammar School. Students had to collaborate to build a marble roller coaster using paper and tape. The students did an amazing job and should be very proud of their efforts. They were critical and creative with their thinking and worked well as a team. Their marble took 15 seconds to reach the bottom using a variety of ways for the marble to travel. A very big thank-you to Mr Menzies for his coordination of this event.

Term 1 Silver Rewards and 75 Star Rewards

As part of our Positive Behaviour for Learning (PBL) Whole School Reward System, at the conclusion of every term a Silver Rewards celebration is held to acknowledge the exemplary behaviour of students. There are clear guidelines around who is eligible to attend these events. Students are ineligible to attend if they have received a ‘Major’ behaviour incident referral at any time during the term.

75 Star Rewards sessions are also held twice per term – at the conclusion of Weeks 5 and 10. To be eligible to attend these, students must have accumulated 75 Stars on their chart – these are provided by teachers for following school rules, expectations and routines.

Lost Property

Please view the lost property box located in the Main CPA if you are looking for your child’s lost items of clothing, lunchboxes or drink bottles. All unclaimed items are disposed of at the end of each term. Ensuring all property brought to school is clearly labelled with your child’s name greatly assists in minimising frustration and expense for you and your family.

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. It aims to reduce vandalism, theft and arson in Queensland schools.

Easter Vacation & Term 2 Date Claimers

I would like to wish all staff, students and our entire The Willows SS community a wonderful Easter vacation. I am sure everyone is looking forward to some well-earned rest and relaxation. Be safe and cherish your time with friends and family. I look forward to seeing everyone back at school happy and healthy on Monday, 17 April for the commencement of what promises to be an action-packed Term 2. Some upcoming events to look forward to include our ANZAC School Assembly on 24/04, ANZAC Day March on 25/04, P&C Mother’s Day Stall 08/05-12/05, an Under 8’s Afternoon on 26/05 and our Inter-House Athletics Carnival on 15/06 to name but a few.

Have a wonderful week – our first newsletter for Term 2 will be issued on Wednesday, 19 April.

Warm regards,
Michelle Donn
Principal

General News

SCHOOL PHOTOS – ONLINE ORDERS CLOSE 3rd APRIL

EASTER BONNET PARADE – PREP, YEAR 1 AND YEAR 2

RACQ STREETS AHEAD

This term, the RACQ Streets Ahead road safety program is being delivered to our Prep to Year 6 students focusing on pedestrian, passenger and riding safety. Resource Packs with age- appropriate activities and videos demonstrating strategies are available from the link below. These will assist you to continue to teach road safety, implement the strategies your child/ren have learnt and apply them to your everyday lives.

ANZAC DAY CELEBRATIONS

The Willows State School leaders welcome you to our special Commemorative Anzac Day Ceremony this Monday, 24th April at 9.30am in TCBC to honour those men and women who fought and died for Australia.

Upcoming Events

Year Level Parade Times

Permission Forms

YEAR 6 CAMP

Positive Behaviour Learning

Defence News

HELLO AND WELCOME TO ALL DEFENCE FAMILIES

Week 10 is almost over and it’s nearly the start of holidays. Wishing everyone a fun, fabulous and safe holidays.

Students have been busy creating Easter crafts this week at Kids Club. The colouring in competition is completed and students have been notified. Thank you to everyone who participated.

Anzac Day is in Week 2 of Term 2 and we will be having our ceremony at school on Monday 24th April. I look forward to seeing you there.

Every child has to come to school every day, this is a requirement for their learning. Being at school is important for your child’s education and it is where they learn and play with their peers which is part of their social and emotional learning. A Rewards Chart is a great strategy to put in place. The aim would be to come to school for five days in a row and when this happens they receive something that you both have agreed on. I have attached a sample Rewards Chart below to copy and adjust to suit. Give it a go. Be positive, keep routine, give them a hug (then leave), wish them a wonderful day and let them know you’ll see them in the afternoon. If you have any worries, please call me 4799 1333 or e-mail cwhee36@eq.edu.au.

The Defence Room in L Pod is open Monday to Friday both breaks. Please remind students to visit for a chat, play games, make craft or visit with a friend.

If you have posted into location in the last 18mths you can still access Education Assistance Scheme. This is available for all school aged children who may require support in Maths and English. Contact the Helpline on 1800 624 608 for all details on how to apply. Just complete the form online and send an email to the teacher. With approval, your child can have access to 14 hrs of tutoring for both Maths and English through a private tutor. You can also contact me with any questions. See attached flyer for details.

Defence members are always busy with going on exercises or training for an extended period of time, please contact me so I can support your child while they are at school or call me for a chat.

Open Arms has released their Group Programs for January to July, so check out their website at OpenArms.gov.au for all the details.

Kookaburra Kids is in Townsville - this organisation supports kids living in families that are affected by mental illness. They hold activities and camps for children which are all FREE. Magnetic Island camp is organised for March and Ice-Skating in April. For more details on activities contact Hannah Galliner on 0484 544 451 or check out the website www.kookaburrakids.org.au

For what’s coming up - DON’T FORGET to Register NOW to receive a newsletter and updates at dmfs.townsville@defence.gov.au or follow them on Facebook.

Geckos Family Centre-North Queensland is at Lavarack Barracks and is open to drop in. They have weekly events on, a huge brand-new playground area outside, stop in and meet the friendly staff for a chat and a cuppa. School holidays are coming up so contact Geckos for activities that are on during this time. 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. See flyer below for details.

TO BE UP TO DATE WITH WHATS ON IN TOWNSVILLE CHECK whatson.townsville.qld.gov.au

DATES TO REMEMBER

STEPPING OUT 2 DAY PROGRAM FOR ADF MEMBERS AND PARTNERS WHO ARE ABOUT TO TRANSITION OR HAVE RECENTLY SEPARATED FROM MILITARY. CONTACT OPEN ARMS 1800 011 046

ANZAC DAY SCHOOL CEREMONY - Monday 24th April in TCBC.
ANZAC DAY THURINGOWA MARCH - Tuesday 25th April.

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

HAPPY EASTER TO EVERYONE – ENJOY THE HOLIDAYS!

Music News (The Pitch)

Willows Warriors News

Prep News

It’s been a very busy time in Prep over the last few weeks. The children continue to work hard on being safe, respectful and responsible and are building up their 75 Stars for the Reward Picnic in Week 10. All the children that have not received a Major in their behaviour will be joining in on an Easter Hunt.

English

Our Prep’s are really focusing on reading and writing words with the sounds s, a, t, p, i and n in them. We are also working on retelling our favourite stories and talking about our likes, dislikes and connections to the text. Acting out the stories has been lots of fun.

Technology is being used more and last week Prep Rabbitt were taking photos of their stories, drawing pictures and writing letters on the iPads.

PREP VISION SCREENING

Year One News

This week in Year 1, students have been busy practising editing our work and adding capital letters and full stops in our writing. Many students have proudly shared their edited work with the whole class, by putting it on the projector and reading their writing.

We have also enjoyed some hands-on graphing practice, using skittles and counters to represent data.

Our Year One students have been very excited to create their beautiful Easter bonnets for the Easter bonnet parade this Friday. They have also enjoyed being creative and turning some plain, brown paper bags into colourful snack bags for the Teddy Bear Picnic this Wednesday.

Year Two News

This week in Year 2, the students participated in creating lunchboxes for our Science assessment. Students used multiple materials and combined them together to use for different purposes. Students then placed a sandwich and orange in their lunchboxes to test the strength. Water was sprayed on their lunchboxes to test if they were waterproof.

In English this term, students in Year 2 innovated on a poem and are now practising their poems by using iPads. Students are working on eye contact, actions, and varying their tone when presenting.

Year Three News

In Year 3, we have been hoping for a sunny day amongst all this rain so that we can learn about what effect the position of the sun has on shadows. 3F and 3D finally managed to get outside this week to look at our changing shadows, learning that they are quite small around the middle of the day when the sun is above us.

For Maths, classes have been learning about how to use location and direction to create a game. We have been playing coordinates activities with partners in preparation for this.

As we near the end of the term, it is time for us to celebrate our amazing behaviour in Year 3. On Thursday, we have our Silver Star Rewards and our 75 Star Rewards on Friday. Congratulations to everyone who made it.

Happy holidays from all of the Year 3’s.

Year Four News

This term in Maths, 4A have looked at the guided inquiry, Investigating the nature of 10 000. ‘How much is 10 000?’

Students in 4A used MAB’s, unifex cubes, money and paddle pop sticks to investigate how big 10 000 actually is.

We also used the following focus to guide the inquiry

Year Five News

This term in HASS the Year 5 students have been learning about two other countries in the world, Sweden and Mexico. We have spent time identifying the global location of these places in consideration to Australia on a map of the world. They have analysed temperature and rainfall data as well as having to research the environmental and human characteristics of these places. For their final task, we had to look over all our information and then choose which country we would prefer to live in. The students had to persuade why they prefer one over the other, below are some student samples.

Year Six News

We are at the tail end of Term 1 and assessment is in full swing for Year 6. Students are doing a great job making sure assessments are getting done. In Maths, students are undertaking a Guided Inquiry to see how many chairs ‘best fit’ into the TCBC for a concert. In HASS we are continuing with roles and responsibilities of each of the three levels of government in Australia and putting forward a new public holiday recommendation to be passed through parliament (our classroom). We have also started a fortnightly Year 6 cohort Friday afternoon sports – Class Vs Class, which the students enjoyed thoroughly.

Community News

TOWNSVILLE CITY COUNCIL – SCHOOL HOLIDAY GUIDE

IT'S HERE!
Townsville City Council’s
School Holiday Guide: Easter Edition 2023!

For an action-packed, fun-filled Easter break, check out Council’s school holiday guide filled with a variety of low/no cost activities that will keep the kids happy and won’t break the bank.

Download your free copy of the guide today!