TERM 1 WEEK 8

Principal's Message

Hello families

STRATEGIC PLAN 2024 – 2027: Following our School Review last year, we have been working on our next four-year strategic plan, based around the improvement strategies outlined in the school review report. These improvement strategies have informed three key priorities:
1.    Our school connects with all community partners to support student engagement, wellbeing and learning.
2.    Our school prioritises consistent effective evidence-based pedagogies, that meet the diverse learning needs of all students.
3.    Quality Implementation of the Australian Curriculum V9.0
Our strategic plan was presented to our Community Reference Group at their meeting this week and will be published on our school website once it’s been endorsed by our school supervisor. The strategic plan also informs our Annual Implementation Plan which outlines the specific actions and measurable outcomes for 2024. We are excited to continue to build on our school improvement journey and welcome parent input and feedback via our Community Reference Group or by making an appointment to see me. 

NAPLAN: Children in year three and five have been participating in NAPLAN tests this week. NAPLAN is a literacy & numeracy test administered in all schools across Australia. I acknowledge the work of our school staff for preparing our students for NAPLAN and to our Head of Curriculum, Mrs Bray for all the hard work behind the scenes to ensure our school is prepared to administer the test.

HEATING CHILDREN’S LUNCHES: Unfortunately, our school is unable to heat lunches for children. This poses a safety risk and is also not practical for school staff to be managing the heating of multiple student lunches each day. Hot food can be purchased from our school tuckshop. 

SCHOOL HOURS: At Cairns West, school hours are 8:30am - 2:30pm each day. Supervision is provided from 8:00am until 3:00pm. Our school cannot guarantee the safety of children outside of these hours and we appreciate parent support ensuring all children are collected from school by 3:00pm each day.

HARMONY DAY: Next week is Harmony Week (Mar 18th – 24th) and this year’s theme is `Everyone Belongs’. This is an important event at Cairns West as we have such a multicultural student population and we look forward to celebrating Harmony Day next Thursday, Mar 21st. Thank you to staff, parents & students who have supported the preparation of this important day. A couple of highlights will be the `Taste of Harmony’ lunch with some international cuisine on show and Thursday afternoon’s assembly will be a celebration of Harmony with cultural dance and tradition dress on display. We look forward to this important celebration. 

NRL Development Cup: It’s great to have the rugby league season back in our lives and our year five and six students have been in great form in the Thursday afternoon competition. We look forward the Gala Day on 26 March at Jones Park, Mann Street. Thank you to Mr Pudovskis for supporting our students to access this important sport.

Yours in Education, Jason Evert

Deputy Principal - Teaching & Learning

Hello CWSS community,

This week many of our Year 3 and Year 5 students will have commenced NAPLAN – national assessment program literacy and numeracy. NAPLAN tests students’ skills in reading, writing and maths. NAPLAN shows how students are going all over Australia.

NAPLAN is just one aspect of a school’s assessment and reporting process. It doesn’t replace ongoing assessments made by teachers about student performance, but it can provide teachers with additional information about students’ educational progress. It is important to remind students it is one test, at one point in time and all we expect from the students is that they try their best!

As we approach the end of term most classes will be completing end of term assessments to assist teachers to establish and understand where learners are, in an aspect of their learning at the time of assessment. Knowing each student’s learning progress is essential to making sure they are on track for positive educational outcomes. Our common goal as outlined by the Department’s Excellence and equity policy is that every student achieves at least one year of learning growth each year.

Assessment for improved student learning and deep understanding requires a range of assessment practices to be used with three overarching purposes:

Before the end of term, teachers across year levels will engage in whole school moderation processes where they meet to review student assessment from Term 1 English. At this meeting teachers analyse the evidence of student learning against the relevant achievement standards to ensure consistent and accurate teacher judgments.

You are always welcome to speak to your child’s teacher about how your child is progressing with their learning at school. Next term we will hold our 3 way strong (child, parent, teacher) 3 way interviews, which is an excellent opportunity to meet with your child’s teacher and discuss your child’s strengths and next steps for learning improvement. I look forward to seeing you at CWSS at the many community events (Cross country, Harmony Day, Prep celebration of learning) happening before the end of term!

Thank you for being a partner in your child's learning journey.

Megan Mitchell
Deputy Principal Teaching and Learning

Deputy Principal - Student Services

Hello Cairns West Families,

Thank you to all of the families who 'Try 4 5' every week and get their children to school.  School is a compulsory part of growing up and the staff here at Cairns West go above and beyond to ensure all students are supported at school.  We want to see every child every day and if you are needing support, please contact the school and talk to Mrs Lawton, Mrs Hughes or anyone in the Student Services team.

It's week 8 and we only have a few weeks before the Easter holiday break.  Lets make everyday count until then!

Cross Country next week is gearing up to be a great day!  Our amazing year 6 biz studies students will be around selling items to raise money for their end of year celebration so be sure to bring your spare change.  More information to come, but may the best team win!

Next week is Harmony week and we have an action packed schedule.  The student Cultural Advisory Group will be running activities throughout the week at lunch times for students. Harmony day will be celebrated on Thursday 21^st March 2024 and celebrations will start at 12noon with 'A Taste of Harmony' on the oval (weather permitting).  Students will bring their lunches down to the oval and eat with their families and friends.  Ms Annie is working with some lovely families to cook some traditional food to be shared and Chappy Esther is organising cultural dance groups to perform in the afternoon.  Safer Streets have donated the Mission Australia coffee van so there will be free coffee for parents.     During the lunch break there will be a soccer competition between some fiercely competitive agencies and we hope a parent team will join in!

ALL families are welcome to attend and we hope you come and help celebrate our culturally rich community.

Our Community Representative Group has had a great start to the year and we have big ideas planned.  If you are interested in being a part of this group and helping to share voice of the community, please connect with Ms Annie in the community room. 

Take care of yourself and each other

Hayley Lawton - Deputy Principal Student Services

🤩Celebrating Student Achievements😍

Weeks 5 - week 6 (photos unavailable)

Weeks 7 & 8

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CWSS Photo Day - Tuesday 30 April 2024

Next term (term 2) we will have our school photo day on TUESDAY 30 APRIL 2024.  If you are wanting to order a photo you can do this by going on to the AdvancedLife web site and entering the school code:             KZG 4FH YKN.

Next week we will have available cash order envelopes (correct change thank you) for your convenience.  All correspondence is to be through the photography company, ADVANCEDLIFE phone number is          (07) 3414 5167.

There will be more information as the day gets closer.

Clean -Up Australia Day

CWSS volunteers had a great time making the school a tidier place on Sunday the 3^rd of March. Picking up 1.75 kilograms of rubbish each, our small cleaning crew picked up hundreds of popper straw covers as well as dozens upon dozens of small corners of plastic packets. Everyone was proud to have prevented this plastic from entering Cairns waterways.

Volunteer students and teachers cleaning up our school

Leadership Camp at HBEEC - 2024

On Monday and Tuesday 19-20 February, the school leaders and Mrs Thompson attended a Leadership Camp at Holloways Beach Environmental Education Centre. There were school leaders from a total of 10 schools in attendance from as far south as Cardwell.

Jackson, Louange, Telesia and Whitney built their confidence while participating in team building and initiative building activities, public speaking sessions, leadership activities, organising action plans for our school and the environment and other fun activities. They had plenty of opportunities to test themselves and their abilities.

Cairns West is very proud of these four young leaders.

Mrs Thompson - Co ordinator

JCU dentist visit to the prep,year 1 & 2's

JCU Dental students are visiting our prep, year 1 and 2 classes to teach the children about dental care.  The children are learning how to clean their teeth, how oftern they should clean and what food is good for strong healthy teeth. 

Best of all, the children are learning that dentists are kind and friendly people and are their friends.

Jenney Nui  -  

Cross Country Carnival-20 March 2024

Cairns West SS Cross Country  -  2024

The school Cross Country carnival will be held on Wednesday 20 March 2024. Children in Prep-3 will run a short course on the back oval whilst the senior students will run both inside and outside the school grounds. It is expected that all students participate in this healthy event.

Students in years 4-6 who arrive after 8.45am are to present to the Late School window and have their attendance marked and to collect their year of birth wrist band.

Students in years P-3 follow the usual late to school process

Necessary details are as follows:

What to wear- Hats (must), Sports shirts, joggers/runners (must)

What to bring- Drink bottle, Asthma puffers- must be carried whilst running.  (If required)

If your child is unsure which house team, they are in please see Mr Pudovskis.

Important information

All competitors will receive an icy stick.

Age champion medals will be presented to race winners in the 9, 10, 11 and 12yrs age groups.

Timetable of Events

8.50am                  Boys/Girls born 2012

9.05am                  Boys/Girls born 2013

9.20am                  Boys/Girls born 2014

9.35am                  Boy/Girls born 2015 (800m)-Years 4’s only

9.50am                  Year 3 Boys/Girls

10.00am               Year 2 Boys/Girls

10.10am               Year 1 Boys/Girls

10.20am               Prep Boys/Girls

10.30am               Lunch

The Age Champion presentation will take place on Thursday 21 March at 2:15pm in the senior hall.

Paul Pudovski  -  HPE Teacher

HPE News

Important Sports Dates to remember in Term 1:

•  Wednesday 20 March 8:30am-10:30am - CWSS Cross Country (prep-yr6)
• Tuesday 26 March - all day - Rugby League Gala Day                                                                                           

CAIRNS SAFER STREETS - Term 1 program

😁FREE dental check-ups for children - call 1300 300 850 to make an appointment

Our school Tuckshop operates daily from 7:30am  -  and closes at 1:00pm.  The best way to get your childs lunch/morning tea is to use the Flexischool App - orders must be in before 9:00am.  School uniforms are also sold at our Tuckshop (cash and eftpos only)

• School shirts  -  $35.00                        Sports shirts  -  $35.00                     Senior shirts  -  $40
• Shorts  -  $30.00                                      Sun Smart Hats  -  $15.00

TRYFOR5!

100% Attendance Reward Winner - ATTENDANCE STAR!  -  Each week 1 student from each year level who has achieved 100% attendance for the week will receive a TRYFOR5! prize.  Students will be announced at parade and given their certificate and prize.

TRYFOR5! WINNERS - Each fortnight 1 class from the Junior school (P-3) and 1 class from the Senior school (4-6) with the Best/Most Improved (alternate fortnight) attendance will be rewarded with a class set of TRYFOR5! prizes.  The classes will be announced on parade and prozes delivered to classes.

Congratulations to 1A Junior class for achieving the Best Class attendance in weeks 4 and 5 with 84%. Congratulations to 4C Senior class with the Best class Attendance in weeks 4 & 5 is with 86%

Congratulations to 2C  Junior class for achieving Most Improved in weeks 6 and 7 with                            Congratulations to 6A Senior class for achieving Most Improved in weeks 6 and 7 with

The classes will be awarded with a class set of TRYFOR5! prizes at parade.

The prize for this term is a Voucher to the Cairns Aquarium valued at $150.  There are 1712  names in the draw so far.  

😍Cairns West Community space

Hello Families

Where do you find this wonderful space?  To the left of the main Mayers Street entrance is the Cairns West Community Space.

We have our Community Food Garden where families who have adopted a spot are growing vegetables for their families.  This is an always changing landscape as the seasons change so do our plantings.  After months of heat, humidity and rain we are all getting ready for cooler crops.

Our Community Room is right beside the garden and is a wonderful space for the many activities.

Playgroup is held twice a week, Wednesday and Friday morning from 9.00 am. These gatherings are designed for parents with young children between 0 – 5 years of age. Please come along and have a play.  These are free events hosted by Uniting Care and Wuchoppern Health Service.

Our Community Room also has a couple of computers for parents and carers to access.  If you need to check your emails, do some research or finish an assignment these computers are available

Our space also has a small op shop.  This little space is about taking what you need and giving what you can.  You never know what treasure you might find.

If you are curious to know more about any of the above, please drop in and say hello.......

Annie - Community Carer