TERM 1 - WEEK 4

Principal's message

WELCOME TO 2025: Welcome to the first newsletter of 2025. We are well and truly back into the swing of things and children are settled into quality learning programs across the school. It was great to re-connect with families and community partners at our first Big Breakfast on Friday, 31 January. We sincerely appreciate the great support and look forward to bigger and better events as the year progresses.

Teaching Staff 2025: Staffing has remained reasonably stable this year with only a few changes across the school. Our specialist subjects remain the same with Dr Shepherd teaching Science (Yr 1-6), Mr Pudovskis - HPE and Ms Feletar - Digital Technologies. Dr Wemyss & Ms Bani continue to teach in our Intensive Language Centre. Ms Marnie Rowe moves from RATEP and joins our Special Education team along with Ms Ashby. Ms Maree Jegou takes on the Head of Special Education Services role (as Ms Muffett works in a temporary Deputy Principal role at Trinity Beach SS) and Mr Gleave takes on the role of Deputy Principal, Partnership Initiative as Ms Lawton is on leave.  We also welcome Ms Briony Daley as a relieving teacher (currently teaching in 1C).  Our classroom teachers are as follows:

Parents/Carers are encouraged to drop into your child’s class and introduce yourself to their teacher, if you haven’t done so already.

YEAR 6 CAMP (Mar 10^th – 12^th): We look forward to our Year 6 camp in week 7. Parent support around ensuring permission forms are returned to school promptly really assists with the planning process.

FOOTWEAR: I thank all parents for your support on our school’s policy around footwear. We believe Crocs pose a safety risk to students in some subjects and during play and have asked parents to ensure children are sent to school with enclosed footwear. Your response has been overwhelmingly supportive and it’s great to see all students wearing appropriate enclosed shoes to school. Thank you!

STOP-DROP-GO (Road Safety): We ask that parents remain in their car in the Stop Drop Go area when picking children up from school. If you plan to leave your car unattended, please park in a designated parking area or on the school tennis court parking on Hoare St. The Stop-Drop-Go area is designed for parents to stop briefly (2 min max) to collect children at the end of the day. Cars being left unattended or waiting in this area for too long creates a safety risk for all children as it results in children walking into traffic on Mayers St to get into cars. Parent support around this is sincerely appreciated. 

HOUSE CAPTAINS: It was fantastic to listen to many of the House Captain speeches this week as student nominated themselves for these leadership opportunities. We look forward to these positions being announced on parade next week.

CULTURAL CAPABILITY ACTION PLANNING: Next week (Feb 26^th 2:30pm - 5:30pm) our First Nations Committee will be running a workshop to develop our schools Cultural Capability Action Plan (2025-2027). We are grateful for the support of many of our First Nations Parents and Traditional Owners who are supporting this initiative, and we welcome all parents who are interested in this work to participate. For more information, please contact our Community Partnership Facilitator, Ms Irene Lehmann (40539752).

TUCKSHOP: We have had some staffing issues with our Tuckshop this year and I apologise for the inconvenience this has caused. Your patience is appreciated as we work through this period.

Yours in Education, Jason Evert - Principal

Deputy Principal - Teaching & Learning

Hello CWSS community,

Welcome to new and returning families to the 2025 school year at Cairns West State School. It is a great privilege to be the Prep – Year 2, Deputy Principal of Teaching and Learning again this year. This is my 16^th year at Cairns West and I am passionate about working with families to ensure students learn now to succeed! Some of my favourite things about CWSS is watching generations of families grow up here, working with the dedicated staff to provide excellent outcomes for students and the awesome students!

Thank you to our families for ensuring CWSS students are back at school (particularly during this wet weather) and prepared for a year of learning. Every day counts at CWSS and committing to sending your child/ren to school every day possible is the best gift you can give them for a bright and strong future. Learning occurs between 8:30am-2:30pm Monday – Friday. Thank you also to our dedicated teaching staff who have been incredibly busy preparing classrooms and lessons to ensure your child gets off to the best start possible.

That 3-way strong partnership between student, family and school is incredibly important to ensure the best outcomes for your child. As your child’s first teacher you know your child best. Your child’s teacher and school also want to get to know your child. When you have a strong and respectful partnership with your child’s school and teachers, you can work together to support your child’s learning, development and wellbeing.

How to build a strong parent-school partnership:

You can build a parent-school partnership in several ways:

• Say hello to teachers and other staff at school pick-up and drop-off times.
• Go to parent-teacher interviews and parent meetings.
• Check the school website, facebook and emails regularly.
• Go to school performances, barbecues, cultural & sporting events.
• Ask teachers for information or feedback about your child and share your child’s special events or achievements outside school.
• Reach out to teachers or support staff if you or your child are experiencing any challenges or concerns at school. Remember the school is here to help!

Together Everyone Achieves More and I am confident that by working together as a TEAM, 2025 will be a positive and successful year for your student and family.

Soon, families will receive ‘Learn now to succeed’ documents which will give you a curriculum overview of the content your child will be learning this term.

• Next week (week 5) our Year 3 and 5 students will practice for NAPLAN testing which will be conducted this term between the 12^th-24^th March (week 7 and 8). The National Assessment Program – Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN) is a literacy and numeracy assessment that students in Years 3, 5, 7 and 9 sit each year. It is the only national assessment all Australian students have the opportunity to undertake. Students will complete testing online, with the exception of the Year 3 writing test. If you have any questions or concerns regarding your Year 3 or 5 student sitting NAPLAN this term, please reach out to school staff as soon as possible. Thank you to our staff for your efforts in best preparing CWSS students for NAPLAN.

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

Megan Mitchell -  Deputy Principal Teaching and Learning

Deputy Principal - Partnership Initiative

Welcome Back, CWSS!

Welcome to my first newsletter as Deputy Principal! This year, I will be keeping you updated on all things related to Student Services, Positive Behaviour for Learning (PBL), Social-Emotional Learning (SSIS), playtime, sports, and much more.

Year 6 Camp:

We are in the final stages of planning for the Year 6 camp, and everything is coming together smoothly. Year 6 students, remember to attend school every day and follow both classroom and school rules to stay on track for this exciting experience! This year, our Year 6 students will be heading to Tinaroo for three action-packed days filled with water sports, bush activities, rope challenges, and camping skills.

Playtime & Wet Weather Play:

A huge congratulations to all CWSS students for their incredible effort this term in adapting to undercover play during wet weather. For the first three weeks, our students have demonstrated safe and respectful behavior during lunchtimes while our oval remained too wet to use. Well done!

Lunchtime Soccer:

Now that the oval is open again, our enthusiastic soccer players have returned! Just a reminder that lunchtime soccer is a fun, non-contact game for everyone to enjoy. Let’s keep it safe and inclusive!

Crocs at School:

A big well done to all students who have embraced the change of not wearing Crocs to school! As of late last year, Crocs are no longer considered suitable footwear, and we are pleased to see our students following this expectation by wearing covered shoes each day.

Sports Leaders Elections:

Last Friday, our Year 4, 5, and 6 students delivered their sports leader speeches and participated in elections. I was fortunate to visit many classrooms and hear the inspiring speeches from our Year 6 students—the leadership qualities on display were truly impressive! The votes have been counted, and Mr. Evert and I will be certifying the results before announcing the winners at an upcoming assembly.

Assembly & SSIS Performances:

Exciting news! Starting this week and continuing in Weeks 6, 8, and 10, Chappy Ester will be performing SSIS songs during Assembly alongside different classes. We can’t wait to sing along and enjoy these special performances. Join us at Assembly this Thursday at 2:00 pm!

Looking forward to a fantastic term ahead!

 Christian Gleave-Deputy Principal Partnership Initiative

2025 - SCHOOL LEADERS 

THANK YOU to all those students who wear covered in shoes to school every day.  They are very safe for play and for going on excursions.  We encourage all families to make sure their children are wearing covered in shoes to school.  These are some affordable examples of suitable footwear for school. 

Crocs and thongs are not safe for school, and we ask that students not wear them.

ROAD SAFETY around schools

PREP 2025 - enrol now

Prep is the first year of school and provides the foundation for your child's education.  It is compulsory for Queensland children to undertake Prep prior to Year 1.  Prep is a full-time program in primary schools and has a defined curriculum.  Children attend Monday to Friday from 8:30am to 2:30pm.  Children must be 5 by 30 June in the year they enrol.

PREPS are settling in beautifully this year. Thank you for having your children at school and ready for learning by 8:20am each morning. Please remember a change of clothes in the bottom of bags in case of accidents. As a reminder, children do not require drink bottles or poppers as drinks are provided at school.

CALENDAR of EVENTS for Term 1

News from the HPE department

District trial dates for the following sports:

• Netball Girls -February 26th (11 and 12yrs)
• Basketball -Boys and Girls Monday 3 March (11 and 12yrs)
• Rugby League Boys- Monday 3 March (10 and 11yrs)
• AFL Boys and Girls- Wednesday 5 March (11 and 12yrs)
• Hockey Boys and Girls – Wednesday 5 March

If your child is interested in trialing for district teams, they need to collect forms from Mr Pudovskis- at least 2 weeks prior to the trial.

Sports Spectacular

Sports Spectacular for year 6 students is on Friday 21 February 2025 at Cazaly’s Football Park. Parents will be required to drop off their child at 9.00am and pick up their child at 2.30pm at entry zone 2- Tills Street.               Ms Luxford and Ms Ajak will be at entry zone 2 at 8:30am if students need to be dropped off at this time.

Students must wear closed shoes, hats and school uniform. They also need to bring their lunch – no canteen available on the day.

School Rugby League

(only students born in 2013 and 2014)

Training will continue on Wednesday afternoons- 2:30pm-4:00pm.

Pool games will be played on Thursday March 6, 13 and 20.

 * Gala day is on Tuesday 25 March 2025

* Cairns West State School Cross Country - To be held on Thursday 27 March 8:50am-10:30am

Any questions about any of the above events contact Mr Pudovski - HPE teacher

CWSS ADOPT-A-COP

BIG BREAKFAST - term 1

Despite the rain there were many families enjoying our first Big Breakfast for 2025.  It's a great way to kick start the school year with parents, students and teachers coming together over breakfast..........

It was fabulous to have some outside agencies there as well giving advice and information about such thing as transport and Kindy.

Big Breakfast with our families

Learning and fun what a great combo!!

The sun wasn't shining but the robots were

Prep and year 1 students got to control their very own light up Sphero robots in the computer lab with Mrs Feletar.  They took good care of them and were very brave when we turned the lights out so their robots could shine brightly.

The Beebots also enjoyed their time with the new preps in the computer lab.

Mrs Feletar - Digital Technologies teacher

🤩Celebrating Student Achievements😍

Term 1 week 2

Term 1- week 3

Term 1 - Week 4

TRYFOR5! Term 4

100% Attendance Reward Winner - ATTENDANCE STAR!  - Each week 5 tickets will be drawn from the Try for 5! 100% Club Box to win TRYFOR5! prizes. Mid-term prizes to be drawn in week 5 and week 10  -2 X $50 Timezone vouchers,2 x $50 Bowling vouchers and 2 x $50 Event Cinema vouchers 

Term 1 Week 2

Term 1 - Week 3

TRYFOR5! WINNERS - Each fortnight 1 class from the Junior school (P-3) and 1 class from the Senior school (4-6) class with the Best/Most Improved (alternate fortnight) attendance will be rewarded with a class set of Try for 5! Prizes.  The classes will be announced on parade and prizes delivered to classes. 

Cairns Safer Streets Program- Term 1 2025

Cairns Safer Streets is a multi-agency, co-located group of State Government representatives delivering innovative projects through community and whole-of-government partnerships.

We have developed a place-based approach in Cairns West which enables the development and implementation of innovative strategies to address underlying causal factors of complex social issues.

See the timetable for term 1 activities below.......

'Take a Moment to Listen'

Community Space and Place

Community Garden

Gardens are ever changing places and our Community Food Garden is no different.

School holidays, punishing heat waves and torrential rain all present their challenges but I have to say that by and large our garden has done very well with minimal intervention.

Our Adopt a Spot gardeners are back and tending their plots. In-between life commitments, the sun and the rain we are getting back into the swing of things.

While this time of year limits the variety of food we can grow, it does not limit production of the things that grow well so we continue to harvest food for our table despite the conditions.

Our gardeners are looking to the months ahead and planning the next crops while letting some of the garden lay fallow and to be revitalized for the cooler months.

If you are interested in being part of the garden, please pop in an speak with myself (Annie) or one of the gardeners.

Our Community Place is open for 2025 for information, directions, playgroups, services and resources.

  It Takes a Community  -   People, Places and Programs  -  To Help us Help Ourselves

If the signs are out then we are about (J block near the front of the school), so pop in and say hello

Look forward to seeing you there   -   Annie