TERM 3 WEEK 6

Principal's message

Congratulations to Kawie Panuel who received the `Age Champion – 12 year old girls’ medal at the recent Trinity Coast Central sports carnival, competing against students from schools across the region. Well done Kawie, another Cairns West Sporting Superstar!

SCHOOL OPINION SURVEY: Thank you to those parents who have completed our annual School Opinion Survey. The link to the online survey was emailed to all parents a few weeks ago. So far 10.6% of our parents have completed the survey. The survey provides the school with useful feedback on how well we are meeting the need of the school community and supporting your children. We appreciate as many parents as possible completing the survey. The survey closes on Friday Aug 18th.

YEAR SIX END-OF-YEAR CELEBRATION: Just another reminder to please support our year six Krispy Kreme business studies fundraiser. All monies raised go towards our year six farewell activities at the end of the year. Please contact the school for an order form or check out our Facebook page for more info.

PLAYGROUP: A reminder the Wuchopperen play group operates every Friday in the community room from 8:30AM – 10:30AM. Families are encouraged to come along, have a cuppa and chat while your children enjoy playing with other kids in a calm yet stimulating environment.                                        Important Note:   The Stop Drop Go area in front of the school on Mayers St can be used for normal parking from 9:00am – 2:30pm. The Loading and Stop-Drop-Go zones only apply for an hour (8:00am - 9:00am) in the morning and an hour (2:30pm – 3:30pm) in the afternoon. This is a perfect location to park for play group. Remember - Play is the work of children! It plays a crucial role in healthy brain development.

ASSEMBLIES: Whole school assemblies are held every Thursday afternoon at 2:00PM. We acknowledge it can be very difficult for parents to attend school assemblies and I sincerely thank those parents who are able to come along and support. A reminder, parents are always welcome and encouraged to attend assemblies. 

Yours in Education  -  Mr Jason Evert

Deputy Pricipal - Teaching & Learning

Hello CWSS school community,

Last week I had the privilege of watching the CWSS netball teams compete in the Fowler’s Cup Netball tournament at the Martyn Street Courts. The teams looked impressive in their CWSS netball uniforms and they had the netball skills and sportsmanship to match. It was wonderful to see the students work together as a team in each of the matches leading our Senior and Junior teams to both winning their grand finals! A special thanks to Coaches Ms Luxford, Ms Bruton, Mrs Ashby, Miss Sara and parent helpers and cheerleaders for their efforts in coaching and supporting our students to success. An experience that I am sure will remain with students and staff for a lifetime!

Sport teaches so many important life skills, physical fitness, teamwork, winning and losing and working towards a goal. Our school has many teams that work together to ensure each child realises their potential. The teaching and learning team at CWSS include Classroom Teachers, Teacher Aides, Support Staff, Special Education staff, Intensive Language staff, Librarian, Head of department Curriculum, Head of Department Coach, Head of Special Education Service, myself, parents and your child. At CWSS there is always someone to support you to support your child, so please don’t ever hesitate to contact the school or visit to have a yarn with a member of our caring team.

There is exciting learning occurring at Cairns West State School every day and the teachers work very hard to bring learning to life for our students. Next week there are two very exciting events happening at CWSS. Book Week and the Year 4 and HUB students are off to see a theatre production of Roald Dahl’s novel the Twits. This year’s Book week theme is Read, Grow, Inspire and promotes the importance of reading and the joy children and adults can find in it. We are so lucky at Cairns West to have the best Library and Library team in Cairns and our teachers are committed to the teaching of reading to ensure the best life outcomes for your child/ren. I encourage you all to get in the spirit of reading next week, visit a library, read a book aloud and most importantly read with your child. In the words of one of my favourite authors, 
 
Thank you for being a partner in your child's learning journey.

Megan Mitchell
Deputy Principal Teaching and Learning

Head of Department - Student Inclusion

Hello families, 

Term 3 is quickly flying by and it is fantastic to see the wonderfully bright faces of so many students attending every day. Remember, unless you are sick, coming to school every day is vital to growing our brains and knowledge. 

Cairns West has been shining in the sporting world lately with our netball superstars dominating the recent Fowlers Cup. Well done to all who participated.

Coming up in the sporting world is the Ty Williams Gala day and the All Abilities Sports day, both on the 31st of August. For more information on either of these events please see Mr Ling or Mr P. Next term CWSS will commence our annual swimming program. Lots more information to come later this term. 

High School transition and enrolment will be heating up this term and next. All year 6 students need to be enrolled in a High School by the end of the year. If you need any assistance with the process or have any queries, please contact Mrs Hughes here at school. 

Last but not least, we welcome Miss Melisha to Prep C. Miss Melisha is a Tafe student studying to become a teacher aide. Miss Melisha will be working in Prep C over the coming months. If you see her around make sure to say hello.    

Mr Gleave  Head of Department  -  Student Inclusion

Visual Arts Department

In Visual Arts students in years 3 and 4 have been using different textures to create a work inspired by the famous artist, Picasso. Can you tell which art works are of a guitar? It may look like pieces of a guitar moved around. Students used different materials with textures to create this Cubist style collage on a canvas!

Kathy Laurila  -  Visual Art Teacher

ILC Celebrates

Our newest students to the ILC recently made and decorated cupcakes in the school tuckshop, in celebration of our Swahili speaking translator, Miss Mapendo's birthday.

It was a wonderful opportunity to engage in real life and hands on learning, allowed students to learn new vocabulary, develop mathematical concepts related to number, time and measurement, and most importantly, have FUN!

LIBRARY News

Reading Tree: The library has a new display. It is in the Junior Fiction area of the library. Elijah from 2B was the first student to ask whether he could read a book under the Reading Tree. He selected a book titled, “Dragon Quest” by Allan Baillie.

Book Week Display: 
Book Week is when we celebrate reading, especially Australian children’s literature. Book Week revolves around a competition where children’s books are judged. Below is a selection of the many books in this year’s competition.

Book Week Display: One of the shortlisted books is titled “Frank’s Red Hat” by Sean E Avery.

Some of the students created fantastic art works in Mrs laurila's art lessons.  Some of these are displayed in the library and student classroom.

Book Week Dress Up Day:
On Friday 25th August we are having a whole school Dress Up Day to celebrate Book Week. Students are welcome to dress up as anything they like. Anything you think of can be found in a book e.g., princess, cultural dress, sports clothes, super hero etc. 

Pictured above are some ideas -  staff from last years Book Week Dress Up Day........

HPE news

FNQ Futsal Championships

Our boys Futsal team had high expectations leading into the regional carnival having won the competition the previous year. Our highly skilled team, remained undefeated throughout the pool stage and then won a close quarter final against Peace Lutheran. Unfortunately, our run came to an end in the Semi-final, losing to Mareeba SS 4-3. All players displayed excellent behaviour, sportsmanship and attitude throughout the day.

 Year 6 leaders Amuri, Esperant and Enock have been outstanding team members and recent school success on the Futsal Court would not have been achieved without their contribution . The future looks bright with year 5 students Jackson, Dixson, Travis and Dieu Veut all showing plenty of ability. 

         Coming up soon   -   TY WILLIAMS CUP - Rugby League year 3/4 will be held on 31 August 2023

Mr Paul Pudovskis  -  HPE teacher

FOWLERS NETBALL FINALS - Friday 11 August 2023

On Friday 11th August CWSS competed in the Fowlers Cup. We took three teams, two under 10’s and an under 12’s. All players were excellent representatives for our school, showing excellent sportsmanship, respect and exceptional game play and awareness.

Under 10’s green team had many players competing for the first time in a carnival and were very new to netball. They won 4 of their 6 games and their skills and knowledge of the game grew throughout the day. Under 10’s pink team had players who have had experience at this carnival from last year. They went through the whole day without a single loss. They were excellent sports and took away the grand final win by 2 goals.

CWSS Under 12’s team showed outstanding skill beyond their years out on the court. They had some close games in their rounds but their teamwork and positivity secured them a spot in the grand final. They came away with an excellent win over St. Andrew Catholic College in the grand final. The girls and staff were extremely lucky to have the biggest support club of the day and would like to thank all of our families for their support and help on the day. CWSS, Let’s go Cairns West!!

Ms Bruton  -  Netball coach

STUDENT of the WEEK - 6,7 & 8

TRYFOR5! Weeks 6,7 & 8

Cowboys TRYFOR5! is an inter-school challenge, designed to address short and long term impacts of students missing foundation learning in their primary years through poor school attendance.

TRYFOR5! motivates and rewards individual classes and schools for their attendance record during the challenge period, and engages students and families using the club’s profile and ambassadors.

Cairns West State School is very excited about being a part of this initiative.     

                                          Whole School attendance TRYFOR5!  GOAL  = 75.60% 

Week 1 whole attendance   73%

Week 2 whole attendance   74%

Week 3 whole attendance   73%

Week 4 whole attendance   76%

Week 5 whole attendance   75%

Week 6 whole attendance   80%

Week 7 whole attendance   78%

Week 8 whole attendance   79%

The Junior class with the best attendance  for weeks 6 & 7 is 1A with 87%

The Senior class with the best attendance for weeks 6 & 7 is 6D with 93%

Week 6,7 & 8 Attendance Winners

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.

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 Try For 5! Prize. Students will be announced at parade and given their certificate and prize. 

Weeks 1, 2 and 3 – Best Class Attendance
Weeks 4 and 5  –  Most Improved Attendance  
Weeks 6 and 7  –  Best Class Attendance
Week 10 - Best and Most Improved classes for the term

YEAR 4  - TWITS EXCURSION

Over 300 students from 17 schools attended and we were awarded a trophy for our participation. On Friday the 25 August the year 4 students with some of their HUB friends went to CPAC to see a performance of The Twits, based on the novel by author Roald Dahl. It was so funny and loud. The lighting and music were amazing as it lit up the whole theatre.  It was full of tricks and funny pranks just like the book. We thoroughly enjoyed the show!

Mila, Tirzah, Tamara, T’Kelah and Ziva  -  4B

Community Place in our Space

Recent weeks have seen an increase in activity in our Community Garden.  We continue to welcome new people to the garden space who are looking forward to growing food and community.

Our Community Room is also being used by families and carers.  The computers are available to use anytime during school hours. 

Our onsite Playgroup, run by Wuchopperen is on Friday mornings 8.30 – 10.30 everyone is welcome.  Come and play with your children with both indoor and outdoor activities, meet new people and catch up with friends. 

Our small Community thrift shop is open on Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays.....BYO bag.