TERM 4 - WEEK 8

Principal's message

Hello Cairns West families

It’s hard to believe this is the last newsletter for the year. 2024 has seen some great work happening in our school on many levels, with many of the Improvement Strategies from last year’s School Review well underway and we look forward to continuing the improvement journey in 2025.

STAFFING NEWS: Unfortunately, as the school year draws to a close, it’s always a sad time as we say goodbye to some of our staff. This year we say goodbye to the following staff:

Mrs Lawton: Sadly, Mrs Lawton will be taking leave at the end of this year and moving to central NSW. Hayley has had a huge impact on our school over the past two years as Deputy Principal. Hayley’s leadership of our behaviour management system has seen our school become a PBL Demonstration School which is used to model effective behaviour management systems and practices for other schools across the state. Hayley has also had a massive impact on our community partnership work. Given Hayley is taking leave, hopefully we may see her back at Cairns West at some time in the future. (fingers crossed 😊) Thank you Mrs Lawton, we will miss you!

Mr Thomas: After eleven dedicated years at Cairns West, Michael is taking up a position at Trinity Bay SHS as a senior secondary music teacher (Cert II & Cert IV level). Michael’s work as a Lead teacher at our school has been instrumental in building our school’s 1-1 laptop program and not only improving the digital literary of our students and staff, but has had an impact on thousands of students across the nation.  Michael’s legacy will remain with our school for many years to come in the songs he has recorded with students that are used to support our Social Skills Improvement System. We hope to continue to work with Michael in the future as he will be just up the road and is happy to continue to support our school.

Mrs McCormack: Last week Michelle went on maternity leave and is expecting their first baby very soon. Michelle is a high performing teacher who has an extremely positive impact on all students she works with. Hopefully we’ll see Mrs McCormack back at Cairns West in 2026. Mrs McCormack has been replaced by Ms Briony Daly for the remainder of the year.

I thank these staff and all of our staff for their hard work and dedication this year. We are fortunate to have such a committed and dedicated team of people working in our school.

CLASS PLACEMENT 2025: I am still working through the jigsaw puzzle of staff management for 2025. Unfortunately, there are still a number of unknowns and I will not be able to communicate the plans for 2025 until we have a clearer picture of our funding, staffing allocation and replacement staff. We have, however, placed students into tentative classes for next year and although these will not be published until the beginning of 2025, I ask that parents contact me personally if they have any requests or concerns around what class or teacher their child is placed in next year. Please note, it is much easier to make changes now than once classes have been released next year. Parent support around this is welcomed and appreciated.

WEEK 11 (Last Week of school): Every few years we have an extra week in the school year. At Cairns West, Week 11 will be treated the same way our last week of school is always treated. We will endeavour to maintain routines as much as possible and teachers will be providing activities for students to keep them engaged whilst we plan for the transition to 2025. A number of teachers will be moving classrooms for next year and this will cause some disruption across the school during week 11. We will also be holding our usual last week activities including presentation day, year six ceremony, year six excursion, class parties and our traditional school concert on Friday Dec 13^th. We look forward to seeing parents and families in the school supporting our end of year celebrations.

TUICKSHOP WEEK 11: Tuckshop will be closed from Wednesday 11 December. We apologise for the inconvenience however to finalise the school’s end of year finances and tuckshop food supplies, our tuckshop will not be open after 10 December. Please make arrangement for children’s lunches for the last three days. Note, teachers will still have access to hungry lunches (breads & spreads) during this time for any children who do not have lunch.

PRESENTATION DAY: Parents are invited to our presentation day on Tuesday 10 Dec 10 from 9:00am. Our year 6 Graduation Ceremony will follow our Awards Presentation and will commence after 1^st break at 11:15am. After the ceremony, year 6 students will remain at school and participate in a graduation lunch in our school conference room.

FOOTWARE (Crocs banned from 2025): We have seen a significant increase in the number of students wearing Crocs to school. Unfortunately, Crocs are not suitable footwear for school as they pose a Health & Safety risk to students when involved in many school activities. From the beginning of next year, all students are expected to wear enclosed footwear to school. Parent support around this is appreciated.

Finally, at the holiday season, our thoughts turn to all who have made our progress possible. It is in this spirit we would like to thank you and offer our best wishes. May peace, prosperity and happiness be yours throughout the holiday season and New Year and we look forward to seeing you on Tuesday 28 January 2025.

Yours in Education, Jason Evert - Principal

Deputy Principal - Teaching & Learning

Hello CWSS community,

Time sure does fly when you’re having fun learning!

It is hard to believe this is the final newsletter for the 2024 school year. Cairns West State school is currently busy consolidating learning, completing assessments and composing report cards to demonstrate student academic progress over Semester Two.

This time of year, is an important time to reflect on student progress, celebrate success and identify areas for future growth. It is important to remember success isn’t always measured by the highest grade, what is important is the distance travelled and the effort demonstrated. AT CWSS we set clear expectations for every student and identify supports for students to achieve. Be sure to discuss with your child their reflections of the year. Ask them:

• What are you most proud of from school this year?
• What will be your favourite memory from the school year?
• What are your learning goals for next year?

The end of the school year is a very busy time of year. Learning is occurring every day until Friday 2:30pm December 13^th. Keep up to date with events that are happening in the school through our newsletter, Facebook and letters sent home by your child or feel free to contact our friendly Admin team or Teachers. Tuesday December 10^th 9am is our Prep- Year 6 Presentation Day held in the school Hall.

Presentation Day is a time to celebrate student achievement and efforts demonstrated in 2024.There are 4 class awards as follows;

Class awards:

Attendance Encouragement award: Awarded to a student to acknowledge their improvement in school attendance over the year.

Class Encouragement award: Awarded to a student to acknowledge their efforts throughout the year and encourage them to continue striving for excellence.

Best in class award: Awarded to the student who has demonstrated consistent effort and contributed positively to the class throughout the year.

Academic Award: Awarded to the student who has achieved the highest academic outcome in the class.

Awards are also presented in Specialist learning areas, Instrumental Music, Aspire Hockey, ILC & Special Education. Special awards are presented for Sportsperson on the year, All-rounder and Dux. The 2024 student leaders will present their leadership showcase and 2025 Senior Leaders will also be announced at this event. I hope to see many supportive families at this school event.

I’d like to give a special farewell to the CWSS seniors of 2024. What an awesome cohort you have been. We wish you all the very best for your future endeavours. Never forget the lessons and positive relationships you formed at the West and keep in touch and share your future successes. CWSS believes in you!

We look forward to welcoming our newest cohort of Preppies on Tuesday January 28^th 2025! It is not too late to enrol if you know any students commencing school in 2025, please welcome them to Cairns West! 

Please take care of yourself and your family over the summer holidays. Enjoy lots of learning in the home by spending time as a family, playing games, reading & making special memories. I look forward to seeing you all safe and well in the new year and working as learning partners again in 2025.

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

Megan Mitchell

Deputy Principal Teaching and Learning

Megan Mitchell   Deputy - Principal Teaching and Learning

Deputy Principal - Student Services

Hello Cairns West Families,

Wow, where has the year gone!  At this time of year in between all the hustle and bustle we reflect on the year that was.  We really have had some magical moments this year with strong progress both academically and socially.  It takes a village and when families work closely with the school that is when we see success!  So, congratulations to all of our families who have taken a vested interest in their child's learning and encouraged them to come to school every day.  

Please keep an eye out for the updates on facebook and via SMS about the events that are happening and what is needed from you.  If you aren't getting these updates, please update your mobile number at the office.

I want to share with you our Positive Behaviour for Learning (PBL) annual report.  This report summarises what has happened this year in this space and moving forward what we will be working towards.  The staff at Cairns West go above and beyond every day to implement our tier 1 universals throughout the school so that students have success in the classroom and playground.  So, credit to the staff for their fidelity and this is reflected in this report.  Team work makes the dream work!

I want to thank the Cairns West community for their support this year and wish you all a safe and happy holiday.

Hayley Lawton -Deputy Principal Student Services

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.

CWSS school leaders Showcase Day

On Tuesday, the school leaders – Jackson, Telesia and Whitney, represented Cairns West at the Showcase Day held at Whitfield State School.

They presented a PowerPoint which showed a culmination of all the activities, responsibilities and action plans they were a part of during the 2024 school year.

Robyne Thompson - Student Leader Co Ordinator

RACQ Streets Ahead

The RACQ Community and Education Team will be delivering the RACQ Streets Ahead road safety lessons to Prep to Year 2 students from Wednesday 27 November to Friday 29 November 2024.

If you would like to reinforce and extend your child’s learning of pedestrian, passenger and riding safety, you can access Resource Packs with different age-appropriate activities in each.  In addition to these packs, there are also four educational videos demonstrating the strategies taught for Prep – Year Two students.  These resources will assist you to continue teaching road safety, implementing the strategies your children will learn, and applying them to your everyday lives.

https://www.racq.com.au/streetsahead

WHAT'S on at the WEST in term 4

A friendly reminder that permission notes are due AND payment deadline is FRIDAY 6 DECEMBER 2024

Cuppa 'N Yarn @ CWSS

Drop in any Wednesday between 8:00 am-9:00am OR 1:30pm - 2:30pm from 13 November-27 November 2024

PREP 2025 - enrol now

Casual cleaners required

Smart Energy Academy

Smart Energy Academy is a free educational program for primary schools in Queensland developed to teach students and their families easy ways to use energy wisely in their homes.

Through the program students, educators and families all have the chance to become positive agents of change and work together for a brighter future.

Visit with the year 5 students

Collaboration for Equity Excellence workshop 27 November 2024

Diwali celebrations at Cairns West

Diwali, also spelled Divali, is one of the major religious festivals in Hinduism, Jainism, and Sikhism. The name is derived from the Sanskrit term, meaning “row of lights.” The festival generally symbolizes the victory of light over darkness.

At school students enjoyed many activities from making paper rangoli, flowers and lanterns.  Drawing rangoli with chalk on selected walkways....

Students having fun during Diwali week

CWSS ADOPT-A-COP

🤩Celebrating Student Achievements😍

Term 4 - week 5

Term 4 - Week 6

Term 4 - Week 7

Term 4 - week 8

STEAM Showcase 2024

On Thursday 7th and Friday 8th November, the year 6 students became the teachers and worked with all the younger classes in the school at STEAM Showcase 2024.

They created and delivered Science- Technology-Engineering-Arts-Maths activities for the younger kids to explore and experiment with.

They had to be brave and put their hands into boxes of surprises and even put their whole body into a home made Prize Prism and catch tickets and not be blown away.

They played robot soccer, robot sumo wrestling and had robot races.
The year 6 kids even worked with them to design and test a mini gold course.

Technology also allows students to learn about their bodies and how we use a lot of human energy to make electricity.

It was a wonderful 2 days of teaching and learning and showcasing art and science work across the whole school.

We are very proud of our year 6 students and their ability to share their skills and knowledge with the younger students.

Theresa Feletar 
Digital Technologies Teacher 

year 4B STEAM photos

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Full STEAM ahead!! some action shots....

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Can't get enough of a good STEAM show case

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Swimming Program

Swimming with our - year 3 class

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EcoMarines Wrap up

EcoMarines have been busy in the school every first break on Wednesday picking up litter from around the school. There is no shortage of volunteers to make our wonderful school even better! This is a student initiative and the students are enthusiastic about cutting down on plastic waste in the school. They have noticed that plastic waste is highest around eating areas and are keen to remind everyone to put their plastic in the bin in 2025.

Dr Cathy Shepherd - Science teacher

EcoMarine masters at work!!

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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 - 2 x $100 Timezone vouchers and 1 x Sugarworld family pass End of term prizes to be drawn in Week 11 - 2 x Sugarworld family passes and 1 x Timezone voucher.

Term 4 - Week 4

Term 4 - Week 5

Term 4 - Week 6

Term 4 - Week 7

TRYFOR5! Tilly visit

In week 6 the TryFor5! Team visited our school. Tilly visited classes to acknowledge student attendance by providing a sausage sizzle to any child that was at school. 2A and 4C had the best junior and senior classes attendance for weeks 1-4 and were rewarded with a special breakfast to meet the TryFor5! Team. 

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 4

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 4 activities below.......

Johnathan Thurston Academy Newsletter

Community Space and Place

As the term and the school year draws to a close, we are all embracing the time we have to enjoy our space.

All notices for existing and planned events are displayed on the A Frame board outside the Community Place door. Some of these include:        

• Playgroup
• Abstudy Assistance with Services Australia
• The Smith Family
• Births Deaths and Marriages if you need help registering a birth or getting a birth certificate
• Cyclone and disaster information sessions with Centacare

Our two playgroups are continuing for the next two weeks, and I know there is some water play organised for one of them very soon so stay tuned.

Wednesday morning with Uniting Care          9:30am – 11:30am

Friday morning with Wuchopperen                 9:00am – 11:00am

Op Shop Day is every Thursday from 8:00am – 2:00pm.  Each person is welcome to come and fill a bag for free.

Community Garden

The gardeners are busy trying to keep the weeds down and the water up.  As many of us know the buildup to the wet season can be heartbreaking in the garden.  Many of us have had some casualties but have also had lots of success and are still harvesting eggplant, tomatoes, greens and snake beans to name a few. 

The next few weeks will be used to plant crops that will grow over the break with little help from us.

If you are interested in being a part of our Community Garden please come and see me, Annie in at the Community Place.  Wednesday, Thursday and Friday are the best days to catch me there.

Look forward to seeing you there   -   Annie

Wellbeing Team Update

Hi from Miss Russell and Miss Nikki,

What an amazing and busy year 2024 has been! We have enjoyed working with many students and families throughout the year. We want you all to have a safe and happy holiday. With that being said, added stress is common during the holiday season and can trigger stress and mental health problems.    

Some things to think about:

• Think about what you’d like your experience of the Christmas season to be: a time to relax? A time for tradition? A time to connect with people? If you know what will bring you comfort – regardless of the traditional idea of what Christmas ‘should’ be – you can try to plan things that help uplift your mood. You might find some local walks you want to complete, a community meal you want to go along to, or start your own festive tradition. 
• Remember that family can be what you choose, especially if you’re disconnected from the family you grew up with – if you have friends, neighbours, or people in your community who you feel connected with, you might prioritise spending time with them over Christmas.  
• Try to let yourself feel your feelings; you can recognise and experience your feelings without being totally absorbed by them. It might help to keep a mood diary so that you can understand what helped or what was hard during the Christmas season. Remember that Christmas will end, and so will these feelings.
• Share how you’re feeling with someone you trust. It can help you to feel less alone if you tell someone what’s been going on for you. This could be a friend, family member, or mental health professional.  
• Plan things to look forward to after the Christmas season is over. It can feel uplifting to celebrate the hard work you have put in to look after yourself during a challenging time.  
• Keep up a good wellbeing routine.