Hello Everyone

As we approach the end of the semester, we want to thank you for your continued support throughout, not only this term, but the year to date. It’s been a busy and productive time, and we’re proud of the progress our students have made both in and out of the classroom.

Semester One Report Cards will be sent home at the end of this term. Report cards communicate information to parents, carers and students about student achievement and progress for each learning area/subject undertaken and include:

• The student’s achievement against expected standards
• How well the student is engaging with the expected learning
• How the student may be able to improve

Report cards will be emailed - please ensure your email details are up to date with the school office. Alternatively, reports can be accessed through the QParents app, if you are registered.

As stated in my previous newsletter, we are transitioning out of Reading to Learn, into reading across the Australian Curriculum Version 9. Reading is an important ingredient to the success of every child across all curriculum areas.  I am often asked, what should be the main homework item to be done – my answer is always, read.  I am including a diagram that outlines the importance of reading not only at school but also at home.  Reading underpins everything that is completed at school.  Reading is one of the most important things that you can do at home with your children. It not only improves their connections between different texts but also between real life experiences and the text that they read as well as their vocabulary! Children should aim to read a minimum of 20 mins per day at home to increase their reading ability.

Parents as Partners in Learning

(Tips from Steve Francis- Happy Schools website)

Do You Give Your Children 8 Minutes of Attention per day?

"Parents are a child’s first and most important teacher. Investing uninterrupted time in your child AND partnering with your child’s school are two of the most important things you can do"

Small emotional investments like one-on-one, quality time now will help ensure your kids grow up feeling safe, valued and listened to. Time is precious…but not as precious as your children. That’s why it’s so important to set aside at least 8 minutes every day of distraction-free time to engage with each of your kids, one on one, without interruptions. Put down your phone, iPad or laptop and take the time to really BE with them - exchanging stories, asking and answering questions, sharing a laugh…whatever works best! Your child will feel more listened to, valued, safer and happier. Studies show that kids who receive this kind of attention do better at school, with greater language skills and higher self-confidence. With benefits like these, there’s no better way to spend 8 minutes a day!”

As a Positive Behaviour for Learning school, we are committed to proactively teaching all students appropriate behavioural skills to support their social/emotional learning.  The PBL team meet fortnightly to review data and design specific foci for each sector, concentrating on the areas of need at that time.  This is communicated to our students via classrooms and on assembly.  An important factor that allows for student success is the connection with home: communication between parents and the school is the key to student success.  If you have concerns, please contact the classroom teacher or alternatively email the Principal email and it will be passed onto the appropriate person. Let’s finish the term strong as a united team!

School Uniform

Firstly, I would like to thank you for the outstanding manner in which children present themselves for school each day. Children wear their school uniform daily and take visible pride in their appearance.  I often have discussions with students on what the uniform means on assembly and at a class level – I ask students to point to our crest on their shirt – this is their badge of honor.  This crest means that every student is a leader at Freshwater State School and each child should be proud of how they conduct themselves and the extent that they engage in learning.  Throughout the year, students are afforded the opportunity to participate in free dress and dress up days for example, therefore colourful hats, socks, excessive jewellery and mix – matched uniforms should not be worn.  If you require support with our school uniform, please do not hesitate to contact administration.

We are counting down to Freshwater’s Athletics Carnival. Our carnival will be held on the Friday of the week 9 of this term. We are looking forward to welcoming parents to our carnival. Students will be encouraged to remain in their house areas when they are not competing, supporting their peers during events, this is to allow appropriate supervision throughout the day.

Lastly, I would like to thank the P&C for their continued support of the school, not only supporting excursions/incursion but organising fun fundraising activities, such as the colour run.  This will be held in the last week of school on Friday afternoon.  We hope to see you there to support your children in their quest to be the most colourful human being by the end of the afternoon!

Have a wonderful fortnight of teaching and learning.

Yours in Learning,

As we head into Week 9, the pace of Term 2 is picking up with important milestones underway across the lower school.

Student Assessments and Reporting Period

This week marks a key period for student assessments across all year levels. Teachers are busy finalising tasks and collecting data to inform Semester 1 reports. These assessments play a vital role in understanding each student’s progress, strengths, and areas for further growth providing a clear snapshot of learning and achievement so far this year. We know this can be a busy and sometimes challenging time, so we’re encouraging students to stay organised, do their best and reach out if they need help and support. Teachers are always happy to help!

Random Acts of Kindness Challenge 

This week marks a fortnight of the RAKS challenge in the lower school classrooms. Students have been encouraged to carry out small, thoughtful actions that brighten someone else's day—whether it’s a kind word, a helping hand, or a friendly gesture. Staff in lower school have been using their poster to capture and document the kindness being displayed in the classroom whilst I’ve spent time outside during the lunch breaks observing students demonstrating random acts of kindness towards their peers, adults and the environment. Our posters in the classrooms are filling up with post it notes capturing all of these kind gestures. Check out our video this week to hear all about it.

 

Teachers have been reinforcing these messages each day during our Positive Behaviour for Learning lessons that students engage in before the play break each day. I have enjoyed handing out RAK certificates (pictured below) around the junior school to also acknowledge these lovely, random acts of kindness.

Classroom Highlights

In 3TD in mathematics, students have been exploring maths modelling. Mrs Davis has been providing opportunities to investigate how many arrays are required to make a face using unifex cubes and peg boards.

In 3GW students have been investigating edible arrays using skittles to explore this maths concept. These examples of hands-on learning support the development of number fluency and problem-solving skills in a collaborative and inquiry-based manner.

Thanks for continuing to support your child during this important part of the term. Let’s make the final weeks of Term 2 full of effort, achievement, and kindness!

Have a great weekend,

Year 6 Enrichment – Brisbane Online Writers

Six of our Year 6 students recently completed the Brisbane Online Writers course in their own time — an impressive commitment that reflects their dedication and passion for writing. The course focused on journalistic-style writing, offering students the opportunity to demonstrate their skills and creativity.

We’re thrilled to announce that three of our students — Quinn C, Ada, and Eden  — have been selected to attend a week-long writers’ camp in August held at the Brisbane Ekka. Congratulations to all participants and especially to our successful students. This is a fantastic achievement and a well-deserved recognition of your talent, effort and perseverance. We are very proud of you! Thankyou to our teachers and teacher-aides also for their expertise in developing our talented students.

Year 5 Students Striking Gold with Colonial History!

What a vibrant and inspiring few weeks it has been for our Year 5 students as they’ve dived deep into their unit on Colonial Australia with a special focus on the fascinating Gold Rush era! With great enthusiasm and curiosity, students have been exploring how the gold rush shaped early Australia and changed the lives of individuals and communities forever.

In both their History and English lessons, students have taken on the role of young historians—posing insightful questions, researching from a variety of sources, and thoughtfully sequencing events to paint a clear picture of this significant period in Australia’s past. This rich inquiry learning has culminated in the writing of information reports, where students have demonstrated their growing skills in researching, organising and presenting information about early Australia. I have had the pleasure of reading some of these reports and I must say, what an impressive standard of work! The depth of understanding, clear and concise structure and expression of their ideas and concepts in the reports is a real credit to the students and our dedicated Year 5 teaching team.

A definite highlight of the unit was the Cairns Museum incursion last week, which brought history to life in the most exciting way. The team from the Cairns Museum set up a mock goldfield camp, complete with a mock campfire, shared lively and engaging stories from the gold rush days in Far North Queensland and even gave students the opportunity to try their luck at panning for gold. There was so much excitement and energy in the sessions and it was a delight to see our students so deeply immersed and eager to learn through hands-on experiences.

This integrated learning unit has not only developed important academic skills but also sparked a genuine love of history and a deeper appreciation of Australia's early colonial past. Well done to all of our Year 5 students and teachers for making this such a rich and rewarding learning journey!

Looking Ahead – Student Leadership 2025

As we look to the future, we’re excited to announce that next term we will begin the Student Leadership process for 2025. This is a special tradition at our school and an important opportunity for students to step forward and demonstrate the leadership qualities they have been developing over the past six years.

Students will be invited to nominate for formal leadership positions and will be guided through a process that encourages them to reflect on what it truly means to be a leader—both in action and attitude. While not every student may take on an official leadership role, every student has the opportunity to lead by example, model our school’s high standards, and contribute positively to our school community.

This process also complements our Year 5 HASS unit on democracy where students are learning about the values and principles that underpin decision-making in our school, our community and across the nation. It’s a wonderful way for students to see democratic values in action and understand how their voice can make a difference.

We’re very much looking forward to seeing many students express interest, get involved and show us just what fantastic young leaders they are becoming.

Assessment and Reporting

Over the past two weeks students have also been completing their end-of-semester assessments and they should be commended for their focus, persistence and positive attitude during this time. Our teaching team is incredibly proud of the growth and progress our students have shown across Year 4, Year 5, and Year 6. It’s a real joy to see their hard work reflected in their learning outcomes.

We’re now preparing report cards, and teachers are looking forward to sharing your child’s progress with you. This semester, the Department of Education has introduced a standardised criteria for reporting on both behaviour and effort across all Queensland schools. This ensures greater clarity and consistency for parents and students and provides a shared understanding across classes and year levels. We hope this helps support valuable conversations at home about learning, effort and growth.

Athletics Carnival – Next Week!

We’re also gearing up for one of the most anticipated events of the school year—our Yr 3-6 Athletics Carnival, taking place Friday. Students have been actively involved in trials and preparations and the excitement is certainly building. A big thank you goes to our wonderful PE teacher, Mrs Knight who has once again done a fantastic job organising the day and preparing the students. Thanks too, to our teachers and teacher-aides who supervise all the trials on the oval on Friday afternoons over the past three weeks.

To ensure your child has a successful and enjoyable day, please make sure they bring the following labelled items:

• A school hat
• Sunscreen
• A water bottle
• Their lunch (if not ordering from the tuckshop)

We’re really looking forward to a fun, energetic day filled with school spirit. The Athletics Carnival is always a wonderful community event and we love seeing so many of our parents coming along to cheer, support and share in their child’s sporting experiences.

Have a great week.

Kind regards,

Enrolments

Our enrolments are now open for 2026. If you have a child starting next year, pop into the office for our forms, or click here to download them.

Last year Freshie was one of 418 lucky schools across the state, selected for a grant under Department of Educations ‘Playgrounds and Tuckshops Upgrade Program’. This funding is set aside for an upper years playground that will be situated opposite H block. Our student leaders have been very vocal in reviewing designs and letting us know what they would like to see that will differentiate this space from our junior areas. We have been advised by our regional Infrastructure team that, due to the nature of the funding, and the high number of schools successful in obtaining funds, there are delays administering the program.   Despite this the school is assured that the grant funds remain allocated to us, and the project will commence as soon as possible.

Sahn Mcgaw 
Business Manager 

School Cleaners' Day is celebrated annually and will occur on Monday 16 June 2025. The day is an opportunity to acknowledge and appreciate the work of cleaners in state schools across Queensland.

A team of Year 6 students have been busy studying 5 chapter books. They have been meeting at lunch breaks this term, and had an array of strategies to support one another. All the hard work paid off at yesterday's competition at Edge Hill State School, where they placed 3rd amongst 42 schools from all over Far North Queensland! It was a tight competition, with less than three points between the Top 3 schools. Congratulations Team Freshie!

Krystal Thimios
Classroom Teacher

Choral Fanfare Regional Finals

The Freshwater State School Senior Choir have been selected to perform at the Choral Fanfare Regional Finals at CPAC (Cairns Performing Arts Centre) on Friday June 13 at 6:30pm. We encourage maximum participation at this event as all of our singers are essential to our performance.  The CPAC Foyer will open at 5:30pm and students will be required to meet Mrs Howell at 5:45pm inside.  Our choir members will be seated together in the theatre and will have the opportunity to watch the performances before and after their scheduled time on stage.

Students will need to be dressed in our formal music uniform which is to consist of the music polo shirt, long black pants and black socks or long black skirt with black opaque tights (please no jeans, leggings of mini skirts).  Black enclosed formal dress shoes are also a requirement. 

At the end of the concert, the adjudicators will provide some general feedback to the students before presenting each school with their regional final certificate.  The night is expected to finish at 8:00pm and students will need to be collected by a parent from the foyer area promptly at this time.

We strongly encourage parents and families to attend the performance with tickets being able to be purchased from Ticketlink – https://www.ticketlink.com.au/ticketlinkEvents/schoo-eventscreative-generation-choral-fanfare-2025.

Cairns and District Eisteddfod

Freshwater State School will be participating in this year’s Cairns and District Eisteddfod in the choral and instrumental music sections.  Tickets are available at Ticketlink for parents and our school community.  Our Senior Strings Ensemble and Concert Band will be performing on Monday 23^rd June in the afternoon session and the Senior Choir will be performing on Wednesday 25^th June in the morning session.  Parents of the Senior Choir are invited to a showcase of our choral pieces on Monday 23^rd June at 3:30pm in the school music room with our accompanist Ms Katrina Pring.

Freshie’s Got Talent Show

Attached to this week’s newsletter is the registration form for all students interested in auditioning for our school talent show.  We are looking for individual or group acts in the areas of singing, instrumental music, drama, poetry, comedy, dance/gymnastics, martial arts and magic. The Freshie’s Got Talent Show will be held at our school fete on Friday 15^th August in the school canopy.  Each entry needs to be signed by a parent and submitted with a contact email so we can inform you of audition times for your child/ren in Weeks 1 and 2 of Term 3.  We are looking forward to another exciting showcase!!

Yours in Music,

Sheree Howell
Specialist Teacher - Music

Reading Passports – Term 2 Only

As term two draws to a close, a huge thank you to everyone who shared in our Reading Passport journey. I look forward to next year, when we host it again.

Book Week Celebrations

During term 3 we will be celebrating Book Week. An array of competitions and activities will be happening throughout the term, so stay tuned for more information.

Friday Buddy Day

Next term, Fridays will become Buddy Day! Our 4-6 students are encouraged to bring a P-3 buddy to the Library at lunch time for shared reading. 

Tech Free Day

Teaching our students the importance of practicing balance in their lives, we’ve introduced a Tech free day on Wednesdays, first and second break. We’ll have an audio book playing in our social area for easy listening, a Lego station at first break and Chess during second break. 

Sora over the Holidays

Looking for something to do on the holidays? Don’t forget students have access to over 60 000 books at home, 24/7! 

   ‘Why it’s simply impassible!

Alice: ‘Why, don’t you mean impossible?’

Door: ‘No, I do mean impassible.

Nothing’s impossible!’

-Lewis Carroll from Alice in Wonderland-

Yours in literary adventures,

Amanda Glaspy
Library Officer

Soccer

Congratulations to Rose K (6NL) for being selected in the Peninsula 10-12 years Football (Soccer) team. Rose will now represent the region at the QRSS 10-12 years State Schools Football (Soccer) Championships in Brisbane in July. Well done and good luck Rose.

AFL

Here's Ned , Rose and Victoria with Mrs Knight representing Peninsula at the State 10-12 years Australian Football Championships in Maroochydore. 

Touch Football

Congratulations to Ellia B (5KT), Tahlee R (6NL), Nina W (5GC) and Skye B (6NB) for being selected in the TCN 10-12 years Girls Touch Football team. They will now represent the district at the Peninsula 10-12 years Girls Touch Football Championships later this month, Zahlee C (6GH) has also been selected as a shadow for this team. Well done to you all.

Congratulations to Jack D (6NL), George W (6NL), Riley B (6GH) , Harrison W (4AM) and Joseph C (6NB) for being selected in the TCN 10-12 Years Touch Football team. They will now represent the district at the Peninsula 10-12 Years Championships later this month. Well done to you all.

Hockey

Congratulations to Tessa P (6NL) for being selected in the Peninsula 10-12 years Girls Hockey team. Please see Tessa below representing the region at the QRSS 10-12 years State Schools Hockey Championships in Toowoomba. Well done Tessa.

Basketball

Congratulations to Amy B (6NB) for being selected in the Peninsula 10-12 years Basketball team.  Amy will now represent the region at the QRSS 10-12 years State Schools Basketball Championships in Brisbane. Well done and good luck Amy.

Tennis

Congratulations to Emma C (6NL), Gisele J (5/6NT) and Connor M (5/6NT)  for being selected in the TCN 10-12 years Tennis team. They will now represent the district at the Peninsula 10-12 years Tennis Championships later this month. Andre R (4/5WR) has also been selected as a shadow for this team. Well done to you all. 

Many Thanks

Many thanks to Mrs Landsberg, Miss Watson, Mrs Miller, Mr Tan, Mrs Boyle and Mrs Nobbs for their assistance with Lunchtime Athletics trainings, Before School Running and War Cry Practice this term in the lead up to the Year 3-6 Athletics Carnival. We all really appreciate your support and assistance.

Year 3-6 Athletics Carnival 

Kristen Knight

Specialist Teacher - P.E

Well it’s certainly been a busy time for our P&C members and volunteers.  We had an incredibly busy meeting on Monday night where we welcomed 10 new members to our P&C community.  We also welcomed a new Vice President, Paul Andrews, into our Executive.  It really is exciting to see many new members joining the P&C and attending our meetings.  We also say thank you to Bree Lloyd who has resigned from the Secretary role.  We thank Bree for her efforts as a member of the P&C Executive in 2024.  Some key discussions and updates from the meeting include:

Nature Playground Update

Members of our school community will be aware that the nature playground is currently not being used.  The P&C will be working with the Principal and school administration team to identify urgent remedial action to allow parts of the playground to be reopened as soon as possible and we will also be working towards ongoing maintenance arrangements to ensure ongoing use of this much loved part of our school grounds.

Fundraising Update

Our amazing fundraising subcommittee and other volunteers, have been incredibly busy of late.  Our Mother’s Day stall and raffle was a great success, raising $4,286.45.  I’d especially like to thank our organisers and those volunteers who ran our stall and co-ordinated the raffle: Sarah Weiss, Louise Gale, Linsey Porter, Jo Lynes, Jenny Wall, Kel Hazell, Kelda Ryan, Smitha Vinod, Madeleine Lovey and Leisa Lawson.  We also sincerely thank the many local businesses who supported our raffle and stall.

Looking forward we have some exciting activities coming up: the Colour Explosion is happening on Friday 27^th June.  We hope that all of our students have a great time on the last day of term! 

And of course the FRESHIE FETE is coming!  We have moved our Fete to Friday 15^th August to avoid a clash with the international cricket match happening in Cairns on our previous date.  Our committee is swinging into gear to get things moving and we will be looking for as many volunteers as we can find to help with organising and running the Fete.  We will be holding a Fete meeting at Narrow Tracks on Wednesday 25^th June.  Everyone is welcome.

Upcoming Meeting Dates

Monday June 23^rd – Special meeting to enable an election of a Secretary.

Monday August 4^th 6pm: P&C General Meeting

Michelle Ibbett

President P&C
president@freshwaterpandc.com.au

 

Monty’s Colour Fun Run: Friday 27 June

Revised Event Information

Friday 27 June – last day of term 2

From 1.30pm on the Top Oval

Wear a white shirt and old clothes to make the colour pop!

Please think about how your kids will get home – you might need a towel in the car or in their bag for the bus

Each student will also receive a pair of sunglasses and a headband!

Students are required to wear closed-in shoes

Students will be covered in non-toxic, biodegradable colour powder and slime! 

For further information, please contact the P&C via fundraising@freshwaterpandc.com.au

From Your Friendly P&C Fundraising Committee

Athletics Carnival

School24

Please see below some handy information from School24 for all parents who would like to sign up. 

Parent_S24_Registration_Guide_2025.pdf

Parent_S24_Registration_Guide_2025 _pdf 285.35 KB

Parent_S24_Tuckshop_Ordering_Guide_2025.pdf

Parent_S24_Tuckshop_Ordering_Guide_2025 _pdf 1.19 MB

Thanks,

Mel, Gail, Tomo and Kat

Tuckshop Team

With our athletics day coming up, come and see Kyla in the uniform shop to organise your sports shirts from the uniform shop on Tuesday’s and Thursday’s between 8:30am-9:00am! Don’t miss out!