Week 2, Term 4 2025
Principal Pen
Dear Parents and Carers,
Welcome back to Term 4. I hope you and your families had a refreshing break and are ready for the final term of what has been a very positive and productive school year.
We’ve started strong, with our Prep Readiness Program kicking off on Monday. It was wonderful to welcome our 2026 Prep students and their families as they begin this exciting transition into school life.
Year 6 – The Final Term of Primary School
A special mention goes to our Year 6 students, who are beginning their final term of primary school. This is a time for celebration, reflection, and preparation for the exciting transition to high school. There will be plenty of opportunities this term to mark their achievements and create lasting memories, including graduation events, leadership reflections, and end-of-year celebrations. We look forward to supporting them every step of the way as they complete this important chapter of their school journey.
AIP Focus: Positive Behaviour and Wellbeing
This year, we’ve continued to strengthen our whole-school approach to behaviour through our focus on Positive Behaviour for Learning (PBL) and the Berry Street Education Model. We are proud to share that our school has achieved a significant reduction in behaviour incidents from 2024 to 2025.
Our recent School Opinion Survey results reflect this progress, showing:
· Increased satisfaction with how behaviour is managed
· Improved staff morale across the school
· Stronger community engagement and trust
These results are a testament to the collective efforts of staff, students, and families in building a respectful and inclusive learning environment.
We are delighted to welcome Margarita Karpathios, our new school social worker, to the team. Margarita brings a wealth of experience in student and family support and will be working closely with staff and families to promote wellbeing and connection across the school. Please feel free to introduce yourself or reach out if you would like to connect with her.
Term 4 always moves quickly, so please keep an eye on the calendar and stay connected through our regular updates. Thank you for your ongoing support.
Let’s make this a wonderful end to the school year!
Lee Braney
Principal
Updates from the Admin Office
Office Hours 8:00AM - 3:30PM
Supervision on gates begins at 8:00am
Gates Close at 2:50pm - all remaining students will then be escorted to the office to await collection.
Important Dates
- 💲 All Outstanding Payments - Due Now
- 👕 2026 Senior Shirt Expression of Interest Form - Due Now
- 🏊 Prep - Year 2 Swimming Commences 21st October- Permission Note - Due Now
- 🏊♀️ Interschool Swimming 20th October - Permission Note and Payment - Due Now
- 🏫 Prep Readiness Program - Every Monday 9:00am - 11:00am
- 📅 Year 6 Pimlico High School Transition Morning - 28th October
- 🔴 Day for Daniel - 31st October
- 🧑🏫 World Teacher Day - 31st October
- 🎓 Year 6 Graduation Ceremony - 10th December 6:00pm
Reminder: No parking allowed at any time in the administration entrance driveway. Please use the designated car parks for all pick-ups and drop-offs.
Important Update: Consent Forms Now Available via QParents or Email
We would like to inform all parents that, moving forward, consent forms will no longer be printed. Instead, they will be sent home electronically through QParents or via email.
This change will help us streamline communication and reduce paper waste. Please ensure you’re signed up for QParents or keep an eye on your email for any upcoming forms.
If you have any questions or need assistance, feel free to contact the school office.
Prep - Year 2 Swimming Lessons
Swimming lessons are a vital part of helping young people become confident, capable swimmers. Our program is designed to equip students with the skills, knowledge, and self-assurance they need to enjoy swimming and other water-based activities safely.
The swimming program will be led by Mrs. Alannah Wilson, a qualified AusSwim instructor. To ensure safety and effective supervision three staff members will be in the water with the students during each session.
We look forward to supporting our students as they build lifelong swimming skills in a safe and supportive environment.
Permission Notes
Permission notes have been sent home with students via Qparent and email and must be returned to the office by 16th October 2025. Students will not be able to participate without a signed permission form.
Our Fortnightly Wrap Up
2C’s Sweet Lesson in Division! 🍬➗
This week, 2C explored the concept of division by creating equal groups—with lollies!
Students worked together to share out lollies fairly, discovering how division helps us make equal and fair groups. It was a hands-on, engaging activity full of smiles, teamwork, and a sweet twist on learning maths!
Well done, 2C!
Prep Readiness Program – Week 1
This week marked the first morning of our Prep Readiness Program! A huge thank you to all the parents and future Preppies who joined us — it was fantastic to see so many smiling faces and excitement for the school journey ahead.
Year 2 Excursion to Douglas Water Discovery Hub
The Year 2 Students visited the Townsville City Council’s Douglas Water Discovery Hub as part of their science unit.
This term the students are investigating the Earth's resources and the importance of conserving resources for the future of all living things. During the excursion, students had the opportunity to explore Townsville’s water cycle from catchment to tap!
They found out how our drinking water is collected, treated, and delivered to the community. It was a great hands-on experience that helped them understand why saving water is so important for people and the environment.
We loved seeing everyone so engaged in this awesome learning adventure!
Homework Activities
At Aitkenvale, we highly value opportunities for students to develop their literacy, numeracy, communication and social skills. We recognise the family/home unit as a key teacher in these areas and the way these skills can be developed through everyday interactions. The importance of allowing sufficient time for family, recreation, and community and cultural activities is also valued. Homework is therefore encouraged but non-compulsory.
Suggested homework activities will be communicated through the fortnightly school newsletter. There is no need for students to return / show their completion of these tasks – if they want to, they can, we always love to see our students’ progress. Please see below this fortnight’s homework activities which you can do as a family:
STEAM | Digital Literacy |
If you have access to a computer, play Typing Club. Make a list of all of the technology types in your house. How do these make your family’s life easier? Eg. Microwave is used to heat food quickly. | |
Numeracy | Reading |
Preps: With the help of an adult, say and write the numbers 0-20 in order. Year 1: Have an adult choose a number between 1 and 120. Tell your adult the number that comes after. Year 2: Order these numbers: 949, 678, 321, 999, 674 Year 3: Order these numbers: 7949, 7678, 7321, 7999, 7674 Year 4: Practice your 3x and 4x tables. You can draw groups of to help you. Year 5: Order these decimals: 14.6, 14.61, 13.66, 14.66, 13.88, 13.8 Year 6: Find the equivalent fractions and decimals to these percentages: 5%, 10%, 25%, 50%, 75%, 100% For example: 60% = = 0.60 | Read or listen to stories. Talk about who are the characters, where is it set and what happens. Remember you can borrow books to take home from our school library. Did you know you can borrow books from the Townsville City Council library on Petunia St, Aitkenvale? It is free to join! |
If you feel your child requires additional homework, to meet their individual learning needs (either at a lower or higher level) or home readers, please request these from the classroom teacher.
Term 4 Learning Overviews
Prep
Year 1
Year 2
Year 3
Year 3/4C
Year 4
Year 5
Year 5/6
With The Weather Heating Up, Remember: Look Before You Lock.
Look Before You Lock means building a routine of checking, to avoid unintentionally leaving a child in a car. This means checking even if you know your child is not with you.
Stress, exhaustion and distractions can impact short-term memory, leading to devastating consequences when transporting children. Be sure to discuss your Look Before You Lock routine with every person who transports your child. This includes partners, grandparents and friends.
Learn more about keeping children safe at qld.gov.au/LookBeforeYouLock
Camp Australia Newsletter
Student of the Week
Week 1
Prep A | Isaac | For using digraphs in writing. Well done! |
Prep B | Adamou | For your creative ideas and excellent sentences when writing about Pig the Pug. You rock |
1A | Aminatou | For being a Superstar helper and making positive choices in class. |
1B | Whole Class | 1B displayed Positive Behaviour for learning as the class transitioned into term 4. |
2A | Austin | For starting Term 4 with a bang and following room expectations. |
2B | Sammi-Grace | For the effort she put into her writing tasks this week. |
2C | Name Withheld | For persisting when completing complicated multiplication and division problems. |
P -2 Pathways | Winnie | For great sounding when writing her holiday sentence. Well done Winnie! |
P -2 Pathways | Yowane | For completing his sentence writing independently without teacher support. Excellent effort Yowane! |
3A | Laurent | For following instructions first time every time. |
3B | Trinite | For engaging in and answering questions in whole class discussions. |
3/4C | Wema | For settling in quickly to a new term of learning. |
3/4C | Nasra | For actively participating in class discussions. |
4C | Jameela | Consistently follows school expectations by being in the right place at the right time. She makes responsible choices, listens carefully to instructions, and is a positive role model for her classmates. |
5A | Hassan | For demonstrating impressive effort and behaviour during the first week of Term 4. |
5B | Te Paea | For being a Punctually present, purposefully productive, powerful performer. |
5/6C | Issa | For being a motivated, respectful and dedicated student. |
6B | Kyren | Excellent listening and applying himself to his schoolwork at all times |
3-6 Pathways | Jomo | For an exceptional start to Term 4! Great work ethic and participation in learning activities this week! Keep up the great work! |
LOTE | Te Paea | Always being a responsible class member in Japanese. |
LOTE | Sharifu | Always being a motivated and responsible learner in Japanese. |
Week 2
Prep A | Arthur | For approaching writing tasks with a positive attitude and maintaining stamina. |
Prep B | Munga | For independently writing most sounds to represent words in your sentences. Keep it up! |
1A | Name Withheld | For bringing happiness into our classroom and always working with his best effort. |
1B | Valeri | For showing dedication to learning during spelling groups. |
2A | Yvette | For showing wonderful persistence in your writing and using your imagination to create a story. |
2B | Lane | For his eagerness to learn about our water cycle during our visit to the Douglas Water Discovery Hub. |
2C | Moses | For being respectful, responsible and safe on the excursion. |
P-2 Pathways | Daniel | For excellent focus and use of sound knowledge to complete matching tasks. Great work Daniel! |
P-2 Pathways | Munga | For great work ethic when completing tasks. Munga always completes set tasks. Keep up the great work Munga! |
P-2 Pathways | Jovia | Listening, being resilient and trying her best all week. |
3A | Name Withheld | for coming to school with a positive attitude. |
3B | Ellie | For working hard in class and asking for extension work. |
3/4C | M’Masa | For always being respectful, responsible and role model for our class. |
3/4C | Paige | For showing resilience and completing tasks to the best of her ability. |
4C | Riyaaq | For settling well into 4C. |
4C | Aaron | For settling well into 4C. |
5A | Amne | For always demonstrating a high standard of behaviour and effort in the classroom. |
5B | Theodore | An energetic and effective excellent learner |
5/6C | Zhayden | For demonstrating outstanding effort and determination during this week’s math assessment. |
6A | Ryder | For always doing his best work and being a helpful class member |
6B | Nicole | For an excellent start to her narrative. Excellent listening skills. |
Yr 3-6 Pathways | Win Kyi | For using her sound knowledge to complete labelling tasks in class unaided. Excellent work Ma Than. |
Yr 3-6 Pathways | Amaar | For being a supportive and responsible class member - being an honorary teacher; translating lessons for new class members. Thank you for your kindness and being such a big help in class! |
Important Information for Families
To ensure you and your child stay safe when using e-scooters or e-skateboards, please remember:
Only those aged 16+ can ride e-scooters and e-skateboards unsupervised.
Helmets must be worn with the straps properly fastened (bicycle or motorcycle helmets) and bells fitted for devices with handlebars.
No passengers/doubling – only one person riding an e-scooter.
Speed limit of 12km/h on footpaths and shared paths.
Serious fines may apply to riders, and parents, if caught breaking the rules.
StreetSmartsQld features educational videos and other helpful safety tips for riding e-scooters and e-skateboards.
