July 2024

Welcome to our Newsletter

Principal's Report

Variety Grant Success

A huge congratulations to our Parents and Friends Chair, Katie Ruscoe with the support of the Literacy team for a successful application to the Variety Foundation.  The funding from this grant, along with a generous donation from the P&F, has made it possible for Margate Primary to purchase essential resources to support our Reading priority and teaching using the most effective practices.

Mrs Hana Kramer will continue in delivering a quality arts program whilst Mr Friend is on leave until Week 3.

Our music teacher, Ms Andrea Van Emmerik has taken other employment opportunities from the beginning of Term 3. We wish Andrea well in her new journey.  We are fortunate to have the talented Denise Hennessey join our team to continue the music program in the middle and upper primary classes.  Early childhood classes will still continue their quality music lessons with Ms (Sensi) Watson.

Leah Waugh

Acting Principal

Message from Pieta Langham

Hi everyone,

I am relieved to confirm my ankle bone graft ankle surgery is healing well and I have been cleared to return to work full time next term.

On behalf of staff, students, and the wider school community I wish Leah all the best in her new leadership role. Leah’s secondment to New Norfolk Primary will provide much needed intensive support in addressing staffing challenges.

I am happy to share that Susan Oates will be joining our leadership team in the Assistant Principal role. Susan is an experienced leader who is currently Acting Principal at Austin Ferry Primary School.

I am really looking forward to catching up with you all on Monday 22 July, and super excited for Term 3!

Pieta Langham

Principal

Golden Tickets

Congratulations to the following students who won the golden ticket draw on Monday. These students and many others have earned golden tickets by displaying our values of Connection, Courage, Growth, Responsibilty and Respect.

Day of Play

Why is play important for children?

Because then they will be happy and smart and they will have a good time on Earth… and Earth will be happy too, because more children are playing on Earth… because adults don’t let them play for that long… so this is a day when they get to have HEAPS of play! (Evie, Prep)

On the 12^th of June, our Early Childhood classes headed outside to celebrate the inaugural International Day of Play, a UN endorsed awareness day acknowledging the fundamental role of play in child development, learning and wellbeing. Play opens a world of possibilities and promotes deep level learning; problem solving, creativity, resilience, collaboration, balance, motor skills, connection to place and each other… and it’s loads of fun! Here is what we had to say about our experience.

“I was so excited in the morning…It was super fun because we got to use the cardboard to make cubbies!” – Bruce

“What I had is to be free and I wanted to be myself and I got to be.” – Sophia

“It was the best time ever because we got to play with lots of things…. even potions and painting… and the cardboard was Really Fun!”

“I loved the play day because there was this big cubby that I built, and my friends built… it was made out of a heap of sticks… and we even put our bags in! It was very fun!” - Ethan

“I had fun and I felt happy inside because there was so much, we could do, and we could make new friends!” – Eliza

“The Play Day made it feel like I’m at home and I had fun!” - Ben

Wellbeing Day

On Wednesday 3rd July all grade 3-6 classes participated in our first wellbeing day. This idea is from our students who have said they would like to do more ‘fun’ days and activities at school as ways we can improve our belonging.

 The purpose of this day was to:

• promote wellbeing, connection with others and improve student belonging at Margate Primary School

There were lots of activities offered on the day. Classes participated in a reflection activity in the afternoon and collaboratively worked on their class flag for the beginning of Term 3, School Values Olympics Parade.

Keep any eye out on Facebook for photos from the day. 

Story Circles

Interview with Author Ros Moriarty

3 Bandicoots recently had the privilege of interviewing the amazing Ros Moriarty about her new book ‘Beach Song.’ Students deepened their learning about how and why Ros made her book and had the chance to ask many questions which showed the depth of their own thinking.

‘Did you think as deeply when you wrote the book as we did when we read it?’

It fills a teacher’s heart with joy when they witness thinking and a greater passion for learning.

At the beginning of our poetry lesson this week a student survey showed most students in the class disliked poetry, but by the end, most student declared they had changed their mind.

Here is an example from budding poets in 4/5D inspired by the book ‘Songlines of a Moonbird.’

NAIDOC Week

In Story Circles we are celebrating NAIDOC Week and First Nations Culture with our own Yarning Circles. Students have learnt how to create a safe supportive space and are learning how to listen and tell stories to each other.

Gumnuts Early Learning

2025 Kinder

Parents and Friend's News

• Huge thank you to Variety for their amazing contribution to the school literacy program with a $6,000 grant towards much needed decodable books!
• 27^th July – Bunnings BBQ – Parents will need to sign up for the allotted time for their child’s grade. Please click on the link below to sign up for volunteering.
  
• We need parents for the Fair, please talk with your teachers about any ideas you have. We hope each class/grade will have a stall.
• We held our first Community Pizza Night; it was a great success! Next Community Pizza night will be on Friday, 26^th July.
• 2^nd hand uniform sale was a success and will run again in Term 3

Uniform Opening Hours 

Term 3 

8.30am - 9.30am Mondays

2.30pm - 3.30pm Fridays

Hurrah for Pizzaaa!

Recently a group of family volunteers came together to restore the beautiful pizza oven in out garden. A big shout out to everyone who helped, especially Anson Patterson who provided both his expert knowledge and equipment for the job.

Last Friday afternoon the newly restored oven was joyously brought to life and many a pizza was cooked for the enthusiastic crowd who turned up laden with their BYO bases and toppings. The most creative pizza would have to have been Oh’s Tom Yum pizza… Tom yum yum!! It was such a lovely atmosphere, communally cooking and enjoying pizza in the productive and inviting garden space. A special thanks to John, master pizza cooker!

This will be a regular event so come along to the next one with your own unique pizza toppings to share in the fun and check out the garden!

Stephanie Alexander Kitchen Garden Program

Long Table Lunch

Both of the Year 6 classes recently enjoyed a very special ‘Long Table Lunch’. This is an annual tradition, where the Year 6s prepare a 3-course meal and invite a special person along to enjoy it with.

This year, the Emu’s menu options included pumpkin soup with bread rolls, fettucine bolognaise with Caeser salad, brownies and apple/rhubarb crumble for dessert. The crocs enjoyed a garden salad, silver beet fetta slice, fettucine bolognaise, Norwegian apple cake and chocolate brownies to finish. All of the food was made from scratch (even the pasta and bread) and was devoured quickly by some very appreciative family and friends.

Everyone enjoyed their delicious meals and wonderful company. What a way to bring up the halfway point of an extra special year for us all.

A big thank you must go to Jackie and Chris for working together to help us produce many of the ingredients in our own garden, then use them in the meals. This special occasion was the culmination of years spent learning, creating and eating in both the kitchen and garden. A lot of work goes on behind the scenes and the success of the Long Table Lunch wouldn’t be possible without their amazing efforts.

Thank you to all parents and friends who gave up their time to volunteer in the kitchen and garden. A special mention must also be made of Noah and Max’s Nan, Judy, who volunteered in the kitchen each week, having a grandson in each of the Year 6 classes.

Volunteers are always welcome and help to expand the possibilities of what can be achieved in the kitchen and garden. You don’t need to have any special knowledge – just having an extra adult there is a big help and enables us to participate in a wider range of activities. Being available for just one session or signing up to come along every week is fantastic.

Well done to the students for showcasing their amazing skills.

The Year 6 team

Duty of Care

We have had a number of students at school well prior to 8.25am.

We would like to remind families that the school does not have duty of care for children before 8.25am and encourages families to drop student/s off from then onwards.

The school office is open during each term from 8.25am - 3.45pm Monday to Friday.  

Safety of Van Morey Road

Van Morey Road is very busy around school times with buses and cars going everywhere.  This is why we had a school crossing installed.  For the safety of yourself and your children please only use the school crossing to cross Van Morey Road.

Booking of the Gym

Just a friendly reminder if you wish to use the gym after hours for training, please make sure you ring and speak to the office first to check that there are no other bookings.  Thank you.

Collecting your child from school within the school day

If you are collecting your child from school within the school day for an appointment or other early departure reason, please come by the office first.  The office will then assist in calling your child up to the office and you can sign your child out.

Attendance Notifications

Please contact the Office with attendance notifications no later than 9.30am to avoid receiving a phone call from our office staff.

If you are social distancing, please email margate.primary@decyp.tas.gov.au 

Facebook

Please follow us on our School Facebook page for infomation about upcoming school events and celebrations.

Lost Property

Please help us by coming along and looking through the lost property items. Named lost items will be returned to the student (where possible) and all un-named items will be passed on to the uniform shop at the end of term.

Community Notices

Parent Sessions - SASS Training opportunities

SASS is a free and confidential support service for southern Tasmanian people of all ages who have been affected by any form of sexual violence. Our Primary Prevention team runs specialised training for professionals working with young people, parents, and the general public.     

Below is the link for the Parent Sessions online or in person sessions starting from Tuesday 30th July 2024 to Tuesday 27th August 2024.