February 2025

Welcome to our Newsletter

Principal's Report

Welcome to week 4 at Margate Primary.  It has been a wonderful start to the year with students working hard in classes, both academically and socially. There is a lovely calm feeling to the school and I would like to thank both staff and families in supporting our students to have such a wonderful start to the year.

In order to celebrate our students and our school, the newsletter will be coming out fortnightly. This term, expect a newsletter in weeks 5, 7 and 9.

MONDAY MUSTER:

We have introduced a mini meeting on Monday mornings as a way to connect with each other across the school. The aim of this time together is to celebrate student achievements, recognise students who are demonstrating our school values, share in their birthdays and to remind students about upcoming events and our expectations. At this stage it is known as our “Monday Muster.” We love a bit of alliteration! – however, we will be asking students to help us decide upon a name for our gathering.  Watch this space for further information.

WELCOME BBQ:

As always, our P and F were amazing in supporting our Welcome BBQ. This was a time where teachers were able to talk with students and families about what is happening in their classroom, and where important information may have been exchanged so that we know as much about our students as possible. This is an important event for our school as it demonstrates the partnership between school and home, and how we support the learning together. Thank you to everyone involved in our successful afternoon. Although the weather was not as kind as it could have been, we had a wonderful time connecting with each other.

HOUSE CAPTAIN AND SCHOOL CAPTAIN SPEECHES

It was an absolute privilege to be part of the process of students engaging in delivering speeches to their peers in the hopes of being voted as School House Captains / Vice Captains and for School Captain.

The speeches were spoken with passion and conviction, with the audience listening intently to their speeches. Although the students were nervous, they displayed great courage and resilience in sharing their ideas about what they can do that will help support our wonderful school.  They all spoke of being kind and caring – two traits that are evident in their everyday interactions with others at school, either in the classroom or in the playground.

It was so lovely to hear their views on leadership, and the qualities and traits that make a good leader. I would like to share with you some of their ideas:

“Good leaders show respect, kindness, courage and they are always there to help.” (Lachlan)

“A good leader should be understanding, consistent, a good role model and someone who inspires people to try new things.” (Kelsey)

“Leadership is not all about being the boss, it’s about being able to take risks but also being able to make responsible and reliable choices.” (Ollie)

“Leaders should be dependable and understanding.” (Molly)

“A good leader leads by example, with a growth mindset and courage.” (Isla)

We will share the outcome of the elections in the next newsletter. 

SEESAW

I would like to thank our families for their patience while Seesaw is not operational. Unfortunately, there are still some recurring issues from DECYP with regards to communication via this platform. The latest news is that they are quite close to having it up and running, however they would like to ensure it’s integrity before schools start using this:

“Our priority is to get schools back up and running as soon as possible, recognising that not all schools were impacted by this issue. We are taking a cautious approach to ensuring a successful reestablishment of the platform across all schools and will advise when families can be reconnected.” (DECYP communication)

We will keep you updated regarding progress on this. In the meantime, please check Schoolzine and Facebook for communication to families. You can also phone the school (62672238) or email your child’s class teacher or our office at margate.primary@decyp.tas.gov.au

CAMP

We wish our year 6 students all the best and happy adventures as they head off to camp at Blue Lagoon from Monday – Wednesday this week. This is an exciting, although sometimes a daunting time for students, as for some, this will be their first time sleeping away from home. This is certainly an opportunity for them to demonstrate many of our school values – connection, courage, growth, responsibility and respect. Have an awesome time – and remember – your teachers (and yourselves) will require some sleep over the two night stay!

ATHLETICS CARNIVAL:

A reminder that our school athletics carnival is coming up in Week 5 on March 7^th.  As mentioned, our year 6 House and Vice Captains have been elected, and they are eager to support all our budding athletes to achieve their best. They will be an asset to our carnival, leading the cheers, participation and connections made with their team.

We are here to support your child / children. The door is always open for your ideas / questions etc. Please do not hesitate to get in contact with us.

SAFETY

A reminder that when students are entering the school from the carpark off Van Morey Road that they use the footpaths. It is a very busy space with cars and buses moving in an out consistently throughout the day. Of a morning, the carpark can be used as a “kiss and drop” space with students exiting cars at the footpath. This is not available at the end of the day due to the large number of buses that use the carpark. When students are crossing the road, please remind them to use the designated crossings.

Suzanne Oates

Acting Principal

Gumnuts Early Learning

Parents and Friend's News

Stephanie Alexander Kitchen Garden Program

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