11th April 2025

Welcome to our Newsletter

Principal's Report

Who can believe that we have reached the end of first term? It seems like only yesterday that we started the year, ready for your children to meet up with their friends, teachers getting classrooms ready and the school community being excited for a new school year.

I would like to take the opportunity to thank all our staff at Margate Primary for their continued dedication in supporting our students – academically, emotionally and socially. Our school community is about the partnerships between school and home, so will take this opportunity to thank families for your continued support. I have certainly felt welcomed in my first term as Acting Principal. As always, the door is always open to have a chat.

Term 2 will see some staff changes as Susan Munro farewells the school after 14 years with us. Susan will be missed by staff and families alike due to her warm and caring nature. Through her time at Margate Primary, Susan has had many roles from Literacy to Art. This has meant that so many students have had the opportunity of being a part of her commitment to a strong education in a caring and supportive environment. We wish you all the best in your next adventures. You leave us with fond memories.

A new teacher coming into the school, Katrina Cook-James will be working with Karie on a Friday in Prep Possums. Katrina has done a lot of relief work with us and has built beautiful relationships with the students and families. We are excited to welcome Katrina to our team.

Freya Richardson will now be working Mon, Tues, Wed and Friday. Jenna Mason will be joining the 1/2 team with Freya on a Thursday.  Jenna will be continuing in 1/2 Echidnas with Emily during term 2 as Kate Longey will continue in the role of AST.

Our new art teacher will be Alice Bowman-Shaw. She has met our students during the term and is excited to be joining us at Margate. Welcome to the team!

We also farewell Robyn Wallace who has been with us for 32 years. As Robyn mentioned to me, this is more than half her lifetime! What an absolute accomplishment to be a part of a wonderful school community for such a long period of time. Robyn is an amazing person, with a dedication and approach to her work that demonstrates her values and work ethic. Her infectious laugh will be missed. I’m sure that Robyn will be back to see us in between her passions of bowling and going on holidays! Thank you, Robyn, for all your work with us. You will be missed.

Last Friday saw the return of a school Trivia night. Thank you to the P and F for facilitating this event. It was a fantastic evening with lots of games, questions and prizes. The evening was enjoyed by all, and this was possible due to the hard work and dedication of our amazing P&F team who had the vision to provide another opportunity for the school community to come together.

In other exciting news, Karen Harrland will be representing our school at the National ALEA (Australian Literacy Educators’ Association) conference that will be held in Hobart in July. Karen has been asked to speak about her work regarding “Story Telling in Nature: How we help children find their voice and share stories.” This is a true testament to the work that Karen does with students during Story Circles and work in Literacy. Congratulations Karen. We look forward to hearing all about it in term 2.

I hope that everyone has a truly wonderful break.

Suzanne Oates

Acting Principal

Staff Farewells

Susan Munro

Mrs Munro has dedicated an outstanding 38 years to the teaching profession in government schools across Tasmania. After 14 years at Margate Primary School, Mrs Munro has inspired, encouraged and motivated young learners to engage and has enabled students to achieve with deeper understanding and developing courage.

Her passion and enthusiasm in Art continue to flourish in her final weeks at Margate Primary School.  Mrs Munro collaborated with Rhi Headley (local artist and parent) and many students in Art lessons to design and paint a mural. She has dedicated the artwork to our school, and this will be installed in Term 2. We are forever grateful for Mrs Munro’s kindness, generosity and care she has provided students, staff and families throughout the years. We wish her well as she embarks on new opportunities and will be teaching in Indonesia commencing in the middle of the year.

Congratulations Mrs Munro, you will be truly missed!

Robyn Wallace

Robyn’s career with the department and at Margate Primary School spans over 3 decades.  She started with Margate Primary at the age of 20 when she won her cleaning position back in 1993.

She has not only been a valued employee but also a parent and grandparent here at the school, so her ties here are particularly strong. 

Robyn is well respected among all staff, students and families over the last 32 years.  She has volunteered her time and helped with many events such as leavers dinners, staff retirements as well as fundraised for many students, families and the community.

We are incredibly grateful for the contribution you have made to Margate Primary throughout your long career, and we wish you all the very best in your retirement.  You will be sadly missed!

Deb Dabrowski

Deb’s career with Margate Primary School began over 25 years ago.  She has been involved in the school in many ways, as an employee, a parent, and a grandparent.  She started as the Margate Aboriginal Educational Centre Co-ordinator as well as a Teacher’s Assistant for a short time before becoming a familiar face working in the school office, mending quite a few bumps and bruises along the way. Deb has been such an integral part of our administration team, and we are truly grateful for the contribution she has made to the school. Her knowledge, compassion and caring nature towards staff, students and families will be sadly missed by all.
We wish Deb all the very best in this new chapter of her life.

Trivia Night

Adventures abounded during the Trivia night!

The gym was transformed into a pirate's lair complete with barnacled anchor, treasure chests of gold and jewels and all the volunteer parents embracing the theme in costumes! It was fun to see teams of parents and community members appear in varying costumes, ready to have a great time!  The platters were plentiful, well worth the money (and pre ordering!)  The Nachos you could buy on the night – also yummy, filling and great to share! It was fabulous to see Warren Lashmar back in our school after being a parent for so many years, taking on the Quiz Master role – a huge thankyou to him for continuing to support Margate Primary! 

The actual quiz covered lots of different topics and lots of different elements that made it fun for teams to complete! The Teacher team was super excited (and a little bit relieved) that they won – although it might have been Miss Bell’s ring ins that contributed to that! The additional games and raffle were also fun. All in all, it was a great night out!

A huge thankyou to the organising committee – who worked tirelessly to plan, prepare and present such a fun evening – including attending other trivia nights, visiting tip and op shops for the decorations, getting donations for prizes. Such a lot of hard work that paid off to create an amazing event! Keep an eye out for future events and ways you can join in the fun!

DECYP Volunteers - Safeguarding

Safeguarding Children and Young People

All DECYP employees and volunteers must complete Safeguarding training every year, before working with any children or young people. This is compulsory under new laws determined to better safeguard children in Tasmania from sexual abuse.

The volunteer training is a 14-minute video, you do need to register and will receive a certificate on completion. Please download certificate and provide a copy to the school (in person or via email).

Compulsory Safeguarding Training for Workers - Department for Education, Children and Young People

Certificates are valid for 12 months from the date of completion.

Golden Tickets

Gumnuts Early Learning

Cross Country

What an awesome day we had at this year’s Cross Country Carnival! From Kinder to Year 6, it was fantastic to see everyone getting involved — whether it was running, cheering, or just having a laugh with friends, there was something for everyone!

Our Kinder to Year 2 students brought all the energy, with big smiles and high fives all around as they raced through their courses. The focus was all about having fun, trying their best, and enjoying the moment — and they definitely delivered!

For Years 3 to 6, we saw an impressive mix of fun and competition. The competitive runners gave it their all, showing grit and determination right to the finish line — what a great display of effort and sportsmanship! Meanwhile, plenty of students enjoyed the run alongside their friends, encouraging one another and celebrating every finish.

And of course, we can’t forget the highlight of the day — the Best Dressed Race for Years 3–6! From tutus and capes to crazy wigs and matching costumes, the creativity was off the charts. It was the perfect way to cap off a day full of fun, fitness, and community spirit.

👏 A big congratulations to all our participants — you made it a day to remember!

Congratulations!

A huge well done to the following students for being selected to represent the Huon and Channel team at the State Primary Schools Athletics Carnival! What an amazing achievement — we are so proud of you all!

Year 4
🏃‍♂️ Paddy – 800m
🏃‍♀️ Ruby – 100m and Relay
🏃‍♂️ Marshall – 100m and Relay

Year 5
🏃‍♀️ Neve – 1500m
🏃‍♀️ Lexi – High Jump
🏃‍♂️ Will – High Jump
🏃‍♂️ Hugh – 100m, 200m, 400m and Relay

Year 6
🏃‍♂️ Oliver – 1500m

Best of luck at the carnival — go out there and give it your all!

🎉 Congratulations Harry! 🎉

Over the weekend, Harry travelled to Burnie to compete in his first STNA (Southern Tasmanian Netball Association) Representative Netball Carnival — and what an awesome experience it was!

Harry's team played three games at the BNA Netball Centre, kicking things off with a huge 24-0 win! Although the next two games were tough losses, the team showed incredible spirit and made it to the semi-final, where they narrowly missed out with a close 8-9 loss to Burnie.

To top it all off, the team even got a photo with the Burnie mascot!

Well done, Harry! With four more carnivals to go, we’re excited to hear about even more success and fun ahead! 🏐

Stephanie Alexander Kitchen Garden Program

After a very successful term in our garden, there is still produce coming on! Please feel free to come and harvest anything for your family and check if it needs a water!

MPSA News

Kiss and Drop off Zone Mornings Only - Top Carpark

Please remember this is a drop-off zone only in the mornings and is not to be utilised in the afternoons due to many buses entering and exiting this space and to ensure safety.  Please be mindful that the carpark is for staff members only.  There are alternate parks at the bottom of Area 4, the hall and the cricket club.  

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.

Phone 62 672 238

Text Attendance's Only: 0437 294 856

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