Once again we have reached the end of another busy but positive year. 

I would like to take this opportunity to thank all community members who have helped to make our school such a special place and enabled us to offer a variety of experiences across the year.  This includes parents and carers who have helped:  within classrooms; on excursions; sporting coaches; members of the School Association and Parent Group; banking volunteers; canteen volunteers;  and our Adopt A Cops (Richard and Jodi). 

I would also like to make particular mention once again to the parents and carers who helped to make the Xmas Roast possible.  It was fantastic to not only see our regular helpers but also a number of new faces.  I appreciate the time and effort that is involved in making this annual event happen, not only on the day but the months of planning prior.  Once again the decorations created a wonderful backdrop to the lunch and the food was delicious and enjoyed by all.  Our school is very lucky to have this wonderful whole school tradition. 

Our new EMUsicians for 2020 are: Liam : Guitar/Bass, Charlie , Erin , Hannah , Phoenix and Freya.

Congratulations to all of these students.

We celebrated our grade 6 students on Monday with a celebration assembly attended by well over 100 people and dignitaries. It was lovely to hear the well-wishes and commendations given and I’m sure the students will remember this day for years to come.

The assembly was followed up by the Grade 6 Leavers Dinner at the Somerset Surf Club. Students and staff celebrated with a wonderful night with great food, speeches, dancing and many, many photos.

A huge thank you to the Grade 6 parents that helped support this event through making things, creating, writing, painting, building, sorting, laminating, cutting, arranging, sticking, blue-tacking, setting up, cake decorating, and the list goes on. You all know who you are – thank you for your much needed support and help.

In addition to having our Grade 6 students and some of their families leaving our school, we also unfortunately have some staff who are leaving us:

• Mr Sam Mansfield (Gr6A) has been successful in gaining a full time positon at Ulverstone Primary.
• Mrs Donna Raimondo (Admin) has been successful in gaining a position at Penguin District.
• Mrs Merrie Lewis (School Health Nurse) will be retiring.
• Mrs Jenni Hill and Ms Vanessa Garwood (signing aides) will be working across other schools.
• Mrs Michelle McNicol (School Psychologist) has been assigned to other schools with LSN.

We would like to thank these staff members for their time at SPS.  Each of them have worked in different roles during their time with us but have all contributed to making our school a special place.  We wish them best of luck with their new roles in the future.

In 2020 we also have a few staff on leave:

• Mrs Kaye Tidey and Mrs Kate Smith will be taking Long Service leave in Term 1. We hope they have a wonderful break and look forward to hearing about their adventures.
• Mrs Erin McGaffin will continue her Maternity Leave and will return on Grade 3A in 2^nd term.

New Staff

In 2020 we will also welcome some new staff to join our wonderful team:

• Miss Julia Hill will be joining us from West Ulverstone Primary on 1A.
• Miss Amy Phillips (who will become Mrs Gibbons over the holidays) will be joining us from Forest Primary on 5A.
• Miss Meaghan Hosking will be joining us for Term 1 on 3A while Mrs McGaffin is on leave.
• Miss Lyn Taylor will be joining us as our new School Psychologist.

To conclude, I would like to thank the students, staff and parents/carers for another great year.  I look forward to seeing you again in 2020 and hearing your holiday stories.

Merry Xmas to you and your families and hope you have a safe and happy holiday break.

See you back at the start of Term 1 on Wednesday 5^th Feb.