2024 Newsletter

Annual General Meeting 2023-24

Lady Gowrie Tasmania’s 2023-24 Annual General Meeting (AGM) was a time to reflect, acknowledge and celebrate the remarkable work undertaken in our services and programs by our passionate and dedicated people.
 
It was a time to thank our families, clients and learners who placed their trust in our organisation to provide either education and care for their children, or to provide support for their family or to provide professional support for their individual learning journey.
 
It was also a time to acknowledge and thank our people who have achieved the significant milestone of 5, 10, 15 or 20 years of dedicated service to children, families, learners and our organisation.
 
A special congratulations to Robin Ballard for reaching her 20 year milestone – this is an incredible achievement. To view the full list of significant milestones of our people in 2023-24 please visit:
 
 
To view Lady Gowrie Tasmania’s online 2023-24 Annual Report please follow the link below:
 
 
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From Suzie

suzie

Dear Families,

Welcome to the final newsletter for 2024 and my first as CEO of Lady Gowrie Tasmania (LGT). It is a privilege to be leading and working alongside LGT’s fabulous team of professionals who put ‘Children First’ in their work every day.

I bring a people-focused approach to my work and have a background in working with people and families in the not-for-profit sector as well as leading culture and capability improvement across a range of organisations. I look forward to supporting LGT and our team to strive for the best possible outcomes for Tasmanian children, families, educators and our sector through the high quality, inclusive and safe education and care service and programs delivered by LGT.

STRATEGIC PLAN 2024-28

This year, the Board and Senior Leadership Team developed LGT’s strategic direction and vision for the next five years. The Strategic Plan 2024-28 sets out our purpose, our vision, our values and is structured around four clear priorities that will drive our work and underpin the development of operational plans and budget processes. I will provide updates to families as work progresses but for more information about the Strategic Plan 2024-28 please visit:

https://gowrie-tas.com.au/about-us/#strategic-plan

GENERAL MANAGER EDUCATION AND CARE UPDATE

As you are aware, Shanna Hughes resigned as General Manager Education and Care last month. I would like to thank Shanna for her strong leadership across our Education and Care (E&C) services and programs – always with a firm focus on children, our teams and building connections. We wish Shanna and her family all the best as they settle into their new life in Melbourne.

This recruitment process has now closed, and we hope to be able to announce the successful candidate early in the new year.  As we finalise the recruitment process, Miffy Wedd (current Regional Manager South) is Acting General Manager Education and Care. I thank Miffy for stepping in and managing the day-to-day operations of E&C services and teams.

KEEPING CHILDREN SAFE

At LGT we support the rights of all children to grow, learn and play in a safe place and have zero tolerance towards abuse, neglect or exploitation of children. In our services and programs, we have policies, procedures and reviews firmly in place to ensure that children attending our services are safe. To support our educators to understand what harm or abuse might look like, all educators (other than new educators awaiting completion or those undertaking a refresher) have completed the ‘In Safe Hands’ training during 2024 and will undertake a refresher in 2025.

LGT is also supporting this important training for children aged between 3 to 8 years through the Bravehearts ‘Dittos Keep Safe Adventure Program’. This program offers a live ‘Ditto Show’ which focuses on essential personal safety skills for children using age-appropriate language, song and dance. The Ditto Show is available in three versions, with the content in each version targeted at three distinct developmental levels:

  1.    EARLY YEARS (for children aged 3 to 4)
  2.    FOUNDATION (for children aged 5 to 6)
  3.    YEARS 1-2 (for children aged 7 to 8)

Follow up resources for children, educators and families to explore together after the show are also included as part of this program. To learn more about this important program being offered in LGT education and care services please visit:

https://bravehearts.org.au/education/dittos-keep-safe-adventure-program/

https://bravehearts.org.au/education/dittos-keep-safe-adventure-program/dittos-keep-safe-adventure-show/

You may also like to view the trailer of the Ditto Show that is presented to children:

Ditto’s Keep Safe Adventure Show

If you have any queries regarding this program, please speak with your Service Manager.

I hope you enjoy reading through this newsletter with feature stories about children’s play and learning experiences, our 2024 Annual General Meeting, our 2024 Helen Stephen Scholarship recipient, our 2024 Tassie Mums campaign and tips about starting school – to name just a few!

On behalf of our amazing team at LGT, we take this opportunity to wish all our children and families a safe and happy festive season. We hope you find time to rest, recharge and make some great memories together.

To those children and families returning in 2025, we look forward to strengthening our partnership with you and doing all we can to support your children at LGT.

To those children and families whose time with LGT has come to an end, thank you for entrusting us to support your children’s education and care journey and we wish you all the best for future.

Until next year,
Suzie Jones
CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER

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LADY GOWRIE TASMANIA HEAD OFFICE

346 Macquarie Street, South Hobart
PO Box 422 South Hobart TAS 7004
+61 3 6230 6800

Lady Gowrie Tasmania (LGT) has a ‘Children First’ philosophy, supporting the rights of all children to grow, learn and play in a safe place. LGT has zero tolerance towards abuse, neglect or exploitation of children combined with a strong commitment to the health and wellbeing of both children and our team. LGT strives to provide a safe and inclusive environment across our services, programs and workplaces, where diversity in all its forms, including strengths, cultural background, identity and abilities are recognised and celebrated.

Lady Gowrie Tasmania acknowledges the Tasmanian Aboriginal peoples as the custodians of these lands and honour the wisdom of, and pay respect to, Elders past and present. With gratitude, we acknowledge the rich landscape of lutruwita, the living culture of Aboriginal peoples and recognise that they have been nurturing and teaching children on this land for thousands of years. We honour and respect their continuing connection to land, sea, waterways, sky and culture.