Gowrie Gazette | Autumn 2025 Archives - Page 2 of 2

From Miffy

ASSESSMENT & RATING: STRENGTHENING OUR APPROACH TO MEETING QUALITY STANDARDS

Dear Educators,

The Assessment and Rating (A&R) process is about displaying the wonderful pedagogy and practice that happens in our services every day. It is something every service will participate in and because it doesn’t happen very often, we understand that it can be a confronting process for educators.

To ensure you understand the A&R process, we have implemented various support systems, including:

Specific A&R staff meetings;
Support visits from Regional Managers, Educational Leaders and Education and Care Leadership Team; and
Regular involvement in the development and implementation of policies and procedures.

If you have any questions about the A&R process, please speak with your Team Leader or Service Manager.

WELCOME TO THE EDUCATION AND CARE LEADERSHIP TEAM

We recently welcomed Kellie Watson to the Education and Care Leadership Team (ECLT) in a new project role. Many of you will know Kellie from her previous work within LGT education and care services and her contributions to the Learning, Development & Innovation (LD&I) team. In her new role, she will be working closely with the ECLT, Service Managers and services to support key projects aligned with our strategic direction. Kellie brings a wealth of skills, knowledge and experience in education and care, and I know her insights will be valuable as we continue to strengthen and improve our work with children.

After Easter, we will also welcome Ben Kikkert to the team as Regional Manager for our Southern Long Day Care Services. Ben has extensive experience working in the education and care sector in Tasmania, as Director at another provider and most recently with the Department for Education, Children and Young People in the Education and Care Unit. Ben’s skills, knowledge and experience in delivering quality, inclusive and safe education and care will greatly enhance the work of our teams in achieving LGT’s quality and strategic priorities.

Many thanks,
Miffy Wedd
GENERAL MANAGER – EDUCATION AND CARE

From Suzie

Dear Team,

Welcome to the Autumn 2025 Gowrie Gazette and the first edition for 2025.

The beginning of the year at Lady Gowrie Tasmania (LGT) was a busy time as we welcomed all new children, families, educators and learners into our community. Thank you to our dedicated teams across all services and programs for your outstanding work to ensure a smooth transition and such a positive start to 2025!

WELCOME TO THE SENIOR LEADERSHIP TEAM

In March we welcomed Zoe Florusse to LGT as General Manager People and Quality. Zoe brings a wealth of experience across diverse sectors, including energy, government and disability. Zoe also has experience working on the Board of Directors of another local education and care organisation. This breadth of knowledge will be invaluable in guiding people, quality and communications as we continue to deliver exceptional outcomes in education and care.

Zoe is a fantastic fit for our organisation, embodying our values and demonstrating the leadership skills and ability to foster a positive and collaborative culture. In this role, Zoe will focus on strengthening our people and quality initiatives and ensuring we continue to deliver the highest standards for our children and families. I take this opportunity to warmly welcome Zoe to LGT.

OUR SENIOR LEADERSHIP TEAM

LGT’s Senior Leadership Team (SLT) is here to support our teams and their valuable work in providing quality, inclusive and safe services and programs for children and their families. The SLT meets once a fortnight to review and determine LGT’s strategic goals and priorities to ensure we continue to deliver exceptional outcomes in education and care. The SLT members are:

Suzie Jones – Chief Executive Officer

Annette Barwick – General Manager Learning Development and Inclusion

Zoe Florusse – General Manager People and Quality

Miffy Wedd – General Manager Education and Care

Sam Wesson – Chief Financial Officer

On behalf of the SLT, it is a privilege to support and work alongside you all as we put ‘Children First’ in our work every day.

FEDERAL BUDGET & ELECTION ANNOUNCEMENTS

It was pleasing to see the government’s commitment to the early childhood education and care (ECEC) sector was reinforced in the recent 2025-26 Federal Budget announcement. The focus was firmly on investing in every stage of education with the Treasurer stating, ‘this all starts with early childhood education and care’.

LGT fully supports the Government’s commitment to building a universal early childhood education and care system where every child is eligible for at least 3 days per week of subsidised early education and care and where early education and care is simple, affordable and accessible for every family.

As you know, LGT has passed on the government’s budgeted 10% Worker Retention Grant wage increase to eligible staff late last year and is fully committed to passing on the next increase of 5% under the Grant in December this year.

The Board and Senior Leadership Team look forward to unpacking what the 2025-26 Federal Budget means for LGT and our children and families. For more information about the budget announcement please visit:

https://www.earlychildhoodaustralia.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/MR_Federal-Budget-2025.pdf

The recent federal government election announcement provides LGT with the opportunity to actively seek opportunities for federal government grants and funding to continue to support quality outcomes for children, our people and our sector.

On behalf of LGT and our sector, I will continue to advocate through representation on peak bodies to ensure high quality, safe and inclusive education and care remains firmly on both state and federal government agendas.

FEEDBACK, MANDATORY REPORTING & STAFF GRIEVANCES

In the recent family newsletter, we announced our new Compliments and Complaints process for families and members of the community to provide feedback about our services and programs. We believe that this new system will improve the current way that we manage compliments and complaints by providing another avenue for recognising the great work of our educators and support staff and will help us to investigate complaints in a timely, confidential, thorough and fair manner.

At LGT we believe that an accessible feedback system is vital to enable us to provide high quality, inclusive and safe education and care services and support programs. Feedback is vital to ensure continuous improvement and delivering exceptional outcomes children and their families.

I also remind staff of your mandatory requirement to report any concerns relating to the safety of children to your Manager, via our Compliments and Complaints Feedback Form here or phone Strong Families, Safe Kids Advice and Referral Line on 1800 000123.

The staff grievance process remains unchanged and is outlined in our current Complaints and Grievance policy and procedures and in the Enterprise Agreement.

I hope you enjoy reading through this Gowrie Gazette with feature stories about our Harmony Week celebrations, the launch of our Employee Wellbeing Strategy, FREE flu vaccination program, staff profiles, staff graduations, births, weddings and other staff news – to name just a few!

On behalf of the Board and Senior Leadership Team at LGT, we take this opportunity to thank you for an amazing start to 2025 and wish you and your families a safe and happy Easter. We hope you find time to rest, recharge and make some great memories.

Until next time,
Suzie Jones
CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER