From Suzie
Dear Families,
Welcome to the final Lady Gowrie Tasmania (LGT) newsletter for 2025 which showcases so many of our wonderful celebrations and children’s play and learning stories.
Thank you to our incredible team for supporting children’s health, safety and wellbeing and maximising opportunities for them to learn and thrive this year.
It has been a privilege to have worked alongside our passionate and committed team of professionals who put ‘Children First’ in their work every day.
Celebrating our Work
Our recent 2025 Annual General Meeting (AGM) was a time to acknowledge and celebrate the remarkable work undertaken in our services and programs by our passionate and dedicated teams. To view our online 2024-25 Annual Report please visit: https://annualreport.gowrie-tas.com.au/2024-25/
A highlight of the AGM every year is the announcement of the Helen Stephen Memorial Scholarship recipient. Congratulations to this year’s recipient, Naomi Reynolds (University South), and we look forward to following Naomi’s professional learning journey over the coming years.
Valuing our People
As part of our ongoing commitment to recognising and rewarding the contribution of our valued workforce, we were pleased to pass on the second Worker Retention Grant wage increase to eligible employees on 1 December. Our new LGT Enterprise Agreement 2025 was also recently submitted to Fair Work Commission for approval, ensuring 3 pay rises for educators over the life of the agreement. Rewarding our workforce in their vital work with children and families is a priority and is important to the Board and Management at LGT.
Child Safety Updates
Children’s safety continues to be a strong focus of the work that we do every day. Thank you to all families for your continued cooperation since we strengthened the safety of all children in our care in line with the new ACECQA child safety guidelines that came into effect in September, particularly with mobile phone/device usage in licensed areas.
From February 2026, all educators will be required to complete mandatory national child safety training. Mandatory child safety training will ensure educators have the skills, ability and authorising environment to detect, escalate or report child abuse. LGT will support educators to complete the training and will keep families updated of our progress.
I hope you enjoy reading through this newsletter with stories about children’s play and learning, recent celebrations and events, Tassie Mums ‘Season of Giving’ campaign, Christmas closure reminder and tips about starting school – to name just a few!
On behalf of our amazing team, we take this opportunity to wish all our children and families a safe and happy festive season. We hope you find time to recharge and make some great memories together.
To those families leaving us in 2025, thank you for entrusting us to support your children’s education and care journey and we wish you all the best for the future.
To those families returning in 2026, we look forward to strengthening our partnership with you and doing all we can to support you and your children.
Until next time,
Suzie Jones
CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER