Principal's Report 

Tally Unity Day

On the last day of Term 1 (31 March), we held our annual Tally Unity Day which marked Harmony Day and the National Day Against Bullying and Violence (both fall on other dates).

We combine recognition of these important days into a signature event, Tally Unity Day, that celebrates us being united in our respect and appreciation of diversity and commitment to kindness.  Students were invited to wear an item of orange with their school uniform for this event and enjoyed a free disco, and Tally Unity Day activities.

Thank you to YMCA, our on-site out of school hours care (OSHC) provider, for supporting us so that we could give our students a memento of Tally Unity Day 2023, a special pack of cards each. 

Rock Band Performance

Congratulations to Mr Gordon (Rock Band Leader; 6 Yellow), Mr Smith (4 Red), Scott (super human to credit for our beautiful grounds) and the Rock Band students on their fantastic performance at the Currumbin RSL the last Wednesday of Term 1.

My husband and I attended that night to watch them perform and we thoroughly enjoyed the show.  They sounded excellent!  The deck of the RSL was mostly filled with our community members with their families and I felt a quiet moment of absolute gratitude for our incredible students, staff and families.

Cross Country

Would you believe it if …… I told you that we ran a cross country on the first scheduled date without rain?  Yes, we did, and it was fabulous!  Mr Marais, our Health and Physical Education specialist and cross country coordinator, was optimistically monitoring the weather forecasts throughout the week and our much desired clear weather eventuated.

We were very proud of our students for participating, competing and showing The Tally Way.  Thank you Mr Marais for his incredible organisation and student preparation, Team Tally for their hard work throughout the day and families joining us to support our children.

ANZAC Ceremonies

Through our acknowledgment of ANZAC Day, we support learning about our history, gratitude for service of our country, respect and the continuation of the ANZAC spirit, with the strong commonalities with The Tally Way.

Our Anzac Day ceremonies were held on Monday 24 April.   Our Year 3 to Year 6 students participated in a full service that included: the Australian and New Zealand Anthem sung by Year 5; The Ode; a song by our choir, poem recital from Year 6, The Last Post played by our Instrumental Music Teacher, Mark Slingsby, speeches and wreath laying by class representatives.

Our ANZAC ceremony for our younger children (Years 1 and 2) was shorter to be age appropriate and included educational information, short speeches and the laying of wreaths.  Our Preps contributed poppies they made and learnt about ANZAC Day in their classrooms.

We distributed rosemary from our gardens as a symbol of remembrance to our students on the day.

School Dental Van

Gold Coast Health will be moving the mobile dental clinic on site (near the school hall) on Friday 12 May for operation from 15 May – 9 June.  Details on how to make an appointment have been shared via Class Dojo.

Mother’s Day Stall

Thank you to our fabulous P&C and volunteers for running our annual Mother’s Day stall being held 10 and 11 May during school time. The stall is done as a service to our school families, with the aim to cover costs, not raise money.

Gifts are available by purchasing a voucher via Qkr and the final day for ordering is 4 May (unless sold out prior).  Late orders are not possible, because our volunteers need time to print and distribute vouchers etc. for the stall the following week. 

Students may purchase vouchers for any special person in their lives as chosen by their family.

School Facilities Upgrade

Planning for our next facilities upgrade is progressing well.  The outcome of this major project will be the replacement of our oldest modular buildings with 8 new classrooms (maintaining our capacity, not extending it).  At this stage, in the course of this work, we will also upgrade an undercover area and playground if possible.  We will continue to keep our school families informed as this project progresses.

Our New Learning Space

In Term 3, we will hold our official opening of our significant new learning space that will showcase Indigenous plants that can be used for purposes such as food, cleaning, container making etc. informed by the knowledge of First Nations People.

The landscaping has been done it looks spectacular already.

This is only possible due to the cultural guidance from Justine Dillon; contribution of knowledge from our community; financial support of our P&C thanks to our generous community and passion and drive from Team Tally Member, Curriculum Leader and Teacher, Sharna Gordon.  The landscapers, GC Landscaping, worked during the holidays to establish our space and it has the ‘wow factor’ already.

Reminder

It is a Public Holiday for Labour Day on Monday 1 May.

Have a lovely long weekend!

Zoe Harlow

Principal