We're for kids

Have you seen that advertisement for dog food - Pal dog food, I think it is. They use a really neat phrase - 'we're for dogs'. I love it - I stop and watch it every time. It leaves a nice warm feeling and makes you want to go out and get a dog.

A visitor to our school this week asked me 'Are all primary schools like this? The kids are so exuberant and happy.' We were standing watching 200+ children at play - all running, jumping, arms out wide, smiling and laughing and squealing just for the fun of it. One little girl burst past us leaping over garden beds and shouting for a friend. My visitor said 'oops, there's one that's going to end in tears...' and sure enough 10 seconds later she was flat on her back with tears pouring down her face. We both started forward at the same time but before we could get there she was surrounded by other children and a couple of staff, and a couple of minutes later she was up and running again, with a bunch of kids in tow.

Then, yesterday a new staff member commented in passing that he had either worked in or in the course of his work visited about twenty five schools over the last few months and that this was the first one in which, when you walk through the front door you just feel that it's about kids - he added 'not sucking up or anything, Gwen!'

And he's right, it is about kids, it's always been about kids since the day the first tree went down on the block of land that is now our school; and we are working hard together to ensure it's always about kids... because - we're for kids!

The importance of traditions

Schools that are many years old have often developed a number of traditions - things they do every year; at certain times of the year. These traditions are important to a school community as they foster stability, create a sense of belonging, and allow a school to move forward by creating memories to look back on.

Two of our Student Leaders at the Dawn Service

Our school is just four years old (actually, not even four yet!) and we have begun to create our own traditions. Some of these are Meet your Teacher Afternoon (just before school starts for a new year); weekly Assemblies with class performances; the Run Walk Challenge; our ANZAC Pre-service (including wreath making in the classroom) and attendance at the Dawn Service at the Coolum-Peregian RSL in April; the Mother's Day Stall; the Year 7 Theatre Excursion; the Talent Show; Under 8's Morning; the Book Week Assembly; the Book Fair; Year 7 Graduation, and even some of our camps and excursions.

These events are reminders that everything is 'as it should be'. Regardless of staff turn over and how big we grow, there is a sense of the familiar. There are things that stay the same.

Our developing traditions create a sense of belonging and connectedness within and to the group. New staff and students take on these traditions as their own and then look forward to them each year.

Traditions also mark the passing of time and become milestones, especially when the tradition belongs to a particular year level group - for example, the first camp in Year 4, and the Year 7 excursion to Brisbane to the theatre. These milestones give something to staff and students to look forward to and create feelings of continuity and stability.

Traditions are memory makers - already I hear staff say things like 'Remember our first Dawn Service in 2010 - what a small group we were'.

Traditions can have long lasting effects and survive all kinds of changes. We will continue to develop them for our school and add to them over the years as it is traditions that keep our school community strong.