Hawker Primary School Fete
Thank you, Madam Speaker. It was my privilege on a recent Sunday morning to attend the autumn fete held at Hawker Primary School. What a fantastic event! I think all of Hawker and half of the surrounding suburbs showed up.
Fetes are always an exciting time for school students, the staff, and the community. They are also complex events to plan and run well. I therefore want to express particular thanks to coordinators Emma Dykes and Suze Carr, who managed to stage an event no one in attendance will ever forget. Emma and Suze were assisted, of course, by a team of volunteers, who powerfully worked together so that everything ran beautifully.
Quite literally, the fete had something for everyone. Activities included a mascot race, a fencing demonstration, a goal-kicking competition, and more. Hungry attendees could choose from amongst curry, egg and bacon rolls, ice cream spiders, and chocolate, just to name a few options. Rides were available for children; other stalls catered to mums and dads. The atmosphere was enhanced by a variety of performers.
The coordinators had secured the generous support of several dozen sponsors. These local businesses donated gift vouchers, food to be sold, and services to be raffled off and won, amongst others. I wish I could personally thank each of these sponsoring businesses by name, but there were simply too many of them!
I spent most of my time at the fete volunteering at the crafts stall, and this was great fun. I especially found it delightful to see children being responsible with their pocket money, carefully purchasing goods that they loved.
Leading up to the fete, the school had held crafts nights for parents and other community members to make the goods to be sold. And so I want to extend my thanks as well to these mums and dads and other supporters from the community, including those who helped do letterbox drops around the area to spread the word.
In short, Madam Speaker, the Hawker School Autumn Fete was a perfect example of what can happen when passionate leaders and volunteers help bring a community together in a common cause.
The P&C work together with the school to help improve educational facilities where they are needed most. In recent years, this has included creating outdoor learning spaces and major playground initiatives.
I am glad that Hawker School and its associated P&C will be able to use the funds generated this year to continue to support the education and wellbeing of its lucky primary school students.
Again, I wish to express my gratitude to all those who contributed in any way, including by attending.
Thank you.
