Planning for a successful celebration

Vol 18. Number 01, January/February 2009
By Kasey Gardiner

Acting principal of Currumbin Valley State School Andrew Schumacher has one piece of advice for any school planning to celebrate a significant milestone or event - plan ahead.

The small Gold Coast school recently celebrated 100 years of operation with a number of celebratory events.

These included a community open day featuring stalls, student art displays, historically themed games for children as well as a bush dance and a formal dinner.

'This place has a rich history in the community,' Mr Schumacher said.

'We held a number of events all designed to represent different aspects of the history of the school and each came with their organisational challenges and rewards.

'I strongly suggest other schools looking to hold celebratory events work together, plan ahead and stick to timeframes.'

Mr Schumacher said Currumbin Valley was a fairly small school with four teachers and two teacher aides, and it relied on the support of the P&C and school community.

'We are very lucky our whole school community, past and present, is so passionate about the education services we provide and so willing to volunteer their time and effort to help us celebrate these events.'

The open day, held in September last year, was a success with around 500 past students attending the event.

Mr Schumacher said the school also incorporated the anniversary celebrations into the curriculum.

'We made sure to include a wide array of significant historical events into our curriculum in the lead-up to the centennial.

'We also opened a time capsule that was buried in 1988, and students who were pictured in the local newspaper burying the capsule unearthed it and got to see work from their school days.'

The department's Library Services website has an excellent range of resources, including countdown checklists, to help schools celebrate their significant milestones.