Welcome back to Term 4.

I hope the break provided a chance for rest and rejuvenation for all our families. As we enter the final term of the year, there is a sense of excitement and purpose across the school as we prepare for a busy and rewarding few months.

As we begin the final term of the year, there is a strong sense of purpose and excitement across our school community.

Already this term, our students have made us incredibly proud through their enthusiastic participation in a range of learning experiences. Our Year 3/4 students were exemplary in their behaviour and engagement while attending Beauty and the Beast, showing maturity and curiosity. The Year 8 Connection students had a fantastic experience at the Duke of Edinburgh Derby Camp, where teamwork and resilience were on full display. Meanwhile, the museum excursion sparked curiosity and inquiry across several year levels, igniting young minds with new ideas and perspectives.

This term is particularly significant for our Year 10 and 12 students as they complete final assessments and prepare for transitions into further education, training, or employment. We are proud of their efforts and resilience, and we will continue to support them every step of the way.

Our Year 6 students also have much to look forward to as they begin celebrating the end of their primary years. A highlight will be the arrival of their class polo shirts, a special tradition that marks their journey and achievements. We look forward to seeing them wear their polos with pride as they participate in end-of-year activities and reflect on their time in primary school.

Invites and information to our Year 6 and Year 10 Celebration Dinner and events will communicated to families next week.

Across the school, staff are focused on consolidating learning, celebrating achievements, and ensuring every student finishes the year with a strong sense of growth and accomplishment. We have a number of events planned, including end-of-year celebrations, excursions, and community engagement activities. Please keep an eye on Compass and our social media channels for updates.

I’d also like to acknowledge the continued support of our families and community partners. Your involvement makes a real difference in the lives of our students and strengthens the culture of care and aspiration at Port Dalrymple School.

Let’s make Term 4 a positive and memorable one for all.

The Hands On Learning teams have been hard at work this term, maintaining and replanting the Foodladder greenhouse, preparing tasty meals using fresh produce from the garden and completing a number of projects for around the school.

We’ve had some long-standing students leave the program in preparation for their future studies and we want to thank them for their exceptional growth, resilience and teamwork. Their commitment to the program has been exceptional and their contributions will be missed.

We’ve welcomed some new faces to our teams and new students have been settling into the program, learning about the four pillars of Hands On Learning and our ways of working. Students have real things to do, a place to belong, a chance to give back and people to belong to.

Last week, our Year 5/6 girls had the special opportunity to take part in an inspiring session hosted by Soroptimist International in celebration of International Day of the Girl.

The visitors spoke about their journey, emphasising the importance of having a go, confidence, and leadership, encouraging our students to dream big and believe in their potential. The girls enjoyed hearing real-life stories from women who make a difference in their communities and around the world.

A big thank you to Soroptimist International and the speakers for visiting and inspiring our future leaders!

On the first Friday of Term 4, our Year 3/4 and 5/6 students had the wonderful opportunity to take part in a special choir session with international choral conductor Simon Halsey as part of a special opportunity from the Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra. The George Town Memorial Hall was filled with smiles, laughter, and plenty of enthusiastic voices as students joined in to sing along.

Students learnt songs in the weeks leading up to the event, then explored rhythm and melody, and had the chance to sing with other schools who attended. It was fantastic to see so many confident singers and happy faces enjoying the experience together.

Music is such an important part of our school community, and sessions like this remind us how powerful singing can be in bringing people together. A big thank you to Bell Bay Aluminium for sponsoring this opportunity and to Kim Waldock and the Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra for bringing Simon along, sharing their talent and inspiring us all!

The Seagulls to Chips youth have celebrated their successful year holding a graduation ceremony which included students from Port Dalrymple School.

Seagulls to Chips is a co-designed and youth led program that is delivered to young people aged 12-16 that strive to find their place in the community. 

Throughout the year the weekly sessions established a regular schedule of leadership challenges, creating kindness projects, learning how to speak publicly, capturing moments in photography and contributing to creating a mural for the youth space.

Congratulations to Pippa, Flynn, Ruby, Jaxon, Mahalia, Isaac, Jay, Connor, Charli-Rose, Lennox, Brooke and Shay.

Little Monsters Art Display

Tuesday 4th November from 3.30pm-4.30pm at the Kinimathtakinta/George Town Library.  On the 16th of Sep 2025, the Seagulls to Chips youth visited the George Town Child and Family Learning Centre as part of their scheduled kindness projects, with a new concept called Little Monsters! Using the power of imagination, and a splash of creative journalism, the Seagulls to Chips youth worked with the CFLC kids to
bring their monsters to life on paper, on ipads and even a bit of clay! The afternoon became a great collaboration of ideas, allowing the kids to describe their little monster, and transferring their vision into reality. Following this experience, we collaborated with cartoon artist, Ben Winwood, to further develop the little monsters, and in result creating a fun colour in book for all to enjoy.

1000 Hearts Afternoon Tea

Tuesday 11th November from 3.30-4.30pm at the Launchpad Youth Space.  Following the successful project and making 1000 hearts, join the youth and all who have been making hearts for the community, along with 1000 Hearts Founder and Director, Sarah DeJonge who will visit to join in the reflection and celebration of the project. Food and Refreshments provided.

"Today the 3-4 staff and students went on an excursion to Launceston to see Encore Theatre Company's production of Beauty and the Beast. Everyone loved the performance and was blown away by all the talent. We finished off the day with lunch and a play at Heritage Park. Lots of great fun was had by all!"

During structured play, children engage in activities that have specific rules, guidelines, or objectives. This type of play helps children learn important skills such as problem-solving, following directions, and teamwork. Structured play provides a structured learning environment that fosters skill development and active participation.  We are so lucky to have a dedicated team of staff who are organise and engage with students in structured play.

Year 11/12 students from SIT203220 Certificate II in Hospitality, have made a range of colourful Play-Doh for our younger students across the K-4 sector.

The units of competencies applied were:

BSBTWK201 Work effectively with others

SITXFSA005 Use hygienic practices for food safety

The Play-Doh will be used in flexible programs of art and technology to enhance the learning and skills of:

• Design
• Creativity
• Following instructions
• Fine motor skills
• Group work
• Communication
• Problem solving.

Each tub also had a special message of kindness and encouragement.

A wonderful example of collaboration across our school from kinder to year 12.

Stenciling

Stenciling can be such a fun and creative process! Our cultural art students transformed their shapes by painting them and making some beautiful art pieces.

Growing Confidence Through Reading Connections

Since Term 2, our Reading Buddies program has been helping students build confidence, connection and a love of reading. Each week, older students are paired with younger learners to share stories, practise reading aloud, and talk about what they’ve read.

Reading Buddies gives every student the chance to be both a learner and a leader. Younger readers benefit from extra practice and encouragement in a relaxed, supportive environment, while older students strengthen their fluency, comprehension and communication skills by modelling what good reading looks and sounds like.

Teachers have noticed students eagerly looking forward to their Reading Buddy sessions. The program has built positive relationships across our school and encouraged genuine excitement about books.

It’s been wonderful to see our Port Dalrymple students taking pride in their reading progress, supporting one another, and showing that at our school, everyone is a reader.

UFLI: Building the Foundations for Reading Success

In our Prep to Year 4 classes, students have been learning to read with UFLI Foundations. UFLI (pronounced you-fly) Foundations is a phonics program that helps students build strong reading skills. UFLI Foundations is a program that builds the early skills needed to become a confident reader through short daily lessons focusing on the sounds and letters needed to spell, say, recognise and read words.

We are using the UFLI Foundations program because it is based on research about how children learn to read. It is an interactive way to learn reading skills that allows our students to practise, revise and build on their skills each week.

Our students are loving their UFLI lessons. They are focused and engaged in the activities, and we can see their confidence as readers already growing.

Word Origins: Discovering the Meaning Behind Words

In our Year 5–8 classes, students are learning to unlock the meaning of words through our Word Origins program. Word Origins helps students become stronger readers, writers and spellers by exploring where words come from and how they are built.

The program teaches students to look closely at the morphemes (prefixes, bases and suffixes) that make up words, building their vocabulary and understanding of how English works. This knowledge helps them read unfamiliar words, spell with greater accuracy and connect meaning across subjects.

We use the Word Origins program because it is based on research into how the English language has developed and how students learn best through structured, explicit teaching. Lessons are practical and engaging, giving students opportunities to analyse, discuss and apply their learning in meaningful ways.

Our students are really enjoying discovering the stories behind words and seeing how these patterns help them become confident, capable readers and writers.

Fluency: Bringing Reading to Life

In our Year Prep–10 classes, students are developing their reading fluency, the ability to read smoothly, accurately and with expression. Fluency bridges the gap between recognising words and truly understanding what is being read.

Our fluency lessons include short, daily practice sessions where students reread familiar texts, echo and choral read with the teacher, or take part in partner reading. These activities help students strengthen their automatic word recognition, phrasing and confidence.

We focus on fluency because research shows that it is a key link between word recognition and comprehension. When students read fluently, their brains can focus on making meaning instead of decoding each word.

Teachers model fluent reading, provide feedback and track growth so that each student can see their improvement over time. Students enjoy the challenge of reading with expression and accuracy, and they take pride in hearing their own progress.

At Port Dalrymple School, developing fluency is another way we are supporting every learner to become a confident, capable and joyful reader.

We’re excited to share that our school is moving from two houses to four! Over the past term, a dedicated team of students has been working on potential names, themes, and designs for each of the new houses. In the coming weeks, our school community will have the opportunity to choose house names and help shape this next chapter of our school’s story. By the end of the year, we’ll be ready to launch our four new houses—complete with fresh colours, termly house challenges, and new merchandise—all designed to strengthen school spirit and connection as we head into 2026.

Last week 9/10 HPE FLP had Richard Jones come in from ParaQuad Tasmania to work with our students. The visit was split into two parts. The first part involved Richard speaking about his life as a paraplegic who is wheelchair bound. Richard talked at length about the significant impact this has had on his everyday life for him and his family. The second part involved students participating and playing wheelchair basketball. The engagement from all our students was amazing. At the end of the session students were all grateful for the experience and the mobility they have in their lives.