We find ourselves at the end of another term. On behalf of the school community, I wish all students a happy and safe holiday. Most parents would have received school reports this week. As mentioned previously, these reports now use a sliding scale ranging from below to well above standard. If you have any questions or concerns about your child’s report, please do not hesitate to contact us.

Parent Teacher Interviews

Parent teacher interviews will be held in the first two weeks of Term 3. We strongly encourage all parents to attend these interviews with your children. The partnerships between the school and our families are essential to the success and wellbeing of our students. We welcome and value the opportunity to discuss student learning and progress and to set goals for growth together. You can book parent teacher interviews online at www.schoolinterviews.com.au. If you have difficulty accessing the link, please call the office on 63820500. The staff will be pleased to assist you to book interviews.

NAIDOC

Our students have been celebrating NAIDOC week with cultural, language and artistic activities. I was fortunate enough to visit classes while this work was occurring and I was delighted by the student engagement and learning that I observed. As students completed art projects, they were having rich discussions about the history and aspirations of first nations people. Students were learning palawa kani and asking questions about culture and history.

The junior and senior student leaders continue to be an amazing force for good in our school. These students are leading the way in organising activities and events as we emerge from the pandemic. It has been very clear that these things are vital to the wellbeing of all members of the school community. From breakfast club to leading assemblies, activities days, sporting events and fundraisers, our students are generating ideas and putting in the work to see the ideas through to fruition. We are proud and grateful and we encourage you to continue with your energetic and dedicated approach.

Term 3

Next term is busy and exciting. Book Week and Science Week will bring rich learning, an array of colourful costumes and engaging activities. We will undoubtably see a very excited Mr Johns launching things into the air and blowing stuff up. (all in the name of science, of course). Whilst I have written in light-hearted terms, the connection between excitement, fun and learning is very real and these focused weeks of learning provide great opportunities to inspire student interest and engagement. The term is full of sporting events for students and the opportunity for several grades to participate in Write a Book in a Day.

Transitions

Transitions are occurring for students into the school in the Early Years and Year 6-7. Our Year 10 students will be participating in transition to Year 11 sessions at Port Dalrymple School, Launceston College and Newstead College. Year 10s will also be undertaking exams and assessments in all core Australian Curriculum subjects.

On a personal note, this is my last week at Port Dalrymple School before I take up the position of Principal of Campbell Town District High School next term. I want to thank the following groups of people: The  staff for their dedication and passion in facilitating  the growth, learning and wellbeing of our students. Our parents for your trust and partnership in working to create opportunity. We have solved problems together when they occurred and encouraged our young people to aspire, learn and achieve. Local industry and community for being so willing to support the school and pathways for students. When covid hit in 2020, local industry donated in excess of $250 000 to provide technology and scholarships to support ongoing learning for young people in George Town. I cannot imagine that this kind of support occurred anywhere else in the country. Most importantly to our students for your qualities of honesty, integrity, aspiration and respect. When our students represent the school, participate in events and move to study or work in the next stage of their lives, they invariably excel. At times we underestimate what can be achieved from a regional town in Tasmania. The achievements of our students remind us of what is possible when we apply our values of Aspiration, Respect, Courage and Growth.

Mr Dean

Mr Adrian Dean has been appointed as Principal of Port Dalrymple School for the remainder of 2022. Mr Dean is a highly skilled, respected and experienced Principal. He is passionate about regional Tasmanian communities and student learning outcomes. Mr Dean has expressed his excitement about working with the students, staff, families and community of Port Dalrymple School. He is already engaged with the leadership team in planning for Term 3 and I wish him and the entire school community every success in the future.

Kind Regards

Mike

Year 5-6

Students in Year 5/6 have been practicing weekly for the long awaited TPSSA Winter Sport Roster to begin. Our first games were held at South George Town Primary School and were a fun filled day of laughter, participation and team work. The sports we all participated in included Football. Hockey, Soccer and Netball. Throughout the day we all played a total of 4 games against Beaconsfield Primary School and South George Town Primary School. We all had so much fun throughout the day and we are all looking forward to the next round in week one of term 3.

The Daily PE leaders have ordered sport equipment for each of the different playgrounds in the Prep to Year 5/6 area. The bags of equipment are colour coded to make it easier for the students and teachers to know where everything goes!

Yellow – Prep Yard

Red – 1/2 Yard

Green – 3/4 Yard

Orange – 5/6 Yard

We hope that all students respect the new equipment and use it to have fun!

Year 7

Students in Year 7 English have been working on their understanding and implementation of persuasive techniques and how they can be used in their writing, interactions and in advertising.

Year 8

In Year 8 History, we have been continuing our learning on the Middles Ages. Term 2 has seen a focus on Vikings. We have learned about social structure, beliefs, living conditions and the exploration and raids of the Vikings. Next term, we will conclude this unit of work with a research task on key Viking figures and Viking technology.

Students in Year 8 English have spent the term refining their narrative writing skills. In particular, they have been focusing on the genre of horror and how to build the elements of dread, terror and horror into a narrative structure. They have also finished the term making a short horror film using the same elements and structure.

PE

Both Year 7 and 8 students have been involved in a ‘Shoots and Scores’ unit in PE. This unit has involved investigating and better understanding invasion games that require teams to invade their opponent’s goal and shoot to score through various methods. The highlighted sports have been basketball, Australian Rules Football, indoor hockey and netball. This unit will recommence in Term 4 where sports like outdoor hockey, soccer and lacrosse will also be looked at and played.

Term 2 has continued to be a busy one for all of our students!

Students in Grade 9 English have been working on constructing analytical essays and film reviews. They have been utilising their research skills to find out about why and how Terrorism occurs in contemporary society and responding to a documentary. In Grade 10, Students have finished writing an essay on the classic text To Kill a Mockingbird. They have been working on using evidence from a text to support their point of view. We are looking forward to next term when students from Writer’s workshop will be participating in Write a Book in a Day.

In Maths, students in Year 9 have completed a unit on the properties of right-angled triangles and begun extending their knowledge of indices into algebra. Year 10 students have also been reviewing and expanding on their knowledge of algebraic techniques.

In Science, Year 9 students have been exploring heat transfer and the effectiveness of different types of insulating materials, while our Year 10 classes investigated genetic traits and the theory of natural selection.

To finish the term off and celebrate our students’ success, our Year 10 Student Leaders organised a fun session of activities for our 7-10 classes. This included human battleships, table tennis, Mario Kart, and more!

Students in Year 9 and 10 have completed two days training to obtain their White Card. The sessions were delivered in sections, covering the topics of:

• Work, Health & Safety (WHS) on construction sites
• Identifying construction hazards and risks
• Respiratory illness – Asbestos & silica awareness
• Working at heights and confined spaces
• Purpose and use of PPE
• White Card Unit Assessment.

We had a guest speaker from Master Builders who also gave an overview of the apprenticeship pathways into the construction industry. The key messages that were highlighted were:

• Capable of using hand and power tools
• Prepared to work in commercial, residential, and industrial environments
• Be able to follow instructions and have great communication skills.

Port Dalrymple School would like to acknowledge Master Builders for funding this training and giving our students a valuable opportunity to achieve this unit of competency. Thank you to the trainer, Peter for delivering this session to our students.

5/6 Design 

Over the past term, the 5/6 classes have been hard at work creating games from recycled materials. Our challenge was to create a game using only what we could find at school and reuse. On Monday, we invited some of the 1/2s and 3/4s into our classroom to show them the games we had created.

P/1 P.E 

In the Prep/1 P.E space, we have been engaging in structured play. Structured play gives children an opportunity to be creative through allowing them to choose their own activity. This allows students to build on their social capability, problem solving, and gross motor skills. We have even transferred these skills into the playground where we created our own obstacle courses. 

Year 11/12 Certificate II in Building and Construction

This term students in the VET Building and Construction course have been busy finishing off the cubby house for the Junior school. Construction was done within the workshop at the Trade Training Centre and transported in sections around to the Prep playground. The transporting was a challenge but was made successful by the donation of time and resource of a truck from Hicksy’s Hardware. We are very grateful to Paul and Michelle for supporting our school in this process.

Finishing touches are happing this week, anticipating junior students being able to start using the new play space early in Term 3. The cubby house was the students major project where they will be assessed on multiple units of competency towards achieving the full Certificate II qualification. Thank you to their TasTAFE VET trainer, Todd for leading this project and ensuring an enriching learning process along the way. 

A select group of Year 10 Hospitality students recently joined the 11/12 Certificate II Kitchen Operations course on an excursion to Launceston. TasTAFE teacher, Sarah, led the students through Drysdale’s facilities. Sarah expertly explained the operations of the numerous kitchens, barista facilities, restaurant and bar. Students were treated to a Lemon Meringue Mocktail at the bar. After a leisurely stroll through Royal Park, students arrived at their lunchtime destination. Courtney from Dared Darlin provide students with a lunch of chicken burgers, fish and chips, carbonara, and calamari. Everyone was very impressed and full.