Port Dalrymple School eNewsletter

Dear Families

As a school we are continuously looking to improve all facets associated with our school. This week we had three visiting school principals complete a thorough and detailed assessment of our school. The purpose of External Reviews is to support schools to raise achievement, sustain high performance and provide quality assurance to build confidence in government schools. I am pleased to say that the preliminary data provided to our school was overwhelmingly positive and showcased the quality pedagogical practices that consistently occur in our various learning spaces. I would like to thank our staff, young people, families and community members who assisted with this process. We look forward to receiving the detailed findings of this review, sharing these more broadly and implementing the recommendations over coming years.

School Uniform

I am pleased that students are wearing their full school uniform with pride. Please remember that it is compulsory for students to wear full uniform to and from school, each and every day, unless told otherwise.

Why do we have a school uniform?

As a school community we value the wearing of school uniform. It contributes to achieving school values including:

-Creating a sense of belonging and pride.

-Presenting a positive image of the school.

-Contributing to the regulation of student conduct.

-Helping students focus on their learning.

-Preparing students for adult life.

-Eliminating competition between students concerning fashion.

-Being cost effective and convenient.

-Easily identifying students from our school. This contributes to a safe environment.

Items of uniform can be purchased from the school uniform shop. Parents/carers requiring assistance with purchasing uniform, should contact our office, we are happy to help and thank you for your support.

It should be noted that blue jeans are not part of our uniform and should not be worn to school.

Attending School Regularly

Our ongoing attendance rates are still of concern, an issue facing many schools in Tasmania. I would like to reassure families that the measures we have in place at Port Dalrymple provide high levels of protection against Covid-19. Whilst I am glad that parents are keeping sick children at home, we are regularly seeing young people missing two-three days of school every fortnight, sometimes with no communication from home about what is happening.

I encourage all families to make contact about any issues your son or daughter may be having that prohibits them attending school 100% of the time. We have a great team of teachers and support staff who are only too willing to make adjustments or provide support to ensure young people attend school every day. Please reach out if we can help.

Transition Visit

As a school we are always looking to further develop our transition programs and ensure that students transition smoothly into Year 7. Next week we will welcome Year 6 students from South George Town Primary School as part of our ongoing Transition program. If you would like further information about our school, please don’t hesitate to reach out and make contact.

Primary Sport

I enjoyed the opportunity to visit the recent round of Year 4, 5 and 6 rostered Sport. It was great to see our students representing our school with pride in football, netball, soccer and hockey. Above all, I was impressed with the sportsmanship on display, the level of skill of our participants and the leadership demonstrated by our senior sport leaders. A highlight for me was watching the last quarter of the football game, with our boys kicking a goal in the last thirty seconds to score a come from behind victory.

Book Week

Book Week was once again a memorable time in our school. Our students participated in a range of activities throughout the week, culminating in our annual Book Week dress up day. It was fantastic to see the large number of staff and students dressing up as their favourite character. At school, we are always looking for innovative ways to promote the enjoyment of reading and a love of books. The number of costumes on display was amazing and certainly created a significant “buzz’ in our school community. Our Junior Leadership Board coordinated our parade and did an amazing job.

Teacher Assistants

We are fortunate to have an amazing team of teacher assistants at our school, many of whom have made a significant contribution to our school over a number of years. They are always prepared to go above and behind for the benefit of our students. This week has been Australian Teacher Assistant Appreciation Week and it has been pleasing to recognise our fantastic support staff with a special morning tea and through our social media pages. Thank you to our fabulous support team!

Regards

Adrian Dean

Principal

Term 3 has certainly been keeping our students busy! Our Year 10 classes began by preparing for their mid-year examinations, which are held to not only assess their learning but also to give them the experience of exams before moving to Year 11 and 12. Our students demonstrated aspiration through their study and took the experience seriously, pushing themselves to succeed in each exam. Earlier this week a random selection of students from Years 9 and 10 also undertook PISA testing, an international assessment of student reading, comprehension, mathematics and science skills, as well as their ability to think creatively to solve a problem.

In Week 3, our Drama students were treated to seeing Launceston College’s production, Rent! It was fantastic to see a few former Port students in the show and a great opportunity for our students to see one of the many opportunities available to them in their Year 11/12 pathway.

During Book Week, a selection of our senior students supported by reading books to some junior classes, showing our younger students that reading is always valued at any age. We also had a team of students enter the Write a Book in a Day competition, where they rose to the challenge of writing, illustrating and publishing a book within 12 hours - Alfred and the Train’s Ratty Situation. Congratluations to all students involved on your achievement!

On the 22^nd of August some students attended an information session on Teenage Rights held at the George Town Neighbourhood House and facilitated by the Launceston Community Legal Centre. This session covered topics including consumer rights, rights as an employee, as well as information about renting a property for the first time.

At the moment, our Year 10 classes are considering their pathways as they move into Year 11. Over the past week our students have caught the bus to Launceston College and Newstead College for their open days. While visiting the colleges, our Year 10 cohort have been meeting students from other schools, finding their classes, and learning more about the courses offered at college. There will be an information session for our students about Year 11/12 at Port Dalrymple next week.

Students in Years 9-12 have also had sessions providing information about opportunities in local industry, with presentations from Master Builders, Fairbrother, and Timberlink. It has been great to see the maturity our students consistently show in considering their pathways through Years 11/12, and beyond!

Mr Johns

AST 9-12

Name	Class	Value	Reason
April	3-4B	Courage	For displaying persistence when completing challenging work.
Holly	3-4B	Courage	For embracing her new class and showing a genuine interest in all learning areas.
Jackson	3-4B	Growth	For working hard to stay focused in all subject areas.
Joel	3-4B	Aspiration	For receiving his Black belt in Multiplication Ninja Masters.
Tommy	P-1A	Respect	For always showing respect during library lessons
Charlie	1-2B	Respect	For showing respect towards all class members during library
Joseph	P-1A	Respect	For always being a kind, respectful and helpful friend to others.
Olivia	P-1A	Growth	For demonstrating improvement in her recent benchmark reading test.
Jesse	3-4A	Growth	For his contributions to our Unit of Inquiry about First Nation’s People.
Kayleb	3-4A	Growth	For his wonderful progress in reading confidently to the class.
Nikkii	3-4A	Growth	For excellent progress with her skip counting and understanding about times table patterns.
Ella	3-4C	Growth	For striving to complete all her literacy jobs and showing improvement in reading
Charlie	3-4C	Respect	For being a role model class member and supporting others in their learning.
Declan	3-4C	Respect	For being a respectful class member and always following our school values.
Spencer	P-1A	Respect	For showing respect during library lessons
Sarah	1-2A	Respect	For being a respectful class member during library lessons.
Kaylee	P-1B	Growth	For the growth in her confidence in library lessons
Lexi	1-2A	Courage	For representing Year 1-2 and confidently sharing her thoughts with the visiting Principals this week.
Ace	1-2A	Courage	For representing Year 1-2 and confidently sharing his thoughts with the visiting Principals this week.
Paige	P-1B	Respect	Helping others in the classroom and during recess and lunch.
Mason	P-1B	Respect	Respecting school resources and taking care of classroom resources and caring for spaces.
Brandon	1/2B	Aspiration	His great knowledge in procedural writing.
Spencer	1/2B	Growth	His outstanding effort in his reading assessment. Great Job!
Mariylah	1/2B	Growth	Developing her understanding on procedural texts. Well done!

Thank you to all our families and community members that supported our recent Book Fair. We hope you all enjoyed browsing the books at the Book Fair, it was a great success. The finger pointers sold out quickly and all the diary selections were extremely popular.

What a fantastic turnout we had for our Book Week Assembly and Book Fair. It was wonderful to see so many imaginative and creative costumes and learning about the stories that they come from. Our Book Fair was a huge success with many new books making their way into homes. Our Prep/1s visited The George Town Community Hub and shared a story by Andrea Rowe called Jetty Jumping and completed craft activities to celebrate the theme ‘Dreaming with eyes open’.

Miss Kuruvita

AP K - 4