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Welcome back to the 2025 school year
Our staff have worked tirelessly ensuring all supports and organisations were in place in readiness to a positive start the school year. Staff engaged in 3 days professional learning focusing on ensuring all our students are known, safe and well. Our Youth Networker, Jayne and School Nurse, Tom checked in on families and students to support a successful transition back to school. Our families and teachers are grateful for these insights and knowledge in ensuring our young people feel connected and supported in our school community.
Last week our inaugural School Lunch Program began. Students from Year 1 to 6 will enjoy a weekly hot meal. Our school nurse Tom, Chef Ms Collins and the Student Support and Wellbeing team have worked with Food Matters to bring this initiative to our school. Over the year we will prepare lunch for our 197 Primary students every Wednesday. Students will be seated in our new Wellbeing Hub Café and enjoy a sit down meal and social opportunity. Students will experience meals that are wholesome, nutritious and healthy. This terms menu includes:
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Butter Chicken with Rice
- Moroccan lamb and Rice + Fruit Yoghurt
- Sweet and Sour Chicken with Rice + Fruit
- Pasta Lentil Bolognese with Green Salad
Structural Changes
We have made some changes to our school structure, moving away from three sectors, Junior, Middle and Senior, to two Junior (LiL to 6) and Senior (Year 7 to 12)
New Staff
We welcome a number of new staff to our school community. Their enthusiasm, good will and positive intentions to supporting our children and young people is inspiring. We have farewelled Mr Ogden and Mrs Faulkner over the break and wish them well in 2025.
Our new staff, alongside all other staff, deserve the utmost respect and kindness. Each day they demonstrate high levels of commitment, care and professionalism to our school community. They
Term 1
We will continue our values based approach, acknowledging and celebrating students who demonstrate RESPECT- caring for ourselves, each other and our environment. I am proud of our school community and every one who strives to be the best they can. Respect is a way of treating or thinking about something or someone. If you respect your teacher, you admire them and treat them well. If you respect the school environement you care for it by placing rubbish in bins, looking after resources and leaving classrooms clean and tidy after use. By being positive, pro-active, kind and caring students show a level of self- respect for themselves and others.
We will continue on our journey to ensure we prioritise learning that is accessible, engaging and personalised. Our core curricilum is delivered with purposeful intention to build the skills and dispositions of all our students to have a bright life and positive future. This means our learning time is important, our 70 minute blocks require our students to be ready to learn, prepared with resources and to approach classes with a positive mindset. Through our Shared Understanding of Behaviour approach, students who make choices that interupt the learning of others and who are not open to learn will be followed up during their break times. Our classrooms are for learning, every minute counts.
Student Leadership Board
Our Student Leaders have transitioned into their roles in a positive manner. Emily, Jess, Oliver and Jacob supported our Admin Team and Teacher Assistants with book and unifoms sales and welcoming parents and students as they came into collect what they needed before day 1. The group recently met to discuss what they felt was positive about the school, sharing their thoughs on the many oppertunities for many of our students. These included Hands on Learning, Workplace Programs, supportive and caring teachers who believe in them and community support. The leaders shared their thoughts on what would make Port great. Their biggest concern was the way some students treat teachers, with them communicating their sadness when this behaviour occurs. The group are committed to promoting positive, purposeful play at break times, fundraising for things that make a difference and that are important messages. They have the hope that all students feel that they belong in a school community that is inclusive and respectful to difference and one that shows kindness, gratitude and empathy for all. We look forward to supporting this group to grow as young leaders.
Parent Access to site during the school day
Whilst we encourage the connection of our parents with our teachers, we must value teachers obligation to teaching and learning. To set students and classrooms up successfully our explicy teaching of routines underpins classroom structures and support.
Pre School Drop Off
In the mornings, please drop off quickly to support students moving into the school routines smoothly. Our Teacher and Teacher Assistants guide students to complete morning routines of bags, lunches, wellbeing check-ins and readiness for Daily PE, Breakfast Club and Block 1. Teachers are open to any messages that may support a happy day at school.
After School Collection
With the safety of every child of paramount importance we ask parents to arrive for collection of students on site no earlier that 2.55pm. Teachers have consistent end of day routines that support successful transitions from the classroom to parents and home time.
Collection of Students duiring the school day
All parents who are collecting or dropping children off during the school day must present at the front office to sign in. Parents and carers are not to entre school grounds during the day before 2.55pm.
Approach to Engagement
Evidence shows that wellbeing impacts academic outcomes. Learners with higher levels of wellbeing are eager to learn and better able to participate. This can lead to higher rates of engagement, attendance and improved overall performance.
Children and young people's wellbeing, engagement and learning are reciprocal and interrelated. By working on these three aspects at the same time, we can have a stronger impact on our efforts to provide quality education.
Engagement
Youth engagement in their learning environment is critical to their learning outcomes.
We will be better equipped to engage youth with their learning if we focus on four key elements of engagement:
- belonging and strong relationships
- positive school culture
- quality teaching for learning
- student voice and agency.
Extensive research highlights the impact of these four elements on engaging students in learning.
The Approach to Student Engagement outlines the four key elements of youth engagement. It guides schools on where to focus their effort.
These elements highlight a universal approach to engagement. Some youth may need extra support to engage with their learning. At Port Dalrymple School we strive to work with students and families to connect and engage in our school community. We have a number of learning provisions that are strength based and build students confidence and capacity to experience individual success. Our literacy interventions, Hands on Learning, Specialist Lessons, Future Learning Program, Workplace Programs, VET courses, Wellbeing Provisions, Resilience Project, LoveBites, Cultural Art, Positive Play and many others focus on growth and positive wellbeing.
Upcoming events
3-6 Swimming and Water Safety Program – Weeks 4 and 5
Meet, Greet and Peek – Week 5
Whole School Assembly – Week 5
NAPLAN- Week 6 & 7
Breakfast school tour
Leaders Induction Assembly
Launching into Collage
The grade 9/10 visual arts students had a very successful start to the 2025 school year, by creating some very effective collages, using a variety of found paper and mixed media. The outline of the project was for the students to create a collage, that would be a visual representation of who they are.
Well done to the 9/10 Art student for such a great start to the year! Sarah Hallett 9/10 Art Teacher
Esk Band Program Information Session
It was wonderful to have the Esk Band Program at the school to speak with our Grade 4 to 6 students. They showcased the wide range of instruments available, and we hope the session helped inspire excitement about joining this amazing program.
During the session, students had the chance to hear the unique sounds of each instrument available in the program. All interested children are encouraged to select the instruments they enjoyed the most, based on both sound and general appeal.
The Esk Band Program works with student in Grades 4 to 6, and makes learning and hiring an instrument very affordable, at a cost of less than $13 a week! A flyer with detailed enrolment information will be sent home with students. For those interested in joining, please note that the enrolment forms are due back at the school office by Friday, 28th February.
Our 9/10 Duke of Ed class has started their volunteering – community services component of the award, creating positive outdoor spaces in our school environment. This week they re-designed the area outside the IT room into a comfortable, quiet space for years 7-10, installing seating and a new garden. A great effort by all.
What is Duke of Ed?
We aim to provide ALL young people with the opportunity to uncover their purpose, passion and place in the world to become #WORLDREADY.
The Duke of Edinburgh’s International Award (the Duke of Ed) is the global leader in the organising and accrediting of non-formal education through its flagship ‘Duke of Ed Framework’. For over 60 years, this Framework has been used by education providers and community organisations to accredit the non-formal learning outcomes and achievements of young people. Young people are at the heart of everything we do. Our role is to empower young people, and our partner organisations and volunteers are fundamental to this.
