Student Leaders interviewed for ABC TV/Radio

With all the exciting things occurring in George Town, Piia Wirsu ABC journalist, is producing a report for ABC News Radio, TV and online about the needs of young people in George Town and some of the solutions that the community have identified along with projects planned for the near future

Piia, along with her cameraman, Craig met with our student leaders on Thursday 26 August to find out their thoughts.  Several student leaders were interviewed and their responses filmed. This is a great way for our students to have a voice, build their confidence and interview skills, and the process involved in compiling film footage. Piia will also be interviewing some community and FIG members for her segment which will be aired in the near future. Well done to all our student leaders for moving out of their comfort zone and being involved in the filming and interviews!.

Work Exposure Visit to Rio Tinto – Year 11 Students

On Wednesday 25 August eight Year 11 students were fortunate to visit Rio Tinto at Bell Bay for a tour to learn more about the aluminium smelter and the range of career options available.  We are very grateful to Lou Clark, Principal Advisor Communities and Communication, for organising and facilitating the visit and to the Rio Tinto staff who accompanied us on the site tour and shared information about the plant and the roles they undertake.  We were amazed to learn about the power supply needed to run the plant, the maintenance involved, that the smelter employs over 500 people and the wide range of careers and pathways available.  Being able to tour the Casthouse, Cokeshed, Potline and Power Supply gave us a better understanding of the process and how extensive the site is.

The students represented Port Dalrymple well being engaged participants and active listeners. Coby mentioned that the insight he gained from an actual visit was very beneficial and he learnt so much about the process.  Mattias commented that he was surprised by the level of automation used such as two autonomously guided vehicles (AGVs) and the smart technology, along the attention to sustainability and the environment.  Mason was impressed by how much the staff care about their work, take pride in their roles and their willingness to share their expertise with their colleagues. The students noticed how our hosts were experts in their chosen fields and how they respected one another’s diverse skills and knowledge.

We look forward to continuing to work with Rio Tinto and have the opportunity for our students to learn more about career opportunities through shadowing Rio Tinto staff for a day.  Our students said that it was great to be able to visit a well-known company and see what actually occurs beyond the gates; it really opened their eyes to the opportunities available. 

Photo Credits – Many thanks to  RobBurnettImages and Bell Bay Aluminium

National Science Week was held from the 14^th to the 22^nd of August. Activities were run across the school to foster curiosity and to get students excited about their learning in Science. In addition to their regular learning, classes in Years 1/2 worked with Mr Doug Grubert investigate mixtures, including a large tub of oobleck! In Years 3/4, classes also worked with Mr Grubert to investigate air pressure by launching bottle rockets. Our students in Years 5/6 teamed up with students from South George Town Primary School to build “lunar landers” by designing a shock-absorbing system as part of a STEM challenge.

Throughout the week, students in Years 7/8 launched their model rockets from the school oval, with some rockets reaching heights of over 80 metres!

It was fantastic to see so many students engaging, questioning, and inquiring throughout the week! Mr Johns would like to thank all the students and teachers who supported and were involved in activities throughout National Science Week.

In the 9-12 sector, students have embraced a wide range of learning opportunities that have allowed them to extend their skills and challenge themselves.

Alongside their normal classroom programs, our Year 10 classes started the term by preparing for and sitting mid-year exams in their core subjects, with the aspiration shown by many students resulting in outstanding results! Our first Year 11/12 students to study Level 3 subjects have also successfully completed their mid-year Mathematics examination.

Our 11/12’s have been working hard to establish vocational pathways. We have hosted a career session with the Master Builders Association, visited Timberlink and Bell Bay Aluminium, pursued apprenticeship opportunities and connected with local industry.

Parents are invited to a Year 11/12 information session to be held at the school at 6PM on Monday the 13^th of September.

On Friday the 13^th of August, students participated in Write a Book in a Day where they wrote, illustrated, and published a book in just 12 hours! Our secondary students have been hard at work practising for our school musical Grease, and the rehearsals have been electrifying! Our Footballer, Netballer and Soccer players have been showing off their skills at North East Cup, with the most recent round being held at Blue Gum Park. Our school leaders are engaged in the community through Roundtable discussions and helped to host our Pride assembly. Donut Day was a raging success with $1102.85 raised to buy books for our junior school students.

The excitement is building as Grease is fast approaching.  Rehearsals are now well under the way with the show only 2 weeks away.  Tickets are nearly sold out with seats still available for the Thursday matinee.  Please contact the office to secure your spot.

Hi my name is Hunter and this is Ella and we are the two Presidents of the JLB, and we are giving the JLB report. Over the past term we have participated in many things and are looking forward to hosting more primary school assemblies and having a book week dress up parade that we will be hosting.  Wrapper Free Wednesday is a big role for the JLB. We started at the beginning of week 3 this term, linking with our Design lessons – learning about recycling, reusing and renewable materials.

Hi my name is Ella over the past term the primary school sector has been very busy. Tennis Tasmania came to our school for Daily PE training where Phoebe from Tennis Tasmania taught us games to teach the younger students and went through some basics of tennis. This term we received more money which has been spent on sports equipment for Daily PE and we will be focussing on cricket, football, throwing and catching skills.

Don’t forget women’s AFL Gala Day is coming up for year 5/6 students. A selected number of girls participate in a girls football competition in Launceston. Congratulations to those who were selected.

Just a reminder, coming up this term is Transition for year 6 students - where South George Town students come to Port to experience the learning opportunities we offer. 

We recently had parent teacher interviews giving parents the opportunity to have a look at the work that students have completed over the year, and ask questions about learning. The JLB members had a chance to help out and we hope it all went well for all students.

We would like to congratulate those who participated in Write a Book in a Day,  as well as the students in 5/6 Sport and the lucky students who were selected into Country Gold. We have a busy second half of the year to look forward too. Thank you.

Netball

5/6 Netball has been going really well. We have had our try outs for the Country Gold Carnival and 5 students have been selected to play and represent the Tamar team in the two day carnival. The carnival will be the 16^th and 17^th of September at Hobler’s Bridge Netball Centre. Congratulations to the students selected.

During 5/6 sport, we play our netball games against Beaconsfield, South Georgetown, Lilydale, Star of the Sea and Exeter. Every second week we train really hard with our Port Sport Leaders and we learn how to play together as a team. It is a fun experience that is helping to build our confidence and especially our skills.

(Ella C.)

Football

In football we recently had Country Gold try outs where 6 of the best players from our Porty Penguins team were chosen to represent our school and try to make it to the Country Gold team, Tamar. Congratulations to Hunter and Kobe for making it to the team.

In football we verse other schools, Beaconsfield, Exeter, Lilydale and South Georgetown. With the help of our amazing coaches, we are on a winning streak!

(Hunter)

Soccer

Soccer has been really fun and even better that we have beaten every other school team, except Exeter! We work together as a team, help each other make the right decisions and we have been working on our defence strategies to build our attacking skills. Our soccer teams has versed 5 different schools; Lilydale, South Georgetown, Beaconsfield, Star of the Sea and the hardest team Exeter.

Country Gold selections went well – 2 boys and 3 girls were selected to represent Port Dalrymple and Tamar. 

(Hayley)

Congratulations to the following students who received awards in the PRIDE Assembly

Academic Achievement 

Application

Application & Academic Success 

100% Attendance

The School Association recently held its AGM.

We would like to thank Trudi Cross, Lisa Bailey and Kylie Richardson for their support.

Welcome to our new members Lana Harris, Michelle Hicks and Pam Barron.

Each year the Department of Education conducts School Satisfaction Surveys in Tasmanian Government schools, to gain feedback on what you think our schools do well and where you think we may improve.

We encourage you to complete the survey about Port Dalrymple School. Your feedback is very important to help us inform our school planning and decision-making.

The 2021 Staff and Parent Satisfaction Surveys will be open for respondents to complete from 23 August to 17 September 2021. We look forward to your participation!

You can complete the online survey at any time until Friday 17 September 2021.

Survey link: https://ncv.microsoft.com/Eus9a8QcRO

All responses are anonymous and confidential with the survey carried out on a secure website.

Feedback is only accessible to the school principal and teachers and relevant Department of Education staff, in online summary report formats with no individuals or families identifiable.

Thank you for taking the time to fill in this survey.

Port Dalrymple School are calling for tenders for the removal of the large steel barn structure located in the Community Gardens on Agnes Street.

Persons tendering need to be aware that removal needs to be supervised by a suitably licenced and insured building contractor.

Tenders with details of price, contractor and date of removal should be forwarded to Lorna Clifford, School Business Manager. These can be dropped in to the office.

Closing date: September 24^th.