Following on from our first full year at the school in 2019, 2020 is set to be another big year for Collective ed. in George Town and at Port Dalrymple.

We begin by saying farewell to Ben Bowering, who has been building the Collective ed. initiative here in George Town over the last 18 months. As part of a significant, community-led redesign process of the Collective ed. resourcing model in George Town, Ben will be moving into a new roles as Partnerships and Sustainability Lead with the statewide Collective ed. team, supporting all six Collective ed. School communities across Tasmania. Ben passes on his thanks to the staff and students at Port Dalrymple who made him feel so welcome and helped him start the exciting work of Collective ed. in George Town. It isn’t a full goodbye to Ben, though, he will still be dropping in to support the school from time to time, so make sure you say hello if you see him.

An exciting part of the changes to local staffing is that Port Dalrymple now has an Assistant Principal involved in the Collective ed. Space. Luke Padgett, who joined the school last year, moved into this position at the beginning of 2020. Luke will be leading the school’s efforts to help more young people to enter a positive post-school pathway, including by completed year 12 (or equivalent); as well as to support young people to have a voice and actively participate in local decision-making processes. As in 2019, there will be lots of opportunities for staff, students and members of the school community to get involved in this work; you are also always welcome to get in touch with Luke, though, if you want to talk about how you think we can help more young people in George Town to thrive.