Welcome to Term 3

We’re excited to begin another term of learning, growth, and connection. Our focus continues to be on creating a safe, inclusive, and engaging environment where every student feels valued and supported.

Respectful Communication Reminder

We’re excited to continue our journey of learning and growth with your children. This term, we’re focusing on the value of Responsibility by encouraging students to make thoughtful decisions, learn from mistakes, and contribute positively to our community.

As part of our commitment to a respectful and supportive school environment, we kindly ask all families to maintain respectful communication when engaging with our administration team, teachers, and leadership staff. Working together with kindness and understanding helps us support every student more effectively. Our shared goal is to support your child’s learning journey, and respectful dialogue helps us work together effectively.

Recent feedback from our students has highlighted something powerful: they feel more confident and engaged in their learning when they hear encouraging messages from their peers and families and when they see and hear positive working relationships with our whole school community.

Whether it’s a simple “You’re doing great,” a conversation about what they enjoyed at school, or celebrating their effort, these moments matter. They help build a sense of belonging, motivation, and pride in learning.

We encourage families to keep the positive conversations going at home. Your words can inspire your child to show up, try their best, and feel proud of their progress.

Together, we’re building a culture of encouragement and success.

Living Our Values

At Port Dalrymple School, we’re proud to foster a learning environment built on shared expectations. Our “This Is How We Do It Here” approach helps guide student behaviour and strengthen our school culture. Our values Connection, Respect, Growth, Responsibility, and Courage, are reflected in everyday actions:

• Respecting differences and strengths
• Following instructions the first time
• Making choices that positively impact others
• Accepting consequences
• Caring for ourselves, others, and our environment

We encourage families to reinforce these messages at home. Together, we can help our young people grow into thoughtful, resilient, and respectful members of the community.

Thank you for your continued support.

At Port Dalrymple School, we’re committed to supporting every student’s learning and wellbeing. Regular attendance plays a vital role in that success.

Our goal is to reach 85% attendance by the end of Term 3. In Week 2, we achieved 77%, and we’re confident we can improve with your continued support.

Here’s how some year levels are tracking:

• Year 1 & 2 are leading with over 87% attendance
• Prep, Year 5 & 7 are also doing well, above 80%
• We’re working closely with students in Years 6, 8, 10, and 11/12 to lift attendance and engagement

Please help us by:

• Encouraging your child to attend every day, especially Fridays
• Communicating with the school if your child is unwell or needs support
• Reinforcing the importance of showing up and staying connected

How You Can Help Improve Attendance:

• Create a consistent morning routine to help your child arrive on time and ready to learn.
• Talk positively about school and encourage your child to share what they enjoy or find challenging.
• Stay in touch with teachers if your child is struggling, early support makes a big difference.
• Celebrate attendance milestones at home to reinforce the importance of showing up.
• Let us know if there are barriers, we’re here to help with transport, wellbeing, or other concerns.

Together, we can make every school day count. Thank you for being a vital part of your child’s learning journey. We look forward to a great term ahead!

Thank you for your continued support and partnership.

Warm regards,
Lynette Burt
Principal – Port Dalrymple School

Celebrating Culture and Connection – Our New Yarning Circle

As part of our NAIDOC Week celebrations, we proudly opened our Yarning Circle—a space designed to foster connection, reflection, and cultural learning. This meaningful addition was a vision brought to life by our Hands on Learning Build Group, with generous support from Liberty Bell Bay and East Arm Resources.

The Yarning Circle is more than a physical space, it represents our commitment to building a school culture of acceptance, connection, and knowledge. It will be used to support respectful conversations, deepen understanding of First Nations perspectives, and strengthen relationships across our school community.

We thank our students, staff, and partners for helping create a space that will enrich learning and belonging for years to come.

Thank You to Liberty Bell Bay – Supporting Our School Environment

We would like to extend our heartfelt thanks to the team at Liberty Bell Bay for their incredible support in enhancing our school grounds. Their staff generously contributed time and expertise to:

• Upgrade seating areas
• Refresh and beautify our gardens
• Paint key spaces around the school
• Build new planter pots for our outdoor areas

These improvements have made a noticeable difference in creating a more welcoming, vibrant, and engaging environment for our students and staff. We are grateful for their partnership and community spirit.