27 Feb 2025

PRINCIPAL’S MESSAGE

I acknowledge, with deep respect, the traditional custodians of this land, the mumirimina people and pay my respects to Elders past and present, to the Aboriginal people with us today and to the Tasmanian Aboriginal community who continue to care for Country.  I stand for a future that profoundly respects and acknowledges Aboriginal perspectives, culture, language and history.

Our School Values

Our Commitment:  In partnership with community, we provide a welcoming school of choice that inspires and supports all learners to succeed as connected, creative and curious thinkers.

It has been wonderful to see our students commence the year in such a positive way. The level of learning that is occurring across the school, is a testament to our students, you the parents and our staff. Thank you for such a terrific start.

Meet and Greet Event

Tues 4 March 3.30 – 5.00pm

The ‘Meet and Greet’ afternoon is fast approaching. This event presents an excellent opportunity for families to engage with their child's educational environment. This event allows parents to:

• Spend time within their child's classroom.
• Engage in discussions with their child's teacher.
• Review the books and other materials utilized in the classroom.
• Observe and gain insights into the daily learning experiences of the students.
• Explore our Kindergarten to Year 12 site.

Such events are instrumental in fostering a strong connection between home and school. The School Association will be manning a free BBQ, our Paddock to Plate students will also provide some nibbles, and Jess and Craig from the Salvation Army will have their coffee van on site.

School Improvement Plan for 2025

Priorities:

1. Quality Teaching and Learning (QTL)
2. Engagement for Learning (EFL)

Quality Teaching and Learning

• Improved Reading Outcomes: Teachers will embed the four fluency techniques. Last year, we saw a positive improvement in our screening data as a direct result of our fluency and word recognition learning across the school. In Term 2, we are excited to shift to reading comprehension and undertake a deep exploration of how we support students in making meaning of the texts they are reading.
• Revised Curriculum Delivery: All professional learning teams (teacher grade teams) are currently revising curriculum maps to ensure all essential concepts are being taught, reflecting the new DECYP curriculum mapping documents.

Engagement for Learning

• Improving a Sense of Belonging: Improving a sense of belonging underpins our engagement for learning priority. Last year, our students told us they felt the school climate had significantly improved, as highlighted in our Student Satisfaction Data. However, a sense of belonging and feeling really connected to the school remains an opportunity for us.
• Attendance: Every day matters for every student. This is an important focus to ensure we have every student here with us and making the most of every learning opportunity.
• Safeguarding: DECYP priority.

Kelly Dyer
Principal

https://www.facebook.com/SorellSchool
Email: sorell.school@decyp.tas.gov.au
Phone: (03) 6269 1100

ECE Campus

Our Kinder students have had a fantastic start to their school journey. Over the past two weeks, they have been exploring their new learning spaces, making friends, and getting to know their teachers and routines. It’s wonderful to see their confidence grow as they settle into the rhythm of school life.

This Friday, we will hold our first Early Years assembly of the year, a special opportunity for us to come together and celebrate the learning and the students who have been demonstrating our school values. These values guide the way we learn and interact with one another. Our assembly begins at 12:50pm and is held in the General-Purpose room on the Early Years campus.

Our Community lesson focus is on allergy awareness. We are educating students on the types of things that can cause allergic reactions, the different types of allergic reactions, and where and when to seek help. This is one of the reasons that we ask students to not share their food with others.  We have students with life threatening allergies to nuts, and to ensure their safety, we ask that you do not pack any nut or nut-based products in your child’s lunchbox.

Finally, a big thank you to our families for ensuring students come to school every day in their school uniform. Our students look very smart, and it’s wonderful to see them wearing their uniforms with pride. This not only reflects a strong sense of belonging but also reinforces the school values of respect and responsibility.

Teresa Spinks
K-2 Assistant Principal

YEARS 3 – 6 CAMPUS

Students have continued their settled start to Term 1 over the last fortnight. Teachers have been explicitly teaching classroom routines and expectations for different learning spaces.  This will set students up for success in their learning for the remainder of the year.

Our Primary School leaders have been announced in a whole school assembly last Friday. Congratulations to all those students who were awarded leadership roles for this year, and I look forward to their contributions in their varied roles in the 3-6 space.

Our first Sorell Way challenge for the term is well underway and classes are busy designing and creating their class mascot for the year and aligning them to the school values. I look forward to seeing their creations and hearing the rationale behind their alignment to the school values.

The first sporting carnival, the Primary Athletics Carnival, for 2025 commences on Friday 7 March at Pembroke Park. We welcome all parents and carers to join us at this event and a program of the carnival will be sent home this week showing the timing of each event.

Trent Sproule and Jamie Harwood
3-6 Assistant Principals

My New Gallery

YEARS 7 – 8 CAMPUS

The last fortnight has been a hive of activity in Year 7 and 8. The ‘Community Cup” has started in both grades. This is where classes compete against each other doing team challenges to earn points. There are rewards for classes at the end of each term. It has been great to see students getting into these challenges and working together to achieve goals.

We are starting to increase opportunities for students to do activities to build engagement. Chess Club and Dungeons and Dragons groups start next week. We are also looking at activities during lunch time that may include board games, beading, art and AFL.

Year 7's are starting to prepare for NAPLAN. This is coming up shortly and more information will come home soon.

Lauren Clements
7-8 Assistant Principal

Meet the Grade 7/8 Team

Name: Lauren Clements

Role: Assistant Principal Year 7/8

How long have you been at Sorell School? I started at Sorell School in 2020.

Tell us something about yourself: I represented Tasmania playing cricket when I was a teenager.

YEAR 9 CAMPUS

The Year 9's have settled well into their new space and classes. It has been fantastic to see everyone in the new school hoodies. We have celebrated our student leaders in our investiture assembly last week and look forward to watching our Year 9 leaders thrive in their roles this year. The Year 9's have especially been enjoying their new specialist classes, completing a number of fitness tests in Sport Science, learning the basics of child development in Child Studies and enjoying the use of the salon equipment in Intro to Salon. It has been fabulous to watch students engaging in their learning without the distraction of mobile phones. We look forward to meeting parents and families at our Meet and Greet evening on 4 March.

Sonia Marsh
9 Assistant Principal

My New Gallery

YEARS 10 – 12 CAMPUS

The Year 10 hoodies have arrived! You will see our Year 10 students sporting their exclusive celebration hoodies, available to our Year 10 cohort as part of their school uniform for their last year as a high school group. The students are looking sharp and are enjoying all the conveniences of a hoodie leading into winter. All students have settled into Term 1 well. We are now almost halfway through the term, and beside the hoodies landing, all classes are making great progress on class content. Students have started practical activities in science and there will be some opt in excursions advertised shortly for English extension and careers/industry tours.

Our Year 11 and 12 cohort have hit their straps and it's great to see classes now moving into more practical learning opportunities having completed the relevant OH&S/ safety induction required with the new year. Students will increase their participation in a mix of theoretical and practical learning opportunities as they develop new skills and learn more about their chosen areas of study. Many of our students are enrolled into either a VET course, or a general career pathway program and these courses will give students unique skills and knowledge to assist them in future career aspirations.

Luke Hamilton
10-12 Assistant Principal

My New Gallery

Meet the Teacher

We warmly invite all parents and guardians to come along and meet the teacher for this school year. This is a wonderful opportunity to check out the classrooms, get to know the space your child will be learning in, and have a casual chat with the teacher about the year ahead. 

Classrooms open 3.30 – 4.30

Teachers available 3.30 – 5.00

BBQ and coffee van available at mina nina krakani 

Launching into Learning

We are excited that Launching into Learning will commence Thursday 27 February for families with children aged 0-4. There will be fun activities that will help children get familiar within the school environment. Check out the details below for more information.

Paddock to Plate

Paddock to Plate lunches will start in Week 5, 2025 (week beginning 3 March) and continue through to the end of Term 4 in 2025.

A form has been sent home to complete for the relevant Year groups to partake, please make sure you have completed and returned this at your earliest convenience.

Lunches will be $3 per day paid through the Qkr! App.

Available Mon - Thurs, for Years 3-6.

The School Lunch Program provides a nutritious, cooked, sit down meal. This can benefit children in many ways, such as encouraging optimal learning, engagement, social skills and connectedness whilst at school. 

  Scott Hutchinson
  Hospitality Teacher

School Calendar of Events

Local Basketball

If your child is interested in developing their skills, having fun, and being part of a team, this could be a great opportunity.

Message from our local Council